Were the Waters for an Ultima Online 2 Being Tested?

In the Ultima Franchise Producer’s letter that was posted Friday, was Jeff Skalski testing the waters for an Ultima Online 2?

He made some prominent mentions of an Ultima Online 2, and he answered some follow-up questions on Twitter after he posted the letter. Over on the main Ultima Codex, some questions were raised about his producer’s letter:

Now…I ask this in a spirit of pure speculation, but why would he mention Ultima Online 2 in a letter to the Ultima Online community posted on the official Ultima Online website a month away from the 15th anniversary of Ultima Online? Why mention Ultima Forever for that matter? Why mention anything other than Ultima Online at all?

If you’d like to comment or discuss the story further, head over to the Ultima Codex or ask them below. As for my own take on things, I found it incredibly odd that a letter addressed to the UO community mainly focused on anything but UO, unless you count the discussion of how UO and U4E are related.