[UO Herald] Producer's Letter - Where are we and what the heck are we doing?

[UO News]

Where are we? Busy.

By the time you read this, our Valentine’s Day publish should be out the door. Just so you know, a handful of our intrepid developers braved the snowy wilds of Northern Virginia to get everything staged and delivered. Now if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is. This publish was the first step toward a six- month dev cycle for updates to the live game and updating some Stygian Abyss (SA) content.

We’ve made some core updates to Mysticism that from early reviews seem to be on the right track … For our publish in March we’re taking another look at the entire Mysticism spell line and amping it up a bit. Yes, I know … we didn’t just add an expansion and then move on, we really meant what we said about continuing to support what we’ve put out into the community. Also, we’ve got some artifacts for humans that were never released for SA content. We have to get those out too.

And given that … what about Magincia? It’s just … there like the Statue of Liberty at the end of Ghostbusters II. (Esoteric reference +5 points) I will tell you there are four major topics that the team is discussing at present:

What follows is in no way a schedule or in any way meant to imply that these things will happen in the near term, but instead to give you a peek where my head is and what the team is iterating on …





More...

 

[Oppurtunity]

It's not love, it's "Eh, screw doing anything for the players. Let's throw crap on the wall and call it progress."

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Next: is there ever going to be a classic shard? I will tell you … it’s a good idea … in theory. In practice it gets a LOT more complicated.

*sighs*

Oh well....I predicted the custom shard people would win. I had a feeling, and it looks like I was right.

The fact that he likes such a bad idea, even in theory, is telling.

Oh well, after it's a disaster he can't complain no one told him it was a bad idea.

I hereby surrender the argument, of course in terms of impact but not merits, to the custom sharders. My point was to expose it as a bad idea to the powers-that-be.

So even if it never actually happens, they at least like the idea, which means that I have failed failed.

Well player, custom sharders.

*salutes*

We need to resolve the relationship between Dawn and Zah.

First of all, you mis-spelled a character from your own game. It's "Zhah."

http://www.uoherald.com/liveevents/event.php?eventid=72

Secondly.....What's to "resolve," exactly? So far, their relationship has been in the hands of the Event Moderators. And, on Great Lakes at any rate, they are getting along quite fine.

And given that … what about Magincia? It’s just … there like the Statue of Liberty at the end of Ghostbusters II.

For those of you who don't get this reference, at the end of Ghostbusters 2, the titular heroes decide to rally New York City to the defense of Goodness and Justice and all that by using ghostly slime to animate the Statue of Liberty, make it move by remote control, and then use it to break into a museum that the evil Eastern European ghost has holed himself up in. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, if memory serves.)

If this sounds lame to you, then let me assure you that it looked even lamer than it sounds. Your referencing this second-rate, live action cartoon that passed for a movie is not encouraging, Mr. Producer.


------------------------------------------------------------
Don't get me wrong here, there's some positive stuff in that letter too....For example, the new powers to the Event Moderators.....

But honestly, Mr. Producer (dude if you perfer)? Right now, focusing on the negative seems to be more useful, both analytically and politically.

Maybe I will do another post where I focus on the positive.

Maybe. But not tonight I don't think. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and I'm tired of not squeaking.

-Galen's player

 

[Trebr Drab]

I tentatively agree with Galen. I'm having the same misgivings and getting the same vibes. But that's all dependent on what exactly is done.

Agree wholeheartedly on having another special shard. They never took proper care of the first one in Siege. And it still has to draw resources away from the primary game. Fel/Trammel too, lets have one game and not a divided mish mash.

Cal, you scare me, just as every other UO decision maker has. You try, sure. But your answers are more of the same problems. You need to think differently. Stop making a game, and make a world.

 

[DevilsOwn]

The McLuna, designed by Voluptuous

http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=1544735&postcount=5

 

[Hanokh1967]

A classic shard is any day before AoS ...

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

*sighs*

Where to begin.. Well, this carebear...your words Mr.Producer-man.. Thinks you all are completely out-of-touch with your playerbase and have little hope of ever changing this with the hands-off approach to communication.

If you thought this letter would rally support for the bugged-as-hell patches the last few months.. again.. no. QA is at an all time low, and its wearing thin.

The EC has gone almost COMPLETELY IGNORED since before SA was launched, and each holiday has brought us poorly implemented artwork that has yet to be fixed. (Look at the ruined tapestry from Halloween, the garlands for X-mas, and now the pile of drek that is the throbbing box for valentine's.)

FINISH THE DAMED EC! Keeping it in Beta for the next trillion years just makes the Dev team look incompetent or lazy. Not even talking about it in your letter shows either a severe lack of commitment, caring, or forgetfulness.

You seriously wasted time talking about a classic shard? Yeah, thats pretty much what Siege and Mugen are. Going back to pre-Pub 16 would be idiotic and a massive waste of resources that you should be using to.. well.. finish what’s already been started.

Please get your priorities straight, your team in shape, and ramp up the level of communication 10,000%.

P.S. The stuff about speedhacking and 3rd party program detection... Will believe it when we see it, 'till then its just more smoke up our nethers.

 

[Zodia]

A Classic Shard will, beyond a doubt, cause many old players to re-subscribe to the game. They will come back to see the new shard, relive some nostalgia, and put some new money into Mythic/EA's pockets. The game, as it currently is, is on life-support. It *needs* some injection of new and returning subs. It needs some "word of mouth" on the Internet, its needs some coverage... it isn't getting those things, but a Classic Shard will remedy that.

A Classic Shard will only help the regular shards, not hurt them. Some who come for the Classic Shard will undoubtedly bleed over to the regular shards. The extra money from the Classic Shard subs will help sustain the team and prove to EA that they should invest in UO's future, not put it on "maintenance mode".

A Classic Shard will only lengthen UO's life cycle. A Classic Shard will only increase subscriptions. A Classic Shard will only bring more attention to UO. A Classic Shard is the right thing to do.

 

[Trebr Drab]

The McLuna, designed by Voluptuous

http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=1544735&postcount=5

Damnation, if that's UO, and where Cal is taking us, WTF!?

 

[Zalan]

If there going to revist gargoyles, & tweak Mysticisn. Why not fix the real broken skill in SA. Considering THROWING was broken from the start. How about fixing this first then looking at Mysticism.

 

[Picus of Napa]

I'm glad to see a comment about speedhacking but sad to hear that the main lead dev plays a tamer.

Classic shards could only be understood by a player that was here in the first days of a shard and played for a good time after. Killed and was killed, hunted reds and blues, stood around a forge and said Hail, well met because sometimes you just had to. Sigh what good ruthless days those were....

 

[Trebr Drab]

A Classic Shard will, beyond a doubt, cause many old players to re-subscribe to the game. They will come back to see the new shard, relive some nostalgia, and put some new money into Mythic/EA's pockets. The game, as it currently is, is on life-support. It *needs* some injection of new and returning subs. It needs some "word of mouth" on the Internet, its needs some coverage... it isn't getting those things, but a Classic Shard will remedy that.

A Classic Shard will only help the regular shards, not hurt them. Some who come for the Classic Shard will undoubtedly bleed over to the regular shards. The extra money from the Classic Shard subs will help sustain the team and prove to EA that they should invest in UO's future, not put it on "maintenance mode".

A Classic Shard will only lengthen UO's life cycle. A Classic Shard will only increase subscriptions. A Classic Shard will only bring more attention to UO. A Classic Shard is the right thing to do.

If everyone wants to think about money and UO's success, that's great.


But can I suggest fixing what's wrong with the primary game instead of going back to past failures?

Edit to add: Bah! Forget it. This game is lost and lead by the blind. I'm tired of complaining about the obvious and trying to argue the points. It's not worth my time anymore.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

If there going to revist gargoyles, & tweak Mysticisn. Why not fix the real broken skill in SA. Considering THROWING was broken from the start. How about fixing this first then looking at Mysticism.

Remember, Calvin already stated that throwing 'pwned'...

 

[canary]

The McLuna, designed by Voluptuous

http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=1544735&postcount=5

I won't deny its creativity, but really, the Sims Online was cancelled. It scares me thats what he thinks he should show others.

 

[DevilsOwn]

Damnation, if that's UO, and where Cal is taking us, WTF!?

sorry you saw it that way... I saw it as a very clever, cute use of ingame items

 

[AdamD]

A Classic Shard will, beyond a doubt, cause many old players to re-subscribe to the game.

I think you're wrong, to be honest
I once believed that a pre XXX shard would bring back people who've left, but, it won't
Why? Because freeshards have already done it, they have the pre XXX (Multiple eras) down to an art and already have the playerbase, not to mention it's free.
Devoting manpower to releasing a pre xxx shard at this time in UO's life is questionable, at best.
Jeremy, the ex community coordinator once told me it'd be as much work as KR itself, taking at least a year, with a large team

 

[Trebr Drab]

Damnation, if that's UO, and where Cal is taking us, WTF!?

sorry you saw it that way... I saw it as a very clever, cute use of ingame items

Yeah, it is. It's clever. It's cute.
What it's not is UO.

But I don't mean to belittle a nice effort by a player.... who's not playing Ultima.

 

[Miri of Sonoma]

The McLuna, designed by Voluptuous

http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=1544735&postcount=5

I am not at all surprized to hear that Voluptuous designed that. She has always designed very imaginative things! Great job Vol!

 

[Zodia]

If everyone wants to think about money and UO's success, that's great.


But can I suggest fixing what's wrong with the primary game instead of going back to past failures?

First of all, EA/Mythic is a business. Wanting them to make money is in all our interests -- it means the game is succeeding, and will continue to be supported.

And #2, I don't know what you mean by "past failures"? AOS introduced item-centric game play, and not long after its release, subscriptions peaked, then fell and continue to fall to this day. Pre-AOS was UO's ultimate success.

 

[AirmidCecht]

*takes a pulse check*

So just thought I'd try to understand things here. The comments from the community on how little communication there has been, what's going on, ect. get addressed in some small way only to get blasted. Now granted I know the first impulse is usually to go negative but what the heck does that say to the existing dev team who are probably working twice as hard with half the staff to bring something to the community?

It's disheartening at best, makes me a lil pissy to say the least that what they are doing comes with grammar checks and spitballs the first time a heads up is given. To Cal and the Dev team, thank you. Thank you for overlooking the negativity that comes with various fansites and following through with your thoughts and plans for those of us in game enjoying the content.

We tell ya when things aren't going right and expect to be heard but overall the expansions have been fun and the events and plans ahead are something to look forward to.

Cheers,
Airmid

 

[sablestorm]

*sighs*

Oh well....I predicted the custom shard people would win. I had a feeling, and it looks like I was right.

The fact that he likes such a bad idea, even in theory, is telling.

Oh well, after it's a disaster he can't complain no one told him it was a bad idea.

I hereby surrender the argument, of course in terms of impact but not merits, to the custom sharders. My point was to expose it as a bad idea to the powers-that-be.

So even if it never actually happens, they at least like the idea, which means that I have failed failed.

Well player, custom sharders.

*salutes*


First of all, you mis-spelled a character from your own game. It's "Zhah."

http://www.uoherald.com/liveevents/event.php?eventid=72

Secondly.....What's to "resolve," exactly? So far, their relationship has been in the hands of the Event Moderators. And, on Great Lakes at any rate, they are getting along quite fine.



For those of you who don't get this reference, at the end of Ghostbusters 2, the titular heroes decide to rally New York City to the defense of Goodness and Justice and all that by using ghostly slime to animate the Statue of Liberty, make it move by remote control, and then use it to break into a museum that the evil Eastern European ghost has holed himself up in. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, if memory serves.)

If this sounds lame to you, then let me assure you that it looked even lamer than it sounds. Your referencing this second-rate, live action cartoon that passed for a movie is not encouraging, Mr. Producer.


------------------------------------------------------------
Don't get me wrong here, there's some positive stuff in that letter too....For example, the new powers to the Event Moderators.....

But honestly, Mr. Producer (dude if you perfer)? Right now, focusing on the negative seems to be more useful, both analytically and politically.

Maybe I will do another post where I focus on the positive.

Maybe. But not tonight I don't think. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and I'm tired of not squeaking.

-Galen's player

Galen, might I mention that this post sounds rather snobby. You're nitpicking at him using a movie reference? The fact that you nitpick that is far worse then him actually using it, in my estimation. It's like going out of your way to be petty.

 

[Zodia]

I think you're wrong, to be honest
I once believed that a pre XXX shard would bring back people who've left, but, it won't
Why? Because freeshards have already done it, they have the pre XXX (Multiple eras) down to an art and already have the playerbase, not to mention it's free.
Devoting manpower to releasing a pre xxx shard at this time in UO's life is questionable, at best.
Jeremy, the ex community coordinator once told me it'd be as much work as KR itself, taking at least a year, with a large team

Freeshards are crap. The manpower that EA/Mythic devoted would be rewarded with returning players and their subscription dollars.

I personally know many former subscribers that would return for a look at a Classic Shard. Would they stay forever? I don't know. But it would cause a LARGE NUMBER of former players to reactivate their accounts to take a look. It would be a fun 6-12 months! A new shard with old rules, ready for the taking! SIGN ME UP.

 

[sablestorm]

Freeshards are crap. The manpower that EA/Mythic devoted would be rewarded with returning players and their subscription dollars.

I personally know many former subscribers that would return for a look at a Classic Shard. Would they stay forever? I don't know. But it would cause a LARGE NUMBER of former players to reactivate their accounts to take a look. It would be a fun 6-12 months! A new shard with old rules, ready for the taking! SIGN ME UP.

In my opinion, all this will do is ratchet up the complaining. If they decide that it will require too many resources to pull it off and all the classic sharders will whine that EA sucks, it's such a great idea, you are stupid for not doing it. Now if they implement it, the classic sharders will whine that it's not the right classic shard, it should Felucca rules only, or it should before AOS items, or it should be this that and the other thing. Nobody will agree and everyone will be disappointed in it in some fashion.

 

[Cal_Mythic]

hey Galen, I'll forgive that you typod "perfer" if you forgive me for typoing "Zhah"

Ta!

 

[canary]

hey Galen, I'll forgive that you typod "perfer" if you forgive me for typoing "Zhah"

Ta!

Ehn, some of us would 'perfer' that you just be upfront of what is being done with the EC client, the art assets in game (EC graphics- paperdolls, and discussion of updating art to make it better to scale), and what firm plans are in store for UO rather than things discussed over lunch.

 

[Zalan]

Remember, Calvin already stated that throwing 'pwned'...

He may have played it in alpha or beta before Wika_EA broke it. Throwing is considered the joke of all skills on the Warriors Forum.

Threads on Throwing:
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=156978&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=175017&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=173806&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=166218&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=152525&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=161337&highlight=throwing

 

[Muu Bin]

hey Galen, I'll forgive that you typod "perfer" if you forgive me for typoing "Zhah"

Ta!

I don't know either of you but I would be inclined to see Galen's mistake as a typo. I 'm sure he knows how to spell prefer, his typing skills are the culprit. I'm not convinced, however, that you actually knew the correct spelling of Zhah; the culprit in your case being ignorance.

By the way, if you really did mean to misspell "typod" and "typoing" that's hilarious - a keen wit you have!

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

hey Galen, I'll forgive that you typod "perfer" if you forgive me for typoing "Zhah"

Ta!

Really? This is what you respond to? Hmmm... Now what was Nosfentor's Anti-principle again? Oh, yeah....

I don't know either of you but I would be inclined to see Galen's mistake as a typo. I 'm sure he knows how to spell prefer, his typing skills are the culprit. I'm not convinced, however, that you actually knew the correct spelling of Zhah; the culprit in your case being ignorance.

By the way, if you really did mean to misspell "typod" and "typoing" that's hilarious - a keen wit you have!

SNAP

 

[GreyPawn]

Missives like this obviate the need for experienced community professionals. I'm not entirely clear you (Cal Crowner) understand the desires and nuances of this particular ragtag bunch of community.

Let me politely eviscerate your letter in as constructive a means as I can.

You should perhaps be made aware that factions has been broken for 10 years. The system itself was constructed by Adrick and Evocare, designers that later went on to other MMOs (SWG and WoW respectively). Mesanna, who is still with you, and Brak, were at the forefront of testing this mess, and the entire development process strategy seemed to be release it and forget about it. More than just that, it seemed as though the clarion calls from the community calling out the massive issues and recommending simple stopgaps and fixes were almost intentionally ignored. 10 years later, factions remains broken in its most integral parts - no more than a tertiary system for procuring mildly improved artifacts.

I acknowledge my share in the blame for the failure of factions, at least as far as the Council of Mages is concerned. It was my eagerness to participate in what I thought was going to be a magnificent addition to Ultima that caused me to rally most of the population on Test Factions to the Council of Mages - maligning a previous perception on the part of those two original factions designers that the CoM could not be competitive due to its awful Stronghold and other major factors. Tom Chilton admitted to me at one point that the CoM almost didn't make it to the light of day.

My bad. Not that this excuses ten solid years on the UO development team's part of treating factions like the vaunted Virtue System. (Still nothing for Honesty? The system pre-dates Calandryll for god's sake.)

Regarding a classic shard - I am confident that you aren't that stupid. You are already maintaining two code branches, one for Classic and one for Enhanced. If you actually had a community manager, he or she would sit you down in a quiet room and tell you gently that the strength of player nostalgia in UO is the most powerful force veterans have, and they wield it like a cudgel. They would tell you that retrospection of the "golden age" of Ultima is a grand pastime, and that people, while claiming to have loved it, in fact thoroughly hated it but put up with it because WoW wasn't even a twinkle in Blizzard's eye and there simply were no other choices. They would go on to tell you that 90% of the population claims to be hardcore, and would naturally benefit from a return to the "lord of the flies" style early UO, but that only 10% or less actually is. This community person would also pull out a laptop with Shadowbane installed on it, show you that it is impossible to log in to a game that no longer exists due to the core system being to grief every other player into quitting, boot up Darkfall and demonstrate the same thing.

As for the live story arc, I am perhaps the only person who is glad that this is no longer in the hands of Draconi. UO players on average don't have the backstory on Draconi, so they were never quite made aware of how incredibly poorly he managed the storyline and prime fiction arc of UO. Big reveal here - the length of time in between poorly executed storyline sequences was inexcusable, and largely due in part to Draconi's flaw of epic tunnel-vision. To spend literally six months working on a single, microscopic aspect of an event that lasted no more than 6 minutes in-game, which didn't even add that much or seem required is the height of bad development. And by the way, a six paragraph story update every three months doesn't count as episodic content, friend. UOers deserved far more than they got with regards to fiction and content, even from the most skeletal of live teams.

As for you, Cal. You've been on the UO team since September of 2007. Is three years not enough time to have picked up the lingo? "The team has been playing in Baja." You mean "on" Baja. As for those folks who used to take you aside and tell you how to play? Yeah, we called those Companions. As far as mages and LRC go, welcome to our hell. You will notice that mages in UO wear leather armor. Full leather armor, with mismatched pieces here and there, whatever we can find. This is as opposed to wearing robes, as in every other game where you play a mage. Reagents are required because Magery itself hasn't been updated since 1998, and the development team has been busy creating and recreating and re-recreating UO clients that no one will adopt for the better part of a decade.

I'm happy you and the execs enjoy the McDonalds on Baja, but this is not what UO is about. Ultima Online is about an epic struggle between good and evil played out in a diverse community of wizards and warriors. It is about the experience of a vibrant, living world that can tell the deepest stories and present the most compelling history - a rich tapestry of Virtue, darkness, life, loss and love. Ultima is about the characters that inhabit this world, their contributions and their meaningful impact. It is about merchants, dragon tamers, elves with gardens, mounted samurai archers and gourmet gargoyle cooks. It is about the relationships that Sosarians build, friendships, loyalties, nemesis and ally alike - the guilds and empires they watch rise and fall with the march of time. Ultima is all of this.

It is not about the McDonalds on Baja.

 

[Muu Bin]

He may have played it in alpha or beta before Wika_EA broke it. Throwing is considered the joke of all skills on the Warriors Forum.

Threads on Throwing:
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=156978&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=175017&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=173806&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=166218&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=152525&highlight=throwing
http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=161337&highlight=throwing

Perhaps we should just save the throwing skill for snowballs at winter?

 

[Clog|Mordain]

Third: Speedhackers and movement. We have had this on internal testing for a couple of months, and are in the last 5% of a 100% solution

This is kind of re-assuring, I hope all the man hours gone into this isnt going to waste.

 

[Zalan]

Perhaps we should just save the throwing skill for snowballs at winter?

You may be quite right on that

 

[Capt.E]

thanks for the update. The McLuna's is AWESOME. I don't care how hardcore you are, that is amazing creativity. I don't know what happened to all the naysayers in this post but it seems like they have a serious axe to grind in all their posts.

I am excited about the new GM powers! My ingame hobby is collectin' grey robes .

I realize things come with small steps and it's great to hear you are addressing the movement speed issue. I'd say that's a major advantage that makes playing against it very frustrating.

Have a great day!

 

[G.v.P]

Damnation, if that's UO, and where Cal is taking us, WTF!?

sorry you saw it that way... I saw it as a very clever, cute use of ingame items

Yeah, it is. It's clever. It's cute.
What it's not is UO.

But I don't mean to belittle a nice effort by a player.... who's not playing Ultima.

What is Ultima? I'm not big on deco myself, but, one of the lasting appeals of UO has been the ability to own a shop ... in fact, it was one of the major selling points for me when I bought the game in 1999. The ability to own your own shop sounded like such a cool thing. Is it just because it takes the form of a modern, earthly, establishment?

 

[Cyrah]

Thank you for information Sir.

A few questions please. Wasn't Warhammer pure pvp? Do you think it was a good idea in theory?


The Ems get more tools for events? Will they also get more time to do them? Or is 30 or so minutes for an event the idea?

Thank you.

 

[Theo_GL]

Well, I tend to agree. Not much confidence from this letter.

I think they are once again missing the boat.

1 - Factions - Well, factions are more active then they have been in a long time but it seems most of it is to get the faction arties which is the quick way to crimson's etc with even better stats. Maybe adding more content here would help we'll see.

2 - Classic Shard - Collossal waste of time. The only people who want a classic shard are people who played in the early days that have some sort of nostolgia about simple armor, simple systems and being able to steal everything from everyone. If you want complete classic - go play a free shard. Personally what I think would be more interesting is a permenant test center. All the new systems -but unlimited resources for the people who just want to set skills and go.

3 - Speedhacking - yes, please fix it already. I'll agree on this one. The fact that it has taken the better part of 8 years to fix even after one point when they said they had addressed it at the server level is pathetic.

4 - Third party apps? - A definite problem for speedhacking and some other PvP issues but to be honest - alot of the 3rd party apps are for dealing with a really crappy interface we are forced to play. Adding in some things like 'make max' and 'make number' has lessened the need for some scripting. The script mining and resource gatherers suck but to be honest with UO gold worth nothing - most have gone away. Its nearly impossible to find gems for sale anymore. I really think 3rd party chasing at this point is going to make more people angry than make people happy. I'd be careful with that one. UO can't handle a loss of 50% of the playerbase. ANd with EC modding - how is an EC mod different than some of the 3rd party scripts or helpers?


Personally I'd like to see them implement more new content even if it is temporary dungeons that change in content and map. New things to explore etc.

I'd also like to see more stuff to 'achieve' in game with a 'player log' of accomplishments. I'm not talking turning it into a leveling game but creating things to accomplish and tracking player accomplishments for others to see.

Also a way to have 'PvP' duels and dueling stats and a point system would be cool.

As for making it easier for new players - geeze give them some help. An all 50's armor suit to start would be a help... giving a full spellbook would help... giving them a runebook of key runes would help etc. 10k gold instead of 1k.... etc.

Ever start a brand new char on a brand new shard? Its a struggle. A real struggle to get going that is less than fun. Plus when people are running around selling things for 300,400,500k and you are sitting with a stack of 1,000 coins and crappy armor trying to figgure out a way to survive is disheartening.

I dunno..just seems like all their plans are around superfluous issues and not mucht to do with how to advance the game.

I have an idea for a way to drive alot of new subs and revenue but I'd prefer to share in email with a Cal directly.

 

[DoranM]

A Classic Shard will, beyond a doubt, cause many old players to re-subscribe to the game. They will come back to see the new shard, relive some nostalgia, and put some new money into Mythic/EA's pockets. The game, as it currently is, is on life-support. It *needs* some injection of new and returning subs. It needs some "word of mouth" on the Internet, its needs some coverage... it isn't getting those things, but a Classic Shard will remedy that.

A Classic Shard will only help the regular shards, not hurt them. Some who come for the Classic Shard will undoubtedly bleed over to the regular shards. The extra money from the Classic Shard subs will help sustain the team and prove to EA that they should invest in UO's future, not put it on "maintenance mode".

A Classic Shard will only lengthen UO's life cycle. A Classic Shard will only increase subscriptions. A Classic Shard will only bring more attention to UO. A Classic Shard is the right thing to do.

I completely agree.
I can personally guarantee I'd come back and play, and I'd bring 15-20 of my friends who quit when they ran out of bank space to hold their mils and ultra rares.

To me; UO used to mean something. It meant I could login, work my butt off, make something valuable that people would be jealous of, and feel an emotional connection to what I was doing in game. It's a feeling I have not matched before or since.

Bring back full loot.
Kill insurance.
Bring back the ability to lop off a murderers head.
Bring back rare unique items.
Bring back me mining my butt off for hours and someone coming by and pking me. (Seriously it got my heart pumping and fueled my revenge)
Bring back a game that meant something to me where the players HAD to work together to play, I used to have a blacksmith and I'd trade goods with a local alchemist, and we had tailor down the street, we traded, we made friendship, and we enjoyed the game.
Fix duping.
Make neon dye ultra rare and super hard to obtain.
Don't let vendors sell 500 of everything, make things hard to get and you will have players who develop an emotional bond with the game.

That's my two cents. BRING IT BACK CAL!

 

[Stupid Miner]

Thanks for the heads up Cal.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

hey Galen, I'll forgive that you typod "perfer" if you forgive me for typoing "Zhah"

Ta!

If I had ownership of or control of over the word "prefer" the same way that you have ownership or control over the fictional character of Queen Zhah, this would be a valid comparison. Also, if "prefer" were a proper noun. Also if I were a Producer of the Guinness Book of World Records-certified longest-running subscription-based MMO.

*shrugs*

You were, however, probably kidding, thus technically making my reaction an over-reaction....To an extent.

I would urge you to be aware, however, of the fact that, in the present climate, your remark doesn't necessarily come across that way.

First of all, you have openly aligned yourself with the portion of the player base that views message board fighting as an extension of fighting in-game. So I see a reply like yours, and the first thing that comes to my mind is "message board PvP." If you think about it for a moment you'll likely see that this interpretation is pretty reasonable.

Secondly, your posts of tonight come to us in the wake of complaints about the quality and quantity of your communication with us. To the extent they are viewed harshly it is in part due to a poisonous atmosphere that you've all contributed to by communicating with us less often, and less meaningfully, than has-been typical.

And thirdly, passions are quite understandably running quite high in the wake of the loss of Draconi and other valued members of the team.

But then again...

*shrugs*

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I don't know either of you but I would be inclined to see Galen's mistake as a typo. I 'm sure he knows how to spell prefer, his typing skills are the culprit. I'm not convinced, however, that you actually knew the correct spelling of Zhah; the culprit in your case being ignorance.

By the way, if you really did mean to misspell "typod" and "typoing" that's hilarious - a keen wit you have!

*chuckles*

As to "perfer," it was due to proofreading the post only once.

-Galen's player

 

[UOKaiser]

LoL. I already see the doom of UO. They are going to try to treat it like if it's still popular lol. It's just gonna end up getting rid of the last of the vets. The game is 90% vet anyway. I smell it coming. People get ready when the shards shrink and shut down there be no way to recover from that. This is a old game you can't treat it like it's in stores and tv advertised. We have some time before that though. But we will know after they start putting in there revamps.

 

[Lorax_Pacific]

Why not mention the unraveling changes? Why be so silent.

-Lorax

 

[phantus]

Factions: Let's see what ya got.

Classic Shard: Awesome. However, unless it's being billed as short term investment it will need content updates eventually. At first it will be fine to have zero content updates for the most part but eventually it will require them to retain the player base. The problem with UO has always been content addition. Long periods of inactivity due to numerous staffing and location changes. Nothing has changed here. Simply put I would love to see a classic shard but don't believe you guys have the resources to pull off both successfully.

Speedhacking: You added a percentage this time but it's the same story we keep hearing. If you got a 95% solution roll it out ASAP. Build the last %5 at 1% per month for the next 5 months. I promise we won't mind the wait on the last 5%. TOGTFO(crude but it conveys meaning)

Third party aps: See the above

 

[Ceno of MT]

"Oh ... one last note... thanks to the guy who put up the MacDonald’s on Baja … it looks great in presentations to execs about what makes UO … UO. And for the record … I am gearing up a mage. Yes, I played a tamer for a while, and got all kinds of grief … and why the heck do I have to have 100 LRC anyway? There has to be a way that I can reduce the cost of reagents without having to know a dozen imbuers to get what I need. I’m gonna have to see who is in charge around here!!"


I don't know who you've been talking too on Baja but it's usually REALLY easy to get 100% LRC suit, I am more than happy to set anyone up if I ever see someone in need of one, just about anyone should be able to set you up....it takes A LOT of barbed kits to make a good suit so i have lots of armor around the house

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

The McLuna, designed by Voluptuous

http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=1544735&postcount=5

Well, there's no accounting for taste. That's a disgusting looking house. No house in UO should be allowed to look that bad.

 

[phantus]

The McLuna, designed by Voluptuous

http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=1544735&postcount=5

Well, there's no accounting for taste. That's a disgusting looking house. No house in UO should be allowed to look that bad.

LOL @ house police. You guys are awesome. I insist you get badges.

 

[sablestorm]

If I had ownership of or control of over the word "prefer" the same way that you have ownership or control over the fictional character of Queen Zhah, this would be a valid comparison. Also, if "prefer" were a proper noun. Also if I were a Producer of the Guinness Book of World Records-certified longest-running subscription-based MMO.

*shrugs*

You were, however, probably kidding, thus technically making my reaction an over-reaction....To an extent.

I would urge you to be aware, however, of the fact that, in the present climate, your remark doesn't necessarily come across that way.

First of all, you have openly aligned yourself with the portion of the player base that views message board fighting as an extension of fighting in-game. So I see a reply like yours, and the first thing that comes to my mind is "message board PvP." If you think about it for a moment you'll likely see that this interpretation is pretty reasonable.

Secondly, your posts of tonight come to us in the wake of complaints about the quality and quantity of your communication with us. To the extent they are viewed harshly it is in part due to a poisonous atmosphere that you've all contributed to by communicating with us less often, and less meaningfully, than has-been typical.

And thirdly, passions are quite understandably running quite high in the wake of the loss of Draconi and other valued members of the team.

But then again...

*shrugs*

-Galen's player

I notice you didn't reply to my post. I'm curious as to why. Once again, you still come off sounding like a self-entitled snob. Look, I actually appreciate the things you do with UOGuide and what not, but if you're gonna be a snob about it, people like me are gonna point it out. Tons of people have been complaining about the lack of FoF and the silence of Ask the Devs, yet when he posts a Producer's Letter, everyone is ready to nitpick and make petty remarks. I'll say it again, commenting on his movie quote was petty. Why say something like that? Is it constructive for UO? Did you think it would make UOGuide look more lofty? Did you think that by watching movies you approve of, he will do a better job with UO? It's just a pointless jab on your part Galen.

 

[Sargon]

Agree wholeheartedly on having another special shard. They never took proper care of the first one in Siege. And it still has to draw resources away from the primary game. Fel/Trammel too, lets have one game and not a divided mish mash.

It's not fair to look at Siege Perilous only as "drawing resources away" from the core shards, because at the same time it is bringing in revenue. I would wager that income generated by Siege accounts is significantly greater than the cost to maintain it. A classic shard certainly wouldn't put UO in competition with WoW by any means, but it would be profitable if done right.

 

[Voluptuous]

I don't recall my Jack o Lanterns ever getting this much negativity. As a 11 year vet, one of the biggest draws to UO is the housing, whether it be a heavily deco'd Keep or a cool looking custom. The challenge of making something everyone can identify out of misc crap is fun for me too. Running a good and stocked shop is yet another challenge. Finding stuff to stock WITH is a challenge!

I don't have a lot of weekly hours to devote to comp games, but when I do I will use them the way I want. I'll say one thing...there's a lot of really good fight em, kill em games out there...UO has housing...it's the only thing that makes it different and makes me stay.

McLunas...welp it was a little comical way to look at Luna...a fun deco challenge, and something that makes my shop stand out. I could have a borg cube or a plot with 1000 vendors standing around but I've a fear of "blending in"

Ok, enough, back to the big issues.

 

[GL_Seller]

HAHA i love the 95% thing ****ing hilarious. They found yet another way to say we are working on it...

Anyone wanna guess how long the last 5% will take? 6 months a year?

Also galen seriously ur a god damn champ give urself a pat on the back for catching a god damn mistake. OMG HE FORGOT THE H LORD SAVE US. Also ghostbusters kicked ass.