Official Siege Perilous Poll Question/Concern Thread (Keep 'em here!)

[Subishi]

Sometimes there are more important things than being a mod -- like having the freedom to speak my mind.

Allowing non-Siege players to vote in this poll is ridiculous. Consider this analogy:
Because we want to know what people in Africa want to have to eat, we decide to do a poll. But we decide to throw open the poll to the entire world, because if non-Africans get to decide what is eaten in Africa then maybe they'll someday decide to move there. So the entire world gets to decide what Africans should be forced to eat, even though most people know nothing at all of their community, their culture, or their preferences. Does this make any sense to anyone?? (No offense to any Africans, I just randomly chose a continent. )

Siege has been neglected, totally and completely, for years. We the players have done everything in our power to build our shard -- we've made recruitment drives, we've advertised our shard, we've set up the guild NEW to help players get started, and as individuals many of us have looked for new players and given them a hand. There is NOTHING more that we as players can do; our shard is broken, everyone knows our shard is broken, and nobody wants to be bothered creating a character on a neglected, second-rate shard where they'll never be able to compete because of a lack of a PBD. For the devs to come here now, after ignoring us for so long, and threaten to shut us down due to lack of population is laughable. If the devs really cared about Siege, these issues would have been fixed when they became problems, not months or years later.

Personally, it seems the main thing keeping a lot of Siege players from moving to player-run shards for free instead of paying EA for the privilege of playing Siege, is the stability that EA offers. It's a comforting feeling to know that the things I've worked so hard for will still be there next month, a comfort I don't have on free shards. And with one thoughtless statement, Binky took that reassurance away from us.

My accounts aren't shut down yet... but they're heading in that direction, and I'm not making any long term plans. Do I think Siege will still be here next month? Yes, actually, I do. Do I think this is the death of the shard? No. But never before have I actually had to worry that my shard won't be there next month -- and if I'm going to have the threat hanging over my head that the shard will just go away if I'm not a good little girl and do everything that EA demands of me (such as thank them for the privilege of letting other shards vote insurance onto Siege), I'd prefer to spend my money on some other form of entertainment.

 

[Merlock]

****ing A, Subishi.

 

[Guest]

I would like to make this observation. A month or so ago I was one of the players who met with Fetbert at WBB on siege. He came ingame, on his own time that he could have been spending with his family, to discuss the blessed status of 7AE gifts with us, among other things. I found him to be quite reasonable and open minded. He showed us that not only was UO his job but that he also cared about the game and its players. More importantly, he showed that he cared about Siege.

He told us that, personally, he didn't think the 7AE items should be blessed on siege and he embraced the "one PBD for all" idea. He also had ideas of his own about promoting player growth on Siege, something as simple as letting siege be a shard listed that a new player can instantly choose to play on during character creation. He also mentioned that it was his belief that insurance on other shards was "out of control" and something needed to be done. He planned to take these ideas back to his co-workers and bosses.

After that night I couldn't have been more optimistic about the future of UO and siege. Here was a Dev who obviously had the game's best interests at heart. He was working hard to make the game better, something closer to the game intended by Richard Garriot and OSI years ago. The success that stunned the gaming community and the internet.

However, everything that has happened after the meeting with Fetbert has been terrible. 7AE gifts are still blessed on siege. PBD's still have not been issued (or removed entirely). And worst of all, Binky now says siege is in danger of being shut down. Combine Binky's statement with these facts and tell me how bright the future is for siege: a shard already in the decline (population wise), massively neglected bugs and problems and the inability for new players to compete. What is sad is that Binky places all the blame on the siege community... an unabashed slap in the face to all those who have fought long and hard for the shard they call home.

So, now I am left in a complete state of disillusionment. I see a hard working Dev team that gets ignored by their bosses. Perhaps, instead, these bosses listen to their crack marketing team, which has done such a bang up job holding onto UO's marketplace. I see the voice of UO, Binky, put the final nail in the coffin with his threat to close down the first north american shard ever since no one in their right mind would start a character on siege anymore. I see a new expansion on the horizon that is completely devoid of creativity... something obviously created by these alleged marketing gurus. What's next, EA? How about a play by play description of PvP battles by John Madden and Pat Summerall?

 

[Phish Phan]

*applauds*

 

[Khyronkt]

Actually, I see more and more people on siege everyday. NEW guild, and just a whole bunch of others. I think that siege is getting bigger because people are finally waking up and realizing that insurance is a bad thing. Good for siege though.

As far as this poll goes, I don't think we will get a fair vote without it being in-game as i've stated. I have yet to see any dev team comment on this idea/issue. It is either being ignored or not even seen.

 

[Goodah]

Close down a US Shard...Har! lets see where this game goes if they do that. Newsflash - EA closes down US Shard! What kind of effect would that have on the gaming public. I'm sorry we have to close your shard. We will give you a free char transfer thou and if you buy the new UO:SE you might even get a chance at placing a small home somewhere...if...you are fast enough.