the game is empty

[ingsmsico]

no one is really playing UO anymore, soon it will be gone.

 

[Felonious Monk]

What!!??
It's Chaos!!
Which UO are you playing??
*Scatches head*
Ahhh...... I see.
Pull my finger..........

 

[Madrid]

I'm sorry but the graphics are sorely lacking. I closed 4 accounts with the release of SA & the EC client. Had they left UOKR on the table as an option I'd still be playing. I understand their POV in that they don't want to maintain mulptiple clients but the EC was 3 steps backwards from a visual standpoint.

I often check the boards here on stratics and would like to make a return to the game I will always cherish and love but the current graphics are **** poor.

I'm sure we'll get the "I play for game quality not graphics and if I wanted a game with great graphics I'd be playing WoW" typical response. To all those reread the title of this thread...there is a reason UO is getting emptier and emptier and it's not because of a lack of content.

The reality is having a game with good graphics and content aren't mutually exclusive of one another. UOKR was a step in the right direction. I wish the advancement in graphics and higher resolution would have been taken a step further beyond UOKR towards what was going on in the Titan Quest game engine but instead it went in reverse.

How do you honestly expect to draw in new players/customers (which is essential to the survival of any business)? With these ridiculous outdated graphics circa 1997...it's not going to happen.

Get Saphrineena on the payroll and start retouching the graphics and maybe in a year or two we'll have a game with some decent high resolution graphics. But the LOW resolution has got to go at some point in order to move this game forward.

I was around when Rainz firefielded Lord British to death. I am a HUGE fan of Ultima and always will be but the 2D graphics and all those low resolution graphics of that era have served their purpose. It's time to move on...

As for the jurrassics..and there are many of them...they are the reason the game is dying and apparently even they are leaving the game after lobbying against UOKR which despite all it's flaws was forward progress.

I hope to make a return someday soon. I hope UO stays around for another 25-30 years but something needs to be done to attract new players as well as old veterans like myself who are burnt out to hell with those ****ty 2d graphics.

 

[Taylor]

no one is really playing UO anymore, soon it will be gone.

Sweeping generalizations are rarely informed. E.g., see above quote.

 

[Crysta]

But he's right. It IS empty. People AREN'T playing.. but.. that's because of THE HOLIDAYS AND NEW YEARS. People will start coming back in January, just like every year, as this is always a quiet time for UO aside from the holiday gifts.

 

[Freelsy]

I'm sorry but the graphics are sorely lacking. I closed 4 accounts with the release of SA & the EC client. Had they left UOKR on the table as an option I'd still be playing. I understand their POV in that they don't want to maintain mulptiple clients but the EC was 3 steps backwards from a visual standpoint.

I often check the boards here on stratics and would like to make a return to the game I will always cherish and love but the current graphics are **** poor.

I'm sure we'll get the "I play for game quality not graphics and if I wanted a game with great graphics I'd be playing WoW" typical response. To all those reread the title of this thread...there is a reason UO is getting emptier and emptier and it's not because of a lack of content.

The reality is having a game with good graphics and content aren't mutually exclusive of one another. UOKR was a step in the right direction. I wish the advancement in graphics and higher resolution would have been taken a step further beyond UOKR towards what was going on in the Titan Quest game engine but instead it went in reverse.

How do you honestly expect to draw in new players/customers (which is essential to the survival of any business)? With these ridiculous outdated graphics circa 1997...it's not going to happen.

Get Saphrineena on the payroll and start retouching the graphics and maybe in a year or two we'll have a game with some decent high resolution graphics. But the LOW resolution has got to go at some point in order to move this game forward.

I was around when Rainz firefielded Lord British to death. I am a HUGE fan of Ultima and always will be but the 2D graphics and all those low resolution graphics of that era have served their purpose. It's time to move on...

As for the jurrassics..and there are many of them...they are the reason the game is dying and apparently even they are leaving the game after lobbying against UOKR which despite all it's flaws was forward progress.

I hope to make a return someday soon. I hope UO stays around for another 25-30 years but something needs to be done to attract new players as well as old veterans like myself who are burnt out to hell with those ****ty 2d graphics.

YOU DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME FOR THE VISUAL EFFECTS. Not sure how much clearer that can get. This game is loved for its playability and versatility. You can do whatever you want and are not resctricted by class. Its a different gaming generation from us growing up on Ultima to the care bears growing up with WOW and these other shinny games. They have good graphics but look at there playability....they suck balls.


If your looking for graphics to make you'r pants happy, then WOW is this way ---------------->

 

[ACB1961]

no one is really playing UO anymore, soon it will be gone.

Someone tell this guy the first time we heard that. 1999-2000 maybe rofl

Atlantic is rocking come on by and check us out. We have high shard pop in the middle of the day most days. I'll be honest though there are some shards that are graveyards, but its sure not the one I play on.

 

[Slayvite]

I think if anything peeps are leaving because of the ever increasing ammount of bugs and dupes. Some years old and lots on nearly every patch they do these days. People will lose intrest very quickly when that item they spent months getting suddenly vanishes or is lost to something as old as the insurance bug.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Gameplay and graphics are NOT mutually exclusive, nor should they be.

Madrid is right. As long as they are maintaining the 2d client (i.e. as long as the 2d client remains functional), they should have NEVER done such a hideous backpedal on the quality of the new graphics in the KR client.

There is absolutely NO reason why UO's graphics cannot be advanced and improved and the color and art quality of the beloved new items (i.e. the new jack-o-lanterns and the new cornucopias) prove this.

Graphics that are more up to date than 1997 AND Gameplay of UO we know and love... we can have BOTH.

They are NOT mutually exclusive.

If you're looking for cheap graphics and gameplay to make your pants happy, then Nethack is that way <--------------------------

 

[Yacct]

I got more multiplayer action in dragon age. Had optional man on man action too, good times.

 

[Crysta]

If you feel like talking about another game you should try going to a forum related to it.. i'm sure you'd find plenty of people that are actually interested in it there.

 

[Sneaky Que]

I'm sorry but the graphics are sorely lacking. I closed 4 accounts with the release of SA & the EC client. Had they left UOKR on the table as an option I'd still be playing. I understand their POV in that they don't want to maintain mulptiple clients but the EC was 3 steps backwards from a visual standpoint.

I often check the boards here on stratics and would like to make a return to the game I will always cherish and love but the current graphics are **** poor.

I'm sure we'll get the "I play for game quality not graphics and if I wanted a game with great graphics I'd be playing WoW" typical response. To all those reread the title of this thread...there is a reason UO is getting emptier and emptier and it's not because of a lack of content.

The reality is having a game with good graphics and content aren't mutually exclusive of one another. UOKR was a step in the right direction. I wish the advancement in graphics and higher resolution would have been taken a step further beyond UOKR towards what was going on in the Titan Quest game engine but instead it went in reverse.

How do you honestly expect to draw in new players/customers (which is essential to the survival of any business)? With these ridiculous outdated graphics circa 1997...it's not going to happen.

Get Saphrineena on the payroll and start retouching the graphics and maybe in a year or two we'll have a game with some decent high resolution graphics. But the LOW resolution has got to go at some point in order to move this game forward.

I was around when Rainz firefielded Lord British to death. I am a HUGE fan of Ultima and always will be but the 2D graphics and all those low resolution graphics of that era have served their purpose. It's time to move on...

As for the jurrassics..and there are many of them...they are the reason the game is dying and apparently even they are leaving the game after lobbying against UOKR which despite all it's flaws was forward progress.

I hope to make a return someday soon. I hope UO stays around for another 25-30 years but something needs to be done to attract new players as well as old veterans like myself who are burnt out to hell with those ****ty 2d graphics.

Go play WoW. If graphics are all you care about you will like it a lot, be warned tho, that is about the only thing it has going for it. I like to call it the Brittany Spears (or Paris Hilton works too) MMO. Enough said.

Happy new year

 

[Vexxed]

lol Crysta... I felt his comment about Wow was appropriate... I play UO for it's content not it's graphics.... "Oh that pretty" doesn't cut it .... RPG pen and paper days.. no graphics there but oh soooooo fun lol.

 

[Crysta]

I was actually rather replying directly to Yacct...

 

[curlybeard]

Ultima Online, the sky's been falling since 1997.

 

[It Lives]

...

Gameplay and graphics are NOT mutually exclusive, nor should they be.

Madrid is right. As long as they are maintaining the 2d client (i.e. as long as the 2d client remains functional), they should have NEVER done such a hideous backpedal on the quality of the new graphics in the KR client.

There is absolutely NO reason why UO's graphics cannot be advanced and improved and the color and art quality of the beloved new items (i.e. the new jack-o-lanterns and the new cornucopias) prove this.

Graphics that are more up to date than 1997 AND Gameplay of UO we know and love... we can have BOTH.

They are NOT mutually exclusive.

If you're looking for cheap graphics and gameplay to make your pants happy, then Nethack is that way <--------------------------

Both Items look nice, but feel and look out of place locked down in my home.

Which to me proves nothing, nothing but the lack of effort to keep the look and feel of the game we(Ludites) all love.

 

[DarkVoid]

As for the jurrassics..and there are many of them...they are the reason the game is dying and apparently even they are leaving the game after lobbying against UOKR which despite all it's flaws was forward progress.

I hope to make a return someday soon. I hope UO stays around for another 25-30 years but something needs to be done to attract new players as well as old veterans like myself who are burnt out to hell with those ****ty 2d graphics.

If by 'jurassics' in the quoted portion of your above post you mean veteran account owning players, you insult them and me, because I'm also a veteran account owning player who has played since then.

Therefore, I will say this, once: Speak for yourself, not for others. Your post is poorly worded, and could have been better written to reflect your own viewpoint and not imply that you speak for others like yourself, which as far as I'm concerned, you most certainly do not.

I'm happy to say I'm glad we still have the original graphics UO has had for twelve plus years now. Go with the virtues of Ultima not against them, Madrid, and UO will have many more fun filled years to come!

Cheers ...

DarkVoid

 

[Black Sun]

I've been playing UO since 2000 on and off. I remember way back then when people were saying "UO is dead. Trammel and UOR killed the game!"

That was nearly 10 years ago, yet here we are. I'm what you would consider a 2D fanatic. I have tried Third Dawn, KR and SA clients. None of them looked good. They were terrible. I am not in any way opposed to a graphical update, provided it looks as clean as 2D does. KR and SA look blurry. 3D looked blocky.

Until they can provide a client that is as easy and functional as 2D with UOA that doesn't make my eyes bleed after 45 minutes of play I'll continue to support and use the Classic Client.

 

[popps]

no one is really playing UO anymore, soon it will be gone.

I disagree, I think the players are there only, since there is a lot of land and many servers, the players are scattered all over........

Also, because of the Holidays, many go visit their family, grandparents and such and often they do not have the chance to play a game where they are for the Holidays.

That's at least how I see it.

By the way, best wishes of a great 2010 to Ultima Online !!

 

[KalVasTENKI]

But he's right. It IS empty. People AREN'T playing.. but.. that's because of THE HOLIDAYS AND NEW YEARS. People will start coming back in January, just like every year, as this is always a quiet time for UO aside from the holiday gifts.

/Thread.

 

[Petra Fyde]

There are so many opinions on this. KR was loved by some, yet it made some people actually unwell, as does SA. I can't play it for the length of time I play 2D, it makes my head ache. It lacks clarity, causing me to squint to see things.
Madrid mentioned Saphireena and actually, what she does would have been more acceptable to many. She doesn't make new graphics, she updates the existing graphics, keeping them familiar to us all.
On topic, uo is far from empty, I'm reading more and more posts from people who are returning and twice very recently there have been mentions of fixes to speed hacks, which should, I think, bring back more.

 

[DVI]

i for one dont play this game bc of the graphics, i play bc of the versatility uo offers, and the people. quite simply i love uo for what it is. ive tried other games with much better graphics but got bored very quickly with the grind grind grind of a preset template and limited game play options.

uo gives me so much more, and i also have to admit im not a big fan of the new oh so improved and amazing graphics these days, i long for the days of 8 bit nintendo. in fact i often use nes emulators to play some of my favorite games in the old 8 bit graphics b/c it seems back in those days they payed alot more attention to the details of the game and the content rather than how shiny everything looked.

i dont know i for one am quite content with the graphics!

 

[Winker]

Europa has seen better days, it is rather quite in fel. But lets hope its just down to the festive season, and not players leaving.

 

[Connor_Graham]

To all those reread the title of this thread...there is a reason UO is getting emptier and emptier and it's not because of a lack of content.

Yeah, and that reason is that you're looking at the wrong game.

According to the people that actually work for EA/Mythic, you know, the ones that have access to the real numbers and not just ones made up by some random person on the internet, subs are up.

Personally, I'll go with the people that actually know, and not Chicken Little. Pretty soon Chicken Little will run into the Colonel and become Chicken Bucket. I wouldn't trust him.

 

[Splup]

Europa has seen better days, it is rather quite in fel. But lets hope its just down to the festive season, and not players leaving.

Mages are quitting cause noone bothers fighting 60 SSI velo+hitspell 180 stamina speedhacking archers with endless manapool... I quess this imbueable daimyos helmet was the final nail in the coffin for felucca (PvP) on Europa.

 

[Lord Urza]

::Yawn:: I just talked to 3 compleatly new to uo players this week alone. One of them was a 40 something year old who had never played an mmo.
I dont belive we need to worry that uo is getting ready to shut down. Im meeting new players, the dev team seems to be gearing up for a new year. Chill out!


<Would quit uo if classic client wasnt an option>

 

[Cailleach]

As a guild geared for new and returning players, we're seeing a lot of both. Mind you, I've noticed that 'youngs' tend to be a bit like buses - you won't see one for a while, then half a dozen come along at once!

I loathed KR, I really did, not least the fact that you needed a degree in IT to set the damn thing up. And the graphics were horrible. Sadly, every time I see a screeny of EC, I wince. The graphics are still horrible. And what's with the cu sidhe? Are we riding them or running with a leg either side of them? That really makes me wince, given that the cu sidhe of legend was supposed to be the size of a cow!

As others have said, numbers playing aren't going down, it's just that there's so many places for folks to be now, they're all spread out all over the place. Given the population explosion of my guild in the last few months, I promise, there's still plenty of folks starting to play or coming back

 

[Llwyd]

I like SA. I play the classic client and still enjoy the "old" look. UO has been around since 1997 and I suspect it may still be here after I'm gone.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

Bye! I left and came back ... I cannot handle the EC graphics (eyes hurt after a while), but can handle "those ****ty 2d graphics" (as you put it). I play to relax.

 

[Novak(Caci)]

Move to Atlantic shard its high populated.
And every day isee young player at new haven
on Atlantic shard.If i ask where have you beed?
They youngs say i played uo long time ago and now im back because its the best game.Some unser i was 5 years in wow but its not good as uo and now im back.

 

[Miriandel]

I'm very surprized some people like WoW graphics, they are as outdated as UO, which, like UO, does not matter in the slightest.

I played Conan, Vangard and *coughs* Warhammer, which all feature top notch graphics and, another common point, are all dead and buried.

To each his own, I guess, but the MMO industry has proven that graphics are the less important factor.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I love how people who say "graphics don't matter" and "I don't play for the graphics" go into spastic fits of rage when the idea that UO's graphics could be improved comes up.

If graphics truely do not matter, and the 2d client is still usable (which it should be due to the invent of the NetBook), then noone is forcing you to use "that other client" (whatever version it may be).

In the meantime, it would be good for the game as a whole (as in beyond the view of people stuck in 1997) if the devs were able to make an updated client both functionally and graphically. Functionally we are getting. Graphically we had... at least for a time.

UO is not an off the shelf game like Dragon Age or Baldur's Gate or Dungeon Siege. Its archetecture is not limited to the one-time development cycle never to be improved, only to be "sequeled" in order to release the improvements. In theory, UO's technology and graphics could be updated as quickly as time and dev resources allow and remain the same UO we have been playing for over a decade.

Graphics do not turn UO into "not UO", nor do they turn UO into WoW. UO is UO.

If "graphics don't matter" as much as a larger player base, then you would think people would welcome the upgrades needed to help bring in and bring back more people.

 

[Petra Fyde]

The thing is, Dermott, when the newer graphics make people's eyes or heads ache, or cause motion sickness, preventing them from playing as long as they'd like to. I wouldn't consider them 'improved', just drawn more recently.
re-touched, higher resolution versions of the familiar graphics would have been much easier to accept and we wouldn't have had vision problems.

 

[wrekognize]

If your looking for graphics to make you'r pants happy, then WOW is this way ---------------->

WOW’s graphics are far from special. I logged in a month ago and could not believe how dated it looks.

 

[Phineas le Monge]

I guess I'm just old, but I grew up in the days of Ultima III on an old Commodore 64. Now those graphics SUCKED, but the content was what I enjoyed. Now in Ultima Online I still enjoy the content - I've played off and on for years and there are still places I haven't been and monsters I haven't fought. I enjoy the exploration and discovery, meeting new people, and the ability to look at the screen without getting a headache. If you grew up with WoW and PS2 and such you propbably won't like UO's simple graphics. I prefer the "less than realistic" look and feel of the game because I play this game for FUN. I enjoy it's old look and ways and can enjoy it for hours at the time. If all you want is graphics, go back to your console games. We old timers and slow timers like our game the way it is- UO speaks of a glorious time when content and the ability to craft one's own destiny was something special that NOBODY else could give you - and judging by what I've seen of the games my kid plays, they still can't. After over a decade, UO is still the best - nobody else comes close.

 

[Siteswap]

Why is it always the Content vs Graphics debate. That is not what has ruined UO. Theres always been plenty of content and many people still love the original graphics.

What has ruined UO (and YES, it is ruined, otherwise subscription numbers would have steadily increased or at least levelled out over the years rather than dropped through the floor) is EA/Mythic.

Lack of investment, lack of interest by EA, Shoddy programming (everytime they do something new they bust 5 things), bugs unfixed for years, rampant cheating that goes unaddressed and ignored by the Devs/EA, wasted time, money and effort (KR ... what a turkey), lack of support, lack of any discernable customer service.

ALL OF THESE THINGS.

Thats why UO has gone backwards in subscriptions over the last decade ... not because of content or graphics.

People expect more from the game they pay for. EA just take the money and offer no quality of product. Its a cash cow for them ... return for no investment. Free money.

If Blizzard had done the same thing to WOW after a couple of years then WOW's numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands now. But no .. they invested ... improved ... offered a quality service ... offered a quality product. Now they have 10 million + subscribers.

Quite simply a tale of two MMO's ... how to do it and how not to do it.

 

[Crysta]

If Blizzard had done the same thing to WOW after a couple of years then WOW's numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands now. But no .. they invested ... improved ... offered a quality service ... offered a quality product. Now they have 10 million + subscribers.

Quite simply a tale of two MMO's ... how to do it and how not to do it.

You forgot the part where Blizzard had an existing rabid fanbase of millions that would buy any crap shoved down their throat with the branding of one of their series on it that originated from a few early good games that were drawn thin by unneeded sequels. Without those rabid fanbois (that Blizzard doesn't deserve, IMO, as thier games aren't anywhere near that good) WoW would be in the same boat as UO.

And yes.. I tried WoW and would not call it a quality service or quality product, but rather a mediocre attempt to remake Diablo 2 in full 3D and charge for it in perpetuity that gets boring after a short time when you realize there's no point in doing anything past leveling up. Probably the only good thing I feel it has right now is the endorsement of Mr. T.

Only thing Blizzard could do to garner my interest is make a new Lost Vikings game, so long as it doesn't just suck like 2 did.

 

[kelmo]

*tosses a mohawk grenade*

 

[Siteswap]

You forgot the part where Blizzard had an existing rabid fanbase of millions that would buy any crap shoved down their throat with the branding of one of their series on it that originated from a few early good games that were drawn thin by unneeded sequels. Without those rabid fanbois (that Blizzard doesn't deserve, IMO, as thier games aren't anywhere near that good) WoW would be in the same boat as UO.

Nonsense.

The point is that those "rabid fanbois" would have slowly drifted away after two or three years of crap customer service and zero investment by Blizzard. Instead Blizzard offer a highly polished, professional product with extensive, well tested expansions, regular patches (which dont screw up the rest of the game), excellent customer service and top notch marketing.

UO does the exact opposite.

Oh, and who do you think that 90% of UO's remaining players are? You guessed it ... Rabid Fanboi's.

Had UO been "handled" in the same way that WOW has then it would be right up there. UO had the fanbase but has slowly p!ssed them offer over the years until only those hardcore "rabid fanbois" remain.

 

[the 4th man]

Kids today, if it doesn't have realistic graphics, they BP&M. Again, go to WoW, or whatever gets you off with pixelization.

UO is better than most out there, you don't like it, don't play. You closed all of your 59 accounts, most of us could care less.

Jurassics?? Bet you wouldn't talk like that at the corner gin mill, doing it on the pc is for sissies......I wish all you know-it-all's (other words, a kid)
would just go......you're like mosquitos.

later jr

 

[Crysta]

Oh, and who do you think that 90% of UO's remaining players are? You guessed it ... Rabid Fanboi's.

UO's "fanbois" aren't rabid.. they showed up here and were wowed with a game that was good and stuck around through a ton of crap and a takeover (EA always owned UO, but Origin had most of the say in it til they dissolved). WoW's called in a bunch of people that were wowed by previous early games and dragged along by the "OMGSOL337" sequels and would have played the game anyway just because of the Blizzard branding, and stick around for the same reason.. they're sheep that would stay til the end just because Blizzard owns it. Now I don't mean that's everyone that plays.. but its certainly most of them. Its the same fanaticism that Final Fantasy has these days, also for no good reason.

And as for "patches that don't screw up the game".. wait a while and then see how true that stays. UO has a decade of code addenda to a program written in '96 that the documentation for was lost. Making a patch for it is akin to a romhacker adding a second cartridgeload of new code onto an SNES rom that directly interacts with the original data... without years of work and testing on every minor change, something is bound to break, and catastrophically so.

 

[Phineas le Monge]

I'm not a "roxxer" nor am I 'L33t" nor do I consider myself a "fanboi".
I'm just an old UO'er who loves the game, and I'll still be playin' when they pry my cold dead fingers off my mouse. If mainstream dies, then I'll play private shards. If there is any justice in this world and if anybody is listening, UO will last forever. The dead don't really stir much debate

 

[Death of Hemp]

...

Gameplay and graphics are NOT mutually exclusive, nor should they be.

Madrid is right. As long as they are maintaining the 2d client (i.e. as long as the 2d client remains functional), they should have NEVER done such a hideous backpedal on the quality of the new graphics in the KR client.

There is absolutely NO reason why UO's graphics cannot be advanced and improved and the color and art quality of the beloved new items (i.e. the new jack-o-lanterns and the new cornucopias) prove this.

Graphics that are more up to date than 1997 AND Gameplay of UO we know and love... we can have BOTH.

They are NOT mutually exclusive.

If you're looking for cheap graphics and gameplay to make your pants happy, then Nethack is that way <--------------------------

I agree and disagree. I agree that they shouldn't and don't need to be mutually exclusive. However, the fact is that in today's MMORPG market, there is no game that currently has both. Some have tried, and one in Europe is promising, but currently there is no game with WOW quality graphics and UO quality gameplay. Let's pool all our funds and create one, we'll all be rich!!!

 

[Trebr Drab]

UO's gonna need more stuffs. Once everyone has all the imbued items they want, and all the ingredients to refill what they lose, and MOBs are adjusted because everyone has uber powered stuffs, and new players find it even harder to catch up so they can play with established players if they don't just quit...then UO will need more uber stuffs.

That's the secret to success, just as the greatest MMORPG evah, WoW. More even more uber stuffs!

Meanwhile, a very few of us will still be asking what ever happened to the Relics of Mondain. Well, maybe just me.

 

[Phineas le Monge]

Are you quitting? Can I have your "stuffs"?

 

[Evlar]

Europa has seen better days, it is rather quite in fel. But lets hope its just down to the festive season, and not players leaving.

I've recently moved from Great Lakes, because my latency is much better with my poopy connection. Factions activity on Great Lakes is superb and possibly amongst the best shards for it.

Sadly on Europa, it seems that 90% of people are in CoM just for the faction items and so they can PvP without stat loss. This makes any factions activity, stealing sigils, base raids, group battles & great teamwork, pretty much none-existant. Factions for me, gives PvP some point and focus. I'm afraid I'm just not interested in running around Yew gate looking for the occasional scrap.

Hopefully, if the devs are in fact still working on it (hopefully), then any future changes to the PvP system and Factions, will encourage more people to want to participate.

Other than that, Europa always seems to be well populated and has some superb, knowledgeable and extremely friendly players, playing the game for the fun and enjoyment it gives them.

Overall with UO though, yes it's nice to see graphical improvements made, so long as they're not to the detriment of the quality of the gameplay, content and player-base that brought me back to UO in the first place.

Perhaps it's because I'm of a certain age, like many players, who grew up with crap graphics on computers like the BBC, Spectrum, Commodore, Amstrad, older PC's etc... but remember truly great games that most certainly weren't anything to write home about when it came to graphics. They had great content and gameplay and it comes as no surprise when you look how often emulators such as dosbox are downloaded. The wow (no pun intended) factor of flashy graphics does often catch the eye, but how often in recent years have people been left disappointed afterwards, when they're bored because of the limited content or short time it's taken to "complete" a game. There's a vast array of activities and possibilities with UO, which is what makes it great and so long lived.

As for empty shards, I've only ever played Great Lakes and Europa, neither of which ever seemed empty to me. This might be the case on some shards and maybe it's something that will be looked at in the future, with shard mergers. I don't know what the minimum number of players on servers would be, before EA/Mythic would consider shutting them down.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Having played WoW, KR's graphics IMO were MUCH better done than WoW. One thing that always bothererd me about WoW's graphics were the repeating nature of the terrain. Get any kind of distance or height on the terrain (regardless of type) and you see it's simply a single repeating pattern endlessly.

KR's (and thus the EC) terrain is randoized and varied enough that there is no such pattern.

Also, the quality of the creature models was VERY high in KR compared to both 2d and WoW.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to persuade the certain people over to a new client, most of that quality has been lost and we're left with yet another "also ran" client.

Clients aside, I think if there's any one "great failing" of UO, one that has transcended dev teams, one that reaches across client work and content work, it's the consistent lack of completion.

Our events, as great as they have been create plotlines that remain dangling for YEARS. KR's and the EC's development was and has been left unfinished after reaching a certain level of "complete".

It's the one aspect that annoys me more than any really.

 

[Trebr Drab]

UO's gonna need more stuffs. Once everyone has all the imbued items they want, and all the ingredients to refill what they lose, and MOBs are adjusted because everyone has uber powered stuffs, and new players find it even harder to catch up so they can play with established players if they don't just quit...then UO will need more uber stuffs.

That's the secret to success, just as the greatest MMORPG evah, WoW. More even more uber stuffs!

Meanwhile, a very few of us will still be asking what ever happened to the Relics of Mondain. Well, maybe just me.

 

[canary]

I tried WoW and would not call it a quality service or quality product

Well, I play UO, and I'm wondering what game YOU are playing, because, as much as I adore UO, NO ONE can state that it has 'quality' service or product.

(Well, you CAN state it, I guess... you'd just be lying.)

Does 'quality service' include canned responses or no responses at all the majority of times you need assistance? Does 'quality service' mean you provide lip service every so often about implementing fixes for things like speed hacks or dupes (I mean, yes, they've been attended to possibly a handful of times in over a decade, yay). Does anyone recall the end of the Magincia event that was to be turned on for a Friday for the weekend and they forgot to do it, only to realize their mistake on TUESDAY (no, not Monday.. Tuesday)? Does quality service include promising to 'fix' minor things like the EC's male paperdoll for the past 2 years now?

As far as product, UO has languished overall for years in regards to updated content. Heck, humans still have to wear the same tired piddly choice of skirt, fancy shirt, etc. SA did have some nice content in it, and there have been some very interesting ideas (blowing up an entire CITY, thats pretty impressive) but overall other games provide more ongoing content. Even a F2P game like Runes of Magic had much better Halloween and Christmas content in terms of depth and gameplay.

Things that UO needs to be viable:

1) Better art. KR was a misfire from the word go. IMO it wasn't just that people like their safe 2d, it was that, to many, the art was just plain hideous. Early art should NEVER have passed muster in the UO offices and they should have demanded it be redone immediately. Now there is a ton of substandard work that is never to see the light of day again. I guarantee if it looked as good as even a Titans Quest there would have been more acceptance.

2) Better communication. Why is UO, above and beyond any other game I play, so notoriously tight lipped? IMO all it makes them look like is that there IS no game plan. There is constant talk about how they want to prove communication... well you know what? DO IT THEN. I'm personally sick and tired about 'Oh boy, just wait'll you see what's coming up!' and then there is... nothing. Some may state that the team changes plans, but they did that YEARS ago with 'in concept' and 'in development' on the main UO page and that was well received. Many of those ideas never were put into place, either... but at least you knew the team WAS working.

3) Finish up the EC client or put in yet another one. There was a news release that China was putting together a fully 3d version of Ultima Online in house. Is it possible that we too may get this? If not, it is imperative that the EC be finished. I'm very pro a new updated client, but totally appalled by the apparent lack of effort put into the EC client. The world should not 'wave' as I'm walking or running in game. All the art should be IN the game. There should be the same level of functioning as the 2d client... better even. As it stands, games with far fewer resources have made very professional looking clients. The EC looks like, imo, some kids put it together. It looks and runs poorly (I can 'run' it on my computer very well, I mean its overall level of being streamlined), and there is zero excuse for that.

 

[Phineas le Monge]

I know some shards seem "empty" during certain times of day, but think about it - there are so many places you can go, so many quests you can do - really what is "empty" or "gone" is the 23 hour a day banksitters. They are now an endangered species as there is so much to do in UO. Saying UO is empty is like saying your town is empty just because no one is in the McDonald's drive-thru at this very second. Powergamers have declined as the casual player with a real life has taken over. I love my UO, but I can only spend so many hours a day playing. Real life demands limits on that "joy" time with my guildies and friends.

If you want more peeps come to Atlantic so you can stand in line for Swoop with the rest of us...