I
imported_Hecubus
Guest
Boy I can’t ever find that gem in Serpent’s Hold to be any other color than green, for the life of me. I stop by anytime I log in, it’s part of my BOD run routine. I swear I’ve only seen it another color once, and usually I end up reading about what I missed on Stratics.
The same is true with that talking rat and Ricardo the thief. I miss events like it’s outta style, and if it weren’t for Stratics, I wouldn’t know about these types of events at all. The one thing I can count on is storytime at the Y on Friday nights, and a decent chance that a friend or guildmate is on. Much of my other time spent hunting, training, decorating, or what have you seems like ‘filler’ to me until a group of friends get online, or if by some miracle I happen to be on during one of these EM/GM events.
*sigh*
I don’t blame the EMs for me missing their events much at all. They are working with limited resources and hours just like I am, and getting the message across in game just hasn’t lent itself well to any idea of ‘scheduling’ short of being online all the time.
Or checking that gem. Ohh I wish it were another color!
I will admit that Ricky Ricardo and the talking rat have me bored to tears. The “This is as far as you can go, for now” beeswax is pretty frustrating. Much of my knowledge of action is announced after the fact, and most of the Town Criers are one event behind anyway. I liken it to trying to watch a TV show, and everytime you turn it to that channel, it’s just a 30 second looped recap of the previous episode, that I missed as well.
It’s safe to say that EMs and shardwide events just aren’t gonna cut it for my entertainment anyway. But knowing this- it doesn’t mean that I want to succumb to the mindless item and skill grind that for me is really just ‘filler’ for the real entertainment value of playing this game.
I touched on something earlier though- knowing that storytelling at the Y is on Friday nights at 7:30pm is fairly reliable. Substantially more reliable than that gem or glorified barkeep NPC’s anyway. Dor and the news team do an admirable job announcing the event- they post it on our events calendar, generally post a reminder thread- and there is often a news story after the fact.
And that isn’t unique to the YMCA storytelling nights either. Most player run events (PRE’s) are announced and pre-scheduled with a commendable level of press, and planning. Players leave marked runes and books in towns and moongates- they send out mass ICQ’s, and sometimes they even have players head to towns to announce events personally. Players have been fairly innovative with their ability to let the rest of us know what’s going on, and in many ways, PRE’s are simply better organized and IMHO more fun than chasing a talking NPC rat around, or waiting for a caravan to show up.
If I were to take mental inventory of which is better: (EA run events vs. PRE’s) I personally find PRE’s to be superior with the exception of a couple of items:
- You can’t get quest items from PRE’s.
- PRE’s can’t spawn unique boss monsters in the middle of town.
I might be in the minority with regards to my attitude towards quest items. Sure- it would be great to get them, but they’re not my main reason for wanting to attend an event. Item 2, though, is. I love a good scrap, and I love dynamic bosses and spawns. I can attend PRE’s, but they can’t give me an Ophidian General spawn halfway through conversation! If player run events could do more than take us to an existing dungeon, or pop a level 6-tmap in front of us, I may very well skip UO events entirely(like much of the rampant apathy towards these events without the promise of rares). Let’s face it, in UO events:
1) The writing is abysmally poor. To be able to understand this- you need to suspend your innate desire for rares for a moment to put it into perspective. Right now you’re following a talking rat into the sewer, to fight alligators and other rats, for coins. Ophidians came and then left, some talk in Moonglow, black rocks that only legendary mages can use, a thief named Ricardo (for crying out loud!!!), a caravan that gets ambushed as it leaves town, and then after leaving some dead-ended intrigue it just pops into its destination. It’s a flat, disjointed plotline of which you have no influence over, designed to intrigue you and inspire grand designs of how awesome the event could really be (like a movie trailer that never gets to the actual movie). Inevitably these plots fail to deliver.
2) Events just seem poorly planned and executed. Town criers are always a step behind. Following news items on Stratics is (by its very nature) a step behind. There seem to be too many instances of quest items (as well as items that don’t appear to be intended as quest items) being gathered by a very small proportion of players who cross shard them or ebay them.
So, needless to say- I, like some others, desperately battle apathy in my attempt to entertain myself and be an active participant in UO events. But on that front- I’m really starved for entertainment. Leave a kid in a room without toys and he’ll play with the pillows and bits he finds in the trash can. That is how starved some of us feel for adventure.
But on another front- it’s very encouraging to see players taking it upon themselves to add their own adventure to UO, and entertain others in the process. The other day I encountered an enigmatic drow while examining Ricardo’s hoopty. I have another player posting RP fiction on my guild forum. These folks are reaching out, and a single afternoon of interaction with them has been better than my entire experience with the Ricardo/talking rat deal thus far! And that’s the beauty of UO- it allows us to have much more immersion than other MMORPG’s- player driven. It’s encouraging to know that some EM’s attend large PRE’s. I would hope that Devs and EM’s take note from some of the successes of PRE’s –what players do right, and how much DEVs/EMs can use their unique tools and resources to make more successful events.
I’ll keep checking that gem. And I’ll read of the events that I miss out on invariably. I’ll work on my own adventure, and continue to hope that UO events improve. And “That’s as far as I can go…for now.”
I am Jack’s crushing 62 yard field goal.
- Hec
The same is true with that talking rat and Ricardo the thief. I miss events like it’s outta style, and if it weren’t for Stratics, I wouldn’t know about these types of events at all. The one thing I can count on is storytime at the Y on Friday nights, and a decent chance that a friend or guildmate is on. Much of my other time spent hunting, training, decorating, or what have you seems like ‘filler’ to me until a group of friends get online, or if by some miracle I happen to be on during one of these EM/GM events.
*sigh*
I don’t blame the EMs for me missing their events much at all. They are working with limited resources and hours just like I am, and getting the message across in game just hasn’t lent itself well to any idea of ‘scheduling’ short of being online all the time.
Or checking that gem. Ohh I wish it were another color!
I will admit that Ricky Ricardo and the talking rat have me bored to tears. The “This is as far as you can go, for now” beeswax is pretty frustrating. Much of my knowledge of action is announced after the fact, and most of the Town Criers are one event behind anyway. I liken it to trying to watch a TV show, and everytime you turn it to that channel, it’s just a 30 second looped recap of the previous episode, that I missed as well.
It’s safe to say that EMs and shardwide events just aren’t gonna cut it for my entertainment anyway. But knowing this- it doesn’t mean that I want to succumb to the mindless item and skill grind that for me is really just ‘filler’ for the real entertainment value of playing this game.
I touched on something earlier though- knowing that storytelling at the Y is on Friday nights at 7:30pm is fairly reliable. Substantially more reliable than that gem or glorified barkeep NPC’s anyway. Dor and the news team do an admirable job announcing the event- they post it on our events calendar, generally post a reminder thread- and there is often a news story after the fact.
And that isn’t unique to the YMCA storytelling nights either. Most player run events (PRE’s) are announced and pre-scheduled with a commendable level of press, and planning. Players leave marked runes and books in towns and moongates- they send out mass ICQ’s, and sometimes they even have players head to towns to announce events personally. Players have been fairly innovative with their ability to let the rest of us know what’s going on, and in many ways, PRE’s are simply better organized and IMHO more fun than chasing a talking NPC rat around, or waiting for a caravan to show up.
If I were to take mental inventory of which is better: (EA run events vs. PRE’s) I personally find PRE’s to be superior with the exception of a couple of items:
- You can’t get quest items from PRE’s.
- PRE’s can’t spawn unique boss monsters in the middle of town.
I might be in the minority with regards to my attitude towards quest items. Sure- it would be great to get them, but they’re not my main reason for wanting to attend an event. Item 2, though, is. I love a good scrap, and I love dynamic bosses and spawns. I can attend PRE’s, but they can’t give me an Ophidian General spawn halfway through conversation! If player run events could do more than take us to an existing dungeon, or pop a level 6-tmap in front of us, I may very well skip UO events entirely(like much of the rampant apathy towards these events without the promise of rares). Let’s face it, in UO events:
1) The writing is abysmally poor. To be able to understand this- you need to suspend your innate desire for rares for a moment to put it into perspective. Right now you’re following a talking rat into the sewer, to fight alligators and other rats, for coins. Ophidians came and then left, some talk in Moonglow, black rocks that only legendary mages can use, a thief named Ricardo (for crying out loud!!!), a caravan that gets ambushed as it leaves town, and then after leaving some dead-ended intrigue it just pops into its destination. It’s a flat, disjointed plotline of which you have no influence over, designed to intrigue you and inspire grand designs of how awesome the event could really be (like a movie trailer that never gets to the actual movie). Inevitably these plots fail to deliver.
2) Events just seem poorly planned and executed. Town criers are always a step behind. Following news items on Stratics is (by its very nature) a step behind. There seem to be too many instances of quest items (as well as items that don’t appear to be intended as quest items) being gathered by a very small proportion of players who cross shard them or ebay them.
So, needless to say- I, like some others, desperately battle apathy in my attempt to entertain myself and be an active participant in UO events. But on that front- I’m really starved for entertainment. Leave a kid in a room without toys and he’ll play with the pillows and bits he finds in the trash can. That is how starved some of us feel for adventure.
But on another front- it’s very encouraging to see players taking it upon themselves to add their own adventure to UO, and entertain others in the process. The other day I encountered an enigmatic drow while examining Ricardo’s hoopty. I have another player posting RP fiction on my guild forum. These folks are reaching out, and a single afternoon of interaction with them has been better than my entire experience with the Ricardo/talking rat deal thus far! And that’s the beauty of UO- it allows us to have much more immersion than other MMORPG’s- player driven. It’s encouraging to know that some EM’s attend large PRE’s. I would hope that Devs and EM’s take note from some of the successes of PRE’s –what players do right, and how much DEVs/EMs can use their unique tools and resources to make more successful events.
I’ll keep checking that gem. And I’ll read of the events that I miss out on invariably. I’ll work on my own adventure, and continue to hope that UO events improve. And “That’s as far as I can go…for now.”
I am Jack’s crushing 62 yard field goal.
- Hec
