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Sir Stain
Guest
I was asked to poll these subjects by people I know that once played. Their refusals to return are based on these.
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Your main concerns
- Thread starter Sir Stain
- Start date
- Watchers 2
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UltimaSword
Guest
UO needs new players. People say UO is amazing because of gameplay and not graphics... well that is 100000000% true. UO (to me) has the most depth and customizable gameplay. While it has some of the worst graphics. In order for UO to get better and survive it needs to appeal to new players and needs to be marketable. Both of which truly do mean we need better graphics. Keep it top down but make the graphics more on diablos level. This is essential for the survival of the game. End of story.
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Kyrie_Elaison
Guest
My Votes;
Yes! UO is failing to attract new players - I think UO is failing to attract new players. Perhaps that there is data that says different, but it doesn't seem to be gaining in the part of Sosaria I'm in. For instance, I have houses by Gravewater Lake and two neighboring houses were deleted. I moved one of my 18x18's next door to another and there was still room for another 18x18 and probably an 18x10 at least. This was over a month ago. Someone just placed an 18x18 in that spot about a week ago. The other spot is still wide open. If we had more players I would have expected to see houses pop right up.
No! The skills levels are set just right with respect to length of time it takes to be a contender - This was a toss up. Some of the skills are hard to work, some aren't. The problem with this question is that items can make any skill go from mediocre to gm and beyond. I would say if the game weren't so item oriented the skills would be set pretty close. The ones that are tuff should be, and the ones that are somewhat easy should be.
No! I feel that UO has another strong 11 years - If the designers can keep adding content, and supporting the current player base, that UO will be able to go on for a long time. It's obvious that they aren't planning to shut down any time soon, or they wouldn't be putting so much effort into further expansions.
Yes I think low populated servers will eventually be closed - This was more of a "I hope so" answer for me. As much as I would hate to see some of the old shards go, it's obvious that they don't need to add servers, and I think we would benefit from less servers. If they do decide to do away with servers I hope they take care of the players on those shards and open up areas for them to move their housing to. Even if that meant changing some of the foliage around Sosaria to do that. I always thought they should have farms and grassland outside of Trinsic.
Just my two cents.
Yes! UO is failing to attract new players - I think UO is failing to attract new players. Perhaps that there is data that says different, but it doesn't seem to be gaining in the part of Sosaria I'm in. For instance, I have houses by Gravewater Lake and two neighboring houses were deleted. I moved one of my 18x18's next door to another and there was still room for another 18x18 and probably an 18x10 at least. This was over a month ago. Someone just placed an 18x18 in that spot about a week ago. The other spot is still wide open. If we had more players I would have expected to see houses pop right up.
No! The skills levels are set just right with respect to length of time it takes to be a contender - This was a toss up. Some of the skills are hard to work, some aren't. The problem with this question is that items can make any skill go from mediocre to gm and beyond. I would say if the game weren't so item oriented the skills would be set pretty close. The ones that are tuff should be, and the ones that are somewhat easy should be.
No! I feel that UO has another strong 11 years - If the designers can keep adding content, and supporting the current player base, that UO will be able to go on for a long time. It's obvious that they aren't planning to shut down any time soon, or they wouldn't be putting so much effort into further expansions.
Yes I think low populated servers will eventually be closed - This was more of a "I hope so" answer for me. As much as I would hate to see some of the old shards go, it's obvious that they don't need to add servers, and I think we would benefit from less servers. If they do decide to do away with servers I hope they take care of the players on those shards and open up areas for them to move their housing to. Even if that meant changing some of the foliage around Sosaria to do that. I always thought they should have farms and grassland outside of Trinsic.
Just my two cents.
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Crystal Canyon
Guest
UltimaSword is absolutly right....what his game needs is more players.
But how does EA expect to get new blood to the game if people are uaware that it even exists? You no longer see any type of advertising at all about UO. You cant even buy the game in Wal-mart anymore!
I have spoken to several young people who play WoW and they have never heard of Ultima Online. It doesnt really surprise me though.
What is up with this anyway? Why would you spend time, money, and alot of human resourse on a product and then not advertise it?
It seems to me that maybe we, the players, are the only ones that want this game to continue and to grow...to be like it used to be! Wouldnt that be fantastic?
But how does EA expect to get new blood to the game if people are uaware that it even exists? You no longer see any type of advertising at all about UO. You cant even buy the game in Wal-mart anymore!
I have spoken to several young people who play WoW and they have never heard of Ultima Online. It doesnt really surprise me though.
What is up with this anyway? Why would you spend time, money, and alot of human resourse on a product and then not advertise it?
It seems to me that maybe we, the players, are the only ones that want this game to continue and to grow...to be like it used to be! Wouldnt that be fantastic?
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Sir Stain
Guest
We were all (7 of us) playing poker and having a few beers when this discussion came about. We all played together on Great Lakes back then and Dalamar ( a char name then) asked another question that I advised against posting but would like to know the answer if possible . CAN Ultima Online outsource and if so would it affect the game in a positive or negative manner???
I would say UO is not fun enough in the first few hours for new players - there is a steep learning curve (I didn't figure out item properties until several months of playing) and without a critical mass of new players, the freeform openness of UO can be a little lonely. It was designed with the assumption that people would come in having played the single-player Ultimas, so there is very little exposition of the background of the world - many people joining now will have never heard of Ultima.
I would say that skills are not to hard to increase (it should require an investment of play to "max out"). Rather, too many skills have no gameplay associated with them at the lower skill levels - so it becomes a grind to get through them to get at the GM content. Only a few templates can actually be started, played naturally in a fun way and reach full skill levels without setting aside time to grind a skill through repeditive actions.
I don't think UO will be shut down soon - there may well be enough zombie accounts (people who rarely log in but keep paying) to keep it going forever. I just worry that the resources devoted to keeping it fresh and updated may dwindle.
Similarly, I don't think that the servers will ever be shut down - it creates an excuse for people to quit who would otherwise just keep paying.
I would say that skills are not to hard to increase (it should require an investment of play to "max out"). Rather, too many skills have no gameplay associated with them at the lower skill levels - so it becomes a grind to get through them to get at the GM content. Only a few templates can actually be started, played naturally in a fun way and reach full skill levels without setting aside time to grind a skill through repeditive actions.
I don't think UO will be shut down soon - there may well be enough zombie accounts (people who rarely log in but keep paying) to keep it going forever. I just worry that the resources devoted to keeping it fresh and updated may dwindle.
Similarly, I don't think that the servers will ever be shut down - it creates an excuse for people to quit who would otherwise just keep paying.
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Crystal Canyon
Guest
I also played on GL "back then"...the good old days. It was the shard I started on 9 years ago. I think I do actually remember the name Dalamar! Our main characters there were Jade and Baciver...still CCC guild.
Outsourcing anything will have negative and positive results. I would just say what Ive always been told and that is that "too many chefs in the kitchen will ruin the food". (or something to that effect...LOL)
I still say all this game needs is a host of new players. The graphics dont seem to bother us "old timers" and I honestly dont think they would have a big impact on new players. Its the game itself that is addicting and so much fun to play.
Word of mouth only goes so far and eventually will die out. The only advertising we get at the moment is negative comments from game magazines ragging on the graphics of the game and the amount of players we have lost in recent years.
If this continues, we will lose UO. Plain and simple.
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Sir Stain
Guest
Very Very good response Crystal and If I may say well worded and thought out. Dalamar, Wulfgar, Ben Williams, Lord Blade, Caladen, Ashley and me Lord Stain along with 14 others from this small town in Louisiana played GL along side you. BC were our nemisis! I am the ONLY one now playing. We all still play WOW together. I prefer UO but I am old and they are young. In all of their responses I will quote "I just don't have it in me to develope a new group of chars. It is TOO time consuming. I would love to return to UO if not for that." Now I wonder if that excuse effects other old players? I know I have muttered undesirable words on days that I can't get a skill gain. They are right! If I leave again I will NEVER return. I do not have it in me to make another acct.
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Katlene
Guest
Biggest problem i have is the lack of support from the game.
gm's seem to be as rare as hens teeth and having to wait over 13 hours for a response is disgusting.
Also when there are more serious issues, which some are happening at the moment, there hasnt been a reponse from anyone that was contacted about it in a week.
Nor do the gms seem to be doing anything about it either.
Medium problem is that there is no advertisment for this game. i made a post about this somewhere else not long ago. People are going to play if they dont know it exists.
gm's seem to be as rare as hens teeth and having to wait over 13 hours for a response is disgusting.
Also when there are more serious issues, which some are happening at the moment, there hasnt been a reponse from anyone that was contacted about it in a week.
Nor do the gms seem to be doing anything about it either.
Medium problem is that there is no advertisment for this game. i made a post about this somewhere else not long ago. People are going to play if they dont know it exists.
*mutters about the patch notes page*
Yeah, I'm sure new players are impressed when up comes a document that's months out of date.
I'm also sure they just love the fact that they can't start with Mondain's Legacy, so they don't get to use Elves or use any of the cool items all the other players have.
There should also be a NPC in New Haven who informs players about some mythical place called "Luna".
Yeah, I'm sure new players are impressed when up comes a document that's months out of date.
I'm also sure they just love the fact that they can't start with Mondain's Legacy, so they don't get to use Elves or use any of the cool items all the other players have.
There should also be a NPC in New Haven who informs players about some mythical place called "Luna".
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Crow
Guest
Do we really want people who regularly shop at WalMart playing Ultima anyway?
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Crystal Canyon
Guest
Why are you following me from one forum to another with smart comments? I take you are offended by smileys!
Im sorry you think you are above shopping at Wal-mart, and evidently are trying to "group' people who do into some sort of shameful catagory, but sir, this thread isnt about where people shop or what type of people play this game.
Dont you have any constructive thoughts about the game you could add here? This is quite a serious thread to go trolling in. Hehehehe
I picked "Yes! UO is failing to attract new players" for sure. I also picked "No! I feel that UO has another strong 11 years". I think UO will get enough new players to replace us vets that slowly move on (or out). But I will cling to our beloved game (3 accounts at least) and continue to pay my sub in honor of a game that changed gaming for me forever. Waaaay back in 2000 I played this game on my roommate’s pc and I have been hooked since. Already a gaming addict at the time I found myself jonesing for fresh entertainment constantly. UO was my first mmo and I was sooo happy to find a game I would never win!
But tech years are like dog years.... The only way to truly thrive is to be "Reborn" with all the bells and whistles of a new and more demanding generation of gamers. KR missed that mark.... in fact I don't even know where the shot went. It's all happening backwards... we should have started out with a client that looked and played much like 2D and added in the new interface and art with the SA expansion. Now we are adding a 2d targeting system and stamping over the buggy disproportioned KR art with 2d funky big black lines around it when you zoom in art. I don't get it EA?
Art...well 2d ain't so great these days. I definitely won't attract new players in any real numbers. EA... I have played many other titles of yours with lush and detailed crisp clean art that run and play smooth. But KR is like walking into a TV repairman's house to find all his TVs are busted....it just doesn't make sense. What worries me more is there doesn't seem to be any artists on the team. This last pub was stuffed with re-hued 2d garb. But I know you have them EA... The next time one of your better artists gets written up for drinking on the job, harassing co-workers, missing work or any other reason.... make'em work on KR for a year or hit the pavement.
But maybe it's all part of the grand plan. KR took many steps down the wrong path. So maybe you have to take a few steps back in order to go forward again down the right path. But you want new players? Create a rich and lush submersive world in KR/SA and make it all blend together beautifully.
On the bright side you have Draconi. The Mag invasion was one of my most favorite events.... well it was my favorite event and one of my most favorite memories. I was blessed to run into a pack of kind hearted demolitionalists that shared the loot. We would get together every night. It really was an original and exciting event. Draconi is the best reason I can think of to pursue cloning technology. I hope this isn't a subtle point I'm making. Give him and his team all the tools they need in the SA to make their life as easy as possible to keep their events alive and maintained.
But tech years are like dog years.... The only way to truly thrive is to be "Reborn" with all the bells and whistles of a new and more demanding generation of gamers. KR missed that mark.... in fact I don't even know where the shot went. It's all happening backwards... we should have started out with a client that looked and played much like 2D and added in the new interface and art with the SA expansion. Now we are adding a 2d targeting system and stamping over the buggy disproportioned KR art with 2d funky big black lines around it when you zoom in art. I don't get it EA?
Art...well 2d ain't so great these days. I definitely won't attract new players in any real numbers. EA... I have played many other titles of yours with lush and detailed crisp clean art that run and play smooth. But KR is like walking into a TV repairman's house to find all his TVs are busted....it just doesn't make sense. What worries me more is there doesn't seem to be any artists on the team. This last pub was stuffed with re-hued 2d garb. But I know you have them EA... The next time one of your better artists gets written up for drinking on the job, harassing co-workers, missing work or any other reason.... make'em work on KR for a year or hit the pavement.
But maybe it's all part of the grand plan. KR took many steps down the wrong path. So maybe you have to take a few steps back in order to go forward again down the right path. But you want new players? Create a rich and lush submersive world in KR/SA and make it all blend together beautifully.
On the bright side you have Draconi. The Mag invasion was one of my most favorite events.... well it was my favorite event and one of my most favorite memories. I was blessed to run into a pack of kind hearted demolitionalists that shared the loot. We would get together every night. It really was an original and exciting event. Draconi is the best reason I can think of to pursue cloning technology. I hope this isn't a subtle point I'm making. Give him and his team all the tools they need in the SA to make their life as easy as possible to keep their events alive and maintained.
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Sir Stain
Guest
Very good reply Gheed. Since I have played the best moves were Trammel, Ilsanar, Tokuna, Paragons, the few invasions are alway fun and the bold move to destroy Magincia was inovated. Thanks teams, But they are so few and far between.
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Sir Stain
Guest
You may have meant this as a pun, but what the heck does criticizing walmart shoppers have to do with this poll.
I work at a walmart and what he is saying here is true. There is not one copy of UO to be found anywhere on my shelves here at walmart. Though...just today Warhammer was available on the shelves and this has me kinda worried for the future of UO.Warhammer is getting the love that should be going to UO.
This game isnt marketable. For a free game sure, but for a game with a 13 dollar monty sub fee, you cant put those images on a box, and expect to get players.
Hopfully the SA "client" will look ok, and they can have ad in magazines or something.
Duh. Warhammer is a modern computer game, based on a hugely sucsessful table top hobby game series with computer games coming out as recently as last year.
UO is almost 11 years old, based on a series that at its peak (like 20 years ago) wasnt THAT popular.
Where would you sink your money?
UO needs to get on the free sub option train. Its a sure fire way to get TONS of players.
dont underestimate the number of people that word of mouth brings in. in europe they havent marketted uo for many many years but my old shard europa still has a few players on.
i for one have snared 8 people into uo but would i recommend uo now? best not to ask!
free sub game? i would say no as if ea/mythic arent getting money for it then what incentive have they to keep it going?
i for one have snared 8 people into uo but would i recommend uo now? best not to ask!
free sub game? i would say no as if ea/mythic arent getting money for it then what incentive have they to keep it going?
Free sub games can make A LOT of money.
It works this way: There are a bajillion people looking for diversion online, especially with games, but many are wary to sink any money into it. In comes the free game! Even a crappy game like “fallen sword” can have upwards of 2 million accounts (more for the better games), the free people get used to game, then obsessed, then they spend the moolah on a full account. You also add an expanded “item store” something UO already has, you just soop it up, give it more options. This is something they should really expand anyway. Its foolish not to.
It would work I guarantee it.
UO’s main problem is that in the major mmorpg market It cannot compete because of graphics, but as we UO players know, the game has far more to offer than most of the other big games out there. So the problem is getting players. A limited free account solves the problem. I would be willing to bet that in a year UO would have over a million accounts if there were a free option. I also would predict double the pay accounts we have now, because there will be people who get free accounts who will love the game, and want everything, and will pay for real accounts that wouldn’t otherwise have even played the game.
My idea of a free account would be something like 400-500 skill points, 1 or 2 characters, limited to GM, some skills restricted (taming, crafting) and no housing.
Its really a good idea, and a fairly well proven pay paradigm.
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RoycroftLS
Guest
I do think that one of the problems with the game is the inability to attract and keep new players. While the limited graphics of the game does play a big role in that, I feel that there is a game mechanic at work too.
One of the greatest strengths of the sandbox (or non-linear) gameplay is that a new player can take almost any direction they choose upon entering the game. But with a game as old as UO, that has also become one of its greatest weaknesses.
It would require an enormous amount of time and dedication to create content to act as "checkpoints" on most of those paths, to guide new players towards the end-game content. With the vast majority of players already at the end-game point, it just doesn't make good business sense to redirect resources away from most of the paying players.
The end result is the steep learning curve that others have described. There simply aren't many fun and engaging ways to bridge that gap from newbie to vet. And most people I know have enough tedium in their lives without having to spend countless hours doing mundane tasks in a game just to get to the fun parts.
And that's where the conundrum lies. Eliminating the steep learning curve altogether makes it easier for new players, but invalidates the efforts of all the people who chose to take up the challenge of becoming a vet. Reducing the learning curve runs into the problems I mentioned above. And the status quo of recent game development keeps the vets happy, but makes the learning curve even steeper.
One of the greatest strengths of the sandbox (or non-linear) gameplay is that a new player can take almost any direction they choose upon entering the game. But with a game as old as UO, that has also become one of its greatest weaknesses.
It would require an enormous amount of time and dedication to create content to act as "checkpoints" on most of those paths, to guide new players towards the end-game content. With the vast majority of players already at the end-game point, it just doesn't make good business sense to redirect resources away from most of the paying players.
The end result is the steep learning curve that others have described. There simply aren't many fun and engaging ways to bridge that gap from newbie to vet. And most people I know have enough tedium in their lives without having to spend countless hours doing mundane tasks in a game just to get to the fun parts.
And that's where the conundrum lies. Eliminating the steep learning curve altogether makes it easier for new players, but invalidates the efforts of all the people who chose to take up the challenge of becoming a vet. Reducing the learning curve runs into the problems I mentioned above. And the status quo of recent game development keeps the vets happy, but makes the learning curve even steeper.
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Crystal Canyon
Guest
I agree that one of the main problems with the game keeping new players attracted, is the steep learning curve. The younger generation of players will not tolorate having to put in countless hours of mundane work before they can actually play the game to its full potential.
What if it the game was set up to where the first time you logged on to it, you were given the choice of one player that was already maxed out in skills? YOu would still create and name the character, but you would choose the first 700 points that character would have and it would be created with those skills.
For one thing, it would give a new player the chance to actually experience the true game without having to die umpteen times in the first month of play and get discourage enough to just quit.
They could also be given a full suit of armor such as the virtue suit or if they are a mule, at least a plain 100% lower reg suit. This would get them going. They would soon realize that they need better armor with additional mods and they would still have something to have to work towards on that character.
In the meantime while playing thier first character, they would be exposed to the different types of characters in the game and it would give them incentive to create the rest of the characters on thier account and possibly stay with the game.
It wouldnt be near so bad for a new player to have to spend the hours creating new characters if they had at least one that they could actually play inbetween all the mundane work.
I would think that it would also be incentive for other players to open a second account if they knew they would be getting one character already completed enough to start playing it immediately. Even with the advanced character, your looking at a lot of hours to to be able to use a new tamer efficantly.
What if it the game was set up to where the first time you logged on to it, you were given the choice of one player that was already maxed out in skills? YOu would still create and name the character, but you would choose the first 700 points that character would have and it would be created with those skills.
For one thing, it would give a new player the chance to actually experience the true game without having to die umpteen times in the first month of play and get discourage enough to just quit.
They could also be given a full suit of armor such as the virtue suit or if they are a mule, at least a plain 100% lower reg suit. This would get them going. They would soon realize that they need better armor with additional mods and they would still have something to have to work towards on that character.
In the meantime while playing thier first character, they would be exposed to the different types of characters in the game and it would give them incentive to create the rest of the characters on thier account and possibly stay with the game.
It wouldnt be near so bad for a new player to have to spend the hours creating new characters if they had at least one that they could actually play inbetween all the mundane work.
I would think that it would also be incentive for other players to open a second account if they knew they would be getting one character already completed enough to start playing it immediately. Even with the advanced character, your looking at a lot of hours to to be able to use a new tamer efficantly.
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Rix/\
Guest
Over the years I've personally invited atleast a 10-12 players to UO, they are all gamers that play other mmo games. Not one of them lasted in UO for longer then 2 months. Mainly it was about the lack of info of the game. The main website for UO doesn't provide much direct for new players. They direct you to Stratics which no offense alot of the info here is so outdated you pretty much have to search the forums to get the info you need from other player experiences. Thats alil bit too much research to have to do just to figure out which way togo in UO. Even to this day I'm learning new things that have been around for ever in UO and I'm a 6yr vet. There is a huge lack of info on the game.
Another reason they gave me was the way other players treated them in game, with things being so item based n game. There are alot of selfish greedy players in UO, and I don't blame the players. The dev's create the greed and selfishness with the rare event items that players do every and anything to obtain. Even seen so go as far as hacking accounts just because they want some rare event itme they thought was gonna make them rich. And come to find out the item was just some piece of junk to lock down in your home for decoration.
Another thing was the bugs and exploits, but as of late I have to say this particular issue has and is being given attention. But at the time it was bad REAL bad 3 friends only lasted 3 weeks because others used exploits on them.
Uo has been around for long time, but why? what keeps this game pumping? I don't think it's the game play I don't think it's the ability to own and customize your own home. I hate to say it but I think because it's a game were players have the ability to make RL money off selling virtual items outside the game. I don't blame players for trying to make a buck or even other players buying alil extra to help their game experience along. It's so easy to do in UO, no other game could you make a fresh new char find a falling house stand next to it and wait just to pick up one item that could be worth millions in gold or even 20-75$ in real cash.
So how do we bring in new players? one thing that attracted me was the chance to own a castle. after playing a year I gave that up since all were taken and trying to buy one in game wasn't gonna happen. I would have to spend hundreds of real life dollars to own a virtual castle because UO allows players to be home brokers outside the game. I don't want to feel like I have to spend hundreds more to enjoy my time in a game I pay 12.99 a month for.
Another reason they gave me was the way other players treated them in game, with things being so item based n game. There are alot of selfish greedy players in UO, and I don't blame the players. The dev's create the greed and selfishness with the rare event items that players do every and anything to obtain. Even seen so go as far as hacking accounts just because they want some rare event itme they thought was gonna make them rich. And come to find out the item was just some piece of junk to lock down in your home for decoration.
Another thing was the bugs and exploits, but as of late I have to say this particular issue has and is being given attention. But at the time it was bad REAL bad 3 friends only lasted 3 weeks because others used exploits on them.
Uo has been around for long time, but why? what keeps this game pumping? I don't think it's the game play I don't think it's the ability to own and customize your own home. I hate to say it but I think because it's a game were players have the ability to make RL money off selling virtual items outside the game. I don't blame players for trying to make a buck or even other players buying alil extra to help their game experience along. It's so easy to do in UO, no other game could you make a fresh new char find a falling house stand next to it and wait just to pick up one item that could be worth millions in gold or even 20-75$ in real cash.
So how do we bring in new players? one thing that attracted me was the chance to own a castle. after playing a year I gave that up since all were taken and trying to buy one in game wasn't gonna happen. I would have to spend hundreds of real life dollars to own a virtual castle because UO allows players to be home brokers outside the game. I don't want to feel like I have to spend hundreds more to enjoy my time in a game I pay 12.99 a month for.