Getting close to the end for me

[Fox (Europa)]

I stopped logging in around May this year when I got fed up with the speed hacking. I told myself I'd go back if the speeding got fixed; there seems to be no chance of that now so it does look as though I'll not be playing UO again.

Its been a good decade, blah, blah, blah.

I know the death of UO has been predicted for years and years but as long as there were enough paid accounts to pay for the servers then UO carried on. Now though you can log onto Europa and there is literally not a soul about. I can't believe UO is still viable. So I guess I'll join the doom-sayers and predict the death of UO within the next 12 months, I certainly don't see SA ever making it to release as it will be obvious there will be hardly anyone to buy it.

Darkfall is out in Jan '09 and is predicted to steal a few folks from UO, which obviously it can't afford. Chances are it will be another nail in the coffin. So I think I'll pay the UO accounts to Jan, take a look at DF and if its half decent then I'll drop UO. It will be a relief to close the UO accounts, they are just a financial and emotional burden now.

Anyway, if I don't see you in-game again then good luck and for the few die-hards left I hope UO continues as long as you want it to and it keeps you happy.

All the best.

Fox

 

[K'torr]

Me too I think. Just checked my UO account.
It would seem that my current account billing cycle expires on Jan 22.
Talk about "the writing on the wall".
When that time comes, I'll pay for 1 more month UO while I have a look at DF.

The more I read of DF, the more I think "this is the game I would have designed for myself to play".

 

[the 4th man]

emotional burden.....listen to yourself.....

No one forces anyone to sit, parked for hours, behind a computer.....that's your option.

Another game, well.....maybe they'll have better customer service and/or public relations.......

Either way, ....a games what you make of it, and if it's your life....well, you take it from there.


later

 

[Kith Kanan]

.... If you wanna leave the game do so , but spare us this tbh....

I'm staying until the plug is pulled !!!!! Darkfall can kiss my #¤¤%¤&

 

[K'torr]

I'm not degrading UO, it has been a big part of my life for the past 8 years, and I have made many friends here. Friendships I would like to continue reguardless of what next year holds. You are right, this game is what you make of it, and I have had many enjoyable hours/days/months/years sitting at my keyboard. But sometimes, you just need to move on to new challenges.

 

[The Craftsman]

I stopped logging in around May this year when I got fed up with the speed hacking. I told myself I'd go back if the speeding got fixed; there seems to be no chance of that now so it does look as though I'll not be playing UO again.

Its been a good decade, blah, blah, blah.

I know the death of UO has been predicted for years and years but as long as there were enough paid accounts to pay for the servers then UO carried on. Now though you can log onto Europa and there is literally not a soul about. I can't believe UO is still viable. So I guess I'll join the doom-sayers and predict the death of UO within the next 12 months, I certainly don't see SA ever making it to release as it will be obvious there will be hardly anyone to buy it.

Darkfall is out in Jan '09 and is predicted to steal a few folks from UO, which obviously it can't afford. Chances are it will be another nail in the coffin. So I think I'll pay the UO accounts to Jan, take a look at DF and if its half decent then I'll drop UO. It will be a relief to close the UO accounts, they are just a financial and emotional burden now.

Anyway, if I don't see you in-game again then good luck and for the few die-hards left I hope UO continues as long as you want it to and it keeps you happy.

All the best.

Fox

Sad but true. If UO was a dog, they'd put it out of its mysery.

 

[LadyNico]

Fox, you're someone a lot of folks loved to hate on, but I cannot say you've ever once been less than fair, decent and straight with me whenever our paths crossed.

Whatever you decide, know some folks will miss you if you go.

*I honor thee*

 

[Katlene]

Can i have your stuff??

j/k but someone had to say it

Have you thought about changing servers? not everyone speed hacks

personally thats not something that effects me on my home shard, plus they all cry that they dont use em either.

/rambling

Good luck to you on what ever path you choose.

 

[Fluffi]

I find it really bizarre that I don't know the last time I logged into UO "properly".

I popped-in for long enough to refresh some houses, and for a bit of a look around, and I saw very few people.


I had great hopes for the much-vaunted "Faction Revamp", and envisioned a return to the days of 30 vs. 30 fights.

Sadly, Factions has now become a chase for the new ridiculous items; with the added disincentive that the speeders / cheats now put me into statloss.


I don't have rose-tinted glasses: I know that there were always players who pushed the limits of what was legal, (and some of Europas' more famous Factioneers cheated like hell); but at the time, cheating wasn't all-pervasive.


Nowadays, (naming no names), I see plenty of players who are happy to post screenies of their kills with illegal programs on their task bars, and who post descriptions of how they run their PvM farming Bots.


I guess I'll consolidate my accounts down to just one, when the next billing-term occurs; and treat UO as somewhere to do a bit of occasional PvM when I get bored with other games. I find this terribly sad.
UO was my first MMO, and it still has more potential than any game currently available; but it has been let-down by the inability / unwillingness of the development team to act against the ludicrously flagrant cheaters: Removing duped gold and banning half-a-dozen players, (most of whom were simply carried-on with a subsidiary account the very next day), was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

What a sad way to treat the first, and by far the best, MMO.

I would rather see UO be cancelled outight, than see it fall further into the mire than it currently is in.




(I guess that Mags or ZigZag will move this thread to Rants, but that would be a shame. Nothing has been said here that many long-term players think.)

 

[HD2300]

UO was a >$10M cash cow for EA 2 years ago. It is maybe only half as profitable now.

The lesson from the last 1 and 3/4 years since the blackrock training event is dont take your customers for granted. Roll out new content every month, and if you cant, hire more people.

 

[DHMagicMan_1]

Darkfall is "Siege" Ruleset only... I doubt they will steal many from UO other than a few from either FEL who don't see enough sheep on their shards or from Siege servers... the rest of us (majority) won't be playing there much... That's my guess anyway.

 

[ElRay]

I stopped logging in around May this year when I got fed up with the speed hacking. I told myself I'd go back if the speeding got fixed; there seems to be no chance of that now so it does look as though I'll not be playing UO again.

Feel your pain.

I really dont get it. The quality of this day and age has really gone to $%#.

 

[ElRay]

Have you thought about changing servers? not everyone speed hacks

If the people in charge dont enforce ANY rules...aka slackers(devs), whats to stop more and more people from doing it? Sooner or later, the people losing to speedhackers get sick and tired of losing to them, and say "hey, they dont get punished, why shouldnt I hack as well?"

 

[sapphirediablo11]

Since UO is an MMORPG how about you try the RP part..??

 

[Shelleybean]

I sure hate to see players leave. Maybe SA will actually be released and bring new life to UO. If so, you can always come back. Best wishes.

 

[kinney42]

Quitters.

 

[Dol'Gorath]

Darkfall is "Siege" Ruleset only... I doubt they will steal many from UO other than a few from either FEL who don't see enough sheep on their shards or from Siege servers... the rest of us (majority) won't be playing there much... That's my guess anyway.

PVP Only MMO's tend to fail, ventually the players will whine and they'll make PVE servers.

 

[_zigzag_]

(I guess that Mags or ZigZag will move this thread to Rants, but that would be a shame. Nothing has been said here that many long-term players think.)

Won't be me.

I am all for players of this game - the community - voicing the good as well as the bad.

It's all in the delivery

 

[Mr Man]

I know how you feel OP. You sometimes wonder what EA is actually thinking when it comes to building a game like UO. I'll see you in Darkfall

Darkfall is "Siege" Ruleset only... I doubt they will steal many from UO other than a few from either FEL who don't see enough sheep on their shards or from Siege servers... the rest of us (majority) won't be playing there much... That's my guess anyway.

Im sure you'd hope that for UO sake, but that statement isn't true. DF is suppose to bring back the old UO smithing where weapons mean something. You can build guild castles and have wars to try to take them over/ destroy them, build ships and have navle battles, aim with your bow, dodge attacks, ect.... Should check it out instead of just knocking it because its not UO. Besides, PvP will be a part of the game, but not as big as you'd think.

 

[jelinidas]

Darkfall is "Siege" Ruleset only... I doubt they will steal many from UO other than a few from either FEL who don't see enough sheep on their shards or from Siege servers... the rest of us (majority) won't be playing there much... That's my guess anyway.

I am a 10 year vet. Played off and on. I have missed the 'ol days' far to long. I will be there in Darkfall, Jan 22, 09.

BTW, I am a Trammie but cant wait for the chance to get back to a LEVEL playing ground. I will slowly begin shutting down accounts if DF is as advertised.

UO is/was a great game. The cheating and lack of support is what killed it.

No new content. No timely fixes. No GM support.
Im bored....See ya in DF

 

[Infiniti]

I know how you feel OP. You sometimes wonder what EA is actually thinking when it comes to building a game like UO. I'll see you in Darkfall



Im sure you'd hope that for UO sake, but that statement isn't true. DF is suppose to bring back the old UO smithing where weapons mean something. You can build guild castles and have wars to try to take them over/ destroy them, build ships and have navle battles, aim with your bow, dodge attacks, ect.... Should check it out instead of just knocking it because its not UO. Besides, PvP will be a part of the game, but not as big as you'd think.

Checked it out and it states that there is no safe place for any player from attack from another player. Long live UO.

 

[Esmeralda]

I don´t know you personal, but I can still remember that archery 120 ps, I bought for 800k instead of 8 mils from your shop
(sorry, had to brag with it *g*)

It´s sad to see another long-time player leave this game, and it´s even more sad for me, since you´re partly speaking out of my soul :/

Safe travels where ever your gaming path will lead you!

 

[Traveller]

Checked it out and it states that there is no safe place for any player from attack from another player.

Which is only a half-truth, since there will still be guard protection in towns. I suggest you check your infos better, but nobody here is asking others to move on. If you are having fun in UO good for you. I know I am not. And most importantly, I know WHY I am not having fun, so along with others I am moving on.

 

[Infiniti]

Which is only a half-truth, since there will still be guard protection in towns. I suggest you check your infos better, but nobody here is asking others to move on. If you are having fun in UO good for you. I know I am not. And most importantly, I know WHY I am not having fun, so along with others I am moving on.

How can that be only half of the truth when that is what it says on their site? Not bashing their game just saying what I read.

 

[Traveller]

How can that be only half of the truth when that is what it says on their site? Not bashing their game just saying what I read.

As I said, that's only a half-truth. While it is true that there are no SAFE zones, there are SAFER zones, like in EVE.

----From now on it is mostly dev talk, game is still in closed beta---------------

According to the reports of devs and betatesters, in those zones there are guards that attack outlaws (simplification but correct enough) on sight. It is said that they do not instakill, but most likely make permanence of outlaws and criminals difficult enough.

It won't be a good idea to keep a char AFK with tons of good stuff on him, as groups of people might decide to suicide to get the stuff and run away. On the other hand you probably won't see hordes of griefers killing random people in towns (right outside them... probably yes, so be stealthy or prepared ).

Besides, if you don't trust the alignment system of DF and you think it can be exploited by griefers, the devs stated the ability to setup player-run towns with guards, and the ability to set the KoS list of the guards at your pleasure.

----------------------

I realize that this type of game is NOT what most people are looking for. But probably it is fit for every fel dweller (past and present), and certainly is what every siege player is looking for (except hardcore tamers, there is no taming in darkfall). That's why the DF team is advertising it clearly. They point at a niche market.

Personally, if DF is as advertised, I hope it to succeed, but don't want anybody who doesn't like its style to play it. Why there should be only a gameplay model? WoW model on one side, for those who enjoy it, and sandbox model on the other side for those who enjoy it. I leave the religious war about what is better to children.

 

[Der Rock]

Quitters.

AA is for quitters

 

[WarUltima]

Call me a non-believer but chances are Darkfall can still fail like once highly praised games like LotR, Vanguard and Warhammer.

Vanguard advertised as a new generation MMO that captures the UO theme, even included player housing in real 3D enviroment. But then look at how it's doing rightnow... it didnt scratch WoW in the slightest way. Samething goes for LotR Online, and Warhammer.

Especially many of these game (excluding LotR) advertised as no con PvP like old UO and how their PvP would be at world's finest ever and how crafter can craft everything best in game... Not even close.....

What makes you think darkfall would be the savior of all?

 

[Hoffs]

...and certainly is what every siege player is looking for ..

It is not what every Siege player is looking for. Many, if not the majority, of Siege players are not pure PvPers. We just enjoy playing in a world with an element of risk involved and where not everything is handed to you on a plate.

 

[Der Rock]

Call me a non-believer but chances are Darkfall can still fail like once highly praised games like LotR, Vanguard and Warhammer.

Vanguard advertised as a new generation MMO that captures the UO theme, even included player housing in real 3D enviroment. But then look at how it's doing rightnow... it didnt scratch WoW in the slightest way. Samething goes for LotR Online, and Warhammer.

Especially many of these game (excluding LotR) advertised as no con PvP like old UO and how their PvP would be at world's finest ever and how crafter can craft everything best in game... Not even close.....

What makes you think darkfall would be the savior of all?

Warhammer online
nice grafics but boring after 30 day´s

 

[Traveller]

Many, if not the majority, of Siege players are not pure PvPers. We just enjoy playing in a world with an element of risk involved and where not everything is handed to you on a plate.

*scratches head*... Never stated the contrary. Why are you saying that DF would be different than siege? Crafting is in the game, as is pve. If I had to explain DF to someone playing UO I would say: "mostly siege ruleset, with the following differences: no taming, guards do not instakill, in-game support for player run towns and sieges, no siege blessing, no "vanish" hid/stealth, items mostly (entirely?) based on regular crafting, first person view". You might like it or not, but really the ruleset design approach is the same of siege.

Especially many of these game (excluding LotR) advertised as no con PvP like old UO and how their PvP would be at world's finest ever and how crafter can craft everything best in game... Not even close.....

What makes you think darkfall would be the savior of all?

Because, according to the words of betatesters, DF is telling the truth. As you said other games got "not even close". Not sure about that, of course, so many things could go wrong and I have not tried the game. What I know is that if things are not as advertised I will leave it in a heartbeat, as probably most of the prospective players. If things are as advertised I will move there till the servers are shut down or the sandbox approach is modified.

 

[K'torr]

Actually, I feel that the most promising indicator for the success of DF is the exceptionally long development time. Most other MMOs that I have read about were put together in much shorter time, and it showed.
I first heard of DF over 5 years ago, which gives me hope that they have had plenty of time to think through the various aspect and game mechanics.

 

[Corpsecrank]

Trust me the very best thing you could do is close those accounts and move on instead of hanging on to them which will only give you time to second guess how you really feel about UO.

I quit when they added the faction only special artifacts and killed off all the best rares by making replicas of them and for me pvp and rare collecting were the only 2 reasons I still played the game.

I closed out both of my accounts which were completely finished out with all the scrolls and gear you could want and all my skills completely finished. I had 2 houses jammed full of all kinds of great items rares, artifacts, event junk you name it and i let it all go in the blink of an eye because of the changes in the last 3 months.

You know what? I don't regret it a bit. I am actually starting up a free server for my own amusement but I will open it publicly and I will keep playing UO the way I want to play it and not the way EA dictates.

Anyhow not so much a rant or any of that I just think that if your unhappy you should close those accounts out without hesitation and move on to DF which I also plan to check out. You wouldn't regret the choice nearly as much as you think you might right now.

 

[Lord Kynd]

I stopped logging in around May this year when I got fed up with the speed hacking. I told myself I'd go back if the speeding got fixed; there seems to be no chance of that now so it does look as though I'll not be playing UO again.

aww, see yah.
seriously tho, just use any good tweak program ( tweak your operating system and your connection to the internet).

#2 don't PvP. since this seems to be where people are thinking others are 'speedhacking'.

out of my 15 mbit cable connection i would say it is safe to say i have a thurput of around 97%, thank you tweak programs. and a ping of around 6-10. worse i think are overseas shards which ping around 26-40. can you say.. What lag ?

tweak programs are legal to use on your system and your connection speed, no one can tell you you can not 'tweak' your computer to make it run more proficiant.

 

[WarUltima]

tweak programs are legal to use on your system and your connection speed, no one can tell you you can not 'tweak' your computer to make it run more proficiant.

That's basically what Speeder (or anything that works in the same fashion) is. I guess thats why EA cant do anything about it.

 

[Cho hag]

see u in darkfall fox

NDK/DiE are leaving EU to to go darkfall to many speeders around and the devs just don't care about the pvp side of game anymore it seems...

saying that though it has been some of the best pvp in 2years with the factions being a bit more active though the devs try to ruin it...with there no care attitude to fel and the issues that comes with it.


+the gm's just not being active enough like in the old days where they would actually respond within 15-30mins...

one of my team mates reported a speeder using the physical harrasment option which should give a faster responce time took 2-3hours before any dev send a responce to him though by which time the speeder was long gone...

 

[cichy1012]

I stopped logging in around May this year when I got fed up with the speed hacking. I told myself I'd go back if the speeding got fixed; there seems to be no chance of that now so it does look as though I'll not be playing UO again.

Its been a good decade, blah, blah, blah.

I know the death of UO has been predicted for years and years but as long as there were enough paid accounts to pay for the servers then UO carried on. Now though you can log onto Europa and there is literally not a soul about. I can't believe UO is still viable. So I guess I'll join the doom-sayers and predict the death of UO within the next 12 months, I certainly don't see SA ever making it to release as it will be obvious there will be hardly anyone to buy it.

Darkfall is out in Jan '09 and is predicted to steal a few folks from UO, which obviously it can't afford. Chances are it will be another nail in the coffin. So I think I'll pay the UO accounts to Jan, take a look at DF and if its half decent then I'll drop UO. It will be a relief to close the UO accounts, they are just a financial and emotional burden now.

Anyway, if I don't see you in-game again then good luck and for the few die-hards left I hope UO continues as long as you want it to and it keeps you happy.

All the best.

Fox[/QUOTE

Can I have your stuff?

 

[WarUltima]

Cut for simplicity

Anyways, good luck to you.

Hopefully we will see you again when darkfall turns into another WoW gimmiks.

A lot of MMORPGs out there all started out with heavy focus on PvP. Basically grabbing PvP lovers anyway they can. Vet UO players are of course one of their potential customers. However as the game gets popular and when new players are not happy about being slaughtered in cold blood by more experienced, higher level and more geared up players. They will somehow figure out a way to stop it. For example, PvP/PvE servers for WoW (Fel/Tram for UO) or something like a "PvP switch" where a player can only be attacked when they are "willing to". Which is kinda ******** IMO.

Fact is PvM(PvE) crowds are usually more than hardcore players which can be simply figured out from looking at all the games out in the market. UO has more trammie/PvM contents and facets comparing to just one facet (FEL) for real PvPer, with 1(2 if including japanese shard) everything goes shard Siege. And WoW has way more PvE, RPPvP servers then they do with PvP servers. And WoW's PvP server still puts heavy restriction on PvPers for example Alliance is not attackable in their cities unless they turn on the "PvP switch" or unless they attack first. And if you are in alliance you can never get to kill another alliance player and vise versa for hordes.

IMO PvP/War is completely ******** if main PvP action requires everyone to stand in line waiting for that instance to open, or unless one side is willing to be attacked and type /PvP. I would predict Darkfall would become just that in the near future in order to rack in more customers.

If you are the business owner which option would you pick?
1. Make the one minority group happy or
2. Make the majority happy and **** off some original customers which will result in 500% increase in revenue. (just like UO)

Again althought I am not a real trammie myself, trammies/casual players are what kept UO running until now. And to EA, UO is almost pure profit(for a 11yr old game, the upkeep of the servers are not that high) as long as the majority players are happy. And obviously PvPers/Felucians are NOT among them.

 

[Magdalene]

(I guess that Mags or ZigZag will move this thread to Rants, but that would be a shame. Nothing has been said here that many long-term players think.)

Won't be me.

I am all for players of this game - the community - voicing the good as well as the bad.

It's all in the delivery

Me neither, as I know exactly how you (both Fluffi & Fox) feel

 

[THP]

When u decide to leave for good..i only ask one thing ..put ya best items in ya bank box...your house will fall as well u know...but at least when u come back again in 3-4 years you will still have ya gold and the best items in ya bank box when u re-subscribe!!![end]

 

[Duskofdead]

As I said, that's only a half-truth. While it is true that there are no SAFE zones, there are SAFER zones, like in EVE.

----From now on it is mostly dev talk, game is still in closed beta---------------

According to the reports of devs and betatesters, in those zones there are guards that attack outlaws (simplification but correct enough) on sight. It is said that they do not instakill, but most likely make permanence of outlaws and criminals difficult enough.

It won't be a good idea to keep a char AFK with tons of good stuff on him, as groups of people might decide to suicide to get the stuff and run away. On the other hand you probably won't see hordes of griefers killing random people in towns (right outside them... probably yes, so be stealthy or prepared ).

Besides, if you don't trust the alignment system of DF and you think it can be exploited by griefers, the devs stated the ability to setup player-run towns with guards, and the ability to set the KoS list of the guards at your pleasure.

----------------------

I realize that this type of game is NOT what most people are looking for. But probably it is fit for every fel dweller (past and present), and certainly is what every siege player is looking for (except hardcore tamers, there is no taming in darkfall). That's why the DF team is advertising it clearly. They point at a niche market.

Personally, if DF is as advertised, I hope it to succeed, but don't want anybody who doesn't like its style to play it. Why there should be only a gameplay model? WoW model on one side, for those who enjoy it, and sandbox model on the other side for those who enjoy it. I leave the religious war about what is better to children.

Can someone please explain to me (as someone who knows little about Darkfall other than hearing the name buzzing around for a couple of months, and a lot of people saying it's for "old UO players") what exactly the appeal is going to be in Darkfall for an old UO player? So far, what I've seen is that it's going to have pre-Trammel PvP rules. Personally, that alone and by itself would not be a reason for me to pick up a game. If that's the only thing I wanted whatsoever I suppose I could go back to WOW and play on a PvP server where anytime after level 10 or whatever, I can be attacked on site by anyone of the enemy faction. In or out of towns.

Am I just reading a selective Fel PvP UO player's perspective on why Darkfall will be good? Can someone offer some other explanations as to why this will be a good/fun game for old UO players who weren't PK's or interested in huge guild/anti-PK wars?

When I think about some of the idea that have been thrown around as to what Darkfall will have that old UO used to have... like "level playing field" and such, I don't think just in terms of the PvP. In old UO gear was just gear. No shinyflashy Diablo 2 0.8% drop rate armor with kick-butt stat and ability mods on them. So it was much easier to have a level playing field because whether someone was 6 days old or 60, if they were both in platemail, they were both in platemail. And either of them could fairly (relatively speaking) easily replace anything they lost in PvP. UO has gone more down the road of EQ/WOW in terms of making gear something you more heavily farm for, and gets progressively better, to the point where entering the PvP arena is absolutely off-limits to anyone who hasn't or can't put in the gear and item farming time to reach a minimum level of "competence" (translation: gear and stat preparedness from farmed items.)

That's another thing I kind of groan about when people identify "lack of new content" as one of their disappointments with UO. Simply tacking on new content all the time always favors the most developed, oldest accounts, and disadvantages everyone else. It makes the curve you need to catch up to in order to compete at the top tiers, or even enter PvP at all usually, much much much steeper for everyone who wasn't already at the peak and ready to pounce on each new bit of content the day it was released, and farm all its new treasures. Rather than what I have universally seen MMO's do, which is tack on more content at the end, I would rather see constant improvements of existing content and perhaps adding content which isn't linear in nature. (i.e. not simply adding new stuff that only the most developed and best geared characters can handle as a "next level" after everything else that already exists in game.) I'd rather see a focus on quality over quantity when it comes to spending dev time on content-- for instance rather than letting something languish in obscurity while adding all new stuff, I'd rather see them go back and reinvent something that's dead. In UO let's say skills like taste ID, Focus, Spirit Speak, Arms Lore. Don't ever let something fall that far behind and become so useless. If 96% of the active players aren't using a skill, do something to reinvent, revamp, or re-usefulize that skill. They did this at one point way back in the mists of history with fishing, which used to be very useless aside from as a source of cookable food, adding treasures and maps and all kinds of things that could be fished up. I would have rather see more of that sort of change, instead of slapping on new skillsets and lands -- even though the oldest and "most bored" minority of the playerbase would have complained. To borrow another lesson from WOW, you're always going to have players with nothing better to do than completely bore themselves with any new content within 100 hours of it being released. Catering to them over and over as a design priority decision is more expensive (need constant stream of new content) and game balance breaking as it means always adding new BETTER items and gear and skills for the bored developed players to farm.

 

[ColterDC]

I hear ya Fox....

The cheaters have completely ruined every aspect of UO, especially PvP.

I've been over on the Darkfall forums warning the Devs of that game to make sure and crack down on the cheating in that game or else suffer the same fate of UO. (btw the Darkfall forums are 10 times better than these crap Stratics forums)

I predict most of Siege will leave for DF and a good portion of the Fel playerbase will also transfer to DF and then all that will be left of UO are a few die hard trammies and all the unattended bots. At which point UO will either turn into a complete zombie game or EA will just pull the plug.

 

[JC the Builder]

If anyone claims to be a PVPer and hasn't checked out the new faction action, then you don't PVP. It is hopping every night on Atlantic now like it was back in 2001. I don't know what the situation is on other shards but it must be but looking at the faction rankings (http://town.uo.com/factions/) it looks very active everywhere else to.

So if you want to PVP, jump in now while factions is really popular and it will encourage the developers to continue focusing on it.

 

[Duskofdead]

Oh and as a P.S. to my comment about Fel PvP rules/Darkfall...

I think a lot of people are missing something very significant (IMHO) about what happened to UO in between its first few years and 2000, 2001 or so. Everyone "blames" the change in UO on the Tram/Fel addition. But I think they are blaming the symptoms and not really the disease, and it's also the true cause of why "real" PvP died.

UO was a smaller game, made of many small but tight communities, many of whom had known each other in previous small MUDs, text based RPG's and others. Many probably had some kind of tabletop gaming or in-person role play experience.

When you were accosted by a red in UO's earliest days, it did often mean your death, but it also often meant most of your stuff was left alone and the red might even come and talk to you and give you his spiel as to how you crossed his bridge, or were infringing on his guild's land, or whatever. There was that RP element... however light. And then sometimes you would go and try to seek vengeance and people wouldn't help because they knew him, by name. Or people would help, and the PK died.

The general crowd in UO changed before the ruleset changed. It became more powergrinding and more about "7xGM." The Pwnership mindset. My later experiences with "PvP" were no longer the occasional RP-PK or sociopath, they started to become more along the lines of 6 archers hidden along the road one-shotting you as you ran past, and picking you clean. Or people corpsecamping you. People who killed you no longer had names like Lysander or Besaniel... they started having names like KiLLakLoWn or RUNLOL or gAnGsTa. And that changed the character of PvP. It became less about competition, or role play. It became more about griefing, farming you for rare items or sellable gear, or stopping you from mining or gathering resources.

I'm not sure if I'm making my point adequately. But I think it's a huge bit of revisionism to pretend the problems "started" with Tram/Fel. The problems "started" when a significant number of players began cooperating to enjoy their evening by griefing others for the sake of griefing them, and making that the whole focus of their game, rather than making PvP a part of their game. There's a line between, say, dying once to a murderer, and dying 60 times to that same murderer while trying to corpserun back to town, or get your body, or whatever.

If you need to see why open, unrestricted PvP became a problem, simply make a new character and go to Fel Yew's moongate. It won't take you long to see that "PvP' there has nothing whatsoever to do with challenge, and everything to do with intentional enjoyment of harassing and griefing someone who can't fight back.

To make a long story short, the players and the demographics of who was playing UO changed the nature of PvP in the game, making a ruleset change necessary and demanded by a large number of players. I know the "popular revision myth" about UO's history around here is to say that the game got flooded with carebears who all demanded no PvP. But I was here virtually since launch, I had loved PvP and had even been a Dread Lord at one point in the old notoriety system. But by the time Fel/Tram was being discussed, I was more than ready for a ruleset change. Pretending that PvP at that point was anything more than systematic griefing on a massive level and had little or nothing to do with the fun-spirited competition or RP or guild related PvP which occurred in early UO is deluding ourselves.

If that same "I'm just here to pwnz noobz" mentality takes over any game with an open PvP mindset, expect a lot of people... and no, not just wussy carebears, but most REASONABLE players, to loudly demand action.

 

[Kratos Aurion]

I'm along the same lines as you Fox. This past summer, I opened for the first time my second account so that I could pursue both of my UO career goals.

1st) to accomplish creating a well standing rune-library
2nd) to create a rares museum

Both are pretty time consuming hobbies. I found my self this past month thinking about where I am in the game right now. I feel like I'm at a point to where I've accomplished both of these goals enough to be satisfied with them. I've decided though to sell my rares and maintain my library so that I can close my second account. Then when the time comes I can simply just give my library away and close my last account.

I've been playing pretty consistently close to 8 long years and I always thought that I'd be here to the end. If the nay sayers are correct and the game is on its last whim I may be. I don't forsee my self lasting through next summer but if I do it would be nothing short of a miracle. This game has given me a lot of great experiences and the people are unlike anything else. The only thing that could ever renew my hopes for a future within UO is the announcement of a UO2 but we all know what happens as soon as its announced *canned*.

So as for where your journies take you I bid you farewell in the coming months. I will probably be right behind you just as with many others.