Dear DEVs, how does it feel? LOOKING BACK ON 2008!

[hawkeye_pike]

2008 Flashback

• It all started with strange blackrock effects and Blackrock Elementals hauting miners all over the land. The citizens of Britannia racked their brains about the importance of blackrock, with little success.
  
• Our thoughts had been interrupted by noteworthy incidents with several "merchant" houses all over Britannia, which left said abodes burned down to ashes and ruins. The Gods finally had awoken and smashed the traitors to pieces, mocking them with ugly scarecrows effigies. It had been a first step, and an important one.
  
• New Dragons had been sighted in our lands, and Destard had become the tailor's bane. Tamers rejoiced, celebrated and died like flies in Destard, eager to control one of the new evil Dragons. Some appreciated the new challenge, and some - as always - complained. However, going to Destard these days brought back a feeling of community, where strangers helped each other out without asking questions.
  
• The Shrine of Justice delighted us with its new decoration and beauty, while Adida made our eyes bleed with blinding pink magery, sending adventurers out on a quest.
  
• Soon, the blackrock desaster unfolded in Moonglow, when thanks to incompetent experiments of Kronos the whole thing exploded, opening a strange gate to a parallel world, a Moonglow of horror and disaster, full of dangerous creatures. Daemon Berserkers, and later Shadow Lords invaded our country, causing chaos and death.
  
• Spring cleaning distracted us a little from fighting, dying and looting. It satisfied our extremely strong developed urge to collect things, and made us dump tons of valuable items for nifty rewards.
  
• But it didn't distract us for long, as suddenly Vanguards invaded our towns, spreading their undead forces into the very heart of our kingdom. If it wasn't for our tamers, they'd still control our cities today.
  
• Other not so amusing news spread soon. Evil citizens were acquiring masses of wealth by automating their hunting sessions using illegal tricks. The Painted Caves was a popular place for those who cheated, and those who wanted to visit Lurg, changed their minds and left the caves again. Unfortunately, some of the automated citizens became Lurg dinner. It is little we - the citizens - can do, but we won't stop trying.
  
• Another puzzle followed up soon. The Six, lead by Myxkion, have been sighted in the dungeons of Britannia. Not all of us, but still many have challenged those evil strangers, being surprised by the new kind of magic they were casting. Some of us still have a bag with the new gems we found as loot stored away, wondering what they will be good for one day...
  
• In the middle of the summer, an horrible incident shocked our world. The Royal Council had been massacred, and a very tricky and challenging quest lead us deep down into the Wisp Dungeon, where we faced the evil Melissa. Many of us have been there, and many still proudly wear the robe we received as a reward. However, allowing a shortcut made it quite easy for not so skilled adventurers to be rewarded as well. *shrugs*
  
• The Gods allowed us to breathe for a few months, before the War of Shadows hit us! Cities were invaded by hordes of dangerous creatures, strange soldiers turned up, and their Generals yielded valuable loot. Crimson Dragons ate many a fighters alive, and many of us got roasted by its powerful breath and spells. This creature was the most dangerous thing we had seen. A new challenge!
  
• At the same time, Magincia was swarmed with ghosts, allowing us to participate in the rebuilding of this once beautiful city.
  
• Leoric Gathenwale's Demise sent us on another interesting quest (this time with no shortcut). The quest was not very difficult, but yet interesting, and culminated in the destruction of the evil spider Sicarii. Not all of us acted honorable though; not few people quarreled and argued a lot over gossamer, and many decided not to visit Sicarii's lair deep down in the Wrong Dungeon again. ho_mo homini lupus.
  
• Around Christmas, the lands were beautifully covered with snow, and all of us received not overpowered but yet very funny and useful Christmas gifts. Since that day, climbing stairs in another citizen's house can be a dangerous undertaking.
  
• A short while after, new rewards for Champion Spawns, new craftables were introduced (although, considering the availability of the required ingredients and the necessity to recharge, they quickly have lost their attractiveness), and strangely behaving Slimes are wandering through our world ever since, allowing us to dye our artifacts.

____________________________________

After a 6-year break, I had rejoined the world of UO in December 2007. My resume is: My expectations have been met! 2008 had been a very exciting year in Britannia. I think we all can agree about the Developers having done a great job to entertain us! Kudos to you guys!

However, let us not lose track of the road ahead of us. And of the problems, that were sowed many years ago and still are haunting us. In 2008 you proved that you know how to entertain your customers. In 2009, we wish nothing more and nothing less than you searching for solutions to rid Britannia of failures of the past:

• Fight cheaters, hackers, dupers, ghost cams (We know you are working on it. Don't give in!)
• Solve the Trammel/Felucca dilemma (Splitting the world was a very bad measure against player grieving. Brainstorm! Come up with better ideas!)
• Decrease the significance of items (Making the game extremely item based with AoS, destroyed a lot of UO's character and charm.)
• Let people know that UO is a great game (Marketing!!! UO needs fresh blood.)
• Give us tools to improve our communities (Player communities are the heart and soul of UO. Due to the item madness, they have been neglected for years.)
• Give us a new and better game client (Looking forward to Stygian Abyss!)

Looking forward to the year ahead of us!
Hawkeye Pike

 

[RichDC]

2008 Flashback

___________________________________

My expectations have been met! 2008 had been a very exciting year in Britannia. I think we all can agree about the Developers having done a great job to entertain us! Kudos to you guys!


[*]Let people know that UO is a great game (Marketing!!! UO needs fresh blood.)

[/LIST]

I Cannot agree more with these 2parts of your post!!!

BTw agree with the rest of it as well...has been a great year!!!

 

[MalagAste]

What a wonderful post! A fabulous look at the last year in UO history!.... I for one am hoping that this year brings new hope for Magincia as well as new blood to the lands.

 

[Harb]

Nice post, agreed it was a good year, and took a lot of work we all should be grateful for from the dev team. Now, if we can just get the other "arms" of EA and Mythic up to similar standards! Thanks for the post and the efforts.

 

[drinkbeerallday]

Decrease the significance of items (Making the game extremely item based with AoS, destroyed a lot of UO's character and charm.)

they have already done this to a large extent. the problem now is they keep adding consumable items to the game. it has come to the point you have to carry 15+ different types of items.

Give us tools to improve our communities (Player communities are the heart and soul of UO. Due to the item madness, they have been neglected for years.)

not sure what this means. the shrinking player-base is the reason that player-run towns have died.

 

[MalagAste]

they have already done this to a large extent. the problem now is they keep adding consumable items to the game. it has come to the point you have to carry 15+ different types of items.

not sure what this means. the shrinking player-base is the reason that player-run towns have died.

NOt all player run towns have died....... Newcastle still lives.

 

[Prince Caspian]

It's the end of Britannia as we know it. And I feel fine... if slightly tipsy.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Give us tools to improve our communities

not sure what this means. the shrinking player-base is the reason that player-run towns have died.

Examples:
A cross-guild chat system (like the alliance chat, but alliances are not really useful).
Tools that encourage player towns.
Ways to connect player towns (like special teleporters).
Making crafter professions more important for the community.
Stuff like that.

 

[Turdnugget]

Player run towns would be better suited, I think, if they could modify the nearby buildings they 'own'.

Allow them to put pubs, benches, fountains,statues,flowers etc...within their 'zone'. As long as it doesn't abuse game mechanics in any way to cheat.

Allow more options for building looks. That way buildings would actually look like they should, like the ones in towns...

 

[MalagAste]

Examples:
A cross-guild chat system (like the alliance chat, but alliances are not really useful).
Tools that encourage player towns.
Ways to connect player towns (like special teleporters).
Making crafter professions more important for the community.
Stuff like that.

There are many things that would make player run towns more functional.... Like the ability to link them to a road... incentive to run one..... ways to make community come first.... instead of the soloist..... Guilds and alliance's are fine and all but community is key.... some sort of acknowledgment would be nice. Though I'm not sure any of that is necessary.... but certainly would be nice if we had some way of making our community more of a community... if pooling our network of accounts and characters made some difference.... I don't know..... the trouble is how to be fair???

I think years ago there was a lot of things done for folk who did put in the effort to do things for the community..... One that comes to mind is.... Kazola..... She turned her home in Yew to a Tavern.... people came from all over to drink and tell stories.... band together and fend off the murderers.... her house was blessed by Lord British himself..... given a courtyard with lovely hedge and a nice fountain.....

This place still stands.... though it's hardly ever used or remembered.... which to me is a shame..... one thing that killed places like that is the whining of folk who wanted something for nothing..... "Why isn't my place blessed!?"..... Well..... most of them never gave to the community..... eventually all the whining ruined things for the rest of the folk.... I still think that those who do things for the community by hosting and holding events and providing entertainment and enjoyment for others SHOULD be rewarded.... and they should be given tools and means to provide more entertainment..... these folk should be encouraged not discouraged.

 

[Fogsbane]

Awesome summary.
Thank you for the time and effort you put into this!

 

[Heartseeker]

Great post as always, Hawkeye.

 

[Sorcha of Sonoma]

Examples:
A cross-guild chat system (like the alliance chat, but alliances are not really useful).
Tools that encourage player towns.
Ways to connect player towns (like special teleporters).
Making crafter professions more important for the community.
Stuff like that.

There are many things that would make player run towns more functional.... Like the ability to link them to a road... incentive to run one..... ways to make community come first.... instead of the soloist..... Guilds and alliance's are fine and all but community is key.... some sort of acknowledgment would be nice. Though I'm not sure any of that is necessary.... but certainly would be nice if we had some way of making our community more of a community... if pooling our network of accounts and characters made some difference.... I don't know..... the trouble is how to be fair???

I think years ago there was a lot of things done for folk who did put in the effort to do things for the community..... One that comes to mind is.... Kazola..... She turned her home in Yew to a Tavern.... people came from all over to drink and tell stories.... band together and fend off the murderers.... her house was blessed by Lord British himself..... given a courtyard with lovely hedge and a nice fountain.....

This place still stands.... though it's hardly ever used or remembered.... which to me is a shame..... one thing that killed places like that is the whining of folk who wanted something for nothing..... "Why isn't my place blessed!?"..... Well..... most of them never gave to the community..... eventually all the whining ruined things for the rest of the folk.... I still think that those who do things for the community by hosting and holding events and providing entertainment and enjoyment for others SHOULD be rewarded.... and they should be given tools and means to provide more entertainment..... these folk should be encouraged not discouraged.

Also the YMCA in Fel at the Yew Cemetery on Sonoma. Now if people would come back for Story Night ....

Actually the new Event Moderators can help this, as could the developers. EMs could include these pieces of History in their travels, and the devs could provide connections somehow. On Sonoma you used to be able to go from the Calandryl library to the Mage Tower - eventually the Mage Tower was destroyed, but still, the tools existed. Maybe a permanent Tram/Fel spot only moongate?

 

[hawkeye_pike]

There are many things that would make player run towns more functional....

Aye, I was also thinking of normal game features that would enhance a player town and make it more special, without giving too much power to people. For example:

• An own town crier system (to spread customizable news amongst the guild and visitors).
• Stables usable for everyone (without charges).
• A special teleporter that you can use to link your town to another player town.
• An NPC provisioner.

These things should be available for active player towns. However, I am not sure how one could check whether a town is active. I'm just throwing in a few ideas...

 

[Sir_Bolo]

An own town crier system (to spread customizable news amongst the guild and visitors)

Don't we already have that?
Hire a bunch of Barkeeps, dress them as Town Cryers, place them on the front steps of your main buildings and customize them to respond to "news".

Even the most active UO town won't need to manage more than 10 barkeeps at most...

Actually - I'm wondering if one could even link a bunch of Barkeeps automatically to a "main" Barkeep with a clever use of hidden Communication Crystals so that you just need to update the news on one of them...

 

[Lord Patapon]

As usual with your posts, I agree.
I really hope you'll be heard by the devs.

 

[Maplestone]

ways to make community come first.... instead of the soloist

It's hard to be a specialist when a powergamer can outproduce you 100-to-1 on the side of whatever they are normally doing.

I'm not saying that there aren't better ways to enhance and reward community, but I don't think punishing/blaming people who create their own little community is the right way to go about it.