I'd like to be a dead beat who started a game series in the 80's which is still running and around today.... and rich, and still a big well recognized name in an industry.
I don't "begrudge" anyone for wishing for prettier graphics necessarily. I just think that it HAS to be treated, with the way the game market is, as a tradeoff. If you want beautiful graphics in an MMO, get ready for the kids and powergamers. And once you have those, get ready for the MMO management company to start kowtowing to any change that will keep them... more, godly , hard to get loot and gear.... more quests... more linear progress, harder to reach the top, and a larger chasm between start and "finish" of a character. Those are the things that keep ADHD graphics and action and competition driven younger gamers paying the subscription fees longer. That is why every single major MMO follows precisely the same formula.The only reason I would like to see a UO rendered completely in 1st or 3rd person true 3D is for the immersion.
I would never, ever, want to see UO turned into a WoW or EQ clone. It's already gone too far in that direction in my opinion. But there are still elements of UO that remain in tact...like having the ability to customize your character. There are no levels. There is no top. There is only what you want to do.
Many days, I log into to UO, and just visit places I have not seen. I have been playing this game for over 11 years now (since the Beta) and believe it or not, there are still new things and places to see. It's not always about fighting monsters, or PvP, or crafting, or collecting things...sometimes its just about being in the world we all have spent so many years getting attached to. I am a shop-a-holic, guilty, I love shopping...but not because I really want to own all that crap...mostly because I like to see whats out there. I meet many people while out shopping. To me, its a fun part of the game.
You don't get that kind of experience out of what I like to call A+B=C games like WoW.
Well, spiel over...back on the original topic
You do realize this is fairly standard, yes? You think the three college dropouts who started Diablo are still at Blizzard? Heck Blizzard doesn't directly control WOW anymore, it's under Vivendi now.
I agree. Some of my friends play WoW, and many of them point to the graphics as the reason. I say no thanks. If I want fancy graphics, I can watch a Pixar movie.
I agree absolutely you can be both. I think though that it would probably require the original "vision" team that designs MMO to stick with it and not just sell it off to some server farm or management company or board room. Because once that happens, it becomes ALL about marketing, retention, and strategies to make the game more addictive long-term, and for goals to be more delayed. And you get Everquest, or WOW, in a new set of graphics.
What is your point? Your reputation as a troll seems well earned. Why are we even discussing theories about his level of emotional attachment to UO? Who cares? Ultima as a franchise has been a huge part of his career. The rest of whatever point you're making is irrelevant.
ROFL...ok...la
My opinion is that Darkfall will go the way of Shadowbane, sadly. There is one thing that every game since UO is missing, and why they will never capture that feel: The typical MMO is first and foremost are designed as a game, with a world tacked on and created to house the game. UO on the other hand was conceived as a virtual world in which people could inhabit. Instead of creating a game mechanic and then building a shell around it, they created a world and gave people tools to interact with it. In the end, it makes the world live and breathe like no other MMO, and I don't think Darkfall will be any different from the masses when it comes to that.