After reading some of these replies I am now convinced more than ever that the popularity of the 2d client is holding UO back.
Do a lot of you classic client players really want UO to stay where it is? UO is currently in park. UO needs something to bring in more subscriptions because I have a feeling that UO is very slowly losing subscribers every year, like a slow drain. EA cannot plug up this drain nor sit and watch it happen. It is called progress, and like I said earlier, fighting 10 years of human habit is difficult to overcome.
All the potential manpower that could be used 100% on improving KR cannot be used because the 2d client most be maintained as well. Why? Because you all have let EA know very well that you refuse change. Can't any of you see this paradox? You are the very reason why KR was not good. If you would have just given it a week or so, and setup some macros, and downloaded some mods, you would have seen the amazing potential this client has. But you didn't, and EA has seen this.
And this is why they have to "split" their time between clients. And what happens with that? Neither client gets the attention it deserves.
Can you blame EA for going 3d and trying to update their artwork? After all, they are trying to get more subscriptions to keep this 800 x 600 game you love so much alive.
Now, this is not about pixel crack and about making this game look like WoW. Anyone who prefers pixel crack would not even be talking about UO in the first place. But you can have the deep skill system and hard learning curve and all those great things that make UO special, and still have a non-archaic client based on the MMO clients of today. This does not make you a "sell out" or trying to copy WoW.
I've read every post up to this one, and I fail to see how you can be convinced that the popularity of 2D is holding UO back.
If anything is holding UO back, it is the total lack of any attempt at a client of similar quality to todays' competition - be that WoW, AoC, Guildwars, etc.
It doesn't matter whether the client offers line-of-sight view, 3rd-party movable camera, or top-down isometric; the graphics need to be rendered sharply, with clear delineation between objects, and must appeal to the current tastes of the mass-market.
Both the UO clients fail to meet these criteria:
2D is beautifully delineated, but I am happy to admit (as a lover of 2D), that the cartoon graphic style has minimal appeal to players bought-up on more modern games.
KR cannot be said, (even by its' most dedicated adherents), to be crisp and sharply rendered.
Tweaking 2D or KR will not make either client attractive to the bulk of modern gamers.
For UO to obtain an influx of new players, a completely new client is required; which would essentially mean a whole new game, which would lead to doubts as to whether people would quit 2D or KR for the new client.
I for one would NOT go; I have too much time and effort tied-up in UO to be prepared to walk away and start again.
I am certain that EA has the manpower available to write a new game if they so wanted, as has been done by Funcom: Anarchy Online has 8-year-old graphics, and it shows. Age of Conan, (although it is an appalling game), has graphics which have more appeal to the average modern gamer.
Funcom don't release subscription figures, but I'd be willing to bet that the "we've been playing eight years because we love this game" Anarchy people are outnumbered by the "we play this because it's new and shiny" AoC folk.
To address some of the other points you made:
"...set up some macros ..."
I cannot set-up macros that I have been used to using for many years. (I haven't logged-in KR for a while, so I may be out of date on this - but I'm sure you will point it out if I am.)
How do I....
1) Target Next = mousewheel up
2) Target Self = mousewheel down
3) Bandage pet 1 = single button press / Bandage pet 2 = single button press
"...and download some mods."
The fact that many people seem to require KR to be modded in order to play it shows how little research was done by EA prior to its' "release"
I applaud the efforts of those who have written mods for KR, but all their efforts do is to illustrate the fact that the client was not released in a form that was acceptable to / wanted by the playerbase.
Can you blame EA for going 3d and trying to update their artwork? After all, they are trying to get more subscriptions to keep this 800 x 600 game you love so much alive
This is where the policy fails.
You only get one chance at a first impression.
UO 2D was my first MMO, after moving-up from text-based DOS MUDS. I was blown-away by the fact that I could SEE my little cartoon person moving around, rather than reading "You run north."
I then tried Anarchy - the improvement in graphics was incredible; if I had played this first, I would have laughed at UO2D and probably not gone further than looking over someones' shoulder as they played.
I now occasionally play Guildwars with the kids. The visuals are an order of magnitude better than anything that UO can offer.
If I was a new player with some Guildwars experience, why on earth would I be attracted to UO? I know all the arguments about the depth of gameplay, and the immersive nature of UO - after all, I still play - but I can imagine myself as a GW/AoC player looking at any version of UO for the first time: My first impression would be "what is this?, a 1990s' game"
Anyone who prefers pixel crack would not even be talking about UO in the first place. But you can have the deep skill system and hard learning curve and all those great things that make UO special, and still have a non-archaic client based on the MMO clients of today.
It's not about the skill system. It's not about the learning curve. It's about first impressions.
You start a character. You make a mage. You cast a spell....
Now, if you really think that image has more appeal to the modern gamer than...
... then we have nothing further to talk about.
I love UO, which is why I still play it after all these years, but I am realistic enough to accept that no matter how "modded", the KR client is never going to be a modern client.
Currently, UO will live, or die, according to its' merits as a niche game. Nothing short of a total rebuild will make it anything other than that.
But don't give up!
