Z
Zero Day
Guest
Lets see (Warning this is long as hell)
Required Posturing
#1 I have been playing UO since UO beta in fall/97
(**Show experience by how much money I've soaked into this game 8yrs @120/year + 4 years @ 180/year= Crap load of cash)
#2 I have been PvPing since UO beta (Just hooked on UO PvP)
(**Actually I spent my first month getting beaten by goats and the weeks after that I was getting pwned by dread lords while i was dueling goats)
#3 I run UO/Assist sometimes automap
(** Automap sometimes gets in the way or I forget to load it)
#4 OK I've established myself as required I know all there is to know about UO!
Second Bullet Points
RE: CHEAT PROGRAMS
#1 There are applications available to assist UO playing
The bottom line is the game is 12 years old. The game budget is small and the playerbase is shrinking.
EA is not Blizzard. Blizzard will hold back and release a game when they deem that the quality matches their high standards.
EA owns a bunch of game publishing/dev studios and release maybe 50-100 or more titles a year.
If they get 5-10 hits out of those releases they are hopping.
Blizzard before WoW probably couldnt afford to have more than one major flop.
Third party programs exist which in one way or another can assist if not replace player action altogether in UO.
The devs really have better things to do than muddle through 12 years of two or 3 different builds bad code to cover server and client holes to fix this stuff.
It'd be nice if there was GM attention but how many experienced players that can actually spot cheats, AND not abuse their own power is EA/Mythic going to find at just above minimum wage.How many people will accept $10 an hour to sit there and not abuse the power to make gold/arties/runics etc which could sell for $$$. Very few.
With the proper tweaking, and just UOassist, players can achieve alot of what 3rd party assist applications do with minimal effort. (Aside from speed boosts)
----------------------------------------------------------
UO History
In the years that UO has developed, and new additions to the game make interesting and rediculously powerful combinations.
One way the devs tried to balance was adding skill dependencies and caps.
Taming used to be all that was required to control a dragon.
Healing didn't require anatomy.
Magery didn't require Eval
Meditation didnt even exist.
And when the game was still young, most people hadn't yet figured how to gm a skill in 3 days.
The average player had average skills.
As soon as people were able to get stronger they certainly did.
Magery+Swords+Tactics+Alchemy+Hiding+Wrestling+Taming
You could run around with a bunch of dragons, Flay something with spells till you were out of mana, then whip out your Halberd and toss greater explosion pots, and Hide if all that failed.
But then everybody was a Tank Mage, because this was the most powerful.
Then there were a few "tweaks" to archery and a harm wand bug and other fun stuff. And for a while there were all archers then all harm wands.
After those things were "fixed" later on came dependencies to help encourage diversity.
Mages required Evaluation, Healing was fixed etc.
And the game was pretty well balanced for a while.
But then it began to stagnate, so more stuff was added.
Special moves for dexers with RNG effect, special moves for wrestling.
Lumberjacking for more damage with axes!
New mounts/tameables etc.
Great for a while Then stagnation.
More Stuff
Power Scrolls/ Higher Skill Caps/Champ Spawns
Wheeee!
New Content!
New Client!
3D To compete with the "Competition" who are all 3D completely different style clients but oh well.
And players explored the new content and all was well for a while.
After a bit the game stagnated.
So to compete with the competition, the best way of that time seemed to be to Mimic them.
Enter AOS
Combat/Damage/Armour System completely reworked
Players in those games like items, So we are given ITEMS!!!
And for a while, AOS was like UO new begining.
Everybody was new, still working things out and items tended to suck.
Then like before players adapted and learned and got stronger.
And they had two completely new skills and a new ability to an old skill.
The introduction of AOS marks one of the changes in UO that was catastrophic.
Many old players just didnt want to learn the new system. Many just quit.
With the new changes, the game became harder to balance because players were now much more capable of dealing and recovering from damage. (Not so much so to avoiding it)
So balance steps were quickly thrown in to the new skills.
And where many things go wrong.
And this revealed the design flaw that while rarely committed previously was now becoming part of the design process and killing PvP.
The other flaw was not relegated just to PvP but to all of UO.
UO has become EASY. Risk vs Reward has been all but removed.
(begin rant)
All the additions to the game, make monsters stronger to "challenge players" but then make players stronger as well so they can destroy the monsters.
Even the supposed Peerless are Soloable bosses.
The sad thing is the game development for the last few years has been keep adding stuff for crafting /PvM etc and when it comes to be too strong in PvP its cut out for PvP.
So PvP gets a gimped/butchered/swiss cheesed version of skills/abilities and items while PvM gets the deity like earth shattering power.
So PvMers get bored and PvP becomes a few gimps playing through the holes in the swiss cheese.
The fact is PvP is great for exposing problems with PvM and vice versa. Trying to develop them or in some cases undevelop them separately gives the steaming pile of what we have now.
It boils down to everybody wanting to win all the time and demanding the devs make the game that way. Then when the devs do it, people complain it is boring.
I think the devs should slap the M rating back on the game change the login screen to a HUGE middle finger and then go about their developing with minor medling from the player community who are like kids alone dining constantly on sweets then pancakes about tooth aches.
(/end rant)
For PvPers
#1 If you are being attacked by 6 People. You should probably Die
(Why do people think they should always survive ganks)
For PvMers
#1 If a creature has 100x Your HP 10x Your int 10x Your stam and 10 x your mana.
(If it sneezed on you it should freakin kill you. get over it)
For Tamers PvM/PvP
#1 If you said all kill to a dragon that can master 7th circle spells it would laugh at you then step on you and feed you to its eggs.
For Crafters
If everything crafted was awesome you'd be out of a Job quick
For Bards
Each ability requires a separate skill. You sure GOT SCREWED
Oh and if you read all this, you either love UO and have no life, or you don't love UO
Required Posturing
#1 I have been playing UO since UO beta in fall/97
(**Show experience by how much money I've soaked into this game 8yrs @120/year + 4 years @ 180/year= Crap load of cash)
#2 I have been PvPing since UO beta (Just hooked on UO PvP)
(**Actually I spent my first month getting beaten by goats and the weeks after that I was getting pwned by dread lords while i was dueling goats)
#3 I run UO/Assist sometimes automap
(** Automap sometimes gets in the way or I forget to load it)
#4 OK I've established myself as required I know all there is to know about UO!
Second Bullet Points
RE: CHEAT PROGRAMS
#1 There are applications available to assist UO playing
The bottom line is the game is 12 years old. The game budget is small and the playerbase is shrinking.
EA is not Blizzard. Blizzard will hold back and release a game when they deem that the quality matches their high standards.
EA owns a bunch of game publishing/dev studios and release maybe 50-100 or more titles a year.
If they get 5-10 hits out of those releases they are hopping.
Blizzard before WoW probably couldnt afford to have more than one major flop.
Third party programs exist which in one way or another can assist if not replace player action altogether in UO.
The devs really have better things to do than muddle through 12 years of two or 3 different builds bad code to cover server and client holes to fix this stuff.
It'd be nice if there was GM attention but how many experienced players that can actually spot cheats, AND not abuse their own power is EA/Mythic going to find at just above minimum wage.How many people will accept $10 an hour to sit there and not abuse the power to make gold/arties/runics etc which could sell for $$$. Very few.
With the proper tweaking, and just UOassist, players can achieve alot of what 3rd party assist applications do with minimal effort. (Aside from speed boosts)
----------------------------------------------------------
UO History
In the years that UO has developed, and new additions to the game make interesting and rediculously powerful combinations.
One way the devs tried to balance was adding skill dependencies and caps.
Taming used to be all that was required to control a dragon.
Healing didn't require anatomy.
Magery didn't require Eval
Meditation didnt even exist.
And when the game was still young, most people hadn't yet figured how to gm a skill in 3 days.
The average player had average skills.
As soon as people were able to get stronger they certainly did.
Magery+Swords+Tactics+Alchemy+Hiding+Wrestling+Taming
You could run around with a bunch of dragons, Flay something with spells till you were out of mana, then whip out your Halberd and toss greater explosion pots, and Hide if all that failed.
But then everybody was a Tank Mage, because this was the most powerful.
Then there were a few "tweaks" to archery and a harm wand bug and other fun stuff. And for a while there were all archers then all harm wands.
After those things were "fixed" later on came dependencies to help encourage diversity.
Mages required Evaluation, Healing was fixed etc.
And the game was pretty well balanced for a while.
But then it began to stagnate, so more stuff was added.
Special moves for dexers with RNG effect, special moves for wrestling.
Lumberjacking for more damage with axes!
New mounts/tameables etc.
Great for a while Then stagnation.
More Stuff
Power Scrolls/ Higher Skill Caps/Champ Spawns
Wheeee!
New Content!
New Client!
3D To compete with the "Competition" who are all 3D completely different style clients but oh well.
And players explored the new content and all was well for a while.
After a bit the game stagnated.
So to compete with the competition, the best way of that time seemed to be to Mimic them.
Enter AOS
Combat/Damage/Armour System completely reworked
Players in those games like items, So we are given ITEMS!!!
And for a while, AOS was like UO new begining.
Everybody was new, still working things out and items tended to suck.
Then like before players adapted and learned and got stronger.
And they had two completely new skills and a new ability to an old skill.
The introduction of AOS marks one of the changes in UO that was catastrophic.
Many old players just didnt want to learn the new system. Many just quit.
With the new changes, the game became harder to balance because players were now much more capable of dealing and recovering from damage. (Not so much so to avoiding it)
So balance steps were quickly thrown in to the new skills.
And where many things go wrong.
And this revealed the design flaw that while rarely committed previously was now becoming part of the design process and killing PvP.
The other flaw was not relegated just to PvP but to all of UO.
UO has become EASY. Risk vs Reward has been all but removed.
(begin rant)
All the additions to the game, make monsters stronger to "challenge players" but then make players stronger as well so they can destroy the monsters.
Even the supposed Peerless are Soloable bosses.
The sad thing is the game development for the last few years has been keep adding stuff for crafting /PvM etc and when it comes to be too strong in PvP its cut out for PvP.
So PvP gets a gimped/butchered/swiss cheesed version of skills/abilities and items while PvM gets the deity like earth shattering power.
So PvMers get bored and PvP becomes a few gimps playing through the holes in the swiss cheese.
The fact is PvP is great for exposing problems with PvM and vice versa. Trying to develop them or in some cases undevelop them separately gives the steaming pile of what we have now.
It boils down to everybody wanting to win all the time and demanding the devs make the game that way. Then when the devs do it, people complain it is boring.
I think the devs should slap the M rating back on the game change the login screen to a HUGE middle finger and then go about their developing with minor medling from the player community who are like kids alone dining constantly on sweets then pancakes about tooth aches.
(/end rant)
For PvPers
#1 If you are being attacked by 6 People. You should probably Die
(Why do people think they should always survive ganks)
For PvMers
#1 If a creature has 100x Your HP 10x Your int 10x Your stam and 10 x your mana.
(If it sneezed on you it should freakin kill you. get over it)
For Tamers PvM/PvP
#1 If you said all kill to a dragon that can master 7th circle spells it would laugh at you then step on you and feed you to its eggs.
For Crafters
If everything crafted was awesome you'd be out of a Job quick
For Bards
Each ability requires a separate skill. You sure GOT SCREWED
Oh and if you read all this, you either love UO and have no life, or you don't love UO
