WHAT HAPPENED TO THE POPULATION ON ULTIMA ONLINE?

[Lord_Puffy]

Where has everyone gone, and do you actually think that SA is going to bring back players? I sure hope so because as of right now this game is completely dead. There is no one to play with anymore, more then half the shards are dead? When did this all happen?

 

[Black Sun]

Try Atlantic or Catskills, they're both pretty full. I can't speak for other shards, but I live on Cats, and visit Atlantic regularly. Granted shard populations are down, but UO isn't dead.

 

[o2bavr6]

They left after the introduction of AoS.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

I see more and more old players returning. I don't know why. Probably because Darkfall failed so miserably.

I would not be too surprised if people found out that UO really is the MMORPG with the best content and the best depth on the market, and that nifty graphics may be secondary.

 

[Kellgory]

Well considering how long it's been since the last box was on a store shelf (9th anniversary), this game has been running on word of mouth for the last couple of years as far as getting new players. Alot of people from smaller shards are moving to the larger populated shards because they can't find anything on vendors or people to play with, and there are some people that xfer the other way because there are too many people on shards like Alantic. Not sure if SA will bring any new people or not since they just announced that it will be released via electronic distribution. It may bring back some of the people that once played UO for a while, but if it's filled with bugs then they will quickly leave.

Considering how many on-line games there are and how many that were predicted to be the one that would kill UO, only to fail, it is pretty remarkable that UO is still kicking.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I've yet to see someone from EA-Mythic say that they think SA will bring in new players. That's pretty much us.

UO is down from its peak. It will never regain its peak. That era is over.

However, UO's population in terms of seeing people around is clearly up, at least on LS, judged from 6 months to a year ago. Most of those that I'm personally aware of are players who left and came back.

Right now, as far as I can tell the biggest actual threat to UO's future is if EA misunderstands the business model so badly that they hold it to an inappropriate standard. (For example, if they expect WoW, or if they expect it to bring in monthly profits equal to, say, some sports game's one-time profits.)

This is possible. Remember that we're dealing with the people who thought Tetris needed to be improved!

-Galen's player

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Atlantic is alive and kicking.

 

[o2bavr6]

This is possible. Remember that we're dealing with the people who thought Tetris needed to be improved!

-Galen's player

Yes these are the same people who destroyed UO by making it item based.

UO was special compared to any other game I've played. Sadly they tore the world apart, no pun intended, and it will never be the same.

 

[Anon McDougle]

i keep telling you we need erosion the lands must shrink every shard with population below XXX needs to start to lose landmass sadly we must be forced to play together

 

[ColterDC]

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I, along with 6 other people in my family, quit was due to all the cheating that infests UO and the fact that the Devs either can't stop it or don't want to stop it.

It really sucks when the further you delve into a particular area of the game, the more you find out how truely corrupt and cheat infested UO really has become. Whether it's scripters, dupers or numerous PvP cheats....it simply gets old competing with cheaters on a daily basis.

UO has only survived this long on word of mouth and from existing players convincing their friends to give it a try. Unfortunately though the reputation of UO has taken such a nose dive, very few people are actually telling others good things about the game.

I personally keep checking in on the game in hopes that maybe, one day, the people in charge will do their jobs and clean up the game. I'm not holding out much hope though that it will actually happen since EA seems content to just milk out their dwindling playerbase until it reaches a point where the game just shuts down.

 

[o2bavr6]

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I, along with 6 other people in my family, quit was due to all the cheating that infests UO and the fact that the Devs either can't stop it or don't want to stop it.

It really sucks when the further you delve into a particular area of the game, the more you find out how truely corrupt and cheat infested UO really has become. Whether it's scripters, dupers or numerous PvP cheats....it simply gets old competing with cheaters on a daily basis.

UO has only survived this long on word of mouth and from existing players convincing their friends to give it a try. Unfortunately though the reputation of UO has taken such a nose dive, very few people are actually telling others good things about the game.

I personally keep checking in on the game in hopes that maybe, one day, the people in charge will do their jobs and clean up the game. I'm not holding out much hope though that it will actually happen since EA seems content to just milk out their dwindling playerbase until it reaches a point where the game just shuts down.

Good thought, but don't hold your breath. EA wont do anything except for eventually close the game down.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Let me rephrase myself.

What I meant to say was:

UO has already been shut down. Haven't you seen my website? It says so definitively. You know it's accurate, because it's on the Internet.

There are only 5 remaining UO players, they just have a lot of accounts. 4 of those 5 are in Japan.

EA has stopped paying the servers. Sooner or later, the server administrators will realize they aren't being paid and the servers will shut down one by one.

The next time the login servers go down, or a shard goes down? That's a sign that the end has begun. Or, rather, that's a sign of the beginning of the finale of the end.

I'm shocked more people don't know this. It says all this information right on my website!

No you can't have my stuff but feel free to say I gave it to you after UO shuts down.

-Galen's player

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

idk but ive seen soooo many young players this month. i stoped by newhaven for a quest and found 5 just running in circles trying to learn how to move. and i got my shift leader at work to start an account.
crap forgot about that buddy thing....
i do play atlantic however, always have.

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

Heres a thought....

99.9% of the cheats are for the 2d client. Not to say KR or SA cant or wont have them but the fact remains...2d is where the cheats are.

Maybe they should make a shard for people to play 2d only.

All other shards should require KR/SA to play on.

2ders can stay happy.
The rest of us can move on and not worry about all those problems that have plagued the old client for years.

 

[Black Sun]

Heres a thought....

99.9% of the cheats are for the 2d client. Not to say KR or SA cant or wont have them but the fact remains...2d is where the cheats are.

Maybe they should make a shard for people to play 2d only.

All other shards should require KR/SA to play on.

2ders can stay happy.
The rest of us can move on and not worry about all those problems that have plagued the old client for years.

You wanna borrow my flame retardant suit, or do you have one of your own?

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

You wanna borrow my flame retardant suit, or do you have one of your own?

Flames do not scare me

Neither do comments on a forum.

 

[Taylor]

UWF on Atlantic has been guilding a lot of returning players lately. Many adults, I think, are learning that they can't compete in WOW/Warhammer Online/etc. against twelve-year-olds with no life outside the game.

 

[Myphsar]

hmm,
well, myself im playing WoW because i got bored with UO tbh
Same crapy BoDs each day, Same crapy loot with over 2k luck (high-end mobs) each day.
Only thing i miss is my ingame friends.
I hope SA is worth me keeping both my accounts open.

 

[o2bavr6]

Heres a thought....

99.9% of the cheats are for the 2d client. Not to say KR or SA cant or wont have them but the fact remains...2d is where the cheats are.

Maybe they should make a shard for people to play 2d only.

All other shards should require KR/SA to play on.

2ders can stay happy.
The rest of us can move on and not worry about all those problems that have plagued the old client for years.

Or... here's a thought how about just fix the cheats in 2d?

Or is that asking to much from EA?

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

Or... here's a thought how about just fix the cheats in 2d?

Or is that asking to much from EA?

Honestly, I think a bunch of the cheats simply cant be fixed. Scripting and stuff. After 10 years and all the complaints Im quite sure they wouldve been fixed if possible. Its the nature of the client. Its old. The way commands are processed makes it possible to do these things.

I imagine they could rewrite the 2d client completely. But IMO, thats a waste of time. Thats why they had KR and now SA...so they can stay up to date and not in 1997.

When there was talk of implementing cheat detection, which wouldve worked, people complained.

You reap what you sew.

 

[Black Sun]

Honestly, I think a bunch of the cheats simply cant be fixed. Scripting and stuff.

It's just as easy to script in KR/SA as it is in 2D. There are programs out there (not specifically designed UO scripting programs either) that will allow you to automate anything on a computer. So scripting is not something that will go away because the 2D client does. The only way to get rid of scripters is for EA/GMs to ban them.

 

[Lord Gareth]

We have had a large returning population on Chesapeake and we are a still very good population

 

[Spree]

Heres a thought....

99.9% of the cheats are for the 2d client. Not to say KR or SA cant or wont have them but the fact remains...2d is where the cheats are.

Maybe they should make a shard for people to play 2d only.

All other shards should require KR/SA to play on.

2ders can stay happy.
The rest of us can move on and not worry about all those problems that have plagued the old client for years.

Like the cheats would not just move to the new client if they got rid of 2d. I bet there in no cheating and scripting in other games because they all have new clients. I just google wow cheats and scripts and nothing came up.

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

I just google wow cheats and scripts and nothing came up.

LoL. Practically none of those work. Account stealers FTW! Unless you use em on private servers...which is no fun.

WoW has cheat detection which stops the majority.

UO needs something to detect cheats. Period.

Ive played games that utilized PB and , while it cannot stop 100% of them, its damn near close. Only private cheats get by for a while. Anything you can google or find on public forums will get you banned. It would greatly reduce the number of cheaters in UO.

 

[Harb]

To the OPs point, yes subscriptions are down, but the reasons are many and individually determined by those departed, so there really isn't anything to wrap oneself around and claim that yep, that’s the thing that did it. Also noteworthy, as several have also mentioned, to those who have stayed through thick and thin it's evident that something external to our game is causing a noticeable influx of returning and new players. I've spoken with several; it's either a friend’s recommendation, curiosity regarding changes/ added content, or dissatisfaction with other sampled games. By no means are new and returning players over-running the bank, but they are coming. It's also noteworthy that of those I've personally spoken with, not one was aware of the upcoming SA expansion, reinforcing the earlier observation that whatever is causing this is external opposed to internal.

 

[thelust6]

I remember ages back, the devs had posted they were looking at implementing punk buster; what happened? Did the idea gradually lose favour for some reason? x

 

[Slickjack]

How can any one person claim they know subscriptions are down? Outside of someone officially saying this, where do you people get your statistics?

 

[GreywolfUK]

Heres a thought....

99.9% of the cheats are for the 2d client. Not to say KR or SA cant or wont have them but the fact remains...2d is where the cheats are.

Maybe they should make a shard for people to play 2d only.

All other shards should require KR/SA to play on.

2ders can stay happy.
The rest of us can move on and not worry about all those problems that have plagued the old client for years.

I use 2d and a lot of my friends use 2d, and no of us use 3rd party programs or scripts, in fact I do not even use UOA. You are wrong by implying all those that use the 2d client at cheats, when in actual fact it is a small minority that use them. I also use KR client, I began playing uo in 2d 10 years ago, I am more comfortable with that client.

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

I remember ages back, the devs had posted they were looking at implementing punk buster; what happened? Did the idea gradually lose favour for some reason? x

everyone freaked out because punkbuster is obviously an NSA created program that will steal all of your personal information and stream it live
to thousands of unstoppable websites.

not really, but people freaked.

 

[dupadupa]

everyone freaked out because punkbuster is obviously an NSA created program that will steal all of your personal information and stream it live
to thousands of unstoppable websites.

not really, but people freaked.

the sad thing is people are so paranoid, i myself would love to see the addition of punkbuster - i for sure know many people who share the same opinion of how cheats plague uo -

if you play any of these games below then u already have come into contact with punk

Latest PB Versions Server Client
America's Army v1.739 v2.182 | A1371
Battlefield 1942 v1.457 v2.110 | A1331
Battlefield 2 v1.738 v2.181 | A1392
Battlefield 2142 v1.718 v2.151 | A1375
Battlefield Vietnam v1.458 v1.757 | A1334
Call of Duty v1.729 v2.165 | A1362
Call of Duty 2 v1.741 v2.181 | A1383
Call of Duty 4 v1.740 v2.180 | A1407
Call of Duty: World at War v1.723 v2.176 | A1409
Crysis v1.735 v2.161 | A1391
Crysis Wars v1.742 v2.160 | A1394
DOOM 3 v1.744 v1.201 | A1308
Enemy Territory v1.727 v2.153 | A1382
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars v1.685 v2.114 | A1313
Far Cry 2 v1.734 v2.159 | A1392
F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate v1.746 v2.019 | A1391
Frontlines: Fuel of War v1.699 v2.154 | A1356
Need for Speed Pro Street v1.272 v1.297 | A1353
Need for Speed Undercover v1.651 v2.100 | A1390
Prey v1.745 v1.269 | A1309
Quake III Arena v1.641 v2.041 | A1353
Quake 4 v1.743 v1.292 | A1307
QUAKE LIVE v1.642 v2.042 | A1354
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield v1.731 v2.158 | A1348
Rainbow Six: Vegas v1.732 v2.157 | A1351
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 v1.733 v2.156 | A1352
Return to Castle Wolfenstein v1.730 v2.164 | A1345
Soldier of Fortune II v1.728 v2.152 | A1363


hell not even realated to punkbuster - my other favourite online game ti*ia how now done the same - changed there public policy to put there anti cheat software on - everone cried.. but you know what? no one left - and the game is benefitting already

personally in uo i just get on in-game and are ignorant towards the cheaters - at the end of the day, i cant change it so i just choose to ignore it,

 

[Nyte Doombringer]

Europa still is alive and kicking. If you go to New Haven you can see new players being spawned all the time there as well.

 

[Arcus]

Heres a thought....

99.9% of the cheats are for the 2d client.

Absolutely totally wrong. People only spew this junk to further their anti 2D agenda.

 

[Dodger]

They are all still here, just now they are all ghost cams

 

[onthefifty]

it is the start of summer

bbq's, beach, nice weather, adult beverage of your choice...

 

[Nem]

Where has everyone gone, and do you actually think that SA is going to bring back players? I sure hope so because as of right now this game is completely dead. There is no one to play with anymore, more then half the shards are dead? When did this all happen?

Cheey Got ppl

 

[gunneroforgin]

Let me rephrase myself.

What I meant to say was:

UO has already been shut down. Haven't you seen my website? It says so definitively. You know it's accurate, because it's on the Internet.

There are only 5 remaining UO players, they just have a lot of accounts. 4 of those 5 are in Japan.

EA has stopped paying the servers. Sooner or later, the server administrators will realize they aren't being paid and the servers will shut down one by one.

The next time the login servers go down, or a shard goes down? That's a sign that the end has begun. Or, rather, that's a sign of the beginning of the finale of the end.

I'm shocked more people don't know this. It says all this information right on my website!

No you can't have my stuff but feel free to say I gave it to you after UO shuts down.

-Galen's player

your crazy... four of those accounts are mine. Now everybody else get off my game. Seriously now, I know you are wrong and if your are so against this game you should stop posting. Why would you care except to be trolling for responces like mine.

 

[Rogal]

When there was talk of implementing cheat detection, which wouldve worked, people complained.

You reap what you sew.

Yeah, it was the cheaters that were complaining.
Punk Buster should have been made live regardless of the pancakes. Don't like it? Play something else.

 

[Black Sun]

Yeah, it was the cheaters that were complaining.
Punk Buster should have been made live regardless of the pancakes. Don't like it? Play something else.

"But giving people that sort of ultimatum would drive too many players away!! It would surely kill the game once and for all!"

But think of all the players who quit because of the inaction taken towards cheaters thus far. I'd be willing to bet a lot of them would come back if the problems that caused them to quit were fixed.

I agree Rogal, they should have implemented it and let the crybabies either quit or learn to deal with it.

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

You are wrong by implying all those that use the 2d client at cheats,

I didnt imply anything. I said the cheats are made for 2d. Not that all 2ders cheat. But those that do cheat....use 2d.

Absolutely totally wrong. People only spew this junk to further their anti 2D agenda.

Until you can disprove me, Ill stick with what I said. I havent seen a single hack for KR. So actually Ill rephrase it, 100% of the cheats are for 2d. Is that better?

And to say Anti-2d? LMAO. I play 2d and everything I stated is why it needs to be done away with or they need some kind of cheat detection.

Ill gladly argue/debate my point until the game shuts down but I see no need to respond in this thread anymore. If anyone can dispute what Ive said feel free to PM me and we can continue this discussion.



*sigh*
http://www.uo.com/punkbuster_faq.html

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Until you can disprove me, Ill stick with what I said. I havent seen a single hack for KR. So actually Ill rephrase it, 100% of the cheats are for 2d. Is that better?

For scripting: I am informed that the program that way too many people use is 2d exclusive. I have no idea if it worked with Third Dawn or not. If KR catches on in popularity, though? I would not be surprised one bit if the programmers found a way.

For duping: I haven't heard anything. But....If duping involves tricking the server, as it used to? (Like when you could dupe castle deeds in Ice Dungeon and then re-sell the duped deeds to an NPC for cash.) Then I don't see how the client would matter all that much. It's of course entirely possible I'm misunderstanding entirely how duping works!

For speed-hacking: The speed hack that used to be the most popular worked by messing with the processor on your computer ("overclocking" I believe is the term) and by changing the computer-to-server data stream somehow. (Wilki said that; I can't vouch for how right he is.) Would the client matter for that? I honestly don't know but I wouldn't think so.

I don't cheat....so my frame of reference can be limited.

-Galen's player

 

[MalagAste]

There are several things that Kill UO:

First and foremost lack of any good customer support..... people getting hacked and cheated with little to no action taken by EA/UO to secure accounts upsetting a number of people.

Secondly outdated graphics... Yes even I have to admit that the outdated play style graphics and client are responsible for a large number of folk leaving to find all the pretty pixels... (Personally I don't base my gameplay on pretty pixels I play for content which is why I'm still here)

Add to that the rampant cheating, poor economy and duping you have quite the poor record...

Additionally you can put in there the lack of community, PvP problems with cheats and hacks running in there... making the PvP experience which used to be top notch pretty lame...

And then you can put in there the lack of any care on EA's part about scammers.... nothing is ever done to the Scammer and the victim is treated like they are totally to blame... When honestly in any true society a scammer is treated like the criminal they are, but here in UO you can scam, cheat, and hack to your hearts content with little to no fear of any action from EA.

And finally top that off with the drop from a "mature" game to going "T" for Teen.... and now you have a huge population of the totally immature punks who love to cheat, hack and scam.... as well as use foul language, smack talk and generally give nothing but negative feedback and you pretty much sum up all the things that make folk want to quit....


Now if you want to flip the coin and look at the things that keep people playing UO and build on that which is what I think should be done rather than focusing on the negative.... and consider that UO is about the only game around that offers a fully immersive experience....

From house ownership and customization to the players own customization from skills to paperdoll.... UO has more flexibility than any other game on the market... No other game comes close...

Now if they could marry that with great graphics and a new client engine that is true 3d.... fix PvP and move UO away from the Item basis it's become back to content basis THEN you would have the game of the century that would put WoW and all others to shame.

But it seems to me that UO has become more of a joke to other gamers because of it's severely outdated engine and the rampant cheats.

But that's my opinion.

 

[Sweeney]

Bring on PunkBuster.. this is a simple thing and will fix a lot.

The devs have already said shelf-presence is not happening.

 

[Raina]

Bring on PunkBuster.. this is a simple thing and will fix a lot.

The devs have already said shelf-presence is not happening.

They also said PunkBuster isn't happening either... don't you see the irony in your post?

~Rai

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

I just got an email. Subscription are up for UO. Nice.

 

[Stanton Of Pac]

How can any one person claim they know subscriptions are down? Outside of someone officially saying this, where do you people get your statistics?

Wander around the woods and notice all the empty housing spots. There are very few 1-story houses left and quite a few 2-story houses have gone away. Most of the 3-story plots are taken but in front of my house there was a one that went vacant for 5-6 months before someone placed there a couple of weeks back.

In its heyday, even after Malas opened, even after they put in the 1-house per shard limit, UO was packed full of houses. If you had a house you were lucky. They were selling houses on Ebay (at least until EA asked Ebay to take down the auctions). Now it seems like everyone has left or moved up to a McMansion. It's nice in some ways because the shards aren't crowded but sometimes I miss the crowds, even the lag from all the bank sitters.

 

[Tina Small]

Wander around the woods and notice all the empty housing spots. There are very few 1-story houses left and quite a few 2-story houses have gone away. Most of the 3-story plots are taken but in front of my house there was a one that went vacant for 5-6 months before someone placed there a couple of weeks back.

In its heyday, even after Malas opened, even after they put in the 1-house per shard limit, UO was packed full of houses. If you had a house you were lucky. They were selling houses on Ebay (at least until EA asked Ebay to take down the auctions). Now it seems like everyone has left or moved up to a McMansion. It's nice in some ways because the shards aren't crowded but sometimes I miss the crowds, even the lag from all the bank sitters.

But how many of those houses should have been gone a long time ago but never fell because of some kind of bug?

 

[GarthGrey]

Threads like these are hilarious with the delusions that die hard UO'rs have. Yeah Atlantic is always busy, with the same 50-75 people. Every shard that claims to still have a population needs to realize those are the same people you always see. The people that don't work for a living, they play UO for a living. Just because your local bank is full of players, doesn't mean your population is fine....

 

[Black Majick]

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I, along with 6 other people in my family, quit was due to all the cheating that infests UO and the fact that the Devs either can't stop it or don't want to stop it.

It can be done. EA just will not do it. I play a freeshard and they dont have speed hackers. They dont have alot of the cheating issues EA does. They still have some UM resource bots, but they also find you doing it..you dont reply...they ban. Simple as that. EA just does not want to step up and do it. Sadly they lose customers because they wont. They could have a quality game if they put some resources into it.

 

[Redxpanda]

I left because of the uphill battle it takes to make it over the gap of the haves and havenots.

 

[ElRay]

Add to that the rampant cheating, poor economy and duping you have quite the poor record...

This

Additionally you can put in there the lack of community, PvP problems with cheats and hacks running in there... making the PvP experience which used to be top notch pretty lame...

This

And finally top that off with the drop from a "mature" game to going "T" for Teen.... and now you have a huge population of the totally immature punks who love to cheat, hack and scam.... as well as use foul language, smack talk and generally give nothing but negative feedback and you pretty much sum up all the things that make folk want to quit....

This

But it seems to me that UO has become more of a joke to other gamers because of it's severely outdated engine and the rampant cheats.

But that's my opinion.

And mine as well. Good points and all are true Mal. UO is the armpit of MMORPGS, that is why it has low population. The devs allow this game to be an armpit, when it used to be such a badass game. Oh well, back to XBOX 360