[UO Herald] Kingdom Reborn Client

[UO News]

In preparation for the release of Stygian Abyss, we need to streamline our patch process. Support for the Kingdom Reborn client ends today. For those of you using the Kingdom Reborn client, you will need to download either the Classic or upgrade to the Enhanced client. Links to the installers for our officially supported clients can be found here: http://www.uoherald.com/downloads


Remember, both clients are FREE to use and will support the Stygian Abyss Expansion when it is released.


Furthermore…. Retribution is now closed to prepare for the final stages of launch. Stay tuned …!




More...

 

[Deb]

WoooHoooooo the time is near

Goes to start getting houses ready for recustomizing

 

[Madrid]

Absolutely ridiculous!

I've been playing on this client for 2 years and your pulling the plug.

Why not wait until you put out a client that is actually better than UOKR.

SA graphically is a huge step backwards.

Once I'm unable to access UO via UOKR I will be cancelling my accounts.

 

[Ender]

Yay, UO's best client is now dead! HURRAY


<_<


Could we at least get an option to use graphics from this century in the Enhanced Client?

 

[Lynk]

Once I'm unable to access UO via UOKR I will be cancelling my accounts.

Can I have your stuff?

 

[Madrid]

Can I have your stuff?

My billion+ gold, my Blaze Cu, along with all my rares, artifacts, and all other valuables will be safely stored away until a time when UO actually improves on the graphics!

UO is and always will be home and I'll continue to check up on the improvements from a graphic/resolution standpoint.

It's nearly 2010 and I have no desire to play on a Jurassic client based on graphics circa 1997.

 

[JC the Builder]

Absolutely ridiculous!

I've been playing on this client for 2 years and your pulling the plug.

The Enhanced Client is the Kingdom Reborn client, they just decided to rename it (twice actually). You can say you don't like the changes but it isn't a new client, it is still Kingdom Reborn.

 

[Ender]

The Enhanced Client is the Kingdom Reborn client, they just decided to rename it (twice actually). You can say you don't like the changes but it isn't a new client, it is still Kingdom Reborn.

Minus the decentish graphics. It's 2D with a (very) minor facelift and KR's UI.

 

[Madrid]

The Enhanced Client is the Kingdom Reborn client, they just decided to rename it (twice actually). You can say you don't like the changes but it isn't a new client, it is still Kingdom Reborn.

JC I understand that with one exception....Graphics/Resolution! The Interface is solid but the graphics/resulution are without question a step backwards.

I do not like the legacy graphics they're friggin' god awful and no better than what was around when UO came out 10 years ago.

No option was given for a toggle between higher resolution/UORK graphics which is extremely disappointing.

Many players (Jurassics) were happy and content with the 2D Client and love the feel of the classic client. They should have let it be and actually worked on a client that has superior graphics.

Again once an improvement in the graphics/resolution is made I will probably make a return unless I'm caught up with RL or in another game that keeps me away.

But the bottom line is I've been playing on this client for 2 years now and I should have been given some sort of option...better than what's currently on the table.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

While I don't mind the move, I wish it were a move forward instead of backwards.

"Enhanced" has a long way to go to regain the footing it lost in comparison to KR.

Counting begins to the first "whatever happened to these graphics" thread today.

Today is the culmination of a Vision lost. Would have been interesting to see what the SA expansion was actually SUPPOSED to do before it got gimped to what it is now (which contentwise is great, the "gimped" portion is the presentation, the stuff that they were going to do when it was going to be "KR only").

But I hold no animosity towards the dev team or even the 2d client. No no no... that animosity is reserved directly and distinctly towards those whose closemindedness and addiction to external cheat programs created yet another repeat of history that keeps UO in the pile of niche has-been MMOGs (saying this as a player of the game who enjoys the Ultima mythos) instead of taking the chance to create a resurgeance in the marketplace as one of the only games that ISN'T a WoW or EQ clone.

Pity.

For all its technical faults,, the KR client was the right direction for UO to go and to call Enhanced Kingdom Reborn is a joke of a statement as it stands right now.

Too many steps backwards have been taken... all to attempt to coddle a group of people who aren't going to use the client in the first place.

Welp... looks like it will be an evening of screenshots to archive the client that should have been and hope that at least some of those steps backwards can be taken forwards again.

Final words... haters win. Congratulations, you've flamed another client into oblivion... I hope you people feel better (or does the Enhanced client also scare you as well?).

 

[NewThunder]

In preparation for the release of Stygian Abyss, we need to streamline our patch process. Support for the Kingdom Reborn client ends today. For those of you using the Kingdom Reborn client, you will need to download either the Classic or upgrade to the Enhanced client. Links to the installers for our officially supported clients can be found here: http://www.uoherald.com/downloads


Remember, both clients are FREE to use and will support the Stygian Abyss Expansion when it is released.


Furthermore…. Retribution is now closed to prepare for the final stages of launch. Stay tuned …!




More...

Words cannot express the joy that I feel in knowing the abomination to UO that has been known as Kingdom Reborn is now gone. Now the KR client can take its proper place next to the Third Dawn client; and the classic client will continue to the glue that holds the UO community together.

RIP KRap client!

 

[Ender]

You do know that KR was never required, it was simply an option to use decent graphics instead of the crap that is 2D, right? Troll.

 

[Godiva_DF]

If you don't sell your game in boxes in a shop, it is clear that you rely on your old customers that have stayed with the game for years.

If they don't care for a new client, because they like being "Jurassic" and play "Classic", then you better cater for them or trash the whole project.

But since they are going to make a fortune again tomorrow from people that have been here for ages, this is probably the right choice.

I would like to see the game transfered to the 21st century, but it seems to be an impossibility given the playerbase and the decision to cater just for the Oldies and not for new players.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

I think it is fair to say, we all could have expected that EA will not continue to support 3 (THREE!) clients. It is needless to say that much of the KR Client artwork (especially environment, plants, but also ships etc.) was much more beautiful than what we see in the Enhanced Client today. On the other hand, bringing legacy artwork into the Enhanced Client (mostly game objects, items, etc.) helped A LOT to improve compatibility. One reason why I refused the KR Client was, that for certain tasks I had to switch back to the Legacy Client, which was unacceptable. This now has been solved.

The priorities are clear:
- First: Compatibility with enhanced functionality.
- Second: Graphical improvements.

Let us all hope that the development team will focus on technical and graphical improvement of the Enhanced Client after the Stygian Abyss has been released. The Enhanced Client is really a good alternative to the Legacy Client, and it has A LOT of potential, despite the long list of current bugs.

Let us look into the future with optimism! The current dev team has already proven to be one of the best UO developers this game had for a long time.

 

[JC the Builder]

Minus the decentish graphics. It's 2D with a (very) minor facelift and KR's UI.

The graphics were pulled because they didn't have the resources to update them all. There are thousands of images that need to be touched up or redone entirely. While some art may have been good, a lot of it was just unacceptable. With their current resources it would likely take 2-3 years of constant work to bring it to the level of what 2D Classic already offers.

 

[Maplestone]

I find myself pausing for a moment to remember that night when Draconi and Wilki went off to see "Snakes on a Plane" (if I remember correctly) leaving us puzzling over the regular publish of Inu's prison and her strange babbling of "kingdomreborn". I remember them amused that we still hadn't figured anything out the next day or two as people noticed three tomb names starting with "w".

I remember entering randomly trying some URLs in amusement then, upon one thought seeing a flash animation pop up and the number "00001" at the bottom. I remember posting a cryptic comment asking if this was new while trying to avoid dumping spoilers ... and watching a rapidfire flury of posts going from "hunh?" to "hmm?" to "omg!" in quick succession as all the devs of the day came out to play.

That is the moment in which I will always choose to remember the Kingdom Reborn client. Farewell, old friend.

 

[Lord Frodo]

KR needs to be supported until all the MODs are done and SA client is alot more stable. Save all the old graphics for a later use. Maybe they can't get into SA with it but it needs to stay around a little longer.

 

[Nexus]

I don't mind the KR Client leaving, yes graphically SA is a step backwards, but compared to the Classic 2D client it's still a step forward. Just because some folks had no issues running KR many did. The Right choice is the one they made in down grading KR's graphics to what they are now in the Enhanced client if it ensures a wider range of compatibility and playability to the player base.

Hate that comment if you will, but catering to the select that were able to, and wish to continue to use KR isn't progress. It's an additional workload on the developers that further distracts them from being able to do something useful, that we can see ourselves (content, balancing, bug fixes etc.) vs doing something useful that a larger portion of us will never see (Upgrading KR).

KR wasn't widely accepted by many due to not only the vastly different UI but it's graphics. I know a few that having their character even so much as move around the screen made them ill and I don't mean metaphorically. SA brings much of the good from both the classic client and the KR Client together, it's a good over all blend that helps retain the UO Feel many of us love, while adding a layer that will be familiar to new comers from other games.

The Enhanced Client is a much better upgrade than KR over all when you look past the pixels....

 

[blueturtle]

Absolutely ridiculous!

I've been playing on this client for 2 years and your pulling the plug.

Why not wait until you put out a client that is actually better than UOKR.

SA graphically is a huge step backwards.

Once I'm unable to access UO via UOKR I will be cancelling my accounts.

i love how people post stuff like this, like the devs are going to do anything when they read it, and like the players really care lmao

 

[guum]

IBTDHE.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Cool, that's two down and that much more room on my hard drive.

 

[Brucie Kibbutz]

Thought the idea was to phase out 2D, not vice versa? 2D wins again, and will always win again.

Want a different client? Try a different game.

Also, to the guy leaving with his "Billion+ gold", thank you for creating a good gold sink and putting some value back into gold once more.

 

[Fink]

It's nearly 2010 and I have no desire to play on a Jurassic client based on graphics circa 1997.

I'd say it's more Triassic!

A little paleontologist's joke there! *chortle!!*

What, don't you people READ??

--

Adios, KR. Another white elephant heading for the graveyard

 

[Maplestone]

What, don't you people READ??

I fear that Mesozoic jokes are lost on me.

 

[kennykilleduo]

Look at it this way in a FEW years we will have a dragon age http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWppHev3ZA looking game.

 

[Demonous]

Absolutely ridiculous!

I've been playing on this client for 2 years and your pulling the plug.

Why not wait until you put out a client that is actually better than UOKR.

SA graphically is a huge step backwards.

Once I'm unable to access UO via UOKR I will be cancelling my accounts.

good i don't want people playing uo that actually enjoy that horrible client

 

[Demonous]

Yay, UO's best client is now dead! HURRAY


<_<


Could we at least get an option to use graphics from this century in the Enhanced Client?

actually it was the worst client aside from the original 3d one, KR was hated by many, real UO players use 2D

 

[Heartseeker]

Absolutely ridiculous!

I've been playing on this client for 2 years and your pulling the plug.

The Enhanced Client is the Kingdom Reborn client, they just decided to rename it (twice actually). You can say you don't like the changes but it isn't a new client, it is still Kingdom Reborn.

JC stick to subjects you actually know about.

KR and SA are miles apart.

SA is a lot closer to 2D, since it has most of it's art.

I ain't playing either till graphics improve also.

As far as my stuff goes, I would rather delete all than to give any to the greedy and spoiled folks that infest this excuse of a game.

 

[Demonous]

My billion+ gold, my Blaze Cu, along with all my rares, artifacts, and all other valuables will be safely stored away until a time when UO actually improves on the graphics!

UO is and always will be home and I'll continue to check up on the improvements from a graphic/resolution standpoint.

It's nearly 2010 and I have no desire to play on a Jurassic client based on graphics circa 1997.

thats so sad that you'll only play UO based on its graphics, please quit and stay gone, everyone knows UO isn't known for its graphics, u should have started with 2D and end with 2D as all true uo players will

 

[canary]

In all fairness all clients that have supported UO are severely lacking in the art department.

Graphics have been UO's number 1 weakness... and it appears this will not be changing anytime soon, which is a shame.

 

[Heartseeker]

In all fairness all clients that have supported UO are severely lacking in the art department.

Graphics have been UO's number 1 weakness... and it appears this will not be changing anytime soon, which is a shame.

QFT.

 

[Wolfways]

thats so sad that you'll only play UO based on its graphics, please quit and stay gone, everyone knows UO isn't known for its graphics, u should have started with 2D and end with 2D as all true uo players will

Yes you're correct. 2D players will be the end of UO.

 

[Viquire]

While I will miss the art that was KR, I will hope for its retention for possible future use.

The real reason for a new client, which was to add ease for developers to add edit or remove systems/code for the game I hope has been served with justice in the new client.

SA as an extension of KR was supposed to herald a wave of potential for new players to the pool. Think back on systems added over the last year, a lot of content has gone in to making all 70s suits and decent gear that much easier to make or obtain. It is a shame we have waited so long for this, to lose out on much of its potential.

But the game is good, what I have seen of the expansion makes me very hopeful for the game that I play and the good times I may have in front of my screen for a good while to come. And now that they are more available than ever, in more places than ever, I plan to keep reminding those who wield bit and bites which influence the way I "see" the world I play in, that I would be really happy with something a bit more fresh and exciting.

Cheers and happy hunting!

 

[Dol'Gorath]

Words cannot express the joy that I feel in knowing the abomination to UO that has been known as Kingdom Reborn is now gone. Now the KR client can take its proper place next to the Third Dawn client; and the classic client will continue to the glue that holds the UO community together.

RIP KRap client!

The classic client is the reason why UO's playerbase will never grow again.

 

[The Fallout]

I love UO but never even the SA client graphics are not enough. The game is not about graphics, I understand that, but eye candy is a big motivator in games these days.

 

[Mavar]

Cool, that's two down and that much more room on my hard drive.

Always the voice of reason!!

I will miss KR as well. Having beta'd it, I know how much effort was made to get it to where it eventually was. Woe, though it launched far too soon, and has now joined the storied company of the Edsel (something also rolled-out before its time).

At least the KR art and animation for our chars made it into SA. I could no longer stand the stop motion animation in the CC.

 

[Ender]

actually it was the worst client aside from the original 3d one, KR was hated by many, real UO players use 2D

Real UO players just play the ****ing game you numbskull.

 

[canary]

Real UO players just play the ****ing game you numbskull.

Untrue, and your insults to that poster are uncalled for.

I have played the game for 10 years now and I would heartily welcome graphics the quality of LotR or even Runes of Magic. Isometric wise, I'd kill to get something that would even pass for Titans Quest.

This 'real player' would like the best of BOTH worlds, personally. Wanting a quality product doesn't make one any less of a 'real player', that's a ludicrous statement to make, imo.

 

[Viquire]

Real UO players just play the ****ing game you numbskull.

Nieves himself could not have said it any better. *wistful smile*

 

[Lord Frodo]

Heartseeker SA is a lot closer to 2D, since it has most of it's art.

Always the voice of reason!!

I will miss KR as well. Having beta'd it, I know how much effort was made to get it to where it eventually was. Woe, though it launched far too soon, and has now joined the storied company of the Edsel (something also rolled-out before its time).

At least the KR art and animation for our chars made it into SA. I could no longer stand the stop motion animation in the CC.

Finally a beta that told the truth about the graphics in the new SA client.

 

[neocron79]

Well I have been playing for over a week now. I started with the free trial and 7 days into the trial I converted my trial account to a subscription account (quick phone call to EA). My friend who used to play burned me a disc with the Kingdom Reborn client. I installed it and watched in horror as it downloaded over 3GB's of patches. In the end, I accepted it because I figured I'd be fine bandwidth-wise since I didn't have any intentions of buying SA when it came out and figured I'd be looking at a 300MB patch tops when SA hit.

Lo and behold... now I'm stuck downloading the Enhanced Client... another 1.8GB's of bandwidth down the drain. So within a 7 day period, I've downloaded almost 5GB's worth of data to play this game. Now that may not sound like a big deal to a lot of people... but I live out in the sticks and am forced to use cellular broadband for my internet connection. I have two USB devices and two accounts, each with a 5GB bandwidth cap. Within 7 days I have all but completely exhausted one of my account's bandwidth allowance for the month... and that allowance doesn't reset until the 27th.

So yea... I'm not happy. Am I going to cancel my UO account because of this forced client change? No. It just hurts the bandwidth and I feel EA could have said something sooner about their plans to discontinue support for the KR client. If I had known 7 days ago I'd end up having to download a new client, I probably would have just downloaded the Enhanced Client from the getgo... would have saved me 1.2GB's of bandwidth at the very least (the difference between KR's 3GB's worth of patches and the Enhanced Client's 1.8GB download).

 

[gjohnson5]

IMHO performance >>> graphics
I'm just wondering how the enhanced client performs in comparison to the classic client. I'm more interested in efficiency, reduced CPU and memory utilization. The graphics can be on hold. I guess I'm one of those old players who don't paly the game for the graphics. I want a playable game , not one which is cutting edge in terms of visual quality.

 

[Ender]

IMHO performance >>> graphics
I'm just wondering how the enhanced client performs in comparison to the classic client. I'm more interested in efficiency, reduced CPU and memory utilization. The graphics can be on hold. I guess I'm one of those old players who don't paly the game for the graphics. I want a playable game , not one which is cutting edge in terms of visual quality.

Or they could do what every other game out on the market does and give people with computers from the last 10 years the option to use recentish graphics


<_<

 

[gjohnson5]

Or they could do what every other game out on the market does and give people with computers from the last 10 years the option to use recentish graphics


<_<

The PC I'm typing this from is an older AMD64 3200... I am seeing some performance issues with th animations. It seems that coming into combat with a few mobs does cause lag, however walking into luna with all the peps at the bank does not.

I am checking my NVIDIA control Panel for any options that may cause performance to drop while playing the game, and yes some high quality options were set in there.

I am also downloading the enhanced client to compare performance and playability. Just curious if anyone else saw a difference

 

[Lord Frodo]

IMHO performance >>> graphics
I'm just wondering how the enhanced client performs in comparison to the classic client. I'm more interested in efficiency, reduced CPU and memory utilization. The graphics can be on hold. I guess I'm one of those old players who don't paly the game for the graphics. I want a playable game , not one which is cutting edge in terms of visual quality.

2D client I ping Baja 30-40ms, enter shard I use 2% cpu usage just setting in my keep.
SA Client I ping Baja 45-60ms, enter shard i use average 20% cpu usage sitting in my keep.

What is strange is before KR came out (I am not blaming KR itself for this) I pinged Baja at max 15ms. I only live like 30 miles from EA in Calif. so all west coast shards are great for me. Also I very rarely ping over 200ms to any other shard that are overseas.

 

[Clog|Mordain]

What people have got to understand is that UO is a 12 year old game. People dont play it for the graphics. People play it because there is no game like it out there. If you want to play a game for graphics, go play wow. UO cannot go much further in the way of graphics. They tried a completely 3D client once before. Where is that one now? Dead.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

What people have got to understand is that UO is a 12 year old game. People dont play it for the graphics. People play it because there is no game like it out there. If you want to play a game for graphics, go play wow.

While this may be true for many (but not all!) veteran players, this attitude does not at all help to acquire new customers.

UO cannot go much further in the way of graphics. They tried a completely 3D client once before. Where is that one now? Dead.

KR is dead because it was horribly done, full of bugs and not really playable. Despite, some graphical elements in KR (like environment artwork) were still much better than Legacy or Enhanced Client are today.

 

[Clog|Mordain]

KR is dead because it was horribly done, full of bugs and not really playable. Despite, some graphical elements in KR (like environment artwork) were still much better than Legacy or Enhanced Client are today.

Yes and so was the Third Dawn Client. 2 Clients with the same problems, because they tried a 3d concept

 

[Flutter]

Was kind of annoying when I went to log in to do some crafting quests (so much easier with the KR crafting tool gumps) and it told me I couldn't use that client anymore.
Almost like "please just go ahead and script like everyone else" gump came up.
Blah.
Yeah I know... someday all the present clients will have the same features.... someday.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Yes and so was the Third Dawn Client. 2 Clients with the same problems, because they tried a 3d concept

It didn't fail because they tried a 3D concept, but because it was poorly done. There are plenty of 3D games with 3rd person perspective out there, which look magnificent.