If the game content is made easy enough that a few months of play has you competing with 10+ year veterans, don't you realise that it then becomes terribly boring and easy for the veterans at the same time? You might bring in a few new players but I think you'd lose a lot of vets out the other end. Some of us don't play for easy, we love UO for the challenge.
The challenge.....
Let's look at it from the views of a long time UO player and from the views of a new comer to the game, shall we ?
As you noted, UO is heavily item based. Chances are, that a player who has been playing the game for years has already a good stock of good items, helpfull for PvP and PvM.
A new comer to the game, instead, has none and needs to "catch up".
As I see it, of the 2, the new comer is at a quite greater disadvantage and, if we talk about challenge as "difficulties" when playing the game, I would imagine the new player having quite more and greater challenges than the long time player....
That is, the game has much less challenge for the old player than it has for the new player.
So, the old player asks for the game to be made harder but doing so, this makes the challenge even harder for the new player and the gap to cover even greater.
I imagine it as if the finish line is pushed always a bit further so to make room for the runners already approaching it but in doing so, those who just started will see the distance to be covered as always increasing.
Perhaps it is not a good example, I don't know, but I would like to know of all the new accounts from brand new players of Ultima Online (not of existing players opening additional accounts...) how many on average get close within their first year and of these how many get closed within a few months from opening them.
This, to understand if there is a problem with new players in this game.
And no, I do not think it is the graphics that has players leave the game early on.
Personally, at least for me, graphics is what might attract me to a game but once I am in, playing it, it is the content which keeps me or looses me to other games.
So, I imagine that if new comers to UO start playing and then stop after only a few months then this means something is not attractive enough to keep them playing.
Could it be PvM ? Could it be PvP ?
I could well be wrong, but I suspect that part of the reason could be the difficulty that UO currently has, even with the recent changes, for new players to reach competitive levels in PvP.
Providing ways for new players to reach high end competitive PvP status faster, I think would be healthy for the game and make it for a more lively PvP to the benefit of the game, perhaps.
This is a very item orientated game, and I don't agree with that, but getting started in PvP isn't all about paying for items. I don't have uber gear, but it sure won't stop me fighting when I want to. It's not even all about being in Fel - there are PvP opportunities between guilds eg in RP wars for example. You can find some groups who only fight with GM crafted armour in RP, so the whole attitude that you need to spend many millions on uber items is silly.
That is true, but role playing groups are not so common to find and may require a dedicated new player to actually look for them and make an effort to find them.
I have an impression that most new players might just get the game and start playing and then go from there and since the competition out there from other games is high, if they get enjoyment from UO without having to go out of their way they stay with it, otherwise, there is plenty games out there to pick another one.
What I am trying to say, is that some compromise needs be found, I think, to the benefit of the game as a whole, so that new players can indeed reach high level PvP competitive status without having to see it as too much a lengthy task.
Would this be unfair towards existing long time players to have new comers be able to catch up with them in a fraction of the time it took them to get to where they are ? I don't think so.
Why ?
Because if the game dies out for lack of players it is game over for everyone, new and old players alike.
If there is an issue about new players not sticking with the game and solving this issue may need (I don't know, just guessing...) letting them catch up for a lively and more challenging PvP faster, well, then I would be all for it because this would bring more people in UO's lands, more resources to add new content to the game and more extended life to Ultima Online.
The challenge......
The long time players of the game enjoy the challenge ?
Then what challenge would be best than an increased number of Ultima Online players all PvPing to their level ? on par with them ?
I have heard this argument a zillion time. No AI can match a human player.
So, if letting new players get to top PvP status real fast can bring that human challenge ten, 100 folds than it is now, with a scarce number of PvPers, wouldn't it be better ?
So, in conclusion, would it really be that bad for long time players to see new players be able to catch up to their level much faster ?
Personally, I don't. I think it would be good, it would be great since it would bring that human challenge and lively PvP at competitive levels which could make the game more interesting.
So, in all honesty, I do not understand why some may oppose the idea that new players might be allowed with game design changes to catch up with high end PvP competitive levels relatively fastly when this would just increase the level of challenge and so the fun in the game.
If there is more fun playing versus another human player rather than versus an AI run creature, then shouldn't the
most fun be there when playing versus other human players who are at our same level, not a lower one (the challenge....) ?
Is mine such a wrong analysis ?