Are you kidding, or have you just never bothered to read anything I have posted before?
I have a masters degree in computer science. I am a VP in charge of all IT and Development at the company I work for.
Congratulations, assuming I can take what you have written at face value, then you of all people should understand that what I have written is true. They would need to know this is going to be a responsible financial decision before they commit the necessary resources to it.
I find your condescending attitude to be repulsive. YES! It is true! A WOMAN can be a software engineer! And...GASP!...she can even manage their department!!!
Please, give me a break. This has nothing to do with whether you are a woman, a man, a hermaphrodite, or someone from another solar system altogether. Playing that card doesn't do anything for your credibility. I know nothing about you, you could be a woman, a man, twelve years old or eighty two. You could be of Chinese, German, or African descent, or any of the other innumerable cultures and subcultures. I don't know, and it doesn't matter...
I have NEVER claimed that starting a Classic Shard would be possible through using old code alone, I have NEVER even suggested that it should even be approached in such a way, and I have NEVER suggested that the Devs could use Free Shard code. In fact, I have ... on many occasions ... corrected anyone that claims that they could use Free Shard code.
You may not have, but others have, and I apologize if my statements on that subject were directed at you. This is a long thread and I haven't read large sections of it. And I missed the home made UO videos.
And THERE is the real answer to the question of why you do not support a Classic Shard.
It has NOTHING to do with the effort that it would require, and NOTHING to do with "development bandwidth" (not even a real term).
It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that you are a fan of the current system and feel threatened by those of us that are not.
Which rather makes me wonder if you
know as much about the industry as you claim to. Or perhaps it is just that your field of expertise is IT, and not software development, let alone game development?
Setting aside that fact that you are effectively calling me a liar...
Do I feel threatened by a classic shard?
I'm not quite sure how to answer that question. The devs are clearly paying attention to what is going on on these forums. Which is terrific, but also rather frightening. There is no way of knowing whether the opinions on these forums are representative of the larger client base, or potential client base.
Forums on the internet and forums dedicated to games like UO tend to be dominated by a kind of mob mentality. Certain topics will catch fire and start to take on a life of their own, which often has little connection to any kind of practicality, or little, if any factual basis.
My only concern is that the devs don't assume that, based on what they have read on this forum, based on the interest in a topic which is largely kept alive by a very few people, a classic shard is going to be wildly successful. I don't want them to pour resources into a classic shard that might be more wisely relegated somewhere else, and end up damaging the entire franchise as a result.
If they have done their homework, and they have done some solid market research, and they know they have the resources in terms of development bandwidth, and everything else that goes along with starting up a new shard with a rules set that is distinct from the regular shards, then great, I'm all for a classic shard. I'll even at the very least check it out.
Oh, and my philosophy with regard to gender on the internet? All the women are men, and all the little girls are federal agents - keep that in mind and your chances of getting in trouble as a single middle aged man, will be significantly lower...
