Bring back West Brit Bank!

[Melchior1]

Hello all. When I was a young (younger) nooblet, I used to hang out at the west brit bank because there were lots of people there and it was an exciting time. Now being a gm of the guild Order of Saint George on Sonoma, I've noticed since the birth of Malas all that wonder and community has gone. Yesterday, while touching up on OSGs rune library, I went through about 15 rune books to find vendor houses, player houses, and player towns totally gone. I made a book with 18 locations where houses could be placed. Something just isn't adding up for me. Brit bank was the heart of everything and now it is totally abandoned. I think many UO players who have come back find it hard to adjust because so much has changed. I do understand that change is good but for the newer generation of UO, they have no idea what it used to be like. Crafters would work from Brit smithy shop and hunts would be assembled whether guilded or not. I do believe that EA has definately brought UO back and many old vets are returning, but we have to bring that old splendor back. Something has to be done, besides a make-over, to get people back to the way things were. Brit Bank is an icon and on some shards it still is. We have a vendor house in Luna Square but we try not to hang around Luna. I think the old vets can understand why. Can EA make a way to make West Brit Bank bustling again? I believe so but we have to make it happen. All Sonomans, I ask that you stop by brit bank more often and let's bring Sonoma back to how it was. Hail all Sonomans!

 

[Stig]

Aye bring back WBB, hanging there was more fun than in cramped Luna. So what if the NPC vendors are right there, doesn't take a few seconds to move to the shop you need in brit.

Good luck on Somona Mate.......

 

[Uvtha]

If you put a gate there that would do wonders.

 

[canary]

If you put a gate there that would do wonders.

Luna's inner city area perhaps should be gutted but all player housing remain? Having a smithy, bank, mage shop, inn, architect, etc all so convenient lends itself also to the way that Britain is neglected.

 

[Babble]

Isn't there already a crystal ball that sends you to banks when you say it?

EA could do some incentives to get banks busier again probably.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Not going to sit at a bank twiddling my thumbs when there is stuff to gather, hunt or neglected house work. Community uses chat even if your force to add to an expanding ignore list. Even if they demolished the center of Luna it would be a vendor hotspot. The closeness of so many houses makes a market spot. Why Yew gate was so famous in the past. Easy compettive shopping without having the need for a vendor runebook.

A new vendor hotspot could be had if they make a new housing area. An area that limits the house size and has organized placement. A new UO suburbia. Just needs the moonglow teleporter pads in the middle to a handfull of hot spots. Luna gate - Haven - WBB - SE bank - Royal City gate all having tele pad links. I think that far eastern landmass in malas needs 2 or 3 road rings and fence rings to limit size placement of a new opened housing area. Center by the tele pads could be Gypsy Wagon NPCs for repairs and whatnot. And also the area is already a low to no monster spawn area.

UO designers already have two slices of bread. Just to bad they have little clue what to do with it.

 

[Tina Small]

Ask the Danish Knuckleheads on Drachenfels to start a Sonoma branch.

ORIGIN - Ultima Online - MyUO Guild Pages

 

[It Lives]

I hate to say it but on Pacific shard I would rather bank at Luna bank.

Whom ever re-decorated wwb on pac did a horrific job at it.

The winner's original vision of a re-decorated wwb looked decent but someone bungled it completely.

Looks like the em added to it as well. Player choice to wear neon is one thing, to add it as permanent land scape is unacceptable.

 

[Vandetta]

Another problem may be that thier just isnt the player base to populate each shard these days. For WBB to work you need to have more people and without combining shards we won't see it again.
I play 5 shards so that when I randomly log in for an hour a week I will find action.
Sad to think of all the players that we used to have.

 

[Saphireena]

I'm also from the old days where west brit bank was the thing. I liked the fact that you could mingle by either going inside, on top or around the bank. In Luna it's pretty much just that one room with everyone cramped inside.

So why has Luna taken over? The gate is one of the main reasons, sure. But I also believe that the light and bright colors of the tiles has some subconscious effect on how comfy and cozy it feels to hang around there. The human eye seeks out light, and although darker areas are nice to visit for shorter periods, we tend to prefer lit areas for longer times.

Not that I'm saying that Britain should be brightened up, not at all - just guessing at one of the less obvious reasons Luna took over.

 

[Babble]

UO definitely has too many staffed Towns for its populace.
Some of the towns should be allowed to be either settled with houses or taken over by spawn.

 

[WhityJinn]

People like convinience, and lazyness is the only way of life for the untrained ones.

That`s all there is about it.We want free neon garbage, and we want it now.And all of the vendors in the same place, too.Moving around is so frustrating.

 

[JC the Builder]

If you put a gate there that would do wonders.

Many shards had a moongate installed when they were decorated.

West Britain Bank was a popular place for one reason only: trading. Changes made over the years have created less of a need for player to player trading. About the only thing left that requires you to trade directly is pets, but even that is going to be gone soon if players get what they want.

There are other things which contribute, such as players now start only in New Haven. Who knows when they will ever see Britain. To them it is just another empty city. The lower player population certainly does not help things. On some shards there are EM created locations which act just like Luna or even better. On top of everything, efforts to bring people back to the bank have backfired in that some people dislike the new designs.

The only real way to bring back West Britain Bank would be to promote player interaction. But players keep asking for less interaction. It is a big mess.

 

[Storm]

On my shard we have 3 main gather spots Haven,Luna,Brit bank If i go to brit bank early in my time zone its usually dead or 1 or 2 people if i go abot 10 hours later there are a lot more same with the other areas ! I know there are peeps playing cause the population will show medium or more its just that now they are all spread out and not in one spot

 

[WhityJinn]

Jc, agreed.A classic shard would be an option for a part of the player community, but the others are still left with the crippled game that UO currently is.

 

[Viper09]

Don't think even a gate would do it. One of the things that I believe makes Luna so popular is the all the player-vendor houses built all around it. All one has to do to shop player vendors is walk right outside the bank.

 

[Bobar]

I share the nostalgia for WBB and have fond memories of time spent there, particularly with my newbie tamer selling mounts etc. However I think that the day of WBB is unfortunately over.

EA killed the bank as the main gathering spot for players when they let the invasion of Britain go on far, far too long. Apart from the fact that crafters and other non-fighting chars were getting killed there was the added factor of being unable to recall in.

When all this happened there was a slow transfer to Luna as the focal point and as it went on too long, Luna became the normal place to gather.

Attempts have been made before to revive WBB such as the redecorating competition but with little success. Luna has become the norm and I fear it will remain so. As has been stated it is convenient for most things including vendors although I too yearn for the old gathering at the Bank in Brit.

I think the only thing which would actually restore WBB to its rightful position would be a similar invasion of Luna. However as it would be difficult to do this with players houses and shops in large numbers adjacent I accept that this just aint going to happen. Mores the pity in my opinion.

 

[Storm]

there are a few things that would help
1. make brit bank the main bank for all of the world meaning all banks you can deposit or withdraw gold but for all other transaction you have to go to the main bank!
2. have brit bank immune to invasions and make other banks vulnerable to invasions robberies whatever

3 make any and all crafting skills get a bonus for crafting in brit

guess what i am saying is it could be done very easy ! but is that what people want?

I would not mind seeing more people there its the method to do it that some would question

 

[yars]

WBB bank was nice, come to think of it i seem to remember lhelom,skara brae, and trinisc bank with people sitting around there. destroy luna and people might go back.

 

[Saphireena]

Anyone remember how brit bank even had levels of status and you could tell who had the bees knees just by where they parked? Walking past the front could even be daunting at times as the creme de la creme of Brit society was lined up all along the front wall. The dragon tamers used to park over by the little stream and I'll never forget how impressed I was walking past a fleet of dragons roaring or shaking their wings. The most elite of the elite were the ones who knew the secret to getting on top of the roof with the teleport technique. For a newbie who didn't understand how they did it, it really felt special and gave you inspiration to strive to higher things.

 

[Storm]

Anyone remember how brit bank even had levels of status and you could tell who had the bees knees just by where they parked? Walking past the front could even be daunting at times as the creme de la creme of Brit society was lined up all along the front wall. The dragon tamers used to park over by the little stream and I'll never forget how impressed I was walking past a fleet of dragons roaring or shaking their wings. The most elite of the elite were the ones who knew the secret to getting on top of the roof with the teleport technique. For a newbie who didn't understand how they did it, it really felt special and gave you inspiration to strive to higher things.

I do remember those days !
I was shocked about a month or so ago I went to wbb and there were atleast 15 or 20 dragons lined up like the old days and their were some well decked out peeps in front of bank it was like a flash back I think at the time there was a invasion on luna or something like that

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

I'd like the WBB on GL burned to the ground...

Its design is hideously boring...easily the ugliest of all the redesigns. It has zero imagination or flair.

 

[MalagAste]

I'd like the WBB on GL burned to the ground...

Its design is hideously boring...easily the ugliest of all the redesigns. It has zero imagination or flair.

Agreed.

 

[KingTatwin]

I agree that WBB should get some love and a moongate should be standard on all shards at the bank. When I think back on my favorite uo moments many of them were at West Brit Bank and the community that gathered there.

I also think that all the original towns should get some love and a purpose. I was thinking maybe each town could have a skill gain bonus similar to alacrity scrolls specific to the town. ( Example: Minoc gets a tinkering bonus etc.) And maybe the City of Britain would get a exceptional % bonus to all crafting skills.

For people who want to gain skills in fighting or other skills might have training grounds that players can fight other players in for alacrity gains. (Example: Serpents Hold gets a bonus for swords.) Of course it would all be consentual and players couldnt be looted.

Just a thought.

 

[yars]

For people who want to gain skills in fighting or other skills might have training grounds that players can fight other players in for alacrity gains. (Example: Serpents Hold gets a bonus for swords.) Of course it would all be consentual and players couldnt be looted.

Just a thought.

we'd call that disneyland

 

[Ashlynn_L]

Can't help but think those longing for the return of Britain Bank were bank sitters or friends of. Luna is the new spot, because it's more convenient, and people were forced into it after the Britain Invasions anyway. It was a natural place for people to migrate.

You want Britain back? you need to FORCE people to migrate there by gutting Luna or filling it full of dangerous spawn. Even then, there's no certainty you'll force everyone back to Britain anyway. They might all migrate to Umbra or something instead. So perhaps it might be worth altering Luna to be more like Britain rather than trying to push everyone away from it.

Overall though, doesn't matter at all to us none banksitters. We will just go to where most people congregate to search for whatever we're looking for. We don't really care where it is. =P

 

[MalagAste]

There are a great many things that have contributed to the death of Britain.

I'll start with repair deeds... That killed the old hang out around the Brit Forges.

Then there was Luna... that is to blame for quite a lot ... the vendors the websites that cater to them.

They tried to repeat that with Tokuno..... but the housing was far to widespread and the bank is in the middle of nothing... shops and stables too far as was the gate... and too confusing... it never caught on...

And then more and more land got added and less folk were about... now instead of hanging at banks now the Fel crowd stays in Fel..... the Tram crowd stays in Tram... and there is SO much going on with ML, SE, SA and all that the few folk that are around are soooo spread out that you can travel for quite awhile without seeing ANYONE...

There are how many dozens of accounts that get paid but never played? I know where I live there are probably 5 people I've never ever seen and I live in a player run town and I take patrols often and I've never seen them.

I saw one guy he was just logging in to check his house hadn't played UO in 3 years... but still paid for his account. He didn't sound like he intended to play either.

The incentive to work together and to be a community is gone. We don't need to protect one another, there are few dungeons or monsters that will keep more than one or two people busy. Too many things are soloable... There is no dungeon that without the added spawns of an EM event will keep a whole group occupied. Most guild hunts are focused on peerless and champspawns but even much of that can be soloed... so a large group isn't necessary anymore. So what's the incentive to join a guild?

Where is the incentive to build a community? And sadly of late most of the events are geared toward being evil and selfish... few if any help to build community or promote virtue... something the game is based on.

So if you find WBB deserted it's because everyone is off doing something as though they are playing a console game for one player.

 

[Neutron Bomb]

If you put a gate there that would do wonders.

There is already a Moongate at WBB on Chessy, and it is still desolate.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Wasn't the repair deeds that thinned the brit forge. Was the BODs. Everyone had their own crafters for repairs. Not to mention the need for your own crafters with the new Doom arties and runic crafted items. Need to have the repairing in a trade window with no fail on repair.

Took a long time to become a trusted forge repair guy back then. To make the same money with todays inflation they'd have to pass checks to make it worth while.

 

[Melchior1]

Attempts have been made before to revive WBB such as the redecorating competition but with little success. Luna has become the norm and I fear it will remain so. As has been stated it is convenient for most things including vendors although I too yearn for the old gathering at the Bank in Brit.


I think that if EA listened to players more about what we wanted instead of what they want to do, ie..(compete with WoW) all of us old vets and the new generation could get what we all want. Of course Luna is eye candy. I'm right in the middle of it with a vendor home but still it isn't what any of us ever expected. I'm clearly agreeing with you that the redecorating was a failed attempt. I'm ex military and when things go wrong, there is only one way, and that's to fix it and hold whoever is responsible. A gate at WBB would do wonders for UO. It's not about bank sitting for me really but it's like a place lost in time that one day we were all gearing up to hunt at WBB and then like over night..Poof!! gone forever. I never wanted that and a lot of you didn't want it either. Yes people are genuinely lazy and Luna is easily accessible. The Devs can make it where several quests (more quests) can be done there and maybe have EMs show up every now and then and a gate there is the key. I want my UO fun back. I never invested my time and energy to see UO become a political gaming war with all of us caught in the crossfire.

 

[Melchior1]

there are a few things that would help
1. make brit bank the main bank for all of the world meaning all banks you can deposit or withdraw gold but for all other transaction you have to go to the main bank!
2. have brit bank immune to invasions and make other banks vulnerable to invasions robberies whatever

3 make any and all crafting skills get a bonus for crafting in brit

guess what i am saying is it could be done very easy ! but is that what people want?

I would not mind seeing more people there its the method to do it that some would question

Hahaha you hit it right on the head. Brilliant idea. For crying out loud, Brit is where lord British ruled and Queen Dawn. The queen aint had visitors lately as far as i can tell. She's lonely and her own guards are robbing her blind lol. How can there be order in Brit if no one is there to witness this debauchery.

 

[Mapper]

there are a few things that would help
1. make brit bank the main bank for all of the world meaning all banks you can deposit or withdraw gold but for all other transaction you have to go to the main bank!

I'd have it the other way around, Only be able to get large sums of gold (500k or more) from Britain Bank. Why would a small Bank in Bucs Den hold so much gold?

Would force people to trade at Britain once again.

 

[Korik Bloodguard]

The only way to "bring back west brit bank" is to convince people to go there yourselves. The community itself has to work together to make Brit Bank a place where people WANT to go. It's not done by having Origin change mechanics, 'Oh let's make bigger cheques come from Britain hurrr' it's done by creating an active trading community and an active social and trading area. Sell your things marginally cheaper in Britain, hang out there and make it the nexus for organized dungeon crawls, try and make it the official bank of your guild.

The power to revive Britain is entirely in the player's hands, we just need to actively develop the community there.

 

[Kiminality]

The power to revive Britain is entirely in the player's hands, we just need to actively develop the community there.

Some responsibility does lie with the developers...
Many shards had active WBBs, up until the people were driven out by invasions.
Then, any efforts to return activity to WBB were scuttled by further invasions.
So, while getting the people there might lie in the shard community's hands, not driving them away lies in the hands of those that have the power to do so.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Wasn't the repair deeds that thinned the brit forge. Was the BODs. Everyone had their own crafters for repairs. Not to mention the need for your own crafters with the new Doom arties and runic crafted items. Need to have the repairing in a trade window with no fail on repair.

Took a long time to become a trusted forge repair guy back then. To make the same money with todays inflation they'd have to pass checks to make it worth while.

There were still some of us on Baja doing repairs at the smith even after runics came out. AoS and all the arties killed us because nobody wanted to hand them over for repair no matter how trusted you were. The down fall to people repairing items at any smith was when UO went item based.

 

[MalagAste]

Wasn't the repair deeds that thinned the brit forge. Was the BODs. Everyone had their own crafters for repairs. Not to mention the need for your own crafters with the new Doom arties and runic crafted items. Need to have the repairing in a trade window with no fail on repair.

Took a long time to become a trusted forge repair guy back then. To make the same money with todays inflation they'd have to pass checks to make it worth while.

There were still some of us on Baja doing repairs at the smith even after runics came out. AoS and all the arties killed us because nobody wanted to hand them over for repair no matter how trusted you were. The down fall to people repairing items at any smith was when UO went item based.

This could have been avoided had they done like was suggested and create a box at the various locations for crafters that when items are placed in it .. it would act somewhat like a vendor contract you could target the crafter choose what you want done "Repair, Enhance, Imbue"... then what you want done to it.... Enhance with Valorite... Agree on a "price" with the crafter... then the item remains in the box and the crafter and the owner can see if the item is enhanced if it fails or breaks... If it breaks no charge is given the owner... if it enhances the money is transfered to the crafters bank and it's done. Had they done things this way it would have already been set up for Imbuing.... and you'd see a bunch of folk gathered around the Queens soulforge imbuing things for folk... But no... they had to do silly little paper and take the interaction out of the game. Now everyone just runs about and does things solo.

 

[Lord Frodo]

After AoS everyone created a crafter to do thier own repairs. If I am in a hurry I will buy repair deeds in Luna to get back in the fight, otherwise I let Frodo (me) repair/make my own stuff and my imbuer imbue it. I started 12 yrs ago as a crafter and still love making stuff. Was an honor to have people hand me thier stuff to repair.

 

[Storm]

I think doing repairs at brit forge is one of the things I miss most of all!
I agree with frodo it was a honor to build a reputation of trust with your customers and have them hand you there most prized possessions!

 

[MalagAste]

Oh I agree and I miss going there and getting things fixed even though I have my own crafters... (Pork Chop Jesus was my favorite crafter to have fix my stuff. I still recall seeing him at the forges near the Brit Cemetery day after day. I still proudly own a hatchet he gave me with his name on it.)

But believe it or not NOT everyone has their own crafters. Infact you might be surprised how many people DON'T have a crafter.

 

[Babble]

Hehe, deleted my crafter after deciding the BOD race was just stupid.
Though I also stopped most of the monster hunting and decided to go fully roleplay and ignore most of the EA stuff.

 

[Neutron Bomb]

Wasn't the repair deeds that thinned the brit forge. Was the BODs. Everyone had their own crafters for repairs. Not to mention the need for your own crafters with the new Doom arties and runic crafted items. Need to have the repairing in a trade window with no fail on repair.

Took a long time to become a trusted forge repair guy back then. To make the same money with todays inflation they'd have to pass checks to make it worth while.

I do not agree. I was a trusted smith/tailor back then and frequently sat at forge doing repairs and orders. I don't remember BODs hurting business at all. Actually BODs simply added more player to player interaction since we would frequently trade or buy/sell bods from one crafter to the next.

 

[Miss Smoocher]

Luna Bank Sucks i Miss people at Birt

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Some responsibility does lie with the developers...
Many shards had active WBBs, up until the people were driven out by invasions.
Then, any efforts to return activity to WBB were scuttled by further invasions.
So, while getting the people there might lie in the shard community's hands, not driving them away lies in the hands of those that have the power to do so.

Minor problem with your summation ...
have there been continuous "invasions" ?( @wbb )
has Luna >never< been disrupted?
*ahem*

does ANY shard have an "active wbb"

oops!

For the OP ...
Seems the "solution" you want is for the devs to Force players back to wbb ...
okay ...
FIRST have them Force more peeps into the game ...

oops!

by the by ...
The lack of "classic shard" types ...
NOT hanging at wbb ...
data point which needs to be resolved ...

 

[Aran]

If you want people in Britain... hang out in Britain. People will follow.

 

[popps]

I wholeheartedly agree, I also want Britain West Bank to again be a gathering point for players.

I hope that the Developers can come out with some briliant idea to make players want to hang out at Britain West Bank again.

Ideas ?

 

[Kiminality]

Minor problem with your summation ...
have there been continuous "invasions" ?( @wbb )
has Luna >never< been disrupted?
*ahem*

does ANY shard have an "active wbb"

It doesn't need continual invasions to be a deterrent.
For most shards, it only took one invasion event, which lasted... I don't know how long... long enough for people to settle in Luna.

Luna's been disrupted once or twice, but only isolated incidents, and not invasions spanning days or even weeks.

 

[Babble]

Personally I don't think any bank these days is really populated.
Luna is not so big and has crappy line of hearing for announcements.

They could consider making a trade hub in Britain?
Make a marketplace - make it so that you can rent vendors there for 1 month (1 per account).

 

[Yalp]

I have to laugh at the posts of people who say the developers killed WBB and they hate luna... but they have their own vendor house sitting right smack dab in the middle of luna. Then son.. you are what we call... part of the problem!

Last time I checked.. WBB was right where it's always been. Even has it's own Arcane Circle where you can get a level 6 focus! No other bank can boast that!

If you feel so strongly about it, drop out of luna. Take your vendor house to the outskirts of Brit. Use the creativity of your player base to make WBB the place to be. You don't need to spam your sellables at luna steps anymore.. use the in game general chat. You don't need a luna vendor house.. Put in some time to mark and leave runes everywhere. You don't need to use the outskirts of Luna for golem training, you can do that off the bridge in Brit. There's a hitching post at WBB for your stabling needs. I'm sure your shard has role players. Get with them, have them put together some activity held in Brit. Contact Mesanna, ask her to stage some event in Brit for you.. other than an invasion ( I hear she loves Yattering).

There I've given you half a dozen ideas. I'm sure you can come up with another on your own!

Don't just sit there, pancakes at the developers, go out there and lead!

 

[Gandie]

There are a great many things that have contributed to the death of Britain.

I'll start with repair deeds... That killed the old hang out around the Brit Forges.

Then there was Luna... that is to blame for quite a lot ... the vendors the websites that cater to them.

They tried to repeat that with Tokuno..... but the housing was far to widespread and the bank is in the middle of nothing... shops and stables too far as was the gate... and too confusing... it never caught on...

And then more and more land got added and less folk were about... now instead of hanging at banks now the Fel crowd stays in Fel..... the Tram crowd stays in Tram... and there is SO much going on with ML, SE, SA and all that the few folk that are around are soooo spread out that you can travel for quite awhile without seeing ANYONE...

There are how many dozens of accounts that get paid but never played? I know where I live there are probably 5 people I've never ever seen and I live in a player run town and I take patrols often and I've never seen them.

I saw one guy he was just logging in to check his house hadn't played UO in 3 years... but still paid for his account. He didn't sound like he intended to play either.

The incentive to work together and to be a community is gone. We don't need to protect one another, there are few dungeons or monsters that will keep more than one or two people busy. Too many things are soloable... There is no dungeon that without the added spawns of an EM event will keep a whole group occupied. Most guild hunts are focused on peerless and champspawns but even much of that can be soloed... so a large group isn't necessary anymore. So what's the incentive to join a guild?

Where is the incentive to build a community? And sadly of late most of the events are geared toward being evil and selfish... few if any help to build community or promote virtue... something the game is based on.

So if you find WBB deserted it's because everyone is off doing something as though they are playing a console game for one player.

This, i could not have said it better.

 

[Trebr Drab]

Luna is the mall that took business away from the old downtown district.

In UO there's another complication though, status (banksitting and socializing and all that Malag'Aste said) that could have kept people in Brit.

Mistakes were made that go beyond simply Brit bank. They go into the entire social structure that made UO great, and still linger by it's nature. But these mistakes were wanted at the time. All those things Malag'Aste mentioned, were things players wanted. The mistake wasn't only on the developers, they were on all of us as a whole (even if some pointed them out as they were asked for).

So lets be careful when we ask for global chats and malls and any other "global" system that makes things "easier". They take away from the game's social underpinnings. And these are a big part of what makes UO.