Why didn't the Bane actually fight the Meer?

[G.v.P]

Earlier in the Bane arc we were given the ability to fight for or against the Ophidians in a rather under used section of the lost lands, which used an existing landmark (the Ophidians have been there since T2A opened) as the Ophidian's base. For me, the Bane versus Ophidian war was one of the best events I've ever experienced in UO. User interaction actually mattered--if only for a short term goal. There was really no long term result from that fight...I mean, the Bane sort of gave up the fight, then moved on to the Meer.

When the Meer became involved in the "war," I expected the same kind of pathway battle to take place in Ilshenar, but we never got one. I'm curious why we never got one--whether it would have been too hard due to all the trees, whether the Devs ran out of time to implement it, whatever the reason. I'm also curious as to whether there could be future wars, if not permanent wars. To me, they're a lot of fun. Like what about a war between the Orcs and the Savages who took over the T2A Orc Fort? If the setup isn't too hard to program I hope it'll resurface in some shape or form.

 

[Boogy]

Earlier in the Bane arc we were given the ability to fight for or against the Ophidians in a rather under used section of the lost lands, which used an existing landmark (the Ophidians have been there since T2A opened) as the Ophidian's base. For me, the Bane versus Ophidian war was one of the best events I've ever experienced in UO. User interaction actually mattered--if only for a short term goal. There was really no long term result from that fight...I mean, the Bane sort of gave up the fight, then moved on to the Meer.

When the Meer became involved in the "war," I expected the same kind of pathway battle to take place in Ilshenar, but we never got one. I'm curious why we never got one--whether it would have been too hard due to all the trees, whether the Devs ran out of time to implement it, whatever the reason. I'm also curious as to whether there could be future wars, if not permanent wars. To me, they're a lot of fun. Like what about a war between the Orcs and the Savages who took over the T2A Orc Fort? If the setup isn't too hard to program I hope it'll resurface in some shape or form.

My guess is the Bane wanting us to attack the Meer served two purposes:

1. Turn one of our few allies into an enemy
2. No casualties for the Bane.


I refused to stab a sworn ally in the back.
All they wanted was the Meer`s power crystals. And now the people of Britannia are going to have to have the price for there actions.

I will fight to the bloody end for the crown and Sosaria.

 

[Trebr Drab]

Some day, some MMORPG company is going to realize that it's worth it to have a dedicated staff just to run the events inside the game world. Some day.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Some day, some MMORPG company is going to realize that it's worth it to have a dedicated staff just to run the events inside the game world. Some day.

Event Moderators.

Granted, they can't run global events which may be what you mean.

I remind you of them because sometimes it is easy to take them for granted.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

In-character reason: See Boogy's post.

Out-of-character reason: They never said, but for some reason conventional wisdom has become that the war system was created by an intern, and when his or her time was up, no one picked up the ball and ran with it. Which is a shame. There were supposedly rewards coded in already and it was a good system.

I hope they use that system again because it was kind of neat.

UO now has several different systems they can use for wars or invasions or, presumably, other kinds of conflicts. If/when they do another invasion or raid style event they should use one of the existing systems; it will save time to work on content when they don't have to invent a system for it.

-Galen's player

 

[Klapauc]

The Bane didnt fight the Meer because our dev team got a to small budget to do this event arc right. The same for the rebuilding of magincia. They had to settle for a cheap way to do it.

 

[Trebr Drab]

Some day, some MMORPG company is going to realize that it's worth it to have a dedicated staff just to run the events inside the game world. Some day.

Event Moderators.

Granted, they can't run global events which may be what you mean.

I remind you of them because sometimes it is easy to take them for granted.

-Galen's player

Not even close to what I mean. Nothing against the EMs working with what they have to work with, but this needs to be on the GM level, with their own artists and all. The rest of the development staff should have to work around them, not the other way around. That's the level I'm talking about.

 

[Hildebrand]

I didn't bother with the Bane/Ophidian event because THERE WERE NO CONSEQUENCES! I also felt that this event was an experiment of things to come and I really didn't have time to be the lab rat. Then the Meer get thrown in for no apparent reason. No lab ratting for me.

For RP reasons, our guild was going to kill the slippery snakes, but then we didn't even know why we should side with these unknown humans. It's not like the Queen told us anything.

 

[Aurelius]

Why didn't the Bane actually fight the Meer?

Sadly I fear the best explanation we'll ever work with is 'cat allergy made it too hard for them to do'.

It's a pretty big gap in continuity though, they got to Ilshenar, built a camp ... and stayed there on holiday a few yards from their supposedly enemy town.

 

[Boogy]

I didn't bother with the Bane/Ophidian event because THERE WERE NO CONSEQUENCES! I also felt that this event was an experiment of things to come and I really didn't have time to be the lab rat. Then the Meer get thrown in for no apparent reason. No lab ratting for me.

For RP reasons, our guild was going to kill the slippery snakes, but then we didn't even know why we should side with these unknown humans. It's not like the Queen told us anything.

/this

I do not understand why anyone still defended the queen up until her death. I honestly believe that she was installed to power by a great conspiracy. Her ultimate goal was to lead our people to destruction. The Bane chosen have taken control of our cities and we are left to deal with the clean up.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

I agree w/ the posts mentioning budget. It's an old game, it's not supposed to make sense anymore

 

[G.v.P]

My guess is the Bane wanting us to attack the Meer served two purposes:

1. Turn one of our few allies into an enemy
2. No casualties for the Bane.

Looking back, that seems to be right. Also a reintroduction to the Meer, for those who didn't remember Dasha, or how Dawn was first introduced with Ilsh artwork (back when it was Third Dawn Client only). Anyone remember taming Fire Steeds in Deceit with the Third Dawn Client? ;P

Practically, I was curious if a dev would voice an opinion on the technical side of their decision. Perhaps they never intended, or thought about a second full-on battle, and the RP was the way to go entirely. After I killed bane for hours to get the blackrock stew recipe, I really stopped following the RP, because it became impossible for me to really comprehend (why am I killing bane in order to feed my bane dragon...oh well). But at least some agree with me on how the war system could be a viable option down the road .

Oh well, I guess to clean up this one, indeed. Although, terrain issues aside, Magincia could very well host some interesting war spawns...

 

[Basara]

I can't speak for your shards, but on Lake Austin, the Meer were part of the EVENT MODERATOR battles against the allies of the Bane Chosen.

In our events, the Juka & Minax were attempting to ally with VirtueBane's forces, and we fought alongside Meer against the Juka (including some bosses that stat-wise, were paragon Medusa in Juka form, presumably impowered by VB like the Bane Chosen; that was 1-2 EMs ago - Paragon evil twins of fully trained 4+ star Greater Dragons HURT). I even got killed accidentally a couple times by that lethal area attack of the Meer Eternals, when our "allies" started fighting.

Perhaps on most shards, the Meer side of the battle was left to the EMs, and not all of them availed themselves of the option?