It costs too much to put a box on the shelves... the ROI on putting a box on shelves at this point just wouldn't be there. Now, if they do a relaunch with new graphics and bug fixes and cool stuff, yeah, it would be worthwhile, but right now... not so much.
True, but putting aside those that left for other games that catered more to their tastes or because UO went in directions they didn't want (Trammel, AOS, etc.), you still need to fix the bigger issues like graphics.
" or "UO died when Trammel was born" or "UO is still around?". Look at some of the recent people who have quit or went into maintenance mode - the Stratics mod, Black Sun, didn't quit because of the cost. Pinco didn't put his accounts into maintenance mode because of cost.EA could spend a bunch of money to convert UO, quite a bit of money, and maybe it brings in more money, but there is absolutely no guarantee that any extra revenue would go back into UO to fix what needs to be fixed. This is EA we are talking about. This is the company that lays off UO devs even when UO is profitable.I still hope in some improvements for the 15th anniversary, and until then I'm in maintenance mode (renew every 2 months to keep the house safe), then we'll see if UO can permanently find its place in the graveyard or not
Not really. It would actually artificially distort the value of certain areas, and make no difference to others.
I actually totally disagree with this entire statement.
Ok this is all true and correct and saved me a ton of time.
*The old Sage wanders back into the forest to contemplate the 8 Virtues*Not a kid. I'm not out to offend anybody so why everybody is making it personal is beyond me. I could dish out for 10 accounts if need be, fact, but the return on investment simply doesn't exist. I'd rather feed my family well. The game is not lucrative enough for me to play it for such a high price. I have already achieved everything there is to achieve in UO. I'd entertain playing a few hours a week if the game were free. Perhaps you should cut the garbage out of your post and keep it constructive. The poll is doing its job.Yea Nabin!
There was no need for this thread in the first place. The OP needs go play whatever game he claims to enjoy so much more than UO and take his idiotic ideas with him.
Either that or stop being a cheap ass and quit complaining about a lousy $13 a month. Good grief, I can't believe anyone can complain this much over $13 freaking dollars. Kids these days
Not everyone is a spoiled kid with unlimited money, in this times 13$/month is a pretty serious amount for a game like this... The game as it is could worth 5$/month top.Yea Nabin!
There was no need for this thread in the first place. The OP needs go play whatever game he claims to enjoy so much more than UO and take his idiotic ideas with him.
Either that or stop being a cheap ass and quit complaining about a lousy $13 a month. Good grief, I can't believe anyone can complain this much over $13 freaking dollars. Kids these days
Which is the point of f2p.
Under an F2P scenario, EA is not going to make houses a $5 a month addon, because for every $5 house, that means there is a good chance a $10 - $13 a month account will be canceled. EA is not going to risk losing that, because a major point of F2P is to have some major hooks, restrictions, or annoyances to make you upgrade to a subscription, and housing would be #1 on the list.
If you want a better look at what a "Free" UO would look like, you need only look at UO's sister MMORPG Warhammer Online:
You should pay 15 dollars a month because that is what EA charges. I'm not going to make comparisons to other things in life we use and have to pay for, it's common sense.
Wrong
You've never played Dungeons and Dragons Online or quite a few other games, have you?
depends on how it's implemented there are PLENTY of examples of games doing F2P where the cost per user is less (they make it up in volume by keeping a larger playerbase), besides, UO you already do have to buy most of the content seperately from the sub (in the form of expansions, boosters, slot upgrades, storage upgrades,etc)
Vlaude I actually think it would be good to lift the time limit on the trial, assuming they would go back to banning scripters.
You should be hitting level 20 in WoW in under 5 hours. You can 6x120 a character in UO in about 4 days if you have the scrolls. And you're gauging a game's difficulty on character creation? I don't see what you're trying to say, honestly, sorry. You're picking a really bad game to draw comparisons to. EA or Blizzard hmmm who will win? Hardmode dragon soul or Barracoon?
I hate EA too.
I do admit that UO suffered from a string of bad producers but I am hopeful that they are finally getting back on track. Every expansion brought in more play style options, it is not just rehashed contents from 1997. The fishing update is not a bad idea, it was just poorly implemented. Fishing update can be fixed and improved, the important part is that we now have that added play space.
Don't know where you been but EA has always been in the picture. EA has owned UO from day one, sorry.
owned but not controlled development, OSI worked as a seperate entity outside of EA's direct control for the first few years UO was out. (Westwood and most of EA's other studios used to work like this as well)
EA still controlled the deadlines and the money. Just ask the Ultima VIII and Ultima IX teams. Garriott still had to go to the EA CEO for the UO seed money.
Ah yes... yet another one you can thank the NBA's for.
The big picture is that the people who ultimately decide UO's fate don't care about how deep it is, just that it's profitable.
I disagree that the population problems are the fault of the producers - it was EA that has laid off large numbers of UO devs when UO was profitable, it was EA that forced UO to move from Texas to California and then California to Virginia, and it was EA that let the Ultima name pretty much die after IX. The only producers I think anybody really hates were during Trammel and AOS. I know it's popular for some to hate on Cal, but he produced Stygian Abyss and then had to watch the UO team be gutted thanks to Warhammer crashing and burning, along with some other EA problems, even though UO was profitable. Cal was trying to provide an actual plan for UO to bring in new players last year, but most of that was dismantled and tossed to the side. Those videos last year made it clear that Cal's hands were tied by somebody up top as well. Remember the video where a question was asked and Cal, Mesanna, and one of the engineers had to turn off the camera, talk about whether they could answer the question, and then come back?
KEY WORD- "IF", i've played LoL, you don't have to buy anything.
And how would this accomplish anything other than wasting money? MMO's are played without disks and thanks to technology, we can now download game clients which is the only thing you need a disk for and thanks to programs like steam and origin, Gamestop and other stores have been slowly diminishing their computer games because people will just buy them online, the only thing we ever needed a the box for way back when was to install an expansion or install the game, or get an account code (the actual thing that costs money..) which can all be done online..
I have said this exact same thing before (about housing under a FTP model) and to be honest, is any new player going to come and pay $12.99 a month for 15 year old out-dated game? I HIGHLY DOUBT IT, returning players, sure, they come and go.. I come and go and leave when I feel I have to, but the low population, I just can't bare it anymore, I honestly do not see myself returning unless there was a shift in UO's population, in other words, it isn't worth the $12.99 a month.. They need to lower the subscription price if anything to 5 or 8 bucks a month and then I would consider keeping my accounts active and in this horrible real life economy, I really had no choice but to cancel my subs..
As pissed as I get at EA, they aren't stupid when it comes to collecting money (although they can be about their account management
). If there was an f2p UO, housing would be a part of the sub, along with banks. EA has an F2P MMORPG in the same group and maybe even the same building as UO, so they have experience with F2P MMORPG. To their credit, they try not to pretend that f2p is anything but a glorified trial.And that's a big problem. An f2p UO is still out-dated on the technical/graphics side. I just don't see it attracting new players in the state its in, regardless of how they collect the money.
No offense bud but I think you are kidding yourself and wasting our time.
Adapting in UO has never been an issue to me, sorry. The truth is I've always been a mile ahead of virtually everybody in terms of adapting. I'm not emotional, by putting my emotions in check you're getting personal not me, I'm stating facts and opinions and creating a valid thread. Keep on topic.
Are you interested in the high resolution graphics update?
Not likely to happen though... too many players want the higher sub to continue, so as long as it's profitable I doubt anything will change. Mostly the F2P is in fact a misleading advert for a demo and IMHO is far worse than a lower priced subscription would be. But I've never had a bad experience with F2P players (UOers ain't exactly angels considering what they pay lol) and if there is a requirement to buy items to compete then I don't play that F2P, or I accept that I'm less uber than someone else. I'm not a power fanatic so it seldom bothers me. But the one advantage you do have, even if you choose to buy said items is you can choose if/when you do so. If you want to save money for a few months and then treat yourself, you can. With UO, you need to keep that account going to play it even if like me you just want to potter around and relax.
I hope this works out for the better for them and the people who play the game. A lot of people saw this coming though.
This post belongs in a topic titled "How to kill UO." Do you even realize how drastic the drop in revenue would be if it worked this way?
UO has lost at least 9 members of the UO team over the past year, and only 4 were replaced that we know of, even though UO was profitable.
Boosters/Expansions/Theme Packs were canceled.
They don't invest because none of the investments they have made in the game in the last.... 10(?) years have done anything to promote growth for any real length of time. It makes perfect sense to relaunch the franchise with a new game.
