So... What's better? Longest running? or Prettiest?

[Ludes]

Yeah.. Yeah.. Yeah..
We all hear the posts... some say new graphics will bring fresh in and some say better gameplay will bring em in despite the old graphics..

GW2 just released some very pretty screenshots... But GW just never got me captivated and sweating like UO did..
Even today I can hit Shame or Cove in Siege and really throw a major tantrum in real life when I lose my crap... (yeah no insurance on Siege, ya weaklings!)

But back to the point of the thread... what do you guys think? Can you compete with Ultima with just graphics? Or do you need to actually "feel' the playstyle?

 

[CryptisRavenous]

I understand what you're saying, but I haven't seen advertising for Ultima Online, I could be wrong, but something like that would've definitely caught my attention. I've always heard, if you promote it, they will come.

 

[Tanivar]

Those who rate a game solely based on the quality of the graphics obviously rate UO low. Just depth of play and having more than just monsters to hack on doesn't do it for them. No super state-of-the-art graphics?.... It's trash and no one will play it.

Those who like games other than the standard hacking up monsters type, might try UO since it has a lot you can do. You could top end all your skills and play for years and never strike one monster, yet have fun nearly every moment your in game.

Those who like a game that has a variety of things you can choose to do based on what kind of mood your in when you decide to play a game might like UO since you can find something to do to fit the mood your in. From herding sheep to homicidal mania as a PKer in Fel. Variety is the spice of life.

 

[Woodsman]

Those who rate a game solely based on the quality of the graphics obviously rate UO low. Just depth of play and having more than just monsters to hack on doesn't do it for them. No super state-of-the-art graphics?.... It's trash and no one will play it.

That's what drives me nuts. Too many people look at UO and think it's on life support or nothing will happen with it, and pass right on by. Reading comments on other sites, when UO is brought up, far too many people talk about the graphics.

It's really frustrating because World of Warcraft probably loses more people in a week than currently play UO, and even more when a major new game comes out, but a lot of those people end up returning to WOW. It really is true that a lot of those people are bored with WOW, but they are bored with everything else, and if you could just clean up UO a bit, you could get them to take a look. I think UO is a game that a lot more people would try and stick with if you can just get them in the door.

Somebody told me about Archeage, some Korean-only MMORPG this morning, and it's a sandbox game and the developers cite UO as an inspiration, and when you go on YouTube and look at the videos, there are quite a few UO references from people, like "THIS IS WHAT UO2 SHOULD HAVE BEEN" and "Why can't they do these graphics with UO?", especially when you look at the player housing.

I really like the idea of them making high resolution versions of the existing CC graphics, I just hate that it's been pushed off to the side or canceled.

I really do think that a lot of people who keep moving between MMORPGs just don't realize UO is the game they want to play, they just aren't willing to give it a chance because of the graphics and lack of EA support.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Graphic quality and gameplay depth are NOT mutually exclusive. UO currently has one, it COULD have both if the effort were allowed to be put into it and if the playerbase were not so doggedly against such attempts.

The problem with UO's classic client and classic graphics aren't one of aesthetics, but of technology. They are simply out of date on a technological level. They are built for resolutions half or less the quality of current day standards and are not built to be scalable. Scaling (really the lack thereof) is the primary reason why the EC graphics don't look as good as they can or should. KR did this MUCH better than the EC but because the artwork wasn't a "pixel for pixel" representation, people got bent out of shape and now we're stuck in the compromise position... trying to scale unscalable graphics.

While it is great that UO has been around for as long as it has, it is in DIRE need of an upgrade in graphical technology which I know Grimm has been working on behind the scenes, I'm just waiting for it to become more of a priority.

 

[NBG]

Instead comparing longest running against prettiest, it probably should be comparing largest in game content again prettiest graphic.

I think one of the major issue here is that Blizzard kind of set the bar when it comes to UI design and graphics when it released WoW and since a large segment of online gamers started with WoW, the result is that people tend to use WoW as a base line when looking at other online games.

Online gaming population that started with WoW as their first game are stuck in the mouse wheel leveling type of game play established by Blizzard along with the expectation of pretty graphic.

The sandbox idea has not been drilled into most of the online gamers as a better option. Improving the UI design and Graphic will get those WoW generation online gamers to at least consider UO as a better alternative. I am sure that the variety of play styles and in game content will attract more new players as long as UO's UI and Graphics are acceptable to the WoW generation online gamers.

In order to present playability of the UO sandbox to potential players, we need a pretty looking box before potential players will even dip their toe in. Once that toe is in there, I am sure some of them will be slowly trapped in the sand like the rest of us UO old timers.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

The thing is that WoW I wouldn't call "the prettiest" either. At the time of release it was a huge step forward in terms of 3d graphics (particularly plant/tree graphics as well as more fleshed out character models), but it's still at best mid-grade in terms of such quality (unless it has updated and upgraded its graphic set). The terrain effects were horribly noticeably repetitively tiled. By comparison, KR/EC terrain is much more varied and natural looking as it is more randomized with a multi-tile set using I believe bigger tiles for the map overlay.

If I were going the "pretty" route, I would point to LotRO in terms of graphics quality and weather effects above WoW although aside from a few things, LotRO is basically a WoW/EQ clone. In terms of an isometric viewpoint, I would, however, point to Diablo 3.

Finally, neither WoW nor Blizzard created or established the Level-Raid model. In the MMOG genre, that would be EQ. WoW is just an EQ clone (but then one of my biggest annoyances that developed about WoW was realizing how much of that game was either referencing or just blatantly ripping off pop culture or other intellectual property. Any originality was by accident.

The rest I agree with though.

 

[NBG]

What I am trying to point out is that WoW is the first game that broke through the MMO ceiling and introduced the MMO concept to a large section of general public that has never even heard of MMO. Because of that, those people tend to follow the trend set by WoW and newer games that improved upon what WoW has done.

 

[Tanivar]

...


The problem with UO's classic client and classic graphics aren't one of aesthetics, but of technology. They are simply out of date on a technological level. They are built for resolutions half or less the quality of current day standards and are not built to be scalable.

The CC 800x600 game window size if fine if you set your high resolution monitor to a screen setting that gives you larger than phonebook size print on the screen.

I've got a 1920x1060 wide screen LCD monitor and running it at that setting leaves the displayed text way to small. I run the monitor at 1360x768 which gives comfortable sized text on the screen, and when playing UO,leaves about an inch and a half of screen below the game window for icons and a good third of the screen width for the paperdoll, the UOAM window, and the various container windows I typically have open.

The UO game world is all individual tiles. It would take a near complete rewriting of the game code to convert everything to look like D3 or even WoW. They can make some improvements but what they can do without doing that near complete rewriting of the game code is limited. To get the graphics quality you seem to want would mean a huge investment, something EA is unlikely to do.

UO has it's very deep content. Thats what it has as a claim to fame. Those that love the content over the graphics will happily play UO. Those who love graphics over content will pancake, complain, and moan, and either fold their tent and leave, or stay. Probably still pancakes, complaining, and moaning in these forums until the rest of us are even more sick of hearing it than we are now, whichever they do.

Petra, can we get all EC vs CC threads, all pancakes & moaning over the graphics threads, and all the griping over bugs threads moved to the Rant and Rave section of the Forum so we don't have to wade through the thread listings here in UOhall? Any new player who discovers UO.Stratics dot com and checks out these forums is likely to write Ultima Online off as garbage due to all the pancakes & bellyaching threads bad mouthing the game up one side, down the other, and through the middle, and just go play something else.

 

[NBG]

EC 's potential is there, but not fully implemented.

If they can resolve the EC crash and memory issues along with more graphic updates like they promised, it would at least make potential players take a second look. With Pinco's help on the UI front, I really do think EC has a chance to attract new players.

Having two different clients might actually be an advantage. I was able to play UO on a netbook without issue on CC and heck if it would somehow work on a tablet whose to say we won't get even more players. I would say both client offers different options and there is really no need to say that one is better than the other. They both have their uses and we should just leave it at that.

 

[Tanivar]

With Pinco's help on the UI front, I really do think EC has a chance to attract new players.

Problem is, anyone who does a search for Ultima Online winds up at the UOHerald site and downloads the Enhanced Client without Pinco's mods. They are going to sit through a couple hour patch session and then begin play with the tossed together EC. Whether they hear about the Pinco's mod before writing the game off due to a very poor UI is up in the air.

They could hear about Pinco's mod but be unwilling to download it due to the possibility of malware. That popular file would make a good hackers target.

 

[Woodsman]

The CC 800x600 game window size if fine if you set your high resolution monitor to a screen setting that gives you larger than phonebook size print on the screen.

The CC graphics are just fine, so fine in fact that UO didn't peak in 2003-2004 and then decline for the next 8 years! People are flocking by the thousands to UO every month because the CC is just fine!

UO has it's very deep content. Thats what it has as a claim to fame.

Nobody is arguing in this thread that UO doesn't have deep content.

The reasoning behind better graphics is so that we still have that deep content 5 years from now, because the CC and the EC are not exactly bringing in tens of thousands of new players every year.

Having deep content is only good as long as the game is profitable. The moment that enough players have left and not enough have come back to make UO unprofitable, is the moment at threads start popping up on Stratics asking which free shard everybody is going to try, because EA ain't a charity. They aren't going to keep UO going out of the goodness of their hearts just because it has deep content.

Any new player who discovers UO.Stratics dot com and checks out these forums is likely to write Ultima Online off as garbage due to all the pancakes & bellyaching threads bad mouthing the game up one side, down the other, and through the middle, and just go play something else.

Any new player is most likely to come across the official website and write UO off.

In a perfect world, players would look past the graphics and the official site and give UO a chance.

But it's not a perfect world, and they aren't.

 

[Tanivar]

Having deep content is only good as long as the game is profitable. The moment that enough players have left and not enough have come back to make UO unprofitable, is the moment at threads start popping up on Stratics asking which free shard everybody is going to try, because EA ain't a charity. They aren't going to keep UO going out of the goodness of their hearts just because it has deep content.

The thought does cross my mind on occasion.

A nice pre-AoS Ren freeshard tends to sound real good.

Any new player is most likely to come across the official website and write UO off.

LOL! Good point! <G>

 

[Woodsman]

The thought does cross my mind on occasion.

I think about it because eventually somebody is going to offer a game that will take enough people away, or enough people will have played long enough and are tired or worn out, or something else will change drastically like say AOS to cause UO to start losing money. Okay, nothing will ever be dramatic as AOS, but still, there were enough people still trying out MMORPGs that UO did well after AOS for a while. 5 or 10 years ago, we could laugh at the notion that UO will close some day, but looking around the shards leaves me with a bad feeling. Too many people play Atlantic and don't realize that a lot of the other shards are not that full. If Archeage was coming to North America and Europe - a full sandbox, full player housing, persistent world with few instances (only dungeons from what I can see), and a team that had studied UO and were trying to capture the open world sandbox aspect of it, I'd be worried.

UO can survive and thrive, it just needs EA fully behind it and a new coat of paint.

LOL! Good point! <G>

The Dark Age of Camelot website has 93 screenshots just horses alone linked from the main page. UO doesn't even have a screenshot of a mongbat Kai did say they were working on it though.

It blows my mind that the UO website has been like this for over 5 years. How you can sell a game without posting screenshots and video is beyond me.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Nobody is arguing in this thread that UO doesn't have deep content.

Exactly. UO HAS the deep content, UO NEEDS the graphics upgrade. Regardless of the issue, you're simply going to see more active postings on the problems and needs of the game, not what is already present and not a problem.

My answer is that they are equally important, just one seems to have fallen to the wayside.

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

I have always been partial to content (stuff to do) over graphics. You could give me UO with stick figures and I would be content (happy).


Gotta share this... Adult Content in Spoiler here

Spoiler

True story!!

Wife happened to be walking by as I was reading the OP.

Wife: Longest Running or Prettiest? Longest running over pretty every time.
Me: Huh? (had no idea she was there really)
Wife: Longer running is better than prettier
Me: Nah, I don't care about graphics really
Wife: Graphics?
Me: Yeah, this is a thread on UO.
Wife: *turns red and walks off*


Damn if I don't think she thought I was on a vibrator page or something lol

 

[Ludes]

EC 's potential is there, but not fully implemented.

If they can resolve the EC crash and memory issues along with more graphic updates like they promised, it would at least make potential players take a second look. With Pinco's help on the UI front, I really do think EC has a chance to attract new players.

Having two different clients might actually be an advantage. I was able to play UO on a netbook without issue on CC and heck if it would somehow work on a tablet whose to say we won't get even more players. I would say both client offers different options and there is really no need to say that one is better than the other. They both have their uses and we should just leave it at that.

After a lot of back and forth with several users here on Stratics we've narrowed almost all the EC crashes down to user side maladjustments..
Lots of people want to say "Oh my rig is so bad... but if you have less than 8 gigs of ram and a GPU under 4 then your not really up to date and you can't keep crying forever that games won't run on your rig.. set your graphics and audio lower to match your game rig... pride won't give you a better game play experience..

 

[NBG]

After a lot of back and forth with several users here on Stratics we've narrowed almost all the EC crashes down to user side maladjustments..
Lots of people want to say "Oh my rig is so bad... but if you have less than 8 gigs of ram and a GPU under 4 then your not really up to date and you can't keep crying forever that games won't run on your rig.. set your graphics and audio lower to match your game rig... pride won't give you a better game play experience..

Have the spec covered. It is not user end issue. The crash issue has been brought up in the past and it still exist even for machine over the spec described above with low settings. Crash issue mostly deal with heavy spike in object loading I think. It is more luna type of object loading that crashes the client. or if the client has been running for awhile without a restart. It seems like the longer one leave EC running the chances of a crash increase and the longer its running, even a small spike would cause it.

 

[Woodsman]

If they can resolve the EC crash and memory issues along with more graphic updates like they promised, it would at least make potential players take a second look. With Pinco's help on the UI front, I really do think EC has a chance to attract new players.

Pinco has semi-retired and has his accounts in maintenance mode.

As far as crashes, whatever they did recently helped. I didn't have any crashes during the Exodus fight, and the majority of crashes I heard directly about were from CC users. The EC has improved a bit - I had just about given up on EM events after some bad experiences in the past.

I think Ludes is right - if the EC can handle the Exodus event for a lot of us, any crashes might be on the user side. Again, this is something the UO website needs to mention. They gave us a player guide, now we need a client guide.

 

[Ludes]

Pinco has semi-retired and has his accounts in maintenance mode.

As far as crashes, whatever they did recently helped. I didn't have any crashes during the Exodus fight, and the majority of crashes I heard directly about were from CC users. The EC has improved a bit - I had just about given up on EM events after some bad experiences in the past.

I think Ludes is right - if the EC can handle the Exodus event for a lot of us, any crashes might be on the user side. Again, this is something the UO website needs to mention. They gave us a player guide, now we need a client guide.

My opinion does revolve a lot around the recent Exodus event... I never crashed once... I did adjust my settings a little.. lowered graphics, audio.. set ignores way high so I wouldn't see everyone's grunts and curses and farts.... but it worked... on my word.. two deaths and no crashes..

P.S. Did I ever say thanks for the resses? You know who you are...

 

[Ludes]

The thought does cross my mind on occasion.

A nice pre-AoS Ren freeshard tends to sound real good.




LOL! Good point! <G>

So that said... If you were in charge of UO's advertising... how would you hit your target demographic? Can't aim at the youngers cause they'll hate the graphics.. but to actually give a sense of the depth of gameplay to older people your gonna have to hit em where they browse... How you gonna do that... a 4 page ad in Readers Digest?

 

[Tina Small]

So that said... If you were in charge of UO's advertising... how would you hit your target demographic? Can't aim at the youngers cause they'll hate the graphics.. but to actually give a sense of the depth of gameplay to older people your gonna have to hit em where they browse... How you gonna do that... a 4 page ad in Readers Digest?

I think "older people" who currently don't play online games are highly unlikely to start playing them just because they see an advertisement for them in a magazine or even on television. I just can't picture my relatives who are my general age or older who currently don't play any kind of online game all of a sudden deciding to play UO because they read about it in AARP magazine or something. I kind of feel like if they're already in their 50s or older and their kids or significant other or co-workers haven't yet gotten them to try and/or stick with playing an online game, a print or television or online ad probably won't do it either.

I think the most cost-effective advertising aimed at attracting older players who already play online games and who might not care so much about graphics would be done via websites devoted to online games in general, perhaps using Google Adwords, and/or maybe through social media like Facebook, although my gut feeling is that Facebook is losing a lot of its appeal for older folks because of privacy concerns and other issues. I would emphasize the sandbox nature of the game, the huge diversity of playstyles the game supports, and housing. I'd probably also be tempted to cough up some demographic information about UO's current playerbase just to show the game isn't completely overrun by kids and perhaps also to demonstrate how many women play UO.

 

[cazador]

UO2....I want to see a boxed game at Walmart..on the front shelf so everyone can see it..how do you think WOW has so many players because the game is awesome...have played it? It's a boring grind to level your chars..how many people play UO and devote 80% of their time fishing or role playing or crafting armor or PVP? WOW has been and always will be warrior first..and tbh our enhanced client looks better imo then WOW ever has..only problem I just started playing EC but due to the fact I pvp 97% of the time and the EC can be a bit difficult to compete due to having to cycle on a Mage..but I'm sure as time goes on the EC will get easier to use..another incentive maybe we should give players a perk or bonus to using the EC..1 extra fc or extra ssi or something to get everyone to start using it so we can eventually have the CC for basic things rather then a sole client and the dev team can spend 95% of the time updating and upgrading the EC instead of 60% CC and 40% EC which I'm sure is semi accurate due to most everyone still using the CC..probably not I'm sure I'll get flamed but if you have one option you only have once choice...
For the record I play CC 90% do I'm not some EC fan boy..but I would be if it brings new blood


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Woodsman]

I think the most cost-effective advertising aimed at attracting older players who already play online games and who might not care so much about graphics would be done via websites devoted to online games in general, perhaps using Google Adwords, and/or maybe through social media like Facebook, although my gut feeling is that Facebook is losing a lot of its appeal for older folks because of privacy concerns and other issues. I would emphasize the sandbox nature of the game, the huge diversity of playstyles the game supports, and housing. I'd probably also be tempted to cough up some demographic information about UO's current playerbase just to show the game isn't completely overrun by kids and perhaps also to demonstrate how many women play UO.

They need to go after people who bounce around between MMORPGs. I experienced it in my WOW guild - a major new game would come out, inevitably quite a few would go try it, play it for a bit, then come back. The fact that they came back showed that a lot of newer games are having a hard time drawing people away from WOW and that people aren't finding what they are looking elsewhere. The fact that they were willing to spend $50 or more to go try another game shows that many are looking for something besides. WOW. People make a big deal every time WOW's subs take a dip in numbers, but

I think they just don't know what they are looking for, but obviously it's UO

They need to take a page out of EVE Online's book. It started off small, but it's grown steadily over the years, even as there were mistakes (just like with UO) and they are hitting their peak now, 9 years after they launched, showing that a long-term sandbox MMORPG can succeed and that you can stay relevant even as more and more games come out. One of the things they've done is keep the graphics up-to-date (I think EVE has had 3 graphics upgrades) and stayed true to the original spirit with which it was created. Obviously UO can't go back to the 1990s, but UO still has things like the housing and crafting systems that it's tried to stay somewhat true to. Whether people like things like Imbuing, it's there to help with crafting.

UO's image and things like its graphics can be rehabilitated. CCP has a fraction of the resources that EA has, yet it's been able to keep EVE evolving technically/graphically. Plus CCP puts together some incredibly advertising videos that do a good job of roping people in. That's one area that is a hard sell for UO. With an EVE Online video, you can instantly grasp that it's one massive universe focused on PvP.

With UO....how do you sum it up in a minute or two? Some of the biggest things that keep people playing don't necessarily sell well in a 30 second or 60 second soundbite.

 

[cazador]

They need to go after people who bounce around between MMORPGs. I experienced it in my WOW guild - a major new game would come out, inevitably quite a few would go try it, play it for a bit, then come back. The fact that they came back showed that a lot of newer games are having a hard time drawing people away from WOW and that people aren't finding what they are looking elsewhere. The fact that they were willing to spend $50 or more to go try another game shows that many are looking for something besides. WOW. People make a big deal every time WOW's subs take a dip in numbers, but

I think they just don't know what they are looking for, but obviously it's UO

They need to take a page out of EVE Online's book. It started off small, but it's grown steadily over the years, even as there were mistakes (just like with UO) and they are hitting their peak now, 9 years after they launched, showing that a long-term sandbox MMORPG can succeed and that you can stay relevant even as more and more games come out. One of the things they've done is keep the graphics up-to-date (I think EVE has had 3 graphics upgrades) and stayed true to the original spirit with which it was created. Obviously UO can't go back to the 1990s, but UO still has things like the housing and crafting systems that it's tried to stay somewhat true to. Whether people like things like Imbuing, it's there to help with crafting.

UO's image and things like its graphics can be rehabilitated. CCP has a fraction of the resources that EA has, yet it's been able to keep EVE evolving technically/graphically. Plus CCP puts together some incredibly advertising videos that do a good job of roping people in. That's one area that is a hard sell for UO. With an EVE Online video, you can instantly grasp that it's one massive universe focused on PvP.

With UO....how do you sum it up in a minute or two? Some of the biggest things that keep people playing don't necessarily sell well in a 30 second or 60 second soundbite.

lol so true a TRUE UO ad would have to be 45 minutes long to show its depth haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tanivar]

How you gonna do that... a 4 page ad in Readers Digest?

<winces with a chuckle> That would be a thought and might be fairly cheap.

I'd say put advertisements on the forum pages for other games that are not heavy combat oriented. Farmville forums, Sims Forums, and other such non-combat games. An ad on Steam perhaps? An ad on Facebook? The AARP website or in their magazine? Go for the old D&D players who would love a large sandbox world.

Any fan of D&D, other such imagination games, or the old internet text adventures is likely to not consider the graphics as a big thing and go for the content UO has. Great graphics will likely get a "Hey! Great pics!" and then become a background to the content, which will make or break the game.

 

[Woodsman]

UO2....I want to see a boxed game at Walmart..on the front shelf so everyone can see it..

Within 5 years, the chances of finding an EA game on store shelves will be slim, and even then it will probably have either "Battlefield", "FIFA", "NFL", "NCAA", or "Sims" in the title, and the chances of finding a PC or Mac game will be low. EA has already announced that the future of their offerings will be digital going forward, with a smaller and smaller retail presence. Whatever customers they may lose by not offering physical copies will be more than made up by the fact that they will be killing off second-hand game sales and will be getting 100% of the revenue instead of the 35%-70% that they currently get with the retail stores. They've already pulled out most of their offerings from Steam. EA wants everything driven through Origin.com.

For the record I play CC 90% do I'm not some EC fan boy..but I would be if it brings new blood

For the record, I prefer the EC, but I would be a CC fan boy in a heartbeat if it was bringing in enough new and returning players to keep UO going in the long run.

 

[Ashlynn_L]

It could be both prettiest and longest running. No reason why it couldn't. And it could keep the CC too for those who prefer it.

You mention steam - this game should be on steam, with a hi-res updated enhanced client and a well crafted video + some good screenshots. Also they should throw in some Classic Client stuff advertised along the lines of "and if you want retro, you can too" kind of thing. You may as well appeal to everyone you can.

We have such a great game here with so many unique selling points, despite the (MANY) flaws. And it's still the only MMO I know of where you can put stuff on the ground. =P

 

[Tanivar]

lol so true a TRUE UO ad would have to be 45 minutes long to show its depth haha

Anyone know how to make videos of UO play? Make one of crafting being done, starting with a few minutes of mining, logging, gathering feathers and wool, then a few more minutes of a Craftsman type making a suit of armor, a sword & shield, bow and arrows, some bandages and a few potions. Dress him in some of the gear he has made. Show him place some on vendor, stop by a NPC shop and sell some stuff for gold, and then walk him outside of town where he will have to defend himself against a moderate monster and get loot from it. Say a fast moving 10 to 15 minutes long. Anyone who likes games other than those set up for harcore combat might be intrigued enough to open a trail account and check UO out.

Show the list of characters part of the log in (Five slots available). Show the long skill list briefly showing all the skill choices possible. Flip through the crafting tool windows as your crafter makes things giving an inpression of how many things their are to craft. Do a quick trip to UO Stratics to check on some kind of info letting them know where game info is at.

A video like this might draw people who are not really into the hard core combat scene by showing them some of what else there is to do in game. It certainly drew me in long term.

 

[Basara]

As I stated elsewhere when discussing merits of original series/movies, their remakes & sequels. For something to be better, it has to be at least as as good in every part as the original, and significantly better elsewhere. Many of the "UO-killers" of the past were prettier, but they fell well short in most other attributes.

Or, as I told the person, "No matter how much you polish the coprolite to make it pretty, it's still a petrified ball of ____."

 

[Reth]

Longer running usually means more content, which trumps graphics IMO. But if a game has lots of content and nice graphics to go with, then it's even better.

 

[MagicStar]

We got alot of talented players who make good videos and write good articles
I cant help but wonder what if some players put together a nice video advertizing uo?
I bet itd be better than what we could hope ea would do
Im not good at that stuff but id sure as hell advertize it everywhere i can
Facebook game forums etc
I know its not our job but itd be interesting to see what people put together

 

[DevilsOwn]

need someone like this guy.......


Lighthouse

 

[Petra Fyde]

Have any of you seen this?
(video) Building a house | Stratics Forums

 

[Ludes]

That was well done... I do believe that any advertising that would ever be done should definitely highlight the housing system...
I can speak for myself only of course but building, stocking, and decorating my houses is a large portion of my UO enjoyment.

 

[NBG]

Problem is, anyone who does a search for Ultima Online winds up at the UOHerald site and downloads the Enhanced Client without Pinco's mods. They are going to sit through a couple hour patch session and then begin play with the tossed together EC. Whether they hear about the Pinco's mod before writing the game off due to a very poor UI is up in the air.

They could hear about Pinco's mod but be unwilling to download it due to the possibility of malware. That popular file would make a good hackers target.

I wish the Devs would move some core Pinco UI functionality to be in default EC UI options. Devs for other games with open UI option tend to incorporate populate user UI features so general users do not have to deal with updating UI after publishes where the user UI might be broken.

At the very least, they should host useable version of Pinco's UI Mod on UOHearld.

 

[Woodsman]

UO Japan had a pretty good ad that tried to sum up 10 years of UO for Kingdom Reborn.

ultimaonline.jp/kingdomreborn/

One for the 10th Anniversary:

ultimaonline.jp/10th.shtml

No http because Stratics doesn't like Japanese characters.

The 10th anniversary goes through all of the expansions.

 

[Woodsman]

And the main UO team or EA did one as well.

UO_KR_moviefront3_externalcontrols.swf

May have to wait a moment for it to load or hit reload a few times.

 

[Ludes]

And the main UO team or EA did one as well.

UO_KR_moviefront3_externalcontrols.swf

May have to wait a moment for it to load or hit reload a few times.

I'd never seen that one... but now that I have, I have to wonder... such a well done ad... and I never seen it?
Why didn't this ad air anywhere?

 

[MalagAste]

I'll say this I'll chose something like UO over any of that pixel crack that's out there now anyday.

To me most all the other garbage out there including WoW is mostly about Pixels... You level up... Do Quests but at the end of it all that's all there is. They lack true imagination... they lack individuality and they lack content.

Sure they look pretty and all but pretty is for pictures. I want to "rule my world"...

When I log into UO I am whatever character I log in on.... If it's Malag then I AM Malag-aste Hla-ate. I'm Drow, I'm a Knight and I'm living for killing anything that I see is a threat to Britannia. I'm there to uphold the Virtues and help the weak... If I log on as Willa.... then I'm Willa of the Yew-wood, Mayor of Yew, friend to all.... I want to heal the wounded, feed the hungry, and help Yew and all it's Citizens. And if I'm on as Kurazg then I'm going to stand around a drool until someone gives me orders, I will collect my "Shiniez" from anyone I can... and eat anything in sight. Taste it, bite it, smash it, kill it...

You can't have something like the Temple of Mondain, or Newcastle Township in WoW. It just can't happen. There is ZERO community in most games. My son played FFIX Online for years... and what got me was Ok they give you a room... and yes you can deco it... but that'll cost you... you have VERY limited storage... Your friends Can NOT visit your place so really what's the point of making it look nice... no one will know but you... Sure you have "stones" that folk join and you go hunt with them whatever but once the hunt is done there is nothing... Plus my biggest beef with a bunch of those games out there is Ok so you chose to play X Race.... Ok well X Race can ONLY be A, B, Or C..... X Race can't do D.... or E... So you are X Race and B Skill.... and if you are X Race and B Skill then this is what you need to wear at Level 10 ...... this is what your going to wear at level 20 and so on.... You can pretty much tell everything about someone by looking at their race and clothes. BORING. I don't want to be told how I'm going to play my game.... I don't want to have to follow any stupid path or set of goals... I want to create whatever my imagination wants to be. And UO will let me do that.

 

[Eärendil]

I'll say this I'll chose something like UO over any of that pixel crack that's out there now anyday.

To me most all the other garbage out there including WoW is mostly about Pixels... You level up... Do Quests but at the end of it all that's all there is. They lack true imagination... they lack individuality and they lack content.

Sure they look pretty and all but pretty is for pictures. I want to "rule my world"...

When I log into UO I am whatever character I log in on.... If it's Malag then I AM Malag-aste Hla-ate. I'm Drow, I'm a Knight and I'm living for killing anything that I see is a threat to Britannia. I'm there to uphold the Virtues and help the weak... If I log on as Willa.... then I'm Willa of the Yew-wood, Mayor of Yew, friend to all.... I want to heal the wounded, feed the hungry, and help Yew and all it's Citizens. And if I'm on as Kurazg then I'm going to stand around a drool until someone gives me orders, I will collect my "Shiniez" from anyone I can... and eat anything in sight. Taste it, bite it, smash it, kill it...

You can't have something like the Temple of Mondain, or Newcastle Township in WoW. It just can't happen. There is ZERO community in most games. My son played FFIX Online for years... and what got me was Ok they give you a room... and yes you can deco it... but that'll cost you... you have VERY limited storage... Your friends Can NOT visit your place so really what's the point of making it look nice... no one will know but you... Sure you have "stones" that folk join and you go hunt with them whatever but once the hunt is done there is nothing... Plus my biggest beef with a bunch of those games out there is Ok so you chose to play X Race.... Ok well X Race can ONLY be A, B, Or C..... X Race can't do D.... or E... So you are X Race and B Skill.... and if you are X Race and B Skill then this is what you need to wear at Level 10 ...... this is what your going to wear at level 20 and so on.... You can pretty much tell everything about someone by looking at their race and clothes. BORING. I don't want to be told how I'm going to play my game.... I don't want to have to follow any stupid path or set of goals... I want to create whatever my imagination wants to be. And UO will let me do that.

Aye! That´s it. And that´s the spirit of Lord British´s first drafts - think of U7 and its ultimate freedom. And I would never leave just because of pixels. Pixels are for kids.

 

[Woodsman]

MalagAste Eaerendil

I wish everybody felt that the pixel crack wasn't that important - I'd rather they put work into the high resolution graphics update or bugs than worry about anniversary and holiday gifts, but that would cause a lot of anger among some. The high resolution stuff and the bugs that need to be fixed are more important to UO's future than any goodie baskets we get if we login on or after a certain date on a calendar, but take those gifts away and watch Stratics overheat

And Eaerendil, it's funny you mention Ultima 7. That was an advanced game that pushed computer hardware to the limits at the time. The Ultima series used to be on top of the latest tech and even drove other companies to improve their technology. People have forgotten that Origin was a cutting edge company.

btw, for anybody wondering, TheGrimmOmen mentioned on Twitter that the high resolution graphics update is still planned.

 

[Eärendil]

Woodsman: You are right, mate. That´s a good point. I just wanted to say: When I had to chose between philosophy and appearance - I would choose philosphy. That doesn´t mean that UO would profit significantly from some polish And I would love to see even CC in a higher resoultion and some better graphics/animations. So, yes and yes ;-)

 

[Selurnoraa]

Can someone direct me to this depth, where is the depth?

 

[Theo_GL]

If they would just OEM the Diablo III interface I'd actually be playing UO instead of Diablo. All I do is run around thinking 'why doesnt UO have this?' Everything from not having to redress after death (classic client) to a shardwide auction house for gear.

The graphics, playability, and just beauty of the world is so far beyond UO its like comparing black and white TV in the 40's to high def 3d TV of today. There really is no comparison.

You have to pretty much stay 'on the rails' when playing Diablo III but I never find myself shutting the machine off frustrated with the interface like I do in UO. The EC is a slight improvement but is still an utter joke compared to D3.

I also didn't need a manual to figgure out the D3 interface. Its simple enough to get what you need done. The EC in Uo has gone overboard in customization to the point you need to 'learn' the interface.

I booted up D3 and was playing in minutes. The game requires no manual and has great helpers to lead you through your learning so you enjoy + learn at the same time. UO requires way too much 'book time' to figgure it out and I think that drives away most people.

Give people a game/interface they can figgure out quickly and have fun and you will get them engaged.

I think the #1 reason UO is dying is that people leave for other games and they have a very hard time attracting players due to the learning curve.

Imagine if in D3 you came into games with players who were all level 60 with maxed gear. How would that make you feel? In D3 they separate out the new players from the experienced by various levels/difficulties of the same content.

I always thought there should be a 'starter shard' with characters that were new to the game. They learned the ropes and built skill. From there they should 'move up' to production shards with the maxed out players.

Of course D3 accomplishes this by having items 'per level' so that you can't start a new char and just throw max gear on him and be good day 1. You need to level them up and get better gear as you go. Plus the BEST gear is obtained by hunting not by crafting. In UO most gear is crafted/imbued with expensive ingredients or rare drops. Monster loot is pure crap even most of the Shame/Wrong stuff. Very few items beyond rings/braces have any use.

Uo could learn alot from the DIII management of items/drops to make farming enjoyable and fun.

Ok, back to DIII......

 

[MalagAste]

Woodsman I'm not saying that it's not important to fix the High Res Graphics because it IS. I'm just saying that for folk like me with an imagination I like to use... I see little value in pretty pixels. But for a LARGE number of people pixels are the first key... without them they won't give you a second glance no matter your content...

It's like if you tried to market something as awesome as a diamond ring and getting people to look into the box when you put it in a little cardboard box. No one is going to look in there.

Or like trying to sell a car when it's a rust bucket.... It may run great and have a brand new engine but NO ONE is going to care if the outside looks like it's been buried on your farm for the last 5 years.

And Theo_GL I know how you feel everytime I play the Sims Medieval I'm like OMG why can't I have this level of character customization in UO! What I wouldn't give for that..... and it's not like EA doesn't make the Sims.... Steal some of their stuff! I want wallpaper like the Sims... The ability to custom housing tiles like the Sims. Possibilities would be endless. I can live with the not moving the camera angle infact I'd prefer not to.... but give me the custom stuff.

 

[CovenantX]

I always liked UO because of the skill system & the fact that pvp takes more "player skill" in UO then any other MMO I've ever played, pvp is still the most balanced in UO with very few exceptions [Poisoning, Stoneform protection, & Throwing] <-- not like this stuff hasn't happened before..

Graphics mean little to nothing to me, if you can tell what it is, it doesn't need to be improved.
but yes alot of people care about graphics, and UO has everything BUT high end graphics [when compared to other MMOs]

If UO had a way to restore lost items <--- the ONLY thing Blizzard has over EA Imo, and updated graphics for the EC, UO would be #1 imo.

Obviously some form of advertising would be needed after such things happen.

 

[MalagAste]

CovenantX That is a BIG issue with me too. EA/UO ought to be able to see that someone has hacked your account and they ought to be able to replace what you had. And with advanced characters and all that you would think they could restore characters too.

Totally sucks that they don't. Updating the graphics and at least getting high res graphics would be a HUGE step in the right direction as well as restoring items... And When you page a GM to come and help you with something and they accidentally "destroy" the item... like they did for me with my Unused tile when it became immobile... they should replace it. Not say Ooops..... sorry and walk away.

I mean I've had them come and accidentally destroy curtains and other items. Parrots. Mouse holes. The list goes on.... But when there is a bug like that they should be able to replace stuff... even if they have to put it on a worklist and have someone come ingame and meet you to replace it.... that's fine... but to just say nope sorry your SoL and fall back on that ancient outdated "We can not replace lost or stolen items." That stinks.

Oh and stolen items is fine if i was in Fel and someone stole from me using game mechanics..... no then I don't expect EA to replace anything but.... if some hacker hacks my account and strips my house and characters then I think they should make every effort to restore what was taken.