Guess some of you should rethink whether UO is a failure or not.

[Ludes]

Lets all compare how long this game lasted to how long UO has been bringing home the paychecks.

Just to speak for myself I blew 50 on the client and another 50 on gametime.

Still have an active account but it's more fun to work my miner to be honest.
Star Wars: The Old Republic losing players, going free in November | Games Blog - Yahoo! Games

 

[Coldren]

I've got every expansion, add-on, theme pack, and purchased qutie a few other items from the store.

And I just went to Siege.. So I'll probably be buying more. But never a second account. That, for some reason, I can't wrap my mind or my wallet around doing.

And I agree with you. Don't know why simple mining holds so much appeal for me. Harvesting in general.. Maybe because it's just so cathartic.. You relax, and with what you harvest, you can help others enjoy their experiences more.

Richard Garriott had it right when he said (Paraphrasing) you need non-combatant roles for people to play to really make a world a world. No other game does that. Sure, I go play others from time to time, and will in the future, but I always come back here because it feels like a world. No other game has yet to come close to the variety and geniune world/immersion content that UO has.

 

[sativa green]

swtor is losing members but moves like this will help stabilize it's player base. the whole game won't be free-to-play, but instead those players can create their characters and work them up to the level cap. in order to participate in the end game content, players will be required to have a paid subscription. people will go check out swtor just because it's free and if they spend hours reaching the level cap, chances are they are eventually going to subscribe to access the end game content.

uo does have many unique features to offer, but it lacks in player base, end game content and development. for some of us who have been playing for years, uo becomes stagnant and lacks things to do because some can only do the same mundane tasks over and over for so long.

source: Features | Star Wars: The Old Republic

 

[Uriah Heep]

Lets all compare how long this game lasted to how long UO has been bringing home the paychecks.

Just to speak for myself I blew 50 on the client and another 50 on gametime.

Still have an active account but it's more fun to work my miner to be honest.
Star Wars: The Old Republic losing players, going free in November | Games Blog - Yahoo! Games

Good thing they didn't waste all that money working to improve, upgrade, and advertise some game with a 15 yr history of being profitable.

 

[Coldren]

uo does have many unique features to offer, but it lacks in player base, end game content and development.

I suppose that depends on what you consider "End Game Content". I know playing on and off for 15 years, there is a TON of stuff in UO I haven't done, and likely won't be able to do any time soon.

But if you're referring to "Structured" end game content like a typical raid, yeah, sure.. But UO has never been about structured content.

 

[Uvtha]

Good thing they didn't waste all that money working to improve, upgrade, and advertise some game with a 15 yr history of being profitable.

While it's not as successful as they wanted (which is no surprise to me) it still has made an ton of money, and has more than 10x the players UO has. Plus on boxes alone they made like 120 mill. UO brings that in in what... 10 years?

 

[Uvtha]

Lets all compare how long this game lasted to how long UO has been bringing home the paychecks.

Just to speak for myself I blew 50 on the client and another 50 on gametime.

Still have an active account but it's more fun to work my miner to be honest.
Star Wars: The Old Republic losing players, going free in November | Games Blog - Yahoo! Games

I don't think anyone is saying UO is a failure, just that it's a dying game. Not the same thing. Besides as I said, even though it's flopping i'm willing to bet TOR has made more money in the past 6 months than UO has in 15 years.

 

[Druido2]

It makes me sad to see all this negativity going on about the game. This kind of negative advertisement will definitely not help in getting new players to stay I the game for log term. If I was a new Player just starting UO and stumble into stratics and see all this crap talking of UO coming to an end and how UO sucks and it show be f2p not to mention all the negative reenforcement to the developers from our end, I would take my commitment somewhere else. Negative posts should be banned or not allowed. It should be part of the RoC.

 

[Winker]

I gave up on Star wars after the second month, the PvP sucked so bad, it just wasnt funny

 

[sativa green]

end game in terms of completing a character and getting the best suit and participating in boss fights such as champ spawns, corgul, slasher, etc. it gets redundant and gives nothing to work toward except a .01% chance to get a rare drop. it's a very successful sandbox, but they need to add more sand to it once in a while and make it worth it to participate in such fights or it becomes redundant.

pvp is one of the only things that holds my attention and with a dwindling player base, it too get's old to fight the same ten people at the moongates which are plagued with houses.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

It makes me sad to see all this negativity going on about the game. This kind of negative advertisement will definitely not help get wines players to stay I the game for log term. If I was a new Player just starting UO and stumble into stratics and see all this crap talking of UO coming to an end and how UO sucks and it show be f2p not to mention all the negative reenforcement to the developers from our end, I would take my commitment somewhere else. Negative posts should be banned or not allowed. It should be part of the RoC.

The cartoon ostrich approach to ignoring an unpleasant reality is not going to benefit UO, only actual change on the part of EA/BioWare Mythic can do that.

 

[Phangs_of_Phage]

It makes me sad to see all this negativity going on about the game. This kind of negative advertisement will definitely not help in getting new players to stay I the game for log term. If I was a new Player just starting UO and stumble into stratics and see all this crap talking of UO coming to an end and how UO sucks and it show be f2p not to mention all the negative reenforcement to the developers from our end, I would take my commitment somewhere else. Negative posts should be banned or not allowed. It should be part of the RoC.

This is an open forum. I agree that some things shouldnt be allowed but stratics is overly strict as is if you disagree with the mods. If EA really cared about UO they would be hosting their own forums.

 

[Druido2]

The cartoon ostrich approach to ignoring an unpleasant reality is not going to benefit UO, only actual change on the part of EA/BioWare Mythic can do that.

So you think that all this Negative re enforcement will actually make ea/bioware move any faster into changing/ fixing our game? I guess you were raise in a poor environment
.

 

[sativa green]

So you think that all this Negative re enforcement will actually make ea/bioware move any faster into changing/ fixing our game? I guess you were raise in a poor environment
.

acting like everything is fine when it's clearly not is not going to make changes any quicker. we are the lifeblood of this game, without us, the game will slowly die off. we are what keeps it running and if there are any players who are unhappy with what is offered, they should voice their opinion and solution so the development team knows where players stand and how to approach to fix it.

 

[Druido2]

This is an open forum. I agree that some things shouldnt be allowed but stratics is overly strict as is if you disagree with the mods. If EA really cared about UO they would be hosting their own forums.

Why would EA a forum which all they will read is complaints and people negativity towards everything they try to do??
Let's assume you have a job. Would you like your Boss on Your butt all day complaining about everything you do at work all day??? And going further would you open a forum so that your same boss complains on it ?

 

[cazador]

Nobody realizes its never going to change...just enjoy it while it's here and hope for a 20th anniv because unless U:F brings in some new players it is what it is..we are not getting HIgh res for the EC no more big expansions..not much of anything except for little tweak and maybe a few lite boosters to keep the community busy with semi new content..and if that doesn't work it's going F2P and consolidating shards...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Coldren]

Interesting interview with CNBC and the COO of EA.

Say what you will about Richard Garriott, wether you like him or not (And I do, personally), he clearly saw the writing on the wall.

So now you have the COO of EA saying a lot of the things Richard already said.. Barrier of Entry, costs, social media's role.. Now let's see if he can deliver.

 

[LordDrago]

It makes me sad to see all this negativity going on about the game. This kind of negative advertisement will definitely not help in getting new players to stay I the game for log term. If I was a new Player just starting UO and stumble into stratics and see all this crap talking of UO coming to an end and how UO sucks and it show be f2p not to mention all the negative reenforcement to the developers from our end, I would take my commitment somewhere else. Negative posts should be banned or not allowed. It should be part of the RoC.

Interesting concept....

Ban the free expression of discontent, ignore the issues of your populace...

Hey, Fulgencio Batista, how did that work out for you?

 

[sativa green]

Are you guys understanding my replies. The argument here is to try to help the game that most of us truly like and enjoy not by giving negativism such as is UO a failure? But rather we should try to give constructive criticism giving positive feed back acknowledging what the developers are trying to do.... I guess it's harder to try to reasons with people that are brought up in poorly developed home environments.

nobody said UO was a failure, you're superimposing that based on what a few people are saying about it's short comings and in turn, all you're doing is attacking others by saying they are raised in "poorly developed home environments". you're alienating yourself and making it seem like YOU are the one who was raised in a poorly developed home environment since you lack both social and comprehension skills.

 

[cazador]

... I guess it's harder to try to reasons with people that are brought up in poorly developed home environments.

Lmfao! Excellent insight!!!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Druido2]

nobody said UO was a failure, you're superimposing that based on what a few people are saying about it's short comings and in turn, all you're doing is attacking others by saying they are raised in "poorly developed home environments". you're alienating yourself and making it seem like YOU are the one who was raised in a poorly developed home environment since you lack both social and comprehension skills.

Aweeeee. Are you feeling attacked ..... You know what they say. If the shoe fits.

 

[LordDrago]

So you think that all this Negative re enforcement will actually make ea/bioware move any faster into changing/ fixing our game? I guess you were raise in a poor environment
.

And removing any negative feedback to the game management will help how?

Oceania shard is down again for the 8th time in 3 weeks!!! Shut up you foolish player...who do you think you are? Just pay your bill and play on a different server.

EA is planning on shipping out a new USB enabled input device to be required to play UO:

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Are you guys understanding my replies. The argument here is to try to help the game that most of us truly like and enjoy not by giving negativism such as is UO a failure? But rather we should try to give constructive criticism giving positive feed back acknowledging what the developers are trying to do.... I guess it's harder to try to reasons with people that are brought up in poorly developed home environments.

Insulting the other users will only get you banned, its a tactic we're used to dealing with here at Stratics by those whose present weak arguments.

Sugar coating criticisms of the Devs hasn't worked. Ever. At some point, you have to call s spade a spade and be brutally honest. The culture of secrecy at Mythic is what is dragging UO down, perpetrated by Mesanna since Cal visibly took the reigns (circa Jan 2010). I don't think anyone expects a blow-by-blow of upcoming events and such, but people DO want to know the broad strokes of what's coming. It's sickening how many opportunities to promote the future of UO have been squandered in the last few months.

Positive feedback would occur when there is something positive to reply to. Notice how very little of the new content delivered by the last 4 publishes is a) still being used b) isn't a massive mind-numbing grind c) was even wanted. It's as if the Devs are creating content in a vacuum without giving any thought to what has worked in the past (i.e. what people raved about) and what has been a failure. Very little of the upcoming content we do know about has actually excited people. That's a big problem.

Aweeeee. Are you feeling attacked ..... You know what they say. If the shoe fits.

Troll.

 

[Druido2]

And removing any negative feedback to the game management will help how?

Oceania shard is down again for the 8th time in 3 weeks!!! Shut up you foolish player...who do you think you are? Just pay your bill and play on a different server.

EA is planning on shipping out a new USB enabled input device to be required to play UO:

View attachment 9697

Lmao. You should take your own advice and try to find a stable server to play. In case you didn't know ea is not in control of the hardware that the hosting company rents out.

 

[Ender]

Watch the playerbase skyrocket after it goes F2P.

And even now it does provides more revenue a month than UO has in the last several years. I see more people on even the lower population planets on my server than I do in an entire week of UO as well.

 

[Woodsman]

Watch the playerbase skyrocket after it goes F2P.

And even now it does provides more revenue a month than UO has in the last several years. I see more people on even the lower population planets on my server than I do in an entire week of UO as well.

But has it made its money back yet? that's the big issue for UO. The last time an expensive EA MMORPG lost a lot of subscriptions, UO paid a heavy price by having a bunch of people laid off.

Electronic Arts, Inc. - Stock is not doing well either.

And we still don't know why so many UO devs have left in the past year. UO should be profitable, but if it's profitable, why get rid of so many people, including the lead engineer, lead world builder, etc. as things move towards the anniversary?

 

[LordDrago]

Lmao. You should take your own advice and try to find a stable server to play. In case you didn't know ea is not in control of the hardware that the hosting company rents out.

perhaps not, but EA does have a responsibility to its playerbase to then find a hosting company that will rent out reliable equipment. And the playerbase has a right to complain when their service expectations are not being met. Take away that voice, and I suspect a lot of players would leave EA/UO.

My town contracts out for trash pick-up (Tuesday). The town does not have control over who the contracted company hires to maintain their garbage truck fleet. Are you saying that there should be no complaints from we townfolk who pay our taxes if, due to maintainance issues, trucks cannot be dispatched to all of the streets in town, and the town does not have some ownership for entering into and maintaining a contract with a company that cannot meet its obligations?

I guess your solution would be that we should pay for a service with our taxes, but then contract individually with a different company to ensure that our trash is actually picked up.

 

[LordDrago]

Watch the playerbase skyrocket after it goes F2P.

And even now it does provides more revenue a month than UO has in the last several years. I see more people on even the lower population planets on my server than I do in an entire week of UO as well.

Higher population might not translate into higher revenue, and if it does not, there will be no going back. It might be cheaper for a person to have multiple
accounts, one per shard than to purchase transfer tokens, etc.

maybe f2p is good, maybe not, but I do not delude myself one bit that the decision is a no-brainer.

 

[Druido2]

Insulting the other users will only get you banned, its a tactic we're used to dealing with here at Stratics by those whose present weak arguments.

What's funny is that I am not insulting anyone. I am getting insulted by asking for some positive criticism. In addition to this, are the kind of person that pages gm in game to get your revenge on you killer? Just saying because the threat to e me banned came out quick.

Sugar coating criticisms of the Devs hasn't worked. Ever. At some point, you have to call s spade a spade and be brutally honest. The culture of secrecy at Mythic is what is dragging UO down, perpetrated by Mesanna since Cal visibly took the reigns (circa Jan 2010). I don't think anyone expects a blow-by-blow of upcoming events and such, but people DO want to know the broad strokes of what's coming. It's sickening how many opportunities to promote the future of UO have been squandered in the last few months.

All your negativity is working wonders?

Positive feedback would occur when there is something positive to reply to. Notice how very little of the new content delivered by the last 4 publishes is a) still being used b) isn't a massive mind-numbing grind c) was even wanted. It's as if the Devs are creating content in a vacuum without giving any thought to what has worked in the past (i.e. what people raved about) and what has been a failure. Very little of the upcoming content we do know about has actually excited people. That's a big problem.

Either you request new content or problem solving, am sure with a limited team they cannot pull new content and bug fixing.

Troll.

you are trolling me.

 

[O'Brien]

I guess you were raise in a poor environment.

Aweeeee. Are you feeling attacked ..... You know what they say. If the shoe fits.

What's funny is that I am not insulting anyone.

 

[Phangs_of_Phage]

Why would EA a forum which all they will read is complaints and people negativity towards everything they try to do??
Let's assume you have a job. Would you like your Boss on Your butt all day complaining about everything you do at work all day??? And going further would you open a forum so that your same boss complains on it ?

Its an open forum for discussion of idea. The history clearly shows the devs have ignored players request and left gamebreaking bugs untouched for months or years in many cases.

 

[O'Brien]

I'd rather have a forum where the playerbase can post most of what's on their mind, regardless of whether a Dev chooses to read it or, ahem, quit their job over it

I know those in charge of things here at Stratics are too smart to "ban negative comments" as called for by Druido2. They know that if they did, a bunch of us would go somewhere else to post. So why even feed this troll?

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

What's funny is that I am not insulting anyone.

I guess you were raise in a poor environment
.

Aweeeee. Are you feeling attacked ..... You know what they say. If the shoe fits.

Right.

I am getting insulted by asking for some positive criticism. In addition to this, are the kind of person that pages gm in game to get your revenge on you killer? Just saying because the threat to e me banned came out quick.

Positive criticism requires one to feel something positive has happened to/in the game, but has room for improvement. Aside from stellar EMs, the Dev team and the Producers have yet to DO anything positive in quite a while. Constantly turning to grind mechanics isn't a positive step, we've told them this for a while now. They aren't listening.

Giving Mythic carte blanche to be unprofessional because players are being critical is what's led us to the state the game is in. Far too many people blindly waving pom-poms regardless of how bad things get.

All your negativity is working wonders?

And your pom-pom waving is? Look around, people are pretty disaffected with this Dev team and BioWare Mythic in general right now. A continual stream of missteps, unprofessionalism, and propaganda (lies) has worn down the community's desire to be forgiving.

Either you request new content or problem solving, am sure with a limited team they cannot pull new content and bug fixing.

We've asked for major bug-fixing publishes for years. Mesanna said that we'd see (a) major bug fixing publish(es) next year. Next. Year. We've heard that line before and been burned. It may happen, it may not. I don't think anyone is holding their breath for it. Yet, all this time they've been giving us "new content" that nobody is happy with: the epic fail that was the faction changes in March, Pet Arena in Tokuno, arc events devoid of the all-important element of FUN.

you are trolling me.

I haven't insulted you. You have been insulting.

 

[kelmo]

Let us focus on the topic at hand and not the troll...

 

[Basara]

IMO having an "End Game" in a sandbox game is how you END someone's desire to play the game.

 

[kelmo]

End game? You mean win?

 

[Doubleplay]

If this game was not making money, it would cease to exist overnight.

IMO posters that champion particular game change or game growth, like the game, or they would not remain posters for long.

Let's hope the game continues to be profitable.

The fact that this game is longest running says something about a success formula. Changing it to be more like the flash in the pan games seems counterproductive.

 

[Aurelius]

UO certainly can't be termed a 'failure'. The frustrating thing is, it could have achieved SO much more of it's potential if it had been more competently managed....

 

[kelmo]

I wonder at the revenue generated over 15 years. And the jobs and training of the crew. The dollars spent by those hired to keep it running...

In no way can UO be considered a failure. It may not be what we want it to be... But it is not a failure. I will bet a thousand wannbe games wish they were where UO is.

 

[hen]

Ludes, who said UO was a failure?

 

[PuckOfPacific]

Imagine, what would all the uo players do: If EA's LAwyers sent out cease and Desist Orders to the top ten (if there still are that many) Websites that talk about UO, and shortly after that closed down shop. No more UO, But you got a free 6month subscription to ay other EA game. What would you do with your time? You know, that time you spent playing UO, or trash talking in a forum, or bank sitting, or drooling over some pixels from bank sitters. Or oogling the fire Cu. Imagine if instead of trolling here, and throwing out some negativity you GOT A LIFE!. I'm just saying, you (anyone reading this) probably wouldn't want to admit in a poll where you live, who you live with, how old you are, what the desk or couch around the computer, that you use to play this gasme, looks like. And here you are trolling or trying to defend a Game?! Yeah, I play too.....I risk a job to read about the game, I risk my family and marriage, when I play too long and ignore them. Except, My wifes happy, I have 3 healthy kids, I'm Debt Free! and my UO playing area isn't littered with food wrappers. How about you? Still Living at home with the folks? Fell on hard times and had to move back in? But yet still time for UO? Trolls and defenders alike, i urge you to get over yourselves, and what you think is loyalty to this game! Go outside! run, enjoy Vitamin D! (sun) Lose weight, stop snacking, get in shape. Have a better attitude on life......Step Away from the Computer screen, It won't give you a tan.
Cheers,
Puck.

 

[Redxpanda]

15 years is a great run. If UO ended today, i could say i played one of the greatest MMOs of all time.

F2P? No!

UO has always stood shoulders above any other MMO out there. I would hate to see this game turn to Micro Transactions to survive. If it came down to it, end the game and leave a legend.

 

[PuckOfPacific]

A Legend is a thing or person who fades out at there High point. Not once it's on it's last legs. A legendary game, one where you can tell the next generation you played it, and they don't heckle you. This game only has room for Hecklers. Read any post on here and see it. Read commentary on any article and see it. You all should think about moving on soon......

 

[Nexus]

Ludes, who said UO was a failure?

I want to know who said SWTOR is a failure...

If UO runs another 13 years, 3 months with 50k subs it will make what SWTOR did off of pre-order sales. Kinda puts things in perspective a bit.

Going F2P doesn't define a game as a failure, it's a sign that EA is finally getting with the program and shifting it's strategy to what is working for so well in the rest of the market. Why wouldn't you make this change with a title that has the potential to generate the most hype, interest, and therefore profit from it?

If this change works well for SWTOR, I'm sure some where down the road we can expect Warhammer, DAoC, and UO to follow suit. Right now SWTOR has enough subs to be a guinea pig, it can purge some if necessary as they tweak things and not go irreversibly into the red. The same can't be said for all of EA's MMO titles.

 

[Cirno]

Free-to-Play is a much better model for the type of game SWtOR is.
Its focus on the MMOG aspects took a back seat to the focus on the more traditional BioWare RPG model, which is more finite than an MMOG.
Perhaps the biggest mistake was underestimating how quickly players would power through the bulk of the game, to reach the endgame (which was not only deprioritised, but people would reach the endgame with expectations based on the current market of games, in a game that hasn't had several years of expansion to the endgame).

Essentially, what they're doing is making the "buy in" for the single/multi-player experience cheap, and putting a price tag on the more "hard core" MMOG aspects.
You can potter through the story, and dabble in the PvP and Flashpoints for free.
But if you're serious about any aspect of the game, then you'll want to pay a subscription.
It's really not a bad idea.

 

[Nexus]

Free-to-Play is a much better model for the type of game SWtOR is.
Its focus on the MMOG aspects took a back seat to the focus on the more traditional BioWare RPG model, which is more finite than an MMOG.
Perhaps the biggest mistake was underestimating how quickly players would power through the bulk of the game, to reach the endgame (which was not only deprioritised, but people would reach the endgame with expectations based on the current market of games, in a game that hasn't had several years of expansion to the endgame).

Essentially, what they're doing is making the "buy in" for the single/multi-player experience cheap, and putting a price tag on the more "hard core" MMOG aspects.
You can potter through the story, and dabble in the PvP and Flashpoints for free.
But if you're serious about any aspect of the game, then you'll want to pay a subscription.
It's really not a bad idea.

I'll more than agree with you on this... I'm actually looking forward to seeing what comes out in the Cartel shop.

 

[Uvtha]

Why would EA a forum which all they will read is complaints and people negativity towards everything they try to do??
Let's assume you have a job. Would you like your Boss on Your butt all day complaining about everything you do at work all day??? And going further would you open a forum so that your same boss complains on it ?

Ridiculous. First of all there are scads of non negative posts on these boards. Second of all, if I was doing a bad job, I would expect to have my boss on my butt, like it or not. I think its stupid to just pretend that there are no issues if there are issues. Honestly I'm ok with UO as it is. I just needs more new content and new players.

 

[Uvtha]

Going F2P doesn't define a game as a failure, it's a sign that EA is finally getting with the program and shifting it's strategy to what is working for so well in the rest of the market. Why wouldn't you make this change with a title that has the potential to generate the most hype, interest, and therefore profit from it?

I have a feeling they had this built in from the beginning as well. I don't see how they could have just engineered the game for the f2p set up like that so quickly unless already had it ready to switch over, and thought they would milk the sub only model for a while.

 

[Cirno]

I have a feeling they had this built in from the beginning as well. I don't see how they could have just engineered the game for the f2p set up like that so quickly unless already had it ready to switch over, and thought they would milk the sub only model for a while.

I've been pondering similar.
The F2P model fits too well for me to believe that they just didn't think of it, and although the last big patch (publish) was a little light on content, which could be explained by focusing development bandwidth on the F2P systems, a corner of my mind's reminding me that it took LotRO something like 6 months to develop their F2P model into the game (SWtOR's only 8 months and change).

Regarding the negativity, though sometimes Uhall can be dishearteningly so, having read the SWtOR official forums in the days after the F2P announcement; this place is practically Pyrovision!

 

[Uvtha]

I've been pondering similar.
The F2P model fits too well for me to believe that they just didn't think of it, and although the last big patch (publish) was a little light on content, which could be explained by focusing development bandwidth on the F2P systems, a corner of my mind's reminding me that it took LotRO something like 6 months to develop their F2P model into the game (SWtOR's only 8 months and change).

Regarding the negativity, though sometimes Uhall can be dishearteningly so, having read the SWtOR official forums in the days after the F2P announcement; this place is practically Pyrovision!

I honestly don't think these boards are really that negative. And there are plenty of fanboys to counter the chronically negative as well.

TOR going f2p so soon just really seems like they had it planned out. Otherwise why wouldn't they give the population a longer time to stabilize?