UO Develoment Team

[Theo_GL]

Ok, now that Phoenix has been let go... where are we with the UO Developer Team?

From the recent posting on Stratics - it looks like this is the current team:

Mesanna - UO Producer (762 Messages)
Bleak - UO Software Engineer (158 Messages)
Misk - QA Lead (119 Messages)
Kyronix - Associate Developer (152 Messages)
Dropixel - EA Community Rep (33 Messages)

I thought I'd include their stratics message count as well for interesting information. Note that our 'community rep' drags the rear when it comes to interaction - something I find very strange and borderline comical.

Anyone here we are missing? Silent members of the Dev team?

 

[Shakkara]

That new guy, the lead artist James “Onifrk” Crawly. Probably the ONLY artist nowadays.

http://www.uoforums.com/uo-official...-onlines-lead-artist-james-onifrk-crawly.html

I'm going through the credits and crosschecking with Linked in and it seems that all the game designers that are listed are no longer working for EA, with Phoenix being the last one to leave the building. Draconi, Leurocian, Shade and Lorgus are gone according to their linked-in profiles and goodbyes we've seen in the past.

Lead Engineer Supreem is still working at Mythic, but not sure as he could also be working on any of the other Mythic games or the other ultima game for mobile.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Ok, now that Phoenix has been let go... where are we with the UO Developer Team?

From the recent posting on Stratics - it looks like this is the current team:

Mesanna - UO Producer (762 Messages)
Bleak - UO Software Engineer (158 Messages)
Misk - QA Lead (119 Messages)
Kyronix - Associate Developer (152 Messages)
Dropixel - EA Community Rep (33 Messages)

I thought I'd include their stratics message count as well for interesting information. Note that our 'community rep' drags the rear when it comes to interaction - something I find very strange and borderline comical.

Anyone here we are missing? Silent members of the Dev team?

That new guy, the lead artist James “Onifrk” Crawly. Probably the ONLY artist nowadays.

http://www.uoforums.com/uo-official...-onlines-lead-artist-james-onifrk-crawly.html

I'm going through the credits and crosschecking with Linked in and it seems that all the game designers that are listed are no longer working for EA, with Phoenix being the last one to leave the building. Draconi, Leurocian, Shade and Lorgus are gone according to their linked-in profiles and goodbyes we've seen in the past.

Lead Engineer Supreem is still working at Mythic, but not sure as he could also be working on any of the other Mythic games or the other ultima game for mobile.

You may want to start with this list.
http://stratics.com/community/threads/2012-poinsettia-list-of-names.289020/
Bleak
Gryphon
Kyronix
Mesanna
Misk
MrsTroubleMaker
Onifrk
Phoenix
Rend
Wasia
Zoer

 

[RaistlinNowhere]

with less and less people on Dev team, the "messana" named items from events and seasons wont be "rare" or in demand anymore

 

[Shakkara]

You may want to start with this list.
http://stratics.com/community/threads/2012-poinsettia-list-of-names.289020/
Bleak
Gryphon
Kyronix
Mesanna
Misk
MrsTroubleMaker
Onifrk
Phoenix
Rend
Wasia
Zoer

Here you go.

Bleak
Gryphon - Yet another producer, now works on Ultima Forever
Kyronix
Mesanna
Misk
MrsTroubleMaker - not much info found but have reason to believe she's still there
Onifrk
Phoenix
Rend - GM guy, no info found
Wasia - Quit in Februari according to Linked-in, now works for Konami
Zoer - Japanese GM, no real name found

http://www.uoguide.com/Game_Developer This list is pretty decent.

So, if we exclude the overhead, we now have 4 people actually producing stuff for UO, 1 junior designer/programmer, 2 good programmers, and 1 junior artist they named 'lead' as he's the only one there. They moved their servers to cloudhosting to cut costs, so I estimate the entire costs at operating this game at somewhere between 30k and 50k per month.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

with less and less people on Dev team, the "messana" named items from events and seasons wont be "rare" or in demand anymore

They are nor rare but FAKE if spelled like you wrote...fyi

So no worries about them....

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Whatever armageddon theories will hit this thread, i stay until my client wont let me in anymore cuz there is no more shard to connect to..

 

[MalagAste]

Which leads to me to believe I am not far off in saying that the coming of the Guardian equals the END of UO.

You know folk have cried wolf for years but I don't think it's ever had much significance until now. I think crying wolf now may actually ring with a bit of truth.

I always said I'd be here till the day they flick the switch and shut down the servers...

Sadly I see very little to look forward to with such a tiny DEV team I foresee nothing significant coming in the months that come. So many hopes and dreams of the future not only for us but for the DEV's die each time another DEV is lost.

And the Excuse given by EA about the Economy??? I thought the Economy was "looking better" and turning around if you would believe the BS coming from Washington... So what's with EA? Perhaps they realize they are deserving of their recently being chosen the WORST company... They are indeed one of the worst I can think of. Thru mismanagment, poor customer service, lack of support for their existing customers.... etc.... And then their trying to cut corners on everything.... and then wonder why folk hate their games and quit buying them???? Here's your Clue EA! We voted you #1!!!!

Fix your stinking company and bring life back to my game. Maybe I'll change my mind next time I look for a new game to buy.

 

[RaistlinNowhere]

They are nor rare but FAKE if spelled like you wrote...fyi

So no worries about them....

hahahaha true, its mesanna, my mistake there ^^U

 

[Flagg]

Saddening business Entire dev team would fit in a Ford Escort.

 

[Pinco]

Here you go.

Bleak
Gryphon - Yet another producer, now works on Ultima Forever
Kyronix
Mesanna
Misk
MrsTroubleMaker - not much info found but have reason to believe she's still there
Onifrk
Phoenix
Rend - GM guy, no info found
Wasia - Quit in Februari according to Linked-in, now works for Konami
Zoer - Japanese GM, no real name found

http://www.uoguide.com/Game_Developer This list is pretty decent.

So, if we exclude the overhead, we now have 4 people actually producing stuff for UO, 1 junior designer/programmer, 2 good programmers, and 1 junior artist they named 'lead' as he's the only one there. They moved their servers to cloudhosting to cut costs, so I estimate the entire costs at operating this game at somewhere between 30k and 50k per month.

so 4 people... do they still work full time or they are working part-time at home?
No, seriously, freeshards have more people working on it, and they are free! :O

It's time for Queen Mum to bake some cakes to sell outside the church so with that money we can save UO

 

[hen]

Saddening business Entire dev team would fit in a Ford Escort.

One of those 1982 ones though, would be cool.

 

[hen]

I think there comes a time where even Stratics Staff are going to have to admit this game is going into maintenance mode. We got Shame Loot in November 2011. Still digging up treasure chests of old junk in April 2013.
We're not going to see any more expansions, looks like we are getting one more 'theme pack'.
Sometimes I think honesty is a virtue.

 

[old gypsy]

Which leads to me to believe I am not far off in saying that the coming of the Guardian equals the END of UO.

You know folk have cried wolf for years but I don't think it's ever had much significance until now. I think crying wolf now may actually ring with a bit of truth.

I always said I'd be here till the day they flick the switch and shut down the servers...

Sadly I see very little to look forward to with such a tiny DEV team I foresee nothing significant coming in the months that come. So many hopes and dreams of the future not only for us but for the DEV's die each time another DEV is lost.

And the Excuse given by EA about the Economy??? I thought the Economy was "looking better" and turning around if you would believe the BS coming from Washington... So what's with EA? Perhaps they realize they are deserving of their recently being chosen the WORST company... They are indeed one of the worst I can think of. Thru mismanagment, poor customer service, lack of support for their existing customers.... etc.... And then their trying to cut corners on everything.... and then wonder why folk hate their games and quit buying them???? Here's your Clue EA! We voted you #1!!!!

Fix your stinking company and bring life back to my game. Maybe I'll change my mind next time I look for a new game to buy.

I never bought into the doomsday predictions either; but it appears that EA isn't going to be fixed. I'm actually wondering how much time we have left before they deliver our eviction notices...

 

[MalagAste]

I never bought into the doomsday predictions either; but it appears that EA isn't going to be fixed. I'm actually wondering how much time we have left before they deliver our eviction notices...

I dunno... This really is a bad day for the team as well as the players.

 

[kRUXCg7]

If we all stick our heads together, maybe we, the players, could buy UO from EA? How much would UO be worth?

 

[Silentfury]

When I attended the 15th Anniversary Party, the Entire UO Dev team was introduced to us and had a Q&A session. I remember seeing a total of about 9 Dev Team members there including Jeff who is the UO Franchise Producer. So I'd technically also add him to your List. Mrs. Troublemaker was also there, but her job is more behind the scenes so she doesn't really post. So I'd put your Total Dev Team number at 6-7 people total.


This is a Pic I took from that Event. On the far right is Starr Long, special Guest and the Original Lord and now King Blackthorn. Next to him sits Mrs. Troublemaker. Next to her is our newest Artist. Most of the others should be familar.

 

[Tina Small]

Left to right, I think the UO team members present in that picture are Misk, Bleak, Mesanna, Gryphon, Dropixel, Kyronix, Phoenix, Onifrk, MrsTroublemaker. To the very right is Starr Long (guest). Not present would be Rend, Wasia, and Zoer.

I would imagine there may be a summer intern joining the team, temporarily, pretty soon. And perhaps there are other people like Onifrk who do double duty on UO and another game, e.g., Kate Flack.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Ok, now that Phoenix has been let go... where are we with the UO Developer Team?

From the recent posting on Stratics - it looks like this is the current team:

Mesanna - UO Producer (762 Messages)
Bleak - UO Software Engineer (158 Messages)
Misk - QA Lead (119 Messages)
Kyronix - Associate Developer (152 Messages)
Dropixel - EA Community Rep (33 Messages)

I thought I'd include their stratics message count as well for interesting information. Note that our 'community rep' drags the rear when it comes to interaction - something I find very strange and borderline comical.

Anyone here we are missing? Silent members of the Dev team?

So as far as I can tell this is what UO has left, correct me if I am wrong.

Bonnie "Mesanna" Armstrong - Producer
Associate CG Supervisor: Jim "Onifrk" Crawley
Designers: Greg "Kyronix" Havlusch
Engineers: Stephen "Bleak" Brown, Yvette "MrsTroublemaker" Aarons
Test Lead: Michael "Misk" Armstrong

Rented Server space on a cloud not owned by EA. What happened to all those new servers we got, what a year ago.

Has WRATH OF HEROES, WARHAMMER ONLINE or DARK AGE OF CAMELOT gone to rented servers like us and what does thier teams look like?

This really does not look good for UO.

 

[MalagAste]

This really does not look good for UO.

Gee you think? Doesn't look good for Mesanna either. I feel for her and wouldn't want to be under the pressure I'm sure she's under right now.... trying to keep us happy and improve and update the game with next to NOTHING for a staff ....

 

[Lord Frodo]

Gee you think? Doesn't look good for Mesanna either. I feel for her and wouldn't want to be under the pressure I'm sure she's under right now.... trying to keep us happy and improve and update the game with next to NOTHING for a staff ....

I never thought I would say this but I wounder how long b4 we go maintance mood just so EA can say they have the longest running MMO.

 

[Shakkara]

I never thought I would say this but I wounder how long b4 we go maintance mood just so EA can say they have the longest running MMO.

This IS more or less maintenance mode. Do you think we'll get another expansion? Guild Wars 1 gets more content updates and events than UO got, and has a bigger team still working on it, and that game has been in maintenance for over a year now.

Hell, the Sims Social has a bigger team working on it, and that game is in maintenance mode (I know because I was involved with the same studio in Hyderabad, they're moving all their in-maintenance stuff there).

 

[Lord Frodo]

This IS more or less maintenance mode. Do you think we'll get another expansion?

Right now I could care less about expansions, it is more about support and getting all the 100 million bugs fixed b4 EA buts us in sleeper mode.

 

[MalagAste]

Well without a DEV who knows the code as well as Phoenix we may as well be in Sleeper Mode. Do you really see the remaining team being able to do more than a few aesthetic changes?

 

[Picus of Napa]

They had thier collective chances to make meaningfull improvements to the game but they decided that thier own bias against certain playstyles and ignoring feedback from the player base was a better option to go. I feel for those who are in danger but I can't help to think of that classic video of Messana and Cal lounging on the sofa laughing and joking while providing us with nothing. All I can say is I hope she's banked her pay cheque because, IMO, I see no reason why she ever got the job in the first place.

 

[Madrid]

This is what you get when you continue to support a client (the godawful CC Client) which is 15 years old and has graphics right out of Ultima 8.

You cannot remain solvent if you continue to lose subscribers and at the same are unable to attract new players. UO supports an outdated client with outdated graphics.

Nice going Jurassics! I hope your all proud of yourself for sabotaging Ultima Online. This is what supporting the CC client nets you!

Nice going Dev Team for being so short sighted and not having the wisdom to ensure UOs future by having a modern client with high resolution graphics that will have a chance of attracting new players.

Where are all the jurassic now?

Total mismanagement of an MMO by the Devs while at the same time being sabotaged by it's own playerbase (which apparently is nowhere to be found these days due to the decline in subscribtions).

Bravo!

 

[Picus of Napa]

If the CC had the lower rate, say 30%, of the player base they would have cut it at the knee's but that is not the case. Yes the playerbase has done damage to the game but the CC graphics are/where not the issue. I'd think that all the empty space and lack of continued advancement for those area's have left a much wider arc of damage than EC vs CC.

 

[Madrid]

GRAPHICS are absolutely the issue. No one in their right mind is going to try UO when they go to look at screenshots at websites or checkout gameplay on Youtube. That is the very first thing I do before I even consider playing a game.

I'm baffled at so many of you who are oblivious to the obvious but it proves exactly why we're in the shape we're in.

Yeah yeah...Mindcraft...which is free and you can play on a phone but still people want to compare it to Ultima Online. See how well they do when they start charging a subscribtion fee. On a planet with 7B people and so many choices and it being free sure it may have some subscribers. Personally I wouldn't be caught dead playing Mindcraft or any game remoltey like it with low resolution graphics.

Any games I play from here on out will be HIGH RESOLUTION and I can guarantee you I'm not alone.

How about WoW with 10 Million subscribers. How well do you think they'd do with low resolution graphics? They'd tank.

Do you think SoTA is being made with low resolution graphics? Why not if graphics aren't an issue in attracting new players?

No one is going to try Ultima Online the way it looks which means no new players. Those of you who can't grasp that....

 

[Lady Storm]

You all did see the notice about suspended EM events ... the EM's might get the axe too...
EA is trying to show that is has a dollar worth, remeber its on the market..
If they cant fix the Sims......
The previous CEO is holding court till they get a new one.. the leavign CEO left in march 31st i beleave the notice gave.
AS for UO... I have seen alot come out a a small dev team.. remember the coding is not like it use to be.
Remember this game was originaly done by the 3 Garrots (richard, his brother and father) and a few friends, way before EA was a household name in gaming. This online version was only paid for by EA .. not produced. So a small dev team can do great things but it does mean they might not have a ounce of time to talk to the masses out here.
I think EA has over the years milked UO dry of talent, resources and homes... its why its in Mythic's hands. Look at the log ins .. do you see Boiware on any lable?
It use to say EA/BioWare/Mythic now its been reshuffled and Mythic is on its own... Dont be surprised if Mythic gets sold off... and I wouldnt be surprised if Bioware's creator's didnt give EA the boot an do the buy back clause threat...
Mythic might sell its true but would EA sell us with it? IDK
We have to sit back and see... its al we can do.
Question is..... when the time comes to fish or cut bait what will EA do with us....
Even if there is say 40k of players and there is a cost over run of say 60k a month to run the game.... the math people please step in here and do the math for me but isnt it roughly at the 40k mark bringing in 400k a month?
So at 400k minus the overhead for the month we still gross per month over 300k now that is a low low ball estamate of player numbers and a guess of over head costs... So to EA we still have a mill profet input to its mega million dollar pile....

 

[Lady Storm]

Madrid
I have had enough of your retoric..
Knock it off!
There is no way EA or the Dev can make new graphics for this game so drop it. You see we are at the tipping point and could fall off the edge of the world.. so quit the pancakes about graphics already.
We have bigger fish to fry then that.!!!

This thread has got some in a panic as it is... It needs to stop before a panic sets in UO as a whole.

We dont need a all out war of words that will lead to that lemings effect....

This term was coined after the WW2 propaganda by the japanese ministery told its island settlers that what the US troops would do to them if captured.. they went off the cliffs and died to avoid the atrositys they thougth were going to happen to them... KEY here is what they Thought.

We could be misinterpreting this layoff... some bean counter might have put Phoenix's name in the pot with all EA employees and just started to cut out the top $ makers. EA is famous for not thinking things through but just do it attitude.

 

[Madrid]

Please put me on ignore and that goes for all the Stratics Jurassics.

I'll continue to post my opinions freely about why we're in the mess we're in.

 

[Lady Storm]

To quote a movie line............... "You'r Not Helping...."

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Please put me on ignore and that goes for all the Stratics Jurassics.

I'll continue to post my opinions freely about why we're in the mess we're in.

Yes as long your are respecting others opinions i can see no problem with your opinions.
Everyone has the right to share his/her opinions freely were i live and i hope were everyone else lives too

Opinions have a matter of fact that they are often not shared by others - this is why there are boards to discuss them

Peace out!

P.S. I have a totaly different opinion why UO is not the UO alot of us know from the past - one of it is, the current playerbase isnt looking so much for long time games with NO endgame content - as UO is...people live in a fast world, want the fast game and play it, especially when it comes to bombastic graphics - thats why shooter games with blow your mind graphics are selling that good - but after 4 months longest, most of them are not played anymore...checkout some console games like BF - 3 months server oerloaded, now log on and try to find squads to join to play for a few hours...not easy..

P.P.S.
I play CC but sometimes loging on EC - i play CC because i like the graphics more than in the EC - thats all why i play CC - and yeah, because I CAN, i play CC - if Mythic would stop making it useable, i would have no choice and play on with EC - or leave....not sure if people would quit UO because of it but i guess thats why they dont want to risk it - YET - who knows what the future brings...you dont have to be a jurassic like you name alot of us (makes me giggle, i am not angry beeing called like that, more makes me laugh hard) playing the CC - it might be, that alot of users HARDWARE is jurassic style - and THEY for sure wont buy new hardware only beeing able to play UO....not even EC...not as long it isnt playable on android tablets (which would be DA BOMB) I am not the one with hardwareproblems...but it is realy realy cool to beeing able to play the CC on a 8 year old laptop - if i want to...

P.P.P.S.
Mythic can start like Microsoft is doing with his operating systems - make an announcement, CC will be not supported anymore starting 1st of January 2014 - and than read what users think about it...i would have the nuts doing this but i am not working at this company

 

[Uriah Heep]

GRAPHICS are absolutely the issue. No one in their right mind is going to try UO when they go to look at screenshots at websites or checkout gameplay on Youtube. That is the very first thing I do before I even consider playing a game.

I'm baffled at so many of you who are oblivious to the obvious but it proves exactly why we're in the shape we're in.

Yeah yeah...Mindcraft...which is free and you can play on a phone but still people want to compare it to Ultima Online. See how well they do when they start charging a subscribtion fee. On a planet with 7B people and so many choices and it being free sure it may have some subscribers. Personally I wouldn't be caught dead playing Mindcraft or any game remoltey like it with low resolution graphics.

Any games I play from here on out will be HIGH RESOLUTION and I can guarantee you I'm not alone.

How about WoW with 10 Million subscribers. How well do you think they'd do with low resolution graphics? They'd tank.

Do you think SoTA is being made with low resolution graphics? Why not if graphics aren't an issue in attracting new players?

No one is going to try Ultima Online the way it looks which means no new players. Those of you who can't grasp that....

Not calling Madrid out, just making a point:

I still say the failure of the EC was no ones fault BUT EA's. What got released was NOT what was seen in the KR betas. And...*drum roll* it didn't function as well as the CC. Sure, the mods the players made for the interface helped, but if a new player went and downloaded the client, patched it up (since they cannot seem to get a current one up for download) they would have a raw client indeed. How would they know to go get a 3rd party mod?

And I still can't see why the EC sucks up so much cpu, almost everthing else I've tried was easier on the machine.

Combine all that, with the vets who waited two years (first KR, then EC) in anticipation, then jumped on it, and were severely disappointed. Someone once said, you only get one chance to make a first impression...

First impressions are important. A lot of the peeps I hang with now, Don't get real excited about anything coming in anymore, they take a wait and see neutral approach. Cause he current teams first impression was a bug fix publish that brought in some really bad bugs, so bad one shard had to be shut down and take a big revert. Economy isn't getting any better, and it isn't going to, so there will never be the team size there used to be. They need to decide what client they can support, and go with it and only it. (Granddaddy said straddling the fence gave ya a sore crotch ) Bite the bullet, and shut one down. You'll lose a few players either way ya go, but at least you can devote more time to whichever one you kept. And in the long run, that would be better for us, assuming they could utilized that time into making sure what they did release was good to go.

 

[MalagAste]

Not calling Madrid out, just making a point:

I still say the failure of the EC was no ones fault BUT EA's. What got released was NOT what was seen in the KR betas. And...*drum roll* it didn't function as well as the CC. Sure, the mods the players made for the interface helped, but if a new player went and downloaded the client, patched it up (since they cannot seem to get a current one up for download) they would have a raw client indeed. How would they know to go get a 3rd party mod?

And I still can't see why the EC sucks up so much cpu, almost everthing else I've tried was easier on the machine.

Combine all that, with the vets who waited two years (first KR, then EC) in anticipation, then jumped on it, and were severely disappointed. Someone once said, you only get one chance to make a first impression...

First impressions are important. A lot of the peeps I hang with now, Don't get real excited about anything coming in anymore, they take a wait and see neutral approach. Cause he current teams first impression was a bug fix publish that brought in some really bad bugs, so bad one shard had to be shut down and take a big revert. Economy isn't getting any better, and it isn't going to, so there will never be the team size there used to be. They need to decide what client they can support, and go with it and only it. (Granddaddy said straddling the fence gave ya a sore crotch ) Bite the bullet, and shut one down. You'll lose a few players either way ya go, but at least you can devote more time to whichever one you kept. And in the long run, that would be better for us, assuming they could utilized that time into making sure what they did release was good to go.

Your Right First Impressions are important.... First impression I got when entering the KR Beta was that it was FAR from ready. It could have been in development another YEAR before they shoved it out to Beta.... and I'm not sure it would have mattered. Honestly .

Then my main drive in UO is RP and House Deco and Design.... so the minute I get in Beta the only thing I care about is testing out the new house tiles.. (Which by the way sucked)... There were all sorts of issues with housing..... but when submitting reports on it was told to hold off as they weren't ready to look into the housing they were testing other things..... ie the new dungeon..... which honestly had little appeal to me.

All sorts of things were buggy and wrong but they never did get to the housing issues..... half of which are still in the game today.... It took 2 or 3 years to get my stuff to stop appearing on the floor or upstairs on the floor ..... inside the floor....... under the floor...... I still can't do broken staircases in the EC.... and there are STILL things I can't see in the EC...... a few unused tiles..... the big rainbow colored Minion.... completely invisible to the EC.

And other first impressions also make a BIG deal.... like people first loggin into UO..... and if they use the CC there is absolutely NO new player experience at all....... People loggin in to the EC get a slight new player experience but it's VERY driven by Dexer content. If you are a mage your SoL.... and gaining skills you don't need.

Then you get dumped into Haven where you encounter Spam Bot UOGOLD guy..... this makes a great impression.... NOT. You are not taught anything about crafting.... repairs, healing, magery, the land at all....... banks, boats..... mounts.... pets..... nothing.

Then you get hit with the other spam bot spamming click on me for help.... with no idea about the map... the EC's main UI stinks..... so good luck finding out anything..... and where are they to look for help????? The Webiste????? Help chat filed with spam bot???

Wouldn't surprise me if 70% or more of new players quit before the end of the 14 day trial..... laughing at the graphics and disgusted with the lack of support.

And the next impression they might get is in trying to page a GM. Or trying to get phone support when they try to start their journey to a paid account. Good luck with that.

If EA is in trouble it's over their gross mismanagement of customer support. When half the population of UO can't even navigate the Account Management System just to update their CC... If EA wants to know why it was voted #1 in the worst of ways they needn't look real far..... although from the sounds of it they are obviously quite delusional about the whole thing.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I am sorry because it is partly also my fault, but we are just starting another CC vs EC etc.. discussion here and went off topic - we should get back to the topic i think...

 

[Uriah Heep]

Sorry

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

To be completely honest, the size of the Dev Team, the loss over time of its most well-known members, the fact that the game continues with one out of date client and another incomplete, hamstrung client, and the outright MISMANAGEMENT from EA as a company towards the companies that it has bought out are all factors in the current situation UO is in.

To be honest, I haven't been very optimistic about the direction of UO since post-SA launch and the latest news just continues that trend. Right now my excitement is in seeing what happens with Shroud of the Avatar. I've never really glommed onto the "This game is gonna kill UO" mantra that I have seen used since Everquest came out because really every other game that hs come out has been so significantly different from UO that it's never been a real direct competitor. SotA is likely to be that direct competitor considering the person behind it and if done properly, the work put forward by an Independent company compared to the treatment of a sub-company by EA will be rather drastic.

We'll see what happens, I guess.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

*throws Kelmo a steak*
Runs....

 

[kelmo]

You are not going to buy UO here on Stratics. Take your bid to EA and leave the nonsense of this forum.

 

[old gypsy]

... To be honest, I haven't been very optimistic about the direction of UO since post-SA launch and the latest news just continues that trend. Right now my excitement is in seeing what happens with Shroud of the Avatar. I've never really glommed onto the "This game is gonna kill UO" mantra that I have seen used since Everquest came out because really every other game that hs come out has been so significantly different from UO that it's never been a real direct competitor. SotA is likely to be that direct competitor considering the person behind it and if done properly, the work put forward by an Independent company compared to the treatment of a sub-company by EA will be rather drastic.

We'll see what happens, I guess.

Although I do wish RG well with SoTA, I sincerely hope it will not have the negative impact I fear it might have on UO. I've visited the website, but my low-end computer and low-end internet connection did not find it friendly -- I'm reasonably certain I would not be able to play SoTA even if I wanted to. Guess I'll just stay with UO and hope for the best.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

You are not going to buy UO here on Stratics. Take your bid to EA and leave the nonsense of this forum.

I'm not here to bury UO... (yeah there's that Caesar line in that, but whatever). You, Kelmo, should know well that I spend as much effort as board-possible to put forward ideas and concepts to improve UO as a whole. However, the way things stand right now, the direction of events have been playing against UO's solid improvement.

Right now, we need a dev team that's at least as big if not bigger than what we have now just to focus on the ACTUAL completion of the Enhanced Client. There needs to be a team that has certain people focusing on the high res art upgrade, not only to upgrade the resolution, but to optimize the handling of the graphics in the client. They need a team to find and reduce or eliminate the various memory leaks that crop up from time to time in the client. They need a team working on UI developments and a team on fixing the various bugs that have been a part of the client since it was released.

That's just for the EC alone, that doesn't get into the Live Team working on existing bugs, balance, and content. Can the Team do it with the crew they have now... I dunno, but losing assets like Vex/Phoenix doesn't help. I don't put any blame or aspirations towards the Devs themselves, this is all EA's mismanagement of their own IPs.

 

[Tanivar]

P.P.P.S.
Mythic can start like Microsoft is doing with his operating systems - make an announcement, CC will be not supported anymore starting 1st of January 2014 - and than read what users think about it...i would have the nuts doing this but i am not working at this company

I suspect with as few paying customers UO apparently has, you better wait on stopping the support of the CC. A lot of people don't like playing using the EC, something like 2/3 of the player base who post here voted for the CC that last poll, if half of those decided to walk instead of use the other UI the bean counters would pull the plug. I know, I know, that statistic is meaningless, worthless, garbage, faked, false, so on and so forth because it didn't favor the EC, but it does indicate that the loss of the CC could hurt UO's bottom line. Or it could mean that the EC, even with Pinco's work, just couldn't hold onto users and they have left the game instead of return to the CC. The EC was never done right and it shows. It's a mass of bells & whistles piled on a less than popular UI.

You may have the nuts to do it, but I really think that as the CC had more & more problems occur because it was no longer being updated, more and more accounts would close. At what point can UO no longer pay it's expenses? I think the Devs and Management at EA realize this, unlike you, Madrid, and a few others. Not supporting either client, or killing one off would likely be a fatal thing for the game.

 

[Tanivar]

I am sorry because it is partly also my fault, but we are just starting another CC vs EC etc.. discussion here and went off topic - we should get back to the topic i think...

The anti CC pom-pom wavers will never drop the subject for long. They have been possessed by the dark side, they are right, everyone else is clueless. So they have spoken, so it is.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

The anti CC pom-pom wavers will never drop the subject for long. They have been possessed by the dark side, they are right, everyone else is clueless. So they have spoken, so it is.

Because there have NEVER been ANY threads calling for the elimination of the 3D client, KR client, and the EC, nor have any threads been derailed by anti-non-CC posters because a screenshot was presented in one other the other clients. Let's not play like only one side has thrown mud in this. I've reported, called out, or ignore-listed people on BOTH sides over the years.

No, ditching the CC right now would not be a good move. The only way that could happen is if they had the manpower to actually FINISH the EC and not leave it as it is now. Until then, yeah, I do disagree with Madrid on simply dropping the CC, and as I just posted, the Team, unless there are a significant number of people behind the scenes we don't know about simply doesn't have the manpower to make it happen, and having one client that's a decade out of date and another that remains unfinished won't do ANYTHING to bring back the sub numbers the game ought to have making the whole client argument academic.

 

[Tanivar]

Once the Publish 81 is released and it's bugs are squashed, the next things the Devs need to do is write a User's Guide for UO that gives a New or Returning Player some basic info on the EC & CC commands and some basic info on how to do things that the New Haven quests don't tell you, something on the idea of what was provided with UO:Renaissance back in 2000. Having enough basic info could well make the difference between a someone staying and figuring out more about the game, or just feeling confused and leaving for another game. With a good foundation of basic info, putting in the hours needed to learn more may not seem like such an effort they are chased away to another game.

2nd, For the time being stop adding things to the game and work on the EC and fix it's UI faults Pinco can't get to, ignore new graphics for the time being, just get the EC to the point it works as well as the CC. The CC is stable and runs well, get the EC to do the same.

3rd, get the game banking system switched from checks to the gold total number in the bank for each character. Gold piles stay at 60k maximum.

4th, get the vendor search system published so that people who don't or can't play the massive number of hours to have megatons of gold stashed away can find prices they can handle easier than the current prices our economy has. There are Crafters willing to sell for lesser prices.

5th, Make changes that make play more convenient and less of a grind so that the frustration factor becomes a fun factor. Once the game experience becomes more fun and people post positive reactions to having more fun, some people who are looking for a another game may see the positive tone of comments about UO and give UO a try, running into that User's Guide mentioned above.

After these five things are done, then try appeasing the pixel addiction of our graphic gripers.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Now that's a post I can get behind Tanivar, the only disagreement I have is that the High Res graphics update should not be ignored and should be part of your #2.

 

[Picus of Napa]

I totally agree with #1. I tried to do it myself but I found that it was a deeper process than I thought, or I was making it to complex. If you ever want to see how confusing UO has become make a new guy on a blank shard and chart what you did but pretend that you didn't have the 5+ years of playtime behind you.

 

[Andrasta]

You all did see the notice about suspended EM events ... the EM's might get the axe too....

We as EMs are no longer allowed to assist with player events with lock-downs etc, per Mesanna. I believe the only exception to this rule is the official multi-shard "rares fest".

Is this what you mean or is there another notice somewhere?

 

[Uriah Heep]

Where is the post about EMs?? I musta missed it altogether