I do believe it has come to a point where radical changes are required. Especially the decline in population results in less incentives to log in and play - it is an interconnected vicious circle.
As a new player, starting UO is like experiencing a ghost town...
For veteran players - Items as well as the Systems (champ spawn, peerless, dungeons etc) drops in demand and interest. The competition, the risk or the reward for in game events simply do not appeal that much.
In the last three years - Attempts have been made to add new systems/stuff to appeal both current and new players but in my opinion they have failed.
Be it Revamped dungeons (like New Despise design or New Covetous system), or Revamped Magincia, Ship upgrades, Armor revamp, City Loyalty etc, the designs for these updates were not
very well thought through and lacked long term orientation. Off course "some" players enjoyed these new additions but a lot of players did not and the decline was inevitable.
Also new additions over time did not take into account the existing systems/rewards (Doom artifacts, Peerless rewards etc.) - some old systems became almost pointless...
I think there are 4 concerns right now, that could use some revamping to stop a downward spiral...
1. Problem with 2 clients
This effects development time and it also creates confusion and to some extent imbalances.
Ideally I would ditch the Enhanced client and begin from scratch to make a proper new client and then ditch the classic one. Given the dev resources this is not possible...
In the mid-term: Remove the classic client and focus on making the Enhanced better. I only play the classic one, but I would not hesitate to give up on that for some long term success.
2. Problem with incentives to play (current content as well as new content)
In my opionion - Game design should always be focused on fun/simplicity but at the same time inspire and keep balance.
Poor example: In one thread I saw a weapon from Shame with 18 different mods. If I was a somewhat new player and saw this I would scratch my head.
A game with such good mechanics like UO, does not need to be made more advanced to appeal.
Good example: The Champion Spawn system. Very well thought out. Brings Competition, Risk, Rewards, Teamwork, End game etc. etc. Still very popular after 12 years (!)
So how do one add content and let a game evolve that is 17 years old without making too complex and to keep it competetive and fun?
For me it come down to two major things...
- Set a very high bar for game design and only allow brilliant quality designs to pass through rather than rash updates that annihilate existing content. Add fewer things with quality rather than
systems that will be abbandoned after a few weeks. Also, rather add something unique rather than copying existing stuff.
- Narrow the range between new players and existing ones. ie less advanced stuff and more stuff for new players.
Rather than focusing on end game content add:
Less complicated item system, New skills, New races, Better guidence for new players, In game web browser functionality for game info.
Some ideas..
- Add mechanics for owning land... and fight for regions.
- Merge item properties in order to make it easier/understandable for new players.
- Make it possible for new players to get (not buy) all items, pets etc which are non-deco - eg Rangers Cloak, Dread Warhorses etc.
- Balance the different sub-systems to make them popular again... Ilshendar, Doom etc
3. Problem with economy/balance
It must be a bit off-putting to new players to learn about the billions swapping owners in daily deals.
Add a new currency (new drop from monsters) which can be used for new well-thought-out rewards, gold would still have it's old purpose.
It will be very interesting to see how the new Global loot revamp works out, this is a good step in general balancing.
If not introducing a new currency - At least introduce more gold sink alternatives. eg buy addons to your house, discount for vendor rates etc. As well as removing bank checks and make a proper gold system, based on numbers.
4. Problem with population / attracting new players
If you sort some of the above concerns I think this will attract new players...
But perhaps a radical change is required, merging servers "could be" a good idea. I would rather have more people playing on my shard than I love the existing location of my house and items tbh.
Fewer shards, more interaction... This will probably result in some players quiting (short term) and some new players re-joining (long term)
(There's my flame thrower Smiley!!)
Just tossing ideas out there, but that could be a good place to post trivial information, stuff like "WE CHANGED THE DECAY TIMES ON BOATS AND HOUSES" in A timely manner.