Shard Adoption ?? Read on....Be constructive people...

[THP]

Okies lets be honest we have 27 shards...of which 25 are normal shards....one is atlantic which is populated head and shoulders above all others...which leaves 24 normal shards...some are fuller than others some are damn right ghost shards

This is NOT A SHARD MERGE thread ............so stop ya fingers right now!!!

ideas....first we take atlantic out the equation...doesnt need help...

How about we take one of the above populated shards and let them adopt one of the lower populated shards....obvoiusly time zones are key to choosing which shards adopt which....aka europa and drachs would work....great lakes and legends would work ....pacs and lake austin.....etc etc etc.....

24 shards would allow 12 adoptions...

By adoption...my idea would link the 2 adopted shards via giving each player on the shard a new ''adoption shard shield''.....which when clicked gives one token every 7 days which as a 7 day timer...so as to stop people stock piling tokens u can only ever have one token.

That is for example ..''europa and drachs are adopted''..

players on europa get a drachs adoption shard shield - one per account when clicked get one token every 7 days to drachs with a 7 day timer....
players on drachs get a europa adoption shard shield - one per account when clicked get one token every 7 days to drachs with a 7 day timer....

This would allow players from the two shards to travel between the two although slightly limited it would deffo work....the empty lands of the smaller populated shard will become fuller for sure....luna on both shard would become revitalized......house prices on the low populated shard would increas......players on lesser populated shards can go to the busier shard for items they can find on there own shard ....and fight with bigger gangs, etc ....shard pvp could be the normal.....with guilds setting up mass brawls....

I really cant see any disadvantage...only advantages...

AND YES people have been asking for something like this....

there you go....any thoughts additions...Likes or dislikes....we aint merging....we are adopting!!!

We can only try make UO better for the people left in UO....is this the way forward?????

 

[Finley Grant]

i would go further and try to get the people merged

 

[James Moriarty]

I like playing on dead shards thanks but its a No from me. I can do what ever i like on the dead shard i play on with no bother from anyone else. I then use my shard sheild to bring home my loot to my home shard.

So you get a No vote here from me.

 

[THP]

I like playing on dead shards thanks but its a No from me. I can do what ever i like on the dead shard i play on with no bother from anyone else. I then use my shard sheild to bring home my loot to my home shard.

So you get a No vote here from me.

typical vet player response with shard shields....iam a vet with shard shields....this is a WE vame not a I came....
more thoughts please

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

No.
First of all it makes no sense at all to exclude a shard just based on its population considering the huge trade/gold implications.
Secondly, it is just a poorly thought out and overall goofy idea imo.
You will simply be shuttling a small % of the same small group of players from each dead shard back and forth.
No revitalization will take place.

Boo for this.

 

[Kael]

I wonder if there would be a cost savings by shutting down the really slow shards and giving all players some form character transfer (and maybe evening housing storage increase if a smaller sized home is placed on a new shard) I know people get pissy about any talk of merging shards. But if there is any form of regular shard maintence that is time consuming for the limited staff. Wouldn't it be wise to limit the amount of shards available now and use those hours actually working on bugs and content? Some players like to play on slower shards...I get that. I also read alot of players quit because they get bored with the shards are so slow.

 

[petemage]

Why would I go to antoher shard when I'm living on Atlantic? Tried it a couple of times, but there is just no point. Except for script farming things without interference from other players of course Give me 20 shard shields for free, still no reason to actually use them.

 

[Zosimus]

No.
First of all it makes no sense at all to exclude a shard just based on its population considering the huge trade/gold implications.
Secondly, it is just a poorly thought out and overall goofy idea imo.
You will simply be shuttling a small % of the same small group of players from each dead shard back and forth.
No revitalization will take place.

Boo for this.

This is the best answer and Goldberg couldn't of said it any better if he wanted to.

 

[Kirthag]

When WoW merged servers, there was a huge uproar from the players.... of thanks and praise!

However, WoW didn't have player housing, player towns, grandfathered deco and server-specific designs that would then be trounced by a merge. Not to mention shard-based economics and issues with nefarious players who take advantage of certain bugs to create dupes of things.

Now UO... granted the "smaller" shards are bare and naked, would be hard pressed to merge shards together in any way due to the dynamic of the players on each shard...
--housing
--economy
--rares
--map collisions
--# of characters per shard

Is it really necessary to "merge" anything between the shards in this day and age of cloud-based computing? Even without a physical "merge", having players freely bounce between shards won't do much of anything for anyone - just more juggling of gold, rares, houses and such.

Interesting concept though, WoW started off similarly when they introduced merges. Each server is still listed individually, but the players still mingle (sic Feathermoon & Scarlet Crusade).


What I think would be _very_ interesting for UO, instead of "merging" or "linking" existing shards - create a "new shard" for "central game play".

Basically, a shard without housing - no housing what-so-ever. Instead, it is a shard that players can gate to and fro via special shard-gates, and actually play with anyone else who happens to be there. Toons can only gate between their home shard and the "Heart of Shards" - they cannot jump to another shard. Maybe not a duplicate of the existing shard maps - but a new land mass for say, Atlantic to battle Pac - or guilds from each shard having huge events in a central location. Then, each "real shard" would be the housing & economic center for the players - while still retaining its own course of history. Of course, this Heart of Shards would need to have a central city with bank and basic services. Trades between shards would be limited to what a character can carry and what is in the said bank box. No packies or dragons allowed, only 1 pet per player and gargoyles cannot fly - we'll say the gravity of the Heart of Shards is too massive for their delicate wings... and Dragons cannot bear the Heart of Shards' vibrating that only they can sense.

Now that would make for interesting play and trade between shards.

 

[Swt Lippy Hippy]

No.
First of all it makes no sense at all to exclude a shard just based on its population considering the huge trade/gold implications.
Secondly, it is just a poorly thought out and overall goofy idea imo.
You will simply be shuttling a small % of the same small group of players from each dead shard back and forth.
No revitalization will take place.

Boo for this.

lol @ Boo hahaha I have to agree with you dude

 

[azmodanb]

Merging 24 shards to 12 .. Id go for that... Twice the ems .. For the remaining 12 shards and ATL left the same making 13...

Back to OP...

Your idea would be less up roar then a merge but i like merge better.

 

[TimberWolf]

I think they need to merge approx 25% of the shards...I dont think you an stipulate it has to be the 5-6 quietest shards. But there are ways to compensate gamers that would resolve a majority of the problems.

 

[old gypsy]

The following suggestion by Kirthag makes the most sense (and would be far less likely to result in a loss of subscribers):

"What I think would be _very_ interesting for UO, instead of "merging" or "linking" existing shards - create a "new shard" for "central game play".

Basically, a shard without housing - no housing what-so-ever. Instead, it is a shard that players can gate to and fro via special shard-gates, and actually play with anyone else who happens to be there. Toons can only gate between their home shard and the "Heart of Shards" - they cannot jump to another shard. Maybe not a duplicate of the existing shard maps - but a new land mass for say, Atlantic to battle Pac - or guilds from each shard having huge events in a central location. Then, each "real shard" would be the housing & economic center for the players - while still retaining its own course of history. Of course, this Heart of Shards would need to have a central city with bank and basic services. Trades between shards would be limited to what a character can carry and what is in the said bank box. No packies or dragons allowed, only 1 pet per player and gargoyles cannot fly - we'll say the gravity of the Heart of Shards is too massive for their delicate wings... and Dragons cannot bear the Heart of Shards' vibrating that only they can sense.

Now that would make for interesting play and trade between shards.

Kirthag
Publisher | Stratics.com"

 

[The Craftsman]

No.
First of all it makes no sense at all to exclude a shard just based on its population considering the huge trade/gold implications.
Secondly, it is just a poorly thought out and overall goofy idea imo.
You will simply be shuttling a small % of the same small group of players from each dead shard back and forth.
No revitalization will take place.

Boo for this.

Boo from me too. Terrible idea for all the reasons you stated.

 

[Scribbles]

Only way i see this happening is focusing shards. I dont think anything will ever be done on this matter, but this is the only option i see having a small chance.

Very similar to how school systems make each high school some what focused on a specific area. Like one being the art school, other being the mechanical... etc. Certain colleges are better at certain degrees... etc.

This way the game could focus its energy on one shard for certain things. INstead of the game trying to make everything work for every shard, the game would release certain patches only for certain shards.

Players could then pick a shard based off what type of shard they would like to play.

Example

1. atl could be the market place
2. chessy could be the RP community
3. GL could be the PvP hub
4. catskills could be the event hub
5. Europa could be the pve hub

etc...

I dont think UO would ever shut down shards, plain and simple way to much work to make everyone happy doing that.

 

[RockoNV]

This is DOA. However, kudos for at least thinking about it and trying to be constructive. There are way too many issues for this to be effective and they would lose too many accounts (the biggest factor).

 

[azmodanb]

Just a small start somewhere... Like... Merge pac.. Baja .. And sonoma .. Three into one... More pop... Two servers down. Im from Baja... But keep the name pacific. To go with ATL... Boom more pop.. Better west coast server as far as pop. See how it goes.. Maybe continue if it works out.

 

[THP]

sorry but i hear soo many folks ingame asking for merge ...this is just a soft option... that allows each shard to co-exsist yet share a shard too..

like i say cant ''see any negatives''.... ''i see only positives''...oh and obviosly i see and the exact usual troll crowd not liking anything i post which is kinda getting boring to be honest...stick to facebook please or ingame general chat were u seem to excel!!! [whatever]

seems more like than dislikes still

its only a framework idea ..but i play a lot of shards and all i hear we need to merge...so i offer an option...a constructive option at that...

unlike some others as always....

 

[Philly]

Is there a problem? Is the game going bankrupt? Is it a must servers need combined? If so I haven't heard about needing this to be done to survive. I love my grandfathered account and visit 6 different shards regularly plus my 18x18 on ATL when I need to listen to nasty talking PVP'ers lmao. =]

 

[THP]

Is there a problem? Is the game going bankrupt? Is it a must servers need combined? If so I haven't heard about needing this to be done to survive. I love my grandfathered account and visit 6 different shards regularly plus my 18x18 on ATL when I need to listen to nasty talking PVP'ers lmao. =]

erm what as this got to do with old grandfathered accounts....????????????????? and yes there is a problem....some shards have less than 100/200 players... why not adopt these low population shards to a higher ranked shard... ''NOT MERGE'' [god forbid...lolz]... simply link to a fuller shard then folks on the fuller shard can expore...and folks on the lesser shard can explore

i see only postives... i cannot see any negatives with this framework plan......

 

[King Greg]

UO postal Service. *Puts fire alarms in his house*

 

[Varingian]

Perhaps the 100 to 200 players on the dead shard are happy there. If not they have the options to make toon on a busier shard or buy a transfer.

Perhaps they don't want a hoard from a busy shard coming over and bothering them.

Lot of different players/styles. Not every one needs "community"

 

[MalagAste]

When WoW merged servers, there was a huge uproar from the players.... of thanks and praise!

However, WoW didn't have player housing, player towns, grandfathered deco and server-specific designs that would then be trounced by a merge. Not to mention shard-based economics and issues with nefarious players who take advantage of certain bugs to create dupes of things.

Now UO... granted the "smaller" shards are bare and naked, would be hard pressed to merge shards together in any way due to the dynamic of the players on each shard...
--housing
--economy
--rares
--map collisions
--# of characters per shard

Is it really necessary to "merge" anything between the shards in this day and age of cloud-based computing? Even without a physical "merge", having players freely bounce between shards won't do much of anything for anyone - just more juggling of gold, rares, houses and such.

Interesting concept though, WoW started off similarly when they introduced merges. Each server is still listed individually, but the players still mingle (sic Feathermoon & Scarlet Crusade).


What I think would be _very_ interesting for UO, instead of "merging" or "linking" existing shards - create a "new shard" for "central game play".

Basically, a shard without housing - no housing what-so-ever. Instead, it is a shard that players can gate to and fro via special shard-gates, and actually play with anyone else who happens to be there. Toons can only gate between their home shard and the "Heart of Shards" - they cannot jump to another shard. Maybe not a duplicate of the existing shard maps - but a new land mass for say, Atlantic to battle Pac - or guilds from each shard having huge events in a central location. Then, each "real shard" would be the housing & economic center for the players - while still retaining its own course of history. Of course, this Heart of Shards would need to have a central city with bank and basic services. Trades between shards would be limited to what a character can carry and what is in the said bank box. No packies or dragons allowed, only 1 pet per player and gargoyles cannot fly - we'll say the gravity of the Heart of Shards is too massive for their delicate wings... and Dragons cannot bear the Heart of Shards' vibrating that only they can sense.

Now that would make for interesting play and trade between shards.

You had me sold on this till you started to cripple 2 types of characters...
I'd be fine with this "if" you then said that all dexers can only use weapons with 2 properties, Mages can't cast anything over the 6th circle... and Mystics can only cast things with 60 skill or less... same with Spellweaving... And armor there has only 50% Resist and you can't have more than 60% LMC.

That and no mounts at all... that should even things out.

 

[Kirthag]

There's all kinds of ways to "level the playing field", so to speak. Nerfing one character type or another isn't really the issue - but the community aspect of it would be awesome I think. Just so long as there is no housing and no player vendors at all. Make it a truly "non-aligned" place where everyone can barter, pvp, gripe and hold events for everyone else to participate in. Shard Shields would still be usable for shard transfers, but the Heart of Shards is like a giant marketplace/battleground area for all.

Can always put a twist on things - or rather, can cycle through nerfs, and perks, if you will. One day, due to positioning of the Heart of Shards (moon phases if you will), Paladins cannot enter. Another day, Mages never use mana. Another day, Necros are all 120 skill. Another day the shard shines so brightly, no one can hide (or stealth). Another day, every bow in use fails. Another day mongbats will one-hit-kill anything they attack. Then another day My Little Ponies prance about the land!

Just... some dynamics, eh? Make it forever interesting. I believe a central gathering place would be awesome and really bring a new sense of community for the game.

 

[MalagAste]

As far as "merging" goes... I guess most of you don't give a rats about the history of your shards... None of you live in Player towns.... None of you care about the shard you live on and it's "unique" history and things.

Take GL's ... I know where there are dozens of old Seer places. Blessed houses... etc.. I remember 3 or 4 old Player Towns quite fondly.... though most of the places are gone some memories remain.

I give a rats arse about Sonoma, LS, or any other shard... I'm sure they have crap too... but that has little meaning to me. I'm sure they would be peeved if someone opted to destroy it.

Sadly we've already lost quite a lot with the destruction of Magincia that turned what was once a beautiful city into a very dismal and ugly trailerpark that is more empty all the time... (sorry Shanders!)... The loss of that city was in my opinion completely unnecessary.

Whenever I pass some of the old Seer things or even some of the old EM stuff from the previous EM program... it brings back very fond memories. Things that I don't get on other shards... sure they have some nice things I find from time to time but it has no meaning for me.

I'd be ok if they say randomly picked 4 shards and "linked" them via a special land you could go to and you could move freely between all 4 shards... But to just uproot folk and dump them on some other shard would be enough to make many folk quit. I know I would. If I wanted to move to a more populous shard I would... but GL's is my home... and it always will be my home. Sure I play on a few other shards... many folk do .... but they aren't "home" and they never will be.

Now ....... "IF" they did something else instead of a shard merger they built a "True" 3d client and to play there you had to leave the old UO behind and start all over on new shards.... I might consider that. Especially if they had special shards designed around specific styles of gameplay. Like RP shards. But we all know this isn't going to happen ever.


Also I suggested LONG time ago that they build a special landmass that EVERYONE can access... a special facet.... one that was like a war land... where terrible monsters lived.... one that threatened all the shards.... one that had MASS events quite often where we had to defeat the mobs or risk our own shards being harmed... One that had area's that were like Fel... And area's that are more like Trammel.... but Reds can enter it.... however they can't attack other players there... With a central city with all the amenities save an Inn.... NO logging out on that facet... and if you DC or try to log out you find yourself back on your home shard at Haven Bank. No repair deeds work there either...
Giant Ancient Dragons live there as well as Massive Giants... Great Sea Dragons... An Enormous Sea Turtle... it has a city under the sea filled with Mermen and mermaids... The Sea Horses take you there... and many terrifying monsters that are so horrible they require large groups to defeat. But the rewards would have to be equally awesome...

 

[Kirthag]

Also I suggested LONG time ago that they build a special landmass that EVERYONE can access... a special facet.... one that was like a war land... where terrible monsters lived.... one that threatened all the shards.... one that had MASS events quite often where we had to defeat the mobs or risk our own shards being harmed... One that had area's that were like Fel... And area's that are more like Trammel.... but Reds can enter it.... however they can't attack other players there... With a central city with all the amenities save an Inn.... NO logging out on that facet... and if you DC or try to log out you find yourself back on your home shard at Haven Bank. No repair deeds work there either...
Giant Ancient Dragons live there as well as Massive Giants... Great Sea Dragons... An Enormous Sea Turtle... it has a city under the sea filled with Mermen and mermaids... The Sea Horses take you there... and many terrifying monsters that are so horrible they require large groups to defeat. But the rewards would have to be equally awesome...

I'd play that!

 

[MalagAste]

I'd play that!

Well you should have heard my suggestion for a new Champ Spawn/Peerless to go into the Underworld. Was an awesome idea.

Imagine a realm of Dark Elves... Deep in the Underworld... This would be something you would NEED a big group to do... You enter the area and the first wave is Spiders and territhans.. Second wave is Dread spiders and Territhan Matriarchs. Third wave brings out the Dark Elves... Mostly Stealthy archers... Who like the Elite Ninja in the lands of Tokuno sneak about and jump on you from the shadows... They can stealth, hide.... change shape into nasty spiders... they shoot poison arrows... And can Armor Ignore. Just like if you were fighting any other archer... they use either a crossbow or a composite... using the specials from whichever... if you disarm them they attack with spells. Also a few mages in the mix. Next level you get the Driders.... Massive Spider like creatures with Dark Elven bodies... that attack by pulling you in with their webs and tearing you apart with dual wielded blades... they can use whirlwind, bleed, mortal and a paralyzing blow. Finally at the level you get the Valsharress. She is a stealthy mage... Using attacks of the Dark Elves with Armor Ignore and such but also a powerful mage able to summon two driders... or a host of spiders... She does an area poison as well.

And off to the side in a small room is a Dark Elf who sits all alone behind a desk... He is bald and wears a feathered hat... He asks you to bring him items of value from the surface world... in exchange he "might" give you riches. Sometimes he'll give you something nice. Sometimes he'll rip you off with junk... and sometimes... He'll spawn some spiders to attack you and curse you for trying to swindle him.

 

[Thrakkar]

players on europa get a drachs adoption shard shield - one per account when clicked get one token every 7 days to drachs with a 7 day timer....
players on drachs get a europa adoption shard shield - one per account when clicked get one token every 7 days to drachs with a 7 day timer....

I suggested something similar multiple times already:
Just open up char transfer for all shards in a specific region. I.e. Europa & DF in europe. No items involved, something similar like TC char copy. No limits, no timers, no cooldowns, can go back & forth, as often as they want. I'd call that a "soft-merge"

 

[THP]

I suggested something similar multiple times already:
Just open up char transfer for all shards in a specific region. I.e. Europa & DF in europe. No items involved, something similar like TC char copy. No limits, no timers, no cooldowns, can go back & forth, as often as they want. I'd call that a "soft-merge"

well thats what we need constuctive ideas...rather than the blatant destructive trolls

the devs have already ruled out shard mergers...thats final....

so we can only talk about other options...and my option is out there to add/change....

i dont think your idea of no items will work...because if are ties adopted to two shards then u want to be allowed to play and move between the two freely= albeit restricted...so as to keep transfer token sales practically unaffected....like i say one move a week between the shards...allows options...i only see positives i can draw no negatives...

 

[TimberWolf]

Well you should have heard my suggestion for a new Champ Spawn/Peerless to go into the Underworld. Was an awesome idea.


And off to the side in a small room is a Dark Elf who sits all alone behind a desk... He is bald and wears a feathered hat... He asks you to bring him items of value from the surface world... in exchange he "might" give you riches. Sometimes he'll give you something nice. Sometimes he'll rip you off with junk... and sometimes... He'll spawn some spiders to attack you and curse you for trying to swindle him.

Some one has read a little too much RA Salvatore! You are always talking about how UO has this deep and rich history.....why rip off TSR and steal their characters....maybe they want to make a MMORPG ....

 

[THP]

As far as "merging" goes... I guess most of you don't give a rats about the history of your shards... None of you live in Player towns.... None of you care about the shard you live on and it's "unique" history and things.

Take GL's ... I know where there are dozens of old Seer places. Blessed houses... etc.. I remember 3 or 4 old Player Towns quite fondly.... though most of the places are gone some memories remain.

I give a rats arse about Sonoma, LS, or any other shard... I'm sure they have crap too... but that has little meaning to me. I'm sure they would be peeved if someone opted to destroy it.

Sadly we've already lost quite a lot with the destruction of Magincia that turned what was once a beautiful city into a very dismal and ugly trailerpark that is more empty all the time... (sorry Shanders!)... The loss of that city was in my opinion completely unnecessary.

Whenever I pass some of the old Seer things or even some of the old EM stuff from the previous EM program... it brings back very fond memories. Things that I don't get on other shards... sure they have some nice things I find from time to time but it has no meaning for me.

I'd be ok if they say randomly picked 4 shards and "linked" them via a special land you could go to and you could move freely between all 4 shards... But to just uproot folk and dump them on some other shard would be enough to make many folk quit. I know I would. If I wanted to move to a more populous shard I would... but GL's is my home... and it always will be my home. Sure I play on a few other shards... many folk do .... but they aren't "home" and they never will be.

Now ....... "IF" they did something else instead of a shard merger they built a "True" 3d client and to play there you had to leave the old UO behind and start all over on new shards.... I might consider that. Especially if they had special shards designed around specific styles of gameplay. Like RP shards. But we all know this isn't going to happen ever.


Also I suggested LONG time ago that they build a special landmass that EVERYONE can access... a special facet.... one that was like a war land... where terrible monsters lived.... one that threatened all the shards.... one that had MASS events quite often where we had to defeat the mobs or risk our own shards being harmed... One that had area's that were like Fel... And area's that are more like Trammel.... but Reds can enter it.... however they can't attack other players there... With a central city with all the amenities save an Inn.... NO logging out on that facet... and if you DC or try to log out you find yourself back on your home shard at Haven Bank. No repair deeds work there either...
Giant Ancient Dragons live there as well as Massive Giants... Great Sea Dragons... An Enormous Sea Turtle... it has a city under the sea filled with Mermen and mermaids... The Sea Horses take you there... and many terrifying monsters that are so horrible they require large groups to defeat. But the rewards would have to be equally awesome...

CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALIKNG ABOUT MERGING.....JESUS!!! THE DEVS HAVE RULED THIS OUT...

So....Options.....please???

option 1 dont give a toss and bumble along with one full shard, several average populated shards and many quiet and some dead shards

option 2....get some ideas thrown together .....THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE MERGING!!!!AND CLOSING ANY SHARDS!!!! ffs....

a soft option= link/adopt two shards

 

[MalagAste]

Some one has read a little too much RA Salvatore! You are always talking about how UO has this deep and rich history.....why rip off TSR and steal their characters....maybe they want to make a MMORPG ....

There is such a thing as reading too much? NO... And why not rip it off we have D&D in UO... We have all sorts of outside influences in UO. So why not add more??? Couldn't hurt.

You know how many folk play Dark Elves in UO? Over the years I've known entire guilds of them. I see about 2 or 3 Drizzt's on every shard. Obviously it has a wide influence.

 

[The Craftsman]

It's all smoke And mirrors. All
If these options only give the impression that UO is a busy thriving place. It isn't. It's still the same amount of players and decreasing. Toure just trying to gather the few remaining plYers together like some desperate last stand.

The answer is new players which can only happen in significant numbers by F2P. Do that and all of the shards will be busy thriving communities. You won't need mergers and whacky ideas like this thread.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

erm what as this got to do with old grandfathered accounts....????????????????? and yes there is a problem....some shards have less than 100/200 players... why not adopt these low population shards to a higher ranked shard... ''NOT MERGE'' [god forbid...lolz]... simply link to a fuller shard then folks on the fuller shard can expore...and folks on the lesser shard can explore

i see only postives... i cannot see any negatives with this framework plan......

Or...
Why not give the 100/200 players on your slow/dead shard the option to move to a different shard. If only they could come up with something cheap & easily obtained like a transfer token or shard shield...

People are making conscious decisions to remain on their very quiet shards. Choice housing, smaller and tighter community(maybe), wide open spawning and pvming with little to no worries of raiding, etc...

You don't get it both ways. Stay on your quiet shard and reap the above benefits or move to a larger shard and rub elbows with other players. It's up to you but if you choose to stay on your quiet shard for historical or nostalgic reasons I for one do not want to hear you pancake and moan that it is so quiet. It's ridiculous and childish imo.

And to the OP, please stop harassing anyone that disagrees with your opinion. It is not trolling.
Maybe a lot of us(devs included obviously)don't feel there is any need to merge or adopt anyone.
Why don't you maybe go down to your local animal shelter and adopt a cat and name him Drachenfels. Problem solved, end of story!

 

[TimberWolf]

There is such a thing as reading too much? NO...

No one said you were reading too much, I said reading to much RA Salvatore. I just think Ultima has a lot of history that can be expanded on without ripping off one of the few franchises that TSR could expand on. So far the devs have only "paid homage" to D&D...what you are encouraging is pure theft!

I see 4-5 frodo's on most shards...does that mean we should rip off LOTR? Oh wait...I have seen a bunch of characters named after famous porn stars...why dont we rip off their story lines?? (oh wait they dont have story lines)...I perfer to see original content!

 

[TimberWolf]

CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALIKNG ABOUT MERGING.....JESUS!!! THE DEVS HAVE RULED THIS OUT...

So....Options.....please???

option 1 dont give a toss and bumble along with one full shard, several average populated shards and many quiet and some dead shards

option 2....get some ideas thrown together .....THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE MERGING!!!!AND CLOSING ANY SHARDS!!!! ffs....

a soft option= link/adopt two shards

Do you have any idea how many times Dev's have ruled something out only to reverse their view? How about every time there is a change in Devs...LOL

Shard Mergers are required and even then their might need to be a switch to..free to play. If it is combined with a change toward F2P then there is no loss of subscriptions since there would be no more subscriptions! The only issue with F2P is someone would have to get off their a$$ and make the UO store actually function properly. They could replace some of the accountants that count the money for a few kids to code fun worth while items.

 

[Riyana]

When WoW merged servers, there was a huge uproar from the players.... of thanks and praise!

However, WoW didn't have player housing, player towns, grandfathered deco and server-specific designs that would then be trounced by a merge. Not to mention shard-based economics and issues with nefarious players who take advantage of certain bugs to create dupes of things.

Now UO... granted the "smaller" shards are bare and naked, would be hard pressed to merge shards together in any way due to the dynamic of the players on each shard...
--housing
--economy
--rares
--map collisions
--# of characters per shard

Is it really necessary to "merge" anything between the shards in this day and age of cloud-based computing? Even without a physical "merge", having players freely bounce between shards won't do much of anything for anyone - just more juggling of gold, rares, houses and such.

Interesting concept though, WoW started off similarly when they introduced merges. Each server is still listed individually, but the players still mingle (sic Feathermoon & Scarlet Crusade).


What I think would be _very_ interesting for UO, instead of "merging" or "linking" existing shards - create a "new shard" for "central game play".

Basically, a shard without housing - no housing what-so-ever. Instead, it is a shard that players can gate to and fro via special shard-gates, and actually play with anyone else who happens to be there. Toons can only gate between their home shard and the "Heart of Shards" - they cannot jump to another shard. Maybe not a duplicate of the existing shard maps - but a new land mass for say, Atlantic to battle Pac - or guilds from each shard having huge events in a central location. Then, each "real shard" would be the housing & economic center for the players - while still retaining its own course of history. Of course, this Heart of Shards would need to have a central city with bank and basic services. Trades between shards would be limited to what a character can carry and what is in the said bank box. No packies or dragons allowed, only 1 pet per player and gargoyles cannot fly - we'll say the gravity of the Heart of Shards is too massive for their delicate wings... and Dragons cannot bear the Heart of Shards' vibrating that only they can sense.

Now that would make for interesting play and trade between shards.

This is very similar to what I think the new expansion should be like.

Mesanna said there would be two landmasses introduced. I think one should be a training/new player/trade area and the other a pvp area that players from any shard can travel back and forth from (but only to that character's original shard). Only two landmasses period (well, four, since Siege/Mugen would need their own), not two per shard. No one loses anything.

 

[Thrakkar]

i dont think your idea of no items will work...because if are ties adopted to two shards then u want to be allowed to play and move between the two freely= albeit restricted...so as to keep transfer token sales practically unaffected....like i say one move a week between the shards...allows options...i only see positives i can draw no negatives...

For what exactly do we need an item?
What would be the problem, if we could fire up the char transfer gump directly from the character (just like the vendor search gump)?
Works perfectly well with the TC char copy too...

Why would I want to restrict it? So If I move my pure bard to europe and on the next day my DF guild needs it on DF, I'm screwed...

Transfer token sale would be affected anyway. I don't know a single person, who immediately wants to x-fer. Most people ask around and set a target date in the near future, to maximize the net gain of x-fered items per token. They most probably wouldn't bother buying a token, when they could x-fer every 7 days.
And besides, tokes would still be the only solution to hop around between non-adopted or non-"soft-merged" shards.

This is very similar to what I think the new expansion should be like.

Mesanna said there would be two landmasses introduced. I think one should be a training/new player/trade area and the other a pvp area that players from any shard can travel back and forth from (but only to that character's original shard). Only two landmasses period (well, four, since Siege/Mugen would need their own), not two per shard. No one loses anything.

If they plan to use this feature for the upcoming expansion, they should remove all shard-specific felucca instances and replace them with a single region-specific felucca instance, where you can travel back and forth from your home-shard...

 

[TimberWolf]

If they plan to use this feature for the upcoming expansion, they should remove all shard-specific felucca instances and replace them with a single region-specific felucca instance, where you can travel back and forth from your home-shard...

I like the idea of this except the screaming and whining would be deafening....the majority of Castles and keeps available in the game exist in Fel,.. at least on Cats they do! They would be better off merging half the shards....that would probably piss off less people then removing Fel from all shards.

But the idea of a fel based pvp tournament area...accessible quickly from all shards is exceptional!!!!...no housing on this "new land" They could limit transfers on and off this area to once a day. There could be a vendor area to resupply players....similar to the idea used for the pet vendor area in the game today. Leave the existing fel area as pvp for spawns etc....

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

For what exactly do we need an item?
What would be the problem, if we could fire up the char transfer gump directly from the character (just like the vendor search gump)?
Works perfectly well with the TC char copy too...

Why would I want to restrict it? So If I move my pure bard to europe and on the next day my DF guild needs it on DF, I'm screwed...

Transfer token sale would be affected anyway. I don't know a single person, who immediately wants to x-fer. Most people ask around and set a target date in the near future, to maximize the net gain of x-fered items per token. They most probably wouldn't bother buying a token, when they could x-fer every 7 days.
And besides, tokes would still be the only solution to hop around between non-adopted or non-"soft-merged" shards.



If they plan to use this feature for the upcoming expansion, they should remove all shard-specific felucca instances and replace them with a single region-specific felucca instance, where you can travel back and forth from your home-shard...

Hard to get at what you mean here.
Do you mean to mess with Felucca as it currently exists on each shard?
I highly doubt that but if so, you are ofc completely off base and in need of a UO history lesson imo.

 

[THP]

lets bumble along then...till the quiet shard as one solo player....and it will happen......[whatever].... iam free to come go were i please....its only what i hear talking on the shards......most players seem to want a solution....seems these boards are a different animal....

 

[TimberWolf]

lets bumble along then...till the quiet shard as one solo player....and it will happen......[whatever].... iam free to come go were i please....its only what i hear talking on the shards......most players seem to want a solution....seems these boards are a different animal....

You are right...most people want a solution....the only solution that will fix these issues is SHARD MERGERS and a switch to Free to Play business plan.

That will insure a dozen or so full shards...and an active community. Broadsword just needs to get smart and creative with their store. Unfortunately that would mean they would probably need to fire the current leadership and hire some people who have been successful before!

 

[Larisa]

I think it's a good idea. Do-able? Not so much...but like in one other game that I play where there are different servers, it does get rather boring PVP'ing//RP'ing/PVM'ing with the same people day in and day out, a change is good...and while you can say *Just go to another shard then* it's not that easy for some of us who cant afford transfers/don't have the time-resources to build new characters on multiple shards yet still wish to play with new people.

It's an interesting concept THP, I like it Wish it could be done, or something similar as there are only a few other shards that I would love to play on on a regular basis without having to build totally new characters there.

 

[THP]

we can only discuss ideas...to help out game....while others will tear it apart.... piece by piece......when i visit shards folks talk about this all the time... its hard with housing.. nobody wants to lose there luna spot or there castle placement theve had for years... whats that luna spot gonna be worth if we tie two shards... hell there will be no no no castle free spots if we tie two shards........listen to reason....

 

[whiterabbit]

we could got a lot populated shard and do hunts mebe some of them cant do cause of thier numbers

get ahold of someone on that shard and set a time and date

 

[Kirthag]

i'm not one for shard merge.

new land all can access from any shard - that would be fun.

 

[Ox_AO]

Get your stuff THP.

 

[The Craftsman]

i'm not one for shard merge.

new land all can access from any shard - that would be fun.

Yea because what the game really needs is more land to spread the player base even thinner. Sure you'd get a few coming together on this new land mass but all that would do is thin down the shards even more and make them feel even more desolate whilst you had one busy ish area.

New land is not the answer. New players are. F2P

 

[THP]

just putting some ideas out there for a much need change....

again IF NOT ...... we can bumble along untill there is one player left on a shard on his own....[[[WHATEVER]]]

 

[THP]

ideas...we need ideas to take this forward....we dont need insults to people with suggestions.....leave that for your shard ''general chat''......if u dont like my ideas then so be it... no need to be rude with it.....so let have your constructive thoughts for a change ...

OR shall we lay down and bumble along untill theres 6 people sharing a shard.....or shall we get some thoughts/ideas how we can make this game better.....can we intergrate communites.... i think we can......and i think it would be better for everyone...