RTB has brought me back a few times, and not only because it coincided with new content. Oftentimes, a nicely presented newsletter with great pictures, art, and anecdotes were enough to get that itch going again.
I've always stayed past the end of the RTB, but things besides RTB have also been successful in bringing me back. Throughout the years, articles at places like Massively or Rock Paper Shotgun or the Escapist have popped up out of the blue, with a writer talking about how they're still having fun in UO. Sometimes I come back to check out some play style or content they gush about which I wasn't partial to in years past; because interests change. Nowadays I enjoy those "Roguelikes" all over Steam; most of those are way more punishing than Siege, right? At least you get to keep your character when you die on Siege. Maybe I ought to try it.
There are all kinds of questions that a thread like this raises for me though. This is the last community that I would expect to see asking for RTB en masse. Typically when there's an expansion or something like that, Stratics (as a community) goes into overdrive to burn bridges with the devs and drive away returning players with years worth of axes to grind. Broadsword has 5 people and I think you guys and gals are pretty unrealistic in the things that you ask for, especially after criticizing them for taking on large new projects while there are bugs you want fixed. You can't have it both ways. RTB done right requires a lot of fanfare and some press interaction, and especially with no PR or community liaison or stuff like that (not under Broadsword's control), there'd be time away from day to day development.
If that all sounds like I'm a big no-fun naysayer, quite the contrary. I'd love to see something like RTB. But I think for it to really work and be worth the effort 18 years on, the community (THAT MEANS YOU) need to be the ones to stand up, organize some events around content you deem alluring for a range of play styles, contact the press and let the public know why they should come back. You can make all the excuses you want, call it a service-based industry, say you're just a customer, you don't owe Broadsword anything. But then you turn around and say you miss how people used to play for the community? Makes no sense. That has nothing to DO with Broadsword. YOU'RE the community. Whether or not YOU'RE worth coming back to is all on YOU. What do you owe yourselves? Broadsword can't and isn't obligated to help you there. They gave you a sandbox; they never promised to change your diapers.
