Bring NEW players to UO

[Kiss Of Death]

I have seen many posts about this.

I share with you my ( honest business man opinion) idea on how to increase the population of the best game ever created ( and so not well known in the gaming community).

I need to say that UO is a very difficult game in compare to many others on the market. You create a new character and you have nothing and no way to start a new character....it's a mess....if you don't know anybody or how to play the game....

My suggestion to increase population is made with 3 ideas:

- Strongest way to increase population:

bring back all the old players who are on free shards, bring to official shards the players who are on free shards... How to do this? I am pretty sure that if you made accounts free to play just for FELUCCA facet....the game would see its population increasing drastically. You would not be able to access LEGENDARY items, but just reforged and imbued ones.

You will have more players very soon and these ppl will love the challenge of old pkers and pvpers and I am sure that they will pay expansions and gametime codes soon to access all the opportunities the game can give.

- Recreate the conselour program, by creating a conselour " pvp and pvm school" on every shard.

The schools will be lead by pro pvpers and pvmers with conselour robes....who will teach new players what to do and how to do the things step by step. I am sure old players will be happy to increase the population like this. More help, more new players can play.

- make a promotion " BRING A FRIEND TO UO , GET A MONTH GAME TIME CODE FREE" . How this can work? simply....if you have a friend who makes a new account and pay at least a 3 MONTHS GAME TIME CODE....the person who brang the friend to the game receives a FREE MONTH GAME TIME CODE FREE!!! Won't you all try to bring some buddies to the game? I bet some of you will do it .

and Broadsword....tbh...more players....more money?

It 's a win win for everybody no?

 

[Mervyn]

I think a guide on how to actually create an account first, I had some old guildmates want to return and they came in vent then ragequitted after not bing able to reactivate their account cos they couldn't figure out the account linking.

 

[Mina_Lino]

I think a guide on how to actually create an account first, I had some old guildmates want to return and they came in vent then ragequitted after not bing able to reactivate their account cos they couldn't figure out the account linking.

Couldn't agree more.

Account management should be a lot easier.
Like it used to be back in the old days...your ID and pass.

UO should be adverticed for aswell.
Like a little sale on steam...a lot of people use steam.
And some people like me are often bored and end up buying games on steam that are on sale.

And indeed ideas like "recruit a friend" are great.
Make it similar to WoW's recruit a friend.
Give the new recruit a little extra for a period of time when his friend is near.
(extra fast skill gain or something)

Haven could use a revamp. Not in looks but maybe npc's should explain things better to real new players.
Start money should be a bit more then just 1k...
Full spellbooks are expensive these days. A pony at the stable is already 600 gp.
Some basic armor is already more then 1k.

Reward players that help players with (young) status.

 

[Smoot]

theres lots that could have been done over the years to maintain player base. i just think its too late now because of low resources and years of taking the game in a direction that other mmorpgs do a much better job at.

UO is a niche market game. theres 2 things that set UO apart from the sea of other modern mmorpgs.
PVP (failed)
Deco / items (this is what the game is based on and directed to now)

the pvm side of things, while popular with some of the deco crowd, and done out of necessity sometimes by the pvp crowd is a non-issue because of the overwhelming competition that does a far superior job at pve encounters. which is fine. thats not what UO is about and known for.

only thing i can think of now to rejuvenate the game is Free to Play & ideally ftp with steam to increase playerbase (even the majority of new players who only play for a week will make the dead shards feel less dead)


Things that could have been done in the past to maintain playerbase:

enforcement against cheating / scripting / multiboxing
new player experience. basic guide
1 client. This client would keep the CC graphics but with high resolution / fullscreen with a modern UI (streamlined & trimmed down version of the EC UI)

 

[Deep Ellum Dan]

I have seen many posts about this.

I share with you my ( honest business man opinion) idea on how to increase the population of the best game ever created ( and so not well known in the gaming community).

I need to say that UO is a very difficult game in compare to many others on the market. You create a new character and you have nothing and no way to start a new character....it's a mess....if you don't know anybody or how to play the game....

My suggestion to increase population is made with 3 ideas:

- Strongest way to increase population:

bring back all the old players who are on free shards, bring to official shards the players who are on free shards... How to do this? I am pretty sure that if you made accounts free to play just for FELUCCA facet....the game would see its population increasing drastically. You would not be able to access LEGENDARY items, but just reforged and imbued ones.

You will have more players very soon and these ppl will love the challenge of old pkers and pvpers and I am sure that they will pay expansions and gametime codes soon to access all the opportunities the game can give.

- Recreate the conselour program, by creating a conselour " pvp and pvm school" on every shard.

The schools will be lead by pro pvpers and pvmers with conselour robes....who will teach new players what to do and how to do the things step by step. I am sure old players will be happy to increase the population like this. More help, more new players can play.

- make a promotion " BRING A FRIEND TO UO , GET A MONTH GAME TIME CODE FREE" . How this can work? simply....if you have a friend who makes a new account and pay at least a 3 MONTHS GAME TIME CODE....the person who brang the friend to the game receives a FREE MONTH GAME TIME CODE FREE!!! Won't you all try to bring some buddies to the game? I bet some of you will do it .

and Broadsword....tbh...more players....more money?

It 's a win win for everybody no?

If the game is free, where will the money come from to support everything needed to operate a successful business? I would rather pay a monthly fee so Broadsword can properly survive, thus the future of UO had a solid chance of sticking around. All those taking about making the have l game free, I ask you to think about it if you were a principal shareholder or owner of a company. Would you really want to pay for everything, including staff salaries and receive no form of income? In order for UO to continue and grow, it needs adequate means of income.

 

[Kiss Of Death]

Did u read my post carefully? Ah wait... U did N. O. T.


InfernO will come to get you

 

[Smoot]

If the game is free, where will the money come from to support everything needed to operate a successful business? I would rather pay a monthly fee so Broadsword can properly survive, thus the future of UO had a solid chance of sticking around. All those taking about making the have l game free, I ask you to think about it if you were a principal shareholder or owner of a company. Would you really want to pay for everything, including staff salaries and receive no form of income? In order for UO to continue and grow, it needs adequate means of income.

Housing. novelty items. novelty pets. uo store items. colors. possibly access to special areas.

its free to play, not to get everything. UO would most likely be making much much more money under a well thought out free to play format than they do now. The free players (who dont have a house and dont buy anything) are beneficial because they give life to the game, making other players more likely to stay and purchase add ons.

the most basic format would be free to play, but make having a house cost the same as our sub fee now (per month) but a good format would be a bit more in depth, with just a house probably being slighly less than it is now. possibilities are endless.

basically the format of every successful f2p game out there, and because UO is so novelty intensive now its would make a killing, while also allowing the world to be filled with players who wouldnt be there if they had to pay a sub fee.

 

[Deep Ellum Dan]

OK, that does make a little more sense but what about everyone that already had horses and items and whatnot in game? Are they grandfathered? Starting out with a new game and having that platform sound good but logically, it might make many current players upset. If we will be paying anyways z then why even change the way things are paid for? I only ask to raise question to bring our great ideas and not to troll. We already have the store, maybe add more stuff to the store that we cannot already receive in game, but don't make the items stuff that will change the outcome of the current system of pvp or pvm. Maybe like have monster raids on player houses and we can purchase defenses on the customization menu... Idk..

 

[Goodmann]

Continue the High res artwork and make the game look great along with awesome play. If you build it they will come
@Mesanna @Kyronix @Bleak

 

[Deep Ellum Dan]

I will always prefer the old school graphics

 

[HoneythornGump]

I get a kick out of these threads we've seen over the past 5+ years about how to bring in new players...yet nothing has changed, and the game continues to go down hill.

Einstein's theory of insanity at it's finest...

Until UO gets some HIGH Resolution art it will continue it's downward spiral. The powers that be, and the decision makes are dumb as rocks as far as I'm concerned for pulling the plug on High Res Art, and yanking KR artwork.

"but minecraft blah blah".... I wouldn't be caught dead playing $%^*&$ minecraft.

Some players like shoot up games, some players like building games, some players like medieval fantasy game, some sports game. Players who like the medieval fantasy game want a NICE looking game...UO isn't a nice looking game...it's a blurry pixelated mess.

Someone show me a medieval fantasy game with low resolution that's successful on the PC platform....

Nothing is every going to change with UO, and I mean absolutely nothing, at long as the game looks like it does. And the game looks like hell because they've continued to support the classic client, and appease the jurassics.

 

[Emil Ispep]

Diablo

 

[Corwyn]

I get a kick out of these threads we've seen over the past 5+ years about how to bring in new players...yet nothing has changed, and the game continues to go down hill.

Einstein's theory of insanity at it's finest...

Until UO gets some HIGH Resolution art it will continue it's downward spiral. The powers that be, and the decision makes are dumb as rocks as far as I'm concerned for pulling the plug on High Res Art, and yanking KR artwork.

"but minecraft blah blah".... I wouldn't be caught dead playing $%^*&$ minecraft.

Some players like shoot up games, some players like building games, some players like medieval fantasy game, some sports game. Players who like the medieval fantasy game want a NICE looking game...UO isn't a nice looking game...it's a blurry pixelated mess.

Someone show me a medieval fantasy game with low resolution that's successful on the PC platform....

Nothing is every going to change with UO, and I mean absolutely nothing, at long as the game looks like it does. And the game looks like hell because they've continued to support the classic client, and appease the jurassics.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with discussing ways to bring players to a game most of us are passionate about. Even if it's been done for the past five years, I doubt many of the things that have been brought up have been done. It's still a worthwhile topic.

Second, graphics don't make a game worth playing. Good playability is key, which UO has. Graphics is just icing. And while UO's graphics aren't state-of-the-art, I don't find them an eyesore, and I think there are others that find it just fine.

The statement, "but minecraft blah blah".... I wouldn't be caught dead playing $%^*&$ minecraft doesn't mean a whole lot, really. While you wouldn't play it, you also can't deny that the graphics are horrid, and yet the game still has a huge following, lending weight that graphics do not make a game.

Personally, I think making UO free to play, if done well, would bring in new players. I've played some Facebook MMOs with worse graphics than UO, less options than UO, and not nearly as deep as UO. Still, they have a solid playerbase and make money.

 

[Taylor]

Agree re: account linking. But Broadsword already tried to sidestep EA's account management system. They tried; they weren't successful.

 

[HoneythornGump]

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with discussing ways to bring players to a game most of us are passionate about. Even if it's been done for the past five years, I doubt many of the things that have been brought up have been done. It's still a worthwhile topic.

Second, graphics don't make a game worth playing. Good playability is key, which UO has. Graphics is just icing. And while UO's graphics aren't state-of-the-art, I don't find them an eyesore, and I think there are others that find it just fine.

The statement, "but minecraft blah blah".... I wouldn't be caught dead playing $%^*&$ minecraft doesn't mean a whole lot, really. While you wouldn't play it, you also can't deny that the graphics are horrid, and yet the game still has a huge following, lending weight that graphics do not make a game.

Personally, I think making UO free to play, if done well, would bring in new players. I've played some Facebook MMOs with worse graphics than UO, less options than UO, and not nearly as deep as UO. Still, they have a solid playerbase and make money.

UO ain't minecraft.

Minecraft could have the best graphics EVER presented I still I wouldn't play it. And venture to say a vast majority of players like myself who want to spend their gaming time playing a medieval fantasty genre wouldn't play it. I wouldn't play a shooter game, or a sports game either no matter how good the graphics were. That doesn't mean graphics don't matter!

I'm gonna spend my time playing the genre I like....and that ain't minecraft.

I will most definitely test the waters on a medevil fantasy game if it has great graphics. However, there isn't a remote chance in hell I'm would ever try a game that looks like UO currently does. Yeah, that was nice 20 years ago..

Wake up folks!

The fact that I still play UO is a testament to the reality that graphics don't make the game. If it was only graphics that mattered I'd be hell and gone a long time ago.

But that has absolutely no connection to the reality that is should have nice graphics. Graphics matter....graphics is FREAKING HUGE!!!!

UO is a great game (the best), which can't attract new players because it looks like effin' hell because of continues support of the classic client.

Guess what would make UO even better? Any takers? Better graphics!

And rounds and round we go....

 

[Zuckuss]

While there is certainly room for improvement, new players do indeed find their way into the game. The problem though, is that sometimes they get overwhelmed and reach a point where they have trouble finding help or information, and then they quit. If someone is there who can catch them before they get frustrated and quit, we can keep many of these new players. We must be willing to "go there" and move outside our comfort zones and go out of our way to explain the ropes to the new players and get them on the correct path. That path is defined by their interests. Ask them their goals, what they wish to do in UO and what they wish to get out of their experience. This will help you in helping them find their place.

No new or returning player comes here for the graphics. They are doing it for either nostalgia, community or an element of depth that they cannot get from today's MMO's. There is still much that UO has to offer and sometimes new players/returnees need some assistance in heading in the right direction. This can be the difference between someone who drops off the radar after a couple weeks, or someone whom we can build a strong relationship with that can last years. The current player base is the best recruiting tool for UO, not so much fancy graphics, bug fixes and added content.

 

[Lord Arm]

a lot of good ideas. but for me, free to play means free to cheat. nearly every vet I have seen quit has been because of cheating. with so few people now, some players are using 2 or more chars to do anything in the game. they have no need to interact with other new/returning players and many don't.
have you seen at events the mass of multi char use. this has made many people leave the game and will continue to do so.
a lot of us know many great people that are always there to help, I would like to take some time to really thanks them all. they keep the game alive. example: queen mum. there's so many. many on strats too. ty
-really fix account management and store
-new player improvements
-really curb cheating then put game on steam or other sites
-advertise the game, there's many cheap ways to do this.
-everyone get involve helping, but not teaching them to cheat lol.

 

[nextwindow]

my 2 cents.... the help channel on atlantic is really the pvp chat channel. I see new ppl ask for help on that channel and the most used response is "its just west of the fel yew gate". I wonder how long these new ppl hang around the game after that experience. use the help channel chat for ppl who need help!

 

[yars]

If you wanna help this game,pull the subscription,make it P2w. Sadly the only reason i see people stay is "nostalagia" or no one feels like learning something new in gaming.at least with p2w you could sell nice deco in a store to keep the mouse running.younger ppl play Ps4 and phone games.i showed uo to my kids and they laughed at the graphics.too hard to start with very little appeal in looks.i did my long years in uo but nostalgia isn't enough to have me come back.