20 years later... It's time for a vanilla server

[arkiu]

I don't even care if I'm coming off as "that guy" that apparently missed the developers memo on the subject - I realize the producer has said "no" time and time again.

I won't even try and do any convincing why this should happen - just please try and make this happen one day Devs! After 20 big ones I couldn't think of a better time to do so!

Fire away. Go ahead and remind me that they lost the source, or that resources could be better allocated.. whatever. It can be done and I refuse to believe otherwise!

 

[FrejaSP]

Give it up, I do remember what we had, lots of bugs and imbalance

 

[Lord Gandalf]

Excuse me but whats a "vanilla server"??!

 

[Victim of Siege]

It's a server with Bugs, Glitches, Holes, Lag, Blackholes, reverts, . . . Come to think of it.

 

[Gorath]

Give it up, I do remember what we had, lots of bugs and imbalance

So...you're say there has been no progress for 20 years?

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Excuse me but whats a "vanilla server"??!

I was wondering that as well...

which led me to wondering what he had against a Neapolitan Server.. or a Cookies-N-Cream Server... or a Rocky Road Server.. errr wait that is Atlantic so we have that one covered

then with all the thinking about ice cream I started missing Ozog

*Hands Ice Creem Cones* and *peez on vanilla server* in his memory

 

[Captn Norrington]

Excuse me but whats a "vanilla server"??!

I was wondering that as well...

which led me to wondering what he had against a Neapolitan Server.. or a Cookies-N-Cream Server... or a Rocky Road Server.. errr wait that is Atlantic so we have that one covered

then with all the thinking about ice cream I started missing Ozog

*Hands Ice Creem Cones* and *peez on vanilla server* in his memory

When people say vanilla server, they mean a server that is the same as the game was when it was brand new. It would be plain, like vanilla, without any extra things added onto it like expansions, Trammel, Malas etc.

So essentially a server where it would feel like stepping back into 1998.

 

[UNKNOWN of Atlantic]

When people say vanilla server, they mean a server that is the same as the game was when it was brand new. It would be plain, like vanilla, without any extra things added onto it like expansions, Trammel, Malas etc.

So essentially a server where it would feel like stepping back into 1998.

And it would all be Felluca PVP zoned Only safe area would be cities ....Wait don't we have this with siege ?

 

[Captn Norrington]

And it would all be Felluca PVP zoned Only safe area would be cities ....Wait don't we have this with siege ?

Siege still has all the expansions like Time of Legends, all the new items from those expansions, newer skills like Imbuing etc. so is not truly a vanilla server.

 

[UNKNOWN of Atlantic]

Siege still has all the expansions like Time of Legends, all the new items from those expansions, newer skills like Imbuing etc. so is not truly a vanilla server.

Oh ok ...well to be honest why would anyone want a Vanilla server ...seems kind of boring and rinse repeat themed to me?

 

[Gorath]

Part of the charm with the old server was people were kinda unaware of stuff. Now everyone knows how to power game etc, you see wands etc used on those free player shards. The Vanilla server could come back but not sure if it would be like how we think or remember it. I am open to trying it though. I loved pre-pub 16, or even *RIGHT* before AoS was good.

 

[THP]

id prefer a chocolate and strawberry server myself....although rum and raison is a close second....

 

[Capt. Lucky]

I see the appeal. But a server that never had anything new or many of the new features would seem pretty dull. When UO opened it was a bug infested nightmare, lol. Maybe a server just before Trammel launched might be easier to take. Seems like they said those back ups didn't exist anymore (which I find hard to believe also) and they would have to build it from scratch, so I think that was the nail in the coffin. No stat or skill lock... I think people remember those days through rose colored glasses lol

 

[TheDrAJ]

I think a vanilla server (just before age of shadows) would have great interest for about a month then the talk would start about balance, bugs, exploits and third party programs and speed hacks and people would call for nerfs and the population would drop like a rock.

oh wait that happens now!

 

[Archnight]

I don't even care if I'm coming off as "that guy" that apparently missed the developers memo on the subject - I realize the producer has said "no" time and time again.

I won't even try and do any convincing why this should happen - just please try and make this happen one day Devs! After 20 big ones I couldn't think of a better time to do so!

Fire away. Go ahead and remind me that they lost the source, or that resources could be better allocated.. whatever. It can be done and I refuse to believe otherwise!

See... even the vanilla doesn't like your idea



Hehe

 

[It Lives]

I will just echo most of the comments here, it would be way too boring on a vanilla server after all that has been added.

 

[Heimi]

We already play on 'vanilla' servers...the free ones are modded to hell.

 

[arkiu]

Ayooo that got shot down fast. Okay what about a stable t2a release server??

Does no one want to relive the savage glory days?!?!? Whats wrong with you people??!?

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Ayooo that got shot down fast. Okay what about a stable t2a release server??

Does no one want to relive the savage glory days?!?!? Whats wrong with you people??!?

Nobody wanted to play them then either, but it was really the only game in town lol The problem is still they don't have back ups from back then and I highly doubt they'll ever take the time to build one.

 

[old gypsy]

The excitement might last about a week, or just long enough for some former players to get nostalgic about their PK days and sign up to relive the "fun", inspiring others to quickly return to the shards we have now.

 

[MalagAste]

The problem with most of those who request this is they want the Nostalgia back ..... but that will never be again.

See back in the "day" when UO began it was all new... there were plenty of "sheeple" for the experienced to fleece and they loved it... and the "sheeple" remained for the most part or were replaced by "new sheeple" because there was NOTHING else. Nothing at all to go to until I think EQ.. and then WoW...

Once Trammel was created (which had to be done but I think was done wrong).... at any rate once it was created the "Sheeple" were no more and the DEVs started coming up with stupid ways to get "Sheeple" to return to Fel for the slaughter... but it doesn't work.

UO will never be what it was... it will never be this brand new experience with all the wonder and awe and all the excitement you remember because you won't have "sheeple" you will have a whole bunch of other PvPers... but they will be the same ones you been fighting and dying to or chasing about these last 18 years and they will be every bit as skilled as you are.. and on a vanilla server it'll be back to squishy mages who can dominate everything again... or better yet... Tamers with 60 dragons in tow... when dragons would eat you to pieces... dominating every dungeon.

I seriously think a lot of you forget the obvious.

 

[Spartan]

I don't even care if I'm coming off as "that guy" that apparently missed the developers memo on the subject - I realize the producer has said "no" time and time again.

I won't even try and do any convincing why this should happen - just please try and make this happen one day Devs! After 20 big ones I couldn't think of a better time to do so!

Fire away. Go ahead and remind me that they lost the source, or that resources could be better allocated.. whatever. It can be done and I refuse to believe otherwise!

I started with T2A and in some ways wouldn't mind going back to then IF - and ONLY if - there was some sort of population on the shards! Seriously ... I'd go hunting with upwards of 30 people sometimes (Pacific) and had a blast! Now-a-days, the shards are not AS populated. Atl and Pac were the most and probably still are however the overall character count is quite decreased.

For those who questioned what a vanilla server would be like, consider this (does not include all things):

1. Housing required keys to open doors for entry - security system as it is will be gone. Use Detect Hidden before opening up!
   
2. No custom housing or housing customizations. Classic footprints only.
3. No special ingredients or gems from Lumberjacking or Mining.
   
4. Skills had no way of control - skill locking would be gone.
5. Besides skills, stats could not be locked - only controlled as best as possible.
6. No such thing as Soulstones, so find a Blacksmith when you need repairs. Stoning Arms Lore won't happen.
   
7. Landmasses would be gone: Tokuno, Ilshenar, Eodon, Stygian Abyss. More if I think harder.
8. No High Seas stuff - cannons, etc ... all gone
9. As noted Tamers would rule with scads of dragons and wyrms. Tank mages would be pretty good as well.
10. Simplified weapon and armor stats - some of them hidden without Item ID.
11. Luck suits, LRC suits, LMC suits - and the like - all gone.
    
12. Skills of Arms Lore, Item Identification - at least - would be valuable again. Item ID would tell you any hidden properties of a weapon/armor.
13. Moongates cycled and you needed to know the phases of the moons to get anywhere in one hop. Or gate or Recall or walk/ride there (see below).
    
14. No Sampire templates. Chivalry and Necro skills - all gone. No Sacred Journey.
    
15. No training quests (New Haven and elsewhere) that boost skills initially. You'll be on your own to grind away.
16. Only Human characters ... no Elves or Gargoyles. Orcs were RP'd as they are now by some.

There are other things I know I have missed ... other posters will add for sure. But these are some of the highlights.

 

[Dot_Warner]

Just no.

 

[Pawain]

I started with T2A and in some ways wouldn't mind going back to then IF - and ONLY if - there was some sort of population on the shards! Seriously ... I'd go hunting with upwards of 30 people sometimes (Pacific) and had a blast! Now-a-days, the shards are not AS populated. Atl and Pac were the most and probably still are however the overall character count is quite decreased.

For those who questioned what a vanilla server would be like, consider this (does not include all things):

1. Housing required keys to open doors for entry - security system as it is will be gone. Use Detect Hidden before opening up!
   
2. No custom housing or housing customizations. Classic footprints only.
3. No special ingredients or gems from Lumberjacking or Mining.
   
4. Skills had no way of control - skill locking would be gone.
5. Besides skills, stats could not be locked - only controlled as best as possible.
6. No such thing as Soulstones, so find a Blacksmith when you need repairs.
   
7. Landmasses would be gone: Tokuno, Ilshenar, Eodon, Stygian Abyss. More if I think harder.
8. No High Seas stuff - cannons, etc ... all gone
9. As noted Tamers would rule with scads of dragons and wyrms. Tank mages would be pretty good as well.
10. Simplified weapon and armor stats - some of them hidden without Item ID.
11. Luck suits, LRC suits, LMC suits - and the like - all gone.
    
12. Skills of Arms Lore, Item Identification - at least - would be valuable again. Item ID would tell you any hidden properties of a weapon/armor.
13. Moongates cycled and you needed to know the phases of the moons to get anywhere in one hop. Or gate or Recall or walk/ride there (see below).
    
14. No Sampire templates. Chivalry and Necro skills - all gone. No Sacred Journey.
    
15. No training quests (New Haven and elsewhere) that boost skills initially. You'll be on your own to grind away.
16. Only Human characters ... no Elves or Gargoyles. Orcs were RP'd as they are now by some.

There are other things I know I have missed ... other posters will add for sure. But these are some of the highlights.

No thanks

 

[The Craftsman]

Excuse me but whats a "vanilla server"??!

Noob.

 

[Riyana]

Regardless of how much anyone wants a "classic" server, and even if a consensus could be reached on what exactly that would entail, UO is currently running two clients and two different server rulesets (three if you count test center) on a TINY crew. I just can't see it happening, or it being a very wise expenditure (and continuing commitment) of scarce resources.

 

[The Craftsman]

Just putting it out there .. there are some 'classic' servers available. PM me

 

[BeefSupreme]

How exactly would they make a 'vanilla' server when those code builds were lost over a decade ago?

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

When people say vanilla server, they mean a server that is the same as the game was when it was brand new. It would be plain, like vanilla, without any extra things added onto it like expansions, Trammel, Malas etc.

So essentially a server where it would feel like stepping back into 1998.

Ahhh.. at times like this I would tell ya thank ya for handing me a flashlight while I was lost in the woods... but I fear that would be lost on a Salty Sea Dog like yourself.. so.. thank you for firing up the lighthouse so my tech illiterate self could avoid the reef.

.. and armed with that new knowledge.. I stand by my earlier post on the subject.

Sometimes the Ozog way is still the best way..

*Hands Ice Creem Cones* and *peez on vanilla server* in his memory

 

[Storm]

While a vanilla server would be fun...for a few days if I could be with all those original people! People seem to forget all the bugs and loopholes... and do any of you remember tela-storms? those were always a blast..pet loss ..black holes.
it really was murder and mayhem all over! Even Richard Garriott has said he underestimated people's responses!
To have a shard devoted to that would be ok! but nothing I would play on every day! only to see friends I think!
I do miss seeing Richard an actual creator of the game playing the lead character in the game and actually would play!

Just my thoughts!
Storm

 

[arkiu]

How exactly would they make a 'vanilla' server when those code builds were lost over a decade ago?

"lost" .... ? Maybe im just naive but i refuse to believe that legendary source code like that of UO's somehow vanished bro

 

[arkiu]

While a vanilla server would be fun...for a few days if I could be with all those original people! People seem to forget all the bugs and loopholes... and do any of you remember tela-storms? those were always a blast..pet loss ..black holes.
it really was murder and mayhem all over! Even Richard Garriott has said he underestimated people's responses!
To have a shard devoted to that would be ok! but nothing I would play on every day! only to see friends I think!
I do miss seeing Richard an actual creator of the game playing the lead character in the game and actually would play!

Just my thoughts!
Storm

Storm that was about the most human response ive seen on these boards and although you shredded my idea, i respect your opinion.

Not by chance Storm from catskills right?

I still want the savage world in which this game was built upon. I dont care what any of you say - perhaps besides the bugs - i would love nothing more than to return to simpler times!

You are all cowards and i will rek u!

 

[WhiteWitch]

Ayooo that got shot down fast. Okay what about a stable t2a release server??

Does no one want to relive the savage glory days?!?!? Whats wrong with you people??!?

Nostalgia aint what it used to be..

 

[ShriNayne]

I wouldn't want to go all the way back to the beginning, things changed at that time because they had to. I do think a lot of people would like to go back to right before AoS though, but I agree that it will never happen.

 

[Thrakkar]

When people say vanilla server, they mean a server that is the same as the game was when it was brand new.

I'd say, a vanilla server for a certain player is the state of the server, when that player started to play the game.
So if you ask 10 people, they come up with 10 different answers. You're already lucky, if you manage to find 10 people, who say Publish X is, what a vanilla server is. But you also have to deal with all the people saying "Vanilla is Publish X with feature Y from Publish Z. And the bugs A, B & C have to be fixed as well.

Ayooo that got shot down fast. Okay what about a stable t2a release server??

Besides, that they don't have that code base anymore. It's full of bugs, which have already been fixed throughout the years. Convenience functionality like global chat or vendor search, all gone.
Plus there is no EC for T2A. 50% of the players (yes, this is the officiall number by Mesanna) who use EC won't go back as well.
On top of that, also the enhanced CC like with a bigger game window will be gone (and please don't tell me it's easy to add, because they already did it once, because obviously you have no clue about software development and release branching).
And what about UOAssist? Does the current version still work with an old client frpom the stone ages?

Does no one want to relive the savage glory days?!?!? Whats wrong with you people??!?

Wanna see a screenshot of the savage glory days? Here you go:



So, can we please agree, that the glory days are over? Because a game with just a fraction of it's player base won't be even remotely as glorious as you might remember it...

 

[The Craftsman]

A full server is the sign of a thriving game

 

[MalagAste]

A full server is the sign of a thriving game

Yes but when it was during your "Power Hour" and you waited all day have little time to get in and play and you can't it was sooo frustrating!

 

[Capt. Lucky]

"lost" .... ? Maybe im just naive but i refuse to believe that legendary source code like that of UO's somehow vanished bro

That's what they said. Hard to prove it's not lol

 

[arkiu]

I'd say, a vanilla server for a certain player is the state of the server, when that player started to play the game.
So if you ask 10 people, they come up with 10 different answers. You're already lucky, if you manage to find 10 people, who say Publish X is, what a vanilla server is. But you also have to deal with all the people saying "Vanilla is Publish X with feature Y from Publish Z. And the bugs A, B & C have to be fixed as well.


Besides, that they don't have that code base anymore. It's full of bugs, which have already been fixed throughout the years. Convenience functionality like global chat or vendor search, all gone.
Plus there is no EC for T2A. 50% of the players (yes, this is the officiall number by Mesanna) who use EC won't go back as well.
On top of that, also the enhanced CC like with a bigger game window will be gone (and please don't tell me it's easy to add, because they already did it once, because obviously you have no clue about software development and release branching).
And what about UOAssist? Does the current version still work with an old client frpom the stone ages?



Wanna see a screenshot of the savage glory days? Here you go:

View attachment 67002

So, can we please agree, that the glory days are over? Because a game with just a fraction of it's player base won't be even remotely as glorious as you might remember it...

Ughhhhh i want to post that pic of robert downey rolling his eyes but im too lazy right now...

 

[arkiu]

I wouldn't want to go all the way back to the beginning, things changed at that time because they had to. I do think a lot of people would like to go back to right before AoS though, but I agree that it will never happen.

Pre aos! Fine! Can we all agree on wanting a pre-aos server so i can stop making useless posts about something that will never happen anyways!

 

[Archnight]

Pre aos! Fine! Can we all agree on wanting a pre-aos server so i can stop making useless posts about something that will never happen anyways!

If the game was healthy enough I would agree with a Pre Age Of Shadows server, however the problem is to justify adding another shard when so many are pretty much dead... including Siege/Mugen. Going part sub/f2p is what the Dev's should be concentrating on, get the game healthy so we can start adding stuff again

 

[TheDrAJ]

Have you played on Siege lately? Try it - you might be surprised.

 

[arkiu]

If the game was healthy enough I would agree with a Pre Age Of Shadows server, however the problem is to justify adding another shard when so many are pretty much dead... including Siege/Mugen. Going part sub/f2p is what the Dev's should be concentrating on, get the game healthy so we can start adding stuff again

Archnight was that highly reasonable and logical point you just made to counter me really necessary in a thread like this???

 

[arkiu]

Have you played on Siege lately? Try it - you might be surprised.

Why do u do this to me

 

[TheDrAJ]

Why do u do this to me

????????????????

 

[Gorbs]

I'm going to be honest here - I never believed their stories about why they won't / can't throw together a throwback server. However, after the recent developer's letter said they wouldn't fix the trade window display because number formatting is not supported and they would have to make a change on the backend, well, I'm not confident they could make alterations to give us that original experience.

 

[Slayvite]

As much as i'd love a dip into the past, those days have gone.
New players just wouldn't like the "vanilla", what made it great was the fact it was new back then.
The awe at talking to somebody ingame and finding out they lived on the other side of the world.
The sense of wonder and excitement at being able to fight your 1st undead after hours training on innocent goats ect.
The Role Play also made it what was so good that after 20 years we still fondly remember it but again, those days have gone.

No, it's best to keep those things cherished memories and not destroy them by having a "midlife crisis UO shard".

 

[Captn Norrington]

"lost" .... ? Maybe im just naive but i refuse to believe that legendary source code like that of UO's somehow vanished bro

Supposedly it was lost because the developers were moving from one office building into another, and had boxes stacked up everywhere. An intern was trying to help by removing the trash so they could focus on getting all the stuff packed up... and he accidentally thought the box with the stuff needed to make the old code was a trash box, leading to it being thrown away.

 

[The Craftsman]

Supposedly it was lost because the developers were moving from one office building into another, and had boxes stacked up everywhere. An intern was trying to help by removing the trash so they could focus on getting all the stuff packed up... and he accidentally thought the box with the stuff needed to make the old code was a trash box, leading to it being thrown away.

Ive heard that story too, but suspect that it may be nothing more than an urban myth. Free shards seem to have no problems at all creating servers from all era's.

 

[THP]

TO BE FAIR .....I WOULD LOVE SEE THIS AS AN EXPERIMENT... 500GOLD START ...NO TRANSFER... NOTHING... SEE HOW PEEPS WOULD COPE WITHOUT ACTUALY BUYING/PAYING THERE WAY TO WIN THERE UO.... CHUCKLES....

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