Why Ultima Online Was Great

[Polaris75]

In the light of everything, I would just like to remind those I can of what made this game great. It was not the items, not the changes, not the producers, but it was the players. Everyone has different reasons for leaving Ultima Online one day. To those that are gone or are going, you will be greatly missed I can assure you. To our friends Aviendha, Amethyst, Dar Ragon, Foggy, Pantheros, Sassy, Tina, Mapster, Vindro, Whitewolf, @Blackie, @Gorath, @Scribbles, and all of those others who have gone from Ultima Online, thank you for having played with us all. Please never forget us, as we will never forget you and always await your return.

Never Forget -

 

[TB Cookie [W]]

Nice post.

I'd like to add, I think the negativity is getting to be a bit too high, I'm as guilty as anyone.

We are all passionate about different aspects of the game, and get frustrated, but I don't really find it fair to take it out on the developers.

A lot of things are what you make them, all the time I'm moaning like hell, my guild do show me that. Big thank you to them.

 

[Scribbles]

In the light of everything, I would just like to remind those I can of what made this game great. It was not the items, not the changes, not the producers, but it was the players. Everyone has different reasons for leaving Ultima Online one day. To those that are gone or are going, you will be greatly missed I can assure you. To our friends Aviendha, Amethyst, Dar Ragon, Foggy, Pantheros, Sassy, Tina, Mapster, Vindro, Whitewolf, @Blackie, @Gorath, @Scribbles, and all of those others who have gone from Ultima Online, thank you for having played with us all. Please never forget us, as we will never forget you and always await your return.

Never Forget -

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Long live the players!

 

[Lady Storm]

I have known these great people who have left this world and the RL one too... I miss them.
Going on 20 years I have played this game and met many good friends. Death is a mind set in the game but in RL there is no healer who can rez you.
I miss my friends....
We need more players, Get to it. its up to us my friends...
Goodman would be yipping right beside me at this too
UO needs help.. ITs got to be us.....

 

[S_S]

Nice post.

I'd like to add, I think the negativity is getting to be a bit too high, I'm as guilty as anyone.

We are all passionate about different aspects of the game, and get frustrated, but I don't really find it fair to take it out on the developers.

A lot of things are what you make them, all the time I'm moaning like hell, my guild do show me that. Big thank you to them.

My reason for leaving is because of blatant cheating (multi-boxing!) and the developers sitting on their thumbs about it. So yes, I DO blame the developers.

Long live the players!

 

[petemage]

As much as I can be negative, I also try to stay fair. UO still is a great game and I would say that anytime someone asks me about my honest opinion. I could easily assemble a list of 20 things to do that are still fun to me.

Are there issues I absolutely hate? Hell yea. Does it make the whole game bad? IMO not.

 

[Uriah Heep]

UO is fantastic!!! Most of us gripe because we feel/see such a wasted opportunity for it to be even better!

 

[Captn Norrington]

Something I have noticed over the years of running a new player guild on Atlantic, is that the new players who are not very social and just play the game itself seem to be the happiest. The ones who just go out and solo a dungeon, or go fishing all by themselves, maybe talking in guildchat every so often, usually stay in UO longer.

The ones who dive right into general chat and want to make tons of friends on the other hand, get exposed to the negative parts much faster due to disgruntled players pointing out to them what they would not have discovered themselves for months or years.

This has led me to believe that it isn't UO that's bad, UO as an actual game is still fun.... it's just that once you get involved in the social aspect of it you see the not so great people and the damage they cause.... which makes things suck.

 

[Dizzy]

Something I have noticed over the years of running a new player on guild on Atlantic, is that the new players who are not very social and just play the game itself seem to be the happiest.

Anecdotally, I'd agree. Been playing 17 years; for awhile led THB across multiple shards but stayed out of GenChat. I still stay away from it, especially during testosterone hour. Now I most log in, help another player if there's a need, join a LS community hunt, solo a few monsters, do a t-hunt. It's a fun game.

Most of the negativity I read is here in UHall, so I try to be selective at which threads I follow. I like the positive ones, abhor the negative ones.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

new players who are not very social and just play the game itself seem to be the happiest.

Same goes for older players, as far as I'm concerned

 

[Tanivar]

Rarely visiting Uhall is the trick to enjoying UO. It's little more than pancakes and moaning, complaining and whining.

Just go out and play the game ignoring most of Gen Chat as it scrolls by. You'll find the game very fun, particularly if you play solo. Sure as heck works for me.

 

[Swordsman]

Something I have noticed over the years of running a new player on guild on Atlantic, is that the new players who are not very social and just play the game itself seem to be the happiest. The ones who just go out and solo a dungeon, or go fishing all by themselves, maybe talking in guildchat every so often, usually stay in UO longer.

The ones who dive right into general chat and want to make tons of friends on the other hand, get exposed to the negative parts much faster due to disgruntled players pointing out to them what they would not have discovered themselves for months or years.

This has led me to believe that it isn't UO that's bad, UO as an actual game is still fun.... it's just that once you get involved in the social aspect of it you see the not so great people and the damage they cause.... which makes things suck.

Agree, I usually just login and play what I want to play. I am sure uo can be further improved.

 

[Lady CaT]

UO has been an amazing ride! I've met tons of great people over the years and enjoyed lots of fun and entertaining game content! Still can't believe its been 20 years already. Looking forward to the next 20! Ignore the Eeyores and chicken littles!

 

[ShriNayne]

General chat was not a good idea from the start, just because other games had it, didn't make it a good idea! After the first hour I just kept it off.

 

[grimiz]

Something I have noticed over the years of running a new player on guild on Atlantic, is that the new players who are not very social and just play the game itself seem to be the happiest. The ones who just go out and solo a dungeon, or go fishing all by themselves, maybe talking in guildchat every so often, usually stay in UO longer.

The ones who dive right into general chat and want to make tons of friends on the other hand, get exposed to the negative parts much faster due to disgruntled players pointing out to them what they would not have discovered themselves for months or years.

This has led me to believe that it isn't UO that's bad, UO as an actual game is still fun.... it's just that once you get involved in the social aspect of it you see the not so great people and the damage they cause.... which makes things suck.

Are you saying the great social sandbox experiment has failed and UO would have been better as another incarnation of the single player Ultima series? Would you still be playing it if there weren't a social aspect - I highly doubt it. Without the social aspect this becomes a 20 year old game with very little merit in todays game market.

The problem is not that there is a general chat. The problem is that general chat is not moderated or ToS enforced in any manner, which is another failing of Broadsword. If I posted an ATL general chat log on here verbatim it would probably get me banned.

 

[ShriNayne]

It doesn't matter if 99% of people are pleasant and treat each other with some respect, the other 1% will always ruin things for everyone else. One bad apple and all that... Unfortunately being nasty and/or stupid is not a crime...
I think they should never have brought in global chat if it was not going to have some form of moderation.

 

[Giggles]

What is killing UO for me is the lack of attention to bugs, new content being added that demands a massive time commitment, and the lack of TLC to classic content and bosses. In fact, the only reason I still play is my friends, my guild, and my love for occasional PvP.

Most of us started this game as teens and young adults who could commit 4-5+ hours a day easily to playing. Now we are all adult with jobs and mortgage payments, and I don't feel the devs have fully adapted to that concept. I'm not asking for instant gratification, and I understand that those who play more should gain more. But honestly.. what can I do PvM wise in the 2 hours a WEEK that I can usually squeeze in? Nothing really outside of maybe a champ spawn or two. So, usually I just log in and find some people to fight and I don't have to worry about grinding this quest to fight this boss, or sailing around to kill 4236287 sea thingys to fight this other boss.

In addition, I can't tell you how many times I have had the sudden itch to face my beloved mondains legacy content. I have wanted to go kill dreadhorn, or lady mel, but why? The loot was never upgraded. Hell, I think they still drop lvl 5 t-maps lol? It would just be a total waste of my weekly 2 hour ration... so back to pvp I go.

So yes the only reason I am still here is the people and pvp, its what makes UO still somewhat fun for me. I just wish the devs would re-adapt to the more classic UO mentality. And stop being so obsessed with making content harder and longer. It only benefits all the multiboxers, and hurts the casual and even solo players. We are slowly being pushed out of the game.

 

[Nexus]

Nice post.

I'd like to add, I think the negativity is getting to be a bit too high, I'm as guilty as anyone.

We are all passionate about different aspects of the game, and get frustrated, but I don't really find it fair to take it out on the developers.

A lot of things are what you make them, all the time I'm moaning like hell, my guild do show me that. Big thank you to them.

Who else is there? I'll admit for the majority of the Dev Team, no it's not fair, but there is one individual who has to sign off on all plans and changes, who's very job title makes them intimately responsible for all aspects of the game. Would it be better if we all kept quiet and ignored the single biggest problem with the game (RoC/ToS lack of enforcement) and continue to let it go un-challenged? Continue to accept ambivalent answers and obvious dodges when this lack of enforcement is questioned?

When we logged in, accepted that ToS, and agreed not to cheat, be vulgar, treat other players with a measure of respect, and not try to personally profit from the game we entered into a contract. Many of us maintain our end of that contract, but the other end isn't being held up. Many of us expected better, and we've continued to be let down, so people being upset and angry about it, yea I can see that.

Maybe we've set the bar too high, and have no business expecting at the minimum an honest answer as to why these things are allowed to continue. Maybe we shouldn't expect either the ToS/RoC to be enforced or for them to tell us the contract we entered is worthless so we know exactly where to set the bar.

 

[Nexus]

Are you saying the great social sandbox experiment has failed and UO would have been better as another incarnation of the single player Ultima series? Would you still be playing it if there weren't a social aspect - I highly doubt it. Without the social aspect this becomes a 20 year old game with very little merit in todays game market.

The problem is not that there is a general chat. The problem is that general chat is not moderated or ToS enforced in any manner, which is another failing of Broadsword. If I posted an ATL general chat log on here verbatim it would probably get me banned.

Yes and No, the social sandbox experiment has failed, only because in any society or social setting there are rules and standards which must be enforced in order for it to work. Lacking that enforcement the social experiment has no choice but to fail as there is nothing to stop the creep of corruption which undermines the entire society. Do I think UO would have been better if it had been a single player game? No not really, not if you look at the entire history of the game, but the past half decade or so that creep I mentioned has become more and more visible, it needs checked and purged or things will continue downward.

 

[Ivar the Great]

Easy fix of the game for Mesanna is to just ban this one guy who everyone knows is like a disease to the game and that alone will improve UO by 75%.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

It doesn't matter if 99% of people are pleasant and treat each other with some respect, the other 1% will always ruin things for everyone else. One bad apple and all that... Unfortunately being nasty and/or stupid is not a crime...
I think they should never have brought in global chat if it was not going to have some form of moderation.

Just make is so general chat in Fel can only be heard in Fel

 

[ShriNayne]

@Yadd of Legends Well put sir, well put!!!

 

[Ivar the Great]

Just make is so general chat in Fel can only be heard in Fel

Hey Yadd, that is an awesome idea. Please email this suggestion to Mesanna because you are spot on!

 

[Tail of a Comet]

Ultima Online will be my first and last mmorpg. I have played this game since 1999 on Japan's shards. In UO, I could run! I could ride horses! I could build houses and decorate! Those would never make me painful or my tired body. This game made me lots friends, fun times, upset, crying, and happy feel...

Now, someone said UO fells like another game, not what we have known from the past. Yes, I think so too. I still love this game though. But my heart misses the classic ultima online before everything went messy... Please don't disrespect or change Ultima's classic concept more. I'm waiting still for everyone to come back and play once more.

​

 

[Picus of Napa]

What is killing UO for me is the lack of attention to bugs, new content being added that demands a massive time commitment, and the lack of TLC to classic content and bosses. In fact, the only reason I still play is my friends, my guild, and my love for occasional PvP.

Most of us started this game as teens and young adults who could commit 4-5+ hours a day easily to playing. Now we are all adult with jobs and mortgage payments, and I don't feel the devs have fully adapted to that concept. I'm not asking for instant gratification, and I understand that those who play more should gain more. But honestly.. what can I do PvM wise in the 2 hours a WEEK that I can usually squeeze in? Nothing really outside of maybe a champ spawn or two. So, usually I just log in and find some people to fight and I don't have to worry about grinding this quest to fight this boss, or sailing around to kill 4236287 sea thingys to fight this other boss.

In addition, I can't tell you how many times I have had the sudden itch to face my beloved mondains legacy content. I have wanted to go kill dreadhorn, or lady mel, but why? The loot was never upgraded. Hell, I think they still drop lvl 5 t-maps lol? It would just be a total waste of my weekly 2 hour ration... so back to pvp I go.

So yes the only reason I am still here is the people and pvp, its what makes UO still somewhat fun for me. I just wish the devs would re-adapt to the more classic UO mentality. And stop being so obsessed with making content harder and longer. It only benefits all the multiboxers, and hurts the casual and even solo players. We are slowly being pushed out of the game.

This whole post sums up exactly UO to me.