One year vets are such a rarity they should be treated as special!
It seems that the recurring theme for most older players is a sense of community, yes I agree it is hugely important!
EA started the break-down of the UO community when they brought in AoS, pretty much over-night the community spirit started going down-hill, not to mention a lot of people left.
UO might not be the best looking game or the coolest, but it's 20 years old and the original concepts were so well done we are still here 20 years later. What EA did to the game later was not always good, but at it's core it is still worthwhile. The question is, if and how can we save it?
I don't think people are trying to be negative for the sake of it, I think they can all see the problems because they see them every day.
Returning players can see UO through nostalgic eyes, new players won't be doing that.
One of the frequent questions asked by returners is 'What the hell happened to Despise'? Usually followed by total disgust when they are told what happened. New Haven and Despise are prime examples of Devs totally out of touch with what people wanted.
How can we start this 'Endless Journey' with things as they are? On Europa we give help to new players, but not all shards have this, there is not a well-thought out new player experience.
A few times recently we have had people come to the Bank Meeting on Europa and they want to make a mage, they did some quests at Haven, but where is the Spell-weaving new player quest? Where is the Mysticism one? The new player experience should encompass all skills and the accelerated gains should be in a wider area.
All new players seem to get is frustrated.
