Obviously this would be in cooperation with Broadsword. Right now, I am just interested in gauging community interest in such an idea.
While I fully support Pinco's efforts, the devs need to fix the EC's underlying problems first instead of just paying them lip service. Pinco can only do so much to cover their apathetic negligence.
In order for them to do that they first have to admit that it's a problem and stop putting it off... But saying they are aware of the issue and will look into it is a cop out they know some of the issues with the EC are GAME BREAKING... If people in the CC weren't able to loot a public corpse for over a year you KNOW they would have fixed it by now.
Someone would have to buy the whole Ultima IP from EA, not just UO. This would likely be an exorbitant amount...but EA won't ever sell. They hoard IPs.
They already have a bunch of Advisors who work for free to help improve the game, so they might as well just make the Advisors TOS enforcers too instead of paying someone for it.
No. Crowdfunding for a 20 year old game with a 13 dollar a month subscription... owned by one of the world's largest and wealthiest gaming corporations... is a ludicrous idea.
That would require an entire art team, and probably a year. Zero chance.
You would have more chance in raising money via crowdfunding to create your own UO clone, than to buy the IP from EA.
Uhm... This might sound like a great idea, in theory. In practice, however, it would likely lead to massive abuses since Advisors are players. Much like the abuses perpetrated during the Councilor, Seer, Companion, and now the EM program. Players having power over other players tend to go wrong way, way too fast.
Advisors have powers that are easily abuse-able, so they could profit very easily over the average player.
We don't need a entire art team I'll volunteer, and have it done in half a year or less. * where did I put my box of crayons, and paper*
Anyone who abuses their power like this, or worse, Clops, deserves to be unceremoniously tossed out on their ass. Houses (and contents), characters and account permanently deleted. Not banned, deleted.
Do you know something we dont?!
Steam will never happen now while UO is owned by EA.
It was greenlit... so... the only thing holding it up from there has been EA.
I have to agree with you there... everyone has opinions on what ought to be done and what is a priority...
I'm sorry to be that guy again, but I'd rather suggest to take a step back, give it a break, whatever you call it. There is thousands of other games out there. They come and go and are very enjoyable. Some for only a week, some for a month or two and some for a couple of years. I don't see any reason why I should shell out lots of money to try to rescue one game that was poorly managed by its very own team.
Graphics have nothing to do with attracting new players. The view and graphics in this game get it done. A lot of people like retro. People still play Diablo 2 and like it more than Diablo 3. The big thing keeping new people away are A) Vets B) Bugs C) Account management system D) Initial upfront price to get all current content. E) ADVERTISING F) Economy once players do start. G) Bad advertisment for buying houses/content with real money. H) Players with entirely too much real life time/money invested in the game.
I am only speaking from the personal experience of trying to get many people started in this game. Like I said I like UO as is but everybody I introduce to the game do not like the graphics. I agree with almost everything else you have said but graphics do seem to matter to a lot of people. Graphics are not the only problem though, that is for certain.
I agree to a large point. I still love Fallout 2 even though the graphics are far from modern. Graphics are far from UO's only problem just one of a few I heard mentioned when trying to get people in the game. Making the game more user friendly so new players don't have such a learning curve is a step in the right direction.
I have tried many other mmo's and agree that UO is the best. I hope you are right about more subs but like I said I was just listening to the feedback from those I introduced to the game who didn't like the graphics. I also play the CC as well but have never had an issue with account management.
The reason they went back to WoW is because most games now hold your hand in an endless series of quests to reach "end game" but what they don't understand is once "endgame" is reached that's it... boredom city from then on... until the new publish raising the cap another 20 or whatever... but even that gets to be rinse and repeat... the difference between games like that and UO is HUGE.... there is no "endgame" .... for UO... it is what you make it. However there is a point like now where without more people it's hard to find people to do things with this includes RP, PvP, PvM and such.... when you do nothing but hang with the same 4 or 5 people you've played with for the last 15+ years you get frustrated... idea's all sound the same... and well it becomes boring... you know what they are going to do... be it in PvP, PvM or RP... which is where we are right now...
I do agree with a lot of what you said and have played WOW myself and do not appreciate that aspect of the game. To make a character fight to be able to achieve higher crafting levels is crap to me as well. The freedom in Uo to do what you want, when you want is one of its bigger drawing powers. I wish i could convince more people that this is a better way. However my point was how it is difficult to get people to stay playing UO. The interface takes some getting used to for sure and is not geared for newer players to make an easy transition. The graphic were also mentioned by some I know but I think with easier interface they can overlook the graphics and enjoy the game more. It is also harder to get what you need in UO than in other games, at least to complete the worthwhile stuff.
It's not the smallest changes. The basic movement feels totally off. I can't stand it. The gait animation and movement speed are all off.
I usually like your posts but this idea would just be a waste of time and technically become a free shard, everything we own in game belongs to EA including the developers that work for them. Agreed some stuff could be better but there's also a reason why this game has survived 20 years, I truly believe that everyone would have left already if it was as broken as some make it seem...
Some free shard are onlne 15+ years, so the idea of "survived 20 years" isn't all that goal.
I would rather handle those cases on a one-by-one basis.
