From the "Official" Forum regarding Shard Sheilds

[Fridgster]

And they could say that you were the very first one they could ever prove actually did it.

I would ask about the guy who advertises it in their own game 24/7 LOL

 

[Victim of Siege]

Do you really think that rule is there to actually prevent RMT? Do you think EA/BS really cares if joe blow is selling gold? The rule is there to avoid the headache of dealing with disputes that may arise from said actions. Nothing more nothing less.

No but i am saying I won't be the one to find out.

 

[Victim of Siege]

I would ask about the guy who advertises it in their own game 24/7 LOL

A problem they created with EJ. no limit to the amount you can create. all you need is an email address from google that you don't even have to have proof of who you are. to create. the only way they could find out is if google was forced to give up the ip you use to sign in.

 

[Fridgster]

A problem they created with EJ. no limit to the amount you can create. all you need is an email address from google that you don't even have to have proof of who you are. to create. the only way they could find out is if google was forced to give up the ip you use to sign in.

Which would hold water if he wasn't doing it well before ej came out. Unfortunatly he has been doing it well before EJ.

 

[Victim of Siege]

Which would hold water if he wasn't doing it well before ej came out. Unfortunatly he has been doing it well before EJ.

yes but after EJ he could do it in the main chat channel, before he was restricted to help only iirc

 

[kaio]

Here is one that comes to mind. There ARE others of course.

From Broadsword
Terms of Use Agreement
12. PROHIBITION ON ACCOUNT, CURRENCY AND ITEM TRANSFERS
Your Broadsword account is non-transferable. You may not sell, loan, lend, lease, barter, exchange, pledge, or hypothecate your online currency or Broadsword User account for any item of value unless expressly permitted by Broadsword. Any attempted transfer of your account, whether for consideration or not, shall be null and void and shall cause your account to be terminated without compensation. Under no circumstances shall you allow or permit any other person or third party to use your account as a means to loan, lend, or lease your account usage. Your account is valid only for use by the person who registered it, without exception.

Broadsword didnt exist 7 years ago, so again please show me where in the TOS it states it.

 

[Fridgster]

yes but after EJ he could do it in the main chat channel, before he was restricted to help only iirc

You mean the channel new players go when they need stuff.... nothing like trapping the wolf in with the sheep.

I'm not against RMT. Actually if anything I'm indifferent. However to me, it is a slap in the face for EA/BS to allow that guy to post unabated on the actual servers. Until they do something about at least that they have no leg to stand on (nor does anyone else really) to condemn others for RMT.

 

[Victim of Siege]

I don't have a real problem with it either. people want to buy it, someone's going to sell it to them. good old human nature.

 

[Fridgster]

Broadsword didnt exist 7 years ago, so again please show me where in the TOS it states it.

TOS has always stated you don't own anything in game. If you can't own it then technically you can not sell it. Also I believe that it has always been listed one way or another that you are not supposed to do it. Both points are moot though since UO has never even remotley attempted to enforce it. As a matter of fact, in my opinion their utter lack of action by default basically allows it. Their blatant inaction even on their own servers to me seems to actually encourage it.

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

If you can't own it then technically you can not sell it.

Tell that to all the people, including myself and my guildmates, who paid cash. Paid 100s and 1000s of dollars back in the day for castles and houses on packed servers.

 

[Nexus]

Broadsword didnt exist 7 years ago, so again please show me where in the TOS it states it.

Let's go back to August of 2001 then.

UO's Terms of Service Section 5(b)

(b) Rights. You acknowledge and agree that all characters created, and items acquired and developed as a result of game play are part of the Software and Service and are the sole property of Origin Systems. You acknowledge that: (i) the Software and the Service permit access to Content that is protected by copyrights, trademarks, and other proprietary rights owned by Origin Systems or Content Providers (collectively, "Rights"), and (ii) these Rights are valid and protected in all media existing now or later developed, and (iii) except as is explicitly provided otherwise, your use of Content shall be governed by the copyright laws of the United States and other applicable laws. You agree that you may upload or otherwise transmit on or through the Service only Content that is not subject to any Rights, or Content in which any holder of Rights has given express authorization for distribution on the Service. Unless specified otherwise in your transmission, by submitting Content to any area on the Service, you automatically grant (or you warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted) to Origin Systems the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such Content worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term including any renewal term of any Rights that may exist in such Content.

Then follow it up with Section 11

You may not use, copy, modify, sublicense, rent, sell, assign or transfer the rights or obligations granted to you in this Agreement, except as expressly provided in this Agreement. Any assignment in violation of this Agreement is void, except that you may transfer your Account to another person provided that person accepts the terms of this License Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable, and such decision shall not affect the enforceability of: (i) such provision under other circumstances, or (ii) the remaining provisions hereof under all circumstances. Origin Systems' failure to enforce at any time any of the provisions of this Agreement shall in no way be construed to be a present or future waiver of such provisions, nor in any way affect the right of any party to enforce each and every such provision thereafter. The express waiver by Origin Systems of any provision, condition or requirement of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of any future obligation to comply with such provision, condition or requirement. Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, no default, delay or failure to perform on the part of Origin Systems shall be considered a breach of this Agreement if such default, delay or failure to perform is shown to be due to causes beyond the reasonable control of Origin Systems. This Agreement is governed by and construed under Texas law as such law applies to agreements between Texas residents entered into and to be performed entirely within Texas. All notices given by you or required under this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to Origin Systems at 5918 West Courtyard Drive, Austin, Texas 78730, or faxed to (512) 795-8014, Attn.: Ultima Online Account Administration, or emailed to [email protected].

It says right there all the content in the game belongs to Origin. Your subscription gives you the right of access to that conduct but only under conditions they expressly allow, which were placed in the Rules of Conduct, which included:

10) You may not use the Ultima Online Service or the Ultima Online Web Site for any activities other than activities that are permitted within the game world.

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "But Origin doesn't exist anymore!" That doesn't matter, Origin, Mythic, and Bioware, and finally Broadsword have all had similar limitations in their Terms of Service and Rules of Conduct.

RMT is and has been defined as illegal in the game for going on 2 decades.

 

[Nexus]

OK Since this is going off topic into RMT, and the original post is about Shard Shields, anyone who wants to talk about the legality of, or the merits for or against RMT can do so in the new thread I just started.

RMT: The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Any further discussion of RMT in this thread is going to be removed by Moderators or Admins.

@Archnight @Merlin @Captn Norrington @Riyana @Larisa @DreadLord Lestat

 

[kelmo]

 

[celticus]

To put the thread back to its path:

There are several perspectives here :

1>--One is from mr @Poo and his perspective is one of justice, and correctness as it applies to the player and "Veteran's Rights". I believe that he is spot on in what he states : The game and all reposts in the game promised me that I would have my transfer shield at 14 years. He has been a loyal supporter and player of the game through thick and thin for 14+ years! Shields are a very high end item and it was promised to be delivered to him, as it did.

2>--The other perspective is one of a lot of anxiety that the shard shields are destroying the game, by allowing free movement perm. or just to trade things in ? Baja (kidding ofc.). Several people from my shard that went to the "Mall" clearly said they did so, so that "they can play with other people". I.e. There are more people there, and more (and believe it or not CHEAPER according to them) goods they need.

3>-- The game has lost population including the "Mall" and it was not the Shields causing it. The causes are may and different for different people. Too many to go into but people have mentioned greener grass in other games, pixels, etc, etc. This shrinkage of the population in general, including Atl, has created may additional problems including very poor trading . in low pop, and people being unhappy not being able to get things they want.

4> The game is hurting yes. We want more subs yes. Do we have many Vets that have stood the test of time for 14-20 years yes. So go ahead and remove the shields. What happens then? The Vets esp in the low pop shards, get really offended and leave the game. And the new subs that now have no shields in sight? After a few months go bye bye also, for the cuter pixelled games.

5>-- People do not play in uo just for shields. And new players can always make a newby on the Mall, if they really want to do that.

One answer that I see as perhaps positive is to:

=Leave shields alone as they are, or reduce the 14 years to 10 years or something like that. High end Vet rewards are JUST THAT. Vet rewards, Not everyone can have them. We should earn our keep : With loyalty and effort. Not free. The good old honorable way.

=They can band-aid the trading situation by : Creating a Universal Consignment Trading Post (UCTP) such as exists in MANY games, including brand names, and free games. Hire a highschool kid to program the database for it. If I put the time even I can do it. This UCTP should be accessible from ALL shards. You will put your items on it, possibly only 5 items, a time limit of 1 week, the price you want for the item. If the item is sold to some one from other shard or your shard, the gold goes to your bank account. If it is not sold in 7 days, the item goes to your bank box. The charge to the seller is only point of sale, and it is 2% to 3% the value of the item. The UCTP or Uctapus, should have a capacity of several hundred thousand items at one time, not really hard to do.
This way the Shard shields stay as they are, trading is much sweeter for the low pop shards. People at low pop will be able to finally get some desirable items without having to pay up the gargantuan prices of the local shards, and keep ejoying their favorite local shards they have played for decades.

Someone with "Privileges" to the "Formal UO Forum" I hope they please COPY AND PASTE this message there. (I know, I know..I can have access there, I just don't want it, as I believe that THIS should have been their one and only forum : Stratics. So I will never post there).

Problem is that a lot of our Vets are a bit disgruntled about a lot of other things, and hurting the shields bay be the last straw.

 

[Robert1213]

Fine.
ill be the old ******* who says it.

i see this argument like this.
on one side there are people, and lets face it they are probably older people just from the sheer fact that they where playing the game over 20 years ago, so even if they where not old when they started playing the game they are now, and they have played the game and now years later they have access to a Vet Reward that is actually useful.

on the other side there are people who may be new to the game or are coming back to the game after leaving for years and they look at the older players who can move around from shard to shard monthly and they are jealous that they can move around. regardless of why they want to be able to move around - be it financial or for pleasure or trading or collecting... they are jealous.

its human nature.
but why should i, one of the ones who started on day 1 and have been here through the good times and the ba....... awful times give up a Veteran Reward that i have earned from YEARS(!) of paying money to receive because some kids are butt hurt that they have to wait patiently until they can reach 14 years.
id imagine that this same group of people even if they DO wait till the 14 year mark will not have any picks left because - and lets face it it is not in their genetic make up - to have any picks available.

so lets use me for example.
i like Ethereal mounts. i picked a mount every time i had a reward available to me.
when shard shield came out i picked 2.
i like them, so i stopped picking ethereal mounts and now collect shields.
every year i get 2.
have i been moaning and pancakes to everyone that i no longer get ethereal mounts and have to sit and wait a year to get 2 more shields?
no.
i wait.

so when people say to me, its not fair, i say yes.
yes it is fair that you have to wait.
i had to wait.
EVERYONE had to wait!
and when people say, ohhhh its such a economic boost that some people get free shard transfers and we have to pay for it.
really?
is it really?
lets have a look at that shall we.
so, i had to wait 14 years paying $15 a month (15x12=180) ($180x14years= $2520)
so i paid $2520 before i got my first shields (2)
then i paid another 6 years to get more shields (6yearsx12= 72 payments, so 72paymentsx$15= $1080)
so now we add another $1080 to the $2520, so to get my shields i had to pay $3600 PER ACCOUNT(!!!) then you can multiply that by however many accounts you have shields on, for me its 2 (one for North American the other does all the HK ones)
so im into my shard shields for $7200.

so ok, im willing to give up my reward for being a good little UO player and keeping this game going for over 20 years with my monthly subscription and ill concede that everyone should have shard shields.... as long as you each pay $3600 cash right now to get them (per account), because as you guys like to say - its only fair that we all have access to the same things, i couldn't agree more, so its only fair that you pay what i paid.

and before you start crying that you had to pay for normal transfer tokens for years and year.... we guess what sugar tits, so did i.
and im still buying them on my other accounts.

thank you, next.

(ya ok, i sound like a Oligarch when i say all that and that is fine, ive been called worse by better, hell ive been banned from Stratics from Petra before and i came back to becoming a Moderator, i can eat crow when i need too!)

You have not been paying 15 a month for 14 years because the cost was not always 15. Also you didn’t pay your subscription no matter the cost for shard shields, you paid it to play the game.

 

[Lord Frodo]

You have not been paying 15 a month for 14 years because the cost was not always 15. Also you didn’t pay your subscription no matter the cost for shard shields, you paid it to play the game.

And because we paid or subs every month like clock work EA/UO gave us a gift. Have you received any gifts from UO? Did you keep them?

 

[Dixie chessy/legends]

I use mine for robbing other shards and shipping the junk to Atl....but I pay for my account so I don't really care about what anyone thinks about how I use MY shields....

 

[Robert1213]

And because we paid or subs every month like clock work EA/UO gave us a gift. Have you received any gifts from UO? Did you keep them?

Sure did but I can also accept the fact if something was given to me and should not have ever been given to anyone in the first place it should be taken back or changed. In no f***ing way are shard shields good for the game I don’t care if they took them from me because I nor anyone playing this game is entitled to anything firstly, if I get something cool if not like I said the subscription paid is to play the game nothing else. If you chose not to play and still pay for the game cool that’s on you and props for supporting the game. That doesn’t mean you are owed anything and especially something gamebreaking and unfair.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Sure did but I can also accept the fact if something was given to me and should not have ever been given to anyone in the first place it should be taken back or changed. In no f***ing way are shard shields good for the game I don’t care if they took them from me because I nor anyone playing this game is entitled to anything firstly, if I get something cool if not like I said the subscription paid is to play the game nothing else. If you chose not to play and still pay for the game cool that’s on you and props for supporting the game. That doesn’t mean you are owed anything and especially something gamebreaking and unfair.

Game changing what a joke. Transfer Tokens have been duped the hell out of but I don't hear you whining to get rid of them and they have been in the game a lot longer than Shard Shields. There are a lot of shard shield holders that make runs to support their shard and help others unlike all the Transfer Toked runners charging for their service.

 

[Lord Frodo]

IMHO the people that scream the loudest about shard shields are RMT supporters and we are hurting their bottom line by doing runs for free. Those sites have hurt UO more then Shard Shields but we don't hear the whiners crying about them, PRICELESS.

 

[celticus]

IMHO the people that scream the loudest about shard shields are RMT supporters and we are hurting their bottom line by doing runs for free. Those sites have hurt UO more then Shard Shields but we don't hear the whiners crying about them, PRICELESS.

Very nicely said. Leave the Vet's Shields alone. These people have earned their keep. If you want to redistribute goods easily across shards for the new/non vet rest of us, just make a universal trading post, like a lot of other MMO's have. We still have not heard the explanation or the exact mechanics of how "Shard Shield are destroying the economy" in a non-refuted way. This remove the SS idea is an insult to others that have put in the effort and time in this game. Also removing ANY of the PROMISED Vet rewards sucks. SS are NOT destroying the economy. Other things are. I had a trusted Stratics player get a PP WW and a PP mare from Baja a few months ago and Xfer it for me. She did not want $$ for it. I will always be indebted to her, and to me she is an angel.. If she did not have shields, how would she do it?
Leave SS alone please. And please don't be jealous of our Vets!

 

[Robert1213]

I don’t support RMT in anyway but the game already has it? Also most of the people saying keep the shards are saying they are fine with newer players having them as long as they pay. They support RMT and I don’t see you calling them out because they want what you want to keep shard shields. Im sorry just because a handful of people help others move there stuff back and forth does that in any way shape or form make them good for the game lol. Because you helped a guy transfer his stuff that negates the money others or even possibly you have made off them from buying stuff then reselling them? Come on now. As for the op I’d you don’t see the economic issues and need them explained then you shouldn’t be chiming in on the topic. You say there has been nothing said to support the damage it does

 

[Lord Frodo]

I don’t support RMT in anyway but the game already has it? Also most of the people saying keep the shards are saying they are fine with newer players having them as long as they pay. They support RMT and I don’t see you calling them out because they want what you want to keep shard shields. Im sorry just because a handful of people help others move there stuff back and forth does that in any way shape or form make them good for the game lol. Because you helped a guy transfer his stuff that negates the money others or even possibly you have made off them from buying stuff then reselling them? Come on now. As for the op I’d you don’t see the economic issues and need them explained then you shouldn’t be chiming in on the topic. You say there has been nothing said to support the damage it does

LMAO So you are ok with duping transfer tokens because the game already has it but Shard Shields should be taken away, priceless. As long as new players are willing to pay to upgrade their accounts to 14 years I have zero problems with it. So quit whining about what you don't have and write EA/BS/UO and ask them to sell you game time that will advance you to 14 years. Life must really suck because you don't have everything everybody else has.

 

[celticus]

I don’t support RMT in anyway but the game already has it? Also most of the people saying keep the shards are saying they are fine with newer players having them as long as they pay. They support RMT and I don’t see you calling them out because they want what you want to keep shard shields. Im sorry just because a handful of people help others move there stuff back and forth does that in any way shape or form make them good for the game lol. Because you helped a guy transfer his stuff that negates the money others or even possibly you have made off them from buying stuff then reselling them? Come on now. As for the op I’d you don’t see the economic issues and need them explained then you shouldn’t be chiming in on the topic. You say there has been nothing said to support the damage it does

The shields..the shields..One thing to see in addition to the above : In the state of the game as it is NOW, if you take the shields out with the desolated low pop shards, It would really be the coup-detat for these low pop shards, and leave players trapped there, with no hope for better trades i.e. things like items NOT been found on the low pop shards, or costing 2-5 TIMES MORE than the shopping mall (Atl). Think about it - would that be good for SO MANY low pop shards without providing an alternative route for goods like a Universal Trading Post? What economic benefits you see there? Please enlighten us!

 

[MalagAste]

I don’t support RMT in anyway but the game already has it? Also most of the people saying keep the shards are saying they are fine with newer players having them as long as they pay. They support RMT and I don’t see you calling them out because they want what you want to keep shard shields. Im sorry just because a handful of people help others move there stuff back and forth does that in any way shape or form make them good for the game lol. Because you helped a guy transfer his stuff that negates the money others or even possibly you have made off them from buying stuff then reselling them? Come on now. As for the op I’d you don’t see the economic issues and need them explained then you shouldn’t be chiming in on the topic. You say there has been nothing said to support the damage it does

I don't buy stuff and sell it anywhere... in fact I don't even have any vendors outside the ones in my Fel house who hold all my boxes for me... I don't put things on vendors to sell... if I EVER sell things in game rather than just give them away I sell them to people in Gen Chat spamming they are buying something a) to shut them up or b) because they made it worth my while to stop whatever I was doing to go get them whatever they wanted ...

Mostly again to shut them up so they quit spamming they are buying something...

Don't presume everyone who has shields is an Alt gold seller... who does nothing but rip people off and buy low sell high... I do not fit that category... and it seriously pisses me off to be lumped in with that lot... I transfer things all the time for others... FOR FREE 99% of the time.

Damage has already been done... but I remember before having to hire a "Broker" to trade things between shards or whatever that wasn't any better and quite honestly that was shady as hell...

Brokers made tons of RL money ... Shard Transfers and Shields put those people out of business... I'd say a lot of the people whining about them probably where butthurt over losing business...

But again the rabbit is already out of the hat you can't put it back in and pretend no one saw it.

 

[Robert1213]

I didn’t presume or accuse anyone. I said possibly to one guy lol. I will say this one more time since it goes both ways. Don’t presume because a select few only use it to help others or move there own things you’re in the majority. Just because you do or don’t do something doesn’t outweigh the paotives or negatives if the majority doing something point blank. Same thing applies to oh well so many people duped xfer tokens already so what’s the big deal if I have a unlimited one? The duping is a shame but because they can’t fix that they shouldn’t fix something they can? Or maybe they can and chose not to? As a vet who can use shard shields I think they need to go or be changed flat out. The negative outweighs the positive as they are right now.

 

[celticus]

I didn’t presume or accuse anyone. I said possibly to one guy lol. I will say this one more time since it goes both ways. Don’t presume because a select few only use it to help others or move there own things you’re in the majority. Just because you do or don’t do something doesn’t outweigh the paotives or negatives if the majority doing something point blank. Same thing applies to oh well so many people duped xfer tokens already so what’s the big deal if I have a unlimited one? The duping is a shame but because they can’t fix that they shouldn’t fix something they can? Or maybe they can and chose not to? As a vet who can use shard shields I think they need to go or be changed flat out. The negative outweighs the positive as they are right now.

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. That you are FLAT WRONG is a different story. It is ok to be wrong. You just need better arguments to support your theories about "destruction of the game and game economy due to the transfer shields". I think frankly most people here disagree with you. Also I bet you reside in ATL so it makes no difference for you right? To us that live in low pop shards it does matter, a lot. Like we said we get goods brought in from the Mall by others both sellers and friends. Otherwise we would be stranded. Please enlighten us, bring forth your arguments in detail, don't be bashful. SS are a useful item in the game, and many of us aspire to get a set in the future. Anyways your explanations would be appreciated.

 

[Pawain]

The negative outweighs the positive as they are right now.

I disagree. If players are buying things on small shards then that is not the buyers fault. The item has to be for sale. Atlantic is like a large country with gold. The other shards are smaller countries. Global economy has been around for thousands of years and has made people in other small places smarter and have some power.

There are fewer items on vendors on small shards because of vendor costs. Put an item on a vendor for 150M and see how that goes on a small shard. Now players from small shards can take that extra tangle to Atlantic and spam a few times and get 15M gold. Everybody on his home shard has one and the ones who do not can not afford one.

What exactly have shard shields ruined? Please explain.

 

[Robert1213]

Man it’s funny everyone has called me out for assuming things yet everyone that has responded has literally done nothing but make accusations and assumptions. The hypocrisy is real. You guys can all sit here and hold each other’s hands all you want and co sign each other’s bs. As for the let you guess you can guess again why it doesn’t matter for me or you could simply read for yourself? I clearly stated I can use them myself? If they took them away guess what I would do? Hop on another character where I want to play because I have chacters where I need them because I put the time in. If I wanted something before shards I transferred with the money I earned because I put the time in or I just played and acquired what I needed. You know why you can’t get anything on your server? It’s all being transferred off? Crazy you need that to be explained to you.

 

[celticus]

Also SS will never be taken out : UNLESS people from UO staff, Dev, etc. have a vested interest in one or more RMT sites, since it is easy to see that taking these shields out would be a boost to the RMT sites.
Its actually that as it is now THE POSITIVES OF S. SHIELDS OUTWEIGH THE NEGATIVES, and not the other way around.

 

[Merth]

Sings “let it go...let it go”. This thread has gone from meh to just boring.

 

[Pawain]

You know why you can’t get anything on your server? It’s all being transferred off? Crazy you need that to be explained to you.

That is completely false. The scrolls on LS are just as expensive as Atlantic. Other items same. Who is buying a Wrestling 120 for 35M on LS and taking it to Atlantic to sell for 28M?

YOU need to get some information and knowledge before you make analysis.

Case in point: Siege. Can not transfer on or off. The vendor search is near empty. Pop ulation is what is causing small shards to have few items on vendors. Not shard shields.

@Robert1213 can you answer the question I asked? How has shard shields hurt the economy of small shards? But please make a trip to vendor search on Siege and other small shards. They do not have the player base to have a lively economy.

 

[Fridgster]

Sings “let it go...let it go”. This thread has gone from meh to just boring.

Like it does everytime it comes up. It's like a bad sequal to groundhogs day. It's never going to change. They wont remove them because it would lead not only to a substantial loss of subscriptions but would cause a logistical nightmare (ie: how would they reimburse everyones picks) and they won't expand the availability because it would undermine a source of revenue. The whole argument is futile.

 

[PageBoy]

If you decide to play on a dead shard, you have to deal with a dead VS, don’t blame SS for your bad game choices please

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

If you decide to play on a dead shard, you have to deal with a dead VS, don’t blame SS for your bad game choices please

Well, to be fair, some players were playing on a shard before it became a dead shard.

 

[petemage]

3>-- The game has lost population including the "Mall" and it was not the Shields causing it. The causes are may and different for different people. Too many to go into but people have mentioned greener grass in other games, pixels, etc, etc. This shrinkage of the population in general, including Atl, has created may additional problems including very poor trading . in low pop, and people being unhappy not being able to get things they want.

Greener grass, like being able to play with your mates without popping 2x $20 each time you switch servers..

You make some very good points, yet you still disregard that we are not just talking about any random vet reward but an item that creates a huge disbalance for every poor player that was not fortunate enough to start playing this computer game in 2005.

It has little to do with greed or having a grudge on vets in general. You dont hear anyone complaining about other vet rewards because those are not creating those huge imbalances.

Not that this hadn't been said before a lot of times, so I keep it short. Unfortunately, those snarky people like @Poo or @Lord Frodo just don't seem to follow up with more thoughful posts that look at this case from a general standpoint opposed to one's personal standpoint. I personally find that attitude rather selfish, but that's up for everyone's personal judgement.

I'll link to @Riyana again, because she hit it pretty good with her post: From the "Official" Forum regarding Shard Sheilds

 

[PageBoy]

Well, to be fair, some players were playing on a shard before it became a dead shard.

To be fair, only one of my account have shard shields.

Chars of my second account have been transferred from Europa to Atlantic buying tokens on UOstore.

Stop whining please, invest some cash and support the game

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

Stop whining please, invest some cash and support the game

maybe you should check yourself. I haven't been whining about shard shields. READ the thread.

 

[Theo_GL]

I just love how the vets with less than 14 years blame the vets with more than 14 years for the shard shields when it was a gift from EA/UO for 14+years of loyalty, priceless. Here is a suggestion get off you fannies and write EA/BS/UO and ask them to allow you to pay the difference between you current age and 168 months at $10 a month to make your accounts total 168 months (14 years).

Actually I have suggested this before. Why not let people pre pay for years ahead and then get the rewards now?? If you are 5 years away - prepay the 5 years? They get their money now instead of later. Any other business would say 'YES".

 

[Finley Grant]

Very nicely said. Leave the Vet's Shields alone. These people have earned their keep. If you want to redistribute goods easily across shards for the new/non vet rest of us, just make a universal trading post, like a lot of other MMO's have. We still have not heard the explanation or the exact mechanics of how "Shard Shield are destroying the economy" in a non-refuted way. This remove the SS idea is an insult to others that have put in the effort and time in this game. Also removing ANY of the PROMISED Vet rewards sucks. SS are NOT destroying the economy. Other things are. I had a trusted Stratics player get a PP WW and a PP mare from Baja a few months ago and Xfer it for me. She did not want $$ for it. I will always be indebted to her, and to me she is an angel.. If she did not have shields, how would she do it?
Leave SS alone please. And please don't be jealous of our Vets!

You "earned" nothing. You paid 15 buck a month to use the service. The same as the noob at luna Bank....

 

[Lord Frodo]

You "earned" nothing. You paid 15 buck a month to use the service. The same as the noob at luna Bank....

You are %100 right we did not "earn" any Vet Reward they were "GIFTS" from EA/UO for our loyalty to the game, even the noob that sits at luna bank.

 

[Lord Frodo]

IMHO I think it is so funny that people think the players had anything to do with EA allowing UO to give us Shard Shields and better yet stomping their little feet about how game changing it is. Why don't you all get some courage and write EA but we all know you will not do it you would rather WHINE about it hear on Stratics.

 

[Fridgster]

You "earned" nothing. You paid 15 buck a month to use the service. The same as the noob at luna Bank....

That is not quite correct. With that payment comes loyalty. That loyalty is built up over the course of time. Build up enough loyalty and you receive better rewards.

Money+time= loyalty. Without money or time you cannot have loyalty.

It's a pretty basic marketing concept.

 

[kelmo]

*chuckles*

 

[Jolt]

Yuck, another shield thread.

I've only just finished cleaning up the vomit from my room from the last time I read some tragic person posting that they were special because they've stayed subscribed for so many years.

Just do what every other sane returning person does when they return for their nostalgic couple of months and buy Atlantic gear off a 3rd party RMT site and get it transferred to your home shard.

 

[Eärendil]

There is nothing better than a shard without shard shields - come to SIEGE PERILOUS! Yeah!

 

[Great DC]

All these years later and still nothing but entitlement arguments from the shield owners and the game has steadily died since they came out. But hey keep feeling entitled while you stand around alone with no one to play with, maybe you can play frisbee with them when there is no reason to use them anymore

 

[Fridgster]

All these years later and still nothing but entitlement arguments from the shield owners and the game has steadily died since they came out. But hey keep feeling entitled while you stand around alone with no one to play with, maybe you can play frisbee with them when there is no reason to use them anymore

The game is 20 years old and when the shields came out it was 14 years old. That's like 500 years old in a game years. To claim shard shields have caused the decline is uninformed and honestly totally false.

 

[Great DC]

The game is 20 years old and when the shields came out it was 14 years old. That's like 500 years old in a game years. To claim shard shields have caused the decline is uninformed and honestly totally false.

Keep telling yourself that. Those shields caused todays economy to be only on atl period, its not even a debate. If you think otherwise your lying to yourself.

 

[Victim of Siege]

Keep telling yourself that. Those shields caused todays economy to be only on atl period, its not even a debate. If you think otherwise your lying to yourself.

It wasn't the shard shields that did that, it was the decline in population. there just aren't enough people to fill up more than maybe 2-3 shards and we have how many available? people that want to play with a large population are on ATL, the people that like solo/small groups are on their niche shard. The shields had nothing to do with that, they just gave folks a cheaper way to change shards or to shop on atlantic. the xfer token in the store has been around a few years longer than the shields, seems to me they are the logical choice for the decline in the economy.