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EM Events--Their purpose and moving back toward it

Riyana

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Let’s talk about EM events.

The UO.com page about live events describes EM events as “a great place to meet up with your shards community”. According to the description on this page, “Event Moderators, EM(s), are on most shards and run unique events to bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game.

Is the EM program fulfilling this purpose?

In my opinion, it is not.

There is not a single word in the official description of EM events about rewards or drops, yet EM events have come to be dominated by the pursuit of them. Discussion here, on other forums, and in game is dominated by them.

To make a long-winded deconstruction short, I think it is safe to say that people who want the experience of participation, RP, and story are frustrated and resentful toward people who want drops/rewards. People who want drops/rewards or just big fights are frustrated and resentful toward people who want the experience of participation, RP, and story. People who may want both are forced toward one side or the other. These are conflicting goals that cannot be reconciled without someone getting the short end of the stick. Increasingly, the participation, RP, and story side is getting that short end as events become more and more centered around drops.

The purpose of this post is not to point fingers, but rather to point out that no community most interested in EM events is really satisfied with the status quo, and none is or indeed can be served fairly the way things are currently run. The EM program, per its official description, is supposed to "bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game". In reality, it is doing the very opposite.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Many suggestions have been made for adjusting EM events--and most of them revolve around changing something about drops. Some adjustment would help, but I think a more fundamental re-thinking of what is currently being done, who plays how, and what different groups of players are hoping to get out of events is well overdue. Change should come from that, not from focusing just on drops.

When the EM program is fully staffed, there is an EM assigned to every shard, but the program increasingly serves a small community of cross-shard collectors with little or no ties to most of the shards on which they collect drops. Meanwhile, the individual shard communities all rely on a single PEC for shard-specific support.

If EMs are there to serve their shard communities, then what is the point of having an EM on every shard when the events they run are dominated by a single crowd that does not regularly play on that shard? If the PEC is supporting shard communities, why isn’t there one for every shard?

This is a baffling and backwards setup that, regardless of intent, actually disadvantages shard-specific communities in terms of regular support and content.

So let’s flip it around. I propose the following:
  • Instead of allotting one boss drop per month per EM, allot one clicky item per month per EM. They can put it wherever and carry on with their events without having to fight impatient people who are just there for the drop, therefore benefiting both the EMs and the players who just want to play.
  • For the rares- and big battle-oriented players, have a few roving EMs going shard to shard with just drop boss fights (ideally tied in to the EM content of that shard, but not necessarily) with minimal RP/story.
Basically, make shard-specific EMs work primarily for their own shard communities in a community-oriented pseudo-PEC role and restrict the rares aspect to a few roving EMs to serve the cross-shard and rares-oriented communities that may be more interested in a drop or a fight than in the actual content.

What would this accomplish?
  • It would stimulate shard communities while still serving players who primarily want rares or big battles.
  • It would alleviate some of the division of shard communities vs cross shard eventers, roleplayers vs rares collectors, and "memento" vs "special reward" philosophies on EM items.
  • It would reduce disruption on shard events by making clear that there will be no rare drop, allowing participants to better focus on and follow the event.
  • It would continue the practice of EM drops, which have become important to a lot of players, while allowing players uninterested in more in-depth or lengthy aspects of the event to avoid it.
  • It would reduce an individual EM's influence over a drop event--which in turn would reduce corruption/favoritism complaints that the devs have to spend their limited and valuable time addressing.
  • It would keep the more sensitive and most cheat-attracting aspects of the EM program--the rares--confined to a much smaller selection of EMs, making it easier for the devs to monitor.
Again, there is not a single word about rewards or drops in the official description of EM events on the live content page. So what are we doing? Why are we wrapping the only consistent in-game content around drops? There is no sense having an EM on every shard when they are increasingly primarily serving a small group of players with little or no ties to those shards. This modus operandi does not make sense, and is not meeting the expectations it is ostensibly supposed to.

Divorcing the rares factor from one-off live event content would be the simplest way to push to program back toward what it should be, what is officially described to be. It would separate the conflicting goals of players who want to participate and players who want to get a drop or or just a novel fight, and allow both to be served better without antagonizing one another.

There is the seed a productive program that “builds interest in the game”, as the official page describes, but the program has gotten off course. It does not have to be a matter of adjusting game mechanics or changing code or increasing GM oversight or shard-binding, but rather a practical re-focusing on the stated purpose of the program and re-aligning its operation to better reflect that purpose for everyone.
 

Lord Arm

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there needs to be less drops only one to 3. and maybe a clicky thing also is ok. there are too many drops now and rare collectors and others are leaving, selling off everything while they can get good price. drops mean nothing now days because so many drop. long ago, when there was less drops, it really meant something to get one. it means nothing now. the devs changed the system because some people may get more than one drop when each monster could have one drop. now some get even get 5 or more drops. with the changes, multi chars have exploded and it really pissed off people. everything would be so much better for many if everyone just used one char for events.. some people gate their extra chars in just before the boss, some use auto heals, buffs and other things to help get the drop. its just not fun like it use to be for me. just my opinions
 

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Despite being asked many times why EM rares are not shard-bound the Dev team have never given any explanation logical or otherwise for their reluctance to make these items shard-bound. Items given out at shard-specific EM events should be bound to that shard if not bound to the account that received it, there is no reasonable excuse for it to be otherwise. I do agree with @Riyana that RPers would probably be happy with a clickie for items at the end of the event. We had one like that on Europa a while back and everyone was happy to get something. The main reason for attending nowadays seems to be greed, the behaviour is generally rudeness to the EM and to all other players, gross impatience and they will do anything to stop others getting a drop, mostly multi-boxing and spamming spells. Within half an hour of the event ending most of the items are up for sale.
 

Pawain

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They will not make then shard bound because going to any shards EM event is a playstyle.
If they were shardbound there would be the 5 players that live on that shard at the events.
They do not announce which event will have the drop because the shard hoppers would only show up for that one. Mesanna knows there is Greed in UO.

If you pay attention you may figure out which one will get the drop. On LS if the EM puts up the schedule early, the last one in that month will have the drop. But sometimes RL happens and they can not do 2 events then drop event per month. I like the way our EM follows what is going on with changes in the game and put his own spin on it. We know exactly why these Orcs are here and we have seen the corrupted Shrines.

I also think a clicky for all who participate is a good idea.

I also think the EM should be allowed to pass out or make when requested, items like carved pumpkins, Cookies, etc. with their name on them.
 

Riyana

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its just not fun like it use to be for me. just my opinions
I used to love EM events and go out of my way to make sure I hit all of them on my shard that I possibly could. I don't even pay attention to anything but the governor meetings anymore.

My previous shard got an EM who was very obviously making drops for a collection set and quit when the set was complete. How does that promote community or serve that shard? It doesn't.

Despite being asked many times why EM rares are not shard-bound the Dev team have never given any explanation logical or otherwise for their reluctance to make these items shard-bound. Items given out at shard-specific EM events should be bound to that shard if not bound to the account that received it, there is no reasonable excuse for it to be otherwise.
If it had been that way from the beginning, we'd have a very different landscape. But I think that cat is well out of the bag, and at this point shard-binding everything would be met with massive opposition. That's why I think roving EMs with drops would fill that demand while letting the shard EMs focus on their own communities instead of trying to balance conflicting interests that really can't be balanced.

I think that everyone can get what they want, but not the way it's currently set up.
 

MalagAste

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I'm fine with just having a "clicky" at the end of a story arc... Rares Collectors have more than enough "rare" crap to go around and the constant churning out of stuff for stuff isn't really doing anyone any favors...

As for the roving EM's idea that's sort of ok ... but these should be either "spur of the moment" events that would CLEARLY favor those who live on the shard however we all know that the "community" would have 200 extra people there in a heartbeat with all their multiboxed characters in tow... Or they need to be clearly announced FAR ahead of time giving everyone a fair chance to attend.

If things were a clicky everyone would get a chance to have the item and it would reduce the insanity... people might focus more on the event and less on the item.

Or they could go back to when they were all about event and not at all about drops. I'm fine with just getting a participation award 2x a year...
 

ShriNayne

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A few years ago Europa got a new EM and for a couple of months there were 20 - 30 people doing the events and we all let the EM talk and the npc's talk and then we had a big fight and some of us got a nice item. Then everyone else found out about the events and particularly the drops and suddenly there were twice as many people, a few groups of wraiths? that seemed to all move as one with odd names and a lot of well-known PVPers that would just talk over the EM and the NPC's and stand on them so nobody knew where they were or what they were saying. Every event ended with a lot of people's PC's crashing when they all started spamming chiv spells. After 3 or 4 of these most of the people who had originally been going just gave up, all of our guild-mates and the RPers. We tried complaining to the EM about multi-boxers and the spamming but they said they couldn't do anything. So yet again the cheats won, turning a blind eye is one thing, but actively rewarding cheating, that should NOT be happening! :(
 

TheGrimReefer

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I agree Event Drops should be Shard Bound. People only doing events for a drop have no intention of actually following the event, story line or even being part of that shards community. They just want the drops to sell. Making them Shard Bound will ensure that the people who do such events are from that shards community and not an x-sharder multiboxing the event to maximize profit. What profit is there to be made if the items cant leave that shard?
80% of the EM drops go to the same people no matter what shard its on. And they are never from that shard just their for drops and profit. You see it all the time on the Rares forums who gets drops all the time. Now how are they doing this without multiboxing? Would they continue if they were shard bound? Probabally not since there is no profit to be made by doing so.
 

Larisa

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I'm going to ramble so bear with me.

Rares are a part of the game....it's a play-style just like taming or T-hunting or anything else...I for one really don't care if I get a drop or not..I go (Or went) to the events because I enjoy them and I just ignore the shard hoppers.

There is only one drop per month....the other 3 events (At least on Origin) are more enjoyable because it's usually only Originals at the events....there's your community building and interaction. I know most of the people that play on Origin because of these events, it's nice to see the familiar faces.

Those events that don't have drops (And again this is just Origin because I don't go to other shard events) these non-drop events do exactly what is described, brings the community together and tells a story.

I am lucky to be on a shard with a really great EM, she has several story arcs that she runs through each month and she makes them fun and engaging.

If they put in a clicky...everyone would get something and then there would be no rares.....the rares community is the most populated and most thriving community, in my opinion.

A solution?

Get rid of all EM drops...which we know isn't going to ever happen. I like to have mementos of my shard...things that say Origin on them, the rest I don't really care so much.

Make a clicky....which, as I stated above would obliterate all rares....sure there are plenty of rares in the game right now...but without new product, buying and selling gets pretty old if you're buying and selling the same things over and over again :/

So for me...the events I attend, I enjoy...I get to spend time with my wonderful EM and the amazing people of Origin. If I do happen to attend a drop event and it's an item I REALLY want and don't get, I'll buy it just to have that memento...honestly I think I only did that one time....because I really don't care one way or the other about the drops unless it's something super cool and amazing and has Origin on it :)

If you don't like the way drop events are...the massive lag and flappy dragons all over because the shard hoppers can't be bothered to tame and train smaller pets! Then don't go....I know that seems harsh...people WANT to go to their shards events without having to deal with the shard hoppers...I get that....but Mesanna has said time and time and time again that she will never change the way the events are run...the EM program is her baby so at the end of the day none of this really matters.
 

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I love attending all the EM events, except for the Governor's meetings( one exception being Sonoma's) I think the drop rate is fair and you have an equal chance of getting drops whether you are a warrior or healer, and yes I bring my drops home if I like them or they do not sale on the shard of the drop then they still go home to Sonoma, where I list them for double the price I was asking on the shard where it dropped. Of course no one wishes to pay double the price so I keep them. Today if you see a EM item in one of our Keeps or our castle they all 400 million each :p To be paid on Sonoma :p

See you at the next EM event *waves*
 

Cyrah

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Way back on Pacific Cyno and Kaz did both. Drops, Every now and then a clicky. That was enough for me. They were awesome Ems.
 

Riyana

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I think part of my point is getting lost in my TL;DR post.

Shard binding is not the solution.

The solution is to have a few EMs going shard to shard--the way players interested most in the drops do--to create shorter drop type events to cater to that crowd.

Meanwhile, the shard EMs take on a more community oriented EM/PEC hybrid type role to serve the shards they are actually assigned to.

The idea is that the EMs and distribution of items should reflect how the communities are actually approaching them. Roving drop EMs for roving drop players, and shard oriented EMs for shard oriented players.

For better or worse, EM item collecting has become a playstyle. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. The problem is that this playstyle and content/story oriented playstyle are fundamentally incompatible. They are competing on the same medium for something that both just aren't getting, and can't get, to the satisfaction of both.

But shard community and content/story are getting lost right now, and that's not right either. I think there is room for everyone to be satisfied, or at least more satisfied than is currently the case.

It's a compromise that mirrors who is doing what and why.
 

MalagAste

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I get you Riyanna and I agree with much of what you're saying... though I think all EM Events should end their story arc with a clicky... And they should keep doing attendance rewards 2x a year.

That way people can enjoy the story and have a memento of the event. I've been doing events long enough to remember when EMs made clothing and items with tags on them that you could loot off the corpses... they named characters things and such it was awesome... you had little things you could remember the event by and keep. But then word got out and things went berzerk... and people started doing what others have mentioned... talking over the EM ... Spamming spells along with EVs, RC and everything else on top of EMs and standing on them with dragons in tow... packing tiny rooms with people and dragons was nuts... you couldn't tell what was going on and then the vulgar behavior began... people making "art" from things and showing it to you... saying vulgar and rude things to the EMs and other players and eventually a lot of really nice good people quit coming to the events... and sadly a lot of them got so fed up with the EM stuff that they left UO entirely... feeling there was no longer any place for them.

Gradually some folk have returned to EM Events but not like before... some quit trying to talk and interact with the EMs...

What saddened me more than anything is once upon a time the EMs used to participate in things with the RP community... coming to our meetings, playing off our stories and adding to them with their own... sometimes attacking our meetings... leaving us clues as to the upcoming events and such... but no more... in fact they pretty much ignore everything outside their own events now... and all RP they do is strictly scripted to where if you mentioned anything like Jhelom's governor is evil and is helping the Pirates to attack other cities and such they pretty much will say "oh... that sounds terrible hope you work that out" and that's pretty much it... Once upon a time they would have done something about that... and interacted... but no more.

Sadly what started as a really awesome concept and idea by the DEVs has turned into nothing but a drop grind for Rares collectors... I'm glad and happy that the program did do a few good things before it was pretty much taken over by Rares Collectors... it got a stable in Vesper, much-needed Docks in Yew and Minoc, and for me at least it got a nice teleport from the Yew Mainland to the Yew Far Farm across the bay. I am sure it's gotten a few other nice additions on some other shards... but I had many high hopes for the EM program in the beginning... sadly the drive there for such nice additions seems to have died out. Was hoping we'd at least get Yew and Minoc added to the fishmonger quests... but that dream has died.

Oh and I don't want to forget the other behavior that started at EM Events and that is the clear harassment of other players and the EMs that occurred at least on GLs for some time and NOTHING was ever done about it. It got to the point where I would purposely stand my main character FAR from the action so those "harassing" me were too far away to see what was going on and would often miss the bosses when they were spawned... but they somewhat ruined the events for many people by their rude behavior and such. I used to get upset about what they were doing but once I started to foil them back by keeping my main character FAR from the event center it was all good... they missed a few drops and I was happy to keep the children back out of the way for everyone else to enjoy the event in peace. They soon figured out what I was doing and gave up harassing me ... but the damage was by then already done for a few and they quit coming to the events. I recall at some points having 8 to 10 players constantly standing on top of my character with at least 4 dragons in tow... was extremely difficult to even know where I was most the time. And they used to harass anyone who tried to RP with the EMs... but we got pretty good at ignoring them. Yeah, ignore button.
 
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Riyana

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Furthermore, if the drops are so important--if they are the be-all end-all of events, then the EM event description on the official page should be updated to reflect that.

There is not a single word about drops, rewards, or prizes of any kind on the Live Events page on UO.com. Not one. So why should events be so dominated by them? The content and community is supposedly the point of events, but every event and every discussion of events revolves around something not even mentioned in the official description.
 

Pawain

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There is not a single word about drops, rewards, or prizes of any kind on the Live Events page on UO.com.
We all know there is a drop when a EM event segment ends. The Shard regulars will attend all the events for fun.
Not announcing drops make the Shard Hoppers also attend each event. Talk to them. You will find they like playing UO just like you do. The In Sync Garg Boy Band will just ignore you.
 

Riyana

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We all know there is a drop when a EM event segment ends. The Shard regulars will attend all the events for fun.
Except that that is NOT what is happening. Many shard regulars are being driven out of their own shard's events.
Not announcing drops make the Shard Hoppers also attend each event. Talk to them. You will find they like playing UO just like you do. The In Sync Garg Boy Band will just ignore you.
At no point did I say they didn't like UO... but no, most of them don't like playing "just like I do" because they aren't looking for the same thing. What I said is that their priorities in many cases are different, and in the current setup incompatible, and suggested a way for everyone to get what they want without tripping over each other.

EM events are pitting communities against each other as is. If you don't think so, please check literally any thread on the topic.
 

Cyrah

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I do not care how much some of them like playing UO. There are some genuine jerks who show up on LS for drops. They know exactly when the drops show up as well. As for the ideas of 2 camps of ems. Nice. But I do not think possible. Small team, well it is. Too much for them to do.
 

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They will not make then shard bound because going to any shards EM event is a playstyle.
A playstyle? Come on.

Em events sell transfer tokens and extra accounts for multiboxers. That's the reason why the drops will never become shard bound.

It's also why they'll never actually ban any of those scumbag multiboxers either. (psst, Mesanna, go ahead and keep posting a random number to how many were "banned" each month - we'll pretend and play along)
 

petemage

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I'll die on this hill.. but: They pay them for one hour of gameplay per week.

Spent that money on global 24/7 events and it will attract way more players.
 

MalagAste

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The problem with just banning the accounts is this... While they can ban the offending account and all their "linked" accounts... they can't stop the person from just starting another account... and the saddest fact is that they can't delete the persons programs that allow them to multibox and script things... so they are back at it in under a week... and we are right back where we started...

The DEVs are incapable of stopping the use of 3rd party programs that have been abused since the dawn of the game practically...

They could just turn off the CC... but we all know they won't.

So we are left with finding other solutions we see one of them now where they are destroying blackthorns because they can't stop the script farmer...

Sadly most of the solutions to fixing most of these problems involves punishing all the players... often it's those of us who don't cheat who pay the highest price not the cheaters... they just make a new way to get paid.

The bottom line of all of this comes down to this... if there wasn't a market for the stuff that generated RL cash... there would be no profit in doing it and they wouldn't do it anymore. But people obviously buy gold from the spammer, they continue to buy rares from the multiboxer and they will continue to buy stuff on the RMT websites... As long as that continues so will the cheating.
 

Danpal

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The problem with just banning the accounts is this... While they can ban the offending account and all their "linked" accounts... they can't stop the person from just starting another account... and the saddest fact is that they can't delete the persons programs that allow them to multibox and script things... so they are back at it in under a week... and we are right back where we started...

The DEVs are incapable of stopping the use of 3rd party programs that have been abused since the dawn of the game practically...

They could just turn off the CC... but we all know they won't.

So we are left with finding other solutions we see one of them now where they are destroying blackthorns because they can't stop the script farmer...

Sadly most of the solutions to fixing most of these problems involves punishing all the players... often it's those of us who don't cheat who pay the highest price not the cheaters... they just make a new way to get paid.

The bottom line of all of this comes down to this... if there wasn't a market for the stuff that generated RL cash... there would be no profit in doing it and they wouldn't do it anymore. But people obviously buy gold from the spammer, they continue to buy rares from the multiboxer and they will continue to buy stuff on the RMT websites... As long as that continues so will the cheating.
The main issue is the use of a 3rd party program in the CC. They built a system to stop the use of the programs but if they use it. It wont allow any 3rd party program work. And they allow one to be used. It can not tell witch program is in use. So to save time they just hit the off button witch was much easier to do then to fix the coding in the system.

We have two clients in game. CC that is old as the internet and out of date that they cant fix it. And then we have the EC that is newer but has never been finished.

They need to make one and use just one. Start from the bottom and work on it adding Cc and Ec systems into it. That should fix the issues there.
 

Tina Small

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What did players do to have fun in UO during the period when there were no people, paid or otherwise, running events in an official capacity for UO? I started playing UO in late 2004 and the first time I became aware of any kind of organized shard-specific event was in the summer of 2006 on Baja when I saw some weird announcement that said everyone should go to Castle British. But that only seemed to happen a few times (including something that happened in Umbra) and then never again. I was never sure that those few "events" I saw or heard about on Baja around that time were actually part of the EM program or something else entirely. And then in late 2008, Cal announced the EM program was going to start again and Mesanna would be in charge of it.

So again I ask what did people do in UO without the ability to collect new rares? Were people leaving in droves at that time and claiming it was because there was no way for them to get new and unique rare items? I really don't remember ever reading about that happening. Did the earlier EM program and whatever preceded even include "rares" as event rewards?

I know a lot of people seemed to leave around the very end of 2006 and early in 2007, but I've often wondered if they were folks who got wind of the elimination of the Third Dawn client and were in or friends with people who were testing the Kingdom Reborn client. Or maybe some people left around that time because of the announcement about using PunkBuster in UO.

Did the announcement of the EM program bring very many people back to UO? Does anyone even know how many EMs there have been since the program returned in late 2008/early 2009? How much money has EA or Broadsword spent on running it? Would that money have been more effective for keeping UO subscribers paying and playing if it had been spent on global events? Would we possibly still have a UO team in Japan if not for the EM program? I mean we were told in 2014 that Broadsword was going to hire an assistant producer fluent in Japanese and that the UO website was going to become bilingual in Japanese and English. And yet none of those things has happened and we still have the EM program. Was a determination made that it was more important to continue the EM program and provide less support and attention to UO's Japanese players? Is there still a PEC for the Japanese shards? How did things turn out for Japanese players when the Japanese game codes expired in July 2015? The questions about how EA and more recently Broadsword has treat edUO's Japanese players are endless. I find it sad and disturbing that while the EM program has gained so much prominence, once the Japanese site for UO disappeared, it's been like those shards and the Korean and Taiwanese shards barely exist anymore in terms of attention from the game developers.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw these questions out there. I have never been a fan of the EM program because it has always seemed to cater to such a small group of players because of when the events are scheduled and because it seems to be rife with corruption. It has always seemed to me that it would be a lot fairer to every customer for the money spent on the EM program to instead be spent on more global events or other programming that would benefit every player.
 

DreadLord Lestat

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I have 2 main problems with events as they are now. There are more issues but these 2 are the big ones.
  1. Many shard hoppers (not all) are there just for the drops and they ruin the event for others by being rude and childish. Many seem to be obnoxious just to annoy others and they ruin the events by talking over and complaining about the amount of time spent on storyline which is what the events were supposed to be about. I lose interest when I cannot see what is being said over all of the other comments, dragons, and flappy flying gargoyles. Clicky drops for everyone or removing drops all together would return the events to what they were meant to be. If they really want to keep EM rares in game, they can create a special EM dungeon on each shard and spawn a boss twice a month so those pixel hunters can go get their drops and both sides can be happy.
  2. The other thing that bothers me is that the events seem to be a cash cow for RMT. Event rares seem to average about 400-500 mil and some profit from the sales of those. The producers/devs are aware of this but continue to dish out the "EM Rares" at an unending pace. They talk about cleaning things up and post punishments issued each month but can't seem to (or don't want to) do anything about the RMT generated by the sales of these drops. Shard bound or account bound would go a long way to stopping the sales but Broadsword has clearly stated that they won't do that.
I stopped going to the events a long time ago due to these reasons. I now rarely dip my toes into UO anymore because it seems to be about pixels and accumulation. There are still players that care about others and help others out but there seem to be fewer and fewer around. The EM Events seem to cater to the pixel hungry and not the ones that are actually looking for content and the story behind it.
 

Landicine

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I mean we were told in 2014 that Broadsword was going to hire an assistant producer fluent in Japanese and that the UO website was going to become bilingual in Japanese and English. And yet none of those things has happened and we still have the EM program.
Point of fact, clicking on the little flags on the top of the uo.com page will show the page in other languages, one of which is Japanese.
 

Tyrath

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I tried to buy into the shard community thing. It did not take long to figure out that most at the events were from mostly Atlantic and a solid 70% were multi box bots. No point in me putting up with the lag and cheats just there to collect a drop and move on to the next event on the next shard. The EM events have nothing to do with community and everything to do with rares and big goldies.
 

Penderrin

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Apologies to Riyana if this seems to walk off the path of the original proposals. However, this does pertain to the EM statement quoted “Event Moderators, EM(s), are on most shards and run unique events to bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game.”


I would like to see more EM events that are NOT role playing. Yes, this is a role playing game and yes, it does say "tell a story", but unique events and bringing community together can be done in other ways.


My favorite EM event by far was an Olympics event held on Legends. I have a poor memory and cannot remember when and who was the EM at the time but it was a blast. I would love to see something along those lines again.


I know the EMs put a ton of work into their stories and can appreciate them for that but I just cannot get into the story lines and end up buried in the chaos. I don't even feel the role play but rather just being led around by a tour guide through a haunted house kind of thing.

I rarely attend them anymore. I much more enjoy player run events to EM events. A change of formula from time to time is my vote and just felt I had to add that.


Maybe there are plenty of EM events other than the RP that I just haven't seen so will plead ignorance if so.
 

DreadLord Lestat

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Maybe there are plenty of EM events other than the RP that I just haven't seen so will plead ignorance if so.
There are and those were fun as well, just few and far in between it seems. I believe there is great pressure placed on the EMs to make sure there are so many drops per month and that the drops are different. I know a couple of the previous EMs on Chessy had players petitioning for their removal because they only had 1 drop per month and they did not let on to which event it would be. There were also complaints because they helped players run player events by spawning creatures and placing deco items even though the player events did not have any drops other than standard loot.
 

Tjalle

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Many shard hoppers (not all) are there just for the drops and they ruin the event for others by being rude and childish. Many seem to be obnoxious just to annoy others and they ruin the events by talking over and complaining...

<snip>

...I stopped going to the events a long time ago due to these reasons.
And this is exactly what the obnoxious players want. To drive other players away.
Less competition = more guaranteed drops.
 

Olcher

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I will preface this by saying I didn't read much of this thread and it's ironic there's a post about the same topic a few days ago on the official forums.

Cheating cannot be 'fixed'. Huge game studios/developers, such as Riot, Epic, Blizzard, etc. can't figure it out with million dollar budgets what makes you think Mesanna and her team of 3 can? Most games, UO included, implement changes that make it 'harder' for cheaters but at the end of the day usually make it more annoying/difficult for regular players and no change for illegitimate players. See: the current EM event item drop system, changes to blackthorn dungeon over time and recently, randomization of harvested resources (ingots, boards, ...), etc.

EM drops, in their current iteration, are the solely issue why EM events are not meeting their stated purpose. As long as they exist EM in this current form events will only ever be 'loot pinatas' where 99.9% of the attending characters have zero care for the story or anyone else in attendance, including the EM. The couple of career/RMT players will continue to create more and more characters to abuse the current drop&points system.

"Sorry – If you didn’t bring enough for the entire class, no one can have any".
The easiest and most intuitive fix is making every EM item shard bound and distributed through a clicky item dispenser. From my understanding this fix would require zero extra effort from Mesanna or any EM to implement and all the systems for this are in place.

Every box would be ticked:
  • Easy to implement. Zero dev/em work required.
  • The couple of career multiboxers at events will evaporate. Items wouldn't be selling for enough on-shard to justify keeping 20+ accounts open.
  • The cross shard players attending solely for drops will evaporate.
  • The players that want to be there for a story, community and entertainment will remain and thrive.
  • Less players at the event = more intimate feeling.
  • Players would be able to bring any character, template, outfit, etc., and not have to worry about doing damage to a boss to get a reward.
Don't believe me? Attend an event that's listed as 'no reward' and you'll see what I'm saying. The EM is not rushed, can respond/role play with most of the players there, take their time without being harassed and it's a much more intimate setting. To me THAT is what EM events should be and fits the description on the website.
 

Basara

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This would take a minor amount of programming, but I see a compromise.

  1. Everyone that is on a PAID account (no EJ) that damages something event-unique at the "drop events" gets a shard-bound "drop token"
  2. The Drop Tokens can be exchanged at an NPC by any non-EJ account character for a pull from the "Event Items".
  3. The "pulls" break down as follows: 85% chance of the current event's item, shard-bound. 10% chance of the current event's item, NOT shard-bound. 5% chance of "something else", which can be a previous event's item, a token redeemable for points (variable) at one of the turn-in NPCs (Blackthorn's. Clean-Up, Collections, etc.)
Doing it this way, there's value for the locals. They can claim the token personally, or sell it to a cross-sharder willing to take the gamble that they will get one of the transferable rares or the tokens, etc. Cross-sharders will still have opportunity to get the "good" items, but not dominate the process as they do currently as every participant will have an equal opportunity to get an item if they so choose.
 

Promathia

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This would take a minor amount of programming, but I see a compromise.

  1. Everyone that is on a PAID account (no EJ) that damages something event-unique at the "drop events" gets a shard-bound "drop token"
  2. The Drop Tokens can be exchanged at an NPC by any non-EJ account character for a pull from the "Event Items".
  3. The "pulls" break down as follows: 85% chance of the current event's item, shard-bound. 10% chance of the current event's item, NOT shard-bound. 5% chance of "something else", which can be a previous event's item, a token redeemable for points (variable) at one of the turn-in NPCs (Blackthorn's. Clean-Up, Collections, etc.)
Doing it this way, there's value for the locals. They can claim the token personally, or sell it to a cross-sharder willing to take the gamble that they will get one of the transferable rares or the tokens, etc. Cross-sharders will still have opportunity to get the "good" items, but not dominate the process as they do currently as every participant will have an equal opportunity to get an item if they so choose.

This would immensely help the people supposedly multiboxing. Their 10+ accounts give them more tokens/chances than any regular player, and it will drive the prices of EM Items back up so they make even more profit.
 

celticus

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I will preface this by saying I didn't read much of this thread and it's ironic there's a post about the same topic a few days ago on the official forums.

Cheating cannot be 'fixed'. Huge game studios/developers, such as Riot, Epic, Blizzard, etc. can't figure it out with million dollar budgets what makes you think Mesanna and her team of 3 can? Most games, UO included, implement changes that make it 'harder' for cheaters but at the end of the day usually make it more annoying/difficult for regular players and no change for illegitimate players. See: the current EM event item drop system, changes to blackthorn dungeon over time and recently, randomization of harvested resources (ingots, boards, ...), etc.

EM drops, in their current iteration, are the solely issue why EM events are not meeting their stated purpose. As long as they exist EM in this current form events will only ever be 'loot pinatas' where 99.9% of the attending characters have zero care for the story or anyone else in attendance, including the EM. The couple of career/RMT players will continue to create more and more characters to abuse the current drop&points system.

"Sorry – If you didn’t bring enough for the entire class, no one can have any".
The easiest and most intuitive fix is making every EM item shard bound and distributed through a clicky item dispenser. From my understanding this fix would require zero extra effort from Mesanna or any EM to implement and all the systems for this are in place.

Every box would be ticked:
  • Easy to implement. Zero dev/em work required.
  • The couple of career multiboxers at events will evaporate. Items wouldn't be selling for enough on-shard to justify keeping 20+ accounts open.
  • The cross shard players attending solely for drops will evaporate.
  • The players that want to be there for a story, community and entertainment will remain and thrive.
  • Less players at the event = more intimate feeling.
  • Players would be able to bring any character, template, outfit, etc., and not have to worry about doing damage to a boss to get a reward.
Don't believe me? Attend an event that's listed as 'no reward' and you'll see what I'm saying. The EM is not rushed, can respond/role play with most of the players there, take their time without being harassed and it's a much more intimate setting. To me THAT is what EM events should be and fits the description on the website.
Oh NOoooo! We can't do this! It will kill multiboxing. And multiboxing is a playstyle, that has been there for years! Right? Irony, of course.
This is spot on, good recommendation.
 

ShriNayne

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I think most of the multi-boxers are on paid accounts, I didn't think EJ accounts could get pack drops at EM events. :confused:
 

Fortis

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you didn t understand that ej accounts were put in for scripting..... 100 ej scripting account for 1 player trying the game
 

Basara

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This would immensely help the people supposedly multiboxing. Their 10+ accounts give them more tokens/chances than any regular player, and it will drive the prices of EM Items back up so they make even more profit.
I see you MISSED MY POINT entirely.

If EVERYONE PARTICIPATING got said token, that means that everyone there GETS A DROP. The cross-sharder lottery then shifts to TRYING TO GET THE NON-SHARD-BOUND ONES in the redemption phase. The shard-bound majority of the drops would be near-worthless to the multi-boxers - but not to the REAL RESIDENTS of the shard, and if they actually get one of the non-bound ones, all the better, as they can sell it to the multiboxer mafia or cross-shard it personally for big bucks.

The shard-bound ones would be the sentimental things that the drops were originally MEANT to be.
The non-bound ones would be the high-ticket items, and at the ratio I suggested would STILL be about the number of cross-shardable items that CURRENTLY drop at events.

The scenario I suggested would just remove "being the big hitters" from the equation, as the multi-boxers tend to introduce SO MUCH SPAM TO DELIBERATELY LAG OTHERS PLAYING MANUALLY, that I can't even TARGET the bosses currently in time to do damage, half the time, DESPITE having the boss's bar already pulled! (seriously, being on a brand new machine that is lightning quick the rest of the time, but when the boss goes from yellow to red, suddenly it takes 2-3 seconds JUST TO DRAG THE CURSOR TO THE PULLED BAR, and another second or two for my clicking to register - it's not like I can hover over the bar constantly, when having to defend myself from lesser spawn with invis, heal and spells/pet targeting).

If everyone present doing damage to event-specific creatures gets a token (which will result in the event item, but only about the current number will be cross-shard-capable), then there will be NO NEED for the code to be used by the cheaters that introduces the lag for the final fight. They could take their little swarms of Night Ninja fanbois, attack one or two named 2nd or 3rd tier event spawn, then sit back at the edge of the fight and go back to watching PJ Masks until the tokens drop.

It probably won't reduce the multi-boxers much, nor will it move the value of non-bound items up or down, but it will definitely reduce the level of frustration among the locals JUST WANTING LOCAL DECO.
 

Promathia

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I see you MISSED MY POINT entirely.

If EVERYONE PARTICIPATING got said token, that means that everyone there GETS A DROP. The cross-sharder lottery then shifts to TRYING TO GET THE NON-SHARD-BOUND ONES in the redemption phase. The shard-bound majority of the drops would be near-worthless to the multi-boxers - but not to the REAL RESIDENTS of the shard, and if they actually get one of the non-bound ones, all the better, as they can sell it to the multiboxer mafia or cross-shard it personally for big bucks.

The shard-bound ones would be the sentimental things that the drops were originally MEANT to be.
The non-bound ones would be the high-ticket items, and at the ratio I suggested would STILL be about the number of cross-shardable items that CURRENTLY drop at events.

The scenario I suggested would just remove "being the big hitters" from the equation, as the multi-boxers tend to introduce SO MUCH SPAM TO DELIBERATELY LAG OTHERS PLAYING MANUALLY, that I can't even TARGET the bosses currently in time to do damage, half the time, DESPITE having the boss's bar already pulled! (seriously, being on a brand new machine that is lightning quick the rest of the time, but when the boss goes from yellow to red, suddenly it takes 2-3 seconds JUST TO DRAG THE CURSOR TO THE PULLED BAR, and another second or two for my clicking to register - it's not like I can hover over the bar constantly, when having to defend myself from lesser spawn with invis, heal and spells/pet targeting).

If everyone present doing damage to event-specific creatures gets a token (which will result in the event item, but only about the current number will be cross-shard-capable), then there will be NO NEED for the code to be used by the cheaters that introduces the lag for the final fight. They could take their little swarms of Night Ninja fanbois, attack one or two named 2nd or 3rd tier event spawn, then sit back at the edge of the fight and go back to watching PJ Masks until the tokens drop.

It probably won't reduce the multi-boxers much, nor will it move the value of non-bound items up or down, but it will definitely reduce the level of frustration among the locals JUST WANTING LOCAL DECO.

I need my tinfoil hat for this whole "They intentionally have programs to lag us so we cant hit the boss" talk. If you want everyone to be rewarded, just make it all a clicky/everyone drop. Doing this whole "Lottery" thing literally increases profits and gives the ADVANTAGE to the Multiclienters, because they will have 10 times the chance to get a nonshardbound version vs regular players.

Infact, if you did this system, I would anticipate for the # of accounts used at events to increase. The more accounts you bring, the better chance you have of winning the lottery. Instead of getting a 1 of 100 Shardbound item, you have a chance to get a 1 of 10 non Shardbound item. Considering most people who buy rares are spread out amongst the shards, you would have your buyers easily.

* Heres a tip as well, the lag at EM Events is caused by multiple factors: How large the area is, how many people are there, how much deco is present, how many spell effects are going off, how many abilities are put on the monsters, EC vs CC client, loot generation when a highloot mob dies (Like crimson dragons), general UO server stability
 

Archnight

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Personally, I would like to see these changes to the EM program...

1) Reduce the average amount of rare drop type events from 12 to 6 per shard/year, make them not more than a 25 drop each and that's including with the Guaranteed Gain System. These would be a mix of fel, low drop and stealing type events. If there's an armor set for that shard then increase the average events to 9 for that shard/year.

2) Make more events per shard which are mainly Role Play but include either an all drop, attendance or clicky type rare.

3) Have three EM created Global Event Arcs per year that include a dungeon, land (town) and sea type invasion. These would run for a month each and include a story with some sort of grind for armor pieces or some other type of limited item collectible.
 

Dryzzid of Atlantic

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I don't much participate in EM events anymore due to the shear chaos of the events on Atlantic, the only shard I play. I'm one of the few left I guess that places value on the storyline and the lore. I'm biased, I played through the seer program years and found that program to be infinitely better at creating a sense of community. However, I'll admit now that the seers catered to roleplayers just as the EM program (not the EMs themselves) caters to the "rares" community. (I place rares in quotes because these items are not rares to me at this point). Admittedly, the general population probably felt underserved by the seer program then just as the general population feels underserved by the EM program now.

I will preface this by saying I didn't read much of this thread and it's ironic there's a post about the same topic a few days ago on the official forums.

Cheating cannot be 'fixed'. Huge game studios/developers, such as Riot, Epic, Blizzard, etc. can't figure it out with million dollar budgets what makes you think Mesanna and her team of 3 can? Most games, UO included, implement changes that make it 'harder' for cheaters but at the end of the day usually make it more annoying/difficult for regular players and no change for illegitimate players. See: the current EM event item drop system, changes to blackthorn dungeon over time and recently, randomization of harvested resources (ingots, boards, ...), etc.

EM drops, in their current iteration, are the solely issue why EM events are not meeting their stated purpose. As long as they exist EM in this current form events will only ever be 'loot pinatas' where 99.9% of the attending characters have zero care for the story or anyone else in attendance, including the EM. The couple of career/RMT players will continue to create more and more characters to abuse the current drop&points system.

"Sorry – If you didn’t bring enough for the entire class, no one can have any".
The easiest and most intuitive fix is making every EM item shard bound and distributed through a clicky item dispenser. From my understanding this fix would require zero extra effort from Mesanna or any EM to implement and all the systems for this are in place.

Every box would be ticked:
  • Easy to implement. Zero dev/em work required.
  • The couple of career multiboxers at events will evaporate. Items wouldn't be selling for enough on-shard to justify keeping 20+ accounts open.
  • The cross shard players attending solely for drops will evaporate.
  • The players that want to be there for a story, community and entertainment will remain and thrive.
  • Less players at the event = more intimate feeling.
  • Players would be able to bring any character, template, outfit, etc., and not have to worry about doing damage to a boss to get a reward.
Don't believe me? Attend an event that's listed as 'no reward' and you'll see what I'm saying. The EM is not rushed, can respond/role play with most of the players there, take their time without being harassed and it's a much more intimate setting. To me THAT is what EM events should be and fits the description on the website.
I can agree with much of what you're saying here. However, I would also suggest a merit distribution system running concurrently. I've heard some EMs will keep track of who shows, who engages, who RPs, who attempts to further the scenario, etc. People who participate in a friendly manner, encourage others to participate, and show respect for their other players are the ones who deserve to be reward, at least SOME of the time. A merit system ensures people come back on the same characters, that they respect their fellow event goers, and that they do not cause disruptions. Be nice? Get a treat. Be naughty? Come up empty. I'll acknowledge here and now, however, that a system like that is weighty and difficult to manage for the EM, I'm sure.
 

Riyana

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The immediate reversion to discussing only drops reinforces my point: drops need to be divorced from the main community content or both will continue to suffer. There is room for both, but when they are combined into the same medium (EM events), the sub-communities are pitted against each other.
 

DreadLord Lestat

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I can agree with much of what you're saying here. However, I would also suggest a merit distribution system running concurrently. I've heard some EMs will keep track of who shows, who engages, who RPs, who attempts to further the scenario, etc. People who participate in a friendly manner, encourage others to participate, and show respect for their other players are the ones who deserve to be reward, at least SOME of the time. A merit system ensures people come back on the same characters, that they respect their fellow event goers, and that they do not cause disruptions. Be nice? Get a treat. Be naughty? Come up empty. I'll acknowledge here and now, however, that a system like that is weighty and difficult to manage for the EM, I'm sure.
We had that on Chessy with the RBG. The Royal Guard/RBG Promotion Info (merged) and Royal Guard Ranks and Promotions

EM Dudley became Kyronix and EM Drosselmeyer became the main Chessy EM. EM Drosselmeyer was pushed out because others thought that he helped people running player events with some deco for their storyline and spawning mobs (normal loot drops). We ended up with some new EM (EM Ulric maybe? @Riyana ) who disbanded the RBG and made his own guard. Doesn't sound so bad does it? Well the RBG had been around for years and shard members were heavily involved in it. He also decided to make his own guard named the Knights of Sacrifice. Again, other than disbanding the shards popular and well known RBG, he also made special drops for the Knights of Sacrifice uniform set Search results for "knights of sacrifice" - Stratics Community Wiki | Stratics Community Forums Again, doesn't sound so bad does it? But wait, they were all drops for events instead of using them as merit rewards for participation for those that attended all events, not just the ones with drops. I would imagine that very few stayed on Chessy or in the hands of those regulars. He also conveniently disappeared after the set was complete.
 

Promathia

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EM Drosselmeyer was pushed out because others thought that he helped people running player events with some deco for their storyline and spawning mobs (normal loot drops)..
:tinhat:

The rest of your post would be good if you just left out the conspiracy theory stuff of why an EM left.
 

Cyrah

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What amazes me even more than us thinking anything will change with EM events is some of the players showing up on this thread. The same ones I have seen for freaking years multi botting and various other things at events on multiple shards. Some of them even have the gall to offer suggestions for fixing. We get fixes, they cannot pay rent.
 

DreadLord Lestat

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:tinhat:

The rest of your post would be good if you just left out the conspiracy theory stuff of why an EM left.
I am sure you haven't forgotten all of those events but say what you want because whats done is done and unfortunately he is gone.

Those of us that were regulars for his events miss him. Hopefully he will see this and know that he was appreciated.
 

Promathia

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I am sure you haven't forgotten all of those events but say what you want because whats done is done and unfortunately he is gone.

Those of us that were regulars for his events miss him. Hopefully he will see this and know that he was appreciated.
Don't get me wrong, I know a vocal minority complained about stuff like that but Dross was one of the better EMs.

I just really doubt that is why he is not an EM anymore
 
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