In the US November is the month of Thanksgiving when we reflect on the year and express gratitude for our good fortune. With the higher (than usual) recent negative posts here and at the official forum, I think maybe we could all take a moment to state the things that are GOOD and have been POSITIVE this past year. Obviously this is an opinion of each player, and some things one sees as positive may not be equally favored by another, but what are you thankful for in UO in 2019?
1. Ship crafting and combat changes: As a player that played High Seas pirating a lot before this year's changes, I love how it is more streamlined and less onerous to supply ships. So, so many more people captained ships this year, and on Siege it was fairly common for ships to have PvP combat and players getting scuttled (not by me, and not to me, but the interaction happened). Prior to this year I never encountered other players on the water AT ALL. The barrier to entry became much lower, and players had reasons to be on the seas.
2. More variety to encounters on the seas: Plunderbeacons, soulbound pirates and soulbound merchants, updated Charybdis. Prior to this year, I had done exactly ONE Charybdis, ever. Once the changes hit, guildmembers frequently set up Charybdis runs and I attended several (and missed a lot more). Adding new and different spawn on the water was a good change, and hopefully more additions occur in the future as well.
3. Treasure hunting: I am thankful for the map changes this year. Players begged for better loot, and hot damn did we get better loot. T-maps were another of my favorite activities before this year, but I unravelled 99% of what I got. Now I get several legendaries per chest, and I get 110 powerscrolls for pet training. I have made some awesome pets with the 110s and as a player that doesn't enjoy champs that often, this gave another way to get pet scrolls. The new deco items are awesome, the loot is awesome, and the gold and gem changes, also awesome!
4. Taming changes: I admit, the Triton graphic was not my favorite. However, I am super thankful for the little slug. My Triton has become the foundation of our Shadowguard crew's keying rooms. In the past we took a Cu to the Belfry, but it was a constant struggle to keep him alive. Now the Triton just shakes off the Belfry dragon hits, and we get through the encounter super quick. In the Roof, the Triton goes first and takes the beatings. And against the giant High Seas crabman, it has been my Triton that lives through the beating. In shard net tosses I have seen every other pet but the Triton die at least once. The little dude is a TANK! Thanks Kyronix
5. Krampus encounters: I was also skeptical of these at first. But I love how it pulled the whole shard together. On Lake Austin (my vacation shard from Siege) there was constant banter in chat between players about the status of Krampus, and I talked to people I never would have encountered otherwise. It felt like everyone was working together, and the guaranteed drop after no more than 3 battles meant that everyone got a reward. This was a great Yuletide event, and I loved it.
6. Town coffer changes: Players begged and begged to have other ways to fund town coffers. Being able to use cargo meant that now every town coffer was fully funded, and individual governors were not left shouldering the town buff cost, if they did one at all. Thanks!
7. New skins for old gear: I may not like all the new recipe graphics, but I LOVE that we have the option to have different graphics for the same items. And the sword belt is SO FREAKING SWEET! Having an upcoming Hawkwind Robe replacement is another highly sought after change. Really nice job devs!
8. Movement towards anti-scripting enforcement: I am thankful the team has finally made official rumblings in this direction. Too little, too late? Maybe. But the recent announcements are MILES AND MILES away from Mesanna's statement a few years ago where she implicitly ok'ed certain scripting. You would not know it from the forum posts, but players have pleaded that the team take a more firm stance and now finally they are going that direction.
9. I am thankful for the devs work this year. Reviewing the above items, a pattern becomes clear that almost all changes were in direct response to player requests. Compared to five years ago, the shift in response impact is gigantic. I am surprised at the rancor on some of the items b/c some players felt the additions were not made 100% according to their desire, but I want to acknowledge that the underlying shift is important and appreciated. This year has been the best year for player feedback implementation in the last 5 years, easily. Remember the tree floor graphic fiasco? The rune book changes? The phoenix update? Those graphic changes were very controversial and player feedback did not seem to be fully appreciated. But damn if the graphics recently haven't been stellar (for the most part). I truly feel that the team has been far, far more responsive this year. Thanks team!
10. I am thankful for the players that continue to support the game in positive ways. @Pawain, @Khaelor, @Sparviero (for his work on Siege with UWSP), and several others, they provide posts and in-game support that is truly beneficial. The UO-CAH website is AMAZING and I reference it all the time. The taming forum here continues to be a great resource. I really am thankful for all you guys and gals.
There are plenty of things I didn't like from this past year. I'm sure that everyone has something that didn't pan out the way they hoped. But if you step back a second, look at the whole year, and compare it to just a few years, man we are in hog heaven compared to then. @Kyronix thanks!
Have a great Thanksgiving all, and a safe and happy Yuletide season as well.
- Calavera
1. Ship crafting and combat changes: As a player that played High Seas pirating a lot before this year's changes, I love how it is more streamlined and less onerous to supply ships. So, so many more people captained ships this year, and on Siege it was fairly common for ships to have PvP combat and players getting scuttled (not by me, and not to me, but the interaction happened). Prior to this year I never encountered other players on the water AT ALL. The barrier to entry became much lower, and players had reasons to be on the seas.
2. More variety to encounters on the seas: Plunderbeacons, soulbound pirates and soulbound merchants, updated Charybdis. Prior to this year, I had done exactly ONE Charybdis, ever. Once the changes hit, guildmembers frequently set up Charybdis runs and I attended several (and missed a lot more). Adding new and different spawn on the water was a good change, and hopefully more additions occur in the future as well.
3. Treasure hunting: I am thankful for the map changes this year. Players begged for better loot, and hot damn did we get better loot. T-maps were another of my favorite activities before this year, but I unravelled 99% of what I got. Now I get several legendaries per chest, and I get 110 powerscrolls for pet training. I have made some awesome pets with the 110s and as a player that doesn't enjoy champs that often, this gave another way to get pet scrolls. The new deco items are awesome, the loot is awesome, and the gold and gem changes, also awesome!
4. Taming changes: I admit, the Triton graphic was not my favorite. However, I am super thankful for the little slug. My Triton has become the foundation of our Shadowguard crew's keying rooms. In the past we took a Cu to the Belfry, but it was a constant struggle to keep him alive. Now the Triton just shakes off the Belfry dragon hits, and we get through the encounter super quick. In the Roof, the Triton goes first and takes the beatings. And against the giant High Seas crabman, it has been my Triton that lives through the beating. In shard net tosses I have seen every other pet but the Triton die at least once. The little dude is a TANK! Thanks Kyronix
5. Krampus encounters: I was also skeptical of these at first. But I love how it pulled the whole shard together. On Lake Austin (my vacation shard from Siege) there was constant banter in chat between players about the status of Krampus, and I talked to people I never would have encountered otherwise. It felt like everyone was working together, and the guaranteed drop after no more than 3 battles meant that everyone got a reward. This was a great Yuletide event, and I loved it.
6. Town coffer changes: Players begged and begged to have other ways to fund town coffers. Being able to use cargo meant that now every town coffer was fully funded, and individual governors were not left shouldering the town buff cost, if they did one at all. Thanks!
7. New skins for old gear: I may not like all the new recipe graphics, but I LOVE that we have the option to have different graphics for the same items. And the sword belt is SO FREAKING SWEET! Having an upcoming Hawkwind Robe replacement is another highly sought after change. Really nice job devs!
8. Movement towards anti-scripting enforcement: I am thankful the team has finally made official rumblings in this direction. Too little, too late? Maybe. But the recent announcements are MILES AND MILES away from Mesanna's statement a few years ago where she implicitly ok'ed certain scripting. You would not know it from the forum posts, but players have pleaded that the team take a more firm stance and now finally they are going that direction.
9. I am thankful for the devs work this year. Reviewing the above items, a pattern becomes clear that almost all changes were in direct response to player requests. Compared to five years ago, the shift in response impact is gigantic. I am surprised at the rancor on some of the items b/c some players felt the additions were not made 100% according to their desire, but I want to acknowledge that the underlying shift is important and appreciated. This year has been the best year for player feedback implementation in the last 5 years, easily. Remember the tree floor graphic fiasco? The rune book changes? The phoenix update? Those graphic changes were very controversial and player feedback did not seem to be fully appreciated. But damn if the graphics recently haven't been stellar (for the most part). I truly feel that the team has been far, far more responsive this year. Thanks team!
10. I am thankful for the players that continue to support the game in positive ways. @Pawain, @Khaelor, @Sparviero (for his work on Siege with UWSP), and several others, they provide posts and in-game support that is truly beneficial. The UO-CAH website is AMAZING and I reference it all the time. The taming forum here continues to be a great resource. I really am thankful for all you guys and gals.
There are plenty of things I didn't like from this past year. I'm sure that everyone has something that didn't pan out the way they hoped. But if you step back a second, look at the whole year, and compare it to just a few years, man we are in hog heaven compared to then. @Kyronix thanks!
Have a great Thanksgiving all, and a safe and happy Yuletide season as well.
- Calavera
