Trying to decide if I should give up on UO

[Loquacious Wrath]

I haven't posted here in MONTHS. This is due to the fact that I tried WoW for this first time back in June and discovered why 11 Million people like it so much. Very fun, easy to learn, and addictive as heck. WoW is not really as much as a grind as people claim.

I have always enjoyed Ultima and UO (for about 3 years with UO) but I am finding that whenever I log into UO to "check on things", nothing has appeared to have changed. (i.e. the KR client is still blurry, moongate to Cove in Luna Bank, burning effigy of traitors in Luna, etc)

I own a prime plot of Luna property on Origin, the one south of the moongate, but haven't run vendors since I stopped playing. The two accounts I own are automatically billed to my checking, but I am starting to get the feeling it is a waste if I don't play...

I guess what I am trying to determine is has anything "good" happened since June and is there anything "good" about to happen that I should know about? This would help me decide what I should do.

Please don't ask for my stuff or tell me to get lost since I am not playing UO at the moment. I can affoard these accounts but I also don't like being wasteful. Thanks.

 

[Tom_Builder]

I quit uo for 3 years and only recently came back. Take a break and let some new stuff come in to the game. Then give it another try. But if you can afford to keep the accounts active I would do so. I let mine go, and wish I hadnt. Not only did I lose my luna house, but I didnt get my vet rewards.

Hope that helped.
Take care,
Tom

 

[BbqLou]

I still can't see why people play wow. It bored me to death!

 

[Loquacious Wrath]

I still can't see why people play wow. It bored me to death!

Ok so tell me which game DOESN'T bore you BBQ Lou? Perhaps I'll try it.

The sheer numbers of WoW subcribers speaks for itself as far as popularity is concerned.

Maybe its you...

 

[Zalan]

Simple to answer. Do you enjoy UO anymore? If no is the answer then just let it die. You can always come back later.

 

[WarUltima]

If this is another you nerfed my xxxx Imma quit then please quit and save us some bandwidth. If this is something else then its your choice there are many new MMORPGs out there with fancy new crap all over. If you dont enjoy UO anymore then you should try some other games. eg Warhammer online.

 

[Loquacious Wrath]

If this is another you nerfed my xxxx Imma quit then please quit and save us some bandwidth. If this is something else then its your choice there are many new MMORPGs out there with fancy new crap all over. If you dont enjoy UO anymore then you should try some other games. eg Warhammer online.

I don't mind game changes. I like the challenge of adapting. I guess I need to do something new in UO like PvP or factions?? Just looking for a life-line here...

One thing I like about WoW is how you are almost forced to group rather than solo the whole game. Makes for better realism. As you can tell by my sig, I am used to the sub-standard look of UO. Been playing Ultimas since Commodor 64 days.

I want to enjoy UO again. Really. But I don't like being strung along with promises of content or improvements that rarely come to fruition. Also I think my Luna property is keeping me from closing my accounts. What can I do about this? There has been another Luna plot for sale for YEARS. I doubt I could sell mine...

 

[Draxous]

Its also a game based on the immensely popular warcraft series...

Blizzard is and has been for a long time a company with a very large and very loyal fanbase going into this...

The game is a grind-hell... and the end-game to it... is just a grind-hell.

Ultima Online has shot itself in the foot so many times... so many times it's alienated a playerbase that loved playing UO in order to appease a different one. It has a bit of everything because for so long it's lacked vision... for the past couple years tho, I think its regained a vision... it's just taking a long time to mend the and tie up all the loose ends left behind by previous dev teams who didn't really care about this game but their own personal legacies.

Things have only been steadily getting better... we want bug fixes and game balance... so that's what we've gotten more than anything else. New content trickles in, but probably not at the pace they'd like it to because of this. WOWs never had to worry about that because they came into this market with a vision and have taken that direction steadily since then... UO is finally back on track and its going to be a little bit longer until we really look back at it and see how far we've really come.

 

[the 4th man]

I gave wow a try and didnt like it. Uo is more in depth.....also, my expectations aren't always that high, so I don't freak out over new content or the delay of it.

Like others say, take a break, keep your UO accounts....more than likely, you'll be back when wow gets old.

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

wait for stygian abyss. that is KR, KR has stoped prodo until stygian abyss. there calling it a client.

or start roleplaying on atlantic!

 

[AEowynSP]

I don't mind game changes. I like the challenge of adapting. I guess I need to do something new in UO like PvP or factions?? Just looking for a life-line here...

One thing I like about WoW is how you are almost forced to group rather than solo the whole game.
I want to enjoy UO again.

Have you tried Siege?
You will have to adapt, you will be forced to group and you will have to learn alot of new things.

 

[Edina Monsoon]

Um, if you only have one house in Luna, you can just keep that account open and close the other ones.

 

[Xanthea]

If you feel like that "quit"

I recently made a quick return to the game been away sence 2006-02 i read there are about 70-100.000k subscribers still in UO but im not sure about that.

Still same old thing but way less ppl same 2-3 ppl spam gates at brit bank selling ****, if i go to a dungeon there are like ZERO ppl...think once in god know's how many runs i met 1 guy.

Doom there are 7-8 ppl (same ppl) everytime im there,Also there still are all sick prices like trash chest part with 1 resist over 12% for 300k..easy to get a way better from loot and enchant it. and if you want a decent part you need around 1-4mil so if we say 2 chest,legs,arms,forget,hands 10 mil. plus rings,bracers and so on...figures why pvp is dead

The pvp (yes i searched it joined TB and sutch) but why i was in there i got no clue off dident face any enemy for these 2 weeks lol. utterly boring pvp with my self.

No tbh IF your playstyle is crafting and stand chatting at brit bank then UO is probably the game for you, If you like to do champspawns,pvp,dungeon runs etc then i belive UO is not for you any longer unless you have very old friends etc that can join you....(I dont have any friends anymore in UO all quit like 2003 and so on) And im not so intrested in finding new ones, and who would i find? cant be all the ones i meet in dungeons or doom etc..

So closed down my account again and probably wont return ever again, been 2 years sence last time and after this tryout i cant say UO got me turned on again or anything...

/Peace

 

[Barrakketh]

I haven't posted here in MONTHS. This is due to the fact that I tried WoW for this first time back in June and discovered why 11 Million people like it so much. Very fun, easy to learn, and addictive as heck. WoW is not really as much as a grind as people claim.

I have always enjoyed Ultima and UO (for about 3 years with UO) but I am finding that whenever I log into UO to "check on things", nothing has appeared to have changed. (i.e. the KR client is still blurry, moongate to Cove in Luna Bank, burning effigy of traitors in Luna, etc)

Your situation sounds a lot like mine.

I play WoW and the game is much more fun and the dev teams are actually doing something with the game , unlike with UO where its obvious there is no one at the wheel , rudder , or even pumping any gas into it , UO is dead.

What I did was packed as much as I could into my character bank box sold everything else logged out at the Brit Inn and removed all my billing info from my account so that the subscription expired.

I visit here and a few other web sites just to see if the dev have done anything to the game in the way of improvements and as of this posting I see nada , still has scripters , hacks , etc w/o any new meaningful content.

As of now to get me to even consider reactivating my old UO account they would have to have a new client with some nicer graphics with large new lands , dungeons , races , crafting , and skills otherwise I'm sticking with WoW.

The new WoW expansion Wrath of the Liche King looks awesome with tons of new content and even more player group friendly with the more of the smaller groups raiding and instances , that whats so awesome about WoW and blizzard they are constantly tweaking the game to make it better for more players and play styles.

 

[Aran]

Ok so tell me which game DOESN'T bore you BBQ Lou? Perhaps I'll try it.

The sheer numbers of WoW subcribers speaks for itself as far as popularity is concerned.

Maybe its you...

Sometimes, a consensus just means all the idiots are on the same side.

 

[Lucy of Kenton]

pro's for WoW, in game support, no lag or crashes (so far), great graphics and like others i havent found it much of a drag doing quests.
However it isnt uo which is a problem as uo has the great community and depth.
im very glad i did do what i said i wouldnt do and went to the dark side! its worth a try

 

[Zy'ana]

I wow'd for 2 years, but when u max out and all you seem to do is run raids to get the same equipment that everyone else has, and hunt the same monsters for the stuff to make the same gear that everyone else has, and when ur the only one on and u try and get into a group to gain rep to get the same mount everyone else has... its kinda looses its appeal.
They are two games you can't really compare against one another.
If you go to wow, keep the uo acc with the luna house - just incase!

 

[Dean478]

I was lucky enough to have people offer my old stuff back when I returned. KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT. If you aren't going to pay for it (and risk house decay) keep your items in the bank or the banks of several characters.


I enjoyed WoW also. The entire franchise has a long history and plenty of previous games, much like Ultima.

The downside? WoW goes in that same list of games that Tabula Rasa, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Everquest, Lineage and all the rest go in: single-player approaches to online games. They create these extremely linear experiences, tailored around a single-player and then send them on a linear journey parallel to other players.

I "finished" WoW as far as I'm concerned. There are no content additions despite my $20 AUD a month, the world never changes, players have NO IMPACT on the world or the community (thanks to heavy instances and very tightly packed guilds). So what's the point? I had a set of gear, I'm not prepared to meet the stupid out of game organisation required to participate in a raid (speaking of which, this is all being reworked next expansion). So I'm finished.

When the next expansion arrives, I'll play it and finish that too. But for now, the only true endless worlds out there are games like Ultima Online and EVE Online. Ultima Online is a LEGO set and World of Warcraft is a well written choose your own adventure book.

So at the end of the day, keep your stuff incase you come back no matter what you do.

 

[Connor_Graham]

I played WoW for 11 months, and didn't play UO at all, although I did keep my account active. When I first started playing the game was fresh, the graphics were eye catching, and it was a lot of fun.

Then I hit level 70 and started doing the end game dungeons.

Over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

So I started working on building up some other characters to break the tedium of having to run the same instances repeatedly, and found that I had to repeat the same quests over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again for every new character. There were some very small variations, but for the most part it was just doing the same thing I'd just spent the past 11 months doing.

I came back to UO and it was like a breath of fresh air. It's a relief every day when I log on and realize that I can do whatever the hell I want to. If you want to give WoW a good go at it, then do so, but keep your UO account active and don't get rid of your house. My bet is you'll be back before a year goes by, and all the happier for it.

 

[Masuri]

But for now, the only true endless worlds out there are games like Ultima Online and EVE Online. Ultima Online is a LEGO set and World of Warcraft is a well written choose your own adventure book.

What you're describing is the difference between a persistent world (UO, SWG, EVE) and an MMO (WoW, etc). Some people - well, a lot of people - prefer a game to a toy, and that is why so many people buy a game like WoW, while toys like UO and SWG flounder. Some people like both, and that comes with admitting the faults in both - for my part, I can see the grind in both games, so I'm not fooled by that. Anyone who's scrolled a dozen characters up with 120s, or farmed for hours for drops and gold, has done the grind equivalent to the gear or PvP grind at 70 in WoW. I can't say Blizzard has done a much better job of content push than EA at this point, not when they also take two years between expansions and months between patches of any weight. And yet it's hard to argue that the 1-69 game in WoW isn't fun, not just next to all the other leveling games, but even next to UO-style persistent worlds, which offer very little in the manner of storyline, and are really as solo-friendly as WoW (which is to say: mildly so).

I have taken a lot of breaks from UO since the first year of non-stop playing back at launch. In the last years, I take breaks from not playing to play and see what's new. (Usually, there's not much.) Yet WoW only held my attention for a few years, and here I am eleven years later still messing around with UO. Give that a try. Take breaks. Reactivate every three months to save your house. Play other things - play everything. It will give you a much better understanding of what you like, and what you need to avoid, in your gaming time - time which grows increasingly shorter, as we all grow up.

 

[5% Luck]

I mean how many non "class" char have you made in UO. If you are all set up 120X6 or 100X7 you are a "class" player. To me Uo is the exact opposite of that limited system. One you pick mage all the rest of your choices are made for you. That is why I dont play wow. If i wanted to have my choices made for me I would enroll in a collage and take a standard major and be so board I skip class to play UO.

DARKFALL IS COMING!


_____

Lets take back our word of expression

Wow thats kool!

WoW an't kool

 

[Masuri]

I mean how many non "class" char have you made in UO. If you are all set up 120X6 or 100X7 you are a "class" player. To me Uo is the exact opposite of that limited system. One you pick mage all the rest of your choices are made for you.

DARKFALL IS COMING!

Darkfall.. heeheee. Anyway: I think we're all still living with the illusion of choice in UO; the game has been creeping toward encouraging and rewarding virtual 'classes' for a very long time, all the way back to the addition of meditation, changes to anatomy and eval - that was the start of it. Yes, you still have the choice to make a Beggar/Chef/Detective. But you're not gonna be able to do a whole lot with that character - you're limited in what you can do, not in what you can be. But there's maybe half a dozen really good templates that, with minor adjustments in various directions, are really viable in the 'end-game' of UO combat. That's roughly equivalent to a game like WoW or LOTRO, whose classes can be tweaked and made slightly more unique with talent choices. Most people playing UO have less diversity in their classes than you'd see in WoW, ironically, and there's nothing wrong with that either. The common templates are common because they work!

All that said, I still prefer the illusion of choice, and I will take a skill system like UO/pre-NGE-SWG/etc over a class system nearly every time. Unfortunately, they're such a pain to balance - without inventing 'fluff' skills to cause people to migrate toward the obvious classes on their own - that most games just stick to classes from the onset.

 

[Pawain]

Diablo III will be out someday! Just wait for it.

 

[RoycroftLS]

I guess what I am trying to determine is has anything "good" happened since June and is there anything "good" about to happen that I should know about? This would help me decide what I should do.
...
I want to enjoy UO again. Really. But I don't like being strung along with promises of content or improvements that rarely come to fruition. Also I think my Luna property is keeping me from closing my accounts. What can I do about this? There has been another Luna plot for sale for YEARS. I doubt I could sell mine...

Last expansion that added new game content:
Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy (August 30, 2005)

Stygian Abyss is supposed to be released next year, but if you have been around for a few years you've probably heard that story before. Regardless, the legacy 2D client will still be supported with that expansion, which more than likely means all the "legacy" scripts and speedhacks will still be around.

But if you are so unhappy with the current course of UO that you choose to play another game, my suggestion would be to not leave your account open. Think about it: you're not enjoying the game, and the only thing keeping from closing your account is the fear of losing a virtual house.

Even if money itself isn't an issue, it's the principle of the matter. You're being goaded into paying for a service that you don't use. If you don't want to believe me, then maybe the words of the CEO of Mythic Entertainment will sway you:

"...but we're more accountable to the players by their use of their credit cards. If they don't like the job we're doing, they should cancel. That's the best way to send any developer a message."

If you can't sell your house, give it to a friend, or find a creative way to offer it to someone else.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Nothing much has changed. At least nothing that would make you come back to UO. The only thing that would make you enjoy the game again, would be if YOU would change. Your way of playing the game, that is. This is how I re-discovered the game and learned to enjoy it again.

 

[5% Luck]

Darkfall.. heeheee. Anyway: I think we're all still living with the illusion of choice in UO; the game has been creeping toward encouraging and rewarding virtual 'classes' for a very long time, all the way back to the addition of meditation, changes to anatomy and eval - that was the start of it. Yes, you still have the choice to make a Beggar/Chef/Detective. But you're not gonna be able to do a whole lot with that character - you're limited in what you can do, not in what you can be. But there's maybe half a dozen really good templates that, with minor adjustments in various directions, are really viable in the 'end-game' of UO combat. That's roughly equivalent to a game like WoW or LOTRO, whose classes can be tweaked and made slightly more unique with talent choices. Most people playing UO have less diversity in their classes than you'd see in WoW, ironically, and there's nothing wrong with that either. The common templates are common because they work!

All that said, I still prefer the illusion of choice, and I will take a skill system like UO/pre-NGE-SWG/etc over a class system nearly every time. Unfortunately, they're such a pain to balance - without inventing 'fluff' skills to cause people to migrate toward the obvious classes on their own - that most games just stick to classes from the onset.

Well just look at the mage.

I have a mage bard

a mage stealther

a mage tamer

a mage blacksmith

a mage archer

on and on the same goes with the tamer or the tailor or the chef. I find all my chars work well in end game(save for the crafter) and in a class based game the minor tweaks from feats or specialitys realy equate to the limit of choice and thtat is patched and tweaked and you change as the dev tweak. NO CHOICE!

Basic skills and then complementary skills. Some players chose a complentary skill and use it as a base. Like stealth or hearding. There is so much we can do and yes They have added the need for animal lore or eval intel for their primarys skills as needed but I have yet to see a set of 700 SP all in a "need to have" system in uo. Thats what i favor over classes.

Darkfall has entered beta!

 

[Loquacious Wrath]

Thanks everyone for you objective views. People in UO seem much nicer than WoW in comparision.

UO does offer more choices but seems to lack in content. Since I am new to WoW, all the content is new to me, and fun. I've read that once you hit level 70 with Alliance, you can play Horde and have a different experience. As far as gear goes in WoW, you can customize using enchants or gems, altering the type of character you have. For example, I have seen there are either healers, high-damagers, or tanks. However, your paladin can be either a tank or a DPS. The gear makes it so as does the Talent spread. This is a bit limiting for a solo player, but for large groups, this simplifies the old "balance" arguement/issue. The more skills/variations in a MMORPG, the more likely there will be unbalance. WoW seems very balanced and fair to me. Rare items are truly rare. There are SO many options for gear, the skills factor seems minor. You can create a mage with high hit points or a mage with high spell damage, not with both.

I have two accounts, two houses. One in West Brit and one in Luna. It appears that if I can sell my Luna plot to some kind adventurer, I may load my bank up with items and "take a break".

I used to LOVE logging on to UO. I joined when ML first came out. I thought this was going to be the standard for content. Boy was I wrong. Perhaps it is my server, Origin. Seems like a ghost town most of the time. I tried Seige but kept getting slaughtered everywhere I went. Its frustrating to learn how to PvP against seasoned players. In WoW, the quests really get you ready for PvP. I am only level 50 in WoW and don't PvP often but when I hit lvl 70, the best gear is only obtainable if you DO decide to PvP, I think. Still learning. Plus my wife also prefers WoW and plays as much as I do. I had a hard time getting her to log onto UO for the last 9 months. I think I have a personal attachment to the game because it is Britannia after all. The land I have know since I was a wee lad. Nostalgia only goes so far tho when you have to pay for it.

Anyone want to buy my plot in Luna?

 

[Dean478]

Thanks everyone for you objective views. People in UO seem much nicer than WoW in comparision.

Correct.

Since I am new to WoW, all the content is new to me, and fun. I've read that once you hit level 70 with Alliance, you can play Horde and have a different experience.

Very correct. Especially on a PVP server. It's great to see it from the "bad buys" perspective.

As far as gear goes in WoW, you can customize using enchants or gems, altering the type of character you have. For example, I have seen there are either healers, high-damagers, or tanks. However, your paladin can be either a tank or a DPS. The gear makes it so as
does the Talent spread.

This is where we hit hurdles.

The gear is extremely customisable, but the game itself doesn't cater for it. There are 3 basic roles in a group, tanking, damaging and healing. The classes are becoming more diverse so where a warrior was the only tank, druids, paladins and soon death knights can help tank.

While the gear is customisable it does NOT dictate your role. A paladin with holy talents, who will have fantastic healing, will NOT be tanking just because he has put on a set of tanking armour. He will lack all the necessary skills a paladin tank would have from the talent tree. I guaruntee you this as I've played both a paladin tank and a paladin healer in raid content. I can also promise you this, you will be absolutely bored out of your mind after getting your first set from the endless raiding (since the loot drops are random) so how on Earth you can do it twice to get a second set is beyond me. Especially when you cannot switch between talents as required.

Keep in mind the gear is customisable but it all looks the same. No matter what talents your paladin has, what type of armour they are wearing, they are all going to look exactly the same. That's the isuse here. There is very little means to express yourself.

You can create a mage with high hit points or a mage with high spell damage, not with both.

Exactly and thanks to a very restricted world if your group doesn't need the high hit point mage, you're not playing with that group. The game demands so much that it even makes choices for you.


Having said that, don't let this put you off the game. But as someone who also left UO for WoW back in 2004 I went in with some pretty high expectations and at the top of WoW's content, I find myself easily pointing out silly flaws.

And here is the good news, the next expansion promises to fix a lot of the above issues. Class roles are more flexible, talents are interchangable (for those who want to fill 2 roles or have an extra set for PVP content) and the new content has been designed with greater group class diversity in mind. No more retribution paladins being kicked out of the group because healers are in higher demand and we already have 8 other classes who can do more damage even without specialisation.

 

[Bamboo_Spyder]

I've played a long time. There have been dry spells, but it always seems they bring in something new and exciting to make it worth staying on, even if it means taking a few months off and checking. But thats my experience. Lately, I'll agree, they've let it go a bit long, but something in my gut says hang in there. It's stale right now. But wait and see what pub 56 brings (hopefully on a TC near you soon) Then if it doesn't spark take a break. Or maybe try another shard? Origin (I assume your from since thats the only shard with a gate to Cove in Luna) can be a deadzone in between pubs. I peek in from time to time and it's too slow for me personally. Just a few options.

 

[Tycolby]

Maybe Mr T hacked the system and add a Night Elf Mohawk class!!!!!!! I pity the Fool!!!!!!

 

[Lucy of Kenton]

I wonder? having experienced ea run games how many would buy another? just a question but i sure as hell wouldnt

 

[kelmo]

EA makes some great games. We just happen to be stuck in this one, and damn EA if they try to change it...

 

[kelmo]

Sorry... /rant

 

[Kiminality]

I wonder? having experienced ea run games how many would buy another? just a question but i sure as hell wouldnt

No matter how poorly UO is managed, I certainly would never make such a declaration that I would never buy another EA game.
I loved The Sims... The Sims 2... The Command and Conquer series... The Ultima series*... Mass Effect... We Katamari...
Even if you leave out the ones only published by EA, it's still a big enough list. Enough of a list to make me think that I'd need a better reason than this, to boycott EA

 

[Aboo]

I wonder? having experienced ea run games how many would buy another? just a question but i sure as hell wouldnt

I've played UO for 11+ years and I would definitely buy another EA run game.

 

[MoonglowMerchant]

I wonder? having experienced ea run games how many would buy another? just a question but i sure as hell wouldnt

I'm with you. If I'm looking at games the first thing I look for is to see if it is an EA game, if it is, I won't buy it.

They might make some good games, but they don't support them.

It doesn't help that EA/Mythic has that Jacobs guy spouting off left and right about how he doesn't want official boards because his customers are all idiots.

That isn't a good way to get my business.

 

[kelmo]

I'm with you. If I'm looking at games the first thing I look for is to see if it is an EA game, if it is, I won't buy it.

They might make some good games, but they don't support them.

It doesn't help that EA/Mythic has that Jacobs guy spouting off left and right about how he doesn't want official boards because his customers are all idiots.

That isn't a good way to get my business.

I am just supposing here... Suppose EA is carrying UO just because there are thousands of loyal fans. Millions play the flashy new games. We do not have millions in UO. I think we never will. This old game is old... Really old. We like it that way.

Young folk with disposable income are not looking for a game like UO. It does not matter how much lipstick and body spray you put on it. UO is what it is. It is the Granddaddy of on line games as far as I am concerned. I will be here 'til lights out.

Any of you expecting UO to suddenly be the game of choice are fooling yourselves. Unless you are willing to start over from zero, we will get band aids.

EA has tried twice to fix it for us, with out deleting your pixels. I appreciate that. They can not work the magic many wish for.

That being said, I am damn glad we still have a team devoted to UO. They have not put us on maintenance mode. There are folks working their asses of on garbled code that is so old it can almost vote.

I may have gone over the line, I speak for myself. I am just glad there are folks EA still pays to care about UO.

 

[MoonglowMerchant]

I am just supposing here... Suppose EA is carrying UO just because there are thousands of loyal fans. Millions play the flashy new games. We do not have millions in UO. I think we never will. This old game is old... Really old. We like it that way.

Young folk with disposable income are not looking for a game like UO. It does not matter how much lipstick and body spray you put on it. UO is what it is. It is the Granddaddy of on line games as far as I am concerned. I will be here 'til lights out.

Any of you expecting UO to suddenly be the game of choice are fooling yourselves. Unless you are willing to start over from zero, we will get band aids.

EA has tried twice to fix it for us, with out deleting your pixels. I appreciate that. They can not work the magic many wish for.

That being said, I am damn glad we still have a team devoted to UO. They have not put us on maintenance mode. There are folks working their asses of on garbled code that is so old it can almost vote.

I may have gone over the line, I speak for myself. I am just glad there are folks EA still pays to care about UO.

Those folks don't work on UO anymore Kelmo. They work in the gaming industry. Big, big difference.

 

[kelmo]

Sure they do, and here you are.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

can I have your "UO" Stuff???

 

[MoonglowMerchant]

Sure they do, and here you are.

I didn't explain that very well.

Here is what I mean.

Do you think it makes any difference to Jeremy whether she is the community rep for UO versus being the community rep for WAR or the community rep for DAOC?

No, it doesn't. She doesn't work for Ultima Online. She works in the gaming industry. When someone at EA tells her to go work on something else, she will. If someone hires her for another game, she'll go.

She isn't tied to UO. No one is tied to UO. As far as I can tell, they don't even play UO. It is amazingly clear however that they play other games.

That is what I mean. Once upon a time, we had people who created UO. They poured their souls into this game and made it the great thing it was and to some degree still is.

These are not those people. These are temps, waiting for the next assignment.

They don't work on UO, they work in the gaming industry.

Understand now?

 

[kelmo]

Welcome to 2008.

 

[Uriah Heep]

What UO has going for it, is the long term friendships that have been forged, some very old, some fairly fresh. It's friends, and hanging out with them, chatting, hunting, watching them build and deco houses, the feeling of belonging, and relaxing after a day of work, with no need to level up fast (even if your char isnt 6x120). Few of the other games give you that, sitting around an inn talking about the game and RL stuff as well, talking as a group, without having to sift thru all the spam and garbage showing up in a chat box (yay for overhead text!).

Yeah, I realize we will never be what we once were, and what we once had the potential to be. I am glad to ahve what I have, and the friends that I have. Doesn't mean I won't get frustrated as hell and scream sometimes, but we are in the position now of having to settle for what we can get. *shrugs*

More to say, but time to water plants *grins and waves*

 

[Viper09]

I tried WoW for about 30 minutes. After about 30 minutes I started to question what exactly I was doing and why, then logged off, uninstalled the game and went to sleep.

 

[Tazar]

I didn't explain that very well.

Here is what I mean.

Do you think it makes any difference to Jeremy whether she is the community rep for UO versus being the community rep for WAR or the community rep for DAOC?

No, it doesn't. She doesn't work for Ultima Online. She works in the gaming industry. When someone at EA tells her to go work on something else, she will. If someone hires her for another game, she'll go.

She isn't tied to UO. No one is tied to UO. As far as I can tell, they don't even play UO. It is amazingly clear however that they play other games.

That is what I mean. Once upon a time, we had people who created UO. They poured their souls into this game and made it the great thing it was and to some degree still is.

These are not those people. These are temps, waiting for the next assignment.

They don't work on UO, they work in the gaming industry.

Understand now?

I understand your assumptions... but since I know some of the current team members I know for certain that there are at least 3 that do pour their heart and soul into the game... sadly, this is no longer appreciated and they are expected to work miracles! There are only so many hours in a day, but several of them even work on their own time - striving to make everyone happy - which we all know is impossible. Oh... and I know that at least two are die-hard UO players...

 

[kelmo]

I understand your assumptions... but since I know some of the current team members I know for certain that there are at least 3 that do pour their heart and soul into the game... sadly, this is no longer appreciated and they are expected to work miracles! There are only so many hours in a day, but several of them even work on their own time - striving to make everyone happy - which we all know is impossible. Oh... and I know that at least two are die-hard UO players...

*nods* I do not know them, I have met some of the team, I believe they are passionate and enjoy their job and try the best they can. I appreciate the efforts even if I have exceptions and wishes.

I am glad EA and Mythic still cares enough for the brand to keep us up and running.

 

[Harlequin]

No matter how poorly UO is managed, I certainly would never make such a declaration that I would never buy another EA game.
I loved The Sims... The Sims 2... The Command and Conquer series... The Ultima series*... Mass Effect... We Katamari...
Even if you leave out the ones only published by EA, it's still a big enough list. Enough of a list to make me think that I'd need a better reason than this, to boycott EA

I did, at some point told myself I'd never buy another EA game. After the AOS debacle I think. Not that I don't like changes, I think implementing a more comprehensive item property system was really neat, even if it suspiciously looks alot like Diablo 2...

My gripe was the instability. As a veteran, you learned not to play on patch day. But during AOS, I remember it was crazy even weeks after patch day. Servers dying and reverting. It was bad enough that for the first time, they came up with "I survived AOS" clothing and +5 stats as a means to appease players for the grief.

Would I buy another EA game? Think of it this way, EA is one of the biggest game companies out there. They release games for PCs to consoles.

C&C 3 is coming out soon. EA also releases a lot of very good sports games.

In fact, I re-installed and played several old games that I loved, and was surprised that some were produced by EA. So I think it's pretty difficult to guarantee that I won't buy another EA game.

I will however, stay away from online games from EA if they don't get enough staff to support UO, starve it of resources by devoting them elsewhere or otherwise screw it up.

 

[Harlequin]

Your situation sounds a lot like mine.

I play WoW and the game is much more fun and the dev teams are actually doing something with the game , unlike with UO where its obvious there is no one at the wheel , rudder , or even pumping any gas into it , UO is dead.

What I did was packed as much as I could into my character bank box sold everything else logged out at the Brit Inn and removed all my billing info from my account so that the subscription expired.

I visit here and a few other web sites just to see if the dev have done anything to the game in the way of improvements and as of this posting I see nada , still has scripters , hacks , etc w/o any new meaningful content.

As of now to get me to even consider reactivating my old UO account they would have to have a new client with some nicer graphics with large new lands , dungeons , races , crafting , and skills otherwise I'm sticking with WoW.

The new WoW expansion Wrath of the Liche King looks awesome with tons of new content and even more player group friendly with the more of the smaller groups raiding and instances , that whats so awesome about WoW and blizzard they are constantly tweaking the game to make it better for more players and play styles.

Just to be fair since you mentioned WoW, do you think that WoW doesn't have scripters (aka bots), people who speedhacks, gold farmers etc?

If there's an MMO out there, some enterprising player will try to find a way to get an advantage in the game.



To Barrakketh and the OP:

Back to new content in UO - although the SA related storyline seems to be dragging on because SA itself is delayed, you still have consistent new content this last 1 year. And it's free. No purchase of new expansion box required.

Off the top of my head, so dates might be a tad off, feel free to correct me if I am wrong and add whatever I missed -

Recent SA related events:
Inu
Ricardo
Ophidian invasion
Blackrock elementals
Blackrock traders
Blackrock increased skill gain rate in T2A
Scrolls of alacrity
Shadow wisp invasion in Moonglow
Book of truth, candle of love - 9+ months ago
Destruction of Magincia (for those shards that failed to save it) - 6 to 9 months ago
Vangard invasion and dreadwarhorses in Cove/Nujelm/Serpent's Hold - 3 to 6months ago
Shadowlords in Moonglow - 3 - 6 months ago
Glass dagger/faction - 3 months ago
The Six - 2 months ago
Melissa - 1 month ago


That's not counting other new content like for special dates:
Grim reaper and his cursed artifact - Halloween (this is older than 1 year, but I really liked it)
Treat or trick - Halloween
Purple bunnies bashing (ok, taming, coz the wife doesn't allow me to kill bunnies) - Valentine's day
Treasure hunting - Valentine's day
New artifacts in legacy dungeons - UO Anniversary and ongoing
Holiday shard with cool activities like throwing tomatoes throwing at devs, special dancing routine by your toons, my first potty break since UO started, and a PvP battle game


Other content
New plant system - 3 weeks ago and ongoing
AOS dye event (Japanese shard, but lots of players from other shards participated) - 1 to 2 months ago
New veteran rewards - 1 to 2 months ago and ongoing
Spring cleaning - 1 to 2 months ago
Pepta's Satiety Cure - ongoing

New content coming
New phase of "The Six"
New changes to factions

I am very sure there are things that I missed, and I have deliberated not included things I consider fixes - like making more things stackable and tags for colourblind people to distinguish granite colours.

Are efforts to put in new contents barely a month ago already forgotten?

Unfortunately, I too have taken these for granted, I have never once thanked the UO team so far. That will be corrected -


To the UO team - Thank you for the fantastic work that you have done so far! I really appreciate it!

 

[Seismic]

Thanks everyone for you objective views. People in UO seem much nicer than WoW in comparision.

UO does offer more choices but seems to lack in content. Since I am new to WoW, all the content is new to me, and fun. I've read that once you hit level 70 with Alliance, you can play Horde and have a different experience. As far as gear goes in WoW, you can customize using enchants or gems, altering the type of character you have. For example, I have seen there are either healers, high-damagers, or tanks. However, your paladin can be either a tank or a DPS. The gear makes it so as does the Talent spread. This is a bit limiting for a solo player, but for large groups, this simplifies the old "balance" arguement/issue. The more skills/variations in a MMORPG, the more likely there will be unbalance. WoW seems very balanced and fair to me. Rare items are truly rare. There are SO many options for gear, the skills factor seems minor. You can create a mage with high hit points or a mage with high spell damage, not with both.

I have two accounts, two houses. One in West Brit and one in Luna. It appears that if I can sell my Luna plot to some kind adventurer, I may load my bank up with items and "take a break".

I used to LOVE logging on to UO. I joined when ML first came out. I thought this was going to be the standard for content. Boy was I wrong. Perhaps it is my server, Origin. Seems like a ghost town most of the time. I tried Seige but kept getting slaughtered everywhere I went. Its frustrating to learn how to PvP against seasoned players. In WoW, the quests really get you ready for PvP. I am only level 50 in WoW and don't PvP often but when I hit lvl 70, the best gear is only obtainable if you DO decide to PvP, I think. Still learning. Plus my wife also prefers WoW and plays as much as I do. I had a hard time getting her to log onto UO for the last 9 months. I think I have a personal attachment to the game because it is Britannia after all. The land I have know since I was a wee lad. Nostalgia only goes so far tho when you have to pay for it.

Anyone want to buy my plot in Luna?

In my opinion, you need to try another Shard. I "restarted" on Origin (11 year player, 3 accounts through the years) and it was good to start with (joined an awesome guild - great folks, was community, etc) but then everyone left and Origin became a ghost town! So I hopped shards and transferred ALL of my stuff to begin a new life on Atlantic and haven't regretted it one day.

I goto Doom and there are folks there 85% of the time doing runs. I love that! For some reason, Doom hasn't became old and played to me yet. Maybe since I'm not uber rich? I dunno.

Anyways, I'd suggest transferring to another shard if you REALLY want to gauge your level of waning interest.

 

[Mook Chessy]

All I can say is try Siege..

I have been here for 6 weeks and love it! I actually look forward to logging in and playing UO. I have been playing 10+ years and the game really is different here, very close to old school UO.

One last thing, I played for the last few years on Atlantic and have a luna house there and I just posted it for sale so I can place a house on Siege..

anyone want a Luna house on ATL...high bid is 500 million!!