If UO Shuts down what can they do for us?

[viper of flames]

Lets say UO would shut down what could they do for us?

1.Trade-in value Account wise months paided into UO- An option to allow us to transfer our account to another game .
2. Vet rewards to be transfered to game of choice same as above.
3.Have NPC's buy back program installed for 1 month before closing to allow players to sell their goods for Gold Tokens to be transfered to game of choice same as above.
4.Players who bought 7th Char slots and bank upgrades would be trransfered into something for game of choice.
5.EA would give each player a gift to be used in another game( I played UO until it die, EA pked my account so on
6. Account time remaining to be transfered to another account. players who paided 6 months shouldn't have to pay for another EA Online game.

 

[Erekose]

I think the better question is why would anyone play another EA MMO after how badly they've treated UO and after how they've just let it slowly die on the vine? Vote with your wallet.

 

[laurlo]

not sure if I'd want to play another game (my inclination is no) but why would EA bother? They have no obligation.. and while it may be good business...

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

EA will do nothing if it shuts down UO.

-Galen's player

 

[Black Sun]

I'm sure nothing will be done regarding items in game, purchased addons etc. The only thing that would happen would be that EA would have to credit/refund those people who paid for 6 months in advance, and had time remaining to play.

Personally, I wouldn't want anything from EA as far as my accounts and their content goes. I won't be transferring to another MMO after UO. I've tried a number of them, and nothing stacks up to UO.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

What a question!
EA would do neither, if they'd shut down UO.
And I wouldn't play another computer game.

 

[Jeremy]

For a relatively recent example, do some searching on Auto Assault. It shouldn't be too hard to find the details of that shutdown (may it rest in peace.)

I have never had so much as a whisper of a conversation on this topic at Mythic, though.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Argh
Its not shutting down.

Dang.

Let it rest.

 

[Zy'ana]

If it gets thats bad, they should sell out to Blizzard and merge with WoW, the new Gargs would fit in nicely with the flying system they got there and we'd all get a quid off per month!
Not that i want it to shut down mind!

 

[Tina Small]

EA shut down EA-Land earlier this year, in mid-August. (EA-Land used to be called The Sims Online.) If you are curious about the details of their "sunset offer," the details are here in this Q&A from the official EA Knowledgebase: http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=19639.

In a nutshell, they offered the following to their customers:

• The opportunity to play the game for free until the doors closed (should have been at least 60 days free for most subscribers, given the announcement date, the last billing date, and when the doors actually closed).
• One of two gifts if you were still a paying customer as of 4/29/2008: (1) $15 off any game from the EA Store; or (2) a three month subscription to Pogo.

I believe EA introduced the ability to pay real life cash for in-game currency some time in late 2007 or early 2008; however, I'm not quite sure if they offered any kind of refund to people who paid for this service but had not used it when they shut down the in-game ATMs in April.

 

[Fink]

They're just items, let them go.

If you want some sort of redemption for your pixels, best bet is to sell up now and cash in your gold before it all becomes totally worthless. That might raise a few bucks, and you'll save money by cancelling your subscriptions.

 

[T_Amon_from_work]

IF it came about, I would only wish some sort of allowance for any unpaid time in excess of 30 days - up to 1 year (depending on payment schedule).

Would I go to another EA game if they did it? Yup - DAoC. I enjoyed it when I played but as I noted elsewhere budget only allows for 1 pay-to-play game and UO is it.

 

[Oriana]

I love this game. Have for over 8 years. But when the time comes to close her down (may it be a long time from now) there is lil I expect from EA. Not because they are bad business or anything like that. Just let our game go when it's time is up. It's like a chapter in your life, I'll be sad to see it go, but there's lil EA could do "make up" for it going away. Yes they may offer things to go to other games. but as for the rest. We've paid for the service gotten the service, even if not always what we wanted. Beyond that EA owe's us nothing.

Just MHO

Oriana

 

[Loqucious]

Have you never needed some customer service from this company? If UO shuts down some day we will get nothing and the company will not care one bit.

The devs and GM's are probably very nice people, but EA customer service is beyond ridiculous.

 

[the 4th man]

EA canned my previous game, Motor City online....I had 24 cars to my garage, some suped up after a long time of collecting rares to add to the motors and whatnot......all I got was an offer for UO or Simms.....Glad I took UO....but still, nothing extra was offered.

If UO go kaput, I doubt I will play anymore online games, if I do, it will be a non-EA game. They're attitude to the customer is the pits.

 

[ColterDC]

Lets say UO would shut down what could they do for us?

1.Trade-in value Account wise months paided into UO- An option to allow us to transfer our account to another game .
2. Vet rewards to be transfered to game of choice same as above.
3.Have NPC's buy back program installed for 1 month before closing to allow players to sell their goods for Gold Tokens to be transfered to game of choice same as above.
4.Players who bought 7th Char slots and bank upgrades would be trransfered into something for game of choice.
5.EA would give each player a gift to be used in another game( I played UO until it die, EA pked my account so on
6. Account time remaining to be transfered to another account. players who paided 6 months shouldn't have to pay for another EA Online game.

Seriously, what dream world do you live in?

 

[WarUltima]

If UO was shut down. EA will not do anything. Well maybe an email containing links to their other online games oh yea and tell you "Thanks for playing".

 

[THP]

Its true your pixels are truly infinately worthless!!!

hey we got all the pixels we own for free...well for the cost of the subscription which is very cheap 9.99 for a months hobby!!!

When the can gets kicked and lets be frank i can see another 5 years at least, even if lesser/smaller shards are closed or merged...but in the end those pixels are just pixels...

Enjoy the game for what it is...

Hey best to try and make a few bucks now rather than later if u feel the need to make something- get something back..Money isnt everthing LOL.

Its beyond me why peeps pay real cash for stuff, when its easy enough to make gold in the game for free....I recently heard one person paid.... get ready for this $30k for a rares collection...well hey each to his/her own but lets be frank...what a bloody waste of real money- unless u rolling in it after a lottery win LOL , But what if UO was turned off tomorrow- no come backs/money backs from EA for sure....Real money gone [end]

 

[5% Luck]

Id be happy with a t-shirt of lord british in space!

Caption:

Uo has gone where no man has gone before!

 

[Loqucious]

Id be happy with a t-shirt of lord british in space!

Caption:

Uo has gone where no man has gone before!

That is brilliant! Careful, you may end up showing EA how to run a company.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

I don't think they would do anything for us. Hopefully at least refund the moneys paid in advance...like other people have said. Other than that, it would be a sad day I suppose. Sure there are other MMORPG's out there to play. I might or might not play another if UO shuts down. If I did it would not be through Electronic Arts. That said...there will not be another online game like Ultima Online. Just my two cents.

 

[Babble]

Destroy the servers and all information, never touch an MMO again and start programming for Microsoft?

 

[Nexus]

You know to really get back to the source topic, if it was me...and it's not but if it was I'd license it out. Basically groups or individuals interested in and having enough money, could purchase a License right to UO for a year, EA would retain all ownership of all the source code but would distribute it under a legally binding contract to the license holder/s with the clause that it cannot be redistributed or used as a basis for any out of house works. Meaning, you could alter the source copy you received as you saw fit, but couldn't use it to create separate game or as a basis to create an emulator, nor could you open it to the general public. Add in another clause that any modification and addition done to the server side code is property of EA being a derived work.

Here's the fun part..well for EA, they does a little modification to the source so that any up and running server on a network with an external (like can reach the WWW) connection, links back to them, they turn the login server into a gateway and continue to charge the $12.99 a month fee for the service from individuals as a cost to Maintain the server and for the service of being a hot link to all the various server that could populate cyberspace.

What this does is it allows individuals or groups who have the $$ to do so to maintain and continue the development of UO. It's off EA's Hands yet they still profit. Now if players are serious about wanting a Retro Shard, they just code it...If they want to put in OMG UBER 1337 HAXXZOR GEAR!! they can. If 5 years later EA like what they are seeing they stop licensing it out, and reopen the doors in house with a game that hasn't sat in the dust for years...

 

[RenaLynne]

One thing, if you dont enjoy the game now, quit. I wouldnt be expecting any sort or reimbursement from EA, and why should they? Things come and go, enjoy them while the last.

 

[RedDaTeef]

I think the t-shirt would say, "I played UO for 12 years and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!". That would be classic...

 

[Tycolby]

If UO shuts down I want a shirt that says "I played UO for 11yrs and all EA gave me was this Stupid Shirt!!"

 

[Blackadder]

I remember the day 8 years ago when i first made a char and started playing.
My stepson had come down for the weekend to play computer games, he walked in with the UO box and disc and said "try this game out boo its quite good, you can kill other players"
Until then i had only played solo roleplaying type games.
I loaded it up, took hours patching on my dial up modem and finaly created an account.
Wow, so much to take in, so many choices and options.
So i did what i always did when playing a new game, i researched.
After a while i found stratics (i think it was stratics?) and started reading.
I made a warrior char and thought i was the bees knees, running around brandishing my shiny sword (practice weapon) and my leather armour.
I found a chicken and started hacking him to death, wow what a fight, took me about 3 mins to take him down.
So, i did some more reading and started to get the hang of the game and made a craftsman and a mage to compliment my warrior.
Onwards and upwards i went, obsessed to the point of staying up till the early hours of the morning and phoning in sick the next day.
The point i'm trying to get to is 8 years ago when i was reading these boards the posts were the same:
UO is finished, i'm quitting.
You have ruined UO with trammel i'm leaving
UO wont be here this time next year, i'm quitting now.
groan groan, moan moan.
That was 8 years ago and its still here, i take breaks from the game but always come back and its like a new game again.
I fear that UO will not be able to bring in new players simply because they have a vertical climb to be able to do/buy anything in a game that has 11year old accounts with tons of gold and items.
I think they need to concentrate on bringing back the original players who know how to do things and generate income and survive.
Maybe even have some of UO's oldest and respected players have some sort of reward for helping any new players that join the game.
I was lucky enough to befriend a guy from the states who helped me get started and took me hunting to gain skills and explore the land. Thats when we travelled everywhere by foot or boat lol.
To answer the original posters question, i wouldnt expect anything from UO because i have paid to play this game as my hobby/stress outlet and have thoroughly enjoyed it, and hope to enjoy it for a few more years to come.
Doomsayers are around everything we do in life, take the world wide credit crunch we are experiencing, the media are doing a fantastic job of heightening peoples fears and causing mass panic.
Just as UO doomsayers have been doing since the start of this game.
Its just a shame that even if 50% of the doomsayers energy was directed in positive stuff we would all see and feel the difference.

 

[Harb]

My bet is they would do nothing. A decision to close the game is a decision to abandon at least a large portion of the game's player base and the revenue obtained from them. It would be possible I suppose for Mythic to build a comprehensive, huge game "from scratch" that encompasses and absorbs all three of their products. In such a scenario things could "port" over, but this seems a very unlikely strategy for them to pursue as it would be a direction no one in the industry has ever attempted. An idea of establishing a broad and dedicated subscriber player base, then readjusting the entire world for them, would be extremely revolutionary, but likely the cost of doing so would be prohibitive from EA's perch. It would certainly be an intersting endeavor. So no, we'd likely see no thanks whatsoever for the years of devotion

 

[Raina]

For a relatively recent example, do some searching on Auto Assault. It shouldn't be too hard to find the details of that shutdown (may it rest in peace.)

I have never had so much as a whisper of a conversation on this topic at Mythic, though.

Huh, Auto Assault basically did a reconciliation (ie: refund) to it's long-paid customers. That's something EA has never done to the best of my knowledge. Also kinda odd AA is used as an example since it was an NCSoft game, and not an EA Game. As opposed to sayin look at what the details were for Sims Online, or MotorCity, or Earth & Beyond or any of the other properties that EA has actually closed down...

Huh...

~rai

 

[Lord Drakelord]

Well If EA were to turn UO off, I would expect nothing from them, and they would also receive nothing from me as there are no other games out there that we like to play on line. We been playing UO since 1999 and it has been a fun time and we hope it continues for another 11 years.

 

[sapphirediablo11]

I hope UO isn't canceled but if SA is a flop, then i think it will be...

I think that there should be special items in other games, that only players who've played a game like uo for X years (my case 10) can get if the game is shut down.... before people start dissing this, i want to say that the people who insult good ideas by asking what world you living in or what not.. are the reason why they view it was people not wanting it so please stop being so pessimistic...

LONG LIVE UO!

 

[ColterDC]

are the reason why they view it was people not wanting it

In english please?

 

[Uvtha]

Doomsayers are around everything we do in life, take the world wide credit crunch we are experiencing, the media are doing a fantastic job of heightening peoples fears and causing mass panic.
Just as UO doomsayers have been doing since the start of this game.
Its just a shame that even if 50% of the doomsayers energy was directed in positive stuff we would all see and feel the difference.

Yeah, but one day the doom sayers will be right, and I think we all know that time is getting closer, even if its years away. I mean it was publicly stated that EA had a desire to shut down UO upon its aquistion of mythic...

 

[T_Amon_from_work]

You know to really get back to the source topic, if it was me...and it's not but if it was I'd license it out. Basically groups or individuals interested in and having enough money, could purchase a License right to UO for a year, EA would retain all ownership of all the source code but would distribute it under a legally binding contract to the license holder/s with the clause that it cannot be redistributed or used as a basis for any out of house works. Meaning, you could alter the source copy you received as you saw fit, but couldn't use it to create separate game or as a basis to create an emulator, nor could you open it to the general public. Add in another clause that any modification and addition done to the server side code is property of EA being a derived work. ...

Interestingly, "The 4th Coming" (T4C) did just that ... licensed out the ability to do PRS-type of gaming for those interested as Admins, GMs, players, etc. There is a hardcore group or 2 still using the player-run servers to play a game they love.

I played one game - Empiriana - until it's death, which was NOT a server shutdown but other more disastrous happenings like Stratics recent mishap. Played that one - for cash - for about 6 years, then they went free-to-play on the PC version as they marketed the mobile version. Quite a devoted following for a 1st-generation leveler with even earllier graphics (can we say "sprites"?).

I hope Jeremy and crew are monitoring this thread, as insights and ideas are here for any future beyond UO. Perhaps, should that time come, some can be used for the diehard fans.

 

[sapphirediablo11]

In english please?

zijn de reden waarom zij het waren mensen bekijken die het niet willen
Non è il mio difetto che la mia grammatica è povera



Anyways hopefully things will turn out

 

[Dicimiie]

I would be kidding myself if I thought for one instant that I should expect anything from UO should it be cancelled. It is a form of entertainment and nothing more. I wouldn't go to watch a movie, expecting to get something back after the movie ended. The same applies here. They provide us with entertainment that we pay for, and when the entertainment is over, it's over. Nothing more.. nothing less.

 

[sapphirediablo11]

I would be kidding myself if I thought for one instant that I should expect anything from UO should it be cancelled. It is a form of entertainment and nothing more. I wouldn't go to watch a movie, expecting to get something back after the movie ended. The same applies here. They provide us with entertainment that we pay for, and when the entertainment is over, it's over. Nothing more.. nothing less.

Incorrect. If you are going to see a movie you know exactly when it will end, and plan it into your life, and then get on with it and never speak of it again... were as UO has been with some people 10, 11 years I've never seen a movie last that long... or is that jsut in Canada? Anyways... If you go into an MMO that has Lasted 10 years and it just suddenly shuts down, then you should be conpensated, since you have devoted yourself to it, for however long.. a movie is a meh of a blip of your life... UO has been a part of 1/5 or more of some peoples lives... sad to see that people keep bad mouthing this idea, and want to get nothing out of it its really hurt full to people who actually like the game :|

 

[Dicimiie]

Incorrect. If you are going to see a movie you know exactly when it will end, and plan it into your life, and then get on with it and never speak of it again... were as UO has been with some people 10, 11 years I've never seen a movie last that long... or is that jsut in Canada? Anyways... If you go into an MMO that has Lasted 10 years and it just suddenly shuts down, then you should be conpensated, since you have devoted yourself to it, for however long.. a movie is a meh of a blip of your life... UO has been a part of 1/5 or more of some peoples lives... sad to see that people keep bad mouthing this idea, and want to get nothing out of it its really hurt full to people who actually like the game :|

I wasn't badmouthing the idea. I just think it's unrealistic to expect to get anything back from something that gave you nothing but entertainment. The fact that a movie is over after only a couple of hours is irrelevant to the fact that it is merely entertainment, which is what UO is as well. And I never said I didn't like the game either. I've played several MMORPGs, and UO is still the best by far. But it's still only entertainment.

 

[aarons6]

if ea shuts down uo the most we will get is the last month game time for free.. thats what they did with motor city online..

they told us a month before it was getting shut down and they didnt charge us for the last month. i miss that game

 

[Sara Of Baja]

Incorrect. If you are going to see a movie you know exactly when it will end, and plan it into your life, and then get on with it and never speak of it again... were as UO has been with some people 10, 11 years I've never seen a movie last that long... or is that jsut in Canada? Anyways... If you go into an MMO that has Lasted 10 years and it just suddenly shuts down, then you should be conpensated, since you have devoted yourself to it, for however long.. a movie is a meh of a blip of your life... UO has been a part of 1/5 or more of some peoples lives... sad to see that people keep bad mouthing this idea, and want to get nothing out of it its really hurt full to people who actually like the game :|

We pay a monthly subscription fee .. we are not investing in a retirement plan.

 

[viper of flames]

Dont get the wrong idea all im saying it would be nice if they did something like this for players that want to continue playing EA games.This would be a way for them to bring more players into other Online games.

I for one after playing this game since day one would love something would you? A shirt would be sweet but that would cost them $ and well forget that idea lol. I and many players would be upset if they just did nothing for all of us who played this long.

2 accounts
Companion

Brought about 70 plus accounts into this game and thoses players some who have 11 accounts alone is alot of money over the years. Folding this game into another wouldnt be such a bad idea would it?


Thank you for all you comments

 

[NuSair]

I started back playing D&D on Q-Link (Commodore's Online Service back in 1984), moved onto MUDS, then UO for 5 years, EQ for several more, WoW for 6 months and back to UO. That's just online stuff, and doesn't include table top gaming or games link Diablo/Baldur's Gate, ect.

So, I've been doing this the past....I donno, 24 years or so. Once UO shuts down, I am not sure I have it in me to start up another MMORPG.

To me, the thing that sets UO above all the rest, is that if you are tired of just killing stuff, there's a plethora of other stuff to do. In EQ you grind or raid (or cast C3 for 100pp a pop...those were the days), in WoW, you grind/raid/quest....in just about every other MMORPG it's just that. UO is so far and above those games, just like Ultima IV is still one of the best games ever, because of what it did and how it did it.

So what could they do, honestly? Sell it to someone that cares (I doubt Lord British would want it back at this point) or make it open source.

 

[sapphirediablo11]

We pay a monthly subscription fee .. we are not investing in a retirement plan.

Which is why they incise us to join up another game to keep the fee payments coming in :O

 

[Erekose]

I think the t-shirt would say, "I played UO for 12 years and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!". That would be classic...

More like "I played UO for years and all I got was not being able to sit down for months because it hurts so bad down there after repeated abuse."

 

[Nexus]

Interestingly, "The 4th Coming" (T4C) did just that ... licensed out the ability to do PRS-type of gaming for those interested as Admins, GMs, players, etc. There is a hardcore group or 2 still using the player-run servers to play a game they love.

I played one game - Empiriana - until it's death, which was NOT a server shutdown but other more disastrous happenings like Stratics recent mishap. Played that one - for cash - for about 6 years, then they went free-to-play on the PC version as they marketed the mobile version. Quite a devoted following for a 1st-generation leveler with even earllier graphics (can we say "sprites"?).

I hope Jeremy and crew are monitoring this thread, as insights and ideas are here for any future beyond UO. Perhaps, should that time come, some can be used for the diehard fans.

Never heard of Empiriana, but I've always thought the best way for UO to come to grips with the enormous emulation presence is to embrace it. Think of it, with all the money spent on the really good Emulation Servers Hardware, coupled with how stable and dependable the emulation software is, I mean some of it seems to run more efficient on the user end than EA's how well do you think they would do coding and working on the actual code EA uses?

 

[Magdalene]

Personally I'd be done playing online games for a long time, maybe forever.

 

[sapphirediablo11]

Personally I'd be done playing online games for a long time, maybe forever.

I agree to some extent, only if they don't compensate, otherwise i'm gone

 

[Bluebottle]

EA will do nothing if it shuts down UO.

-Galen's player

Yup - like when they shut down Earth and Beyond!

 

[Traveller]

Non è il mio difetto che la mia grammatica è povera

Your italian is questionable too.... google translator?

 

[sapphirediablo11]

Your italian is questionable too.... google translator?

I used a word for word... using a dictionary... plus italian was my 5 language so i didn't really think i got point accross but meh... at least my dutch is good :O