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Decline and Fall of Ultima Online

  • Thread starter Prince Caspian
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  • Watchers 7
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Prince Caspian

Guest
I've been here since Beta, and as I often have said, I will be here when Ultima Online closes. In fact, I'll be playing that very day -- I will throw a big party for the friends online I've met in the past several years in my tower, right up till server down.

But over the years, there have always been, year in and year out, declarations that UO is finished. UO is about to die. Origin/EA Mythic/etc are already selling off assets and the UO office will be closed for all time.

It gets numbing after a while so that you just ignore such posts. They were wrong before.

But I think UO is going to be gone within the next three years. The player population has been dwindling dramatically. Our returning players are very few. The game is just old. And most disturbing of all, EA Mythic is selling all kinds of sundries that give us cool benefits but also excise some of the play elements from the game. Our shelf presence has been non-existent since 2005 or so.

As many of you are going to point out, none of this is anything new. For the past five years, you could say the same about all of the above.

But the Maginica Bazaar is concerning me. This is a twist that gamers that I know of have been waiting for, for years. But on Sonoma, maybe 10% of the booths are even occupied. No bids for the rest. Plus the stories of EA Mythic taking a 40% sacking, makes me wonder how much longer this game will go before the plug is pulled.

I'm in my late 30s. The Ultima mythology is something from my generation. But I'm getting old -- and scooting to the outer fringe of the "gamer demographic." Most of the young people nowadays are no more familiar with the UO mythology than with Hogan's Alley Comic Strips from 1905. And so much behind UO is the mythology. In short, it's something that isn't going for it anymore. Plus, as I always maintained, gamers are fickle. They are usually chasing the next big thing.

Anyway, my thoughts. For the first time, I really think UO is on its way out.

But then, my voice may simply be added to the countless others incorrectly harkening UO's demise since this game came out.
 
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grig_since98

Guest
It sounds like the years of doom speaking that you mentioned have finally got to you. There is nothing you've brought up that seems to me to be indicative of failure within a relatively short time.

I'm not sure which "sundries" you mention are taking away "play elements". I would argue that many players would like to see some of the "enhancements" being sold become available through game play, but I'm not sure I've seen anything that "takes away" from the game.

Sonoma is a poor example for the popularity of the Magincia bazaar. I believe that is the least populated shard in the game, yet many of the players there seem to prefer it that way.

The larger gaming demographic has and always will chase the next biggest game or concept. UO is a niche product, probably always was, and it probably will have to remain so. This doesn't mean the product is dying, but rather that the game will have to continue to offer innovative concepts ( some of which will invariably suck) by developers who have much less aversion to risk than those developers producing AAA titles across PC and console platforms. Whether you like it or not, I believe High Seas is the sort of thing that UO needs to see more of.

I don't believe that lack of shelf presence is a problem at all. In fact, I have come to believe that trying to put UO back up on the shelves at best buy would be an unnecessary expense at best, and more likely, I believe, a disaster. Such a proposition would be expensive, and might actually work against the image of the product. Digital distribution is the way to go with UO. I believe this is going to be the future of PC games in general. An example of the sort of AAA titles I plan to purchase or have purchased via digital distribution include Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 to name a few. There is nothing wrong with digital distribution.
 
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RavenWinterHawk

Guest
I've been here since Beta, and as I often have said, I will be here when Ultima Online closes. In fact, I'll be playing that very day -- I will throw a big party for the friends online I've met in the past several years in my tower, right up till server down.

But over the years, there have always been, year in and year out, declarations that UO is finished. UO is about to die. Origin/EA Mythic/etc are already selling off assets and the UO office will be closed for all time.

It gets numbing after a while so that you just ignore such posts. They were wrong before.

But I think UO is going to be gone within the next three years. The player population has been dwindling dramatically. Our returning players are very few. The game is just old. And most disturbing of all, EA Mythic is selling all kinds of sundries that give us cool benefits but also excise some of the play elements from the game. Our shelf presence has been non-existent since 2005 or so.

As many of you are going to point out, none of this is anything new. For the past five years, you could say the same about all of the above.

But the Maginica Bazaar is concerning me. This is a twist that gamers that I know of have been waiting for, for years. But on Sonoma, maybe 10% of the booths are even occupied. No bids for the rest. Plus the stories of EA Mythic taking a 40% sacking, makes me wonder how much longer this game will go before the plug is pulled.

I'm in my late 30s. The Ultima mythology is something from my generation. But I'm getting old -- and scooting to the outer fringe of the "gamer demographic." Most of the young people nowadays are no more familiar with the UO mythology than with Hogan's Alley Comic Strips from 1905. And so much behind UO is the mythology. In short, it's something that isn't going for it anymore. Plus, as I always maintained, gamers are fickle. They are usually chasing the next big thing.

Anyway, my thoughts. For the first time, I really think UO is on its way out.

But then, my voice may simply be added to the countless others incorrectly harkening UO's demise since this game came out.
Dont be to concerned it is only because what can be sold there isn't needed.

We dont need 40 animal sellers.
We dont need 40 reg sellers.

And the vendors system does fine with getting everyone the bulk junk they need.

Animal buyers know tamers.

Now if the Bazaar vendors could be set by any player that wanted to buy things... it would be rocking.
 
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Woodsman

Guest
Anyway, my thoughts. For the first time, I really think UO is on its way out.
They are making a go at trying to draw new players into UO and Camelot, and they are doing much needed upgrades (graphics, EC, new player, quests) and they've been working on Ter Mur.

I would be more worried if they weren't doing any of that and were just rolling out more and more booster/theme packs. That would be an indication to me that UO was on some kind of timer.
 

Storm

UO Forum Moderator
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i have been around from the beginning also and if I had one penny for every doom and gloom post I could buy the game!
 

Squeax

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
Lots of younger games are in much worse shape. We still have active development and a live events team. Most of the "omg low population" crying is just because this game can't/won't close shards like pretty much every other game has done.
 

Nimuaq

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
It is the community that keeps Ultima Online alive; not developers, expansions, gamecodes, Mythic or EA. Some of the freeshards are great examples for this. So you're right when you say the decrease on the number of players might end Ultima Online. However, during the last two years, I haven't seen any dramatic change on the number of players, so I don't understand what exactly changed. It is really hard to top what Ultima Online offers to these players, for thirteen years. Even you are considering throwing a big party on the day it will close, and if it does, I won't be surprised to see a huge crowd on that party.
 
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Woodsman

Guest
I think UO's got some life left, but this ain't 2007, UO has lost players since then, and there comes a point at which they will just pull the plug. We could laugh about the doom and gloom posts back when UO was above 75,000 subs.

This interview with Frank Gibeau that just came out a few days ago reinforces the fact that UO probably needs to either start holding on to its current players or add to them, since EA wants to whittle the number of active games down to less than ten. They are wanting to ditch "average" games in favor of the huge hits.

Over the last two years there's been a philosophy change at EA, with a move away from large rosters of games and close centralised control, to fewer titles created by semi-autonomous studios. How has that worked out?

We feel like our strategies are really hitting their stride, they're working. At the time, we were trying to go from 20 average games down to six to eight great games, such as Mass Effect and Battlefield. We're also going from 13 different technology engines down to two or three. We're committed to online, trying to shake the company up around that – we had a lot of bold statements around that, and this last fiscal year we reported record digital revenues of over $800m (£490m) that put us in the top two companies in the world. So from that standpoint we feel good – the strategies are really starting to pay.
MMOs might get a little slack, especially since there are people within BioWare who like the Ultima franchise, but EA is radically changing.
 
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Woodsman

Guest
Most of the "omg low population" crying is just because this game can't/won't close shards like pretty much every other game has done.
Those games such as Warhammer Online close shards because they have to, due to the mechanics of the game requiring a lot of people coming together to fight, as well as due to costs. UO is cheaper to run, and has no need to close down shards since it is not based on the same mechanics/gameplay that games like Warhammer Online are.

On top of that, those games that close shards, none of them have anywhere near the housing systems that UO does. If EA closed down some shards, those players who lose their houses/locations, some are likely to say "**** it" and quit because forcing them to move to another shard and losing their existing homes and possibly items is not going to go over well, especially if they've been playing for many years. Get a few thousand people to quit by closing shards and UO closing would edge that much closer to becoming a reality.

Plus people can already move to higher populated shards and some prefer lower populated shards. People who whine about EA needing to close shard are free to buy transfer tokens, and if they are whining because others won't change shards, they are also free to buy transfer tokens for other people.
 
K

KoolAidAddict

Guest
Your sky is falling comments are old news dude!!
UO has been "dying" for ohhhh 12 years now and, well, its still kickin it like its 1999!!
hehehe
That being said, perhaps, just perhaps, these comments will help usher in UO2!!!
As long and as prosperous as UO has been, I just do NOT see it going away without a fight, and hopefully the fighters will opt for UO2!!
Bring some devs over from Guild Wars, for graphics, to start with!!!
 
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Fayled Dhreams

Guest
Prince Caspian eh?
If memory serves, you used to have a creative pen ...
changing genres over to eulogies?
*shrugs*
If so ... might I suggest a more apropos "tone"(framework/setting)?


Is the Wolf coming, or the Sky falling this time?
Actually ... to be a bit more on point and accurate ... :eyes:

Tis the great darkness approaching, from the never ending story
The believers are growing up ...

Takes triple points for best analogy ... chaching!-chaching!-chaching! :danceb:
Just saying ...
you might be a suitable narrator of "the" story
(up to you to re-freshen the ending with a twist ... "personalize" it so to speak) :danceb:
 

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Cheer up Caspian

UO is not going anywhere and the low spots are just that low spots... I have played Atlantic and all that fullness is fine for a time.... but I am so glad I have my other shards for the peace and quiet of a rural UO life. Not that I havent been screaming to the forum that we need more players or that the new and returning players are starting to dribble in.


I have to agree with Storm, if we had a coin for every doom sayer speil we have had over the 14 years of UO .....might be able to ............put a chunk on the national debt?
I personaly heard for years from one lady I knew every other day how UO was gunna fail, she had 4 accounts, the last doom call from her had her hand me her accounts and say ok Im outa here its dying. That was just before WoW launched! She pinned that WoW was UO's deathnel......ah I dont see no undertaker here.

The gaming industry as a whole is taking a dip in sales, even the experts didnt expect that. But for one thing they didnt count on, our ecconomy is very bad and the over all cash is being held on to like Midas and his gold. People are afraid to spend even on the small stuff. The other shoe hasnt droped as they say..... Funny thing is the experts say WE control the other shoe....

When its all done and the dust settles I bet you UO will still be here and runing a muck as usual. Work your job, pay your bills, love your family, enjoy your life in the RL and come play with us Caspian, its ok kiddo. We not going anywhere.
 
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Woodsman

Guest
Before the last break I took, I used to scoff at the notion as well, but UO could afford to lose over 170,000 subs between 2003 and 2007, but it's 2011 and there does come a point at which it can not afford to lose anymore. It's not helping that EA executives are out there, even this week, saying they are moving EA away from handling a few dozen titles down a smaller number of more profitable titles. This is what they are telling the stockholders, media, and public, and they are doing it. They have less titles coming up than they did in the past.

On the other hand, UO is stronger now than it was 7 months ago. It's getting major updates, it's getting mentioned in the media more (although not always in the best of terms :(), there is a revived interest in Ultima in general. I wish Mark Jacobs was still around, but BioWare could turn out to be a better steward. They've certainly taken the steps to generate interest in it.

One of UO's biggest problem is that too many players think that new players are unnecessary and they are against the steps EA is taking to try and attract new players like the graphics update, the EC work, etc. That scares the **** out of me, because I don't care how diehard of a fan of the CC you are, every single one of us should be supporting anything that could bring in and keep new players, especially younger players. UO has the potential to offer them a much deeper experience than they could find elsewhere, but they have to give it a chance first.
 

Ender

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UNLEASHED
Your sky is falling comments are old news dude!!
UO has been "dying" for ohhhh 12 years now and, well, its still kickin it like its 1999!!
hehehe
That being said, perhaps, just perhaps, these comments will help usher in UO2!!!
As long and as prosperous as UO has been, I just do NOT see it going away without a fight, and hopefully the fighters will opt for UO2!!
Bring some devs over from Guild Wars, for graphics, to start with!!!
UO has a fraction of the players it had in 1999 though.

With time, the "UO is dying" posts have become more and more true. Not many people seem to realize that for some reason.
 
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Tox The Murder

Guest
I've Been a loyal player since the day UO Opened [not kidding] I've watched this game go up and down and i've lost many friends to *other* shards and what not. This is should be at the top right ruling the MMORPG world. It has all people could want. All it really needs is Graphics,New player help and a better pvp system/ruleset. That's all we've been asking for since EA came in.
 

Viper09

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Another one already?

I got an iea, let's play a game. Let's list all the other MMO's that have came and died, or became even worse off than UO while this game has continued to live on.

Shadowbane!
 
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Tox The Murder

Guest
Another one already?

I got an iea, let's play a game. Let's list all the other MMO's that have came and died, or became even worse off than UO while this game has continued to live on.

Shadowbane!
If that was towards me all i was saying that all UO needs is better graphics and some more dazzle to lighten it up. Yes UO is living on but i want it to live on longer. :)
 

Viper09

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If that was towards me all i was saying that all UO needs is better graphics and some more dazzle to lighten it up. Yes UO is living on but i want it to live on longer. :)
Nah, was towards the general "doom and gloom" or "the sky is falling" threads like this one. lol
 

Tina Small

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Dont be to concerned it is only because what can be sold there isn't needed.

We dont need 40 animal sellers.
We dont need 40 reg sellers.

And the vendors system does fine with getting everyone the bulk junk they need.

Animal buyers know tamers.

Now if the Bazaar vendors could be set by any player that wanted to buy things... it would be rocking.
You CAN set up your bazaar vendor to purchase deeded items.

On Siege, there are currently 11 stalls set up (out of a possible 50, since we have no Trammel Magincia).

Three of the vendors are selling pets, including one selling only various types of tinker-crafted pets. The rest of the vendors are selling and buying a wide range of commodities, including all types of ingots and boards, ML gems from mining, imbuing materials, wool, cloth, leathers, feathers, bandages, various types of fish, lockpicks, and potions.

Edited to add: On Siege, you normally cannot purchase cloth or bandages (I think there's a healer selling bandages in Ter Mur but that must be a goof). Also, anything else you buy from most NPC vendors on Siege costs three times what it costs on other shards. (Sometimes you can find "normal" or "near-normal" NPC prices on certain items if a town is faction-controlled.) And since you can only create one character per account, Siege probably has more players than other shards where the account owner is unable to buy anything at all from NPC vendors. So, the bazaar vendors in New Magincia certainly have the potential on Siege (and Mugen) to take off if players understand how to use them. For example, yes you can buy from them even if you don't have the upgrade and items other than pets show up in your pack as a blessed deed (very nice on Siege....haha).
 

GalenKnighthawke

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
One of these days UO may well die, like most business ventures do.

When it does, the last one to say its death was imminent will look like a prophet, but it will just be coincidence.

-Galen's player
 
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Tox The Murder

Guest
One of these days UO may well die, like most business ventures do.

When it does, the last one to say its death was imminent will look like a prophet, but it will just be coincidence.

-Galen's player
EVERYTIME i see u post something it is negative :(
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
just saying....UO= less than 50k more like 40k...common sense prevails form the magincia debarcle......
 

MalagAste

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I'll say this...

I agree with Caspain... I too have said I will be here until the final shard falls... blah, blah, blah...

I have heard countless times how UO is dying... but I have eyes... I see what is going on. Many times the idea that it was dying was just that folk are more spread out than they ever have been. There are now how many dungeons? Not just the few in Tram and Fel... but all of Illshenar... Tokuno, Malas, and now Ter Mur... the ML dungeons as well...

Add to that how many champ spawns... dozens of towns... Just because you don't see folk often does not mean they aren't there.

That said I also spend quite a bit of time just wondering around the land. I patrol my town and it's surrounding area often and I'll have to say this... it's getting more and more barren. I watch friends leave and more and more never return. Some come back and visit from time to time but few stay longer than a couple of weeks.

I look around and I feel this great sadness. I remember what was and I long for the community of years gone by... I see what is and find myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the whiny and rude behavior of others and I ask myself... "Is this what I'm staying here for???"

More and more often I find myself questioning the expense of staying and weighing it against the community that remains... the scales are coming closer and closer to tipping...

I become more and more frustrated with bugs, poor graphics and the lack of communication from the DEV team. I try harder and harder to think positively but when I see things like the last "bonus pack" offered with the severely incomplete tile sets and things I think... how sad is it when others gobble up such tripe as if it's a seven course meal... when it's not much more than a few measly scraps... and not even good scraps at that.

I see bugs and cheats that continue to be an irritation years later... How long have folk screamed about speed hacks and unmentioned 3rd party programs? How many have fallen victim to being hacked because of the lack of good strong control on the part of EA... How many times do we hear over and over and over "We can not replace lost or stolen items.".... though we all know that most other MMO's on the market CAN and DO.

Yet we wonder why folk don't want to return and play UO when we are still stuck in the darkages as far as graphics and game engines go... mostly because all too often folk just won't move past the bug filled 2d client... But what are we offered? An EC with the same old graphics in horrid detail that you can zoom in to see every pixel in all it's horror???? and you can't use it most of the time because serious bugs prevent you from doing so.

Yet we wait... and stay.... but for what? Dreams and memories of years gone by? In hopes that old friends will return to find us still here?

I keep asking myself why.... Why do I still remain?

Because I love UO... Because I have a dream of what UO could be and I keep hoping that one day the DEV's will actually put forth the effort that the game deserves. Because there simply IS no alternative. No other game offers what UO does. Oh they try ..... but they fall short. They lack the imagination... Not of the DEV's..... but of the other players. UO is what it is because of "we" the players. We who make the community... We who BUILD the community... and We who interact in it. It's not any more than that...

Will I be here still when UO shuts down the last server??? I don't know. I know only this... if it continues in the decline and present state... I highly doubt I will stay much longer.

Am I crying ooo fix it or I'll quit... No... I've made my voice clear about what I feel needs to be done to better the game... I've given idea's about how to improve it.... and I've cried foul when I felt something was done that should be better. If that makes me negative then so be it. I'll save my positive attitude for when UO is shining again. Until then... I will continue to voice my opinion and my frustration... until either things are fixed and improved or I finally throw in the towel.
 
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Woodsman

Guest
I'm sticking with UO at least until I see the first round or two of the graphics updates. I think we'll get an idea of things to come with the graphic update. I believe the dev team is trying, and I know they are overshadowed/hampered by Star Wars. They also have to deal with the surliest MMO fanbase around.
 

RawHeadRex

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
if it's true that there are around 40k players left... that still generates over a half a million a month. For a 14 year old online game with monthly dues... that ain't too shabby imho.
 

Poo

The Grandest of the PooBah’s
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you are all missing one very important thing.

UO was the first big MMORG and infact holds some world records with such.

so would the owner of such a franchise EVER close that down and loose that?

no way in hell.

thats money in the bank for bragging rights!!!


no, just for the simple fact that they can sit back and say "ya, we have the oldest game EVER" they will keep the game going even if the numbers dropped to 2 people.

Ultima Online's success resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the game 8 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "First MMORPG to Reach 100,000 Players", "Longest Running MMORPG", and "First and Only Person to Kill Lord British", which was done by a player named Rainz during a server reset which turned off his invulnerability.[28]

In 2010, Ultima Online was the first inductee into the Game Developers Choice Online Awards Hall of Fame.
money in the bank people.

"Hell ya we hold Guinness World Records!"
 

GalenKnighthawke

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
40k is a number THP made up to troll people.
I go with 50,000 because that's what was used in a blog post some time ago.

It was someone complaining about Warhammer, and how bad Mythic had bungled it, and said something like "I bet even UO has more people than we do."

Someone else popped on to say, no....WHO had 100k, DAOC and UO both had 50k.

Also it just feels right given the 100k that we had, according to an interview with someone from Mythic, just before WHO came out.

-Galen's player
 
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Woodsman

Guest
you are all missing one very important thing.

UO was the first big MMORG and infact holds some world records with such.

so would the owner of such a franchise EVER close that down and loose that?
Up until recently EA did a pretty good job of pretending UO didn't exist for several years, except when it came time to layoff people.
 
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Sevin0oo0

Guest
Bunch of doom & gloomers in this post. I came when Tram was created, and not a Day earlier. And I'll be here 'till the end too, or until I no longer need my current sig - whichever comes first
 

Roland'

Lore Keeper
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Stratics Legend
I personaly heard for years from one lady I knew every other day how UO was gunna fail, she had 4 accounts, the last doom call from her had her hand me her accounts and say ok Im outa here its dying. That was just before WoW launched! She pinned that WoW was UO's deathnel......ah I dont see no undertaker here.

QUOTE]

Ive only played since 2003 but i still remember mag, brit and luna packed with people. That was on siege perilous.

Just because the servers arent closed doesnt mean 90% of the servers arent dead. In the last year playing Atl i have noticed a decline in the population on "the busiest shard" (siege was busier a few years ago by far than Atl is now).
 
S

Sevin0oo0

Guest
that's like saying 98% of all fords are still out on the road today, the other 2% made it back home.
 

hawkeye_pike

Babbling Loonie
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Stratics Legend
I'm no doomsayer either (on principle), but I have to agree with the original poster. The lack of active players (and I even tried two shards with medium population) made UO feel like a single player game. Also, i dislike that items are the only thing most people nowadays play for. So I canceled my subscription permanently a few weeks ago. I simply got bored, and honestly all the new nifty expansions, boosters and features are nice, but they don't do it for me. They only are useful if there's an active community.

I wouldn't say that UO will die within 3 years, but in order to prevent the downfall of UO, EA would have to do some drastic changes to the game. I think it is unlikely that this will happen because EA won't spend that much money on UO, and the veteran player base would protest against drastic changes anyway.
 
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Lysdra

Guest
I just recently came back to the game after being away for 9+ years..... Yeah I know I went through the cycle: EQ, EQ2, SWG, WOW, TR, Rift but I can tell you one thing UO has over all of those games, a sense of community!

Too many times those other games have been ruined for me at least due to the what I call "Mercenary Generation". They are always out for themselves or looking for what can improve them only and do not have a community sense of mind. I think WOW contributed to this for mainly mainstreaming the MMO community and flooding the MMO gamer numbers with people with this mercenary attitude.

I am grateful to be back and playing. I too am on Sonoma and I can honestly say for the first time in a long time I had a smile on face while playing a MMO. The memories that came flooding back of just the simple things like mining and dragging ore stacks, on the constant lookout for someone to come along and "demand" I give them a cut of my ore for "protection" and so on. It was like a breath of fresh air and I welcomed it. When I came back to the game I had multiple people more than willing to help me out and get me back up to speed with the game. It made me feel so guilty to not have been playing the game over those years and made me realize just how awesome this game really is.

One of the earlier posters said they were on the edge of the gamer circle at 30? Well I am 39 and still play and I will continue to play until my time is up. You can bet that UO will be in my stable and I will continue to be very active in it until the end.

Lysdra Sonoma "Glad to be back"
 

Zosimus

Grand Inquisitor
Alumni
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Stratics Legend
I have to LOL @ the guestimated numbers that people pull out of their arses. Not one poster has any idea ( including myself) how many actively "PAID" accounts UO has current.

Now lets see..... actual active players versus actively paid accounts that have non active players.... most likely the non active players atm are larger then the active players. BUT.....active or non active and paid they still add up to the total of active paid accounts.

Plus we cant have a true count of the player base when there are players that have mutiple accounts. This included the selling sites that have mutiple accounts for so called various things they do in the game. These so called site player accounts are not true community players since they are more of a delivery and gathering service.

Then yet again you always "hear" the excuses.... well it's summer and most players are outside and enjoying life...or..... its fall and kids are back in school.... or... its the holdays and players dont have time to play, ect ect etc. Not sure if any of thoses are true or just to keep the current community optimistic with a false sense of hope.

I say enjoy the game while you can or find one that doesnt make you have to worry about such petty matters. Things always comes to an end. When UO demise comes players should celebrate the time they enjoyed it when it was alive and well. :) My days of UO are past me and I dont lose any sleep over it :)
 

HD2300

Certifiable
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Stratics Legend
I wish EA would employ an extra dev for UO rather than pay for astroturf spam. If anyone is expecting a total graphics revamp anytime soon LMAO... you most probably believed that they were going to stop cheating, and revamp factions and make a Classic shard.
 
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Lilyth of RK

Guest
I just recently came back to the game after being away for 9+ years..... Yeah I know I went through the cycle: EQ, EQ2, SWG, WOW, TR, Rift but I can tell you one thing UO has over all of those games, a sense of community!

Too many times those other games have been ruined for me at least due to the what I call "Mercenary Generation". They are always out for themselves or looking for what can improve them only and do not have a community sense of mind. I think WOW contributed to this for mainly mainstreaming the MMO community and flooding the MMO gamer numbers with people with this mercenary attitude.

I am grateful to be back and playing. I too am on Sonoma and I can honestly say for the first time in a long time I had a smile on face while playing a MMO. The memories that came flooding back of just the simple things like mining and dragging ore stacks, on the constant lookout for someone to come along and "demand" I give them a cut of my ore for "protection" and so on. It was like a breath of fresh air and I welcomed it. When I came back to the game I had multiple people more than willing to help me out and get me back up to speed with the game. It made me feel so guilty to not have been playing the game over those years and made me realize just how awesome this game really is.

One of the earlier posters said they were on the edge of the gamer circle at 30? Well I am 39 and still play and I will continue to play until my time is up. You can bet that UO will be in my stable and I will continue to be very active in it until the end.

Lysdra Sonoma "Glad to be back"
Morning all , I am with Lysdra. I left for two years tried every game under the sun. They were all found to be wanting. UO will someday run it's course, just like we will all someday run our course. Enjoy the little gem of a game we have , enjoy life. Both have a finite amount of time.

Also glad to be back.

PS- I am well past the "gamer age" If there truely is one, I know many in UO who are 35+. Even know a few in their mid 60's
 
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grig_since98

Guest
I'm no doomsayer either (on principle), but I have to agree with the original poster. The lack of active players (and I even tried two shards with medium population) made UO feel like a single player game. Also, i dislike that items are the only thing most people nowadays play for. So I canceled my subscription permanently a few weeks ago. I simply got bored, and honestly all the new nifty expansions, boosters and features are nice, but they don't do it for me. They only are useful if there's an active community.

I wouldn't say that UO will die within 3 years, but in order to prevent the downfall of UO, EA would have to do some drastic changes to the game. I think it is unlikely that this will happen because EA won't spend that much money on UO, and the veteran player base would protest against drastic changes anyway.
This is the only post I have read that I can really buy from this perspective because of the poster. You are one of the people who, when I saw your activities after my return, impressed upon me that the game was more alive than when it had 300k subs, because it has become a truly community oriented game, as was intended. All I can tell you is keep your chin up, which I know is probably difficult when you put as much effort as you have into something that you clearly enjoy but aren't getting any compensation for. Lets face it, no matter how much you like something, when you put work into it, its still work.

On one hand, I think everyone should be concerned about something they're passionate about, even if it is just a hobby, but I also believe that part of the problem may be the perspective of the players. I continue to pay my sub because I enjoy the game and it is the cheapest entertainment I have. I still group with other players, and I still spend some time solo. I'm enjoying the game for as long as it lasts.

If account "enhancements" and boosters were all that was going on, I would be more pessimistic, but it seems to me like someone, or a group of individuals has put some degree of effort into UO, something that seemed to occur, from what I've read, about two or three months prior to my reactivation last November. I have no way of knowing whether this is motivated by profit or a few individuals who are passionate about the product or the franchise. I believe the latter is not nearly as unlikely as the cynics would have you believe; In fact, I believe someone with a personal stake, for whatever reason, is the more likely reason for the renewed interest in UO. This would not be the first time a product or concept has been championed by an individual because of their personal interest, and more than once has it actually turned out to be a benefit to the company.

Ultimately I believe a lot of the fate of UO rests in the hands of the players. Like another poster, the reticence of the players to adapt is a great concern for me. I think the rampant conservatism needs to be dropped and some version of the EC needs to become the only client for UO. Its ridiculous to spend the effort to maintain two very different software for playing the same game.
 

Landicine

Seasoned Veteran
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I agree with some of what the original poster said, but not necessarily the conclusion.

I realized the other day listening to my tabletop RPG group talk about video games that I hadn't played the same games they had. It took me a moment to figure out why. Being a few years younger than me, their "generation" of video games came out while I was playing Ultima. I was 18 when I started playing, and I've played this game for 40% of my life. No regrets.

We certainly are an older gaming population. In the over a decade many of us have been playing, we've gained real life responsibilities that sometimes make it difficult to play for the hours we used to.

I know this world game will end some day. I've always known. It is in the lyrics to Stones. Things change. Things end. It happens. That isn't the point. The point is to go out with style and grace. We get to choose how this ends, not when. What stories do you want to tell? What adventures and goals? If this world were to end tomorrow, what great thing would you do today?

"Still we loom in the mists as the ages roll away
And we say of our folk, "they are here!"
That they built us and they died and you'll not be knowing why
Save we stand on the bare plains of Wiltshire "
 

phantus

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Agree with the OP.

I will continue to believe until such a time as I see a genuine focus on the game and not a booster pack or two in a 12 month period. UO has stopped competing with the rest of the MMO industry. It hasn't done it for years and the result is what is being talked about in this thread by those with pom poms and those without.

There is no elephant in the room. The room has been replaced by the elephant and we are all just along for the ride but this elephant is growing too old and tired to carry us all.
 

Mook Chessy

Certifiable
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Stratics Legend
The funniest thing to me is all of the posters in this thread that have quit uo...some years ago!

WFT are you doing here...hiding from a spouse that forbid you to play the game?

Looking for a cheap UO buzz? Really...please explain to me why you would haunt the boards for years and not play the game?

To the OP...13 years active and not worried yet. IMHO before EA pulls the plug they will try to squeeze our tiny group with a huge price increase. $19 per month or something like that.

Sad thing is alot of players with scream bloody murder...but 97% will pony up the extra scratch!


I cant wait to look back and see if any of the UO Ghosts who haunt these boards explain why.
 
P

Prince Caspian

Guest
Prince Caspian eh?
If memory serves, you used to have a creative pen ...
changing genres over to eulogies?
*shrugs*
Possibly. Just kind of despairing. But the replies in this post are bolstering my spirit and faith. :)
 

the 4th man

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Tell ya what PC, yes, UO is dying, as am I as I type. Floyd said it in Dark Side of the Moon, Time......read the lyrics......Time Lyrics - Pink Floyd

In the mean time, enjoy the game. Blame society and technology for creating the anti-social kids we have today. Seriously, take away the texting devices and they'd freak n jones.........I wanted to buy a book. Went to the local mall, where's the book stores?? Oh, online.....phht.

Dude, the only thing that stays the same is "change"
I came aboard a few months before AoS, and saw alot more people, especially in old Haven.......when Luna hit, fergetaboutit.

Play until the sun sets. I did with Motor City Online........even then, we had a good 6-8 months notice about the end. AND....and we were offered a choice of two other games to replace MCO.......I opted for UO.

It'll be okay.
 
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Prince Caspian

Guest
Play until the sun sets. I did with Motor City Online........even then, we had a good 6-8 months notice about the end. AND....and we were offered a choice of two other games to replace MCO.......I opted for UO.
Motor City online was EXCELLENT. It really was a fresh twist on MMORPGs and I dont think it ever got the chance it deserved.

Guess the gaming industry just wasn't ready for it, but I really, really wanted it to succeed. I miss my tricked out '55 Corvette. (sigh)
 
E

Evlar

Guest
Really...please explain to me why you would haunt the boards for years and not play the game?
I quit the game for good last year, just so you know where I'm coming from. Whenever I was able, subject to where I lived and availability of a reliable internet connection, I'd played since 1999. Overall, a good eleven years playing UO.

To answer your question though, I quit the game because quite a few reasons...

There was hardly anyone left from my original groups of UO friends from around the world. So loss of elements of the community that were fun to spend time with.

The continued decline in the quality of GM support that was particular and focused only on UO, unresolved bugs and issues dating back many years, introduction of new bugs and issues through poorly realised/executed changes to the game. So overall decline in quality.

Changes to the game and gameplay itself. Importance of gathering items seeming to be a more central aspect of the game itself. This inevitably leads to a change in how others play the game and what they become more focused on. Gimme gimme attitude of large portions of the player base perhaps?

Those are perhaps a few thoughts. As to why I visit these forums from time to time? Simple really and will probably be the same for a lot of people, or "UO Ghosts", as you refer to them as.

Having played the game for so long, we're always going to retain some element of interest in the game. How it's doing, how it's changed, vain hope that perhaps the game might offer us an excuse to return even.

I played football (soccer) for many years. I'm to old to play to at a decent level nowadays, but that doesn't stop me from retaining a strong interest in the game - and why should it?

Simply put, if someone participates in an activity for so long, even when they're no longer actively participating, there's absolutely no reason why it can't remain in their thoughts.
 
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Woodsman

Guest
If account "enhancements" and boosters were all that was going on, I would be more pessimistic, but it seems to me like someone, or a group of individuals has put some degree of effort into UO, something that seemed to occur, from what I've read, about two or three months prior to my reactivation last November. I have no way of knowing whether this is motivated by profit or a few individuals who are passionate about the product or the franchise. I believe the latter is not nearly as unlikely as the cynics would have you believe; In fact, I believe someone with a personal stake, for whatever reason, is the more likely reason for the renewed interest in UO. This would not be the first time a product or concept has been championed by an individual because of their personal interest, and more than once has it actually turned out to be a benefit to the company.
This. Somebody now clearly cares about Ultima within BioWare. GOG.com, UltimaForever, and the announcement about upgrading the graphics and EC and new player stuff, those all happened within the past several months and they can't be a coincidence, not after all of the neglect UO and the Ultima franchise has suffered. You could toss in the recent announces about Camelot getting an upgraded website and new user thing as signs of something as well.
 
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