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NEWS Ultima Online Newsletter #39

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
There's only one way for EA to take notice and take action. Quit.

It wouldn't surprise me if EA has absolutely zero interest in UO other than to count how much money was deposited every month from subscriptions.

If you want EA to get involved and reassess Broadswords actions and/or inaction then we need a good old fashioned strike. Mass quit.

All our stuff would be safe for 90 days. Get enough players to cancel their subscriptions and EA will notice. Unfortunately, few will quit. We've all just become numb to the pain and addicted to pixel crack.
What about doing what the players in the early days did in reaction to the game breaking lag...Protest at Lord Brit's Castle in Trammel Atlantic!

Let us gather, get naked, get down, get drunk, and get funky!!!

I mean what's her nibs going to do ban everyone and herself out of a job?

I'd like to see her try and explain it to the suits at EA!

So what do you say?

We give it one last ditch effort; at we can say we tried.
 

Spartan

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
What about doing what the players in the early days did in reaction to the game breaking lag...Protest at Lord Brit's Castle in Trammel Atlantic!

Let us gather, get naked, get down, get drunk, and get funky!!!

I mean what's her nibs going to do ban everyone and herself out of a job?

I'd like to see her try and explain it to the suits at EA!

So what do you say?

We give it one last ditch effort; at we can say we tried.
I remember the protest. I took part in it. Fun times, really.

I'd join in one if my bloody account hadn't been locked by EA because they're stupid and greedy. Still have not resolved getting a refund for that crap either. Just a bit miffed.
 

Lythos-

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If you say so and that i have no problem with

You don't get why i m annoyed do you?
Not really. When you have names skimming boundaries you have to fully expect and accept what you get. If your account is 20 years that would put you in your 30s which is more than ample time to have known that was an unacceptable slur.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Options to retain a 20 year customer that has crossed a red line:

- Warn him
- Change his name

Options to piss a 20 year customer off permanently:

- Ban him on first sight

But yea, it's UO. They got enough money from the gold seller accounts and don't need you.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I mean at least we slowly get an impression what the numbers in the newsletter mean (wrongly named EJ accounts) and what not (Oceania guy scripting 24/7) :cool:
 

Tyrath

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Right or wrong in every case............ I do remember them stating at EJ Launch that there would be a zero tolerance policy for EJ accounts and rule breaking.
 

Herman

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Not really. When you have names skimming boundaries you have to fully expect and accept what you get. If your account is 20 years that would put you in your 30s which is more than ample time to have known that was an unacceptable slur.
If you read true this thread I was not the only one that did not know that was an unacceptable name
What you mean accept I'm completely done with production UO really nothing that would ever want me to have anything more to do with them and this has very little to do with the banning of the account
and everything to do with lousy unprofessional customer service

The only reason i told about my banning here was to warn other EJ players I never intended it to be a debate whether i deserve it or not




So last words of wisdom from me :)

Whether it is a sticky gluey substance or racially slur Gook may get you in more trouble than it is worth
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Don't expect any help from EA.

Jirel has been accused of posting personal information on the UO forums by the Mods and Mesanna.

When she asked what are they talking about they refuse to show her what they were talking about.

She contacted EA Help and asked for help.

They sided with Mesanna.

Oh, we'll look into but we can't tell you anything.

So Jirel is invoking her right to binding arbitration as per Section 15 of the EA user agreement and Section 19 of the Broadsword user agreement.

Maybe if we ALL started making their legal department spend money EA would pay attention.
 
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Veldrane

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Don't expect any help from EA.

Jirel has been accused of posting personal information on the UO forums by the Mods and Mesanna.

When she asked what are they talking about they refuse to show her what they were talking about.

She contacted EA Help and asked for help.

They sided with Mesanna.

Oh, we'll look into but we can't tell you anything.

So Jirel is invoking her right to binding arbitration as per Section 15 of the EA user agreement and Section 19 of the Broadsword user agreement.

Maybe if we ALL started making their legal department spend money EA would pay attention.
Could it be this thread they're talking about? Why it looks I am bipolar in temperament and posts. If they banned you guys for that one, that feels a little extreme.
 

Uriah Heep

Grand Poobah
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Don't expect any help from EA.

Jirel has been accused of posting personal information on the UO forums by the Mods and Mesanna.

When she asked what are they talking about they refuse to show her what they were talking about.

She contacted EA Help and asked for help.

They sided with Mesanna.

Oh, we'll look into but we can't tell you anything.

So Jirel is invoking her right to binding arbitration as per Section 15 of the EA user agreement and Section 19 of the Broadsword user agreement.

Maybe if we ALL started making their legal department spend money EA would pay attention.

Wont cost EA anythng extra. I figure thoes lawyers are all n salary anyway.
 

Keith of Sonoma

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Jirel has been accused of posting personal information on the UO forums by the Mods and Mesanna.

When she asked what are they talking about they refuse to show her what they were talking about.
Duh, maybe it had something to do with the GoFundMe link one of y'all posted. Just my guess.
 

Uriah Heep

Grand Poobah
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Reckon now with the new forums rules, instead of my posts just getting yanked I'll be getting yanked.

But this rule probably won't apply to Kyronix when he tells people they have nothing useful to bring to the table so shutup. (paraphrased)
Well, I got the email lol.
 

Uriah Heep

Grand Poobah
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Nah. I said my piece today about the new vendors, something along the lines that i hoped it wasnt overdone like the tmaps stuff, that people were gonna talk it to death and by the time it got here it would be totally useless.

They pulled it, and sent me a message that it was spam.
SPAM
really?
lol
kind of a reach
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Duh, maybe it had something to do with the GoFundMe link one of y'all posted. Just my guess.
Okay Let me give you a timeline:

Jirel post several times in the forum complaining about toxic player behavior, and once about the lack of any attempt to bring in new customers.

Each time the UO forum moderators locked her thread with a nasty, snarky, rude remark.

Jirel wrote Mesanna complaining that she felt like the Mods were intentionally targeting her and abusing their powers.

Mesanna wrate her back that the mods said she was posting personal information that is why ALL her threads were locked.

All this was between May and July



The go fund me was in February, Neither of us were thinking clearly when we did that.

I mean how many of you can afford $23,417.59 in damages and expenses due to a ruptured waterline?

We had filed a claim with insurance but we had problems with the adjuster.

He was threatening not to pay for the hotel room and the pets kenneling among other things. We were scared stiff.
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Nah. I said my piece today about the new vendors, something along the lines that i hoped it wasnt overdone like the tmaps stuff, that people were gonna talk it to death and by the time it got here it would be totally useless.

They pulled it, and sent me a message that it was spam.
SPAM
really?
lol
kind of a reach
Seems like 2 posters liked the idea. They should have come up with a reason better than spam.
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I read the post. It wasn't kind but it wasn't offensive or derogatory either.

Nothing a six year old should get butthurt over for sure.
 

railshot

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
There's only one way for EA to take notice and take action. Quit.

It wouldn't surprise me if EA has absolutely zero interest in UO other than to count how much money was deposited every month from subscriptions.

If you want EA to get involved and reassess Broadswords actions and/or inaction then we need a good old fashioned strike. Mass quit.

All our stuff would be safe for 90 days. Get enough players to cancel their subscriptions and EA will notice. Unfortunately, few will quit. We've all just become numb to the pain and addicted to pixel crack.
I'd agree with you if UO was one of their AAA titles that was bringing in a lot of money. They would definitely notice an income drop and would try to address it (how is another question altogether).
UO on the other hand has been on life support for years. They don't mind it puttering along as long as it does not lose them money. But the moment that line is crossed they'll pull the plug. I don't really see a way to make a situation better. But I think a player "strike" would make things worse.
 

railshot

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
We are currently preparing for our first TC1 release of our next publish, Forsaken Foes, which brings new equipment, some quality of life updates, and a continuation of our ongoing story arc! Keep an eye on UO.com for full release .


This quote troubles me. We have a load of issues from the last publish that ahvent been ironed out yet-namely Beacons firing on ships when the orcs are killed off.
And they are about to release to TC1 the next phase, which means they will be all busy dealing with that...
Should I just take it for granted beacons aren't gonna be fixed?
If I had to guess, the answer is "no." They have their release schedule, and fixing the beacons is not on it. If beacons were a permanent feature, they'd add this bug to the back end of the schedule to be fixed somewhere in 2021. But since the beacons are most likely going away in a few months, it's much easier to pretend they are unaware of the problem.
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Why it looks I am bipolar in temperament and posts

I instantly thought of this thread when I read it.



Again Personal info. I agree with all the closed threads over there. Lucky I am not a mod. Would only be rainbows and sunshine when talking about my game.
That was in response to SEVERAL posts that said it seemed like "Luc of Legends" was Bipolar.

HTH is it personal information there is NOTHING personal in it?!?!?!?!?

Personal information in the IT Industry WHICH I WORK IN ...is considered Name, SSN, Address, telephone, CC number, CVV number Etc, Etc

SHOW me personal information!
 
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Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
We've all just become numb to the pain and addicted to pixel crack.
To clarify, it's actually more than just pixel crack to most of us. For twenty years these characters we play have become a part of our life. The homes we have a home away from home. The friends ingame have become family. In other words, we care deeply about what we have in UO.

What we want from the devs is to listen to us and to understand WE are their paying customers. PAYING, LOYAL CUSTOMERS! We deserve more than just a canned "no" or "it's on the radar", for years, LOL. We deserve an explanation and some times we deserve a test run. If it doesn't work out so be it. Time they spend working on the game is not time wasted. We pay their salaries.
 

Ezekiel Zane

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'd agree with you if UO was one of their AAA titles that was bringing in a lot of money. They would definitely notice an income drop and would try to address it (how is another question altogether).
UO on the other hand has been on life support for years. They don't mind it puttering along as long as it does not lose them money. But the moment that line is crossed they'll pull the plug. I don't really see a way to make a situation better. But I think a player "strike" would make things worse.

Just as a matter of simplicity, let's say there are 1000 houses on each shard. There's way more than that on several shards I know but for simple math's sake let's say 1000.

1000 x $10.00 x (what 26 shards?) = $260,000/mo; $3.1million/yr. That's not chump change.
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
To clarify, it's actually more than just pixel crack to most of us. For twenty years these characters we play have become a part of our life. The homes we have a home away from home. The friends ingame have become family. In other words, we care deeply about what we have in UO.

What we want from the devs is to listen to us and to understand WE are their paying customers. PAYING, LOYAL CUSTOMERS! We deserve more than just a canned "no" or "it's on the radar", for years, LOL. We deserve an explanation and some times we deserve a test run. If it doesn't work out so be it. Time they spend working on the game is not time wasted. We pay their salaries.
QFT

THANK YOU !!!!!
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Personal information in the IT Industry WHICH I WORK IN ...is considered Name, SSN, Address, telephone, CC number, CVV number Etc, Etc
Posting on a forum is not the IT industry. Telling us you have a sister, spouse, job whatever is personal information. Telling us about your red truck is personal information. Telling you I'm about to have a drink is personal information. That forum is for game information apparently.

I think there is a post there where you did post your first name. Sorry, I read everything except the shard forums. Sometimes I comprehend.

Chill :pint:
 

Tyrath

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Posting on a forum is not the IT industry. Telling us you have a sister, spouse, job whatever is personal information. Telling us about your red truck is personal information. Telling you I'm about to have a drink is personal information. That forum is for game information apparently.

I think there is a post there where you did post your first name. Sorry, I read everything except the shard forums. Sometimes I comprehend.

Chill :pint:
You got something against Red Trucks :)
 

Keith of Sonoma

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Posting on a forum is not the IT industry. Telling us you have a sister, spouse, job whatever is personal information. Telling us about your red truck is personal information. Telling you I'm about to have a drink is personal information. That forum is for game information apparently.

I think there is a post there where you did post your first name. Sorry, I read everything except the shard forums. Sometimes I comprehend.

Chill :pint:
I (kind of) suck at golf! Oops, there is some more personal information! hehe :grin:
 

MissEcho

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Nah. I said my piece today about the new vendors, something along the lines that i hoped it wasnt overdone like the tmaps stuff, that people were gonna talk it to death and by the time it got here it would be totally useless.

They pulled it, and sent me a message that it was spam.
SPAM
really?
lol
kind of a reach
Yeah they don't like you pointing out the tmap nerf, when I compared how many assassin supply maps you had to do to get about 6 skeleton keys and bugger all else accept gold and gems (which on my test took me 18 maps), compared to how many ingenious maps you used to do to get MORE of them plus orbs, essences mini artis, pardons, regs, recipes etc etc (10 maps) they pulled that and sent me a note saying it was SPAM and not answering the query of the OP about how do you get skeleton keys lol.

I mean this lot have seriously become a joke.

You are not allowed to complain about anything.

and LOL @Uriah Heep someone quoted your post and agreed with it, however now it just says 'removed by roarshach or however you spell it so I can't see what it was you posted. Funny thing is the someone who quoted you obviously didn't agree that the message was spam.

Sad thing on those vendors is the large majority that will comment on it will have 1 vendor once a year to sell one item and get fed up with them after that but will get the lions share of input instead of those who have run multiple vendors and vendor houses for YEARS consistently on small shards and trading on Atlantic. Whoever it was who first mooted them taking up storage should be shot. I have no idea why players shoot themselves in the head with ideas like that.

It will be the same deal as a lot that forced through the tmap loot changes, did a low level tmap once a month or so and called it good instead of professional tmappers who did hundred and hundreds per year. Those people KNOW what a nerf the new system is.
 
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MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
Yeah they don't like you pointing out the tmap nerf, when I compared how many assassin supply maps you had to do to get about 6 skeleton keys and bugger all else accept gold and gems (which on my test took me 18 maps), compared to how many ingenious maps you used to do to get MORE of them plus orbs, essences mini artis, pardons, regs, recipes etc etc (10 maps) they pulled that and sent me a note saying it was SPAM and not answering the query of the OP about how do you get skeleton keys lol.

I mean this lot have seriously become a joke.

You are not allowed to complain about anything.
Of course not that would hurt someones delicate feelings... because they are always right and you are full of crap and all you want is to get something for nothing and you should have to spend 10,000 hours to get anything at all useful... forget actually playing the game to have fun... you need to grind, grind, grind away hours on end for nothing and no reward... and you should be happy for the pittance you get doing it... and kiss their behinds for all that hard work they do ..... you know spell checking, bug fixing, and making the game look good and work properly... *cough cough*... because they are doing such a wonderful job at it... and everything they put in works just great... so go ahead put on your pom poms and bend over.... take it... and enjoy it.

And no I'm not at all bitter... not that I was asked to make a list of all the tiles that are in the game that ought to be in the housing menu because they are seriously going to work on that sometime... and after doing all that work... she no longer has the email I sent after spending hours going through the tilesets and listing out each and every tile in there that ought to be in the housing menu but isn't .... and every tile that isn't in the menu but should be missing corners, floors, walls, 1/2 walls, doors and such... or forget that I told her 10x about the door that displays backward when you open it... looks stupid as it opens with the hinge on the handle instead of the other side of the door... but nope that doesn't matter she doesn't need all that work... nope doesn't need that work I did... But whatever... game is great. I'm having so much fun spending hours and hours sailing only to find that the only Plunder Beacons to plunder aren't worth doing as they are next to the shore and I don't care to ruin my ship for no reward... but I should be happy that the beacons are there.... right??
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Awards
5
There seems to be less and less internal testing and more and more expecting the players to do all the testing for them. They ask for feedback but ignore any that doesn't gel with what they had already decided to do before they asked for feedback....
I stopped posting 'over there' when it became obvious that people in agreement with the Dev team got a lot more leeway in what they could post, Devs and Mods should be unbiased and not play favourites, I'm not talking about the posters who are obviously just pushing their luck, I mean the people who usually give constructive criticism. Unfortunately that often isn't allowed any more either. :(
 

Keith of Sonoma

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I had the audacity to point out that almost all of their "reasons" for locking threads were actually OPINIONS!

Here was my actual post:

Statements like "I think this thread has reached its limit", "I think this discussion has run it's course", "I think this thread has run long enough", "I am going to lock this thread. I do not want it to turn into something it is not.", "I think this has gone on long enough," "This thread has run its course.", "I think this has gone as far as it can go", "This thread is trending in an unnecessarily negative manner", are the OPINIONS of the moderators, and as such, are NOT valid reasons to lock a thread. I am NOT saying some threads don't need to be locked, but, they should be locked because they BROKE A RULE, not just because has an opinion that it should be. Or because someone got their feelings hurt. REMEMBER: "I" statements=opinions.

You can imagine how it went over!
 

Spartan

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I had the audacity to point out that almost all of their "reasons" for locking threads were actually OPINIONS!

Here was my actual post:

Statements like "I think this thread has reached its limit", "I think this discussion has run it's course", "I think this thread has run long enough", "I am going to lock this thread. I do not want it to turn into something it is not.", "I think this has gone on long enough," "This thread has run its course.", "I think this has gone as far as it can go", "This thread is trending in an unnecessarily negative manner", are the OPINIONS of the moderators, and as such, are NOT valid reasons to lock a thread. I am NOT saying some threads don't need to be locked, but, they should be locked because they BROKE A RULE, not just because has an opinion that it should be. Or because someone got their feelings hurt. REMEMBER: "I" statements=opinions.

You can imagine how it went over!
<sarcasm>

They applauded your post, presented you with an engraved set of pom-poms and kicked your arse to the curb?

</sarcasm>

That about it? And some folks wondered why I wouldn't ever set foot in there.
 

Spartan

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Huh?

I have found that 2+2=4.

I have learned that the US's entry into the Second World War can be traced to an event on December 7, 1941.
While it did cause us to go into battle, it was not the only factor. We had cracked the Imperial code system and knew weeks ahead of that day that **something** was in the works. No one bothered to notify the armed forces. I believe the Japanese referred to their code system as "purple"
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
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Stratics Legend
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Campaign Supporter
I have no desire to post over there... and no intention to change that.

The more I read stuff from the DEVs the more sure I am of how clueless they are about the game they are developing and I wonder more and more just who do they think they are developing it for? Certainly not the current playerbase that actually follows rules and doesn't multibox, scam, cheat or rares deal...

Which then gets me wondering how much they are being paid on the side to develop for these types of players... because they certainly aren't listening to the rest of us. Maybe when the rest of us get so fed up we quit they will start to listen... but I have a feeling that we die-hards will continue to take the abuse. Maybe that's what they are counting on... that we continue to bend over and take it... no matter how sloppy they do things or how poorly it's implemented or how ugly the art is or how badly it is done... we will continue to buy the new crap because they changed its color... which took them all of 2 min to do... we will continue to pay for the game regardless of what horrors they put out or how they ruin something we used to enjoy...

All I ever wanted was a slight boost in the quality of loot and a slight reduction in quantity... not to totally gut it of everything that was once decent and make it more complicated than it needed to be so some nut job could use a skill that's been useless since the old fel days...

And all I really want from a fishing overhaul is to remove the useless crab and lobster, stop having me fish up boots and shoes at 120 fishing (this should NEVER happen) add fishmongers to Yew and Minoc... and make it so I don't lose loyalty and can stop getting quests automatically each time I go turn in a quest so I can actually dry dock my boat without penalty. And make bait and that stupid suit worth using... but a 0.000003% bonus of nothing is still nothing... the bonus for those things is total trash... that's all I ever wanted...

didn't ask for new art... though the paintings are interesting... though you can't really see anything of them or make out wtf they are ... the portholes would be neat if ships actually had any... the ship in a bottle looks weird and has no base so you wonder how it sits anywhere without rolling off... I could go on but whatever...

supposedly its coming in the next publish or whatever that they fix some fishing issues but after the fix for t-hunting I don't know if I want fishing fixed... probably just make getting an actual MIB 100x more difficult and then make fishing it up worse and make me need some stupid tracking or some bullcrap to find the thing like I'm not a 120 fisherman and don't know my way around the sea... or how to read a seachart... and then they will dumb down the loot you get from the MIB till its nothing as well... and then the preloot will be reduced and such to near nil... max 2 items per MIB... so things will become so hard to get that you'll have to do 100 of them to get what you used to get in just 2... so the only ones getting anything will be the scripters who script fishing 24/7 ... because normal players will never get another MIB.
 

railshot

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
They ask for feedback but ignore any that doesn't gel with what they had already decided to do before they asked for feedback....
This is why it cracks me up when some naive individuals call to "stop arguing until the feature is released... you can critique it once it's on TC." Problem is - they allocate very tiny amount of time to fixing bugs. Usually this time and more is spent on what they consider game breaking. With few far and between exceptions there is no time allocated to changing features once they hit TC. Once they are there, it's too late. If there are enough complaints they might add a change to their queue which appears to be about 2 years long.
 

Spartan

Certifiable
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This is why it cracks me up when some naive individuals call to "stop arguing until the feature is released... you can critique it once it's on TC." Problem is - they allocate very tiny amount of time to fixing bugs. Usually this time and more is spent on what they consider game breaking. With few far and between exceptions there is no time allocated to changing features once they hit TC. Once they are there, it's too late. If there are enough complaints they might add a change to their queue which appears to be about 2 years long.
Way back in ancient times of UO, TC got a workout because the Devs (Den Dragon and the group) played, cared and listened. Through the years all of this has been slowly eroded to what is around now.

Now, we - the players - are supposed to do all the work of Alpha and Beta testing when TC should be Beta only. And then our findings are only addressed if BS can fo it to meet some deadline that they can't or won't move.

What a frakkin' shame ... it really was fun.
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
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There are too many people that never left UO, they never played anything else, they won't ever leave until it's turned off, the Dev team know this, so they know that some people will just adapt no matter what they throw at them, they have no choice because there is nothing else out there for them. We have a lot of older people 50-70 and they can't or won't try anything else, heck I'm almost in that age group myself now, the rest of us just find something else to play. In some ways the players of UO are their own worst enemies. :(
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
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Campaign Supporter
There are too many people that never left UO, they never played anything else, they won't ever leave until it's turned off, the Dev team know this, so they know that some people will just adapt no matter what they throw at them, they have no choice because there is nothing else out there for them. We have a lot of older people 50-70 and they can't or won't try anything else, heck I'm almost in that age group myself now, the rest of us just find something else to play. In some ways the players of UO are their own worst enemies. :(
It's true I was this way until about 4 or 5 years ago... I refused to even try anything else... and then Landmark happened. I tried it... enjoyed it for the most part till they ruined it... and then they killed it completely sadly and I was left with this thirst for something else... played around in space with No Man's Sky from it's beta and all haven't really played that at all since I started playing Black Desert Online... since starting that I almost moved it above UO in my priorities... Right now small things and annoyances with UO could actually tip the balance... if I had a strong Discord community feel in BDO like I have with friends in UO I think that would tip the scales and I'd put BDO in a higher priority... but my BDO group doesn't really do Discord at all so that still keeps me here. Though they are miles ahead of UO in nearly every other aspect... they have far better graphics, their team are open, talkative, they have a new publish every Wed morning with new features, old features turned back on, constant new events, new character builds all the time... tons of quests and things to do... collect and such... it has many Sim's qualities as well regarding housing and such... its economy is stronger considering you can't at all trade with other players save giving someone a bite to eat or a potion... you can't give them gold, weapons, armor or anything so everything you have you earned on your own. Their marketplace does all the money laundering... It can get a bit repetitive but all in all its really a lot of fun... just with the nature of how its set up and all the "community" isn't really there unless you are really into the whole node war business... which that's all PvP and I have zero interest in that.

But UO has gotten to where I feel that the DEVs just aren't really trying anymore except Kyronix... And one person can only do so much... everyone else seems focused on just spewing out crap for the store... and putting on a show... I don't think their hearts are in it anymore.
 

railshot

Slightly Crazed
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Way back in ancient times of UO, TC got a workout because the Devs (Den Dragon and the group) played, cared and listened. Through the years all of this has been slowly eroded to what is around now.

Now, we - the players - are supposed to do all the work of Alpha and Beta testing when TC should be Beta only. And then our findings are only addressed if BS can fo it to meet some deadline that they can't or won't move.

What a frakkin' shame ... it really was fun.
I really don't think this is because they don't care. They can't do more with the staff they have. It might be possible if they cut the number of publishes in half. But for all we know, they might be contractually obligated to EA to release however many they do per year now.
 

Spartan

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I really don't think this is because they don't care. They can't do more with the staff they have. It might be possible if they cut the number of publishes in half. But for all we know, they might be contractually obligated to EA to release however many they do per year now.
Does not matter ... if Mesanna or whomever had the stones, they'd fight for the game they allegedly love. Really ... have you seen or heard of any of that happening? At all?

Because if EA is that set on ending the life of UO - as some have said - they would can BS and shut things down. That they haven't means UO is still a cash-cow and as such BS sure as hell could demand some added support - even if only 2 people.
 

Great DC

Lore Master
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If the devs actually updated the game with new permanent content more often more people would play it increasing revenue and therefore would allow them to hire more people to work on it. Simple business 101 that our dev team fails it constantly. All they do now is add temp content at Halloween and create crap for the store, none of that helps this game in the long run. Stop wasting your time on nonsense. Make a new expansion and bring people back to the game!!!
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
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Does not matter ... if Mesanna or whomever had the stones, they'd fight for the game they allegedly love. Really ... have you seen or heard of any of that happening? At all?

Because if EA is that set on ending the life of UO - as some have said - they would can BS and shut things down. That they haven't means UO is still a cash-cow and as such BS sure as hell could demand some added support - even if only 2 people.
First they would have to find someone knowledgeable in seriously outdated code... secondly they would have to find someone willing to move to Virginia... NOT the West Coast... and finally they would have to find someone willing to take the risk to work on a 20+-year-old game that has who knows how long left... a year... 10? And in todays economy that might not be really great... especially when games are struggling against mobiles...
 

Spartan

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First they would have to find someone knowledgeable in seriously outdated code... secondly they would have to find someone willing to move to Virginia... NOT the West Coast... and finally they would have to find someone willing to take the risk to work on a 20+-year-old game that has who knows how long left... a year... 10? And in todays economy that might not be really great... especially when games are struggling against mobiles...
Valid points. I'd be willing to telecommute ... hell, I teethed on FORTRAN 4, COBOL, RPG and a boatload of other "legacy" languages. I'd be willing to give things a try ... just to prove myself to them. Even if it's a "decipher this and document it" job. I'm not hurtin' for cash in retirement ... just something to fill some empty hours here and there.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
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Valid points. I'd be willing to telecommute ... hell, I teethed on FORTRAN 4, COBOL, RPG and a boatload of other "legacy" languages. I'd be willing to give things a try ... just to prove myself to them. Even if it's a "decipher this and document it" job. I'm not hurtin' for cash in retirement ... just something to fill some empty hours here and there.
Mesanna said long time ago there would be no more of that you have to physically be in office...
 

Laura_Gold

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I have the same situation as Spartan there.

Videoconferencing has come a long way since 1997. Bonnie* should reconsider allowing telecommuters.

*I wish that Bonnie would delete the "Mesanna" character, and create a new one, say, "Blessana" who would be roleplayed as a spirit of benevolence and light and being-nice.
 

Veldrane

Sage
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Videoconferencing has come a long way since 1997. Bonnie* should reconsider allowing telecommuters.
Probably comes down to two things:
1) They've been burned one too many times in the past, and they don't hold a proper scrum or sprint planning.
2) She wants to ability to pop into someone's office and reassign them to whatever "must be done now" task is the flavor of the minute. If that is indeed the case, it would explain some of the slow cycle time on development as the programmer is getting pulled off task.
 
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