B
Bruin
Guest
I just sent an email/PM to a few of the Devs/EA people including Cal, Zig, Mesanna, and Cecil summarizing all the polls put up over the last few weeks and asking for their help. A copy of it is below. I included any poll response that had a vote of 60% or higher in favor for both brevity and I think a strong majority should be needed to bring about change.
Thanks to Kat for the initial draft and to those who put up the polls and the respondents.
Hopefully we can get some positive changes for Siege.
********************
Dev Team - Siege Needs Your Help!
The situation on Siege Perilous has reached critical mass and is desperate need of attention. The original vision and concept of Siege Perilous was awesome, but after years of publishes, expansions and other additions aimed primarily for non-Siege shards, the concept of Siege has been muddied. Sadly, certain Siege restrictions are no longer viable in the current state today’s game. While we have appreciated the few changes that have come our way over the past couple years, they haven't been enough. It is time to make some serious changes in order for our shard to flourish.
We feel that changes to better Siege are in the interests of the current Siege players and future Siege players, and thus in the best interests of EA. Many old returning players, or even players who venture from non-Siege shards to give Siege a try are attempting to re-create their early experiences in UO. The era of risk, where one could be murdered while hunting or stolen from at a bank is alluring to many veteran players. Often they get tired of their home shards and give Siege a try as a last shot to invigorate their interests in the game, only to be disappointed at the current state of Siege. We believe that bringing about changes that stay within the spirit of what Siege was intended, while making game play on Siege more rewarding will help retain paying customers for EA that would otherwise be lost.
Our community has come together in recent months in an effort to determine what changes might be necessary to bring Siege back from the brink, to become an active, healthy, thriving community once again. The response from non-Siege players who might otherwise like to try Siege seemed to boil it down to three key issues. Slow skill gain, being limited to one character and the inability to place a house on Siege without losing everything on their home shard.
We have also been on a fact-finding mission within the Siege community, to determine what changes, if any, would be acceptable to the player base as a whole. While we would like to remain as close as possible to the spirit of Siege and its current rules and standards, we have been voting on possible changes which you will find below. In deciding what changes we feel are beneficial, we have kept in mind the difficulty and the time consuming nature of coding, thus we have strived to provide suggestions we felt that would result in minimal coding requirements such by requesting changes or events that have previously occurred.
Listed below you will find the Stratics poll threads containing votes on the following issues, listed in order of support, with a brief explanation as to the reasons for the requested changes:
With nearly unanimous support the Siege community feels that these three changes would be beneficial:
- Reintroduce T2A Blackrock Skill Gain Areas: Slow Skill gain was one of the top 3 issues Non-Siege and New-Siege players repeatedly mention. We would like to see this as a permanent addition, as we feel the risk vs reward nature of this gain system is perfect for SP. Additional tweaks to RoT timers and daily caps would be highly welcomed as well.
- Add Siege to the list of shards upon log-in: Instead of hiding Siege from new players and/or returning players with new accounts, we feel adding our shard to the list is a good step forward for us. Even many new players to UO who have come from other MMORPGs prefer non-consensual pvp servers, so we do not believe that Siege should be hidden from them.
- Increased bank storage for Siege characters: On non-Siege shards, players are allowed up to 7 characters with 125 bank storage each, for a total of 875 storage. The one-character Siege restriction limits Siege players to 125 total bank storage. While 125 bank storage was often enough when the game was first released, the significant changes in item properties for example necessitate much greater storage needs. People who primarily play other shards and thus have a home elsewhere, find it extremely difficult to exist with the Siege bank storage limitations, and are thus less likely to give Siege a try.
- Increased artifact drops and re-introduction of cursed artifacts - 75%
Siege players are in support of increasing the availability of artifacts on Siege through increased drop rates (a higher chance to receive an artifact from doom or Ilshenar Paragons) and the re-introduction of cursed artifacts. The advent of faction artifacts has allowed only faction characters easy access to very powerful gear. This has put faction characters at a huge advantage to non-faction characters who, without any real access to new artifacts or insurance to utilize the difficult to acquire doom artifacts, simply can not compete against faction characters. By increasing the drop rates of artifacts and re-introducing cursed artifacts, it would bring about a more level playing field between faction and non-faction players.
- Allow grandfathered housing on Siege – Slightly over 70%
Once again the issue comes back to with the increased dependence on the variety of items that now exist in game, it becomes very difficult for a player on another shard to exist on Siege with the limitations of 125 bank item storage. By allowing people to have a home on their home shard and a grandfathered home on Siege, more people would be willing to try out Siege. It is important to note that when we speak of ‘grandfathered’ homes, we speak specifically of the old grandfathered homes that required a manual refresh periodically to ensure the person was actually playing on Siege, so as to not fill the land with empty homes.
- Allow a second character slot on Siege – 70%
When Siege was first introduced 10 years ago, there were fewer skills and character templates that existed. With the introduction of these new skills, as well as the introduction of much more difficult monsters, characters need to develop themselves to specialize. A character template that is good in player vs player combat, is typically ineffective in hunting monsters, and vice-versa. By allowing a second character slot, this would give the players freedom to create their monster hunter to acquire items and wealth with, and their player versus player combat character (or other template) to do with as they please.
- Increased artifact drops, re-introduction of cursed artifacts, and removal of faction items – About 63%
This is a simple slight variation from the ‘Increased artifact drop and re-introduction of cursed artifact’ poll. We recognize with skills like Bushido with lightening strike and an automatic 45 HCI, artifacts are needed. By doing away with faction artifacts, you completely level the playing field between factions and non-faction players.
- Additional changes to RoT Timers – About 60%
With the almost ability to create a fully trained character on non-Siege shards in about a week, not including power scrolls, the time requirements of just over 3 months of game-time that RoT requires makes others much more hesitant to play Siege. Many people who come to Siege are those that have trained countless characters, and the 3 month grind is no longer enjoyable to them, especially when they can achieve the same in less than a few weeks time on other shards.
* * * * *
Time and time again, we hear from new Siege players that Siege is the last stop for them... those who no longer wish to play other shards, those who are looking for something different within the realm of UO and those who have grown bored with playing other shards and other games. Siege Perilous is also often the first stop for those who return after not playing for many years, to relive how it once was (or as close to is as exists). Dev Team - If you're willing to help, the majority of us are willing to accept some change. We need the ability to retain these players in today’s game. This would be a win/win situation for both EA and the Siege community. Rest assured that the time and effort you put into helping Siege is worth it.
Thank you for your consideration,
The Siege Community
Thanks to Kat for the initial draft and to those who put up the polls and the respondents.
Hopefully we can get some positive changes for Siege.
********************
Dev Team - Siege Needs Your Help!
The situation on Siege Perilous has reached critical mass and is desperate need of attention. The original vision and concept of Siege Perilous was awesome, but after years of publishes, expansions and other additions aimed primarily for non-Siege shards, the concept of Siege has been muddied. Sadly, certain Siege restrictions are no longer viable in the current state today’s game. While we have appreciated the few changes that have come our way over the past couple years, they haven't been enough. It is time to make some serious changes in order for our shard to flourish.
We feel that changes to better Siege are in the interests of the current Siege players and future Siege players, and thus in the best interests of EA. Many old returning players, or even players who venture from non-Siege shards to give Siege a try are attempting to re-create their early experiences in UO. The era of risk, where one could be murdered while hunting or stolen from at a bank is alluring to many veteran players. Often they get tired of their home shards and give Siege a try as a last shot to invigorate their interests in the game, only to be disappointed at the current state of Siege. We believe that bringing about changes that stay within the spirit of what Siege was intended, while making game play on Siege more rewarding will help retain paying customers for EA that would otherwise be lost.
Our community has come together in recent months in an effort to determine what changes might be necessary to bring Siege back from the brink, to become an active, healthy, thriving community once again. The response from non-Siege players who might otherwise like to try Siege seemed to boil it down to three key issues. Slow skill gain, being limited to one character and the inability to place a house on Siege without losing everything on their home shard.
We have also been on a fact-finding mission within the Siege community, to determine what changes, if any, would be acceptable to the player base as a whole. While we would like to remain as close as possible to the spirit of Siege and its current rules and standards, we have been voting on possible changes which you will find below. In deciding what changes we feel are beneficial, we have kept in mind the difficulty and the time consuming nature of coding, thus we have strived to provide suggestions we felt that would result in minimal coding requirements such by requesting changes or events that have previously occurred.
Listed below you will find the Stratics poll threads containing votes on the following issues, listed in order of support, with a brief explanation as to the reasons for the requested changes:
With nearly unanimous support the Siege community feels that these three changes would be beneficial:
- Reintroduce T2A Blackrock Skill Gain Areas: Slow Skill gain was one of the top 3 issues Non-Siege and New-Siege players repeatedly mention. We would like to see this as a permanent addition, as we feel the risk vs reward nature of this gain system is perfect for SP. Additional tweaks to RoT timers and daily caps would be highly welcomed as well.
- Add Siege to the list of shards upon log-in: Instead of hiding Siege from new players and/or returning players with new accounts, we feel adding our shard to the list is a good step forward for us. Even many new players to UO who have come from other MMORPGs prefer non-consensual pvp servers, so we do not believe that Siege should be hidden from them.
- Increased bank storage for Siege characters: On non-Siege shards, players are allowed up to 7 characters with 125 bank storage each, for a total of 875 storage. The one-character Siege restriction limits Siege players to 125 total bank storage. While 125 bank storage was often enough when the game was first released, the significant changes in item properties for example necessitate much greater storage needs. People who primarily play other shards and thus have a home elsewhere, find it extremely difficult to exist with the Siege bank storage limitations, and are thus less likely to give Siege a try.
- Increased artifact drops and re-introduction of cursed artifacts - 75%
Siege players are in support of increasing the availability of artifacts on Siege through increased drop rates (a higher chance to receive an artifact from doom or Ilshenar Paragons) and the re-introduction of cursed artifacts. The advent of faction artifacts has allowed only faction characters easy access to very powerful gear. This has put faction characters at a huge advantage to non-faction characters who, without any real access to new artifacts or insurance to utilize the difficult to acquire doom artifacts, simply can not compete against faction characters. By increasing the drop rates of artifacts and re-introducing cursed artifacts, it would bring about a more level playing field between faction and non-faction players.
- Allow grandfathered housing on Siege – Slightly over 70%
Once again the issue comes back to with the increased dependence on the variety of items that now exist in game, it becomes very difficult for a player on another shard to exist on Siege with the limitations of 125 bank item storage. By allowing people to have a home on their home shard and a grandfathered home on Siege, more people would be willing to try out Siege. It is important to note that when we speak of ‘grandfathered’ homes, we speak specifically of the old grandfathered homes that required a manual refresh periodically to ensure the person was actually playing on Siege, so as to not fill the land with empty homes.
- Allow a second character slot on Siege – 70%
When Siege was first introduced 10 years ago, there were fewer skills and character templates that existed. With the introduction of these new skills, as well as the introduction of much more difficult monsters, characters need to develop themselves to specialize. A character template that is good in player vs player combat, is typically ineffective in hunting monsters, and vice-versa. By allowing a second character slot, this would give the players freedom to create their monster hunter to acquire items and wealth with, and their player versus player combat character (or other template) to do with as they please.
- Increased artifact drops, re-introduction of cursed artifacts, and removal of faction items – About 63%
This is a simple slight variation from the ‘Increased artifact drop and re-introduction of cursed artifact’ poll. We recognize with skills like Bushido with lightening strike and an automatic 45 HCI, artifacts are needed. By doing away with faction artifacts, you completely level the playing field between factions and non-faction players.
- Additional changes to RoT Timers – About 60%
With the almost ability to create a fully trained character on non-Siege shards in about a week, not including power scrolls, the time requirements of just over 3 months of game-time that RoT requires makes others much more hesitant to play Siege. Many people who come to Siege are those that have trained countless characters, and the 3 month grind is no longer enjoyable to them, especially when they can achieve the same in less than a few weeks time on other shards.
* * * * *
Time and time again, we hear from new Siege players that Siege is the last stop for them... those who no longer wish to play other shards, those who are looking for something different within the realm of UO and those who have grown bored with playing other shards and other games. Siege Perilous is also often the first stop for those who return after not playing for many years, to relive how it once was (or as close to is as exists). Dev Team - If you're willing to help, the majority of us are willing to accept some change. We need the ability to retain these players in today’s game. This would be a win/win situation for both EA and the Siege community. Rest assured that the time and effort you put into helping Siege is worth it.
Thank you for your consideration,
The Siege Community
I will always and forever love Siege Perilous...
