Answer me this...

[Elandril]

I used to have an account that I let to lapse back in 2001... it's been a long time and much has changed no doubt.

Perusing the forums it would seem that nothing much has changed in terms of issues and personalities...not to suggest I'm making any judgements.

But the time has come I feel to re-encounter some of the fun memories I had.

UO to me still is the most flexible and most expressive MMORPG system there ever was, I have tested a few including WOW. I understand UO is quite a time sink and I am prepared for that these days.

Your answers... as you see I have many questions will be important to my decision.

Which version is THE most current of UO?

Will I have fun stopping problems running UO in Vista 64bit (I've read the compatability modes)

What is the state of play in UO Oceania...should I consider an american shard and not consider PVP as an option (due to ping lag) or should I stick with Oceania and imerse my self with the challenges that PVP brings ( I like to RP too but I can keep them seperate if need be)

I await your replies and I will no doubt have more.

Thanks

Elandril

 

[Held]

The most recent version of UO would Mondains legacy

If you go to an american shard for pvp, you would only be able to play a dismounter or tamer due to lag.

Oceania's pvp is pretty crappy atm due to lack of players.

 

[Elandril]

Just wondering if the 2D or 3D version of the game is better...I remember there were some problems when the first 3D version came out. There is a new expansion coming out soon yeah?

It seems PVP'rs haven't changed much and can be their own worst enemies when it comes to promoting the PVP ascpect. PVP is fun and challenging but the personalities involved can sometimes turn people off. That can be fixed though but only if the PVP'rs want it to

Do PVP'rs still use the 2D version?

Is there plenty of room for a house to place?

 

[Held]

2D is better, 3D always crashes and you cant use addons like UOA or UOAM.

Yea most pvpers use 2D, and house spots everywhere

 

[Birko]

Hey Elandril,
I just returned after many years and many other mmorpgs, and am enjoying it.

I'd suggest you get a 14day trial account http://www.uoherald.com/trial/
and a current download. That way you can sus out a number of shards and check compatability without spending a cent. You'd need to have access to Malas. Luna in Malas is now the main trade hub, so you would at least need to upgrade your old account to Age of Shadows.

Upgrade code is available here
http://www.uogamecodes.com/store/prod_detail.asp?ProdID=UOMLUPG&CartID={50759068-111F-44E3-8E24-B30C25FDE90E}&PromoID=996
"when you upgrade a UO account to Ultima Online: Mondain’s Legacy, you will have access to all previous expansion packs, including Ultima Online: Samurai Empire"

 

[Elandril]

UOA is a must AFAIC.... so it looks like 2D client on the oceania shard with a trial account to test what's going on.... seems sensible.

It's a pity the 3D situation hasn't sorted out. I left not long after the first 3D client came out. Though, judging by the screen shots the 3D does look pretty good especially when it comes to stacking stuff in houses and such.

 

[Teeshy]

UOA isn't such an essential with the latest client =) (At least, I'm assuming SA client has the same features as KR! Someone who's downloaded it and tried it will be able to tell you better) But with KR practically all the functionality of UOA was in the client.

And from the screenshots I've seen of the SA client, I'd honestly give that one a go first - just bear in mind it *is* in Beta still! There is a section on the forums here that is just for the SA client, might want to have a read through it and see what people that have played it think =)

 

[MissEcho]

2D is better, 3D always crashes and you cant use addons like UOA or UOAM.

Yea most pvpers use 2D, and house spots everywhere

Can't agree with these statements other than the housing spots .

If you have a halfway decent computer with a few gigs of ram and a reasonably decent graphics card then the new client SA runs like a dream and I have found that the ONLY time I crash is recalling from Luna to home 'sometimes' or when mounting my beetle for some odd reason. The SA client is still in 'open beta' and these couple of bugs have been reported.

Other than that I have not experienced any more crashes than 2d.

You also need to remember that UOSA is NOT a 3d client. It is 2d with a more modern interface, it uses pretty much all the 2d item art and uses the newer graphics for a lot of the landscape and mob art. You can run with legacy target options (if you prefer, although no idea why you would as SA targeting has many more options).

UOSA does NOT require uo auto map or uo assist to run, having played KR and now SA since the focus group I have not had the NEED to open either of those addons. The few amount of functions those programs have that are not included in UOSA I have found work arounds for or find the benefits of them are not worth using 2d for and losing the added benefits of the new client. From the pvp players I have spoken to the SA client has 'fixed' a lot of the previous 'issues' that KR had for pvp, most were to do with stability and targeting, which have now been largely fixed.

UOSA has only been in open beta for about a week now. Most players who will trash the client have NOT played it but use either what they have read from others who have only logged into it for an hour or so and bag it or think it has not changed since KR went live. Anyone who has actually played the SA client for a month or so continuously will generally tell you the client is fine. Sure, some still prefer 2d, but most will only play SA once they get used to it.

If your starting back new I would say give it a go yourself before just taking someone else's view on it. If you need assistance on using the client then go here: Spellweave: SA Client User Guide.

I have no problem with those who prefer to play 2d, to each their own, however unless you have played KR and have played the new client SA for a good amount of time so that you fully understand the workings of the client and fully understand its capabilities then saying it is better or worse is incorrect. I would say that SA is far far better than 2d on a performance basis given I do NOT need the addons to play it and I find pretty much all functions more 'efficient' especially the macro system, graphics are up to the 'user' so what you prefer on that basis is really just personal preference.

 

[Dain]

I do believe that Held said 3D not SA, and if not then you are correct in saying we haven't tried the UOSA Beta.

But as others have mentioned, UOML is the most recent client and is pretty much a necessity if u want to participate now so I would definitely advise it.

The 2D is still far superior to 3D as far as PvP capabilities go, but as I said; I have not tested the new UOSA Client.

Plenty of housing around in all facets; you should not have a hard time finding a castle in tram or fell if you want.

 

[Dang]

Will I have fun stopping problems running UO in Vista 64bit (I've read the compatability modes)


Elandril

there is one problem with running UO 2d in vista 64bit that i have come across
the easiest way to fix it is to use uoassist(running as admin) to load the cleint.exe rather than let the patcher run by itself.
I run uo that way without having to use compatiabilty mode. This removes the annoying problem of a file still being run in background preventing you from rerunning uo until you either reboot comp or shut the file down in task manager

If you dont intend to use uoassist its free to download and still solves the problem

 

[Sneaky Que]

Can't agree with these statements other than the housing spots .

If you have a halfway decent computer with a few gigs of ram and a reasonably decent graphics card then the new client SA runs like a dream and I have found that the ONLY time I crash is recalling from Luna to home 'sometimes' or when mounting my beetle for some odd reason. The SA client is still in 'open beta' and these couple of bugs have been reported.

Other than that I have not experienced any more crashes than 2d.

I agree, although I have not been able to play the new SA beta client yet (I'm on mobile broadband with a ****ty download limit at the moment till I get ADSL again so can't download it). As far as KR goes though, it doesnt crash for me anymore than 2D does.

UOSA does NOT require uo auto map or uo assist to run, having played KR and now SA since the focus group I have not had the NEED to open either of those addons. The few amount of functions those programs have that are not included in UOSA I have found work arounds for or find the benefits of them are not worth using 2d for and losing the added benefits of the new client. From the pvp players I have spoken to the SA client has 'fixed' a lot of the previous 'issues' that KR had for pvp, most were to do with stability and targeting, which have now been largely fixed.

Again, true. Lots of people have said to me that they wouldnt play KR because they couldn't use UOA. Everything you can do in UOA you can do in KR almost, chug pots with hot keys, target with mouse wheel, auto equip/unequip entire suits, etc...

KR's map isnt as detailed or clear as I would like it to be (they might have fixed this in SA i dunno), but you can track other people in your party with it which is similar to UOAM's 'link' system. It even goes further and shows you where healers are.

UOSA has only been in open beta for about a week now. Most players who will trash the client have NOT played it but use either what they have read from others who have only logged into it for an hour or so and bag it or think it has not changed since KR went live. Anyone who has actually played the SA client for a month or so continuously will generally tell you the client is fine. Sure, some still prefer 2d, but most will only play SA once they get used to it.

I'm looking forward to checking it out myself and seeing how much better it is than KR. I don't mind KR and I know if for some reason I couldn't play 2D then I would be able to keep playing quite well. I prefer 2D though just because I am so used to it.

 

[Clog|Mordain]

half decent computer to run KR/SA? Explain what half decent means. I have the recommended specs and then some for the UOSA client and it still runs like crap.. I would like to know what specs people are running to have SA running at optimum level.

 

[Fink]

My 6yo heap of crap:

WinXP Pro
Pentium 4, 2.4GHz
1GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS, 500MB

Runs KR on moderate settings flawlessly, SA a little jerky on bare bones, don't know why as SA has massively reduced graphical overhead from KR; SA has much smaller textures and far less animation so it should run better. KR hasn't crashed on me in about 4 months, SA has never crashed. Classic client still manages to splode 2-3 times a day, so I rarely use it.

In any case, much as I've been liking the actual way the new client plays, I'd recommend sticking with what you know if you're only coming back for a look. No sense spending the trial period toying with a new interface when you'll likely remember how to play the old stuff better than you thought you might.

 

[Dain]

I have spent the arvo playing with the new UOSA Client and I am saying now that it's not viable for PvP.

Some may argue that the addons like UOA and UOAM are compensated for in the client but that is a far cry from the truth.

There are many new features in the new client which include the use of mouse wheel and addition mouse buttons for add-ons, hotbars, the ingame map tracking etc but there are major faults in that AT THE MOMENT which ruin it for PvPers.

For one, the targeting system (SA Style not Legacy) is terrible, there is no way to separate yourself from the "Last Target" cycle as there is in UOA so every time you wish to heal yourself, you suddenly become the subject for last target, and thus if in PvP and are running around a lot or what not; you must now add additional macros or targeting keys such as last enemy target OR have to stop and retarget manually.

It's still sluggish and the timing of casting is out, although there are some advantages as to running in a diagonal direction or running through trees (appears as skipping).

One of the most annoying aspects of the new client is that is trying to add too much to the GUI and is thus missing a lot of the simple yet necessary aspects of the Legacy client. For one, especially in PvP, I hate seeing a hot bar that just had a line indicating my health, I much prefer numbers and figures, which is very hard to achieve in UOSA (there is a character info page with all that included, but it is delayed and is thus of no use for PvP). Granted I did like the adding of the list of mods your character is currently benefited by, like LRC, HCI, SSI etc.

I found that health bars of other entities were absolute crap, they were sluggish to move and slow to update aswell as being annoying to close (Sounds pedantic of me but I hate having to search for the tiny cross to close a window instead of being able to simply right click it.)

Ultimately (no pun intended) the UOSA has great potential use in PvP and has some excellent advantages (like instant equipping of weps and armor, some interesting targeting features although you do lose a lot of time in using them and some excellent macroing systems ingame such a repeat macros, mouse wheel additions and ability to add consumables to hotbars).

I think with a bit of effort directed towards eliminating some of the time lost in targeting, movement and delays in health bars, a bit more synch in the casting and the addition of some of the more simpler option such as colours, text fonts and some of the missing simple macros such as opening doors, equip last wep etc it would become commonplace for the PvP community.

But until then, I consider it not viable and a disadvantage to your participation in FELL!!

There are a lot of cool aspects and probably some answers to the problems I have brought up hidden away so I suggest you all have a play around with it and help troubleshoot the client until its a functional client for all playstyles!

*Pants and takes a deep breath*


*EDIT*

I found that the client ran smooth enough despite the delays in movement and health bars, damage and casting, I was running it on high setting as I am on a powerful computer atm and didn't have any problems with crashing, but even with my ADSL2+ I found that there was some severe lag when having to load large numbers of vendors or decorative houses; this could perhaps be fixed by lowering some of the graphic settings or changing my gameplay window size and/or zoom.

That is all.

 

[Elandril]

Thanks you all so far for all your detailed answers.

What I want to do id try the latest Client I can...while I like to PVP it won;t be my main purpose. Especially in the first few weeks. I'll be playing casually and at odd times because of shift work.

Might need a bit of help with some of acronyms like UOSA... sounds like a I have further reading to do.

A link to where I can download the latest client please... all the acronyms are doing my head in tonight

 

[Katlene]

uosa= ultima online stygan abyss, new expansion with a new race. Gargoyles

 

[Katlene]

and to download latest... http://www.uo.com/uoml/downloads.shtml

 

[Teeshy]

UOSA is also the new client name isn't it?

 

[Elandril]

Thanks again all.... downloading the SA client as we speak... seemed to stop downloading sometime during the night.

 

[Elandril]

Geez...talk about a tsunami of memories!

Seem to have problems with character creation. The problem is that any male character I creat it turns into a blue elf when I am born (in tutorial and in-game). Female characters seem to work fine.

Can't seem to pick things up and drag them into my pack....refresh my memory... I can place objects inthere when the pack is open OR closed right?

First impression of the SA client is other wise pretty good...very colourful!

 

[Elandril]

All seems working now... my wrist hurts already.

Needed to re-boot PC and everything was working. No crashes yet but there seems to be some delay when depositing money in bank. It seems you need money in bank before you buy stuff...

I'm still en elf even though I wanted to be a human but it'll do for now just to get the hang of things again.

 

[Dain]

There are some odd delays with the UOSA client but they seem to be improving pretty quick; dev team seam pretty on the ball with taking suggestions.

There are quests your character can perform, as many times as you wish, that change you from elf to human and vica versa - they can be a bit involved so perhaps they are best left till later.

 

[Clog|Mordain]

There are some odd delays with the UOSA client but they seem to be improving pretty quick; dev team seam pretty on the ball with taking suggestions.

What? our dev team is working? shock-horror.

Umm and you previous post dain, perhaps you should post your findings on the SA forum as feedback. They might get the problems fixed quicker that way.

 

[Katlene]

Umm and you previous post dain, perhaps you should post your findings on the SA forum as feedback. They might get the problems fixed quicker that way.

dev team seam pretty on the ball with taking suggestions.

think he already did...

 

[Elandril]

The UOSA client has crashed a few times....seems random. No biggie.

It's weird revisiting the labourious "fun" of it. It hooks you back in.

I remember now skipping the whole New Haven thing when I first started years ago...might do the same. Though, I don't fancy being attacked by bears when my archery is less than 50 still.

Need to read up on some of the basics to refresh my memory...e.g. what I should be supplimenting Archery with profesion wise...I remember having to chop lots of wood might choose something else....those arrows cost a bit LOL!

 

[Clog|Mordain]

think he already did...

lol. so he did, perhaps i should have read his post a lil better

 

[Sneaky Que]

My 6yo heap of crap...

I even got KR to run on a 9+yo heap of crap.

PIII 650
512MB SD RAM
128MB GeForce something
Win2k Pro

It was playable, just... but it worked.


KR runs fine for me on my newer comp (which is by no means new):

Sempron 3400+ (similar to a P4 2GHz)
2GB DDR2 RAM
1GB GeForce 9400 GT
WinXP Home