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Any word yet on a new Booster Pack?

Shiznit Bo'Bourbon

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
I'm sure it's going to be that Arena thing they're testing now, and I'm equally sure that UO's existing PVP community is going to completely ignore it.
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I wouldn't necessarily expect the booster idea to live on past Cal. It wasn't such a good idea anyway since they weren't able to meet their own standard of 2 a year.
 

Wizal the Fox

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Boosters are ok between major expansions, but precisely I think now is the time for another major expansion. If it comes in 2012 it will be 3 years since the last one (SA).

I truly hope for an expansion going into the next step of Ultima Lore: It is time to start the cycle of The Guardian, with things The Black Gate, The Fellowship, Serpent's Isle, and Pagan, and time to use this opportunity for some major changes, including interconnecting/merging some shards, adding a Legacy mode to the EC and updating the graphics.
 

Martyna Zmuir

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I wouldn't necessarily expect the booster idea to live on past Cal. It wasn't such a good idea anyway since they weren't able to meet their own standard of 2 a year.
Or any sort of standard of "quality," let alone value for price...

The booster model would be acceptable for a F2P game, but not one where you pay a monthly subscription. Content updates like HS and the crappy house tiles set should be free. SA level content updates should cost.
 

Nyses

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I wouldn't necessarily expect the booster idea to live on past Cal. It wasn't such a good idea anyway since they weren't able to meet their own standard of 2 a year.
Or any sort of standard of "quality," let alone value for price...

The booster model would be acceptable for a F2P game, but not one where you pay a monthly subscription. Content updates like HS and the crappy house tiles set should be free. SA level content updates should cost.
:thumbup1: This, boosters were a terrible idea, or at least terribly implemented. I am still not sure if it was just a money grab, or something else.
 
S

Sevin0oo0

Guest
altho they would never 'say' they were just testing the xpac idea, but what if they started it just to see what happened? Like how well they are accepted, and how well the process worked. IF it all went well, it'd become a regular thing, but as we've seen, people threw stones at them, and it pis'd off a lot of people, some even quitting or reducing subs, and that was just the ones that could make an actual purchase. not to mention buggy content - i think HS still has problems doesn't it?
 

Winker

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I have yet to buy a booster pack. They just never grabed my imagination :pirate:
 
P

pgib

Guest
We barely have a word about the next patch, go figure what the're going to tell us about the next booster/expansion/whatever...
 
W

Woodsman

Guest
We barely have a word about the next patch
It's the first part of the high resolution graphics update, which is probably taking more time/resources than the two mini booster packs since it's more comprehensive.

I'm surprised they aren't charging us for that.
 
C

canary

Guest
Agreed with Martyna. In a world of mmo's that are mostly going F2P, paying additional over an already monthly fee is ludicrous.

Back in the day these things were just known as 'publishes'.
 

Ned888

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Agreed with Martyna. In a world of mmo's that are mostly going F2P, paying additional over an already monthly fee is ludicrous.

Back in the day these things were just known as 'publishes'.
I play Champions Online (throw back to my old PnP days, what can I say?) and I bought a life time sub when they were first offered in beta stage.

When the game went F2P I was PO'd to say the least, but after playing a while, it turns out that it was a pretty cool move! For my lifetime sub, I get all the beni's of a regular monthly subscriber and the game is FULL of players, because even though the F2P templates (character builds) are gimped, they are still pretty functional and a free player can get to end game with them.

There is really never a shortage of team members, now if only they could give you a reason to have to team... hmmm....

In closing, F2P ain't that bad if it's pulled off properly. You can get lots of players AND get subscribers too!
 
C

canary

Guest
I play Champions Online (throw back to my old PnP days, what can I say?) and I bought a life time sub when they were first offered in beta stage.

When the game went F2P I was PO'd to say the least, but after playing a while, it turns out that it was a pretty cool move! For my lifetime sub, I get all the beni's of a regular monthly subscriber and the game is FULL of players, because even though the F2P templates (character builds) are gimped, they are still pretty functional and a free player can get to end game with them.

There is really never a shortage of team members, now if only they could give you a reason to have to team... hmmm....

In closing, F2P ain't that bad if it's pulled off properly. You can get lots of players AND get subscribers too!
I've been playing Champions Online a lot lately. It's amazing. I like that you can pretty much max out without paying a cent.

Although I have put some money into it (I bought a hideout recently, very cute!)... it is a business, after all, and they have put out a lot of stuff that is fun but not imbalancing. I enjoy supporting games that I like playing, personally... but its also nice not paying when you aren't playing.

One of UO's challenges if it ever adopted a F2P method would be that it really does not put out anything near to the other current games in forms of content. UO has a lot of things already in game, but c'mon... its had 14 years. Look at many F2P games, their development team is constantly at work putting in new things and LOTS of art and content. UO really doesn't have the manpower or talent to compete, imo.
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Or any sort of standard of "quality," let alone value for price...

The booster model would be acceptable for a F2P game, but not one where you pay a monthly subscription. Content updates like HS and the crappy house tiles set should be free. SA level content updates should cost.
I think boosters were a fine idea in principal, but in execution not so much.

High seas was a near miss. I understand changing the ship movement probably took a lot of time and effort, but they didn't add in anywhere near the amount of stuff they could have easily to make being at sea worthwhile. Cause if you don't fish, whats the point? Even though the fish quest is a total mess.
Pirate hunting is super expensive, and there's nothing worth getting.
A sea champ spawn or two and just random monsters that are worth hunting would have gone a long way.

As for the "mini booster" or a "publish" as we used to call them... it was terrible. Ugly and incomplete tilesets, and a half assed version of something that should just be part of the regular game (magincia stalls). First UO addition in nearly 14 years I didn't buy.

But even high seas x2 would be no where near SA. So it was a failure of both quality and of quantity.
 

G.v.P

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If they make us pay for arenas I don't really know if anyone will want to pay. Unless there are throw-in items like planters and crap, like how they did it with the Magincia Bazaar thing.
 

Tanivar

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I bought the double bizarre, ah bazaar pack a few weeks back once it seemed clear it wasn't problem-filled junk. The pet sellers are apparently doing well, thier all over, but the resource buying & selling isn't getting much business at all. Other than the bazaar system, it wasn't much though. Hardly woth the $15 dollors though I did sell the Raised Garden Bed for 25 million gold.

The bazaar systems 5% fee wipes out any possible profit. You stock a variety of stuff with low prices for you customers to pick from and the 5% on what doesn't sell wipes out any profit you made, and more, from your shop funds. I had to go buy only to avoid the bazaar being a goldsink. It's cheaper to sell things in Luna paying the vendor fees and the shop fee.

ML was supermonsters for the uber gear kids and to help ruin the economy by making the crafting ingredients super expensive.

SA was supermonsters and high hp monsters and more super expensive economy ruining crafting ingredients. It's only real plus was Imbuing.

High Seas gave us a variety of way to heavy fish to catch, making a pack animal standard equipment for fishermen. It then gave us ship to ship combat only for multimillionaires due to the cost of saltpeter. 30 saltpeter currently running 321 gold each at the Tram Sea market, which was oddly cheaper than at the fel sea market, needed per shot. "Hey, you can mine for it!" if you want to sink the hours into it.Some claim to find tons per hour. I think such claims are like that are like reading claims like "I trained to Legendary Locksmithing in 15 minutes flat! It doesn't take months if you know what your doing!". Such bull.

The Grand Bazaar pack was nothing useful unless your into selling pets. Incomplete tile sets, a self-recharging chest shaped bag of sending, a still, and some other stray junk.

Three waste of money additions to the game and the fourth's only real plus being Imbuing.

A new expansion is something I'll put money into after it's been around awhile and it proves to have something worthwhile in it. I've got the EA sales & advertising people in the same catagory as the stereotype used car salesman.

Seems that the expansions have been really going downhill since SE.
 

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I dont think we will be seeing any more booster packs, as was pointed out earlier they were an idea of Cal's.
Most "new" lead producers tend to toss out their predecessors ideas and visions in the circlular file drawer never to see light of day again. Note: I didnt say Trash...EA owns all ideas and never throws them out unless they are too good to toss then they automaticly get tossed into the shredder... like the "Original" blueprint of UO.. hence we have no way to get a classic version again. (I wish I could have gone back and talked Draconni into taking it with him in the car ..)

Arena on test I doubt is for a major expantion, as many of you know so much of it and have tested many virsions of it so far.
I do not think we will see an expantion like in the past again unless we gain a good deal more in player base..... as that seems like a pipe dream. I for one will simply do what I do in game and wait. I have patience enough to wait and see what happens..
 
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