I do not think that something that a fresh brand new player can get in the game should be even remotely comparable to a Reward to the loyalty for an account that has been kept as active for so many years. If this happened, I would see this as a slap in the face of the Veteran and a hint that being loyal to the game, over the years, is not valued much when anyone can pretty much get the same thing or even something better just by paying 1 month of subscription.....
Whatever happened to the popps that always stood on the side of new players, who championed the causes where he says never should new players be denied advantages that veteran players had?
What happened to fairness, balance and closing the gaps between the haves and have nots?
Consider your arguments of asking for a summonable mount that performs better than any summonable mount that new players won't be able to get for 13 years. Because you are asking for something you have fought against.
Not everything can be as simple as either black or white.
As I see it, the number one most important goal is ensuring revenues to Ultima Online.
If there are revenues, the game can have support and new content added and the more the better.
This said, what is necessary is focus on what brings revenues.
Fixing bugs, making better graphics, good storyline, content
and also a good and well assorted Veteran Reward program with appealing rewards for all years of existance of UO.
Now, this said, I have never much favoured to see mounts as valid options for Veteran Rewards especially, when we already have a great number of them. It was about time to have more variety and creativity rather than yet again another mount.
Personally, and I said it, I would have for example favoured an item search tool as a 13th Year Veteran Reward. Claimable by only 13th Year accounts but usable by all.
Such a tool would have allowed holding players to search for any given tool within all characters, houses and bank boxes of that account on a given shard. Do not remember where the 120 Magery Scroll was stored ? Fire up the search tool and in no time it will tell in which backpack, secure, bank box or character main it is.
But we got another mount, instead......
At that point, since we are talking about no trivial Reward, but a 13th Year one, I would have imagined that simply another mount was not enough to make it as a worthy pick and that is why I thought something should have been added to it, some bonus.
Remember, the goal is help the game get more Revenues.....
If the 13th Year Vet Reward has enough goodies (and I do not think eye candy is enough to make it really an appealing and wanted reward...), chances are that, together with other issues but contributing to the goal, some 12th and perhaps even 11th Year veterans "might" be convinced to maintain their account as active even if unsure whether or not to keep them as active so to finally be able to lay their hands also on that so much wanted 13th Year Veteran Reward.
This, would help ensure more resources for the game.
The key is creating Rewards that players
will want to have, not items that players are pretty much cold about. Besides, eventually over time any and all players will get to have enough account active time to qualify to get those rewards. So, they are intended for everyone to have only, depending on their account active time.
That's at least as I see it.
