Corruption is everywhere. Also you can't compare Broadsword and Blizzard. The budgets alone are exponentially different. Not to mention the differences in programming language used to create the games... if I remember correctly the script programming was completely home grown and bass ackwards. It was named after some rodent. I'm not sure if they're still using this but I imagine they are since the diehard CC players need their CC. lol I think even the way the game used packets was homegrown, and possibly why its so easily exploitable. I remember reading a couple articles about it over the years.
True. Blizzard, Sony, Nintendo, etc, all have the financial muscle to go after cheats, bots, using music on Youtube *cough* Nintendo *cough*...and so does EA, come to think of it. If it were happening in The Sims, Madden, or FIFA, they'd put a stop to it QUICK. Admittedly, those games/companies all have a much bigger budget than UO does, so they're going to get policed.
Sadly, that's what the company's brass thinks of UO, and they aren't wrong - unlike in the old days, I would guess a vast majority of people playing UO today KNOW what Stratics is, even if they don't post here. Malag & Freja have been here forever, and there are other UHall regulars who have been around quite a while. I don't know the exact # of subs compared to Stratics posters, but knowing how much the community's shrunk over the years, I'd guess they're fairly close.
If there's 100 people (assuming single account) in UO, there might be 10,000 playing Sims, Madden, etc. Those 10,000 will, and rightfully should, get more attention than the 100. A niche MMO that's been around for nearly 20 years isn't going to be a major blip on the radar for a company that makes a much larger amount of money from more famous games.
UO's current audience is pretty much all older adults, with a few kids here & there. Kids aren't going to be interested in a game with crappy graphics, especially when console/modern PC games look much better, have more dynamic/fun gameplay, etc.
