Do you enjoy the Town Loyalty System?

[AnonFALLGUY]

Do you enjoy the Town Loyalty System?

Things to take into consideration when selecting your response.

Do you feel the grind is worth the effort?
Would you have liked to see rewards introduced when the system was introduced?
Do you feel the current reward is appropriate for the time it took/takes to receive it?
Is this something you can see yourself doing on a daily basis?
Is this something you can see yourself doing a month from now?
Would you much rather do something else, rather than "double clicking fires & trash", completing simple "escort quests", and "bribing npcs"?

-Pre Banners
Was it frustrating grinding, with only a promise of a future reward?

 

[Frarc]

Yes , i like it. We also have no idea what the future will hold to gain more town loyalty. The only small problem i have is that i can only place the banner with who got it. All your extra question are all added to make sure peopel vote No. And all that because no one of us know what the future will hold.

So Yes i like it and i don't mind the effort to get the banners. I won't mind if the rewards we get for defending a town would only for the character who has the loyalty if it was not a decoration item.

I'm not the person who wants to log in and get everything dropped in my backpack. I don't mind a little effort to get things.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

I voted no, but i haven't seen any raiders. I stopped in my first hour, sick of grinds, but that's just me.

 

[Old Man of UO]

We also have no idea what the future will hold to gain more town loyalty.

This in a nutshell, is the whole problem with the Town Loyalty system. I am terribly goal driven, and without a destination I don't just drive blindly down a road.

 

[AnonFALLGUY]

Yes , i like it. We also have no idea what the future will hold to gain more town loyalty. The only small problem i have is that i can only place the banner with who got it. All your extra question are all added to make sure peopel vote No. And all that because no one of us know what the future will hold.

So Yes i like it and i don't mind the effort to get the banners. I won't mind if the rewards we get for defending a town would only for the character who has the loyalty if it was not a decoration item.

I'm not the person who wants to log in and get everything dropped in my backpack. I don't mind a little effort to get things.

My extra questions were not intended to persuade people to vote no.
I have no control over who votes yes or no.
I am just stating various questions one might want to consider before choosing their option.
I, like yourself, also do not like everything to be dropped into my backpack.
However I also do not like grinding for hours upon hours, throughout multiple days, taking a gamble with my time, that I may receive a reward. (Good reward, mediocre reward, terrible reward...)

I would perhaps consider grinding for hours upon end when the future does show what is in store for all this effort.
Why would I waste so much valuable time, when it could come to light that I do not want this "said reward".
I would much rather not spend so much time, just to become upset with the outcome.
That to me is not enjoyable.
It would be frustrating at the least....

Also, to me... A little effort is a bit of an under statement in this case.

 

[Aurelius]

The 'system' itself is mechanically fine.

The decay issues, the bizarre way loyalty is being used to let people buy items that have silly restrictions on use, the basic concept of 'character pick a town and work for it, never work for all the realm', combine to make the overall 'loyalty' concept an inappropriately named, badly concieved and poorly implemented mess.

 

[Pinco]

I enjoyed the system for some time, but now I have the nausea of capturing people and put out fires
Probably if there are more raiders (town criers keep saying that cities are under attack but there is noone there...), it would be more enjoyable so you can change activity by time to time... but for now I have to stop doing this for a while...

 

[Larisa]

Yes , i like it. We also have no idea what the future will hold to gain more town loyalty. The only small problem i have is that i can only place the banner with who got it. All your extra question are all added to make sure peopel vote No. And all that because no one of us know what the future will hold.

So Yes i like it and i don't mind the effort to get the banners. I won't mind if the rewards we get for defending a town would only for the character who has the loyalty if it was not a decoration item.

I'm not the person who wants to log in and get everything dropped in my backpack. I don't mind a little effort to get things.

THIS! I don't want to know what I'm getting, how to get it, what it does...I like mystery....I like to know that maybe my efforts in defending this town are going to be worth something.....not knowing we were going to be able to get banners and then BAM OH look because you are so loyal look what you can get! Makes you think Ohh maybe we can get MORE if we keep going! That's what I like about it....I do just for the sake of it...because it's new...it's fun..it's different.....

 

[Doubleplay]

Collected my town banner this morning. Gotta say what's the point? This constant push to group us up is getting old. Give us a design kit so we can make our own banners, now that would be worth the effort.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

The 'system' itself is mechanically fine.

The decay issues, the bizarre way loyalty is being used to let people buy items that have silly restrictions on use, the basic concept of 'character pick a town and work for it, never work for all the realm', combine to make the overall 'loyalty' concept an inappropriately named, badly concieved and poorly implemented mess.

This sums it up pretty well.

The loyalty system, as it currently stands, is about as far from Ultima as UO has gotten. Its completely divisive from a socio-political RP standpoint.

Gameplay wise it is like watching paint dry and intentionally getting carpal tunnel at the same time. This was a poor WoW rip-off.

 

[Ludes]

As a pretty serious roleplayer, I enjoy the town loyalty system simply because it supports a roleplaying type attitude.

 

[Shakkara]

I like the idea and I do like the mystery with what's going to come next, but I do not like the implementation and the grind.

 

[Miri of Sonoma]

I like the idea of town loyalty however as a paladin it is hard to walk past fires, riots and raiders in other towns. The town I am loyal to is Yew. I have worked my way up to adored there even though there are many obstacles to overcome:
1) there are usually very few rioters in Yew
2) the area is huge compared to other towns
3) I do not practice magiks so I am walking the prisoners
4) the guard is quite a hike away
5) I cannot do this everyday so I have no idea how much catching up I am doing every time.

Anyway I am getting it done but now I find out that I cannot put the banner in the house I wanted to so I have to do Yew all over again! *frowns* [You can bet this time it will be a mage! they have it so easy!!]

So am I enjoying it? hmmmmmm not sure *laughs*


In another thread it was pointed out that co-owners can place the banner! WOOT! So I am enjoying a bit more now *grins*

 

[Larisa]

The 'system' itself is mechanically fine.

The decay issues, the bizarre way loyalty is being used to let people buy items that have silly restrictions on use, the basic concept of 'character pick a town and work for it, never work for all the realm', combine to make the overall 'loyalty' concept an inappropriately named, badly concieved and poorly implemented mess.

Regarding the *Items that have a silly restriction on use* I'm assuming you mean the town banners. MAYBE the banners will be used for something else later on down the road...IE if you have a banner then you can.....see where I'm going?

Regarding picking one town over the whole of Sosaria....noone says you can't....you can CHOOSE to help one town, all towns or no towns...the choice is yours.

 

[Aurelius]

Regarding the *Items that have a silly restriction on use* I'm assuming you mean the town banners. MAYBE the banners will be used for something else later on down the road...IE if you have a banner then you can.....see where I'm going?

Regarding picking one town over the whole of Sosaria....noone says you can't....you can CHOOSE to help one town, all towns or no towns...the choice is yours.

I can choose, certainly. I can 'choose' to play a basically good character who can stand by watching a city burn because it's not the one he has built his loyalty to - or even choose to help in all the towns and get hated by them all for the effort. "How dare you put out our fire in Vesper when last week you put one out in Yew, you utter ******* - Skara will hate you for that".... Eh?

Surely you have to accept that the developers are certainly steering people with their current version of 'loyalty and it's rewards'. A properly open system would surely include the choice of 'loyalty' to the ideals of the founder of the realm, maybe options for supporting those who were against him.... but a random town, with no particular ties to any virtue and no actual 'feel' of being any different from any of the others? This is shaping to be a 'be nice to us and get the benefits in out locality' system, nothing so far suggests it's in any way led by virtue, sense or even (probably a pretty important aspect for an mmo) much fun for the players. Add into that collectable items which surely it must be a given that people will want to collect, but add some bizarre restrictions about who can use them where, and it is just a mess.

The banners might be rewards in themselves, or a step towards something else, or a step away ... or .. or.. anything, or nothing. Meanwhile though, people will act as they see the situation - in this case it seems many dumped hours and hours of playing time into an apparent 'reward item' that appealed to them, to find they can't actually make use of it as they hoped. That's bad management of expectations, setting up something people expect - based on every past eperience of the game - would work as primarily 'deco items' maybe with a certain RP relevance, and then pretty much pulling the rug out from under people. Maybe they will have a use later.... maybe the towns will reunite and owning a banner makes you loathed as a seperatist by the newly reformed state.... maybe... who the hell knows? And whilst the grind goes on, and the uncertainty goes on, fewer and fewer people are likely to care...

We don't know what is intended, and honestly I doubt the Devs realise the implications of their current fiddling about. What we see so far, I'm afraid, is still a confused heap of ideas not joined up into a whole plan. Bits about loyalty creep out, then get contradicted, then what finally appears in-game is confusing as hell and springs constant surprises on us - usually unpleasant, probably not thought of by the creators of the system, and certainly not adding noticably to the 'Ultima' feel of the game. They have, as so often before, taken a good core idea and failed to understand how to implement it.

 

[Tina Small]

And whilst the grind goes on, and the uncertainty goes on, fewer and fewer people are likely to care...

To add to this, we once again have a situation where everyone is being subtly shepherded into going to Luna or other "safe" towns for banking or using NPC shopkeepers when on a non-fighting character because of the raiders. Yes, I know you're supposed to be able to find out from the town cryers and Sherry statues where the raiders are, but after checking town cryers on multiple shards and running around, I can tell you that whoever updates the town cryers does it on an inconsistent basis. You can visit certain shards and find raiders in multiple towns and the town cryers are completely mum about the situation. Also, we apparently have EMs who think it's hilariously funny on a mostly deserted shard to leave one bank per week surrounded by 10-15 red raiders. No one ever seems to show up to clean up the raiders, and so they just sit there waiting to gank unsuspecting visitors to the bank. Otherwise, the rioters and raiders seem to spawn in fairly set locations that are predictable from shard to shard and seem to be at least a little distance from the banks.

So between the grind, the decay, the uncertainty, and also the effect the event is having on visits to these towns by non-fighting characters, I give the whole event a "D+".

 

[G.v.P]

Nah, too much grind. Virtues are bad enough.

 

[QueenZen]

In all honesty I could not vote. I would need an option for an...
I am not sure what to think of it all yet.

Picking up the tiny garbage piles is annoying, mostly due to it being so puny, if ya don't quite click on it in the right fatter spots it just sits there continually saying, you are pickin up the trash, till finally ya actually get it off the ground.

I am only basically working 2 chrs. on any of this, they live in New Magincia on Chespeake so that is where they been working up their loyalty. But the one is so endlessly adored, I begin to wonder if he will ever get out of being merely *adored*. I was glad that he got to buy a Loyalty banner today even at merely highly yet remaining only adored.

I am NOT even working loyalty up on Siege hardly till we find out IF Siege is even going to get all the missing parts every other shard has gotten with latest publishes, cuz Siege isn't gettin diddly hardly. So hardly working up town loyalty there, till I feel we have some real reason TO DO SO ! No raiders, no sherry mouse tellin us news nothing yet, like I see on Ches. or hear from Sherry the mouse there.
So till I figure Siege is even going to GET what every one else does, seems pointless to do any town loyalty there yet. Although one can buy the banners there, if they have worked loyalty.. bout it.

I do not mind feeding the peasantry or putting out the fires, till I become brain numb repeating it all, can only do it for so long and we get bored, per day.
I would like to feel it MEANS something, in other wards if we just arrested 10 folks, and put out lots of town fires, then there should be a *bit of a lag* before 20 more angry rioters spawn, cuz it makes ya feel like ya just accomplished NOTHING, arrest 10, and 20 more pop up right where ya arrested them first 10 and in seconds it seems. Kinda messes with the *concept* of roleplayin 'doing some good', when poof oh lord here come some more so fast and I just took in 10 + to prison !

But I do like my one *adored* earned New Mag. banner 250k !!! we have to PAY for the reward ! LOL
np I bought it anyhow and hung it in my house, on New Mag. Chessie, arrested a few more, jury still out on whether I like or enjoy all this yet. It is something new to do, for now, till repeating repeating numbs the brain cells...will that one chr. ever get past *adored* ! ?

 

[Flutter]

Hate having to do things over and over. It's why training taming sucked. It's why I don't play WOW or other level based games.

 

[nynyve]

Do you enjoy the Town Loyalty System?

NO--I find the divisiveness of the system rums counter to the traditional spirit of Britannia.

For the record, if I had been doing this event, I would have done things far differently.

First there would have been no selection of towns. Loyalty would be to Britannia.
Second there would have been considerably less grinding.
Third, I would have created a counter for the hunger, misery & suffering that needed to be alleviated. I would have arranged the event so that crafters could have contributed resources, food, clothing, raw materials for housing, and that the fighter/mage types has something to do. As contributions increased the counter would have risen. Characters would have been able to choose a town banner(s) based on their contributions, and would not have been limited to one banner.


During the invasion, the counter would also reflect the contributions of character to the overall defense of Britannia, which would have included combat, contributions of raw materials for fortifications, weapons & armor etc.

For the record, I am tired of the way crafters are neglected or only thrown an occasional bone. Too many crafting items require difficult, hard to obtain resources that require a huge fund of gold to acquire, or dedicated dungeoneers to grind for. What was the point of making the raw materials for the academic bookcase hard to get? This did not enhance the crafting experience. Why are the new dyes obtainable through clean up Brit being treated like weapons grade uranium? Were is the elvish formal/fancy dress???????

UO is one of the few games where a character could potentially have a life outside of combat. However the devs are so wrapped uop in creating perfromance art, they seem to have forgotten this fact.

 

[TBH]

I voted No. I came back to UO because I hated the WOW grind.

A note to the developers - you are dealing with a core of players that have played UO on and off since day 1. Several of us started playing Ultima games in the eighties, I started with Ultima 3. We know why we love UO and tolerate most of its problems, many of us paying for several accounts. Your job as developers is to fix the bugs and "enhance" UO, not take it in a different direction or make it clone of other games you may have worked on. There are several reasons most of us did not enjoy everquest, dark ages of camelot, star wars, wow, etc and those reasons will always remain valid.

If you are looking for ideas to truly enhance UO, start off with playing each and every version of Ultima. Then pick a virtue and make it awesome for crafting, PvM, & PvP. If you spend an entire year on each virtue we will have a lot of content that we will all be looking forward to for the next 8 years!

 

[Shelleybean]

I don't really want to slam the devs, but I haven't had fun at all during this event. I like that a non combat character can gain loyalty, but the tasks are boring and repetitive. I've spent around 45 minutes yesterday and another 45 minutes today trying to raise loyalty in Yew, but it just wasn't happening. The rioters are so few and far between, I don't think I did enough to offset any decay. I like the Yew banner best, but my loyalty really lies with Skara Brae, so I guess I'll just stick to Skara if I even stick with it at all.

I don't know how the meer statues and purified blood tie into it but I can't seem to garner interest in that aspect of the event either. Oh, and I've only seen raiders twice. The first time was on a bod character so that was instant death. When I returned with a fighter a few minutes later, they were gone. The second time was last week when I created a new character. I thought I was safe choosing Skara as my starting town since I'd only seen raiders there once. Of course that would be the time I'd see them again, so another instant death.

I'm hoping there will eventually be something fun to do during the event.

 

[Arrgh]

the meer statues and purified blood

Yeeeeaah, there's yet another annoying grind. I just left an Asian mmo after 2.5 years, I'm sick of grinds. Whatever happened to the old events we used to have?? This is really starting to look more like WoW or some other crappy excuse of a game with this event than UO?

Go and try to kill the creature with the purified blood solo to start the graverobber leg of the quest on a shard with ppl who don't want to group OR grind on my shard (all 13 of us), that was not fun solo. The Graverobbers or better yet paragon graverobbers, are not much fun but apparently this is the only way to participate in this event. I do those to the point where I feel like setting my head on fire and putting it out with a pickaxe then log off (I'd hate to ruin a good pick axe).

Between the annoying town decay and insane npcs that carry the meer and jukan artifacts I'm very close to considering that this isn't worth it no matter what is down the road with this arc and the reward. A game is supposed to be fun even if that is relative to the individual. It isn't my definition of fun. Yeah, I know I have a choice to just blow it off and go and do what feels good but the point is, who is/are the "brains" behind all this and why are they making it suck? I can't recall any other time in UO when there has been so much decay of everything and such sad grind fests. :loser:


I'm sure there are some obsessive compulsive types who are having the time of their life but it's looking like the majority of people don't like the grind or the decay. I'll suffer through this a little longer but if the rest of the arc is just more grinding...I'm going to load the boat up and go fishing.


Say what you will or kiss some real hard but I definitely don't like the direction the arcs are going. Looks like the UO I grew up with is needing some real direction these days.

 

[slayer888]

Rubbish system

 

[Meatbread]

Boring, grindy, has crappy rewards with bizzare restrictions. Thumbs down.

 

[Haddy G]

I voted no. It's an interesting idea, but it feels like work. I would rather do something else with my time and right now my time is very limited. I'm not interested in the rewards either. I may try to finish one character since he is almost at adored, we'll see.

 

[Haruchai]

I like the idea of building a connection with a place, but this should not have been divisive. As a role-player, when I stumble across fires, I will help put them out but as I have other things to do in UO, I have never managed to enough of these loyalty tasks to get beyond Commended. I suppose that's fair enough as a choice, but it seems a trifle unfair that having maintained a community in Yew for over ten years, I won't have a banner.

However, I'll live.

 

[Spellbound]

Need ten times the present number of rioters per town in the spread out/heavily walled and bridged cities like Britain, Yew, Trinsic, and Vesper please. Raising to higher levels takes too much repetition. Why not have a few ultra bad notoriety rioters or raiders count as one full level gained when captured and returned to a guard? Too much of this game is aimed at grinding for a reward, and negates a lot of the fun factor. Increase our chances for the end results, whether it's a ghost ship anchor, an Oracle of the Sea, an orny, a new Meer or Jukan statue, or achieving venerated status on our characters. I don't want to feel it's a relief to finally reach a goal, but rather it was fun getting my rewards.