I've done that many-a-time.
The issue isn't my argument, it's that folks who have their minds made up that they want one don't accept any argument as being "rational" or "reasonable."
I posted my argument multiple times in this thread, and multiple times in other threads.
I really should compose it off-line and just copy/paste it whenever this issue comes up, but that really just doesn't feel right, for reasons I can't quite explain.
Its because every time you post your so called argument, its defeated time and time again.
The short version of the argument is thus.
A classic shard would be a wasted effort, a waste of time and resources.
Oh, as opposed to what they are doing now? Let see, the EA devs are failing to fix UO after the years of wrecking it with imbalancing artifacts, power scrolls, and other WoWish add-ons that have done nothing but ruin the game.
No, a waste of time and resources is continuing on the path UO is on now. And the proof is all there. Just look at the past couple of years. Subs have plummeted, player unrest is through the roof, speek hackers and cheaters dominate everything. Oh yes, the current course UO is on is soooooo much better than it was back in the old days. (EXTREME SARCASM ALERT!!!!!)
It is likely to fail on its own premises, because there is no agreement among its supporters as to what "classic" would be. People say there is a common thread: Pre-AoS. But then Morgana or whatever (I honestly forget the name because I have that poster on ignore) comes along and states that any shard that isn't pre-Trammel would be "crap" (that poster's word, not mine). That poster then outlines a set of rules that combines elements of several eras in UO's history, creating not a "classic" rules set but a "custom" rules set, and deems it to be a "classic" shard.
Pre-Trammel is Classic. That was how UO started. It is its core, its heart, its soul. Its not the players faults that certain fixes were applied after Trammel was implimented, fixes that should have been put in sooner, but werent.
The general consensus is that a T2A server, or Pre-Trammel, is the idea era for a classic server.
It is also likely to fail on its own premises, because there's no real evidence that anywhere near the number of players that are alleged to return would, actually, return. The largest estimates are based on the player base of the PvP-oriented free shards; the assumption is that every player on a free shard would come back to UO, and pay for it, if EA would make a custom rules shard. However, there is a glaring hole in that logic, which most people can, I'm sure, figure out. The key words are "free" and "every."
No one ever said ALL of the free shard players would come back, but a vast majority would. The free servers have been around for about as long as UO has. People have played BOTH P2P servers and free servers at once. There is nothing stopping them from doing so again.
However, here is the basis of the logic for the return of those free shard players to an EA server, a logic that you FAIL to recognize. Free servers are bugged hacker playgrounds. They are high risk for ID theft and PC health. But people, especially old UO players, play them. Why? Because it is those free servers that offer the UO era they want to play. Are those people happy they have to play on such high risk servers? No. If EA could offer a stable, secure
CLASSIC rule set server, then the players would come back.
And they wouldnt come back from just the free shards, these players would come back from WoW, LoTRO, AoC, WAR, EvE, Darkfall, EQ2, and many others. if you actually played on any of these games and actually talked to the players, you'd be surprised how many of them are old UOers who would come back, even to a 2d game.
You see, youre problem is that you dont know what makes a game good. Youre of that Pixle crack addict generation of MMO players who think that the shiny neon carrot on a stick is all there is to a game. You know nothing of immersive content, the freedom to make your own path without a ton of lame quests to lead players from one amusement park attraction to another. A game where to had to make your own quests, your own rules, and your own story to follow.
That is why you will never understand what made UO good. Its also why you will never understand why people will come back.
It is likely to require far more effort than its supporters would suggest. The odds that players will simply play the new, custom rules shard and forget about or simply accept the bugs and dupes that were present back then are exactly zero. There will be constant calls to fix this, and fix that...The Ice Dungeon dupe. The zero-spell damage bug.
All of which are known bugs the developers could EASILY fix before the release of the Classic server.
There will also be calls to fix the imbalances that existed back then. And, yes, there were imbalances back then. Deadly poison could be extremely powerful in PvP, and even in PvM to a lesser extent, and weapons such as katanas and broadswords could be deadly poisoned. I recall no way mages could cast faster than normal (about equivalent to today's 2/3 or 2/4), thus leading to dexers being really powerful. Very few parry-mages, and no spell-channeling shields (so they'd have to equip the shield, block a few blows, then drop the shield to cast). So, while warriors could have GM Resist and lower spell damage significantly, it was a lot harder for mages to block the hard steel of a katana.
What? Are you simple? Yes, deadly poison was effective in PvP, THATS WHY IT WAS CALLED DEADLY POISON! Because it was deadly. See how that works?
Yes, all bladed weapons could be poisoned. That was the point. It made poisoning a worth while skill to have, as opposed to today where its practially useless. And it helped out crafters, especially miners, who couldnt pick up all the combat skills. A DP sword saved the life of my miner more times than I can count.
Thats right, a mage couldnt parry, that was the point. Oh boo hoo, your mage couldnt be a walking wall of armor. That was the price you paid for being able to weild the destructive power of magic. Mages arent supposed to be good at melee combat. Just like archers cant block, neither can a mage.
Bottom line, a Mage isnt supposed to be able to parry and stand toe to toe with a warrior.
A mage isnt supposed to be able to wear platemail. You want to talk imbalance, what you are supporting with parry mages is the exact definition of imbalance.
But heres a little history lesson for you, because you CLEARLY never played old UO.
You see, back in the day, when everything worked like it was supposed to, Mages did have a defense against melee attackers. It was called, reactive armor. Unlike the UTTERLY USELESS reactive armor of today, the original RA absorbed a massive amount of melee damage to a mage and in turn harmed the attacker. It gave mages a fighting chance to defend themselves. but the spell didnt last forever, so you had to think fast, emphasis on think, not let your artifact armor do the work for you.
Anyone remember when axers, or then later macers, were considered over-powered? Anyone remember when archers first were over-powered, then nerfed into existence?
First of all, I played a macer, dont remember him being imbalanced. Yeah, he hit hard, but he hit slow. that was the balancing factor. you traded higher damage for slower attack speed.
Yeah, archers were overpowered...... like back in the first age. The nerfing into oblivion didnt come until..... well gosh, that didnt happen until sometime around just after AOS.
Classic shard players won't stand for these imbalances...How do I know this? Because the players back then did, in fact, complain about the imbalances.
Okay, as compared to the problems UO has NOW, those imbalances you speak of, most of which are just utter trammie BS, are nothing. As a matter of fact, UO functioned BETTER with those "Imbalances" than it does today.
Will they stand for the lack of content? Would they want every scenario and every new map to be added to the classic shard? I'm willing to bet at least half would.
Lack of content....hmmm... lets think about that for a sec, shall we? What content would the classic server players be lacking? What, the AOS crap? Ummm, yeah, Dont think ANY classic shard player is going to be shedding any tears over that one, pal. What, the elves? Again, dont see anyone lamenting the loss of those neon colored freaks. No imbalanced gargolyes? Those will be missed as much as a case of Herpes, which I ronically, from what Ive seen from the early renderings EA has released of them, they look exactly like........ not a pretty sight.
Moving on.....
No tokuno Islands..... Riiiight, because neon feudal japaime really fits in with the original UO theme of Medieval Europe..... WONT be missed.
No peerlesses..... yeah, we had peerlesses back then too, they were called Ogre Lords, Lich Lords, Ancient Wyrms, Balrons, you know, back when those monsters were tough and not the pansy pushovers they are today.
The only land mass EA would really could add on would be Ilsh with its original rule set of allowing PKs in, and I dont see anyone objecting to that.
Bascially, all of this content they would be "missing out on" is content they dont want to play anyway. If they wanted to play this content, then they would be playing the post AOS servers, but they arent. So, logically, they wouldn't care that they arent getting AOS, SE, ML or SA content, because they dont want to play it anyway.
There'll be a lot of whining for very few players, and EA will have another set of rules to deal with.
The only whining will be from the trammie babies who come over to the classic shard, get their asses handed to them, then cry about it. Cant blame the classic servers, those players didnt have to come over, they could have stayed on the post AOS servers.
you know what causes so many of EAs problems with this game? All post AOS content. I bet that the classic servers have LESS problems than the Post AOS ones and that the devs will have to spend less time working on the Classic servers. Why? Because things will work better because its rule set wont go against the games core programming.
And how do I know this will happen? Because it has. Look at Siege. A small population that's very loud and manages to inject themselves into nearly every discussion, and mostly have their way on the boards.
SEIGE?! Thats your...... LOL! That isnt Proof. Heres what kills Seige:
One character slot
Cant sell to NPCs
Reds can enter town
No balance to anything
Seiges rule set is so Fked up, its not even funny. Also, it DOESNT EVEN COME CLOSE to the old UO in rules, at all.
I guess this wasn't so short, and it definitely isn't a well-put-together, organized argument.
Wow, we actually agree on something.
This is because I hadn't expected to write it, I'd wanted to write a one-sentence summary and then just kept on writing.
No, this is because your argument as a whole is just that, poorly organized and poorly thought out. Most of your arguments seem to stem from second hand trammie propaganda that only tells half truths and full lies.
Oh and why do I think my efforts are wasted? Because I'm increasingly certain that this is going to happen. The custom shard supporters are loud, and greatly over-represented on these boards, and that's who gets their way in Western culture. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that.
-Galen's player
Loud, no. We just tell the Devs what we want. Over represented? Well, gosh, according to you and so many of the other nay sayers to classic servers there are very few classic server supporters. Odd how you change your story and now claim we are "over represented". Flip flopping, the sign of a weak argument.
You problem, like most of the nay sayers, is fear. Youre afraid that classic servers will be vastly more popular than the post AOS ones and that EA will finally see the error of their ways. That the Post AOS servers will empty out and get shut down to make room for more classics. then you'll be stuck on a playing field where skill dominates and no more neon arti, gold spamming, bank sitting for you.
Then you'll know how all of us classic supporters felt when the game we loved was taken from us. Then you'll feel the frustration and dissapointment we felt. If you ask me, its a much deserved poetic justice......
