EA acknowledges UO (gasp!)

[Aran]

Fayled, you vomit a lot of words, but who reads them? I have a guess.


It's nobody.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Fayled, you vomit a lot of words, but who reads them? I have a guess.


It's nobody.

*tips hat*
Actually ... I "type"
different family and up bringing is all you missed on that.

You are correct sir!
nobody said that to me just awhile ago.

Heeeeeeres your ribbon for participation
You're a Winner ... Like Charlie Sheen ...

2 1/2 men ...

found your gun btw ... DoppleGlock

 

[Eyes of Origin]

Wow is getting old.... have you seen their graphics engine lately. When it comes to "old" wow graphics and "old" UO graphics, I'll take UO.

They've already acknowledged there are bugs from limitations which they can do with their client.

I'll take UO where I can actually feel ownership over a piece of land over wow.

Also the amount of time wow takes is borderline insane. Playing wow it takes 6 hours of raiding (minimum) and another 12 hours of doing the same dang random dungeon every single freaking day. And, if I only did 18 hours a week, I would be viewed as a "casual." The weapons I could be picking up today are worthless in just a few months.

I don't "have to" put in that much time playing UO just to stay current. If I didn't play wow for a few months I would come back and my gear would suck and I would get all sorts of grief for being a "scrub."

In wow, you get this sick type of elitism. People spend hours on end bank sitting with their most current mount/and title. Then, people start to think that getting game achievements as something more desirable than anything they can achieve in real life.

People who are good at raiding in WoW, feel like they can treat anyone else like trash. The elitism in that game is shocking. And, the key words are IT'S NOT REAL. SAY IT AGAIN: IT'S NOT REAL. Yet, people get so confused that they are treating the game like their "NEW TYPE OF LIFE."

You ask someone who plays wow "how many days have you played." ANd, you'll get answers like more than 400.... or 300+...... that's 9,600 FREAKING HOURS! Seriously, how many languages could a person learn in 9,600 hours? How much money could you make in 9,600 hours?

It's just shocking..... for a game which might have a "real life" of a maybe a few more years before the next "shiny, new" game comes in and takes the market. Blizzard is already working on a game to come out possibly in 2015 to make sure they keep market share.

I switched over to WoW from UO a year ago. I just came back to UO a week ago.
WoW might be pretty and the quests might be more engaging and same with the raiding, but it got boring and the amount of time you have to spend is insane. I will agree with that.

Currently with the guild I'm in we raid Sun, Mon, Tues and Thurs nights for 2.5 hrs. Thats not as bad as some guilds. Some guild are there 5 days a week for 3-4 hours at time. But believe me the 10 hours a week can be bad enough.

There are elitest jerks in UO too, so you cant say thats just a WoW thing.

WoW pvp is boring, literally. Its a fast way to lvl inbetween doing the same dungeon 100 times a day, but overall its plain boring. Capture the flag is only funf or so long before its dull. You work to get honor points to get shiny new gear that will be replaced in a few months with the next tier and you start all over. Thats the same for PvM/PvE gear.
Some pieces I got right before the new xpack were replaced with in hours of the Cataclysm xpack and its been a grind replacing things since then.
But to take part in end game content you need to replace gear with the best of the best.
The good thing about UO is that I was gone for a little over a year and the suit I had when I left is still good now. I dont need to quest and do dungeons for weeks to get better stuff.

But there are some things UO could learn from WoW. Customer Service is one. You send in a page, its answered someway or another fairly quickly.
Example, I had a quest recently that was phased out and it shouldnt have been. The GM who answered, within 20mins I might add, showed up in game and fixed it and I went on my merry lil way.
I've paged in UO for a deco issue or things going under my house plot and have had to wait hours to get a response. Not to mention if I call Blizz support they actually know the game I'm calling about and dont give me answers pertaining to another game and you dont get the feeling that they just plain dont know what they are talking about, as I've had happen with EA customer service.

I do miss the movement in WoW.. I like being able to make my toon sit, laydown, jump, run.... I miss the being able to mod my client. Making my map bigger... angling my camera... I catch myself in UO trying to jump as I run, trying to turn with the camera.

Also, when it comes to new content Blizz is constantly in contact with the players. They put new content on their version of Test Center and actually listen to the feedback. We get patch notes almost every other day right now in how they are changing certain classes. If they realize they screwed up the change, they change it again or revert it completely, but the key is they listen to the players and they change things fairly quick.

Bottom line, Blizz knows how to keep people coming back and keep them happy.

 

[Eyes of Origin]

I forgot about this, but heres another thing....

I have friends in WoW who have never heard of UO, I tell them about it, tell them they should try it before they knock it, so they look at the website, look at screenshots and tell me to forget it.

I love the CC, I refuse to play the EC, but when potential new people look at either client they say they refuse to pay for it. Some have even said they wouldn't play even if it were F2P.

I've also seen some of the graphics from the UO freeshards and I dont understand why the Devs/EA/Mythic, whoever.. dont use the same things.

WoW is user friendly for the most part, UO sometimes is a hassle.
UO needs to change things to get new players, but thats just my thought.

 

[G.v.P]

Fayled, you vomit a lot of words, but who reads them? I have a guess.


It's nobody.

You and Fayled have unique writing styles. You don't say much and troll when you do while Fayled extrapolates through use of abstract thought. I wonder, between your combined 21,000 posts, how many times your paths have crossed.

 

[Coldren]

But they are also betting too much on it and they are playing a game that everybody has so far lost at. WoW dominates for a reason.

Just as side note: I think Rift is putting up on hell of a fight on that front... For the moment, anyway.. We'll see how it holds up after a few months.

And I know of at least 1 fired Warhammer Dev working for Trion.

 

[Amber Moon]

One thing that gets overlooked in these discussions is that UO is not going to appeal to a large audience like WOW. Never has and never will.

It needs to sell on it's strengths. It is one of the last 2 sandboxes standing.

There are people who have never played it that WILL like and play it despite it's short comings in graphics etc. There ARE players who will return to play it again given the right incentives and sometimes, just reminding them that it still exists will do.

These aren't large numbers of players but then UO doesn't need that. It needs an inflow that equals or exceeds outflow. That will do.

 

[Woodsman]

Just as side note: I think Rift is putting up on hell of a fight on that front... For the moment, anyway.. We'll see how it holds up after a few months.

I've played around wit Rift and Rift may very well have gotten a lot of things right that others have failed. The whole public grouping thing is really well done.

BioWare is not waiting around, you can form up a guild right now: Guilds | Star Wars: The Old Republic

These aren't large numbers of players but then UO doesn't need that. It needs an inflow that equals or exceeds outflow. That will do.

I don't think it's enough in the current EA environment. UO as it stands, and Camelot, doesn't fit into what EA wants out of its games. Whether that's driving this new player experience and the art updates, who knows. If EA starts handing down mandates or puts UO on a timer, I shudder at the thought of what would happen.

 

[Amber Moon]

I don't think it's enough in the current EA environment. UO as it stands, and Camelot, doesn't fit into what EA wants out of its games. Whether that's driving this new player experience and the art updates, who knows. If EA starts handing down mandates or puts UO on a timer, I shudder at the thought of what would happen.

Well, if you believe that then I have to think you have little hope. I don't believe UO can ever expect a large influx of players again. SA was about the best they could muster and we are unlikely to see another full scale expansion.

I think we all know what will happen someday, we are just hoping that day is still a ways off.

 

[olduofan]

I really wish EA and the Dev would listen to the players and stop putting more content in the game for awhile. They really need to fix, change, modify and balance the game first. After they have done that work on graphics rather its a new client or redoing the CC. Once thats in place work on the new player experience and then advertise like WoW does. If that fails I think we could say "we did are best" this game just isn't going to sell and keep most players.


Lets be honest if you never played UO and it was given to you for FREE for a year how many gamers would even try it after seeing the graphics, let alone stay after see all the bugs and imbalances along with the customer service? I do not even feel 1 out 100 people would stay.

sry for the rant, just like everyone here I to love uo and have high hopes for it as well.

 

[Woodsman]

Well, if you believe that then I have to think you have little hope. I don't believe UO can ever expect a large influx of players again. SA was about the best they could muster and we are unlikely to see another full scale expansion.

I think we all know what will happen someday, we are just hoping that day is still a ways off.

If UO gets an art update and vastly improved new player experience, and an improved EC, I have plenty of hope. I think UO could continue for quite a while if those things happen. People get bored of other MMOs and UO offers a depth they don't find elsewhere. Things like housing - other MMOs either don't offer it such as Warcraft, or they botch it horribly like Lord of the Rings Online. There are opportunities there, waiting to be realized. There's competition, sure, even some old competition. The people behind Everquest did a pretty dang good job on housing. It's amazing some of the customized houses the players are building over there. UO still has depth and life to it though, it just needs some help.

There are plenty of naysayers who don't have any hope in UO and they dismiss all talk of new artwork or anything related to new players as useless. They want their pixel crack and they want their friends and communities back and don't care about any efforts to attract new players. Those people have given up on UO, they just don't know it yet.

UO would be a much different game if there were twice as many players as what we have now. Much different. It's a shame that more people don't see that.

 

[Woodsman]

I really wish EA and the Dev would listen to the players and stop putting more content in the game for awhile.

After they wrap up Magincia, they are probably going to work on the new player experience. Between that and adding the new art, they won't have the resources to put more content into the game for a long time

 

[olduofan]

I really wish EA and the Dev would listen to the players and stop putting more content in the game for awhile.

After they wrap up Magincia, they are probably going to work on the new player experience. Between that and adding the new art, they won't have the resources to put more content into the game for a long time

For some reason I believe you Ha, and let me guess the Magincia rebuild is going to be A "Mini booster pack" Ha

 

[Silverbird]

After they wrap up Magincia, they are probably going to work on the new player experience. Between that and adding the new art, they won't have the resources to put more content into the game for a long time

Didn't they just annouced the release of two mini-expansions like High Seas per year? I wonder, why there is no talk about the two for this year. The first one should hit beta soon if the second one should not slip into next year. i wonder why there werent more hints at them in the UOHoC.

 

[olduofan]

After they wrap up Magincia, they are probably going to work on the new player experience. Between that and adding the new art, they won't have the resources to put more content into the game for a long time

Didn't they just annouced the release of two mini-expansions like High Seas per year? I wonder, why there is no talk about the two for this year. The first one should hit beta soon if the second one should not slip into next year. i wonder why there werent more hints at them in the UOHoC.

Read post above thats booster pack one "Help Rebuild Mag and save the day Booster Pack" and this anniversary will be booster two and will include the gift box of last years unscaled and whacked out items and a piece of bacon that has your name it for $9.99

sry one of those days im have just joking around here I don't mean any harm to anyone

 

[Woodsman]

For some reason I believe you Ha, and let me guess the Magincia rebuild is going to be A "Mini booster pack" Ha

Didn't they just annouced the release of two mini-expansions like High Seas per year? I wonder, why there is no talk about the two for this year. The first one should hit beta soon if the second one should not slip into next year. i wonder why there werent more hints at them in the UOHoC.

During the Commons chat, they said the next one is not a full booster, and they wouldn't talk about the booster stuff. Somebody speculated that the next booster would be the art upgrade. I don't have the link, but that actually makes sense that EA would sell it to us. It would irritate me though because I really think EA needs to move everybody to one client and one art system, no exceptions, and that means not charging for the art.

They pretty much admitted that when they work on new content, they have to stop working on existing systems and bug fixes, as well as the reverse of that. They admitted that they don't have the resources to continually work on the clients. The PVP arena stuff had to be delayed because Supreem was working on the server migrations, etc.

Just imagine if Blizzard announced that because they were working on new content, they had to stop working on client development, in-game events, and bug fixes. To say the players would be pissed would be an understatement. It's really insane how EA treats UO. I'd feel a lot better about the art and new player stuff if EA hired some additional staff. I would feel a lot better about UO in general if EA hired any additional staff. After the last round of layoffs that hurt UO, it's a wonder they were able to get High Seas out.

 

[Dakkon Blackblade]

It's really insane how EA treats UO.

What's more insane is that the subscribers stick around in spite of this and they will continue to do so until EA pulls the plug. They can step on you guys and girls, kick you around, take your money, give borderline insulting answers to serious questions and most of you will stick around regardless.

UO means nothing to EA and hasn't for a long time, and all these people on stratics crying for shelf space and advertising, just stop it, I mean really if you think UO can compete with modern MMOs you are sadly mistaken.

It's very likely that EA realized this a long time ago and decided that any small number of people who would join UO would not outweigh the costs they would have to pay to get that space, digital just makes more sense.

With the way this game is run currently, I would be ashamed of myself to try to get any friends/family to join, I would feel like an accessory to theft. Had they continued improving Kingdom Reborn, hired more developers, and improved customer service I would have stuck around and probably got a decent amount of enjoyment out of the game.

 

[Woodsman]

I think most of us can't imagine EA looking ahead more than a few years when it comes to MMOs, and this is a big part of the reason why they have so many problems. EA loves to lay off people after projects/expansions are rolled out or when they are having a bad financial year, even to the point of laying off people working for projects that are profitable, and crippling those projects.

Meanwhile some companies are looking ahead 20 years.

Gamasutra - News - Interview: Blizzard COO Sams Says 'Many Years In Front' Of WoW

But while future expansions for World of Warcraft and StarCraft II are poised to move millions, and Diablo III already has enviable buzz, Blizzard now has to answer the question that its competitors have had to try to answer for the past six years: Can you beat World of Warcraft?

Blizzard plans on answering that question with its upcoming unannounced "Titan," the codenamed full MMO that will follow World of Warcraft's extraordinary success.

"I believe [it's] the most ambitious thing we've ever attempted," Sams said. "And I feel like we have set our company up to succeed on that. We have some of our most talented and most experienced developers on that team. Many of the people that built World of Warcraft are full time on that other team."

That expertise in working with the most successful MMORPG in the world for the past several years will prove vital for the success of the new MMO. Sams assured that World of Warcraft is still under the watch of experienced staff, even though key members are moving onto Titan.

"We've spent a lot of time over the last number of years transitioning those people off [of World of Warcraft], and having great people below them that were trained up by them to run World of Warcraft," Sams said. "Those people have been doing it for the last couple of years without the assistance of those people that created it."

"We're very confident in that product. It's an awesome one," Sams added. "We're playing it already. It is a total ball to play. We think that the reach of that product is greater than anything that we've done before. We're very excited about that. I believe that it's the type of game that will have a very long life, much like World of Warcraft has."

"So, hopefully in 10, 15 and 20 years, that [new MMO] will still be growing strong and will have set a new mark in the industry for that type of product."

EA is trying to build another WoW-killer, meanwhile Blizzard is already looking beyond WoW. I didn't realize that Titan was playable. Knowledge of it was just leaked a few months ago.

 

[AesSedai]

- Aye, just saw a tv commercial that made me think of UO; I'm not positive, but it might've mentioned the latest EA slogan:

They love customers, I love cash


Thanks for the sleight on your company and its ability to retain talented staff, uphold the value of extremely lucrative IPs & MMOs, and as a rather direct result undoubtedly lose many of your default loyal customers, Mr Riccitiello (following Probst well, I see). Yes sir, that was a very poor statement for you to have made; and it is noted, for more than you merely trying to ride your competition's coattail, again.

Best of luck Mr Riccitiello.
I do hope EA can continue to produce enough lackluster product and takeover enough IP to keep up with the extravagant failures and seeming abandonements that it has become so well-known for; and clearly that is not due to a lack of talented employees or intrigued consumers. Perhaps it is due to mismanagement, faulty micro-mucking and a lacking of decent support, combined with shoddy research and mis-understanding of your target audience? -You may be able to hire me as an advisor if you would really care to improve; smile.

(disclaimer: I have not worked for EA or any other major MMO-related company. What may happen to EA will not likely affect me at all, aside from my enjoyment of UO. The way EA has treated its games from the beginning has affected me and taught me how certain entities approach 'business'. I value many of the lessons EA has taught me)

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Ah old friend ...
True enough your summations ...
however ... seems you've missed the old uhell trap of
things taken out of context

Ricco's "quote" probably isn't even a footnote ...
compared to WHAT he was talking about
and to whom

Conference call (page 5, ending paras)

Just saying ... compare his "on the spot" replies to Cal's recent production ...

not that I enjoy "defending" EA in anyway ...
The rest of his convo is spot on and loaded with relevant information

Again ... viewed in context ...

*sigh*

 

[AesSedai]

- Thx for the link FD / will make for an easy, more complete, read.

I agree with you that when viewed in its entire context this little passage does not speak volumes nor tell much of the whole March 1st story at all.
Yet I do feel that what he blurted out, in that quick plug intended to impress shareholders regarding the value of their potential future MMO stake, echoes what I have come to consider to be my observation of the typical EA business model (as such they should do great in the set-and-forget micro-social games, imo). I also feel that if the shareholders were aware of EA's handling of MMOGs, including their employees in that micro-field, then they might not be too impressed with the potential future; so, just as it was before this millenium: EA needs to re-evaluate the management of their MMOGs if they legitimately desire to garner more of the vast potential value of their MMO IPs.

 

[Woodsman]

I agree with you that when viewed in its entire context this little passage does not speak volumes nor tell much of the whole March 1st story at all.
Yet I do feel that what he blurted out, in that quick plug intended to impress shareholders regarding the value of their potential future MMO stake, echoes what I have come to consider to be my observation of the typical EA business model (as such they should do great in the set-and-forget micro-social games, imo). I also feel that if the shareholders were aware of EA's handling of MMOGs, including their employees in that micro-field, then they might not be too impressed with the potential future; so, just as it was before this millenium: EA needs to re-evaluate the management of their MMOGs if they legitimately desire to garner more of the vast potential value of their MMO IPs.

The shareholders are definitely not aware of EA's handling of MMOs.

John Riccitiello can't play dumb either. I know he came out of the food industry, but he was President and COO of EA from 1997 - 2004, and was fully aware of how much potential there was with UO. He was complacent in the undermining of UO/Origin as a whole, as well as the horrible mismanagement that caused dev team turnover after dev team turnover. I say complacent because he had the power to step in and do something about it and to stop the infighting between the studios. If he tried to play dumb about what all was happening with the infighting and undermining of some studios, then that means he was ignorant of what was happening under him which means he's incompetent. I don't think he's incompetent.

He also admitted publicly that the way EA treated studios in the past was bad, but then just a few short years later, EA starts treating the studios just like they did in the past. It's not a coincidence that so many have left, voluntarily or involuntarily, and ended up at MMOs that proceed to kick the crap out of EA's offerings. UO/Camelot were once again crippled with layoffs in the past few years, even as they were profitable and EA was pumping more money into Star Wars. EA can pump $300 million into Star Wars, but they can't afford to leave the Stygian Abyss team intact? Whatever.

If I were a stockholder or analyst and allowed to ask Riccitiello one question, I'd ask him why is it that so many competing MMOs are successfully using talent that used to work on UO that was either laid off or driven off or encouraged to leave, especially World of Warcraft, and what is EA doing to reverse that.

If Riccitiello wants to prove that EA now understands MMOs, the first thing he could do is publicly support UO and Camelot by upping their headcount and allowing them the resources to do in-game events, bug fixes, and work on expansions at the same time, rather than what we have now where you have to pick one of those. The second thing he could do is to let BioWare ship Star Wars when they think it's ready and not when EA thinks it's ready. If EA learned from Warhammer, it's that if you ship an MMO with problems, you're probably not going to get a second chance. Origin used to have a saying about how a game is only late until it ships, but if it sucks, it's going to suck forever.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

The shareholders are definitely not aware of EA's handling of MMOs.



If Riccitiello wants to prove that EA now understands MMOs, the first thing he could do is publicly support UO and Camelot by upping their headcount and allowing them the resources to do in-game events, bug fixes, and work on expansions at the same time, rather than what we have now where you have to pick one of those. The second thing he could do is to let BioWare ship Star Wars when they think it's ready and not when EA thinks it's ready. If EA learned from Warhammer, it's that if you ship an MMO with problems, you're probably not going to get a second chance. Origin used to have a saying about how a game is only late until it ships, but if it sucks, it's going to suck forever.

Well, it is >not likely< that EA/Ricco ... will ever be worthy of MMO's

They ain't exactly "built" to handle the !/necessary/! customer service side of it ...
neh?

NOR the single side of it ... apparently ...

unjustly bannzorred

with recent discussions in mind ...


"lol"

 

[canary]

Woodsman, you keep putting 100% of the issues at EA Management's feet.

While UO has been horribly mismanaged, it is also true that the development team is ALSO at fault for not listening better to their players... and, many times, providing poor, substandard services.

So, let's not fully pass the buck, shall we? I think they have done enough things (or lack of things) on their own to merit a fair share of criticisms from their subscribers.

 

[Woodsman]

Woodsman, you keep putting 100% of the issues at EA Management's feet.

No I don't place the blame for 100% of the issues at EA's feet. I fully place the blame for rebuilding Magincia at the feet of the current dev team - I think it's inexcusable that they are wasting so many development resources on a project that is only going to benefit a maximum of 44 people per shard and that is destined to be Luna 2.0 when there are hundreds and thousands of people on each shard that could benefit from bug fixes or other updates. There are other things I disagree with as well.

At the same time, I acknowledge that they only have the resources to do one of three things at any given time:
1) Bug fixes
2) In-game events such as Magincia/Virtuebane
2) Future content

It is definitely EA's fault that there is not a larger team that can handle all three of those things. It is inexcusable that the team is so small that bugs have to take a backseat to other things. The last chance that we had at having a dev team that could do bug fixes while working on new content was Stygian Abyss, but EA laid off enough people to keep that from happening. High Seas showed the problems with this strategy.

While UO has been horribly mismanaged, it is also true that the development team is ALSO at fault for not listening better to their players... and, many times, providing poor, substandard services.

The Warhammer and Camelot players feel the same way about their games, can they blame the UO devs?

Before the last break I took, the complaints you bring up were the exact same complaints being made by players about the dev team from that time (most of whom are long gone).

As a matter of fact, I've seen those same complaints going back to 1997.

In the '90s, would-be PvE-only players complained that the dev team wasn't listening to them and cared only about PvPers/PKers.

T2A rolled out and people complained that it didn't add enough (ironic since that is now seen as a good thing) or that it didn't address the fact that Everquest and Asheron's Call were 3D.

Then everybody complained that there was too much lag and not enough housing and the devs weren't listening to them and they were getting sub-standard service because of reverts, lag, etc.

Then UO:R/Tram came along and the PvPers/PKers complained that the dev team wasn't listening to them and many complained that it was just a mirror which is not what they were promised.

Then Third Dawn came and 2D fans claimed that the devs weren't listening to them.

Then Lord Blackthorn's Revenge came along and players complained that the devs seemed to care more about Todd McFarlane or re-using certain things than UO. That was also when we got the Virtues system

Then more players were complaining there wasn't enough land and the devs were ignoring the out-of-control economy and lack of housing.

Then Age of Shadows. I don't think much needs to be said about it, although it's interesting that the lead designer of AOS is also the current lead designer of World of Warcraft.

Then Samurai Empire came along and players complained the devs were ignoring them and giving them things they didn't want or didn't feel fit with Ultima and were basically just regurgitating some Japanese folklore (although arguably the Ultima series does this to an extent).

Then Mondain's Legacy came and players complained that the devs were ignoring those on slower connections by releasing it as a digital-only expansion.

Then Kingdom Reborn came with the KR, and now the EC client, and many CC fans claim the devs didn't listen/didn't care about them and that a lot of time was wasted on something that was ultimately pulled.

Stygian Abyss and High Seas...pretty much some of the same complaints as before - this group or that group of players who felt they were being ignored or getting (or not getting) things they paid for. Had the Stygian Abyss team been kept intact, and had not Mythic been because of Warhammer, we would have a dev team that could do bug/system fixes and new content at the same time. Instead, many are laid off, a skeleton crew is left to hammer out the problems from SA as well as roll out High Seas.

The only constant in all of that is EA.

The fact that our complaints are mirrored by Camelot and Warhammer fans just reinforces that.

Wait, there is one other constant - ever since UO came out, there was been some group of players who have complained about whichever dev team was around

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Before the last break I took, the complaints you bring up were the exact same complaints being made by players about the dev team from that time (most of whom are long gone).

As a matter of fact, I've seen those same complaints going back to 1997.
-------------------------------------------

Wait, there is one other constant - ever since UO came out, there was been some group of players who have complained about whichever dev team was around

I'm glad I'm not the only person to have noticed that....

Some years ago I did some poking around on the old Usenet group for UO and noticed that complaints from what was then the current era and complaints from the dawn of UO were strikingly similar. (I did a post about my research but most people ignored it.) The best example I can remember now was that the first prediction of UO's imminent death I could find was within a month of its launch. The issue: The Skara Brae ferry to the mainland wasn't operational. There were lots of other similar examples.

Some people always seems to assume I'm belittling the concerns when I point this stuff out....Hopefully most realize this isn't the case, though.

-Galen's player

 

[SixUnder]

I thought some of you might get a kick out of the statement below. I would have linked to the whole article, but it's honestly just some numbers talk about Star Wars the Old Republic, so I didn't bother. My apologies if it's been posted already. Feel free to delete/lock. Anywho:

"March 1, 2011
John Riccitiello - Electronic Arts - CEO
So, we essentially created the MMO business with Ultima Online and then Blizzard vastly improved it with a better product, World of Warcraft
that realized heights that no one anticipated was an opportunity or real in this sector. Hats off to them."

haha

if anything give credit to OSI, and no one else

 

[Woodsman]

What do you know, EA has nearly 1.5 million people interested in the best of Star Wars: Gamasutra - News - EA: Nearly 1.5M Have Registered Interest In The Old Republic Beta

Not content to rest on the fact that they have strong interest with Star Wars, EA decides to tell everybody they understand MMOs and why a lot of people don't like the rail games, but they just can't help but be obsessed with WoW: WoW 'Feels Like a Shopping List,' says EA - IndustryGamers

The EA Games VP is sticking his neck out:

"It’s a big bet for my label and for EA. You couldn’t think of a better combination of elements. The Star Wars IP, which is the largest IP in the world in terms of audience size - it’s very high - and the BioWare quality and their development, putting the two together in a massive multiplayer way. It’s on a first statement to customers, off the charts in kind of appeal. World of Warcraft is the big competitor out there, but they launched six years ago, and they’ve built a tremendous service. I’ve spent a lot of time playing that game; I love it. I love Blizzard products, but they’re not the entire market. There is an opportunity to come in with a new IP," he said.

Wait, what? EA thinks Star Wars is the first time an MMO has had a backstory

You’re going to come into a Star Wars environment in a Star Wars IP, a Star Wars adventure. You’re going to be coming into a BioWare story. It’s the first time an MMO has actually had a story," he continued.

EA is focusing on online/MMOs as well?

Gibeau also added that the MMO approach really fits into EA's larger strategy of becoming an online services company and focusing on digital and the relationship with the player. "One of the things that we’re doing at EA, specifically in my division, is we’re trying to become a fully digital, fully online organization. We will use retail to distribute product, but frankly we want to connect with people in an online way, because that’s the way they’re playing games. An MMO bet is a logical thing to do for us. Yes, it’s late, and it’s expensive, but these are tough games, and you’ve got to get them right. You don’t want to ship the game prematurely. It has to be BioWare quality; it will be," he stated.

Hey EA, if you're going to push towards becoming an online services company, how about you toss some money towards your core MMOs that have kept you in the game, namely UO and Camelot, rather than betting everything on Star Wars.

EA is showing its obsession with WoW once again and is playing up that WoW is six years old, and yet Blizzard is already working on their next MMO. EA probably should be a lot more worried about whatever Blizzard is doing in the future and not what they've done over the past six years.

As I've said, this kind of stuff scares me because EA is putting so much into Star Wars succeeding - a lot of executives' careers are riding on this, and the more pressure they feel, the more they will pump into Star Wars and if it fails, UO and Camelot will be affected.

Meanwhile, one of the Mythic co-founders is setting up a support center to support future MMOs: Worlds In Motion - Bethesda Sibling ZeniMax Online Founding Ireland Office To Support 'Future MMOs'

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Damn.

The first time an MMO has had a story.....What the Hell?

DAoC had the Arthurian mythos, as well as (if I recall correctly) 2 other mythologies behind it.

I'm pretty sure Warhammer a story, if it followed the old tabletop RPG under that title.

And then there's UO.

And all 3 of those are EA properties. 2 of them, WHO and UO, always have been.

Are they just stupid or are they referring to something more specific that I'm not thinking of?

Or both?

-Galen's player

What do you know, EA has nearly 1.5 million people interested in the best of Star Wars: Gamasutra - News - EA: Nearly 1.5M Have Registered Interest In The Old Republic Beta

Not content to rest on the fact that they have strong interest with Star Wars, EA decides to tell everybody they understand MMOs and why a lot of people don't like the rail games, but they just can't help but be obsessed with WoW: WoW 'Feels Like a Shopping List,' says EA - IndustryGamers

The EA Games VP is sticking his neck out:


Wait, what? EA thinks Star Wars is the first time an MMO has had a backstory


EA is focusing on online/MMOs as well?


Hey EA, if you're going to push towards becoming an online services company, how about you toss some money towards your core MMOs that have kept you in the game, namely UO and Camelot, rather than betting everything on Star Wars.

EA is showing its obsession with WoW once again and is playing up that WoW is six years old, and yet Blizzard is already working on their next MMO. EA probably should be a lot more worried about whatever Blizzard is doing in the future and not what they've done over the past six years.

As I've said, this kind of stuff scares me because EA is putting so much into Star Wars succeeding - a lot of executives' careers are riding on this, and the more pressure they feel, the more they will pump into Star Wars and if it fails, UO and Camelot will be affected.

Meanwhile, one of the Mythic co-founders is setting up a support center to support future MMOs: Worlds In Motion - Bethesda Sibling ZeniMax Online Founding Ireland Office To Support 'Future MMOs'

 

[Woodsman]

And all 3 of those are EA properties. 2 of them, WHO and UO, always have been.

Are they just stupid or are they referring to something more specific that I'm not thinking of?

Or both?

It's the obsession with WoW and wanting to try to paint the MMO market as consisting only of Warcraft and the Star Wars MMO due out in the latter half of the year. From a marketing point of view, it's somewhat intelligent. You don't want potential customers thinking about all of the other MMOs out there, you want to paint it as Warcraft or Star Wars, because then it's easier to define Star Wars and how it will be different than Warcraft. If you start talking about other MMOs, all of the sudden your strengths/differences over Warcraft aren't so unique and even pale in comparison to other MMOs. It's especially important when EA already offers games (UO/Camelot) that have some of the characteristics that EA claims makes Star Wars different from WoW.

This is the head of EA Games though, which means he's over BioWare/Mythic which means UO/Camelot. It's very crappy of him to pretend that UO and Camelot don't exist, and it shows a lot of disrespect to past and present UO and Camelot players. UO and Camelot may not fit into EA's gameplan of bigger/better/fewer games, but they are still there and still bringing in money, even after being butchered time and again with layoffs. If EA cares so much about MMOs that are different than WoW, then maybe they need to beef up UO and Camelot.

I think those articles are very characteristic of EA still not "getting" MMOs though. First of all, I've now heard several EA executives talk about Warcraft having been around 6 years as a negative. That is one of the most ignorant things you can do with MMOs, and even more ignorant when it comes to Warcraft. It'd be one thing if Warcraft peaked 4 years ago, but it keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Second, and this goes back to what I mentioned earlier, Blizzard is already moving on to their next MMO. They have publicly stated that some of their best and brightest Warcraft developers have moved to Titan. That doesn't mean that Warcraft has gone into maintenance mode or is using second-rate developers, but it does mean that EA is making a $300 million bet that will take years to pay off, and during that time, Blizzard will most likely be rolling out their next MMO.

Compared to Star Wars' budget, it wouldn't take much to boost the UO and Camelot teams enough to be able to do more than one thing at a time and work on the long-term future of both. Bringing players back or bringing new players in to UO or Camelot means that they would be bringing players into the EA fold who aren't playing WoW/Rift/etc.

EA is getting so wrapped up in its obsession with Warcraft, that it's liable to be blind-sided by Titan, and EA just does not seem to look at the MMO market on a company-wide scale. I'm guessing there is a lot of ignorance at the top, because most companies would be using ALL of their tools against Blizzard and not just the future promises of Star Wars. Those tools include UO and Camelot.

 

[Cirno]

I think they are miscommunicating what they mean by story.
As I understand it, one of the main things The Old Republic will have to differenciate it from other MMO games is that the experience for the player will be more story based, giving the character a story far beyond the standard fare of "travelled from place to place, performing inconsequential grunt work for immobile strangers, while on the path to greatness".
Adding depth of plot and player experience is something Bioware is extremely good at, and does not appear to be something that other MMOs have focused on tremendously. In that respect, Bioware could well break significant ground, although I wouldn't like to put money on how it will play out in the long run.

 

[Woodsman]

You're probably right, although I think other MMOs have plenty of fiction generated around them. Of course, if that's the case, it's definitely going to be a rail-type game. Massively did call it a themepark-style game.

UO used to have a lot of fiction posted on UO.com. One of the biggest mistakes made in recent years was this whole UOHerald.com thing that we have now.

 

[Evlar]

Interestingly whilst browsing the BioWare/EA site, registering Dragon Age II, I happened to notice that there's an opportunity missing to promote Ultima Online to a potentially good target audience.

Shame really, as you would think that as the two developers are now "merged" into one, there would be more promotion of the Mythic producs, aside from just Warhammer's "Endless Trial".

You are after all, talking about a website which caters for mainly RPG games of one form or another. Even if it were just a few links and banners to UO, it would be better than nothing, right?

I just find it a shame how neglectful of UO and it's legacy, EA seems to be, with the exception of lapping up any praise, such as the Hall of Fame recognition.

As a former UO player, it's most dissapointing to see that even "Lord of Ultima" gets more coverage on their sites...

 

[Nok]

Interestingly whilst browsing the BioWare/EA site, registering Dragon Age II, I happened to notice that there's an opportunity missing to promote Ultima Online to a potentially good target audience.

Shame really, as you would think that as the two developers are now "merged" into one, there would be more promotion of the Mythic producs, aside from just Warhammer's "Endless Trial".

You are after all, talking about a website which caters for mainly RPG games of one form or another. Even if it were just a few links and banners to UO, it would be better than nothing, right?

I just find it a shame how neglectful of UO and it's legacy, EA seems to be, with the exception of lapping up any praise, such as the Hall of Fame recognition.

As a former UO player, it's most dissapointing to see that even "Lord of Ultima" gets more coverage on their sites...

Actually BioWare does and has been for some time now... right on the front page of BioWare oOn the headline slider, click the sixth

and you'll see UO. UO is also listed in the Game menu at the top of the page. Both have been there for many months.

Wasn't really a merger, but an incorporation... Fairfax (aka Mythic) is one of five studios under the BioWare division.