Few improvement ideas

[Pinco]

1. A problem of UO is that hunting in group split the loot with everyone and with it the chance to get special items. This just bring the people to solo everything in pvm.
   My idea is: do not split the loot!
   May sound stupid, but if every loot instance is a full loot for everyone, hunting in group will be fun again because everyone get their own FULL loot.
   This will solve the fear of lose part of the loot because someone just hit the monster, and thousands of other lame thing that can be done with the current system.
   
   
2. The PVP and PVM cannot coexist anymore. All the PVP improvements seriously damage PVM, all PVM improvements unbalance PVP, it's just stupid keep going this way.
   Since Felucca is a PVP area make it with PVP ONLY rules, and put different rules in the other maps. So if for example the fireball is too powerfull they can nerf it on Felucca and it will stay as it is on the other places. If the enchanted apple are too powerfull and need a cooldown, you will put it on Felucca and not on the other places.
   This can also be used to apply the PVP cap to PVM in Felucca so the champion spawns will be more challenging and the people who are going to do the champions will be able to PVP since while having the same rules for monsters they can improve their equipment to fight other players
   
   By the way the faction arties must drop into the backpack if you leave Felucca, and this should be done even if the whole idea is ignored.
   
3. Penality on death: insurance is no more a penality, noone (if not when you just start to play) care about the insurance cost because the gold is easy to get. Bless deeds also have removed the need of insurance.
   So a great idea is the one used on Diablo 3: when you die all the items that you are wearing lose 10% of integrity.
   This will be a perfect penality especially with all those "Cannot be repair" and "Brittle" items around
   
   
4. The Collector's Book:
   Around there are a lot of people who collect a lot of items/junk and for a reason or another it happen to lose 1 or more (sometimes every) of those precious items.
   The idea is to make a virtual book (accessible through the paperdoll) where you can place your precious item, the server store the item data, color, form, etc... and you and whoever click in that book on your paperdoll will be ever able to see the item as it is.
   Basically should work like a photo album, and obviously you still have the item.
   In case the item is lost because someone stole it or your house fall or you break it, you still have it in the photo album as proof that you had it
   This will also help lesser collectors to keep their home clean by taking a "picture" of the item for their photo album and then sell it.
   
   
5. City market system:
   A bunch of vendor in a special place of every city should allow the player to sells their items like an "Auction House". You should be able to sell every kind of item/pet and the people should be able to search for it by applying filters that match their requirements.
   If you buy something from this market, part of the gold goes to the city treasure (of the city where you bought it).
   The city treasure gold amount should work like the community collections evolution, the higher is the value, the more decorations/tools will be unlocked in the city. For example by filling the city treasure there could appears guards marching in formation through the streets, palisades that will evolve to strong stone walls, gardens, fountains, statues and also something magnificent that appears only to the richest city.
   
   This system should not remove the current vendor system that could coexist for the lovers of the illegal shop search sites / people who has a lot of spare time to wander around the world and search all vendors...
   
   
6. Loyalty/Virtues/Faction Points decay: as I've already said many times, this decay daily is pretty stupid because force people to login every character everyda, and this takes a LOT of time especially if some still have several accounts with characters in many shards.
   I agree that this points should decay so only who is playing can get their bonus.
   The solution is:
   Tie the decay to the account and NOT to the characters. In this way you just have to login 1 character to prevent the decay. Then the login to prevent the decay should be once a week and not once a day in respect of the people who must work and can't play everyday (especially in this dark times).
   
   
7. Simplify the game. This game is became insanely complex and this is one of the reasons that prevents new players from coming. About this I have few ideas that could help:
   • Reduce the skill number:
     This is a complex matter that probably will requires a lot of thinking, but basically many skills can be simply removed. Here is an easy list with few skills to use as example:
     • Melee Fighting: replaces Swordsmanship, Mace Fighting, Fencing, Anatomy and Tactics. Instead of calculating just the hit chances like the single skill does, it could manage hit chance and damage increase.
     • Range Fighting: replaces Archery, Throwing, Anatomy and Tactics.
       Instead of calculating just the hit chances like the single skill does, it could manage hit chance and damage increase.
     • Magic: replaces Magery, Mysticism, Necromancy, Chivarly, Spirit Speak and Evaluating Intelligence.
       This just does what you can get by having for example Magery and Eval Int with just 1 skill.
     • Stealth: replace hiding and stealth. What's the point in having 2 skills?
     • Animal Taming: replaces taming and lore with the same result . What's the point in having 2 skills?
     • Healing: replaces healing and veterinary and allows to heal people and pets.
       
       Now, as you can clearly see there are less skill so more space in the skill cap? no.
       Each skill plain as it is should provides the capability of a skill of 80 (in the current system). In Order to use the full power of a skill you must take 1 or more mastery in that skill and each mastery will be charged into the skill total.
       This idea should be more clear with an example: you raise melee fighting to 120, but without a mastery it just works like a combat skill at 80. Then you decide to take the mastery in swordsmanship, at this point the skil works at full strenght like having 120 swords and tactics, but if you use a mace fighting weapon it will work like if you have 80 in mace fightning.
       This will increase the current skill total by the curent melee fighting value (in our example +120), and every other mastery you take will just add +120 to the total.
       
       This system will prevents to raise different skills for the same purpose and for a new player is easy to understand what Melee Fighting does instead of trying to understand 3-4 skills and their complex effect.
       
   • Reduce the operations and tools number:
   1. • It's true that having a tool for every crafting skill is realistic and nice to see, but it's very tricky to manage all those items around if you have more working skills.
        A solution could be add a Tools Box that allows you to open every crafting menu without having 10 different tools.
      • There are several operations that may result not quick to understand especially to new players. For example getting the hide then cut it to leather. Something like that could be simplified by making all knife like the butcher knife that automatically generates leathers.
        
        Another operation not very easy to understand for new players is the war/peace. I have a friend that after 10 years of using only a mage doesn't even know what war/peace does
        Basically for a spellcaster is all easy, you cast a spell and target the enemy and you are attacking, so for a melee/range fighter should be the same. Maybe instead of a war/peace button putting a sword that gives a target would be best so everyone will quickly understand it.
        This will also prevents the newbies to ride their horse without killing it for mistake
        
        Insurance: many new players doesn't know what insurance is. What about if there is an auto-insurance option that auto-insure the items when you wear them? Even if they don't know what insurance is when they die and lose gold, their just learn it instead of losing items
        
8. Lumberjacking:
   Some improvements are really needed to lumberjacking, like adding some kind of "elven axe" that could generate a monster (like the gargoyle pickaxe).
   More important is that since we are in 2012 would be nice to see at least the tree stump instead of a full tree when the spot has been depleted. I'm not saying to add an animation of the tree falling because will be too much, but at least set a flag to the tree to say the client that has been chopped down and let the client to show a stump instead of a tree is something doable....
   
   
9. Footstep Sounds:
   Again, since we reach 2012 should be nice to hear different footstep sounds for different terrains instead of the same sound for every kind of ground
   
   

Ok, that's it, probably those ideas are too complex to be considered but with all that, and obviously the new texture for walls/items/etc... for EC could improve a bit the game and bring back some hopes long gone...

 

[virtualhabitat]

Moongates on the ocean for trammel, felucca, and tokuno. Fleeing combat rules would apply in fel, of course.

Perhaps they could use the Serpent's Pillars with different passwords for different locations.

 

[Woodsman]

I like the city market system, although I would leave out Luna. I think it ought to be about bringing people back to the old cities.

I like just about anything that could bring people back to the old cities. Somebody in another thread mentioned having new players being able to "rent" rooms in the cities, either instanced or actual. You'd have to make sure it wasn't abused, probably by only allowing it for 60 days after an account is started or having a serious cap on item limits. I like things that could bring activity back to the cities.

I have my problems with World of Warcraft, but at the same time, they do a good job of creating "common" areas where everybody gathers and where you get a real sense that a lot of other people are playing.

 

[Pinco]

I like the city market system, although I would leave out Luna. I think it ought to be about bringing people back to the old cities.

I like just about anything that could bring people back to the old cities. Somebody in another thread mentioned having new players being able to "rent" rooms in the cities, either instanced or actual. You'd have to make sure it wasn't abused, probably by only allowing it for 60 days after an account is started or having a serious cap on item limits. I like things that could bring activity back to the cities.

I have my problems with World of Warcraft, but at the same time, they do a good job of creating "common" areas where everybody gathers and where you get a real sense that a lot of other people are playing.

yes I think too that luna should not get any bonus from the market so it can stay as it is

 

[O'Brien]

A lot of good ideas here. I don't know if I agree with them all, but I think Pinco sets an excellent example of how each of us should be thinking about UO's future. It ultimately depends on us, and not some corporate bureaucrat.

Thanks for this, and all you do Pinco. I'll have to try out the EC sometime and your addon for it.

1. A problem of UO is that hunting in group split the loot with everyone and with it the chance to get special items. This just bring the people to solo everything in pvm.
   My idea is: do not split the loot!
   May sound stupid, but if every loot instance is a full loot for everyone, hunting in group will be fun again because everyone get their own FULL loot.
   This will solve the fear of lose part of the loot because someone just hit the monster, and thousands of other lame thing that can be done with the current system.
   
2. The PVP and PVM cannot coexist anymore. All the PVP improvements seriously damage PVM, all PVM improvements unbalance PVP, it's just stupid keep going this way.
   Since Felucca is a PVP area make it with PVP ONLY rules, and put different rules in the other maps. So if for example the fireball is too powerfull they can nerf it on Felucca and it will stay as it is on the other places. If the enchanted apple are too powerfull and need a cooldown, you will put it on Felucca and not on the other places.
   This can also be used to apply the PVP cap to PVM in Felucca so the champion spawns will be more challenging and the people who are going to do the champions will be able to PVP since while having the same rules for monsters they can improve their equipment to fight other players
   
   By the way the faction arties must drop into the backpack if you leave Felucca, and this should be done even if the whole idea is ignored.
3. Penality on death: insurance is no more a penality, noone (if not when you just start to play) care about the insurance cost because the gold is easy to get. Bless deeds also have removed the need of insurance.
   So a great idea is the one used on Diablo 3: when you die all the items that you are wearing lose 10% of integrity.
   This will be a perfect penality especially with all those "Cannot be repair" and "Brittle" items around
   
4. The Collector's Book:
   Around there are a lot of people who collect a lot of items/junk and for a reason or another it happen to lose 1 or more (sometimes every) of those precious items.
   The idea is to make a virtual book (accessible through the paperdoll) where you can place your precious item, the server store the item data, color, form, etc... and you and whoever click in that book on your paperdoll will be ever able to see the item as it is.
   Basically should work like a photo album, and obviously you still have the item.
   In case the item is lost because someone stole it or your house fall or you break it, you still have it in the photo album as proof that you had it
   This will also help lesser collectors to keep their home clean by taking a "picture" of the item for their photo album and then sell it.
   
5. City market system:
   A bunch of vendor in a special place of every city should allow the player to sells their items like an "Auction House". You should be able to sell every kind of item/pet and the people should be able to search for it by applying filters that match their requirements.
   If you buy something from this market, part of the gold goes to the city treasure (of the city where you bought it).
   The city treasure gold amount should work like the community collections evolution, the higher is the value, the more decorations/tools will be unlocked in the city. For example by filling the city treasure there could appears guards marching in formation through the streets, palisades that will evolve to strong stone walls, gardens, fountains, statues and also something magnificent that appears only to the richest city.
   
   This system should not remove the current vendor system that could coexist for the lovers of the illegal shop search sites / people who has a lot of spare time to wander around the world and search all vendors...
   
6. Loyalty/Virtues/Faction Points decay: as I've already said many times, this decay daily is pretty stupid because force people to login every character everyda, and this takes a LOT of time especially if some still have several accounts with characters in many shards.
   I agree that this points should decay so only who is playing can get their bonus.
   The solution is:
   Tie the decay to the account and NOT to the characters. In this way you just have to login 1 character to prevent the decay. Then the login to prevent the decay should be once a week and not once a day in respect of the people who must work and can't play everyday (especially in this dark times).
   
7. Simplify the game. This game is became insanely complex and this is one of the reasons that prevents new players from coming. About this I have few ideas that could help:
   • Reduce the skill number:
     This is a complex matter that probably will requires a lot of thinking, but basically many skills can be simply removed. Here is an easy list with few skills to use as example:
     • Melee Fighting: replaces Swordsmanship, Mace Fighting, Fencing, Anatomy and Tactics. Instead of calculating just the hit chances like the single skill does, it could manage hit chance and damage increase.
     • Range Fighting: replaces Archery, Throwing, Anatomy and Tactics.
       Instead of calculating just the hit chances like the single skill does, it could manage hit chance and damage increase.
     • Magic: replaces Magery, Mysticism, Necromancy, Chivarly, Spirit Speak and Evaluating Intelligence.
       This just does what you can get by having for example Magery and Eval Int with just 1 skill.
     • Stealth: replace hiding and stealth. What's the point in having 2 skills?
     • Animal Taming: replaces taming and lore with the same result . What's the point in having 2 skills?
     • Healing: replaces healing and veterinary and allows to heal people and pets.
       
       Now, as you can clearly see there are less skill so more space in the skill cap? no.
       Each skill plain as it is should provides the capability of a skill of 80 (in the current system). In Order to use the full power of a skill you must take 1 or more mastery in that skill and each mastery will be charged into the skill total.
       This idea should be more clear with an example: you raise melee fighting to 120, but without a mastery it just works like a combat skill at 80. Then you decide to take the mastery in swordsmanship, at this point the skil works at full strenght like having 120 swords and tactics, but if you use a mace fighting weapon it will work like if you have 80 in mace fightning.
       This will increase the current skill total by the curent melee fighting value (in our example +120), and every other mastery you take will just add +120 to the total.
       
       This system will prevents to raise different skills for the same purpose and for a new player is easy to understand what Melee Fighting does instead of trying to understand 3-4 skills and their complex effect.
   • Reduce the operations and tools number:
   1. • It's true that having a tool for every crafting skill is realistic and nice to see, but it's very tricky to manage all those items around if you have more working skills.
        A solution could be add a Tools Box that allows you to open every crafting menu without having 10 different tools.
      • There are several operations that may result not quick to understand especially to new players. For example getting the hide then cut it to leather. Something like that could be simplified by making all knife like the butcher knife that automatically generates leathers.
        
        Another operation not very easy to understand for new players is the war/peace. I have a friend that after 10 years of using only a mage doesn't even know what war/peace does
        Basically for a spellcaster is all easy, you cast a spell and target the enemy and you are attacking, so for a melee/range fighter should be the same. Maybe instead of a war/peace button putting a sword that gives a target would be best so everyone will quickly understand it.
        This will also prevents the newbies to ride their horse without killing it for mistake
        
        Insurance: many new players doesn't know what insurance is. What about if there is an auto-insurance option that auto-insure the items when you wear them? Even if they don't know what insurance is when they die and lose gold, their just learn it instead of losing items
8. Lumberjacking:
   Some improvements are really needed to lumberjacking, like adding some kind of "elven axe" that could generate a monster (like the gargoyle pickaxe).
   More important is that since we are in 2012 would be nice to see at least the tree stump instead of a full tree when the spot has been depleted. I'm not saying to add an animation of the tree falling because will be too much, but at least set a flag to the tree to say the client that has been chopped down and let the client to show a stump instead of a tree is something doable....
   
9. Footstep Sounds:
   Again, since we reach 2012 should be nice to hear different footstep sounds for different terrains instead of the same sound for every kind of ground

Ok, that's it, probably those ideas are too complex to be considered but with all that, and obviously the new texture for walls/items/etc... for EC could improve a bit the game and bring back some hopes long gone...

 

[Petra Fyde]

I have a small problem with this statement:

In case the item is lost because someone stole it or your house fall or you break it, you still have it in the photo album as proof that you had it
This will also help lesser collectors to keep their home clean by taking a "picture" of the item for their photo album and then sell it.

What stops someone taking a "picture", selling the item and then claiming "someone stole it or your house fall or you break it"

 

[O'Brien]

I have a small problem with this statement:


What stops someone taking a "picture", selling the item and then claiming "someone stole it or your house fall or you break it"

Since Pinco hasn't responded yet, I'll take a stab at your question. Pinco can correct me if I'm wrong.

Nothing stops someone from claiming it was stolen. I don't think it's meant to help folks get lost items back. Just a photo album to show everything players have had in their possession at one time or another.

 

[Pinco]

Since Pinco hasn't responded yet, I'll take a stab at your question. Pinco can correct me if I'm wrong.

Nothing stops someone from claiming it was stolen. I don't think it's meant to help folks get lost items back. Just a photo album to show everything players have had in their possession at one time or another.

exactly.
It's just to have a way to see and search your collected items even when you don't have it anymore so if you lose/sell it you still have a memory of it to show around

 

[Ludes]

You left one off..

Go back to skill based world and get rid of all the worthless mods to weapons and armour.

I would have voted for that one.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

If they leave "skinning" as-is, then end product should be bones, that could be picked up, and be used in alchemy or other.
Not just footsteps, but sounds in general need love, especially the repeat rate.
Decay - maybe they should not have so many characters, since there's a limitation on skill points.
Faction gear dropping into pack - NO - war horse dismounts, spellbooks/tomb go poof? If Faction gear can be used for pvm, then facet should not matter
PVP-based, Fel only rules - YES

 

[Pinco]

Faction gear dropping into pack - NO - war horse dismounts, spellbooks/tomb go poof? If Faction gear can be used for pvm, then facet should not matter

the point is exaclty prevents the use of faction arties for PVM.
Who like PVP want the stuff quick without having to PVM, fine. But if you like PVM you must use regular arties or they have to extend factions everywhere... to be factioned just to get free arties for PVM is wrong.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

to be factioned just to get free arties for PVM is wrong.

oh, I agree, no argument there. M16 - designed for people killers, works on mobs too, it doesn't discriminate.
imo, otherwise is to force a play style, always bad. They chose to discourage that practice, rather than force a hard line.

 

[Pinco]

oh, I agree, no argument there. M16 - designed for people killers, works on mobs too, it doesn't discriminate.
imo, otherwise is to force a play style, always bad. They chose to discourage that practice, rather than force a hard line.

probably extend factions everywhere would discourage people to join faction for arties

 

[Sauteed Onion]

I agree with Sevin0oo0 about the sounds needing love in general. Casting Teleport sounds like a weird techno spring being uncoiled, hitting a lizardman with a skinning knife shouldn't sound like tossing a trash can lid down some stairs, flamestriking something sounds like waving a paper sack for like a milisecond, the arch cure sounds like stepping into a dimensional portal to hell (It really does, I do this ALL the time meow.. j/k but seriously that sound is just nuts), tinkering getting the blacksmith creation sound.. like I remember when they put that sound in not too long ago and was like uh is my client messin up? These are just some sound sounds..

Music, some songs seem to cut off like right when they're getting good. That music in Nu'Jhelm all explorationy sounding gets to a point and you're like wow this sounds soooo coo.. what? What the hell? Oh COME ON!! Damnit! Britain's got this beautiful flute music that loops FOREVER. I'm serious. You go to britain, the music begins, and then blamo, you decide to recall out (another sound that needs some love), to your home and the MUSIC DOESN'T STOP. So after years of experiencing the beautiful flute music you start dreading going to britain to put like a crimson cincture you got from Melisande up in the bank box.. (Who's nonstop screaming could use some fidgeting with too. Also the sound of a revenant hitting your greater dragon.. sounds again like tossing a trash can lid down some stairs. Actually the sound of a revenant hitting ANYTHING sounds like a trash can lid getting tossed down some stairs!). Then yes, footstep sounds.. Let's not recount the ways I despise the same silly footsteps sounds in all terains, from desert, to stones, to grass, to sno.. you know no. . just no.

Then you've got some good sounds that make sense. The tailoring sound, sure it sounds like scissors snippin' and all that jazz, but it fits. Then carpentry sounds kinda ok and understandable. Inscription and cartography ok. But Tinkering and blacksmithing? NO! And they use the same sound NO! Just NO! Meow! Omg I'm just thinkin of all the little tiny things like this and we still got party bar issues, avatar's held items constantly switching hands, your spirit lacks cohesion problems (like WHY!?! Omg why!?), people still able to script and dupe (like what the hell man!?) return to britannia houses from like 4 and 5 years ago still all over the place, stupid censorship of RUNE NAMING!! Srsly! I have to look like an even bigger dope than I already am by having a rune to Eniqma and Compasion among others in my collection. To top it off, instead of fixing or making better alot of all this stuff that shouldn't even be brought up now, we get new systems complete with endless and glaring bug problems and serious lack of testing and not so speedy follow through "fixes" which are left unexplained and then no apology for those who experience the bug or glitch in the first place. Just a re-assuring pat on the back that we'll get a fix underway whenever.. and that we can be sure to expect more in the future! Thanks now, continue payi.. I mean playing!

 

[Woodsman]

yes I think too that luna should not get any bonus from the market so it can stay as it is

Yeah, Luna doesn't really fit with the rest of UO, and I think the other cities should be worked on to help bring them back to life. Like somebody said, Luna is just so sterile with no character.

I like the ideas about bringing life back to the original cities. Playing through Ultima 7 recently, i' was reminded of how lively some of those areas seemed. I wouldn't mind that in UO. I know that in the early days, the devs had to really tone down certain parts of UO because it was putting a load on the servers (I think weather and having animals/predators that could "learn" or gain in skill were two examples).

Ultima VII is a pretty amazing game when you look at some of those things.

 

[Cetric]

Where is the option for i dont really care for any of that.

 

[puni666]

You see :mylittlepony:


I see