For those who feel doom and gloom...

[Saphireena]

I'd like to bring forth a slightly different perspective from someone who:

- Started UO in 1999
- Dabbled with DaoC and Anarchy Online about a decade ago but always came back to UO until...
- WoW opened, and switched to playing that and have been playing ever since. I have even been running a guild there for 3 years, which by the way is hugely popular due to it's concept. Point being that things "should be good" for me in WoW.

However...

- Who has still hasn't had the heart to shut 2 of the 6 UO accounts I have and has been paying for 2 of them since 1999
- Who cannot say the same for any other MMO other than WoW. Tried LOTRO, City of Villains, Age of Conan, Rift, Vanguard... (and let's not forget DaoC and AO) too many to count. The excpetion is probably Second Life - but that's not really an MMO, more of a virtual world.

And I'll tell you why I'm here now, all juiced up to play UO again (and yes, in the classic client). No other MMO has compared to the magic of UO. No other MMO has had the incredible sandbox element to it and given such huge possibilities to do anything you set your mind to. Second Life is of course the hugest sandbox of all, but it's still not a game game.

Those of us in our WoW guild of elders (older folks) that have been playing WoW since launch all agree that we're all played out. Blizzard just refuses to come out with an expansion that really brings something new to the way the game is played. Just new races, new classes, new areas, new quests. How about player housing Blizz? How about sailing the seas? How about guild houses? How about taming and training your own mount? All of which we can do in UO. But no, now they're going to bring us a GIANT PANDAs as a race. It's just the last straw for me. There's only so much childishness I'll put up with and now the Pandaren race has taken me over the limit that I can handle.

Star Wars the Old Republic is coming soon and we're all waiting for it anxiously, but what if it's yet another MMO flop? We've all tried to get excited by new MMOs so many times but have returned to WoW over and over. Now that WoW is losing it's charm, what's the game I turn to? Ultima Online. It's the only one I know I can depend on for guaranteed fun. Even though the new WoW expansion isn't even out yet, just knowing it's coming makes me feel like it's pointless to play WoW anymore and I know many who feel the same. So in the past week I've resurrected one of my old UO accounts alongside the one I had open and placed a new house. I'm sorting through my things and making plans. I'm excited to be playing UO again.

I can't be the only one going through this.

What if... what if the things that are happening in other MMOs actually drives old players back to us, like it has done to me?

 

[pgib]

I tried a lot of other mmporgs in the past years but there's nothing like UO on sight. Actually it's taming that sucks me in everytime - totally unique. I'm used to think that if chEAp put some serious money in UO it could throw everything else out of businness. It's up to our new producer now: make them open that pocket!

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

What if... what if the things that are happening in other MMOs actually drives old players back to us, like it has done to me?

I do know I have seen 6 vets from 3+ years off return to Atlantic in the last week. And these are just the ones I happen to run across and knew from when they played before. I have ran across maybe 10 in the last 2 weeks that say they used to play and have returned. But you never know if they are being true or just a current player trying to snag some freebies, either way I help out when I can. So things definately seem to be on the upswing again.

 

[Saphireena]

Oh yes I agree, taming is the best! It's the main thing I like to do aside the house business.

And I just wanted to add to those of you who have valiantly stood by UO all these years and put up with all the bad stuff, that I can easily understand that many of you are feeling the "enough is enough" emotion I'm feeling with WoW right now. It might be that I feel the same as you do once I really get my hands dirty and see a more realistic picture of how UO is doing. But I guess what I'm trying to point out is that UO has a magic that brings people back - something hard to find in other MMOs. If only EA saw the possibilities and invested more into it. I'm sure developing this game is a constant uphill battle. Thanks to the devs (I know you're a very small bunch) for all their hard work and devotion. I hope everyone understands that these people do what they can under huge restrictions.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Nice post.



-Galen's player

 

[MalagAste]

I could never play WoW.... took me 2 hours to rid my PC of that garbage.

And the childishness of it continues... I laugh at the new Kung Fu Panda / Pokemon expansion... Talk about childish... just admit it's for kids...

That has to be it for anyone totally unsure about WoW being for kids.

All the eye candy in the world does not make up for content.

While I realize UO does not have the best graphics... and the community has indeed fallen to a new low... I still have faith that things will turn around.

I still very much enjoy UO... Especially design and deco... I too love taming... I must since I have like 6 tamers at least. I've begun to branch out some... working a few characters in lands other than GL's... but my heart is always on GL's.

I have once again been given hope of late that we can turn this ship around... But it's going to take more than just the DEV's... we all need to work together... And help to bring folk home to UO.

 

[A Thought Elemental]

I'd like to bring forth a slightly different perspective from someone who:

- Started UO in 1999

<snip>
But no, now they're going to bring us a GIANT PANDAs as a race. It's just the last straw for me. There's only so much childishness I'll put up with and now the Pandaren race has taken me over the limit that I can handle.

Star Wars the Old Republic is coming soon and we're all waiting for it anxiously

In these 3 things, you and I are in very much the same spot. 1998 for me tho. Look up Hoskuldur666 on Youtube.... I'm walking away from it right now, because of the Pandas and the expansion-with-nothing-to-offer (trans-faction fighting as the theme of the expansion, wth?).

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

I have once again been given hope of late that we can turn this ship around... But it's going to take more than just the DEV's... we all need to work together... And help to bring folk home to UO.

Well said Sir.

Just once I would LOVE to see a commercial on the idiot box for UO tho. I can see it in my mind, some actual game shots from EC and CC both. Show some of the new Critters, new races, the ships etc. Then close with...... The first MMORPG to reach 100,000 subscriber's is still the best.... Come home to Ultima Online.

Maybe one day

 

[old gypsy]

I guess what I'm trying to point out is that UO has a magic that brings people back - something hard to find in other MMOs. If only EA saw the possibilities and invested more into it.

Truer words were never spoken. UO is still unique, even after all these years.

 

[frostbolt]

wow really, really?? an anti pandaren thread on the UO stratics forum, as if i havn't had to deal with these enough on the world of warcraft forums.

Pandaren have been in the game since warcraft 3 frozen throne. A pandaren played an integral role in the founding of Durotar the orc capital city.

And secondly you as a player who supposidly have had played wow since launch should ALSO know that pandaren have been asked for as a playable race SINCE LAUNCH. And as a player who has played since launch you should ALSO remember how disappointed most people were when pandaren were confirmed to not have been the new race in burning crusade.

Pandaren are no more childish than cow men, goat men, pig men etc etc. and wtf is with this comparison with kungfu panda, pandaren predates kungfu panda by several years.

And finally pokemon? Only someone who has never played pokemon on a competitive level would think it is childish. Even if the world of warcraft pet battles were not implemented with complex mechanics optional content is optional stop complaining about optional content. Its like complaining about fishing in UO being boring. if you do not like it do not do it. If you don't like gargoyles in UO don't play them, don't play pandaren.

 

[MalagAste]

wow really, really?? an anti pandaren thread on the UO stratics forum, as if i havn't had to deal with these enough on the world of warcraft forums.

Pandaren have been in the game since warcraft 3 frozen throne. A pandaren played an integral role in the founding of Durotar the orc capital city.

And secondly you as a player who supposidly have had played wow since launch should ALSO know that pandaren have been asked for as a playable race SINCE LAUNCH. And as a player who has played since launch you should ALSO remember how disappointed most people were when pandaren were confirmed to not have been the new race in burning crusade.

Pandaren are no more childish than cow men, goat men, pig men etc etc. and wtf is with this comparison with kungfu panda, pandaren predates kungfu panda by several years.

And finally pokemon? Only someone who has never played pokemon on a competitive level would think it is childish. Even if the world of warcraft pet battles were not implemented with complex mechanics optional content is optional stop complaining about optional content. Its like complaining about fishing in UO being boring. if you do not like it do not do it. If you don't like gargoyles in UO don't play them, don't play pandaren.

You can try to candy coat it all you want and argue about how it isn't a Kung Fu Panda/ Pokemon expansion.... but it is... You can say all you want about how it's always been there and blah, blah, blah..... but the fact remains it's a Kung Fu Panda/Pokemon expansion....

If you don't want to think of it that way go right ahead delude yourself..... but you know deep down that's EXACTLY what it is... Catering to the kiddies.

 

[frostbolt]

You can try to candy coat it all you want and argue about how it isn't a Kung Fu Panda/ Pokemon expansion.... but it is... You can say all you want about how it's always been there and blah, blah, blah..... but the fact remains it's a Kung Fu Panda/Pokemon expansion....

If you don't want to think of it that way go right ahead delude yourself..... but you know deep down that's EXACTLY what it is... Catering to the kiddies.

if it predates kung fu panda then kungfu panda copied warcraft not the other way around. your argument is invalid on that point.

and again optional content is optional. Its ironic that the Original poster asked for new and different content and then goes on to complain about new and differnent content.

its people who complain about new game mechanics and different than the norm content that causes us to have the problem of never getting anything different in world of warcraft. So yes OP you are the reason why WoW is stagnating with the same old thing expansion after expansion.

Exactly what does catering to the kiddies mean? It wasn't too long ago that ALL video games were considered "for the kiddies". This notion is completely subjective and entirely ridiculous to consider in the context of world of warcraft whose game design has had always been cartoony and "kiddish" since its inception.

I suppose you think that interface upgrades in UO is kiddish because something like a mass make button for crafting makes the game easier and an easy game is for kids right?

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Pandaren just completes the transition of turning WoW into Furcadia. Enjoy it if it's your thing, but I'm glad I left that game behind YEARS ago.

UO has had its ups and downs, but looks like it could now be back on an upswing. I haven't seen this much positive excitement since the Inu arc that teased Kingdom Reborn.

I think the BIGGEST thing that I like about UO as compared to the level/zone based games is that in UO you're not pushed from one area into the next. In WoW, LotRO, etc, you start in Town A, spend some time, exhaust it of content, then it's on to Town B, then maybe City A, and so on, but after a while the game PUSHES you out of that town or area because you've "outgrown" it. In UO, with the Shame update, it doesn't matter what "character level" you're running, you'll find the level of challenge you're looking for.

UO still isn't ready for prime time commercials (or any TV commercials at that), but we're starting to see some forward movement in the "face-lift" area which WILL help in the longevity of the game.

I'm not dancing in the streets, but I am a lot happier to see the direction the game is heading.

 

[Ricsreturn]

UO should have a Koala race that has the ability to unravel rares into virtual tissue

 

[SugarMMM]

I agree with the original post!

I have come and gone over the years trying out all of the games that come along but I have kept my 7 accounts alive since day 1!

You can backup the Panda content all you want with that other game but what really ruined it for me were the chopper motorcycles.......WTF? They just don't fit into the game.

Ok, back to playing the best game ever....... UO!

 

[Ricsreturn]

the motorcycles were the best UO NEEDS motorcycles but it's wishful thinking
the idea of having a Fellucian MC rolling into spawns sounds appealing to me.

I'll forget SWOR and stay in UO just for that reason

 

[Sevin0oo0]

anti pandaren, here? naw

We got pandas earlier this year (not as a race). most i think thought they were pretty lame

 

[Saphireena]

MalagAste: I have had many wonderful moments in WoW and it's been extremely entertaining if you enjoy a game that will hold you by the hand and take you some place (the opposite of a sandbox). I mean, I can appreciate both types of games. Sometimes you're just going through a phase of life where you want to sit back and enjoy being taken by someone else (in this case the designers of WoW) down the path they designed for you. It's quite relaxing. Other times you have more emotional resources at hand (especially during holidays) and prefer paving your own path. I always find myself firing up UO during holiday times!

But WoW is an experience I'd recommend for anyone. I'd certainly give it more of a chance than you did, it can be great fun! Had you played 2 weeks or even 2 days, fair enough - but 2 hours won't tell you much yet . WoW is hands down the most superior in usability of how the interface and game mechanics work. Everything just flows and works beautifully and you never find yourself frustrated or stuck. Just a joy to play. Such a shame that their main focus seems to be on the kiddie customers though.

A Thought Elemental: I knew it I knew it! There are bound to be more out there feeling the same about these things. Imagine if like 1 million WoW players came back to UO . Not sure how many subscriptions are open in UO right now actually... Oh and thanks for the Youtube tip, I saw your wow videos and will have a look. My own channel is here. I have some WoW videos of my own as well. (mostly about getting into hard to reach places) I wish Fraps worked with UO, but unfortunately it will only work with 3d games. Not sure if it actually works on the Enhanced client, but I play on Classic.

Frostbolt: If you've had to deal with a lot of anti-pandaren complaints on the WoW forums, there is obviously an issue with it - no? If Blizz want to bring pandaren in, this is the worst timing ever - what with all the new hopeful MMOs around the corner. And yes, the Pandaren are in fact older than Kung Fu Panda, but did you know that they were originally an April's fool joke by Blizzard? Only later, since the April's Fools received widespread appreciation from the player crowds, they were hinted (but not playable) in the Frozen Throne expansion. There's also an interview with the creative at Blizzard who did conceive them as an April's Fool and was later surprised by the fact that people took it seriously. From that moment on, Blizzard started to refer to Pandarens in various occasions even though they were never an actual playable race. They considered them to be playable in TBC but they later shifted to the Draenei (this was confirmed at Blizzcon). For Blizzard to use giant pandas as a april's fool prank says volumes I think. If Pandaren have been asked for since launch, it makes you wonder why there is so much complaining going on right now.

Using fishing in UO is not really a fair comparison. It's not like I am forced to watch people fishing. But in WoW you will be forced to watch Panda's running around town, you'll be forced to play with (pugs) and against them (pvp) on a constant basis and they will be a constant reminder of the kiddie factor. Since I'm a roleplayer, I will also find them biting a big chunk out of any immersion I'm able to have.

Yes, I asked for new and different content - not the same stuff as before with just a new cover. We've had new races introduced before, we've had new classes, we've had new areas, we've had new quests. Same old same old, just a different skin. Admittedly, Blizz has brought a lot of cool things in the past year and I've especially enjoyed the guild changes and many improvements to game mechanics. But I still don't feel like I -live- in Azeroth, I feel like I'm only a visitor there. I can't claim any land as my own, I can't invite a friend over for dinner. In UO I really feel like I'm a part of the world and that I belong!

Dermott: From your text I get the feeling that there are others who are back and excited about it too? Brilliant!

And so true about the pushing to different areas aspect. I so agree! And I love that a group of friends can go hunting together in UO and all be different "levels" too.

 

[HD2300]

Dont be sad peoples. We have a new Ultima FRANCHISE Producer, and new Ultima Franchise products will be launched next year.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Dermott: From your text I get the feeling that there are others who are back and excited about it too?

Well mainly I'm going by the reactions on the boards, and we'll really see how well it's working by the activity in Shame/arenas once released, but so far, the abrupt turnaround from no communication and the down feeling the game had to the excitement over Pub 73 is looking really good.

 

[curlybeard]

the motorcycles were the best UO NEEDS motorcycles but it's wishful thinking
the idea of having a Fellucian MC rolling into spawns sounds appealing to me.

I'll forget SWOR and stay in UO just for that reason

maybe not motorcycles ;-) but flying carpets are a part of Ultima lore

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Flying carpets and hot air balloons... however, UO has been VERY reluctant to make use of the Z axis, especially since early pre-secure housing breakins were done by exploiting items that raised a character's Z axis over the house walls.

So a game mechanic that was very integral to Ultima (specifially 7 and Serpent Isle) was basically axed from UO.

 

[CovenantX]

LOL @ Panda Race, I said the same thing, about WoW when that expansion hits, I'm done.

I play UO for pvp (Mostly) because it's not comparable to ANY
other MMO (in a good way)
I play WoW for pvm... and pvp is horrible in wow

UO is starting to revamp dungeons and such, Hopefully I won't need to play wow for pvm when that terrible expansion comes out. =D

 

[Kojak]

are you the one that made the high res 2d graphics way back when?

 

[Saphireena]

That'd be me, yes Kojak. Probably one of EA's biggest headaches hehe. I wouldn't be surprised if they had an office dartboard with ol' Saph's picture in the middle!

 

[frostbolt]

doesn't matter if they started out as an april fools joke. A good idea is a good idea and pandas are obviously a good idea if they became so popular even though they began as a joke. The people who complain are always the same vocal minority who think its cool to complain about everything so there's nothing to wonder about, in terms of why people are suddenly complaining. These complainers are the same crowd of people who threaten to quit over every new thing yet continue to play and post long after the content has been released.

Like i said the people who complain are the reason we don't get nice things. You want guild houses in WoW? Do you know why we probably do not have guild houses/player housing?. its because the vocal complainers cry WTF THE SIMS!!! we no wants kiddy house building games in our WoW! (sound familiar to your anti panda/pokemon argument?) This goes for every other idea that is different from the norm, thus we always get the same old rehashed dungeon with a different graphic. Why do you think they keep removing cool spells that differentiate the classes? its because people cry about everything.

Finally how exactly do bear men break your immersion anymore than cow men, goat men, and wolf men? Complaining about 1 means you would have to complain about the other 3 as well. Especially the worgen/draenei because they were drastically retconned to fit into the alliance.

 

[Saphireena]

Frostbolt: What you're basically saying is that players should not voice their opinions and be mute? Or are you saying they should only cheer and applaud at every new thing the devs bring out? Having worked in the game industry for the amount of years that I have, I can safely say that they NEED player input. They NEED to listen to what consumers want. Otherwise it's like designing something with a blindfold on. However, it is up to the devs to take that information carefully, weigh the pros and cons and calculate how it will impact the game in all possible aspects. In no way what so ever should devs just wildly agree to do everything players whine for, or cancel everything players are against, for players do not and cannot understand the deeper and long term effects a change can have. Only the devs can. So they must use any input they get wisely. But they DO need it.

Me thinks that in the case of the Pandaren, here is a situation where a few people whined for the Pandaren to be put in as a race and the devs gave players what they wanted without thinking it through.

Then again, they may be thinking long term. Today's kiddies (using mom and dad's credit card) are tomorrows paying consumers.

 

[Neutron Bomb]

Just because Pandas are in Warcraft lore, does not mean that the idea of spending valuable resources on a completely stupid character/lore is justified.

In all serious however, Blizzard LOST creativity when they created the battle grounds. Creating a field of mutual fighting destroyed town/city raids (The only FUN way to PvP even at low levels). I too played WoW on launch, and quit 2 weeks after Burning Crusade because the game lacked depth, excitement, and draw. Who seriously has fun grinding in ANY game? WoW took it to the nth degree.

They copied EQ and most MMO before them, slapped a nice shiny trademark on the box and shipped it out to the masses/eventual lemmings. Cool concept at first, but grossly over hyped.

They will do what most other level system games of that magnitude do...create new expansions that add +10 to level cap, and a new landmass so you can actually hit that +10 level set. Over...and over....and over....and over....and over...and...you get the point. They have 12 million subscribers, so do not expect them to do anything risky, and expect the same old crap in a box like they have served since day one.

Come on kids, get Crap in a Box today!

 

[frostbolt]

Why does everyone say they work in the game industry to try and prove their point in these kinds of arguments? It really has no place here especially because there's no point voicing your negative and unconstructive opinions which do nothing except to discourage the developers and **** off the WoW community managers. Pandarens are going to be in 100% regardless of the anti pandaren whiners. You like all the rest of the pandaren complainers arn't really even giving any real feed back and are essentially just saying WTF KUNGFU PANDA CHILDISHHHH IT SUX I QUIT(as per your original post).

Saying that the devs are giving you pandas instead of guild housing is not feedback. You are simply complaining about getting content you do not want. Similar to the anti-housing people who cry every time player housing is brought up and scream "we don't want to play the sims!"

The expansion is going to be about pandarens no matter how much useless "input about how you hate pandarens" you put in. Its not going to be changed because the vocal minority hate it. Pandarens being the main race of the expansion is already set in stone and this very fact is what makes what you are doing into nothing more than whining about something you don't like and demanding the devs to remake the expansion from the ground up to cater to your wants. Useful feedback would involve how they can make the race cool not threats of quitting and other similar things that you are apparently trying to pass off as feedback to the devs.

Your statement about the people who wanted pandarens being few is false, because then they would never have progressed past being a joke race in the first place. Its the complainers who are in the minority here.

Just because Pandas are in Warcraft lore, does not mean that the idea of spending valuable resources on a completely stupid character/lore is justified.

In all serious however, Blizzard LOST creativity when they created the battle grounds. Creating a field of mutual fighting destroyed town/city raids (The only FUN way to PvP even at low levels). I too played WoW on launch, and quit 2 weeks after Burning Crusade because the game lacked depth, excitement, and draw. Who seriously has fun grinding in ANY game? WoW took it to the nth degree.

They copied EQ and most MMO before them, slapped a nice shiny trademark on the box and shipped it out to the masses/eventual lemmings. Cool concept at first, but grossly over hyped.

They will do what most other level system games of that magnitude do...create new expansions that add +10 to level cap, and a new landmass so you can actually hit that +10 level set. Over...and over....and over....and over....and over...and...you get the point. They have 12 million subscribers, so do not expect them to do anything risky, and expect the same old crap in a box like they have served since day one.

Come on kids, get Crap in a Box today!

Unjustified spending of valuable resources? Who are you to say what is justified or not. You want something new like player housing in WoW, but tons of cryers scream that its an unjustified spend of resources because they would go play the sims instead if they wanted that kind of thing.

The reason why everything is the same over and over again is because of people who complain everytime something new is put into the game.

Zombie event?- Infinite amount of crying that leads to crap collection events after the fact.

World pvp?- Mass crying about ganking causing blizzard to create super powerful infinite guard spawn everywhere

etc etc etc.

Why do you think they don't do anything risky? its because of the backlash caused by complainers (collectable pet battle system- waaahh its like pokemon!!! i hate it and i am going to quit even though it is totally optional and will not affect my gameplay if i choose not to do it because its an unjustifiable spending of resources)

Again i state its people like the OP who complain for the heck of it and provide no actual feedback that makes the devs release nothing but the same old boring content. Theres no difference between complaining about a new race/optional progression system and complaining about adding player housing/taming mounts. Complaining about new content is complaining about new content. All these new content ideas have all been brought up before and the same extremely vocal complainers cry about every new idea with the exact same argument. It uses too much development resources, its unnecessary, its childish, its lore breaking, its stupid, i will quit if this is implemented, and thus we never get anything at all.

 

[curlybeard]

. They have 12 million subscribers, so do not expect them to do anything risky, and expect the same old crap in a box like they have served since day one.

[SIZE]Come on kids, get Crap in a Box today!

Does it come with a guarantee?

warning poor quality YouTube video

 

[popps]

This thread is a Developers' must read........

Someone should point this thread out to Developers to read it......

By the way, I concur that there is nothing else out there like this 14 Years old online multiplayer game..........

 

[Saunders]

Again i state its people like the OP who complain for the heck of it and provide no actual feedback that makes the devs release nothing but the same old boring content. Theres no difference between complaining about a new race/optional progression system and complaining about adding player housing/taming mounts. Complaining about new content is complaining about new content. All these new content ideas have all been brought up before and the same extremely vocal complainers cry about every new idea with the exact same argument. It uses too much development resources, its unnecessary, its childish, its lore breaking, its stupid, i will quit if this is implemented, and thus we never get anything at all.

are you the one that made the high res 2d graphics way back when?

I can't find the original pixel challenge thread in Stratics, but Saphireena can hardly be labelled as providing no real feedback. See evidence here: UO High-Res - what could have been? - Ultima Online Forums

 

[puzzleagent]

I think Pandas are not worse than gnomes

And I can't see Panda people being weird in a lore which has cow people etc

These discussions about Pandas remind me of Burning Crusade expansion and reaction of most Horde players against Blood Elves. I am sure most of them went and rolled Blood Elves after the launch. I think it'll be the same with this expansion, many opposing pandas now going to go roll one and do high end content with it.

 

[Petra Fyde]

we all need to work together... And help to bring folk home to UO.

I agree totally, we do.

Criticism must be constructive, not destructive.

There are a number of destructive people on these boards. They discourage people from playing, they talk people into quitting and they attack anyone who disagrees with their biased, negative view.

We should be positive in our postings and helpful in our feedback when something in the game is not the way we believe it should be.

You can disagree with someone without attacking them, their ideas or their intelligence, really you can.

 

[Sean]

Started UO in beta, haven't missed a payment, play time has gone up and down as life dictates. Have tried all the others and bailed after about 10 levels. Not my thing.
In saying that , there's a reason I've paid for my 2 accounts all these years. UO gives me what I need in gaming. Graphics alone doesn't work. Freedom to do whatever the heck I want....does!

Great post Saphireena, great to see you around again.

Se'an Silverfoot

 

[Elric_Soban]

I remember seeing your "high rez 2d" work way back when. You're a talented designer, I'd love to see some "High rez EC" work from you! If you don't already work in the gaming industry, throw mythic a copy of your resume. Im sure Grimm could use a hand with all the art updates lately.

 

[frostbolt]

I can't find the original pixel challenge thread in Stratics, but Saphireena can hardly be labelled as providing no real feedback. See evidence here: UO High-Res - what could have been? - Ultima Online Forums

i was talking about saphireena's claims about providing "input/feedback" about the world of warcraft expansion in the original post. not ultima online

Those of us in our WoW guild of elders (older folks) that have been playing WoW since launch all agree that we're all played out. Blizzard just refuses to come out with an expansion that really brings something new to the way the game is played. Just new races, new classes, new areas, new quests. How about player housing Blizz? How about sailing the seas? How about guild houses? How about taming and training your own mount? All of which we can do in UO. But no, now they're going to bring us a GIANT PANDAs as a race. It's just the last straw for me. There's only so much childishness I'll put up with and now the Pandaren race has taken me over the limit that I can handle.

Not to mention that saphireena seems to be equating age with childishness. Meaning that Saphireena implies that older people cannot put up with and/or have a fear of being equated with "childish" content which just seems to be a completely childish action in itself. I answer this with the following quote.

“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
― C.S. Lewis

If you are "grownup" stop complaining about things "you" perceive to be childish. Other "grownups" won't judge you, and you don't have to make a display to show your "maturity" by mocking "childish" content. Only children who want to avoid looking like a child, avoid and mock things they perceive as childish. Ironically when they grow older they start wishing they were young again and try to make up for their age by doing things commonly associated with youth.

I think Pandas are not worse than gnomes

And I can't see Panda people being weird in a lore which has cow people etc

These discussions about Pandas remind me of Burning Crusade expansion and reaction of most Horde players against Blood Elves. I am sure most of them went and rolled Blood Elves after the launch. I think it'll be the same with this expansion, many opposing pandas now going to go roll one and do high end content with it.

Exactly the devs will release pandas and people are going to play them anyway. Which is why there is absolutely no reason to post unconstructive "I quit if this is implemented" threads at all. If you want to quit do it quietly without throwing the hardwork of the developers back in their faces and angering the playerbase who want the content with those kinds of statements. If you feel adverse to quitting quietly then post actual constructive feedback instead of hate threads. If anything people should be posting about how to make pandas cool/appealing, fit into WoW, and how to make the expansion successful if they want to provide any "feedback" at all.

Also theres nothing wrong with gnomes. Gnomes have been a playable race in games since Dungeons and dragons first edition. The implementation of gnomes in WoW isn't exactly bad either. people mock them for the same reason why people in real life are so obsessed with being tall and ridicule people significantly shorter than they are.

Using fishing in UO is not really a fair comparison. It's not like I am forced to watch people fishing. But in WoW you will be forced to watch Panda's running around town, you'll be forced to play with (pugs) and against them (pvp) on a constant basis and they will be a constant reminder of the kiddie factor. Since I'm a roleplayer, I will also find them biting a big chunk out of any immersion I'm able to have.

The comparison was between fishing and the new World of warcraft pet battle system not fishing and pandaren. I was referring to optional content that was equated to pokemon by another poster. In this case the analogy is perfectly fine. If you don't like pokemon don't play the pet battle system, if you think fishing is boring then don't fish. Pet battles won't be seen by you anyway and will not break your immersion.

 

[polanco]

back after 10 years
still the best mmo out
just need a way to attract new players
UPDATE MYUO PLEASE

 

[Neutron Bomb]

Regardless, a playable Panda character is ULTRA LAME, along with WoW.

IBTL!!!!

 

[Hell's Ironworks]

Cow people? pandas? Thank god there's nothing like that in UO, that be it for me. I wish Orcs were a playable race though. They should've came before the nancy boys and the fuglys Imo...

 

[zylo]

I do know I have seen 6 vets from 3+ years off return to Atlantic in the last week. And these are just the ones I happen to run across and knew from when they played before. I have ran across maybe 10 in the last 2 weeks that say they used to play and have returned. But you never know if they are being true or just a current player trying to snag some freebies, either way I help out when I can. So things definately seem to be on the upswing again.

Count 1 more returning Atlantic Vet here.... I was away for 2 Years, played WAR...

Glad to be back in UO. Hope to see some familiar faces again soon. I have noticed the population is down a bit... Still love this game so much.

 

[Saphireena]

frostbolt: I didn't come here to debate about the Pandaren or anything else to be honest, I simply wanted to respond to the "Uo is a sinking ship" post that has already been locked, by pointing out that I'm back, the reasons why I'm back and that if I am here for those reasons, there are bound to be many more. The aim was to be positive and cheer people up, but instead you've converted this thread into the Anti-Pandaren thread - the very thing you moaned about in your first response! :-D It's getting quite negative and discussing anything with you is like beating a dead horse, so I really can't be fussed anymore, sorry.

Saunders: The original Pixel Challenge thread was lost in the old Stratics forum system and I can't find the Hi-res Graphics Challenge either. However Velvathos (who had found my nightmare picture) started a thread called "Why don't they just make 2d in hi-res" and that still seems to be kicking around. In that thread we pondered over how long it would take artists to scale up the graphics, so I challenged various artists to take a set of assets and see how long it would take them to make a hi-res version. I took up the same challenge as well and was actually quite slow compared to others hehe. Here is also a full screen image I was working on at some point. Might finish it some day. (to see it properly you need to open the image in a new browser tab and use the magnifying glass)

The main conclusion that can be made is that a hi-res pixel version of UO is out of the question, so it's pretty pointless to even pursue. Still nice to look at though .

Sean: Crikey! It must have been amazing to see the birth and growth, the ups and downs of this game! Do you know many others who have been (and stuck with it) since beta times?

Elric_Soban: It would be a dream come true to be a part of the Ultima legacy. (I was playing the single player Ultima games way back in the 90's already), however since I live in Finland and am rather tied down here due to my family I knew that working in Mythic would be out of the question since it would require moving to the US.

However a few years ago I was contacted by the UO team and asked if I'd be interested in joining them. That moment will probably always be one of the highlights of my life! At the same time though, my heart was broken. I spent a whole weekend writing and re-writing a "Thanks but no thanks" letter, trying to somehow convey that I'd love to, but that due to my family situation I can't move to the US. I pretty much poured my heart out and sent the response on Monday, a few days later got a reply saying that working remotely would not be completely out of the question and if we could get something arranged, would I still be interested? I said of course and was dancing on clouds! This was in the fall of 2008 and all looked really hopeful. They started getting the gears churning with the higher ups and at my end, I spoke to my boss about it. Knowing how much I adore the Ultima series, my boss was very happy for me and even offered to write up a recommendation for me. (cool boss huh?). But alas, it was that very fall that the financial situation took a plunge and suddenly EA laid off hundreds and would later lay off hundreds more. Not actually sure how many in total, but EA went into hire freeze mode and thus this whole thing stopped right there. But we kept in contact and the next summer they asked me again whether I'm still interested, I said I was and again the gears were set in motion and I waited and waited. But it happened AGAIN!. And again the plans to get me into part of the UO team failed. Since then, me and Grimm keep in contact once in a while and Cal sent me a few emails here and there to ask how things are. But I really don't think anything is ever going to happen to be honest. That is unless UO suddenly turns around and starts to get much more support and funding from EA. Every time someone says something about "Hire Saph!" I think their "official" response has been that I'm already working for another game company. (yeah, the same one I've been working for since 2006 hehe) Ah well, for me it's the big fish that got away but I'll always cherish the flattery of being invited to be a part of it all. Something I could have never imagined way back in the mid nineties as I played U8 - The Pagan and had dreams at night of the Avatar killing necromancers.

 

[startle]

Nice post.



-Galen's player

What he said ^^^^^

 

[Elric_Soban]

Dont give up! The new devs are supposedly going to be more open about communication with the community now (cuz we havent heard that 200,000 times, right?) so if there's enough public support.. like a poll... who knows what could happen!

 

[Saphireena]

Was sorting through my old screenshots and came across something that brought to mind the words:

"Only in Ultima Online"

As some of you may remember, I used to run my castle as an apartment building back in the day, each tenant living in one of the corner rooms. I met many wonderful people during that time, one of which was a feller named Frobard. I'm sure some of you from Europa might remember him. Anyhow, years passed and I drifted away from UO when WoW started. But would come back once in a while during bouts of WoW boredom. These screenshots were taken on one such occasion:

Only in Ultima Online would you be doing some tidying up in your virtual castle, only to have an old friend show up on your front step. A friend you hadn't seen in years and with whom there was no agreement to meet in the game beforehand.

*sniff*

(Please note that you can see it in full size by zooming in, then pressing the "expand" icon in bottom left corner)

 

[curlybeard]

Saphireena, That is exactly it, that is the essence of UO. Thank you. BTW I love the design of the sauna. I used to be obsessed with well designed small homes.

 

[Kojak]

holy crap - that's the best designed little house I've ever seen

 

[curlybeard]

Cow people? pandas? Thank god there's nothing like that in UO, that be it for me. I wish Orcs were a playable race though. They should've came before the nancy boys and the fuglys Imo...

I am confused by the orc as a playable race comment. Do we not have this in game already? We have Orc armor, Orc masks (several), Orc polymorph, custom orc housing tilesets, orc deco, and the big majik flippers (orc costumes?). There are lots of ways to play orcs. You can imbue yourself a very lovely Orc mask and even dye it to match.

I love this aspect of UO. The orcs are an entirely playable race, but in a way that could only be found in UO.

 

[Saphireena]

Gee thanks guys . It was called the Seaside Sauna if I remember right, and the little book had complete instructions on how to go to a sauna properly. I also had a barrel full of white bathrobes and barrel full of ale, all could be freely taken by visitors. This is what the sauna looked like inside while undressing in the dressing room:

And here's what it looked like throwing water on the oven thingie to get some steam. It's an animated gif, so not sure how it will show here.

After some hot and steamy moments, time to relax out on the patio with some of the complimentary beers...

Or take a dip in the sea!

This place got tons of visitors and comments. I'll see if I can't find the old instructions book and message board...

 

[Reth]

That was a good read, Saphireena. Thanks for sharing Even though I just started UO, I can already tell it has something special.