...
Generally Sir Bruce's numbers have been accurate within reason (even if his chart has been misused because of it). I have to agree with the reply to Jeremy that the wink and nod a year or so back when it was reportedly bouncing back some has now shown to be a mistake.
Be that as it may, where are we now?
Let's see... on the one hand, we just came out of what was EASILY two of the best supported years for UO in terms of Dev activity, events, additions to the game and so on. The down side of this is that right now, even though we do have the event system up and running again for the moment, and although we've had a couple of "fix-it" publishes, the level of support for the game has had a very visible downturn.
The idea posted here from time to time was "What if UO were sold from EA to another company". Well, we basically had that happen after a manner with UO now under the Mythic banner (which itself is under EA now, so it was kind of done in reverse). With that came our first problem of many that currently plague UO...
Problem 1 Cross Country moves are hell on Dev Teams. Unfortunately, this happened during one of the better built teams in the game causing the loss of several key personalities. Generally, this would be only a temporary problem, but it appears from what info we are being given (or more importantly NOT given) that the "rebuild" of the team is either going absurdly slow or isn't happening.
Problem 2 The 2d client isn't going to bring in new blood.
Sorry hard core 2d players, but it's the simple truth. If it COULD, we wouldn't be having this discussion. An MMOG by nature doesn't end, however by the same token, technology doesn't stop advancing either. Many non-story based titles spawn sequels not to continue a story, but because these titles are self contained and cannot be updated. Therefore to add in new graphics, effects, gameplay enhancements and so on, they have to make a new version. MMOGs break this mold. Since an MMOG is based on a client/server model, all you have to do is upgrade the server when possible and the client when game technology makes the current client obsolete. This leads us to the next problem...
Problem 3 As it stands now, the KR client isn't going to bring in the new blood either.
Yep, I'll admit it... why? Because the KR client is still stuck in that weird "not quite out of beta" status. While it's "released", it is in no way finished, polished or ready to become the standard client. The bigger portion of this problem is that currently, there seems to be little to no activity in terms of working on the KR client at all. Unless they have a MONSTER patch they have to be hush-hush about, KR is starting down the same track that kept the 3d client from becoming the standard client as was originally intended when it was initially developed. Dual clients are like dual rulesets... a tough act to balance in terms of resources and simply remembering to cover the same changes between the two (most notable example currently... the lack of artwork for Threads in the new scenario and the general lack of support for the new client with the new scenario).
Problem 4 UO is a game of choice, however the support for the choice of PvP has been and continues to be SEVERELY limited.
While I may not be a player that spends their time PvPing, it doesn't take a genius to recognize that PvP has been woefully neglected. Yes, there have been a few recent changes and talk of revamps for Factions, but this goes back to Problem 1. Without a rebuilt dev team and with a LOT of focus on the Event, how do they plan for this to occur in a substantial manner?
Now I say all of this as a LONG TIME proponent of UO. But as I said before... even a proponent of something, if they are honest, will be able to see the problems facing what they enjoy. I just hope the Devs see the same thing, or otherwise we have yet more problems to worry about.
