Hey EA, how about some HEADS UP before events start?

[deadite]

I've been waiting for this Blackrock event for AGES. I know I'm not the only one. When it finally comes around, we get just a few hours notice before the event begins?

Here's an idea... how about using the Town Criers and advertising for several days? That's what they're *supposed to do* right? Post it on the website a few days before the event, not the bloody afternoon of.

Seriously, please THINK about this stuff... and put yourselves in OUR shoes.

I am seriously disappointed about this. I have a life and family outside of UO and sometimes I can't check the website *every day*, you know?

Grr.

 

[imported_Lord Kynd]

and it only lasted for what 10 minutes ?

blah
thanks for nothing

 

[Guest]

Agree 100%.


Lame and ridiculous is the way this was advertised before hand.

It feels like Im missing a few pages in the middle of a book now.

 

[imported_GalenKnighthawke]

Damn, I really regret my complaint now.....

*sighs*

We did have notice. Yes involving the town cryers is neat, they need something to do. But we did have notice. For my part, I didn't miss the event due to lack of notice, I missed it because I didn't think it was going to both start exactly on time and be so incredibly short!

That's, to my mind anyway, a different kind of complaint than to say we didn't have notice when we did.

Now sure, they could have done BETTER, but that's still not the same thing as saying we didn't have notice! Because we did have notice.

I would hate to basically discourage them from having events.

-Galen's player

 

[Guest]

HEAR HEAR YE! LORDS AND LADIES!!!!

I knew about this event like a week ago, I learned about it from reading stratics and heard about it in game.

You guys need better heralds.

 

[Guest]

The most logical place to give notice is also the login screen. Not everyone reads Stratics or checks The Herald daily.

 

[imported_Sirion]

Event GMs used to spam system messages to online players for early notification. They should try that.

 

[Sam the Scribe]

Not everyone reads Stratics. Not everyone is going to make time to read the UOHerald every day... so where is the one place to put a message for everyone to read?

I see nothing about Moonglow... in fact if you look closely, the dates on the patch message dont even match the expanded links. Who maintains this information at EA?

Information on this event, the schedule and other need to know tidbits like carrying blackrock, showing up for both events, etc... should have been posted at least one week prior to the event on the patch page where EVERYONE would get a chance to read it.

Having an event and then having information posted the day of the event, or even in later posts by the Devs is useless and irritating. Not all of us live online. But, we all pay for the game and the services provided by EA.

It seems to me that a certain "in" crowd seems to have prior knowledge of events that is not shared with the rest of us till it's too late to be of any use.

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[MaryForUo]

<blockquote><hr>

I've been waiting for this Blackrock event for AGES. I know I'm not the only one. When it finally comes around, we get just a few hours notice before the event begins?

Here's an idea... how about using the Town Criers and advertising for several days? That's what they're *supposed to do* right? Post it on the website a few days before the event, not the bloody afternoon of.

Seriously, please THINK about this stuff... and put yourselves in OUR shoes.

I am seriously disappointed about this. I have a life and family outside of UO and sometimes I can't check the website *every day*, you know?

Grr.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree!
i think its difficult to add some line of codes!!!!

 

[Guest]

I say it takes 10 seconds to open a website and check to see if anything is happening, not that hard to do.. I think they have enough going on to not have to worry about covering the lazyness of the players! Get real! There was plenty of notice!

 

[deadite]

Yes, it takes 10 seconds if you happen to be NEAR a computer WITH internet access.

For those of us who do things OUTSIDE of home or office it takes substantially longer than 10 seconds.

To me, the best part of UO are the events. I will schedule my playtime around them because that is what I enjoy (and they are so rare now). Just like if artifacts only dropped between 5 and 7pm you would see people scheduling their playtimes to accommodate. Remember power hour? If I don't know when an event is because it's listed mere hours before it happens, then I can't enjoy my favorite part of UO.

Checking the website multiple times per day (morning, afternoon, evening) is not something that I am going to schedule into my life, I'm sorry. And frankly, it's ridiculous for EA to expect us to do that.

 

[MysticSim]

im sorry... where the heck were ya for the past 4 days now??? come on. Laying blame on someone else for your lack of competence really has me laughing. Ok, the gang at EA isnt the greatest for saying event happening in one week, 6 days etc.. but jebus cripes you have the ability to post here, did you miss the {spoiler} threads?? oh no, thats right, no one here who posts reads past the first page that they see on their screen. Scrolling down is too much effort.

Sorry, someone needed to be hit with a blunt stick, and you stepped up to the plate.

By the way, part 2 of last nights event is tonight check the schedule for your shard. (there now you cant say you werent warned)

 

[Sam the Scribe]

<blockquote><hr>

...There was plenty of notice!

[/ QUOTE ]

I love vague statements like this... Jeremy's own posts to the UOHerald site are dated the 27th and 28th. As I pointed out the Patch Message screen which everyone gets to see... has no information at all.

Maybe you have the time to scavenge bits and pieces of event information from Stratics and town gossip all day long but a lot of casual players still probably dont even know that anything has even started. Just like every other event there will be folks logging into whatever hell Moonglow is to become and wondering what happened.

IF IT'S NOT POSTED ON THE PATCH MESSAGE SCREEN AND AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE THEN IT HAS NOT BEEN PROPERLY ANNOUNCED BY EA.

True, it only takes a few seconds to open a web browser... and guess what... it only takes a few seconds to amend the Patch Message screen with a hyperlink.

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[deadite]

<blockquote><hr>

Sorry, someone needed to be hit with a blunt stick, and you stepped up to the plate.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please leave your threats of physical violence on the playground where they belong.

Maybe I don't want to read {spoiler} threads because I'd rather not be SPOILED. Foreign concept? Maybe.

Fact is that event schedule wasn't posted until event day. That's a problem. Period.

 

[davebobbit]

this entire thing sucks....

For those who say we should always be checking the website for updates, why would we even think to check it every few days in case there is an event at short notice when we have had absolutely jack all events for months.

it should be announced on the patch screen at the very minimum. i would really expect some kind of in-game notification of an in-game event but that would involve too much work im sure... way more work than creating the actual event itself...

 

[Sam the Scribe]

<blockquote><hr>

...but jebus cripes you have the ability to post here, did you miss the {spoiler} threads?? oh no, thats right, no one here who posts reads past the first page that they see on their screen. Scrolling down is too much effort.

Sorry, someone needed to be hit with a blunt stick, and you stepped up to the plate.

By the way, part 2 of last nights event is tonight check the schedule for your shard. (there now you cant say you werent warned)

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, since Stratics is NOT EA... why would I come here for information on events... shouldn't the company that I PAY to play the game have some responsibility? And also, where is all that spoiler info coming from? Am I really supposed to put any credibility to half the gossip and innuendo posted on these forums? Half the stuff ever posted is sheer guesswork by the folks making the post. I want credible information from the source. I pay for it, therefore I am entitled to it. Simple.

This is what I get from the Town Crier in Moonglow...

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[Guest]

I just think its funny that not 10 minutes after the "event" for lastnight was over there were so many people on here crying how they didn't know. Well, you people sure know where to come and pancake, maybe you should take the time now to check the websites and/or stratics. It has been known for over a week now that there was an upcoming event, that in itself is enough to say, "hey, maybe check in once in awhile and see when?" Guess it's just easier for people to pancake and moan when something doesn't happen the way they want.
People cry there is no events then they cry when there is and it didn't go the way "they" wanted.... Seriously, can't keep everyone happy! Deal with it.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>


Checking the website multiple times per day (morning, afternoon, evening) is not something that I am going to schedule into my life, I'm sorry. And frankly, it's ridiculous for EA to expect us to do that.

[/ QUOTE ]

That comment right there is funny! You won't schedule your life around checking stratics but what you are saying is you will schedule it around an event as long as someone personally tells you about it? LoL buddy LoL!

 

[Sam the Scribe]

<blockquote><hr>

....Deal with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya know what? Sometimes folks won't agree with your opinion. This is a public forum, myself and others have made valid posts... you reply with generalities and insults.

I did read the spoiler a couple days ago and even though I know how to scroll... all I saw was pages of crap so I gave up.

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

why would I come here for information on events... shouldn't the company that I PAY to play the game have some responsibility?

[/ QUOTE ]

They give you plenty of heads up, all you have to do is read the website. All I am getting out of all this crying is people expect someone in game to say "Hey there is an event, blah blah blah" but yet, some of you are crying that you can't check websites because of busy work/rl schedules then how are you going to be in game to get these messages that there is an event?

 

[Redxpanda]

I agree the town criers should be saying something but thats about it. How can u come to stratics uhall and say you didn't hear about it soon enough when we have been talking about it here for days? Someone even had pictures from the stress test and a good idea of what to expect.

 

[deadite]

<blockquote><hr>

They give you plenty of heads up, all you have to do is read the website. All I am getting out of all this crying is people expect someone in game to say "Hey there is an event, blah blah blah" but yet, some of you are crying that you can't check websites because of busy work/rl schedules then how are you going to be in game to get these messages that there is an event?

[/ QUOTE ]

Good lord man, read and comprehend. If town criers had been announcing it for a week and it had also been posted on the UO website and patch screen for the same amount of time, dontcha think more people would have known about it?

It ain't exactly rocket science.

 

[Guest]

True that, im not arguing that point but if you have time to log into the game then you have 10 seconds to check the website, you know this is true! I guess it is just easier to push blame off on them for some of you missing the event. Seems logical to me I suppose!
I am in the same boat as everyone else here, tho I did attend the event I also have a busy schedule, its hard to be on here when I want with a one year old running around but I manage to still stay in touch with the websites! Why? Because it only takes a second or two to see if anything is planned... I'm done arguing this point, some people will never be happy and will continuously put the blame on others for their lack of....!!

 

[Sam the Scribe]

<blockquote><hr>

I agree the town criers should be saying something but thats about it. How can u come to stratics uhall and say you didn't hear about it soon enough when we have been talking about it here for days? Someone even had pictures from the stress test and a good idea of what to expect.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not saying I didnt know... never said that. I was actually there. I'm saying that there was no proper notice of the event. Let me repeat a few points I've tried to make:

1. Not everyone reads Stratics, nor should they have to. Folks pay EA to play the game and EA is solely responsible for informing players of upcoming events in a timely manner.

2. Not everything posted to Stratics is factual information. Even folks like myself that try to keep up have a hard time sorting through all the speculation and gossip.

3. This isn't the first time this issue has been brought up... there is nice Patch Message screen that EVERYONE gets to see and that has absolutely no information on this event.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I have friends who Q'ed me and said "Hey come to Moonglow and bring blackrock!" But I'm still a casual player and like other casual players I would like to see more advance notice and better info from EA.

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[Guest]

I have no more "gibberish" to post, its simple, you play a game to have fun.. do so! Make this a lesson learned, want to be informed about events and such take the time to log into www.uo.com before logging into game to check on latest news which is posted there for everyone who plays uo.

 

[Guest]

Stop whining.

In all reality this event has been advertised for the last 6 months while it was but on hold. Last nights opener was basically telling everyone tomorrow night this thing is going to happen. So just stop with the complaints and be happy there even is anything to do.

 

[Guest]

(rtlfc)
You know, if you want to stay informed of what's going on with the game, it's *your* responsibility to check the news (herald). Same as IRL if you want to know what's going on in the world, you read a pper, or watch the news, or whatever.

I don't understand why anyone would play a game like this, and *not* check the news page daily. Yet, I know that a real lot of people don't do it. I don't get that - do they expect everything handed to them?

 

[Guest]

Apparently so! lol

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

1. Not everyone reads Stratics, nor should they have to. Folks pay EA to play the game and EA is solely responsible for informing players of upcoming events in a timely manner.

[/ QUOTE ]
If it is their responsibility to communicate these things, isn't it up to EA/Mythic and the UO team to decide how and where to do so? It's been pretty clear for years now that UO Devs and the Live Team communicate with the playerbase through these forums, and more specifically through the U.Hall for everything from player feedback to discussion on policies and yes, even live event announcements, too. Years. You seem peeved that people have to come to Stratics for that type of interaction with the Developers, but sans official forums of their own, this is where EA/Mythic chooses to interact with the community.
<blockquote><hr>

2. Not everything posted to Stratics is factual information. Even folks like myself that try to keep up have a hard time sorting through all the speculation and gossip.

[/ QUOTE ]
I can totally understand that... It's hard enough for us staff to keep up, too at times. But we do have search functions to assist with finding specific information and then there is this link that cuts through all the crap and takes you right to all of the EA/Mythic Representatives' posts here on the UO Stratics forums. That link is found on the http://uo.stratics.com home page... news, developments, discussion straight from the horses' mouths.
<blockquote><hr>

3. This isn't the first time this issue has been brought up... there is nice Patch Message screen that EVERYONE gets to see and that has absolutely no information on this event.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I have friends who Q'ed me and said "Hey come to Moonglow and bring blackrock!" But I'm still a casual player and like other casual players I would like to see more advance notice and better info from EA.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with this as well... Some shards had specific systems put into place by the EMs that many of us were used to checking, too. It would be nice to see those systems revived. Town criers for sure should be used for things like this... and fixed if they are currently broken, which is what I seem to recall for some reason.

 

[Sam the Scribe]

<blockquote><hr>

...If it is their responsibility to communicate these things, isn't it up to EA/Mythic and the UO team to decide how and where to do so? It's been pretty clear for years now that UO Devs and the Live Team communicate with the playerbase through these forums...<blockquote><hr>



Pretty clear to who? If what you are saying is true then the Patch Message screen should have a link to Stratics... can you find one? Is there a link on the UOHerald site saying: "For the latest information on EA Games go to Stratics!"

My point is the one screen everyone is presented with only has out of date information. How long do you think Stratics would last if half of your links were outdated, broken or had the wrong information?

EA is a pay service... so there is an obligation for them to present their subscribers with information regarding the game. Relying on Stratics to do their publicity/marketing for events is pretty lame.

Is there any reason they can't improve the communication to players? Why does everyone on these forums jump to their defense so quickly? Wouldn't you like better information? Well, guess what... as long as you make their excuses for them... they wont need to improve the quality of their service.

*EDIT* Oh, didn't Jeremy pretty much bail on Stratics? It read that way to me.

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[imported_Lord Kynd]

<blockquote><hr>


Town criers for sure should be used for things like this... and fixed if they are currently broken, which is what I seem to recall for some reason.

[/ QUOTE ]


thats what i remember also, broken, long long ago.
every once and a blue moon for old times sake i type news near one, but always i have no news...
sigh

how about using sytem messages or something also for thoese that have been nose deep into the game all day and don't stop to read the internet sites ?
seems to work for system shutdowns, saw the one the other evening.

and someone posted in one of these threeds about omg atlantic has alot of players, well... that isnot even the tip of the playerbase on atlantic.... could be another reason they don't advertise this stuff better.

it's like a EM event , only the few lucky one's get to enjoy it. the rest are SOL

 

[deadite]

<blockquote><hr>

I don't understand why anyone would play a game like this, and *not* check the news page daily. Yet, I know that a real lot of people don't do it. I don't get that - do they expect everything handed to them?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the attitude that *I* don't get... I'm not expecting a freaking phone call. Just put the official announcement where I can read it a few days beforehand, not a few hours.

Why is this so much to ask for that it personally bothers some of you folks?

 

[Sam the Scribe]

<blockquote><hr>

...This is the attitude that *I* don't get... I'm not expecting a freaking phone call. Just put the official announcement where I can read it a few days beforehand, not a few hours....

Why is this so much to ask for that it personally bothers some of you folks?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because if you dont sit around reading/posting on Stratics all day... you are not one of "them." And "they" dont like it when other people express their opinions in UHall. People who are not "them" are known as "whiners" and have no right to express an opinion.

It doesn't matter if you put forward a well-phrased and logical argument... they dont even read that stuff (your posts). They just react to what "they" think you said. After all, you're just a whiner to them.

Now, stop wasting their precious time. They have a hundred "Mee too" and "Yaaayyya" messages to post today and you're interfering with that.

Safe Travels, Sam

 

[Guest]

I was informed about it, and came early, but I agree, people shouldn't be expected to know about stratics forums at all let alone that they are the official UO boards, when there are no links or mentions anywhere on any official web pages or on the log on screen.

I don't think that that criticism is unfounded. Especially to new players. How on earth would they know about stratics being the "official" boards/source of dev info, unless someone in game told them?

It would be easy enough to if nothing else do a server message "Strange events planned in moonglow at 9 oclock!" a half hour before the event. But I really think that ALL events should be boldfaced on the log in screen. I mean, thats pretty much what the log in screen is for, to provide in game info to people who haven't been on these boards.

Theres no reason NOT to have the info there.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Feb 5 '08
We have some great plans in the coming months. There are three major story arcs in the works culminating in what I can only describe for legal and marketing reasons as an “Epic Event” coming this Spring … Applying my First Rule of Molyneux, make that late Spring.

As for "shard wide" announcements ...

Really think thats a "good idea" ?

You really think ... that notifying EVERYONE on the shard ... that at one place, at one time ... something might happen

Theres no reason NOT to have the info there ...

there may be ....

"Valentines" scavenger hunt .... springs to mind

*shrugs*

as of posting ... let's see how mmmm atlantic "rolls out"

 

[UncleSham]

back when they were started the events that provided the royal guard sashes they used the town cryers . everyone and their brother showed up and lagged the server to hell, making the earlier events largly unplayable .

much complaining ensued.

so they went to not using the cryers and went to posting system messages in game .(little grey print in the lower left) not many saw them or bothered to read them and the overcrowding issue disapeared .
those that really wanted to get the info did.
mostly we got info from a network of dedicated roalplayers , some of us agreed to share icq numbers and tell each other if there was any news . anyone remember that "event junkies" list ?
a moderate crowd showed up (minus most of the troublemakers) and fun was had by all attending.

perhapse this was their reasoning for the limited notice.

what would really be helpfull is if they had server capacity to handle a large crowd instead of just thinning the herd.

they have certainly set the stage for tonight tho . lets hope the servers are up to it. *prays for the hamster* ... poor little fella

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

I don't understand why anyone would play a game like this, and *not* check the news page daily. Yet, I know that a real lot of people don't do it. I don't get that - do they expect everything handed to them?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the attitude that *I* don't get... I'm not expecting a freaking phone call. Just put the official announcement where I can read it a few days beforehand, not a few hours.

Why is this so much to ask for that it personally bothers some of you folks?

[/ QUOTE ]
I didn't say anything about the time gap between announcement and event. I said that I don't understand why people that want to be informed of what's going on in the game, *don't* check the place where they know information about the game is posted (ie the news page)

 

[deadite]

Hello? I do check the page. Just not every 2 hours. Okay?

 

[Guest]

Exactly *where* did I say "Deadite - why don't you check the news page"?

I was making a general comment about people that say they don't check the news page.

 

[Guest]

There has been a banner at the very very top of uo.com labeled "Live Events 2008" for at least several days now, and was certainly there at least a day or two prior to the begining of the event and contained dates and information for this weekends event.

Yes they should put it at the patch screen, but you'll still have players complaining that isnt an effective method of distributing information, so regardless of how they get the message out there some responsibility is on the player to be proactive and take a look at uo.com now and again to read the herald, or to visit stratics and take a look at some of the major headlines, or to ask a friend.

 

[Hotmail]

I completely agree. The town criers are under [never] utilized. I think it would be very beneficial to use these NPCs for just this type of thing. Moreover, isn't it true that Stratics is not even affiliated with EA? So, to only post events here doesn't even make sense.