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Impact of vet reward changes

Galluccio

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Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
The reality of the game is no one really cares about the game any more. Just look at the number of unique posters in this thread. If this was any other game, there would be outrage everywhere on the internet over these changes.

If the only pve gameplay these days is solo play or if you're lucky to find a guy in a guild, that's just sad. Gone are the good o days of Age of Shadows and Doom when you could find other people in a MMO.

The fact is having these veteran rewards and the bling is irrelevant if you can't find anyone else in the game to see them.
 

The Zog historian

Babbling Loonie
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The reality of the game is no one really cares about the game any more. Just look at the number of unique posters in this thread. If this was any other game, there would be outrage everywhere on the internet over these changes.

If the only pve gameplay these days is solo play or if you're lucky to find a guy in a guild, that's just sad. Gone are the good o days of Age of Shadows and Doom when you could find other people in a MMO.

The fact is having these veteran rewards and the bling is irrelevant if you can't find anyone else in the game to see them.

How can you say that "no one really cares about the game any more," when clearly some are still playing? You can't infer disinterest in the game just because of disinterest in a UHall thread. Lots of people only lurk. Regular posters may not care to get into this particular thread. Yet others may not care to get into the arguing.

Of course it's sad that the game isn't as busy as it was once. On smaller shards you can have a whole dungeon to yourself even in primetime. That's why new content needs to bring players together.
 

Veritas et Sapientia

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Sort of like the teleportation tiles that they thankfully added to the store.

When we get down to it, their mistake was adding more and more tiers, all the way up to 15+ levels, resulting in making it impossible for several players from ever getting a chance at obtaining some rewards. Ideally there should only be 3-5 levels, and those who have played so long would simply benefit from getting more picks.

A Veteran Reward system along those lines would be much more reasonable and balanced:

1 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 1-3
2 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 4-6
3 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 7-9
4 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 10-12
5 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 12-15

Or
1 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 1-5
2 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 6-10
3 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 11-15


3 to 5 year maximum for claiming rewards. Anything beyond that is simply….:coco:
 

Galluccio

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
A Veteran Reward system along those lines would be much more reasonable and balanced:

1 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 1-3
2 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 4-6
3 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 7-9
4 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 10-12
5 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 12-15

Or
1 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 1-5
2 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 6-10
3 Year Veteran may choose from Veteran Rewards Years 11-15


3 to 5 year maximum for claiming rewards. Anything beyond that is simply….:coco:

I could see that working with anything but the top tier of mounts. Sure. Does anyone really need a polar bear mount to play the game?
 

Roland Of Gilead

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I got no prob with ofc I am only 11 year vet so no shard shields yet and therefore pay 100m per trip to whoever is selling tokens--Usualy older vets and many of them do have shields...I can see how a rich guy that sells tokens wouldn't want everyone else to be able to get shard shields but realistically they would still be very expensive to buy and out of reach for younger once in a great while transferers. Really would only hurt those who sell tokens and even that prob not a whole lot cu not everyone has a few hundred m to plop down for a shield. I can't imagine too many of those token sellers are buying them 1 at a time from uo store either so It shouldn't hurt uo store token sales much either. Maybe an item if in possession by a younger account than could aquire it, could just get a replica tag on it then there u go your shard shield wouldn't say replica and mine would so u can still show off yer age...If that Really your Main gripe about it and not that it will hurt yer token sales
 

manufacturedsoul

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I don't really see a problem with people using other vet rewards. It will be kinda lame that someone could ride a boura that didn't put in the time but I guess whatever they'd still have to buy it and that wouldn't be cheap or easy to find! I don't see any possibility of the Shard Shields being made for lower than 14 years since they are account bound and can't be used by anyone other than the 14yo claimer so anyone under 14 years isn't getting a Shard Shield period. It looks like most of the people complaining are people who want free transfers but didn't put in the years of paying for UO to earn them. Look i've paid for UO for 15 years now if I can make a few transfers for free oh well get over it! You may have to pay for your Xfer but you didn't have to pay for 15 years of Ultima for various accounts. I'm pretty sure the devs aren't silly enough to cave to the whiners and give the Shard Shields to everyone, as then NO ONE would pay for transfer tokens anymore PERIOD! If they were foolish enough to cave to a whiney minority then they alson need to make it so soulstones can be used by anyone so I can reactivate the like 20 real soulstones sitting in banks of disabled accounts that are currently worthless to me while I have to use frags for a lot of my skills cause I chose the stones on accounts I ended up disabling. Why should us vets be punished with newbies getting all access to the best of the best vet rewards and we get literally nothing! If your going go this route make ALL SOULSTONES FULLY TRANSFERABLE!!
 
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manufacturedsoul

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Why just linked accounts?!? Look if newbies are getting access to all the gifts I've earned through years of UO play
and as a real vet I'm getting jack squat out the deal I want access to any and ALL soulstones I can get my hands on!
If your gonna chalk up my 15 years of playing to being equal to a 1 year player why shouldn't some pointless system
Blocking the use of valid soulstones not be chalked up to worthless as well! Heck maybe I just wanna work skills and
Sell them to the hugest bidder. Why not apparently they are giving everything else away might as well add soulstones
And skills to the list of anytime anywhere anybody can have items!!!
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
The reality of the game is no one really cares about the game any more. Just look at the number of unique posters in this thread. If this was any other game, there would be outrage everywhere on the internet over these changes.

If the only pve gameplay these days is solo play or if you're lucky to find a guy in a guild, that's just sad. Gone are the good o days of Age of Shadows and Doom when you could find other people in a MMO.

The fact is having these veteran rewards and the bling is irrelevant if you can't find anyone else in the game to see them.

So, since not enough people agree with you no one cares about the game...
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I could see that working with anything but the top tier of mounts. Sure. Does anyone really need a polar bear mount to play the game?

No but theres no good reason to prohibit people from selling them if they choose to do so.
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
shard shield were a big mistake......game breaking full stop..there soooo overpowered...i can use them...i certainly would not mind others using them too....to balance the wrong to make it right
 

The Zog historian

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
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UNLEASHED
ALL SOULSTONES FULLY TRANSFERABLE!!.........on linked accounts.
I recall this being suggested before. Putting aside benefits for players, it would be bad for EA. Players would use vet rewards on their youngest accounts to get soulstones, then consolidate characters and shut down accounts.
 

Lord Frodo

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
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UNLEASHED
If this change is made, I will pack up my house and cancel immediately. The rewards are the only reason why I've kept my account open while I wasn't playing.
There has got to be a middle ground here. If there's a veteran reward which people view as being "functional" then sure let anyone be able to use it. If there's just a reward that's just "bling" and doesn't impact the game in any meaningful way I would say let those MOST LOYAL customers use those items.

What I'm seeing here is this "You have something that I can't use and I want it."

GOD FORBID. YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO USE EVERYTHING IN A GAME. LET THE WORLD STOP NOW. OMG.
These two statements do not g together unless you have changed your mind.

As far as your 2nd statement goes you do know that the "BLING" list is going to be a short list don't you?
BLING LIST
  1. ALL Monster Statues (many) Exclude Sheep Statue
  2. Mini House Deeds (2 styles)
  3. Banner Deed
  4. Flaming Head Deed
  5. Potted Cactus
  6. Decorative Shield
  7. Hanging Skeleton
  8. Ankh
  9. Wall Banner
  10. Chaos/Order Banner
That is a very short list considering all the %$%* you have been doing because if you look at all other Vet Rewards they are "Functional" and I also wounder why you would include the Shard Shields and Soulstones in the "everyone can use list" are you saying that they should take away the account bound also so these too can be traded.
 

Lord Frodo

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The reality of the game is no one really cares about the game any more. Just look at the number of unique posters in this thread. If this was any other game, there would be outrage everywhere on the internet over these changes.
You ASSUME that everyone would agree with you and dislike this idea, where it may just be the other way around and more people would like the idea.
 

Acid Rain

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Plenty of old players dislike some of the proposed changes. The overwhelming chorus that chimes in, however, are the 'gimme now... I want... I want..' players because they know from many past experiences that the squeaky wheel (on the boards) get the oil in this game. Its a tried & true formula to overcome most any adversity concerning this game. The vast majority of old vets I've spoken with do NOT want to see noobs running around on Bouras.

The same few players repeating over & over on every thread concerning this 'more people like the idea' doesn't make it so. Considering most new players have no idea what this program even is, these changes will not bring a single person into the game yet will cause vets to close accounts. Whether or not someone 'plays' the account is entirely moot, someone PAYS for the account which has kept UO rolling for 16yrs.

Uvtha, you've already mentioned in this thread and others that you've never liked the Veterans Reward Program from its inception so I take most of your ideas on this topic with a grain of salt.... well.... more like half a salt shaker but Ive got low BP so no worries. As I've said before, There is no Veteran Rewards Program once you remove the aspect of having to be a Veteran. Its simply a gift program for playing the game. Some of you have a trouble understanding by definition what this program is/was by its very design & I'm tired of trying to explain it to those challenged by this concept.

Adding more picks for older account while giving everyone access to all the items? HORRIBAD Idea. Some of the very players posting in this thread (no names but I know who you are) are the same folks that deal in obtaining other player's accounts for resale & its well known they snatch up the oldest accounts for themselves. Giving them more picks just floods the market w/ older vet rewards they'll just sell to/on the same websites that have tried to ruin this game for years & a major one which is rumored to be run by a duper who has been banned more times then I can count (once was supposedly a 'perma ban' but he still plays).

Things like the Davie's Locker are already accessible to all players, maybe change the seed table for this would be nice for players. I don't see much I'd argue against changing except higher-end mounts. TBH I don't even know what the top rewards are w/o looking.

Leave Sheds and Shields alone please. No amount of crocodile tears should change those.
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Uvtha, you've already mentioned in this thread and others that you've never liked the Veterans Reward Program from its inception so I take most of your ideas on this topic with a grain of salt.... well.... more like half a salt shaker but Ive got low BP so no worries. As I've said before, There is no Veteran Rewards Program once you remove the aspect of having to be a Veteran. Its simply a gift program for playing the game. Some of you have a trouble understanding by definition what this program is/was by its very design & I'm tired of trying to explain it to those challenged by this concept.

Certainly your prerogative, but regardless of my feelings about the system in general people are really overreacting. The idea of this change isntantly causing a flux of noobs riding bouras is a good example of that. Bouras will not be any more common than they are now.

There IS still a veteran reward program because there is only once source of all of these items... veterans. And if like you say many vets don't like this change then I suspect will will see hardly any vet rewards in the hands of those who can't pick them... because the ONLY way that can occur is if a vet picks a reward then CHOOSES to sell it or give it away. If everyone hated this change, then it will rarely, if ever happen. The odd person picking a boura and gifting it or selling it will clearly be in the minority and basically nothing really changes except an expansion of choice.

Anyways I would wager that the vast majority of people pick vet rewards they themselves want to use, so I suspect this change will mostly be used by people with multiple accounts of different ages, to use any rewards across any of their accounts. That and IDOC loot that people don't want. I mean really, who is going to wear a blood red vet robe? Why not let us give it to a new player. Or maybe people wanting a good player run event prize, which I for one would support.

This change is not a big deal.
 
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Acid Rain

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'm glad you can predict the future of Bouras in UO, I'm impressed. If age restriction is removed off the Boura its only logical that they most certainly WILL be more commonly seen then they are now in game and to say otherwise is ridiculously naive or misleading.

You will see more of these items because of the handful of account purchasers that have kept these older accounts for themselves whenever they've come across them. This is the reason one of the posters in this very thread has his shard shields because his old accounts got banned, yet he purchases all old vet accounts he can find. This person loves the idea of more vet picks for his multiple bought vet accounts, more money in his pocket from selling them.

Any change that causes legit old vet players to close out accounts & will draw in absolutely no one is of concern to me, sorry.
 

Warpig Inc

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I recall this being suggested before. Putting aside benefits for players, it would be bad for EA. Players would use vet rewards on their youngest accounts to get soulstones, then consolidate characters and shut down accounts.
Turn over the coin and there is the duanting task of retraining skills. Some players are shutting down accounts for other reasons then trying to prove a point. If I shut down accounts due to the fact I don't play enough to justify the cost of multiple accounts. What little time that is being played is now going to be spent retraining skills AGAIN. Later intruduced skills like mystic and weaver trained to 120 on a linked account shouldn't have to sit in limbo. Grinding a retrain on skills like lock picking or begging when game time is limited due to life changes really wont keep the other accounts open. Fustration is one of the great forces to help end an addiction. If they really wanted to support players being required to have multiple accounts they would of never introduced stoning skills. To cover more templates another character slot would of been a better plan. But to date a player can buy soulstones. If combining skills to another account helps a player staying interested, then so be it. Those with loads of time can have a soulstone garden and one account.
 
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Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I'm glad you can predict the future of Bouras in UO, I'm impressed. If age restriction is removed off the Boura its only logical that they most certainly WILL be more commonly seen then they are now in game and to say otherwise is ridiculously naive or misleading.

You will see more of these items because of the handful of account purchasers that have kept these older accounts for themselves whenever they've come across them. This is the reason one of the posters in this very thread has his shard shields because his old accounts got banned, yet he purchases all old vet accounts he can find. This person loves the idea of more vet picks for his multiple bought vet accounts, more money in his pocket from selling them.

Any change that causes legit old vet players to close out accounts & will draw in absolutely no one is of concern to me, sorry.

You chastise me for "predicting the future", then in the next sentence you do it yourself. I never said they wouldn't be more common, I in fact said that I am sure the occasional person will sell or give them away. Theres a difference between a handful of people and the streets being flooded with high end picks.

The fact of the matter is that there are not going to be any extra picks and the same people have access the exact same rewards. Most people use their vet rewards for things that THEY want. SOME of them use them to sell (to get started on a different shard or whatever) but they can currently sell 12 year pick of teleporter tiles. It isn't something most people choose to do, and no one cares about it.

And the number of people who have access to picks like the boura or the shed are not plentiful, and being 14-15 year vets what are the odds that they are going to pick them to sell? They are probably established and don't need to sell picks. SOME might... but there isn't going to be a shed or a boura on every vendor.

Some people might be hoarding vet rewards, and if so, I personally think they should be used by people who want them rather than hoarded. I have to believe the picks And the number of people hoarding vet accounts... there aren't tons of people doing this.

What seems like the most likely case, as I stated above is someone wanting to use one of their older picks on one of their younger account. Many people have multiple accounts, many many more than are these supposed vet reward hoarders.

This change will please a lot of people, and the number of people keeping accounts open ONLY to rack up rewards which will STILL have a lot of value, that will close their accounts will not be substantial. And honestly if this game dies because people not even playing close their accounts because they lose value in reward picks, then the game is already dead.
 
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Acid Rain

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Uvtha said:
Bouras will not be any more common then they are now.
Uvtha said:
You chastise me for "predicting the future", then in the next sentence you do it yourself. I never said they wouldn't be more common, I in fact said...
Just quoting your post. I predicted nothing. I stated fact - if age restriction is removed from the boura mount then logical deduction dictates you WILL see more players using them & they WILL be non-vet accounts.

Uvtha said:
This change will please a lot of people, and the number of people keeping accounts open ONLY to rack up rewards which will STILL have a lot of value, that will close their accounts will not be substantial.

Again, making ALL Vet Rewards usable by ALL players brings no players into the game yet will probably cause some vets to close accounts. I do not share your judgement call that accounts closed will not be substantial. ANY action that causes players to close accounts just to pacify a few vocal 'gimme' players is bad business. ANY closed accounts that have existed for many years which will most likely NOT be replaced with new players I deem substantial.
 
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manufacturedsoul

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
And the number of people who have access to picks like the boura or the shed are not plentiful, and being 14-15 year vets what are the odds that they are going to pick them to sell? They are probably established and don't need to sell picks. SOME might... but there isn't going to be a shed or a boura on every vendor.
If this is indeed the case why even mess with the vet reward system at all?!? You seem to have for the most part defeated your own argument by saying this, although by the sounds of it you seem to be someone who would try to grasp for yet another reason to defend a pretty lousy idea... The only excuse I can think you could come up with is some vets with younger accounts want to use older rewards. To that I say Oh well... Go play on your vet account! Sure that would be a nice feature for us but you know what i'm content with how it is right now leaving vet rewards as intended VETERAN REWARDS!

Instead how about they do something that really WILL help everyone not just a few newbs with a grudge! MAKE ALL SOULSTONES FULLY TRANSFERABLE!!!
 
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manufacturedsoul

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
shard shield were a big mistake......game breaking full stop..there soooo overpowered...i can use them...i certainly would not mind others using them too....to balance the wrong to make it right
This isn't gonna happen. Why even waste the keystrokes typing it? Not to mention just cause "YOU" think it was a mistake hardly makes it so. Get over yourself bud...
 
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The Zog historian

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
This isn't gonna happen. Why even waste the keystrokes typing it? Not to mention just cause "YOU" think it was a mistake hardly makes it so. Get over yourself bud...

Agreed here. Consider that someone had to pay at least $1680 to get to 14 years, and those receiving it (even someone today for the first time) were the old-timers who've been through the worst years of the game. One transfer a month is a nice bone to be thrown.
 

Veritas et Sapientia

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
This isn't gonna happen. Why even waste the keystrokes typing it? Not to mention just cause "YOU" think it was a mistake hardly makes it so. Get over yourself bud...
THP isn't the only one who thinks this way about shard shields if you go back and read through the thread. Jack Flash UK already stated he closed his account due to the introduction of Shard Shield and that they were made exclusive. I can't say that I blame him.

I unequivocally believe Shard Shields should be made available to the entire UO playerbase either via restructuring Veteran Rewards system (which was flawed from the beginning) or via the gamestore.

No items in the 15 Year history of Ultima Online provides more of an advantage and unbalancing.

Any item which allows player A to do something for free whereas player B has to pay upwards of 100M to do the same thing is absolutely an advantage and overtime unbalancing. I don't have that kind of money in the game to afford to transfer which I would like to do as I enjoy playing on other shards.

Furthermore, making Shard Shields available could promote life into other shards as players could migrate to shards of their choosing without incurring losses. Shards that are now dead could perhaps have some life pumped back into them.

A super mount, amazing deco or robe, teleporter tiles etc, allows the vet to show off status but they do NOT enhance or give advantage in game play. SHARD SHIELDS do exactly this, and seeing as transfer tokens seem to be in excess of 50m to everyone else now just goes to prove the point. totally imbalanced and gives a massive unfair advantage… Shard Shields should be available to all
Jack is absolutely right. Shards shields never should have been made exclusive nor should any item for that matter. Shard Shields just stand out because they are, with the exception of Soulstones, the most beneficial item in the history of Ultima Online. It's like making soulstones exlusive to Veterans only and this is why players are speaking up and calling it for what it is....baloney.
 
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manufacturedsoul

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
It's like making soulstones exlusive to Veterans only and this is why players are speaking up and calling it for what it is....baloney.
It's actually not like that at all.... The only thing that is baloney is that crap your spewing! Thats just a fact! It's not even close to unbalancing there is NO requirement to transfer shards period! Please explain in detail how it is unbalancing, to the average UO player! Simply because you have to pay to transfer when someone with one doesn't doesn't cut it! They paid for many more years of play than you so that is their reward, what don't you get about that?!?. What's unbalancing is giving some newb an item simply because they whine enough on some forum. If some yuppie quit because he didn't like it good riddance to him! He could have got one if he stuck it out like the ones of us that do! Once you've paid your dues you'll get it as well! Both of your examples THP and Jack hold literally no sway far as I am concerned and i'm sure many other agree. Their opinion's are simply that their deluded opinons. They are welcome to them but they are still worthless none the less. I shouldn't even have to defend my positon the items are VETERN REWARDS for specific years that says it ALL! These items are working as intended any argument to the contrary is simply the whines from a have not, or from someone who has some other shady motive.

I'm glad you think that someone who's paid for 15 years of UO isn't worth receiving anything special but a lot of us disagree with you! The only ones who wouldn't agree would be people who want what others have simply because they don't have it and can't get it. Maybe I can't log into an EM event cause I have to work does that mean a statue should be put at luna bank so i can click it and get all my missed EM rares cause i couldn't attend? Get outta here with that dribble. If they are giving away shard shields to any ole mongbat who wants them, I want EM event statues dispensing every rare item for free, I want unlimited gold ATM's that dole out mil checks per click, I want Fully transferable soulstones, I want, I want, I want. See where this leads? It's stupid. Leave well enough alone and keep paying your dues and you'll get one someday like the rest of us!

In the end even if they allow the use of other vet rewards which i'm not totally against but do dislike I don't see them for a second relenting on the Shard Shields. You guys won't win this one just give it up and pay your dues like the rest of us!
 

Acid Rain

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
manufacturedsoul said:
If they are giving away shard shields to any ole mongbat who wants them, I want EM event statues dispensing every rare item for free,...... I want, I want, I want.​
LOL :hahaha:
 
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Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
HE has a POINT.
We have a few:rolleyes: players and posters here who are cry baby's and the loud crying can get on any nerve including a Dev.
Ear plugs work wonders.
Get this through your thick skulls.... then maybe we can talk rational about the Rewards and any changes.
There was a reason the Dev of that time picked 3 years of account age to start them.
I'd like to see small changes, as would any player..

Things like with the times starting at year 1.
Lets be real, there are tons on the list that should be open for them. Like the statues, dye tubs, some of the clothing, deco like the plant and house models. Ethy Horse, ossy, ki-rin, bug I can see for the under 5 year crowd but I draw the line at the special ethereal rides. So no to Bora use.

Then I can see upping the number given too.
It has been at year 3 you get 3 choices then it knocks down to 2 choices the next year upwards.
Here is how it is today:

1st Year Rewards
At the 12 month mark, an account is credited with 3 reward choices and can choose from among the following items:

2nd Year Rewards
At the 24 month mark, an account is credited with 1 additional reward choice and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
3rd Year Rewards

At the 36 month mark, an account is credited with 1 additional reward choice and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
4th Year Rewards

At the 48 month mark, an account is credited with 1 additional reward choice and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
Added in Publish 16 - Vet Rewards: 4th-year, 5th-year, and a skill cap increase!
5th Year Rewards

At the 60 month mark, an account is credited with 1 additional reward choice and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
6th Year Rewards

At the 72 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
7th Year Rewards

At the 84 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
  • Decorative Cannon - Place a cannon in your house which can be fired, causing a spectacular explosion.
  • Tree Stump - A stump from a cut-down tree, faces two directions, with and without an axe, and yields 10 random Logs a day.
  • Sheep Statue – This statue will give 10 pieces of a random hide or wool each day, holding up to a maximum of 100 pieces
8th Year Reward

At the 96 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or the following item:
  • Weapon Engraving Tool - A rechargeable tool that allows you to place a line of text in orange below the name of a weapon.
  • Davies' Locker - A House Addon that can store up to 500 treasure maps and/or SOS bottles, based on a real-life glass top table containing a three-dimensional map of Britannia, created by Alan Davies.
9th Year Rewards

At the 108 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
10th Year Rewards

At the 120 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
11th Year Rewards

At the 132 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
12th Year Rewards

At the 144 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
13th Year Rewards

At the 156 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
14th Year Rewards

At the 168 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
  • Shard Transfer Shields – Each representing a specific shard, the shield will give a character transfer token once a month to the shard it represents. The token is account bound, so they can not be traded or sold. If a house collapses from decay, the shield will disappear.
15th Year Rewards

At the 180 month mark, an account is credited with 2 additional reward choices and can choose any preceding year reward or from among the following items:
  • Garden Shed - A House Addon that contains two secure containers that do not count towards house storage limits.
 

Lady Storm

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Personally I would like to see a trade in system put into place... lets face it we all have seen stacks of tubs, statues, and unwanted robes and such on vendors for years they are glutting up the storage on many homeowners.
A simple trade in could be used by like the clean up vendor. a menu of trade with one choice being a targeting cursor so you can offer the item you wish to trade in.
Rates of levels of items can be added up and in a table format what from the new list the vendor has you can pick.
year 1 could be traded 1 for 1.
year 2 would take a 3 for 1 trade of year 1 items.
year 3 would be a 2 for 1.... reason on the lower requirement is the higher level items worth diminished
year 4 through year 13 2 for 1
years 14 through present should be a 1 for 1 As that year reward is only 1 item a turn in and trade would only be logical for this. IE you have a Izumo shield and no longer want it but could use a Balhea one this trade is in my books viable as its the same item just destination change. The Garden Shed and Shard Shield remain same age required to obtain.

I do not go for the I want crowd to win just cause they can scream loudly or bug the pizz and vinegar out of the poor Dev.
Your in the wrong to do so and make this where I for one have one other option for the dev I would go for it if it persists.................
Stop giving them out... period.
Stop the whole thing.
I am not kidding.
If you cant go by how things are this is not a debate of who is right or wrong but of how you deserve over another who has played the game and paid to a new guy who is envious of his neighbor's goods.
In real life would it be fair that of 2 people who get a new truck, the first worked and slaved to save for it and his next door neighbor who saw it and cried so loud they gave him one for free to shut him up. (this is a simple analogy of what is happening put in real life terms)
Is it fair?
This is what your basically asking for.
 

The Zog historian

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I unequivocally believe Shard Shields should be made available to the entire UO playerbase either via restructuring Veteran Rewards system (which was flawed from the beginning) or via the gamestore.
Any player can already transfer to another shard upon demand. It's $20 per one-way trip via codes bought from the Origin Store, and it's actually cheaper than to keep an account open that isn't being used. Someone who's played for five years could pay for 24 round-trips, and still not have paid what a 14-year player has.

This is why shard transfer shields are a true veteran reward. They aren't meant to rewarding players for having "played" any length of time. They're a reward because certain players have put so much money into the game.
 

Lady Storm

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Zog I couldn't have said it better myself.
(psst sugar the years paid equil the money spent...)
 

The Zog historian

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See, I'm not such a bad guy! And it would surprise you to learn the names I use in GC. I saw you were on Sonoma this morning.
 

Doubleplay

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I honestly have no idea WTF all the uproar is about. I enjoy my rewards when I get them... I also like to sell them when I don't need them or when I need a few million on some shard other than my home shard...

WTF do I care if the person I'm selling them to is only a 2 or 3 year vet and they want a set of Teleporter tiles? BIG FREAKING DEAL. It ain't hurting me if they have them. I'm not losing any sleep over it... they are a very nice addition to the Game... and hell if he don't want to pay what I want to sell them for he can always go buy the pink ones from EA/Origin... for that matter they can buy a Charger and green soulstones too..... and so can I.... again who cares. Honestly...

I remember hating it that I worked my fingers to the bone to finally GM tailoring only to realize it would suck to try to sell my wares on a vendor when I couldn't even get or use a leather dye tub to make them look all nice like the other people always did on their vendors... the idea of waiting 1 or 2 years to be able to make a few gold selling nice suits really sucked. Kinda like when I learned that I wasn't ever going to be able to place anywhere because the land was full and nothing ever fell.. and the smallest tower cost 5 million in gold.... something that seemed impossible to get.

Why make the game less fun and more painful to play? Why turn people off by restricting them enjoying the game??? Just because you think you earned something by your years of play.... well yes we all did it's 2 picks a year after so many years... that's what we earn... while they get 1.... so what...

And I must remind most you whinny ass little crybabies who think they need to be having the good stuff for themselves because you think you earned some badge of honor for your 15+ years.... without young new players.... we won't last another 15+ years. So pin that on your rear end...

And finally... MANY folk who have returned to UO having put in 10 years before can't get their old accounts back because either they sold them, gave them to friends or can't remember the information anymore to restart their account and going thru the EA customer service nightmare and wasting 3 to 5 hours of their life on hold doesn't appeal to them.... so they start a new account.... now why should they be penalized??? They had a 10 year account..... and would yet if EA wasn't such a steaming pile of dog biscuits.... and actually built an account system that worked... and had customer service that was actually helpful...

This conversation gets as stupid and all together out of control just as much as the UO is dying conversations that pop up every 2 or 3 months/weeks...
Exactly! I was playing UO the early the first year it was up. Played for about 7 years, then quit for a year and a half. I could not remember my password, and after a week of trying to restart my account thru acct mgmt, gave up. I restarted with a new account and to this day have not been able to motivate myself to enter the admin morass to reclaim my 7+ years of service. Perhaps someone remembers me... I was MFool on Catskills at the time.
 

MalagAste

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Exactly! I was playing UO the early the first year it was up. Played for about 7 years, then quit for a year and a half. I could not remember my password, and after a week of trying to restart my account thru acct mgmt, gave up. I restarted with a new account and to this day have not been able to motivate myself to enter the admin morass to reclaim my 7+ years of service. Perhaps someone remembers me... I was MFool on Catskills at the time.
This is exactly what I been saying. Now I myself have never been able to quit for more than a couple weeks... but I know plenty who tried to come back and couldn't and didn't want to start all over with newb char.... But many have... and they always are sad when they think about how old they could be if they could have gotten the account back.
 

Galluccio

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So, since not enough people agree with you no one cares about the game...

Yes. Exactly as you describe.

/sarcasm

I take it you know how to add? I take that as a yes. Count the number of unique posters in this thread and then come back.

And, just to be clear my position right now is there has got to be a middle ground that can allow some rewards to be used by the people crying and some rewards to be used only be the most loyal customers.

To be even more specific. If there's a reward which has some utility sure lets let everyone us it. But, if there's a reward which is bling like a high end veteran mount there really is no reason for some NOOB to need to have that kind of mount to play the game.
 
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Lady Storm

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Hi Zog.. yes that was me on Sonoma... I try to work my characters around UO...
Doubleplay I will say this once. Get off your fanny and get your account.! now there are ways to find it and if you look on another thread asking the same thing in the list right now you will find ways to add up before you try. Tell them you have been at it for some time... with luck and a little elbow grease you will have your account and with a little sugar to boot (Mesanna has been known to add a few to age if for a good cause)
No promises but if you try hard enough you just might find it was worth the work.
 
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Doubleplay

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Hi Zog.. yes that was me on Sonoma... I try to work my characters around UO...
Doubleplay I will say this once. Get off your fanny and get your account.! now there are ways to find it and if you look on another thread asking the same thing in the list right now you will find ways to add up before you try. Tell them you have been at it for some time... with luck and a little elbow grease you will have your account and with a little sugar to boot (Mesanna has been known to add a few to age if for a good cause)
No promises but if you try hard enough you just might find it was worth the work.
He heh.. I was about to post that 7 years of vet rewards are meaningless to me (thread contribution), but actually, my collection of vanquishing weapons are what I moon over.
 

Goldberg-Chessy

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You received 2 more choices every year for your loyalty.

A 12 Year Veteran has 6 more choices than a 9 Year Veteran.

That's not reward enough?:rolleyes:
Rewards myself or anyone else receives while another player is not playing/paying do not factor in at all. Wtf are you talking about?

And if you are referring to the fact that long term vets get more rewards in general it still is not a factor imo.

Long term vets are and will always be the backbone of the game. They have always been granted a bit of a special status when it comes to rewards. That is how it should be and in no way does it affect new players. New players could care less about the extra or nicer rewards that I get as a 15 year vet.

It is only the whiney, 'have not' mid-level vets who have issue lol. And they are for the most part certainly wealthy enough and savvy enough to get whatever rewards they want if they so choose. Anybody that has been playing for a few years or more can most certainly find a trusted source to buy an account of any age if the rewards are bothering them so much that it affects their gameplay.
 

Goldberg-Chessy

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This is exactly what I been saying. Now I myself have never been able to quit for more than a couple weeks... but I know plenty who tried to come back and couldn't and didn't want to start all over with newb char.... But many have... and they always are sad when they think about how old they could be if they could have gotten the account back.
Huh?
The player you are referring to said in his own words that he couldn't motivate himself to contact the admins to reclaim his old account. Someone too lazy to contact support gets no sympathy from me as far as vet rewards go.

And what do you mean when you refer to how old someone's account could have been?
Why do you keep incorrectly referring to deactivated accounts as lost time? It is not lost time if they were not paying each month.
How can you come back years later and then whine that you do not have longtime vet status? That's ridiculous.

Nobody lost long term vet status due to account management issues. They certainly may have had a hard time returning to the new system but either way their new or re-started account would and should have lost its vet status due to the long period of not playing/paying. Its quite simple to understand if you are not a whiney 'have not'
 

Doubleplay

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Huh?
The player you are referring to said in his own words that he couldn't motivate himself to contact the admins to reclaim his old account. Someone too lazy to contact support gets no sympathy from me as far as vet rewards go.

And what do you mean when you refer to how old someone's account could have been?
Why do you keep incorrectly referring to deactivated accounts as lost time? It is not lost time if they were not paying each month.
How can you come back years later and then whine that you do not have longtime vet status? That's ridiculous.

Nobody lost long term vet status due to account management issues. They certainly may have had a hard time returning to the new system but either way their new or re-started account would and should have lost its vet status due to the long period of not playing/paying. Its quite simple to understand if you are not a whiney 'have not'
Perhaps you have a point, and perhaps not. If you would kindly re-read the post you would see that the lack of motivation occurred after a week of frustrating attempts to wade through the administration morass. Remember that EA made the return to Brit offer. People who returned were reclaiming credit for paid past accounts and had the opportunity to apply that earned time to their new accounts. This was not a result of their crying or whining for special consideration. An intelligent person would take advantage of the offer. However, in my case the price to pay was just too high. Eventually you must consider if the reward is worth the damage that hitting your head against the wall is causing. In my case, one week was enough. The seven years of credit was not worth the price.
 

The Mule

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Just let me buy up to the age I want access to items. It I had to pay 24 months up fron to bump my account to 14 years and access to all the "privileges" associated with it then so be it.
 

Goldberg-Chessy

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Perhaps you have a point, and perhaps not. If you would kindly re-read the post you would see that the lack of motivation occurred after a week of frustrating attempts to wade through the administration morass. Remember that EA made the return to Brit offer. People who returned were reclaiming credit for paid past accounts and had the opportunity to apply that earned time to their new accounts. This was not a result of their crying or whining for special consideration. An intelligent person would take advantage of the offer. However, in my case the price to pay was just too high. Eventually you must consider if the reward is worth the damage that hitting your head against the wall is causing. In my case, one week was enough. The seven years of credit was not worth the price.
Of course I saw where he mentioned a week of trying on his own online but as I have said before too many people with ADD never gave the online account management a chance. They just saw that it changed and freaked out when they couldn't do it instantly. There were a million rant posts the first month the system changed and 99% were just false alarms because people were too lazy or dumb to figure it out on their own. You remember how many people couldn't even figure out where to put their email addy? I do lol.

And once he mentioned frustration and being too lazy to call tech I think I correctly assumed that he was just another ADD fool ranting because things changed AFTER HE QUIT for a long period of time
 

popps

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Jack is absolutely right. Shards shields never should have been made exclusive nor should any item for that matter. Shard Shields just stand out because they are, with the exception of Soulstones, the most beneficial item in the history of Ultima Online. It's like making soulstones exlusive to Veterans only and this is why players are speaking up and calling it for what it is....baloney.

Well, as I see it, if Shard Shields are the most relevant reason for the proposed changes (which I do not agree with as I think they will empty out the Veteran Progam of its main purpose, prizing being a Veteran player with an active account over an extensive period of time...) then I would more favourably see the Veteran Reward Program be left be as it is, with a few rewards usable by all (but claimable only for a certain active account age...) and other rewards only usable and claimable when the account reaches the pertaining claiming and using active age (basically as it is currently), and then create cross-shards new Public Gates which all players could use, perhaps with a limitation of once per month....

Shard Shields would become decorative but at least the Veteran Reward Program would not be emptied out of its purposes.

At least, that's my point of view.
 

Obsidian

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I've been following this thread on and off. I went back to the original post and I don't understand the changes the op dislikes. Nothing has changes with vet reward choices or the years you can claim them. The only change I know about is the ethy horse to year 1 and the 720 skill cap went to all accounts. There is no change to things like shard shields at all.
 

Warpig Inc

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When the polar bear was first picked and players started pimping the new ride things stood out. Time with healthy player numbers and before general chat. A newer player with a question would go up to a group of players. If only one was on a polar bear. The new player would would post themself in front of the polar bear rider and direct the question to that players name.
 

Lady Storm

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OMG! I agree with Goldberg-Chessy.... *faints*
Obsidian its what they do and don't want the Dev to do to Rewards we have been discussing.
I for one have no quams of letting 1 year players use the basic Etherial's such as horse, ostard, all the way up to the blue bug. I do draw the line at the more *fancy* rides.
As for Reward tubs, getting them should be no change in age, but use is another story. All tubs should be used by all.
I did want the received count starting at year 16 to go to 3 choices. Reason being is by age 16 many had only a small handful of choices left over the years of picking.
You average out many have had only 1 to 4 accounts for picking out tubs ethys and deco... they got wiped fast.

Shields being a major bone of contention is I bet the biggest reason many are fighting over.
14 years in UO we were closing in on a milestone and the Dev made the best way to thank the long time players/payers of the game. They are not for perma transfer of your accounts.. but link you to where you have been or want to go visit... perhaps a old friend moved back to his home shard and has invited you to come visit and have some fun...
or like me you have your people spread among the shards those shields give you a way to be self sufficient and have a doorway to work all over your empire! hehe

Most of us over the age of 14 who have paid in understand the wishes of those who are not up to our advanced age but know that to open up all the rewards is tantamount to giving those who buy and sell accounts carte blanch and upsetting the balance of item prices.. They make enough money off the unwarry as it is.

Most of this fight over rewards being opened is from ENVY.
Pure and simple.
Oh I understand the oh if I had only... crowd.. many wish they had kept their accounts they sold or given away.. or when they quit that by now they would not need the changes as they would be of that age. I do understand really. But it don't change the fact you didn't earn the rewards.
I too wish you didn't quit so many years ago, or sold your old accounts...
We as a game might be in a better boat with our population.
 

Lord Lew

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I've been following this thread on and off. I went back to the original post and I don't understand the changes the op dislikes. Nothing has changes with vet reward choices or the years you can claim them. The only change I know about is the ethy horse to year 1 and the 720 skill cap went to all accounts. There is no change to things like shard shields at all.
It's not the current change to the system I'm worried about, and some further changes are needed. However the main push of this thread is not about ethy mounts or dye tubs, it's about shard shields. Don't let the smoke screen fool you, those that cry do so simply because they want the access to shard shields, they want it NOW and they want them sellable when claimed. There will be no reasonable discussion with them as it involves $$ not actual game play. That Said,I'm done with tis thread.

Oh and Storm, I love your ideas, but maybe make all tubs useable by yr1 and above, it would force new players to talk with people and increase the social experience. I'm tired of people pushing uo as a single player experience.
 

Viper09

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Why is anyone even discussing shard shields here? They are in the same group as soulstones, they are account bound and thus cannot be used by anyone but the account which claimed it, regardless even if another is old enough to claim it. The only thing proposed to be altered are the age restrictions to use an item only. The account ownership restrictions (which prevent others from using account bound items such as soulstones and shard shields) are in a completely different category.
 
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Veritas et Sapientia

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Why is anyone even discussing shard shields here? They are in the same group as soulstones, they are account bound and thus cannot be used by anyone but the account which claimed it, regardless even if another is old enough to claim it. The only thing proposed to be altered are the age restrictions to use an item only. The account ownership restrictions (which prevent others from using account bound items such as soulstones and shard shields) are in a completely different category.

Shard Shields are being discussed because they are a preposterously overpowered item that should not be limited to only a small portion of the UO Subscribers. The fact that Shard Shields are lumped into another category (account bound) is further evidence that they are unbalancing; if the item was not so “powerful” why lop them into the same category as soulstones?

Why are Shard Shields the most sought after item in all of UO? Answer: because they are the most advantageous item in UO along with soulstones.
Why aren't Veteran Rideable Bourast the most sought after item in UO? Answer: because they don’t provide an advantage over other players.

In hindsight it’s probably an item that never should have been introduced and if it was introduced it should have been via the gamestore and not veteran rewards as to not create dissention.
How many account bound items are there in this game?

Players are asking for equality and fairness. Any item that provides an advantage over other players creates “unfairness”.

I can just envision if there was a Soul Stone Token Shield that produced a soulstone every month Veterans would be claiming how “they earned them” and that the rest of the playerbase should “stuff it”.
The entire Veteran reward needs a revamp to create a fair and balanced system i.e. as you intelligently pointed out earlier that is was a mistake breaking Veteran Rewards into 15 levels/Tiers.


The only thing 15 Year Veterans should have earned with their loyalty is their 27 Veteran Choices and 131,487 hours of Ultima Online gameplay. Being a 15 Year Veteran should not bestow an unreasonable advantage over other players and create a sense of unfairness within the game.

Other players who have earned their Veteran rewards should be allowed to choose whatever it is they want without any restrictions.

The bottom line in this Veteran Reward debate is that the reward choices one players picks doesn’t affect another player one iota.
 
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