Paths of Virtue - UO Achievements

[Coldren]

I recently re-subbed due to a long period of unavailability. Now I have been playing this game on and off since its inception - I played a lot more in the earlier years (Pre-AoS) because I had a lot more time. Now, with less time, and with ever increasing amounts of content, I am finding it more difficult to decide how I want to use and focus the time I have.

One of the things that modern MMO theme parks do well that UO does not is provide direction. Ignoring all discussion of level grinds and quests and migration paths due to leveling, almost all recent ones have some sort of achievement system built into the game. They're not there to force the player into a specific direction, but to provide a playbook of sorts for things each player can strive to achieve. Some of them are just plain for fun, like kill 10000 critters, etc.

So I got the idea, even though it would have to be on a third-party website (one hosted here on Stratics, or perhaps I can create one), I would like to create some sort of voluntary achievement system for UO players to reference and, not so much delineate the experience, but help each player set goals and create self-directed stepping stones to reaching a self-directed destination. Not only would it have the goals and steps along the way listed, but it would also offer tips and guidance for players who aren't experts on the world of Sosaria.

Obviously, this is something that the Devs would never implement in the game. Therefore, I think I would need a lot of input from the community to come up with some of these goals, what playstyle they focus on, and how to make them fun and interesting.

For example, there is an Elixir of Gold Conversion for miners... There are actually conversion elixirs for just about every type, but until recently when browsing the Crafters forums, I didn't even know they existed. The Stratics item search doesn't bring them up, so I had to figure out they come from the Thepem and Zosliem quests in Ter Mur.

So here's a Smith Based achievement exert:

Go for the Gold

• Obtain an Elixir of Gold Conversion

Complete enough of the Thepem and Zosliem quests to obtain an Elixir of Gold Conversion.
Link: UO Stratics *New* | Thepem and Zosilem

Now obviously in the official one, along with the link to the Stratics guide, I would write custom text explaining what needs to be done, but for the sake of this example, I'm keeping it short.

This wouldn't be confined to items and crafting, of course. Some of them could be exploratory ones, like "Shame-ful Pride - Visit the dungeon Shame located [HERE] and make it to the bottom level", or other fun things like that.

Does anyone think this would be a good idea to pursue? I'm a decent coder, but I'm really strapped for time, and I'd need a lot of ideas from places like here because, quite honestly, there's a lot about this game I simply don't know. I don't think I've ever set foot in the SE expansion lands..

Feedback appreciated!

 

[gunneroforgin]

I recently re-subbed due to a long period of unavailability. Now I have been playing this game on and off since its inception - I played a lot more in the earlier years (Pre-AoS) because I had a lot more time. Now, with less time, and with ever increasing amounts of content, I am finding it more difficult to decide how I want to use and focus the time I have.

One of the things that modern MMO theme parks do well that UO does not is provide direction. Ignoring all discussion of level grinds and quests and migration paths due to leveling, almost all recent ones have some sort of achievement system built into the game. They're not there to force the player into a specific direction, but to provide a playbook of sorts for things each player can strive to achieve. Some of them are just plain for fun, like kill 10000 critters, etc.

So I got the idea, even though it would have to be on a third-party website (one hosted here on Stratics, or perhaps I can create one), I would like to create some sort of voluntary achievement system for UO players to reference and, not so much delineate the experience, but help each player set goals and create self-directed stepping stones to reaching a self-directed destination. Not only would it have the goals and steps along the way listed, but it would also offer tips and guidance for players who aren't experts on the world of Sosaria.

Obviously, this is something that the Devs would never implement in the game. Therefore, I think I would need a lot of input from the community to come up with some of these goals, what playstyle they focus on, and how to make them fun and interesting.

For example, there is an Elixir of Gold Conversion for miners... There are actually conversion elixirs for just about every type, but until recently when browsing the Crafters forums, I didn't even know they existed. The Stratics item search doesn't bring them up, so I had to figure out they come from the Thepem and Zosliem quests in Ter Mur.

So here's a Smith Based achievement exert:

Go for the Gold

• Obtain an Elixir of Gold Conversion

Complete enough of the Thepem and Zosliem quests to obtain an Elixir of Gold Conversion.
Link: UO Stratics *New* | Thepem and Zosilem

Now obviously in the official one, along with the link to the Stratics guide, I would write custom text explaining what needs to be done, but for the sake of this example, I'm keeping it short.

This wouldn't be confined to items and crafting, of course. Some of them could be exploratory ones, like "Shame-ful Pride - Visit the dungeon Shame located [HERE] and make it to the bottom level", or other fun things like that.

Does anyone think this would be a good idea to pursue? I'm a decent coder, but I'm really strapped for time, and I'd need a lot of ideas from places like here because, quite honestly, there's a lot about this game I simply don't know. I don't think I've ever set foot in the SE expansion lands..

Feedback appreciated!

It seems like you may have the wrong idea of this game. There is no winning or losing or end to it. It is like life, you just play it. You decide what your goals are. You decide which actitivity you want to do. It is why many WOW players are coming back to UO after they reach the top level of game play.

 

[CovenantX]

I always thought the Achievements system was a good idea, and If anything was taken from wow... This should be it.

 

[Coldren]

It seems like you may have the wrong idea of this game. There is no winning or losing or end to it. It is like life, you just play it. You decide what your goals are. You decide which actitivity you want to do. It is why many WOW players are coming back to UO after they reach the top level of game play.

Just for the record, I don't have the "wrong idea" about this game. I understand it's strength as a sandbox, in that there is no "end game" or way to "win" the game. That's why I still play when I can, and why no one has been able to duplicate the success or dynamics that UO offers.

And yes, you do decide what activity you want to do.

The question is - For someone who is new to the game, or does not know ALL of it's available activities, or isn't knowledgeable about it.. How do you find a direction? With so many things to choose from to do, what do I want to do? What options are there?

It's been proven in multiple scientific studies that having TOO many choices can be paralyzing. What's worse, having too many options leads to a greater degree of dissatisfaction even if the person gets what they wanted. They question if what they took all their time doing was worth it instead of this other thing they could have been trying to do. It's overwhelming, and I'd wager that in combination with a smaller community, it's had a negative impact on player retention.

There are few if any real good videos or guides for getting players started, and even less so for those who have been here for some time, but haven't read and done everything about the game, and don't know what they want to (or CAN do) next.

That's all this "achievement" system really is intended to be - Ideas for goals players can work to accomplish, and advice on how to reach those goals. Who knows? There could be GM smiths who have never even heard of the elixirs, glances through the list, sees it, and has something new to work towards (What has 2 thumbs and never heard of these things before? *Points to self with two thumbs* THIS GUY!), keeping them in the game that much longer. Or someone who has never been to Doom will find out where it is. Or read about a boss they haven't killed yet, so they go out and get people together to try to hunt them down.

I see it as something to strengthen retention and community, and help new players get over the barrier of entry.. Not as a way to have a "checklist" to say "I beat the game" with. Others may take it that way, and that's fine, but it's not why I would do it.

 

[elspeth]

A lot of people might not know about all the various in-game puzzles. There are webpages of info on each one but no comprehensive list and "guide". That might be a good thing to include. I have printed out each page I can find on the puzzles and had some thoughts on putting them together into a cohesive whole but I too am seriously lacking in time especially since I have a 2 year old daughter and another boy on the way any day now.

I am very happy that there is a lot of great information on stratics but I think some organization along the lines you are thinking would be very helpful. Like organizing the quests according to what they are for instead of just alphabetically. Alphabetical lists are best left to an index.

 

[Cirno]

Really, all an achievement system does is provide suggestions of things to aim for, and recognises when you accomplish it.
It doesn't really detract anything from the game.
What it does do is encourage players to try new (or old) things, and adds another thing for people to collect if they've the inclination to.

 

[Viper09]

It seems like you may have the wrong idea of this game. There is no winning or losing or end to it. It is like life, you just play it. You decide what your goals are. You decide which actitivity you want to do. It is why many WOW players are coming back to UO after they reach the top level of game play.

Achievements aren't an "end game" or a winning or losing end, it is nothing more than a system that might encourage players to try certain things. It has nothing to do with why people are leaving WoW, people leave that game after they reach the top level of game play because of how WoW is deigned. Achievements are nothing more than an option, a background thing that is for fun. The OP does not have the wrong idea here, I think it would be a neat addition to the game.

 

[Spiritless]

I always thought the Achievements system was a good idea, and If anything was taken from wow... This should be it.

Taken from WoW? Achievement systems existed well before WoW's implementation, just for the record.

Oh, and yeah. Achievements/titles and rewards for various things in UO would be pretty cool. I also view achievements as incentives to explore and do stuff you'd otherwise probably not do, which can be fun. Might also get people back in-game and in more obscure dungeons if there were exploration achievements or various achieves linked with old dungeons, etc. They could really be used as an incentive to hunt in more obscure places or seek out monsters and spawns that would otherwise not be touched and are permanently deserted.

It's a really good idea, but I doubt it'll be implemented as UO's development is going nowhere anytime soon it seems and this would sorta be a huge undertaking from an implementation perspective.