POLL: Are you happy with where the current Development team is taking UO?

[chanshaw]

So here it is. This is not a shot at the Dev team at all, just gathering the general opinion of the players.

 

[Derium of ls]

I voted for redesign, I think we should put a hold on all new content and go one by one on the old and polish it...

this isn't a great example buuuut... Look at the game rift, it just shipped a few days ago and already has 400k active accounts. And a lot of that is due to it being a completely polished game.

A new player would see UO and think "after 14 years... it's still not polished??" and move on.

OR

if they are going to move on with new content, I'd like to see them use already in place things for it. They want a new dungeon with items? then revamp old school dungeons. Don't add things to the game, add onto the current game... after the fix what's there... IMHO

sorry for the massive use of an ellipsis. There is just so much more I could say...

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

While I would rather have gone back a few years and progressed from the ORIGINAL vision set forth for KR/SA, the rebuilding of Magincia, etc. I'm willing to give the current team a chance. They do have a rough situationwith the state of the company in which they work at the moment for various reasons.

I am looking forward to the info on the art update and EC bug sprint.

 

[ChReuter]

I'd personally like to see the current development team take [and drop off!] UO into the hands of a new and more adept development team... Since this was not a poll option though, I voted redesign.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Your subject line doesn't quite match your questions.

I'm the last person to say that the current team has done everything right, regardless of what people might say about me, but I have to point out that similar things have been said about every dev team we've ever had, sometimes by some of the same people.

My biggest objection at the moment? I can't honestly tell you I know really what their direction is.

Which is why I am waiting, and seeing.

But I will say...Please, please, please no more redesign of current systems. The last one was AoS and we're still dealing with the aftermath of it. The future of UO is in content, which, as I envision it, incorporates bug fixes, just as adding the High Seas stuff gave them a nice excuse to fix (or at least improve) boat movement.

-Galen's player

 

[HD2300]

Look at the game rift, it just shipped a few days ago and already has 400k active accounts. And a lot of that is due to it being a completely polished game.

That is because Rift has a 3D client that is marketable.

UO doesnt. Reverting back to KR client graphics isnt going to change anything. The KR client didnt bring in a million new active accounts 4 years ago, and it will not do so again today.

Copying and pasting buildings and newbie quests from New Haven to Occolo (huh???) or whatever is not going to change things.

Ask yourself what would REALLY make a difference? Two things... either a new 3D client and/or F2P.

 

[Gunga_Din]

I don't know what the hell they are talking about lol.

 

[Derium of ls]

That is because Rift has a 3D client that is marketable.

UO doesnt. Reverting back to KR client graphics isnt going to change anything. The KR client didnt bring in a million new active accounts 4 years ago, and it will not do so again today.

Copying and pasting buildings and newbie quests from New Haven to Occolo (huh???) or whatever is not going to change things.

Ask yourself what would REALLY make a difference? Two things... either a new 3D client and/or F2P.

I agree completely. And two major things about Rift (other than it's polished) is the graphics are good, but not too much. and gameplay is fluent, nothings seems outdated or out of place. and controlling your character is easy.

If UO went free to play, had fluent controls and an updated graphics... man, I think we would have a great chance. We would be the only real sandbox AND we would be in the current age of gaming.

If EA wants to have a fighting chance they need to start working on it now. With Garriott saying his next big game will be a new UO type game, it's time to compete with him now, or risk losing loyal fanbase to the man who started UO.

 

[HD2300]

My biggest objection at the moment? I can't honestly tell you I know really what their direction is.

How can you, when they haven't decided themselves yet really what 'their direction' is?

 

[Gunga_Din]

I agree completely. And two major things about Rift (other than it's polished) is the graphics are good, but not too much. and gameplay is fluent, nothings seems outdated or out of place. and controlling your character is easy.

If UO went free to play, had fluent controls and an updated graphics... man, I think we would have a great chance. We would be the only real sandbox AND we would be in the current age of gaming.

If EA wants to have a fighting chance they need to start working on it now. With Garriott saying his next big game will be a new UO type game, it's time to compete with him now, or risk losing loyal fanbase to the man who started UO.

The rift is polished because its just a clone of WOW lol, get over it. No other game is like UO.

P.S. Rift will lose its hype in 6 months, like every other WOW clone.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Wait, UO has a direction other than a downward spiral?!

But seriously, I think they need to finish what's unfinished, squash bugs, and do a massive balance pass. Then a polish pass.

New content can come out in bite-size chunks while this is going on. The EMs can keep doing what they're doing to further each shard's individual story while Mythic tinkers under the hood.

Sadly, the HoC vid proved that the Devs don't know what we want, or what we care about. This is where they should run some polls on the Herald or the patcher.

Note to Mythic: DO NOT TAKE STRATICS AS A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING OF UO PLAYERS.

 

[Derium of ls]

The rift is polished because its just a clone of WOW lol, get over it. No other game is like UO.

P.S. Rift will lose its hype in 6 months, like every other WOW clone.

I'm not hyping Rift, I'm comparing a 2 day old game and a 14 year old game and the level of being polished.

what do you mean because it's a WoW clone it's polished? I've tried many WoW clone games and they were not polished at all. companies tend to push WoW clones out not polished and bank off the fact it's a WoW clone to make money... then fail.

My point is because it's polished it has pulled in over 400k accounts BEFORE the game even went live (head start program is when they hit it).

will the hype die down? or course, but unlike most other games when the hype dies the game will still have a few hundred thousand players, more then enough to make money. Again, because they took the time to polish everything.

last night they turned off a disenchant ability, why? because there was an exploit with it. They didn't say "we are looking into it", they shut the entire ability down because of it. It's things like that, that will make the game grow and attract more players... Quick bug fixes (they turned it back on today). Hell, I hate WoW but the aspects of being polished and having a team who cares about the game, so much that they act fast to solve an issue even seems alluring to me.

If a WoW clone can pull that many people in a few days, yet a one of a kind game like UO can't pull 50k... something is wrong.

what's the other sandbox mmos out there?

EVE - still combat oriented
Mortal - failed on many things
Darkfall - shot their own foot before it even released

all 3 are combat oriented, so we have no direct game to compete with... yet.

yes yes UO is now combat oriented, I know however with all the other things we have going on with this game, they can focus on expanding the non-combat aspects and polish them off finally.

yes I'm a huge fan of Garriott, and yes I'll play his new game (he promised me a knighthood *nerd snort*) however, I'm also a massive fan of UO... even in its sad shape. So I still want to see UO shine.

 

[shulginist]

Nothing to add besides I didn't know rift was live already. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Woodsman]

The upgraded art and the new player experience are important to the future of UO, so I'm okay with the direction in that aspect - plenty of bored players of other MMOs that would give UO a shot with better graphics, and the new player stuff is needed to haul them in. I think it's what they needed to keep it going for several more years. It's a shame that KR wasn't handled better and put UO on the right track with the art and new player stuff.

Obviously we need to see details on both the art and new player thing, and we are supposed to see details of the art plan soon. If they are committing the resources to actual new art and not the old KR art that we already have, then that would change my opinion on some things. It would really surprise me if they did push all new artwork, because that would mean that EA is committing resources above and beyond the normal UO resources. Either way, something needs to happen. The days of low-resolution monitors are far past us. The netbook crowd loves it, I'm sure, but how many of them are there.

I'm not happy about the EC development. That's kind of a part of the holy trinity of bringing in new players who have never tried UO but have tried other MMOs. Art, good tutorials, and a good client. Pinco has done an enormous amount to bring the EC up to speed as far as the interface, but there is a lot that needs to be worked on at EA's end.

I'm also not happy that there is no indication of moving to one client, far from it. This is ridiculous that UO has suffered through this a few times now. They could get in more fixes every publish if they dealt with only one client.

I'm glad that Magincia ends the long-term events, because that was an albatross hanging around their necks and sucking down too many resources.

I'd like to know more about why the server upgrades were so important to the future of UO, to the point of delaying other things temporarily, even as they were working on High Seas fixes. I'm not complaining, I've lived through plenty of server nightmares. This is not important though, and is more about my curiosity of what they expect or what they are going to be changing or adding. I really hope they aren't expanding the land masses. Players are too scattered as it is.

I see the big picture they are going for, but I keep thinking that a lot of this should have been resolved with KR. That's not the current dev team's fault, but if they don't follow through this time, and finally do what should have been done with Third Dawn, well you can't keep counting on returning vets to come back, because there is a subscription level at which EA will pull the plug.

 

[Derium of ls]

Nothing to add besides I didn't know rift was live already. Thanks for the heads up.

haha glad I could help!

 

[Petra Fyde]

Of these new games that are so great, how many have the same number of dynamic objects that need to be tracked and identified? Where else can you have a house and something in the region of 4k possessions per account?
I know I'm stupid and have no understanding of coding, but can you really have fabulous graphics and all our 'stuff' and still have a game that will run on an affordable pc?

 

[canary]

I know I'm stupid and have no understanding of coding, but can you really have fabulous graphics and all our 'stuff' and still have a game that will run on an affordable pc?

Just look at any screen shots for Titans Quest, and that game was released in 2006.

KR, when released, smoked even GOOD video cards, btw. It actually required more power than most onlines, which is appalling. And even the EC doesn't run good on a standard, generic store bought computer.

 

[jaashua]

Of these new games that are so great, how many have the same number of dynamic objects that need to be tracked and identified? Where else can you have a house and something in the region of 4k possessions per account?
I know I'm stupid and have no understanding of coding, but can you really have fabulous graphics and all our 'stuff' and still have a game that will run on an affordable pc?

As far as the graphics, it's 100% dependent on the artists. You can have two identical-looking clients with extremely different performance. Taking a 2D UO artist and having him work on 3D models is a recipe for disaster. Taking some of those darn talented Mythic artists and having them redo everything is going to give you excellent results.

UO, being isometric has a HUGE advantage over a first person 3D game. You don't have to render everything you can see for a quarter mile in every direction and change perspectives.

 

[Derium of ls]

As far as the graphics, it's 100% dependent on the artists. You can have two identical-looking clients with extremely different performance. Taking a 2D UO artist and having him work on 3D models is a recipe for disaster. Taking some of those darn talented Mythic artists and having them redo everything is going to give you excellent results.

UO, being isometric has a HUGE advantage over a first person 3D game. You don't have to render everything you can see for a quarter mile in every direction and change perspectives.

exactly, get in a high demanding game, set the draw distance to where you need it to be and watch your GPU. Then adjust your camera to birds eye, readjust the draw distance and compare your GPU... you'll see a lot less demand in birds eye.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Just look at any screen shots for Titans Quest, and that game was released in 2006.

yes, but does that game have as much 'stuff' in it as UO. Does ANY game have the variety and quantity of items that UO does?

I'm not saying the EC graphics are the best they could be. I think some of the actual 'art' is poorly drawn. In fact in terms of actual artistic ability and realism I think the 2D art surpasses it. A 2D character sprite has far more definition than a EC blob.

One of the biggest 'turn offs' to KR and EC for me was that our familiar characters became strangers.
The next was that the lack of clarity was akin to being short sighted without your glasses. This lead to eyestrain headaches.
The third was that this fuzzy terrain lead to seasickness when moving through it.

To some degree I've learned that 2 and 3 can be alleviated by adjusting FPS.

As to whether I'm happy with where the dev team are taking us. I'll let you know when I see where that is. My mindreading ability isn't as good as some of the other posters.

 

[Woodsman]

Of these new games that are so great, how many have the same number of dynamic objects that need to be tracked and identified? Where else can you have a house and something in the region of 4k possessions per account?
I know I'm stupid and have no understanding of coding, but can you really have fabulous graphics and all our 'stuff' and still have a game that will run on an affordable pc?

Tracking our 'stuff' is more of a problem regarding your internet connection and CPU. While the artwork is stored on our computers, information about our stuff is stored on the servers - things like location, if it's dyed, how many uses left, etc. and that's why in the past it could be really bad when wandering into an area like Luna that was heavy with vendors and houses. They've really improved some of the networking code in the last 5 years, but it can still be tough on your computer and internet connection if you move into a location with a lot of stuff. Now on a decent computer with a decent internet connection, you might just get a slight stutter instead of things really slowing down when going somewhere like Luna.

canary mentioned Titans Quest coming out in 2006, but Oblivion, which uses the same engine as KR and the Enhanced Client also came out in early 2006 - 5 years ago this month I think.

As jaashua said, on the graphics side, it comes down to the work put into it. If you put the effort into it, you can have a game that scales from low-end PCs to high-end PCs. With the EC, players can do quite a bit - turn off some of the options that give a computer a workout. More could be done I think.. Either way, when Oblivion rolled out, it ran well with 512MB memory, a 2GHz single-core Pentium 4, and a video card with 128MB. You had to turn down things, but it was playable. The same can be said of World of Warcraft.

UO is unique thanks to the isometric view. If you want to try out what Derium mentioned about distance, I know Camelot allows you to adjust the distance on some things to help with performance.

 

[Woodsman]

yes, but does that game have as much 'stuff' in it as UO. Does ANY game have the variety and quantity of items that UO does?

I don't think any game has the variety of quantity of 'stuff' as UO.

There are games that can run into the same problems that UO does when having to send a lot of information down to our computers. I've been in some PvP battles in EVE Online where there were over 1,000 players on each side, and things start to really go downhill, regardless of how powerful your computer is. There was a battle last fall where over 3,000 players fought it out and I'm still not sure how they managed to make it to that many players without everything just shutting down.

That is a problem of computer power, network connection, and how well they manage things on the server side. There was a bug in UO at one point that would send too much information to players, and it was very noticeable in Luna. It's been fixed, but it was really bad and would drop you to a very slow crawl.

UO has had item-related problems on the server side in the past as well. Around the time of Renaissance/Tram, LS was having some serious issues, and some of it, if not all of it, was due to the amount of items in the game. They had to turn down the spawns on LS, and they were having to telestorm people to different subservers to keep things up. People were maxing out the bank boxes on their characters, all of the houses in what is now Fel were maxxed out on storage, all of the housing spots were taken. The database servers were just going downhill, and the subservers would start to run into problems.

LS was the worst, but when we showed up on Atlantic to protest at the WBB, we did managed to bring Atlantic to its knees quickly, so some of the other shards were pretty close behind us. The GMs were removing us as quickly as they could but I remember at least having it crash once, or at least the subserver that WBB was on crashed.

The next was that the lack of clarity was akin to being short sighted without your glasses. This lead to eyestrain headaches.
The third was that this fuzzy terrain lead to seasickness when moving through it.

That is something I want to know more about with this art update. There was a thread on Stratics that showed how some of this could be overcome, especially with the clarity and sharpness (or lack of sharpness).

http://vboards.stratics.com/uhall/161793-why-dont-they-just-make-2d-hi-res.html

Look for Saphireena's posts. The pics at the bottom are examples of some of the direction the art could go.

And TheGrimmOmen posted this:

So there's a couple of things about the same, just higher resolution world art:

1) It would all have to be hand painted, and although our artists are capable, we're talking about hand painting thousands of pieces of artwork. The scope is huge- especially given the fact that the art team is tasked up to our eyeballs on any given day.
2) The Legacy client doesn't have a means of scaling tileart assets. Meaning that the resolution you create the art at is how it shows up in the world. So if you doubled the resolution of a cactus, in game you get a cactus that's twice as big!

One thing that we've learned from UOKR world art creation is that we have to make 3D art from a 2D art perspective. This isn't as easy as this sounds. You see, modern game artists are used to doing things to scale with the world environment. For example, if they wanted to make a brick wall, you would want to make sure that the bricks in the texture are sized correctly in relationship to the player. This is because in more modern 3D games, not scaling things properly makes them look ... well, stupid. But when you are creating 2D art, you paint them so that the texture can be interpreted correctly, not so that it's necessarily to scale. There's also the disconnect between things looking correct in 3D, and once they've been rendered out in the UO perspective, they look odd due to UO's military orthographic perspective. So the result is that you end up having to make some things look "wrong" in 3D so that they look "right" in an orthographic perspective.

That makes me wonder if it's new artwork or they enhanced the KR art.

 

[jaashua]

yes, but does that game have as much 'stuff' in it as UO. Does ANY game have the variety and quantity of items that UO does?

That is mostly handled by the server and the game's net code.....not the client. You run by a house and see the tiles and vendors. Not until you step on the threshold does the client request the rest of the data to display the entire house with all it's decorations and storage. Same with the storage. The client doesnt need to know what's in the box until he goes to open the box, so, until then, he just sees the box.

Now, yes, a lot needs to be kept in memory, but because the artwork doesn't need to be super detailed, each individual item takes up a lot less space.

 

[Derium of ls]

Petra, I know Necro posting is not allowed here... however, can we rebump "Why don't they just make 2d in hi-res?"? because it fits perfectly with the topics lately and it's an amazing thread to read.

just thought I'd ask before I bumped it and got it locked forever =(

 

[Petra Fyde]

I think that would be relevant, yes.

I heartily wish they'd just upgraded the images we were used to instead of what they did do, but kind of accepted that I didn't understand the difficulties in doing that.
I could have wept for my modest and discrete girls being turned into sultry hussys and my hubby's 'Sir Lancelot' style knights in shining armor turned into gnarled and bent thugs.

 

[Aurelius]

"Are you happy with where the current Development team is taking UO?"

I honestly don't know where they are taking UO, and I'm not totally convinced they are all that sure either, just a vague 'it'll be more player centred and nicer and in some obscure sense 'better' but also more like it used to be'....

Of the options suggested, I'd ended up choosing bug fixes, but none of the four, or the many other things that need addressing and we have been told are important to EA/Mythic (GM support, enforcing the ToS, communications, proper testing processes, the 'clampdown' on cheating... the list just goes on and on ) are mutually exclusive. Steady progress on them all will get a good final result. Fits and starts of attacks on individual issues will result in the same old mess we have always seen.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

I went to the riftgame, 'tried' to watch their premiere video on the home page. I only have a 5mb connection, but it kept freezing, a Lot, I won't be back, but ultimately, looks like alien pvp, not a D&D type game like UO.
I 'would' say "Finish Already Released Content" but our idea and Their idea are two different things. I say Finish includes CleanUp old crap and I'd bet they don't want to clean up their own, and especially someone else's mess from years past. Even tho they're not gonna do that, I voted for it anyways. They should realize that they re responsible for all the past mistakes by coders long gone - they say they know, but they don't do anything, that's noticeable anyways.

 

[MalagAste]

In my opinion ..... I myself am confused. One moment it seems the DEV's are actually listening to the players and attempting to fix things and improve the game. In the next moment it seems they don't have any idea at all what we are thinking, wanting or needing.... and they haven't any idea how the game is played and what would be "good".

One request..... Fire the entire art department and hire folk who know art... especially ones who have some idea about perspective. I grow tired of saying it but half the things that have been put out as "new" art are in the WRONG perspective. Drives me nuts. Secondly, put someone on full time updating the art files to look proper in the EC sharper with more definition.... that would go a LONG way to improving the "look" of UO. Get rid of the plucked turkey that is the Hiryu and redo the art for it so it looks more like it should. A cross between a Chinese style dragon and a bird.... with FEATHERS that thing in the EC is danged ugly.

I would prefer they work very hard at fixing bugs, getting those arena's up and running, redoing the current old school dungeons (while keeping new players in mind as well) perhaps boosting the spawn rate in some area's making it a bit more challenging by relooking at some of the "old" monsters and perhaps teaching them some "new" tricks.

Fix a bunch of the dungeons so monsters DO NOT spawn where you can't reach them... Fix a ton of places in the Abyss.... if you want I will personally guide you through the abyss and parts of Ter Mur and tell you where monsters are getting stuck in the terrain where you can't reach them. Places with the pixies where crap is still spawning UNDER THE GROUND this sort of thing is NOT acceptable and NEEDS addressed. It makes the DEV team look incompetent and the longer it goes unaddressed the more frustrating it becomes to the player base.

Get and artist who knows how the hell a skirt is supposed to look on my player.... At present 99% of all the skirts and dresses for females in the EC are so tight around the legs that I am absolutely sure she could not take 2 steps without falling flat on her face. Not in the game..... in the game looks fine... however on my paperdoll it looks like CRAP.

Fix the the male paperdoll for god sake... how long have we complained about him???? Since the launch of KR and the EC. Hello! Listening? Don't want excuses fire the artists and get ones willing and able to take on the challenge your players are waiting.

I could go on and on and on about things in the game that need fixing/updating/repaired. How many bugs there are that need addressed that seriously turn of current players, New players and those returning to the game. I hear all the time OMG they seriously haven't fixed that yet??? wtf?

Fix the area's in the Styngian Dragon that get you STUCK! I've paged about submitted countless bug reports ... even sent a PM to Cal about it.... still not fixed.

Things like this players care about. I want content that is engaging and that affects the game. You know how many times we hear things about well if I fight those there are they just going to continue to spawn or does what I do have any impact on the spawn? I agree 100% about the Bane/Ophid fight.... as well as when we had that invasion of brit.... what you do DOES affect the spawn. This is what we want. I want to see I'm making a difference. I like the loyalties... that's great. I can SEE that I'm doing something not just whacking away without any change to the outcome.

I agree with folk too about the Blackrock invaders in Magincia.... another thing we don't like that says DEV's are clueless about the way of things. Ticks me off that I can spend 20 min hitting on these things to have some jerk-o pop in at the last bit and walk away with the prize. Meanwhile I've exhausted how much of my resources for what???? Bupkis.... doesn't make me happy.

Somewhat like working on Pirates. I spend countless HOURS making resources so I can spend 20 min sailing down to the Pirates..... 10 min rounding it up.... 20 min sailing back.. and for what????? one "light" cannonball I don't ever use because HELLO why would I waste time on a Light cannon when I can put a heavy gun in???? Or a part of a deed to a ship that after I've done 20 or so turn ins I've got my ship..... so now what is the reward? A few bottles of smuggled liquor? Well I LOVE that because I run a tavern.. but what about everyone else? I would rather kill the pirate and get his cool doublet... but wait.... I CAN'T Pick the DANGED THING up! So that's not even a reward. WTH. Trust me that would be a worthy reward. But the DEV's just don't get it. How about a roll of that cloth??? Even if somewhat rare... Not stupidly rare (Case in point the Gypsy fiasco).... but somewhat rare... (white dye tub rare even).... would be cool and worthwhile. But no... we don't get anything but a freaking light cannonball.... *sighs*

 

[MalagAste]

Ok and finally because I haven't seen anyone else post about this I'm going to have to...

GET A CLUE devs! Cripes ok the max plot on Magincia is a 15x15??????????? WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING! Why in the heck do you expect ANYONE to take a 15x15 over their current 18x18 or larger plot???????? WHAT would you gain? a special plot on an island?????? BIG WHOOP. What am I supposed to do with all my crap in my 18x18 that of course isn't going to fit in a 15x15?????? Hello that's Barely max storage.... (*&)*(&)(*&)(*&()*&)(&()..... WTF??? Can you be anymore clueless?????

 

[Vlaude]

Thank you chansaw for doing this poll, I hope the devs pay it good mind and do similar ones in the near future for their decisions about what to do with UO.

I voted for systems to be redesigned because I would love to see them redo factions, and not just adding more to what already exists but actually a do-over on them.

However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't also like to see the other stuff addressed, specifically bugs fixed and stopping cheaters.

 

[Luvmylace]

I can't really choose. I want it all ! I am just excited that they are taking it somewhere .We have waited a long time to see UO pick itself up and brush off the cobwebs.
Bravo Team
Imagine it as popular as before!

 

[AND3R]

Of these new games that are so great, how many have the same number of dynamic objects that need to be tracked and identified? Where else can you have a house and something in the region of 4k possessions per account?
I know I'm stupid and have no understanding of coding, but can you really have fabulous graphics and all our 'stuff' and still have a game that will run on an affordable pc?

Valid statement Petra.

Honestly its really tuff to integrate new players into the game if you are only focused on digital distribution and word of mouth. While both methods are great forms of marketing, no business can soley depend on using a couple of marketing methods and be successful.
If there is a budget for marketing I would quickly vote for that first - this is my reason for not voting at all.
New Players are and always will be the lifeblood of any game on any platform.

 

[canary]

Valid statement Petra.

Honestly its really tuff to integrate new players into the game if you are only focused on digital distribution and word of mouth. While both methods are great forms of marketing, no business can soley depend on using a couple of marketing methods and be successful.
If there is a budget for marketing I would quickly vote for that first - this is my reason for not voting at all.
New Players are and always will be the lifeblood of any game on any platform.

Well, I'm still wondering why Cal doesn't make better use of mmorpg.com. A LOT of older games still get coverage, even if its simply to announce a new publish. DAoC and WAR even use it.

... so why isn't Cal taking UO there for news?

 

[Woodsman]

Well, I'm still wondering why Cal doesn't make better use of mmorpg.com. A LOT of older games still get coverage, even if its simply to announce a new publish. DAoC and WAR even use it.

... so why isn't Cal taking UO there for news?

Putting the video diary on Curse.com was a good start. Curse.com even left it in their headline stories for several days.

I still think they should have waited to do anything major like Curse.com until they had video of the new artwork up.

 

[canary]

Putting the video diary on Curse.com was a good start. Curse.com even left it in their headline stories for several days.

I still think they should have waited to do anything major like Curse.com until they had video of the new artwork up.

It is a good start, but Cal's been with us a while. He's had the time to do this.

He has dropped the ball, over and over.

That said, I hope (cautious but not optimistic) that he continues to use news outlets to advertise patches, updates and events like other onlines.

 

[Gunga_Din]

Well, I'm still wondering why Cal doesn't make better use of mmorpg.com. A LOT of older games still get coverage, even if its simply to announce a new publish. DAoC and WAR even use it.

... so why isn't Cal taking UO there for news?

Yes, MMORPG.COM has a decent UO following. He should try to get a unique tag there and start reaching out to members there.

 

[Valas]

I have never really grasped why EA has never exploited the possibilities of UO and created a new MMORPG which completely revolves around the fundamentals of Ultima Online. Sure, the part of UO which keeps the original players interested for 13 years is down to some of the really early and original developments of the game carried out by the original production team. However, surely, an Ultima Online 2 type game is possible? As of yet there is still yet to be an MMO which is largely based around UO's ethics and values.

It strikes me that EA hasn't exploited this opportunity for a WoW contender and re-created Ultima Online, of course there is the numerous clients alongside 2D, which have aimed to give rise to the game again, however these have never really taken off, most likely due to the low budget available on the clients such as KR and EC (Excluding the 3D client in this as it was pretty damn decent for the time it was released, not to everyone's liking albeit as it differed so much from original Ultima Online of 2000).

If EA seriously through some money at a project which aimed to create a 3D MMO with all the values of Ultima Online, the things that keep players in Ultima Online rather than World of Warcraft and the likes, I am sure it could be a serious contender in the MMO market. I think that Ultima Online has been able to survive for so long for a number of reasons.

1. The vast diverse skillset and the ability to design a character in so many different ways rather than being limited by 'classes'
2. The ability to craft items which differ every time and can be tailored to suit a character
3. The community of Ultima Online, the revival of shard events has lead to some really good interaction in the community, something you rarely see on modern MMORPG's
4. The vendor system where by a player can establish their own store and make a living off providing products to players
5. The un-instanced housing available to Ultima Online, this is a really great feature and a really great use of land in Ultima Online. Something not achieved by games like World of Warcraft
6. The ability to actually drop an item on the floor, this seems so minor but again games like World of Warcraft lack this ability and it really is kinda bad that they do.

I am sure there is many more, but that's as many as I have been able to come up with in 5 minutes. I think that if EA took the good things from Ultima Online on board and created a replica in terms of skills and the lore behind Ultima, but relaunched the game, under the same name but with a fresh start welcoming new players, it could be a huge success. EA just needs to start throwing some money at Ultima Online.

 

[chanshaw]

Thank you chansaw for doing this poll, I hope the devs pay it good mind and do similar ones in the near future for their decisions about what to do with UO.

I voted for systems to be redesigned because I would love to see them redo factions, and not just adding more to what already exists but actually a do-over on them.

However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't also like to see the other stuff addressed, specifically bugs fixed and stopping cheaters.

No problem, I think they did notice because there are exactlly 3 votes for "New Content", they are the only people who think we want this

 

[Viper09]

I

Ok and finally because I haven't seen anyone else post about this I'm going to have to...

GET A CLUE devs! Cripes ok the max plot on Magincia is a 15x15??????????? WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING! Why in the heck do you expect ANYONE to take a 15x15 over their current 18x18 or larger plot???????? WHAT would you gain? a special plot on an island?????? BIG WHOOP. What am I supposed to do with all my crap in my 18x18 that of course isn't going to fit in a 15x15?????? Hello that's Barely max storage.... (*&)*(&)(*&)(*&()*&)(&()..... WTF??? Can you be anymore clueless?????

I would take that spot over my 18x18. If I have to dump some of my unused junk to move in so be it. But then again I don't see it even remotely as serious and offensive as you appear to do, lol!

 

[Uvtha]

I vote for fix siege, but I get why they don't, and won't.

 

[Kasumi_Chan]

I stopped playing UO in November 2006 because after ML expansion it got boring. I went to Ragnarok Online and I really liked it because it had a SNES feel to it. I've tried WoW a little and played EQ for about an hour. Every mmorpg I've tried other than UO follows a level/XP gain system that makes the game 100% linear. Go kill monsters and get XP. Go do quests and get XP. Get enough XP to get a level and pick *one* skill. Yay. Playing a wizard the biggest choice is "do I get the fire spell first or the lightning spell". At least with UO, while there are certain templates most use, you can tweak the character how you like. Chivalry didn't work on the miner? Swap it out for magery. Plus you get to own a house, which is a huge factor for me. No other mmorpg can compete in this regard (yeah I know LotR you can own a house, whoopie).

As far as the question, no I'm not happy with where UO is going, but I will still play it and ignore them. I would like bug fixes, better GMs, maybe an expansion to add more spells to each magic type (pull in spells from Ultima 7 such as Spiral Missile, False Coin and Create Ammo). If I was on the dev team I would add in sorcery and theurgy from Ultima 8: Pagan. Hell, I'd add in Serpent Isle and Pagan in their entirety.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

Some systems I'd like to see redesigned are:

- 3D Client Features Added to the 2D Client.
Let's face it, a lot of folks only play the EC because of the added feautres, not because of the graphics. I personally refuse to play the EC because I HATE --- ABSOLUTELY HATE --- the way my character's paperdoll and avatar look in the EC; period. But adding the features of the EC to the CC would be nice. DOUBT UO would spend the money for a completely new client redesign, and if you believe that you're just gullible. They will "patch" and "bandaid" their current clients.

- Questing System Overhaul.
I'd love the addition of new more epic-type quests centered around your skills like lumberjacking, or imbuing, or bushido, etc. Also, adding RP-based quests (for example adding kill tasks or fedex type quests that center around the Royal Guard, so guards [or anyone playing a guard] have something to do that is RP-focused and can storyline off of it. I'd like to see better rewards such as uber items or something to that effect that are gotten through QUESTING rather than monster hunting.

- Guild System Overhaul.
Allow for custom titles and ranks. Better management of your war declares with more options for win/loss situations. Create a new alliance type (a social alliance) that doesn't meddle with guild abilities to declare at the guild-level --- that was you have two types (a warring alliance and a social alliance). Clean up old inactive guilds,allowing for people to remake those guilds should someone wish to come back to the game that wasn't the stone holder. GIVE US GUILD BANKS that guildies can deposit into and Message of Day Stamps at Login! And for the LOVE of God... FIX THE GUILD VOTING FOR GMS, make it so active accounts only have the rights to vote!!!!

- Housing System Overhaul.
Allow folks the ability to have ONE HOUSE per account PER SHARD. I do not see anything wrong with people having a house on Catskills and a house on Atlantic. Also give us more designs, more carpet options (and let us put stuff on carpets without the need to use goza mats plz), more Z axis accessibility, more house add-ons, more co-owners, more friends, more vendors, the ability to have PRIVATE VENDORS would be awesome (you could have a members only shop), remove the cost of vendors (its just silly at this point), more barkeep options too with different goods sold, and most importantly --- OPEN UP HOUSING TO SOME OLD AREAS THAT ARE RESTRICTED!!! I can understand reserving some areas in the new expansion, sure... but why not open Malas, Ilshenar, or T2A to housing at this point? Or areas of Trammel and Felucca that are restricted?


And then some NEW CONTENT...

- Role Playing Booster Pack
Give us flushable toilets and working bathtubs, sofas and loveseats, brewery add ons & label makers for wines and kegs, workable coffins & beds, additional character abilities and emotes, etc. etc. check this thread out ---http://vboards.stratics.com/uo-white-stag-inn/233049-roleplayers-booster-pack-ooc.html

- Customizable Areas at each NPC City.
Take over or place a building in each NPC city that allows our EM's to fully customize it for events held at that city. OR give guild leaders the ability to purchase rights to customize a "city house" for 7 days every so often (every quarter let's say)... they could pick the dates and pay the fee. It could be a HUGE fee too, something that would take various folks to chip in to do --- like 10 million or 20 million.

Let's face it, one of the things that makes UO unique from other games its the expansive ability to role play anything you wish... housing certainly helps in this situation. I think EA should expand on this.

 

[Woodsman]

- 3D Client Features Added to the 2D Client.

There needs to be one client, period. Having to divide very limited bug fixing between two clients is not helping UO at all.

- Housing System Overhaul.
Allow folks the ability to have ONE HOUSE per account PER SHARD. I do not see anything wrong with people having a house on Catskills and a house on Atlantic.

If I were a gold reseller/house seller/etc., I would kiss you many times for this. Being able to have a house on every shard in say Luna, on just one account would be a wonderful thing for the gold resellers and those types. It would save them a lot of money. If there were more players, it would also make it very easy for the house resellers to tie up a lot of large houses with fewer accounts.

As a player, and as somebody who hopes to start seeing more new players one of these days, I'd loathe it. It would tie up too many large houses that would rarely be used for anything other than storage or that would be placed while the resellers try and sell them off, and it definitely impact new players.

I know that there is a glut of tower and 18x18 spots on most shards, but that would disappear quickly, and we'd be facing the fact that for $13 a month, a gold reseller could tie up dozens of 18x18s and towers on just one account. It's very easy money for them - either they try to sell it for cash or they sell it for gold in-game. They are happy either way.

Even if you pretend the people who wouldn't abuse it just to make some gold or cash don't exist, we'd have a housing crisis. We'd have 40,000 accounts or 50,000 or however many there are, able to place over a million houses across the shards. That's insane. That's a way worse situation than the housing crunch before Tram was introduced. Much much worse.

You may not remember what it was like to share a small house with a few other people or live out of a bankbox, but it was bad.

 

[canary]

You may not remember what it was like to share a small house with a few other people or live out of a bankbox, but it was bad.

Don't take this the wrong way, Woodsman, but after reading numerous posts of yours I swear you sound like someone affiliated with the UO team.

 

[HD2300]

You may not remember what it was like to share a small house with a few other people or live out of a bankbox, but it was bad.

Don't take this the wrong way, Woodsman, but after reading numerous posts of yours I swear you sound like someone affiliated with the UO team.

Join date Feb 2011.

350 posts in a month... your doing a good job. The former CM of WAR got panned for only making 15 posts in 7 months, and he was on a full time salary.

 

[Woodsman]

Don't take this the wrong way, Woodsman, but after reading numerous posts of yours I swear you sound like someone affiliated with the UO team.

I've been called a lot of things, I'll add that to my list.

Who wants to tell a returning vet or a new player that even though there is only 50,000 or so accounts, they will have to settle for a small house that will cost them millions? That's what such a plan would do.

The idea should be to bring back vets and bring in new players not discourage them.

 

[Woodsman]

Join date Feb 2011.

350 posts in a month... your doing a good job. The former CM of WAR got panned for only making 15 posts in 7 months, and he was on a full time salary.

10-15 posts a day is not a big deal. I used to post a lot more on at times on my old account, of which I have no intention of reviving.

You don't agree with me a lot HD2300, but feel free to debate my comments and views rather than debating my reg date.

Well I've been informed that you have a very long history of accusing people who don't agree with you of astroturfing, especially supporters of classic shards, but my statement stands: debate my ideas, not my reg date.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

- 3D Client Features Added to the 2D Client.

No, just no. Focus all new improvements on the EC, and maintain the Legacy client in terms of keeping it running and up to date with new content. The Enhanced Client should remain just that... ENHANCED. That includes both graphics and UI.

- Housing System Overhaul.
Allow folks the ability to have ONE HOUSE per account PER SHARD.

This would be nice, but I'm not sure we'll see it happen anymore. MAYBE allow a house of "unlimited" size on a primary shard and one no bigger than 9x9 on a secondary shard (including Siege), but not beyond that.

 

[ChReuter]

I vote for fix siege, but I get why they don't, and won't.

I know this is a bit off topic for this thread, but I really want to comment on this. I'd like to know what you "get" about it? In my opinion, if a product isn't serviceable, is broken, or just becomes a problem for a company, than said product should be discontinued... Now don't get me wrong, the last thing I want is for siege to go the way of the dodo. I'm about to restart on siege and give it my full attention, and would be terribly upset to have it stripped from me. I just don't agree with people who say that they understand why siege is given no, and will be given little to no attention. If it's a product that is offered, it shouldn't be offered in a beat up and borderline broken state. At the very least, if the shard is to be kept online, the players deserve to have one good size overhaul, fixing all that can be fixed and then and only then have the shard placed in a state where no future work aside from bug fixes will be offered.

 

[Nexus]

You didn't really give a good choice for "Other - Will Post and Explain"

Honestly I'm not disappointed in how things are going. They are working with a product that's built on a framework that's technologically inferior to any of it's peers, not because of the skill of the developers at the time, but the limitations in technology that was available to them. In 1995 while UO was being built the technology that every CPU, and GPU today was built on was just hitting the market. Games that started development after UO was released had the advantage of knowledge and experience with the technological advancements the original Development team didn't.

Everything the original development team did was cutting edge, new and fresh and I'm sure some of it was learn as you go in their attempt to harness this new technology. That learning experience still influences the game today.

Secondly everyone here has heard the saying about "Too many cooks in the kitchen....." How many changes in development team has UO undergone? The views and opinions and direction the game was taken has varied with each incarnation some times not much other times drastically. I don't blame any of the current developers for trying to mold UO to their image, it's their baby now not ours, and it never has been ours. I haven't seen a single patch that someone didn't have a complaint about. Anyone remember the outrage at Publish 16? Even publish 5 that brought us the land of Trammel didn't result in such an up roar. Then came Publish 17 and the Age of Shadows, I think you can see where this is heading right? No publish is perfect, no publish has ever pleased everyone.

What's changed isn't the game, it's us. Most of UO's player base isn't tweens and 20 somethings hiding in their mothers basement like with WoW... UO has on average an older player base than any other MMO I can think of, we're entering that "Get off my lawn" phase.