Populating Shards

[Rowdydude]

I try to keep up with all the issues out there and follow the devs attempts to resolve some and improve other areas. To me the biggest issue is lack of players. As a long time players i have characters and houses on numerous shards and for the last two weeks have been tring different shards to see where the action is it seems there is no action i have walked from trinsic to mimoc i have recalled thru all the dungeons and checked the spawn locations and there really never was anything going on. How could we increase the population of the shards? I know there are issues with combining shards the major one being housing. This is not an easy issue to address but as a house owner on many shards i would accept a reasonable solution. What about an upgrade I would trade in some of my smaller house on one or multiple shards for one larger house or one house with equal storage. I know those with house in Luna are gonna want something special but that will have to be decided by the higher up. Currently i live on Origin if the king decided we were leaving this land i would gather my belongings and build one or more houses in the new lands he has decided to move us too or i would stay and be alone. What would be your ideas for combining shards. Another thought is to have moongates that connect shards then you would see a natural progression of people moving to the more populated shard.


Just a thought

 

[Nexus]

I'm working on it!

That's my 6 year old running around Old Haven, with any luck she'll stick with it and UO will have a player for another few decades outta her.

But seriously combining shards isn't really an option. There is a reason they are like they are, they are in different geographical areas except for areas where play base demands dictate multiple servers. Also you have to consider is it better to have a handful of over populated shards or multiple mediocre populated shards? I'm in favor of the latter.

A better option is for players to actively try and bring at least 1 person new to UO or talk one player into returning. That alone would put us back close to UO's peak subscription numbers.

 

[ingsmsico]

I never the people that design computer desks... how can you use a computer while looking UP at a monitor? that would drive me nuts. most screens are designed to look down or level at.

 

[Evlar]

Sadly, the only way populations are going to increase on particular shards, is to merge shards. That's not going to go down to well with many players on the shards that get the chop.

To close a shard and ask players to pick another "home" would certainly be a bold decision for whoever is responsible for making it. Some players would move without much fuss, if they're given free character transfers and perhaps some form of compensation. Others however, would likely quit the game completely.

The biggest problem, is that there's very few new or returning players coming to UO. Those who do and who perhaps played on what are now low population shards, likely move to more populated shards.

Either way, I think that UO is going to reach a watershed point within the next twelve months. Some tough decisions will most likely need to taken. If there were to be shard closures though, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if players weren't given much more than a month's notice, if that.

On a side note, one of the things I believe will make a big difference to the largest proportion of the player base for current UO, that being the Japanese and Asian markets, will be when the "new" 3D driven UO is launched in 2011, under license from EA/Mythic, by NetDragon Websoft of China.

So, twelve months from now, I think we'll have a much better picture of where UO is heading.

 

[Nexus]

I never the people that design computer desks... how can you use a computer while looking UP at a monitor? that would drive me nuts. most screens are designed to look down or level at.

If me or my GF are sitting there it's level, my daughter on the other hand is still a bit on the short side... you know comes with being just out of kindergarten...

 

[ingsmsico]

If me or my GF are sitting there it's level, my daughter on the other hand is still a bit on the short side... you know comes with being just out of kindergarten...

still, my monitor sits 3 inches off the desk, yours sits several inches higher than that gatorade bottle including the desk lift and monitor lift.

to each his own...

mine should probably be a little higher, actually I want an adjustable stand for the monitor that also allows me to rotate it to read documents.

 

[Nexus]

still, my monitor sits 3 inches off the desk, yours sits several inches higher than that gatorade bottle including the desk lift and monitor lift.

to each his own...

mine should probably be a little higher, actually I want an adjustable stand for the monitor that also allows me to rotate it to read documents.

That's my GF's desk, if I'm at mine I have to look down slightly at my monitor. I would lower my chair but then typing becomes less comfortable.

We tried her's with the monitor on the Desk part not raised like that... In the end she preferred it where it is now.

 

[Tina Small]

I know there are issues with combining shards the major one being housing.

Don't forget that some people have filled up their character slots on multiple shards too. Which characters do you kill off when you combine shards? I would have a hard time deciding which characters to sacrifice and lose all the power and stat scrolls they've used. I also don't own a million soul stones and am absolutely not interested in buying a truckload more (probably couldn't anyway with the quantity limitations the gamecode store imposes), so that would be a heck of a lot of time spent training gone down the drain when the excess characters go *poof.*

If EA ever decides to do shard mergers, I will know for sure it's time to say goodbye for good. Am not interested in fighting for housing, sacrificing characters, or playing on busy shards. I already have characters and houses on a couple of busy shards and find that I often just don't like the crowds, the lag, the nonstop merchant chatter in general chat, and constantly bumping into people.

As with real life, I feel like people who enjoy constantly being in the middle of a lot of hustle and bustle are free to relocate themselves to a busier and more crowded location. And people who really don't enjoy all that can relocate themselves to a quieter and less crowded location. And if you honestly feel that the game is in jeopardy of shutting down for lack of people, work harder on getting family and friends to start playing or to come back to UO.

 

[chuckoatl]

You dont need to combine shards, just the dungeons and T2A. Make all east coast dungeons (despise, destard, etc) and T2A all together. Make it so you cant leave a dungeon or T2A if your flagged, since it would be an easy get away if you could just run out. Would be awesome to see a 5-6 shard harry fight too. Would be EPIC!!!

 

[Yalp]

... invest 6 months worth of uo subscriptions into an advertising campaign and get the game on the store shelves... problem solved!

 

[Fink]

I want an adjustable stand for the monitor that also allows me to rotate it to read documents.

Around $30 from just about any office supply store.

Unless you're using a CRT?

 

[Myna]

must be hard to put down the monitor behind the keyboard while she is sitting there .... hey its just a childs neck, nothing to worry about, omg

 

[wee papa smurf]

must be hard to put down the monitor behind the keyboard while she is sitting there .... hey its just a childs neck, nothing to worry about, omg

lol wtf, im sure the kid doesnt play alot so i dont think you have to worry your little self there

 

[maroite]

must be hard to put down the monitor behind the keyboard while she is sitting there .... hey its just a childs neck, nothing to worry about, omg

Most children in schools look at teachers/chalk boards at about that same angle...

 

[LordDrago]

To each his own I guess

 

[Nexus]

must be hard to put down the monitor behind the keyboard while she is sitting there .... hey its just a childs neck, nothing to worry about, omg

So like all the folks that have their TV mounted over a fireplace making folks look slightly upwards at it are evil?


Honestly she doesn't play that much.. maybe 10 minutes here and there.... Told her a bit back once she gets where she can read "The Hobbit" well enough to explain to me what happens in the book I'll build her, her own PC and set it up.

 

[Evlar]

Told her a bit back once she gets where she can read "The Hobbit" well enough to explain to me what happens in the book I'll build her, her own PC and set it up.

Sounds good to me. I read the "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" when I was quite young. We then studied both books in English at secondary school, where I was the only kid in the class who had already read them.

Always good to have kids reading quality books at an early age.

Oh... and playing the old "Lord of the Rings" text adventure games on an Amstrad CPC464 computer, did wonders for my spelling. If you input a word incorrectly, your reply was always "SYNTAX ERROR". Ahhhh... those were the days!

 

[Cetric]

You dont need to combine shards, just the dungeons and T2A. Make all east coast dungeons (despise, destard, etc) and T2A all together. Make it so you cant leave a dungeon or T2A if your flagged, since it would be an easy get away if you could just run out. Would be awesome to see a 5-6 shard harry fight too. Would be EPIC!!!

That would be pretty fkin awesome

 

[Cetric]

So like all the folks that have their TV mounted over a fireplace making folks look slightly upwards at it are evil?


Honestly she doesn't play that much.. maybe 10 minutes here and there.... Told her a bit back once she gets where she can read "The Hobbit" well enough to explain to me what happens in the book I'll build her, her own PC and set it up.

I have my tv above my fireplace, and i must say, i don't think i could go back to it being on a stand. I read all the forums about the height, etc etc. But it actually is comfortable, and looks great.

 

[Cetric]

On a side note-- if there was a big server merge, how many people are that attached to their uo houses they couldn't pack up and move? I'd love to see fel have some insane numbers again.

 

[Evlar]

Having played on a few different servers and moved my main gameplay from one to another more than once, it wouldn't worry me at all.

I see more benefits overall were mergers to happen, but I also appreciate the unique history and individuality that's attached to each shard.

I just wonder what would constitute the lowest figures required for EA/Mythic to consider closing or merging a shard.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

If there was some method allowed that actually ended up with a specific housing server, I wouldn't have issues. While my house is not in a favored area, I'd certainly dislike having to move.

Housing server - reds allowed however Tram ruleset. Central gates to any prodo shard in the system in a central area. Each prodo shard has a moongate option (like facet) for "Housing Shard".

 

[Yalp]

I, yes I get to keep my Zento housing spots.. yes plural! The rest of you who have houses at those spots on other shards.. tough titties! I called it first.. you will have to drop your house to make way for mine! Muhaaaaaa! :gun:

As is the example in real life.. there are people who love living in a nosy crowded city with anonymity being the priority. Where lag is measured in minutes not milliseconds. There are people who love living in the peaceful solitude of small towns.. with low prices and some "elbow room".

... UO being the great sandbox that it is.. has something for everyone.

 

[Lady Storm]

How about buying a trial subscription for a friend or relitive for a birthday gift or holliday? Give the www to a co worker and have them come learn to hunt, craft, or pvp out their stress. There are things we can do to improve the player base. Many of us have our old boxes there is new player codes on them = give to a friend, cousin, aunt , uncle, or grandparent! Yes even granny can woop your butt in UO.

WE forget alot of our fellow players are under finacial strain and cant aford to pay even the low fee of uo. If you can aford it and know of someone who can use it offer them a time code, I did and got a few friends to play when hard times had them down in the dumps.

Encourage the non-computer person they can do it, Fishing for that angler friend. Taming for that pet lover. Gardening for that person who loves flowers, the UO world is full of things to do that match real life hobbies. USE them to get moe ppl to come to our worlds.

It only takes 1 per player to bring a new life to our world, give it a try.
If each of us brings in just 1 new player UO would be that much more for the effort.

 

[Babble]

There are several ways to get more people to play UO.
Lesser fees or free to play with item shop or other similar systems.

Now that LOTR goes free to play though I hope other games get more attractive paying systems.

 

[MalagAste]

I don't know.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

On one hand, having free to play, pay for options would be ok..... but we already have problems with abuses of the system ..... bots and things...

And for another thing I've thought about, merging shards is a NO. I live on GL's.... that's my home. I don't care to be anywhere else. I know the history of my shard all the old players and whatnot the RP the community.... and I don't give a rats pie hole about any other shards history... I know that may sound nasty mean.... but GL's is my home... I've no desire to be anywhere else.... I tried that once.... it just wasn't the same and I moved back home.

The only way I see this working at all... would be this:

First they DEV's make about 10 new shards... Themed shards... For PvM, PvP, Classic, Pre-AoS... and RP.... They work on building each shard to those specks.... then they put it to a vote.... who would play where? What would the rules of that shard be.... how would EM's "assist" the shard... what would the role be of the DEV's as far as rewards and upkeep..... and adding things to each one..? Would it be "feasable" because to do something like this they would have to cater each new "publish" to a shard type... Bugs and things would be different depending on the shard. They would have to figure out what would be the "hottest" shard styles.... and then offer 2 or 3 of those less of the less popular styles...

and finally after doing all that..... they then give each person a "house transfer crate"..... you pack up your house and move to one of the new shards..... "one time use" token.... the house and everything is moved(entire account) by NOT deleted from the original shard yet... So it's "duplicated" they set a time limit.. 30 days.... after the 30 days are up they destroy all the old shards... in some massive RP event that gives a "finality" to each of the old shards and the characters are "blasted" duplicated onto the "new" chosen shard. Gives an end to the old and a beginning of the new without killing RP or the community....

However things that are unique to shards like blessed seer homes and such are destroyed and lost forever.... which to me is sad.

My thought on that scenario is it would probably kill many communities and worse yet drive away a bunch of people who like me are rather attached to their shards. But it would be one of the few solutions that would be fairish... everyone would have to start out fresh..... (oh.... and there would be NO housing allowed inside Luna walls). That housing would be reserved for people who the DEV's feel contribute most to each shard. Or by some sort of lotto or contests. All housing area's would be opened to all house sizes however only the original housing brought by house deed would be able to be placed for the first 3 months... no immediate upgrading for anyone so you wouldn't have everyone trying to "resize" their plots to a castle....

Each of these specialty shards would have a 30 to 60 day "trial" period where they would act much like a TC... before turning on the transfer duplication.... So people could try them out and decide what best suits them... And the DEV's would be able to see what really works, what is going to be exploited, and what folk really want.

But those are just a few of my random idea's on the matter... I know they are well a bit out there. But ideas are just that...

 

[Beleg Megil]

... invest 6 months worth of uo subscriptions into an advertising campaign and get the game on the store shelves... problem solved!

^This. Only solution to more players.

Why isn't EA crowing about UO as being the longest running, most extensive MMO on the planet at E3 convention every year? Spare us 5 seconds in their yearly, on stage, televised presentation! Put a cheap 10 dollar disc on store shelves again, even if its just a Walmart or Target exclusive!

Closing shards won't save them money. From what I understand, running one shard costs them the same as running 40 now. Closing any shard will cost them money because players will quit. That's all they care about is getting their money. Doesn't matter to them if we are spread out on 40 shards, we're still paying our subscription. I also do not see them shutting down UO any time soon. It costs EA very little to keep UO going. If there were only 20% of the current player base still paying, EA would still be making a profit on UO.

If people want more playmates, its up to them to switch shards and find one more populated, or convince others to switch to theirs.

I do think we should not have to pay as much as we do to transfer just one player, though. 10 bucks at most and that should be good for your whole account.

 

[Valerin]

Add another in support of merging shards. It needs to happen. Offer some kind of reward to the people of the shard that will be losing their housing spot(s).

 

[Tanivar]

Merging Shards would be a good thing. You can often spend hours in the wilds hunting, see hundreds of houses, and not see one other player. It's like playing a standalone game.

Each Shards server setup has costs to it. Building & equipment maintenence, an electric bill, phone bill, property taxes for the building, the costs of the link to the Internet, personnel wages & benefits, and probably more business related expenses.

Shutting down Shards that are ghost towns and getting the remaining Shards populations up to where there are people around to run into outside of Luna would be a good thing overall.

Those that quit over it will likely eventually return. The occasional new player will find people to interact with and be more likely to stay.

I'd hate to lose my house location, I admit, <shrug> but I've moved before. Life in Britannia goes on.

 

[Tukaram]

If me or my GF are sitting there it's level, my daughter on the other hand is still a bit on the short side... you know comes with being just out of kindergarten...

Tell her to quit slacking off and grow up!

 

[Sneaky Que]

Said it before, and will say it again, the way to help the lower pop shards is NOT merging them (this will only cost subscribers in the long run). I know this is frowned on, and normally I would agree, but UO needs to copy WoW on this one. Allow free one-way char xfers from high pop shards to low pop shards. This way we would have less overpopulated shards, less underpopulated shards, and more shards with a medium level population.

 

[Tanivar]

Said it before, and will say it again, the way to help the lower pop shards is NOT merging them (this will only cost subscribers in the long run). I know this is frowned on, and normally I would agree, but UO needs to copy WoW on this one. Allow free one-way char xfers from high pop shards to low pop shards. This way we would have less overpopulated shards, less underpopulated shards, and more shards with a medium level population.

Start up the EC and check out the populations shown on the Shard list. When I patched the EC yesterday most Shards showed low population with perhaps a third of them showing medium population. None showed high population.

The playerbase has shrank to much.

 

[Lady Storm]

Start up the EC and check out the populations shown on the Shard list. When I patched the EC yesterday most Shards showed low population with perhaps a third of them showing medium population. None showed high population.

The playerbase has shrank to much.

Then my idea is better. Get just 1 new friend to join you playing -if you feel so strong to save UO then get them a code and loan them a disk or give them the downloader www. I think to get more life out of UO get 1 friend/ coworker etc.. and offer 1 month to try it. 13.00$ is a good investment in your gaming future. Who knows you might just get him to bring in another friend too. (there is a bonus in this the 200 luck necklass if you get a friend to join.) Best off we double population and show EA UO is worth the time and money. Its player base says so.

 

[Yalp]

So EA invests a ton of manpower for something they don't need to do, have stated a dozen times they have no plans to do, and which will absolutely without question cause them to lose players (paying customers) .... then what?

Few players on fewer shards.

If you want full servers.. go out and get more customers..... and how do we do this children? ... letting people know of your product.. advertise! Market! Promote the living snot out of it.. get it into the hands of people who like games and have never heard or seen UO before.. get it on store shelves.

 

[maroite]

So EA invests a ton of manpower for something they don't need to do, have stated a dozen times they have no plans to do, and which will absolutely without question cause them to lose players (paying customers) .... then what?

Few players on fewer shards.

If you want full servers.. go out and get more customers..... and how do we do this children? ... letting people know of your product.. advertise! Market! Promote the living snot out of it.. get it into the hands of people who like games and have never heard or seen UO before.. get it on store shelves.

Well.. I agree Yalp. But, with UO there is a bit of a problem. Although many people won't want to admit it, and its fine if you like 2D, but the fact is that most MMO players who have never played or heard of UO will never play UO with the current 2D graphics if those are what are advertised. Not to mention that the 2D macro system is extremely different from most mainstream MMOs, and like most 2D supporters, new players won't want to spend the time to learn some new system.

My friends asked me why I was playing UO again, and before I commented about the EC, they made comments on the poor UI and horrible graphics. They said they wouldn't bother coming back to it because of that. I mentioned the EC and talked about it a bit and the seemed slightly more interested, but not for $12 a month...

Then there is the EC, which has better graphics, but at the same time it is buggy and still in beta, and one of the biggest banes of recent MMO's is companies put out unfinished products which cause people to quit. People want perfection.

 

[Tanivar]

Well.. I agree Yalp. But, with UO there is a bit of a problem. Although many people won't want to admit it, and its fine if you like 2D, but the fact is that most MMO players who have never played or heard of UO will never play UO with the current 2D graphics if those are what are advertised. Not to mention that the 2D macro system is extremely different from most mainstream MMOs, and like most 2D supporters, new players won't want to spend the time to learn some new system.

My friends asked me why I was playing UO again, and before I commented about the EC, they made comments on the poor UI and horrible graphics. They said they wouldn't bother coming back to it because of that. I mentioned the EC and talked about it a bit and the seemed slightly more interested, but not for $12 a month...

Then there is the EC, which has better graphics, but at the same time it is buggy and still in beta, and one of the biggest banes of recent MMO's is companies put out unfinished products which cause people to quit. People want perfection.

UO is also not level-based, it's skill (well, actually gear) based. Joe, Janet, George, & Jennifer can start playing UO together, become friends, play different numbers of hours over the next year, and still hunt well together because their not far different levels.

UO is also a sandbox. Your not forced to pretty much do a series of quests, or follow a path theough the game to advance in it. You can pretty much go where you please and still advance in the game.

And no, the EC graphics for characters and monsters are trash. 2D is far better looking in spite of being old style. Clean thy glasses rolleyes:

 

[JosephineBaja]

Well.. I agree Yalp. But, with UO there is a bit of a problem. Although many people won't want to admit it, and its fine if you like 2D, but the fact is that most MMO players who have never played or heard of UO will never play UO with the current 2D graphics if those are what are advertised."

You'd be surprised how many people out there don't like gawdy glittery cartoony graphics. I prefer 2D and know many others who do as well. I've tried WOW and the graphics just weren't for me.

To me, the 2D graphics are more artistic and more realistic as far as proportions and movement.

You can NEVER satisfy everyone. It's good business to reach out to niche markets. I think there is a nice sizable niche of people who would love UO. UO can't be WOW. If it were, it wouldn't be UO, it'd just be another WOW wannabe.

 

[Righteous]

I admit I didnt read every post so this opinion might have already been stated.

If I want company while I adventure I send out a few messages to friends and see what they are up to and go join them, if no one is on or they are busy crafting or something, I find something to do that is fun solo. Now if I am really in need to go do something that requires multiple people I send out messages until I can get enough people to go and do the task sometime in the future. Combining shards in order to have a larger base of players just so you can have some company, while inconviencing a large number of players I believe is a waste of time and money on the part of EA.

Now that being said I admit I enjoy being able to go to an area and play and not be disturbed and I also enjoy getting a couple of friends and doing a peerless.

When everyone has a castle and there is room for everone on the shard you wish to combine with could have a castle then I believe it would be time to combine shards. Until then spend some time on each shard during the peak local play time and move to the shard with the largest number of people on it and I think you will be happy.

One finally note to think about, just because there isnt alot of people online at the time you are looking doesnt mean there isnt a ton of people paying to keep that shard open, I personally have 5 accounts and play only a few days a month unless there is a fairly cool event going, I just don't have the RL time to be on all the time, but I do have the money to keep the dream alive.

 

[Smoot]

I love the 2d client. Always have and always will. Theres so many ways to immerse yourself in the game, make a place for yourself, you dont need flashy graphics. Its like a classic car. That being said, merging shards would be impossible, uo isnt some cookie cutter game like Wow and the like. Each shard has its own unique history. The free transfer idea would be good tho, although i know many people would abuse this and just use it like a normal shard hop for scroll farming / item buying at low pop shards. I think UO is fine, really tho EA could make alot of more money if they just advertised a little. Really, i think the base price per month is fine, its the initial cost that turns people off. If the game was about 15 bucks, more people would buy it.

 

[Zosimus]

I let my daughter try it out this past year she was 4 at the time. She was instantly bored with it. I kind of ruined her by letting her play guild wars and warhammer online before UO. She actually pretty good using a computer. She did one time while I was afk on my red in my house get off her computer and killed somebody that was attacking me while I was getting some tea. But she thinks club penquin is more fun then UO.

Truthfully we have to work with what population we have left. We dont get many new players and returning players come and go. Some stay some go after a month. It's not the game they were used to. That char copying stuff though may be a sign of moving chars to other shards. Not items or housing but chars.

 

[Yalp]

EA's responsibility as a company is to market their product. Unless I was napping and missed it, then the person responsible for marketing UO should be out on the street in the unemployment line. Last time I saw UO outside of my computer screen.. I was stealing (I paid for) someone's pre-ordered 9th anniversary editions they had set behind the counter in an Electronics Arts store... because I wanted extra copies and they only received what was pre-ordered.

I did however see television, hear radio and read print ads for WoW with none other than Mr. T. Mr. T for pity's sake! Those old enough to remember when he was "cool" remember that even then, we knew he was a big joke and a laughing stock.. but he's out there now pushing WoW.

hmm.. lame 70's idiot selling 21st century on-line game.. EA can't come up with anything for UO? Sad just sad.