Rumour floating around my shard

[Jirel of Joiry]

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever! Is there any truth to this? People are quitting in droves because of this and I can't find anything anywhere that he ever said that. Anyone else heard this? If so where did it come from? Most importantly...IS IT TRUE?

 

[Sorcon Gartius]

This is not the reason people are quitting.

 

[Jirel of Joiry]

This is not the reason people are quitting.

Well its the reason alot of my TS crew is giving. Obviously the economy is going the be VERY HARD on ALL online games. This one just keeps coming up so I had to know if there's any truth to it.

 

[kelmo]

Rumors are just that... I have heard or read no such thing. People that spread rumors do so to feel empowered. I would pay it no mind.

 

[gjohnson5]

This is not the reason people are quitting.

What reasons have you heard of people quitting.
I'm curious because I was about to buy something and I am waiting to hear relevant information

 

[Nok]

Hi Jirel,

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever! Is there any truth to this? People are quitting in droves because of this and I can't find anything anywhere that he ever said that. Anyone else heard this? If so where did it come from? Most importantly...IS IT TRUE?

If it were true... UO Stratics forums like UHall here and all the other major forums around the UO community would be talking up a storm about it. Even if it was said during a DAoC or WAR conversation, it would have been picked up and posted here. Without a link to something verifiable... it is an unsubstaniated rumor at best.

Now you can search UOS here, the rest of the UO community... and find that Mark Jacobs has posted in conversations that "UO is wildly profitable", has around 100k subs (which is 3x more than DAoC, and 4x less than WAR). Mythic has hired addtional artists and coders for UO. Added a new EM program. Has 2 community managers now instead of 1. Training more CSGMs. And lots of other things going on behind the scenes.

Despite things that get heard at the shard level, the future of UO is looking healthy from an operational standpoint.

Just my 2 pesos.

 

[Hemisphere]

it's probably loosely based on what Mark Jacobs (or some other Mythic representitive) said about EA wanting to shut down UO, but Mythic negotiating with them to keep it open.

It would be conjecture to assume that he meant that he persuaded EA to give UO one last shot, but it wouldn't be totally unfounded.

The "secret project" was supposed to "make or break" UO, so was KR. Both flopped (sorry KR lovers ), and after KR's failure EA were probably champing at the bit to shut things down (and this was the point when the negotations between EA and Mythic to keep UO open took place).

I'm sure SA will be as much of a success as any other UO expansion which withholds new and advantageous content from players, so if UO's future really does rest on the success of SA, I wouldn't worry too much. I'm fairly (though not completely ) sure EA realise by now they can't expect a significant bump in subscription numbers from any new expansion - it's the existing players, and the constant churn of returning players that keep UO alive.

 

[Uriah Heep]

Well as to the failure of KR, they have only themselves to blame. No pity for em here.

SA, you know, I can see their point, if it doesnt do anything to pull in at least the outlayed expenses of developing it and KR, then perhaps they might view us as a lost cause. My worry, is that it will be a self-fulfilling prophesy, you know, IF SA doesnt perform and increase profit, then we are shutting down...and then they don't publish a cd, don't advertise, don't put one on store shelves...which will surely choke it's attractiveness to new players down to nil, and won't be real attractive to us existings either. So I think, in the end, they are gonna feed into their own demise.

Hope I'm wrong


Also, I don't know if they will shut us down, or just put us on autopilot. DaoC is running pretty much that way, and must be making em a little money. The next best game ever *chuckles* Warhammer, is already fading...
Our salvation may turn out to be the ones of us paying for multiple accounts and padding UO's sub numbers, who knows???

 

[Maplestone]

These rumours will always exist - even if Mark come on this thread and gave a flat endorsement of UO's immortality, they would continue to exist.

Mark doesn't strike me as the sort to drink a glass of "it'll pull in a million subscribers" koolaid ... so if its a viable entity as-is, it would make no economic sense to shut down servers after all the development has already been spent - you can't get it back.

I do think it would be nice if MMORPGs paid a portion of subscription fees into an endowment fund so that eventually they would be able to achieve self-sufficient funding capable of supporting the servers and support indefinitely.

 

[Gheed]

Also I remember reading a snippet in an early post from MJ. It was from a long time ago when Mythic was gaining control of UO. He referred to the possibility that both DAoC and UO could become zombie games. Not that it was his plan by any means. I don't think UO will ever die completely as in pull the plug. It's retirement will come through the golden years via an endless supply of electricity maybe a few trainee programmers every once in a while. But little or nothing more.

 

[Fink]

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever!

Not to be difficult but define "total success"? Most rumours are fuelled by such extreme words and are usually overly-emotive, eg "forever"). It's the same pattern in any language.

 

[Dor of Sonoma]

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever! Is there any truth to this? People are quitting in droves because of this and I can't find anything anywhere that he ever said that. Anyone else heard this? If so where did it come from? Most importantly...IS IT TRUE?

Ummm...wouldn't it be rather ridiculous to quit over something that not only hasn't happened yet, but isn't even verifiably predictable?

Doesn't make much sense to me

 

[Lord Cuda]

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever! Is there any truth to this? People are quitting in droves because of this and I can't find anything anywhere that he ever said that. Anyone else heard this? If so where did it come from? Most importantly...IS IT TRUE?

Put down the Rotgut and quit listening to the Jabberwokies....

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

The only possible source for this rumor that I've seen is an off-hand comment made by Jacobs on some blog, MONTHS ago, that EA wanted to shut down UO until he convinced them to fully put it under Mythic's wing.

Whether this is true or not we can't say. It is very curious that, just a few months or so before than, a Mythic exec referred to UO as being "wildly profitable."

Taken together, those remarks have an almost surreal impact. "UO is a wildly profitable business venture that is endangered." Think about how little sense that makes, and yet 2 higher-ups at Mythic made each of those statements.

Normally I discount rumors like the one you've been hearing. They make no sense, and when they are right it's usually by coincidence.

However, in an environment like this, I can definitely understand how the rumors spread. After basically hearing something as weird as "UO is a wildly profitable business venture that is endangered," the implausible suddenly seems plausible.

-Galen's player

 

[Maplestone]

Ummm...wouldn't it be rather ridiculous to quit over something that not only hasn't happened yet, but isn't even verifiably predictable?

Doesn't make much sense to me

People will do ridiculous, counter-productive things when they feel their familiar surroundings might be threatened. It may be irrational, but it makes sense to me

 

[Ender]

I wouldn't doubt it if I heard it to be honest.

 

[lucitus]

Ahh crap atm UO never dies, there is no other good MMORPG out to quit UO for. On my shard it is completly diffrent at this time, many old players comming back, want to see what happend with SA. Mythic in my eyes have done a failure and the failure was KR, the plan was to release the client first and a half year after that SA. They failed because of a missmanagment which results in a significant move of the dev team.

The Client was not ready, but instead of open communication they keep silent, doing a few things here and there, useless community collections instead of integrating the new faction items into the existing system. Its clear, it is a lot of easier to place a box with almost ready dropping system, than integrating into faction crafting for example.

Then the "Draconi" plan, a booring slow moving event line. Unbalanced Greater Dragons!

I dont want to see all negative, but all things they have done in the last year were so superficial, but iam full of hope now with the EM's and the time they had, there is something big going on the future.

Dont understand me wrong, it is not necessary to make changes, but if you do changes, please make them right, with more potential in it.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

ok who is in charge of rumor control around here?? Need to talk to them about a rumor I want them to start

 

[Cysphruo]

what would be the point of them closing the game, theres enough people who like it as it is and would play it for a long time without development of any expansions.
all we need are shiny new pixels and bug fixes, end of story.

 

[Tomas_Bryce]

Ya they are closing down UO. Thats why they restarted the EM program and been hiring new developers. Why look at the obvious signs when you can believe some random rumor instead?

 

[Borric]

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever! Is there any truth to this? People are quitting in droves because of this and I can't find anything anywhere that he ever said that. Anyone else heard this? If so where did it come from? Most importantly...IS IT TRUE?

No worries Jorel. I have a feeling in my heart, that stays "NOT GOING TO HAPPEN".

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

No worries Jorel. I have a feeling in my heart, that stays "NOT GOING TO HAPPEN".

I had that feeling too.

Empirically and rationally, there are simply more good signs than bad ones.

Then Mark Jacobs dropped his bombshell and I haven't felt at ease about the game's future sense.

He really owes us an appearance and an explanation for that bizarre remark. We are his 2nd largest game right now, and Warhammer Online: The Age of Reckoning may be bigger, but it's below expectation. By contrast, Ultima Online is setting expectations for a 11-year old subscription-based MMO, because there are no other 11-year old subscription-based MMOs except for Ultima Online.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

People will do ridiculous, counter-productive things when they feel their familiar surroundings might be threatened. It may be irrational, but it makes sense to me

Yep.

Just look at EA. Hell, look at the entire US economy.

-Galen's player

 

[Uriah Heep]

Yep.

Just look at EA. Hell, look at the entire US economy.

-Galen's player

LOL

My economy has always been like that,

Y'all just now catching up with me!

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

IS IT TRUE?

No...la

 

[the 4th man]

Please define "droves".....I fail to see what you're making reference to.
As for this alleged rumour.....did you ask Mr Jacobs before pushing the panic button?

I'd get the facts straight before posting, otherwise, you just passing rumours around.

Uo is like a good band, it has stood the test of time, and time is what it takes. Yes, shards may not be as populace as they were, but they still exist.
Wait 11 years and see where World of whatever is at.....then we can say...okay, it was good enough to hold a good sum of subscribers.

later

 

[curlybeard]

Before the economy tanked there used to be pressure, by shareholders, on large corporations to remove business units that weren't profitable enough, using the profits generated by the seemingly unstoppable financial industry as a benchmark (i.e. GE forced to sell its profitable plastics division to a Saudi firm). Now that those financial industry profits turned out to be <strike>an illusion</strike> a big lie, i think that simply making a profit is enough to ensure UOs survival.

Look at the amount of resources that are being thrown our way, it hasn't been like this in years. I think UO is a stable source of income for EA/Mythic, our subs number isn't drastically moving up or down. Development costs are minimal compared to a new game, and well marketing ... =)

I am sure some people are canceling accounts due to the economy, but an account costs less than going to the movies and buying some popcorn ... so it seems like UO is a great entertainment value. Shoot ... I skip 2 starbucks coffees and I've paid for my sub.

Plus UO allows people to escape just how screwed we all are in the real world. I know UOs economy is messed up, but it isn't anywhere near as bad as the real thing.

 

[Larry]

People have been talking about UO shutting down since AoS launched...

It's all crap.

 

[Ender]

People have been talking about UO shutting down since AoS launched...

It's all crap.

Except the playerbase has been steadily dwindling.

 

[Vallend]

I don't know about the other shards, but I have seen one friend leave my shard in the last two months and... 6 people I know return to the shard from other games. You would be surprised how lost they are on what is going on because they have not been paying attention while they were gone. (I try my best to get them up to speed because so much has happened in the last year alone.) If anything I would say UO is on a upswing now.

 

[Kariny]

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=14972.msg529849#msg529849


Is the forum thread referring to MJ convincing them to pump more into UO.

Face it. If they do shut down UO it had a good run. Just play it till the sky falls. Remember it's just a game and rumors are usually just exactly that - rumors.

 

[Budweiser]

If EA pulls the plug, Can I have everyones stuff?

 

[Oriana]

I find these rumors hysterical myself. 8+ years and how many dooms day predictions has UO survive. Baja has just had a really big influx of returning players, so even for all those quitting, I think at least on Baja anyway, we're getting a lot more back.

 

[Jhym]

How much gold do you get off a Floating Rumour?

Are there paragons?

 

[Valas]

Europa seems to be gaining players rather than losing them also.

Despite the fact, in the current situation EA needs all the profit they can get, whether that be in a small amount from UO or not.

 

[Harlequin]

People have been talking about UO shutting down since AoS launched...

It's all crap.

People have been talking about that and starting rumours way before AOS, eg UO:R (trammel). Actually I suspect some people would have said that when UO first started and they didn't like it.

AS someone said, rumour mongers feel empowered when people believe their lies.

 

[CatLord]

You know you can tip a cow?

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

There is a rumour running wildly around my shard. Supposedly Mark Jacobs said that if Stygian Abyss is not a total sucess then he will close UO forever! Is there any truth to this? People are quitting in droves because of this and I can't find anything anywhere that he ever said that. Anyone else heard this? If so where did it come from? Most importantly...IS IT TRUE?

Okay 4th word says it: RUMOR

How do you define total success? Think about it: RUMOR

What is a drove? And how do they quit in droves: RUMOR

Close UO forever: PLEASE they make money: RUMOR

I heard this rumor from you. Therefore perpetuated: RUMOR

5 RUMOR marks, Id say this is a well RUMOR.

Argh (not directed at you) Just people.

I actually heard that if its (SA) a significant success a market effort will be put out that includes box presence at stores. If the UO subcribers increase in hoardes then we will get a bonus for being long time players.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

People have been talking about that and starting rumours way before AOS, eg UO:R (trammel). Actually I suspect some people would have said that when UO first started and they didn't like it.

On the latter, you'd be right.

First prediction of UO's imminent death I could find was one month after its launch. It was on the old Usenet. (Many of you are too young to know what that is.) The sign things were coming to an end: The ferry from Skara to the mainland still wasn't activated. Granted, the poster indicated that this issue was a symptom of other issues, but still, the issue that actually caused the prediction was the ferry.

-Galen's player

 

[rwek]

Hi Jirel,




Now you can search UOS here, the rest of the UO community... and find that Mark Jacobs has posted in conversations that "UO is wildly profitable", has around 100k subs (which is 3x more than DAoC, and 4x less than WAR).

Just my 2 pesos.

Thats not saying much about DAOC - It's beyond dead. there are like 300 people online on any one server and half of them are duel clients. So Hopefully UO is doing much much better then daoc.

 

[Connor_Graham]

there are like 300 people online on any one server and half of them are duel clients.

So what you're saying is there are more people playing with themselves than by themselves.


Gotcha.

 

[Yazman]

People have been talking about that and starting rumours way before AOS, eg UO:R (trammel). Actually I suspect some people would have said that when UO first started and they didn't like it.

AS someone said, rumour mongers feel empowered when people believe their lies.

You're right, its pretty much just stupid rumours.

World of Warcraft is now five years old if we only count the years its been officially out (people sometimes count the beta when calculating MMO age) and there are already people talking about how, on some boards, they think it is "dying" and rumours that Blizz will stop focusing on it once Diablo 3 & Starcraft 2 come out.

But its just stupid rumours, especially considering the very bright future it has.

The same goes for Ultima Online (although its future is not as bright as WoW's I guess, but in 6 years time it will be in the same position as UO is now).