Seriously considering leaving EA based UO shards after 15 years.

[Ivor_MacGregor]

Let me start off by stating this is not a another EA UO bash.

With that said...

I have been playing EA shards for about 15 years now with a 2 year break. I came back right after the creation of the Abyss. I was excited to learn the new content, mysticism, custom house designing, etc. It kept me entertained for a while. A few years ago a friend of mine whom I used to play with in a catskills rp guild (prior to the release of mondain's legacy) informed me about a free shard (name removed by Petra Fyde). Honestly, I brushed it off. I have always had a distaste for freeshards because I never considered them to be well-run or professional. I wish I listened to him all those years ago.

The truth is, EA's UO is no longer a true Ultima. I think it can be argued it ceased being an Ultima game a long time ago. Just recently, I have come to a point where I lost all respect and desire to play on EA servers. Like Lynk, I find myself playing less and less. This came about when watching the latest producer's video interview. It appears, at least to me, EA's stance on serious issues (such as scripters and bot users) is "we won't deal with them because their accounts make us money." There is an argument that states EA can't stop the scripters. I believe this to be false and rather, EA WILL NOT stop the scripters. This is just one of the many issues I have come to have with EA UO. Some others are the trammel, insurance system, LRC, sots, faction system, and so many more (all of which have been talked about over the years).

What is sad is how I recently come to realize EA truly doesn't care about UO as an Ultima game (this was apparent to me in the recent producer interview). EA, imo, cares only about the bottom line and profitability of UO. Of course, this is a serious matter and cannot be overlooked. But, in EA's pursuit for UO profits, they have destroyed the very essence and magic of Ultima Online. One only has to walk around Felucca (or any part of the game) to see that. UO has brought me a lot of joy over the passed years. I believe UO could have been the biggest and longest played online game ever seen had Richard Garriot's concepts been honored.

I am sad to see it come to this point. UO has out lived one marriage, a beloved dog, and two careers. Like so many before me I will be leaving UO EA.

R.I.P.

 

[Flutter]

Sorry to see you go

 

[Ivor_MacGregor]

P.S., Pinco's is the best thing to happen to EC. Thanks for all your work Pinco, you made my playtime 100000000x better.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

One has to ask this: can i have your stuff?

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

...or for the sake of gold sink: can you delete your stuff?

 

[THP]

Unfortunate but UO as basically due a certain '' item giveaway program'' [that seems to happene every single day on one shard or another]..... become a ''collecting'' game..WITH .pvp ,factions,crafting, roleplay dying or dead

hell ive been doing the latest Acts 1,2 and 3 and u hardly see a soul doing them on europa....guess a lot just log in for giveaways on any shards.....then collect or sell them...oh well....UO - THE AGE OF PIXEL CRACK

But we are seeing more and more posts every day are the same....iam down to one account and iam seroius considering doing the olde pay once for 90 days trick...just to keep my eye in and save real money that is basically one day be tuned off and lost forever.......with memories of the past the only reminder

 

[Old Man of UO]

... ive been doing the latest Acts 1,2 and 3 and u hardly see a soul doing them on europa....guess a lot just log in for giveaways on any shards.....then collect or sell them...oh well...

I just don't have the IRL time to play hard-core UO any more, and log in for an hour or two a couple times a week. I was working on the town banners in Trinsic, but when I last logged in and saw that I'd lost ground in loyalty, I stopped everything to do with this event.

The looters and rioters can just burn Trinsic down for all I care now.

 

[Petra Fyde]

IF UO has become a collecting game, it's because people have constantly demanded stuff to collect. You don't speak for me, I collect nothing.
I play Europa to stock my pet stall, staying long enough to arrest sufficient rioters to maintain my char's 'adored' loyalty level. Neither Terry nor I hunt on Europa much these days - put off the by rudeness of people who consider all the spawn is their's, including the one you're in the middle of fighting. That's nothing to do with UO itself, or the developers, that's players.
If either of us recall into a favoured hunting spot and find someone already working it, we go somewhere else. The game is big enough to find another place to hunt. Too often someone else has arrived and not even choosing a different target in the same area have cheerfully waded in with sword, pet or provoked creature to kill that which we are already fighting.
So currently our main, developed characters are neglected and abandoned while we rediscover being 'newbies' on other shards. We cross sharded nothing.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Unfortunate but UO as basically due a certain '' item giveaway program'' [that seems to happene every single day on one shard or another].....

Clearly you mean Faction Artifacts under the old system.

People have collected items in UO since day 1. Anyone remember server birth rares, bribing NPCs to find out where vanquishing weapons are, bugged items (broken chairs, no draw tiles, etc.), picking up the things that we weren't supposed to be able to pick up (plows), demon bone armor, phoenix armor, heads of Player Killers, Seer event items, etc.?

-Galen's player

 

[O'Brien]

Clearly you mean Faction Artifacts under the old system.

I thought he was referring to EM events ... ?

People have collected items in UO since day 1. Anyone remember server birth rares, bribing NPCs to find out where vanquishing weapons are, bugged items (broken chairs, no draw tiles, etc.), picking up the things that we weren't supposed to be able to pick up (plows), demon bone armor, phoenix armor, heads of Player Killers, Seer event items, etc.?

You're right, people have always collected items in UO. Collecting isn't the problem. It becoming more and more a collecting game is the problem, as opposed to a diverse sandbox game with equilibrium economics.

I think it's still more diverse than anything else offered out there, but is definitely headed in the wrong direction.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

....demon bone armor....

DB Armor dont spawn anymore?

 

[Lady Storm]

When I first started uo I had the felluccian attatude and collected everything as resources were high priority and you didnt toss out anything you could use... Years passed and that junk my son yelled at me for hording in my tiny houses he has raided over 99% of it. My junk as he once called it was worth to others millions of gold. Common stuff the first year junk that was free to grab... I blame the collecting on the 2nd dev team that kicked out Richard and his people. They cut off the daily stuff and made it hard to come by with the new players that came in who saw a nice deco item and wanted it too. UO's players over the years have pushed and prodded for toys... like little kids at christmas. Well UO is now the game that second dev team made... EM's drop a item at the events within 20 minutes of it you can find at least 1 of them on an atlantic vendor for 100mill. Not one item will go under that cost till too many are found to have dropped......... Back when seer's did the events no special things were offered but a good time 99% of the time. Factions was a mistake.. Chaos and Order was a good system..... but you know dev teams ..they cant leave good alone they just have to make it better! phhft.

I understand your fustration and wish to go... many who know you will miss your visits to the UO world.
We all have grown and aged in the 15 years the game has run.... many friends have passed away, many have had to go for RL reasons, some still for health both mental and physical. (pixel addiction is a real problem for some) UO has lasted cause we have tried our best to stick it out in the hopes it would evolve to what UO should have been.
I cant blame the Dev this time for not doing what would cause great harm to the game.... yes the scripters just might be the crux of uo hanging in there.
As a business woman I had employees I had to provide a pay check to and a bottom line that needed the influx of cash to keep my doors open. I did this for 12 years in an industry that was changing so fast that made keeping up a very big challenge. UO 's dev are now just keeping their heads above water, if all the people here are to be beleaved in the state of uo player base. UO might not be big enough not to go down the drain if they pull the Scripters plug ....

I am sorry to see alot of old players go, but I have to look at the broad picture as well. We all make up uo... good, bad, and the well not so nice. We take things for granted that is our due when it truly is not. Of our returning players many have tried all the rest and come home to uo not cause of the trinkets... but cause uo is the one place they are not limited. They say with age your minds prioritys change. So to with your aspects of the game. While I am happy to just go out and fish and mine and hunt a few vorpal bunnys others might not... but its all do able in UO. Petra and her mate are prime examples of what I say.... they have gone to other shards started out as newbies... remember when you were a newbie.....? Try it.... forget the bling and go play as a new player on some remote shard find a path less walked by others and see how refreshing it is. And how clever you are. If its not enough go leave uo and take the time you need to reajust to RL. When your ready we will be here... I'll keep the light on for you.
love
MOM

 

[Lady CaT]

Let me start off by stating this is not a another EA UO bash.

Ok...if you say so.

 

[Ivor_MacGregor]

Lady CaT,

haha, well I honestly am not here to bash EA UO. It is no secret to anyone reading this post how much EA has taken UO away from its Ultima vision. I just thought it necessary for me to post my opinion and reason for retirement from EA shards. The fact is, I have enjoyed many years thanks to EA. But, it is what it is. EA UO simply isn't the game I fell in love with back in 1999.

 

[Ivor_MacGregor]

[quote="Lady Storm[/quote]

You said a lot that is very very true.

 

[LordDrago]

Lady CaT,

haha, well I honestly am not here to bash EA UO. It is no secret to anyone reading this post how much EA has taken UO away from its Ultima vision. I just thought it necessary for me to post my opinion and reason for retirement from EA shards. The fact is, I have enjoyed many years thanks to EA. But, it is what it is. EA UO simply isn't the game I fell in love with back in 1999.

No game can remain static and survive for 15 years. Have there been mistakes in UO's evolution? Hell Yeah!!

A lot of how UO has been changed is the result of Devs wanting to give players new adventures, systems, etc...Many of which we player's asked for. Of course, many of these additions have not "gone according to plan"...neither the players nor the Devs expectations.

Just because you see a lot of "pixel crack" on the streets of Sosaria does not mean that you have to partake. You can have fun at EM events without "prizes", even if they are given out.

I wish you well, however, being humans, we will never be fully satisfied, long term, no matter what we do or where we play, IMHO.

 

[garillo]

I'll agree that Ultima is not what it used to be. I left for 12 years and have been back 7 months. Luckily, some of my old guildmates were still around and brought me up to speed to play competitively. Unfortunately, however, I am stuck watching them leave a few at a time. While there are plenty of aspects that cannot be matched, simply because of UO's vastness, what it all comes down to is that everyone has to wear leather armor now to be competitive, everyone has to have a mystic character slot for grinders, and no matter what you do, the dumb EM event items that are handed out will always be worth more than those real items like Slithers, Powerscrolls, (insert PvM rare drop) UO has lost it's ability to allow players to express themselves through paperdolls. The only originality left is in the memories we have of Pre-Tram and the year after Trammel was released.

Lady Storm hit the nail on the head with saying players come home to Ultima because of things that could not be matched. It just hasn't been done yet, and there have been many efforts. Honestly though, after being back 7 months and being a competitive gamer, UO has lost most of its appeal. The end game content is repetitive, and the devs have spent too much time catering to the "trammy" population (hate to say it, but it's true). It is not the home it used to be, as I feel that I returned to one that had recently been set on fire with horse tracks already hardened in the dirt nearby.

 

[THP]

Biggest problem UO as is players are leaving in dribbles...but NO NEW PLAYERS ARE COMING....

THE REASON WHY I HAVE POSTED SIMILAR.......but here we go again..please read it and think about it..

Making small sacrifices such as a castle or a luna house is tiny compared with saving and pushing forward a thriving game once more with players in abundance and guilds , crafters hell everthing thats dying breathed back to life

For the love of god merger some or all shards

UO cannot and will never attract new players....the graphics to me are good, albeit retro and after all to me UO is old school 2d .... but to new players would be not so good at all ....Then there is the complexity......wow...we need not even get started there because even 10 year olde players dont understand the game anymore...its got far to deep..... Then theres the silly ''year gift '' thing....u cant ride a ethy till 3 years....really??? u cant hop shards till your 14 years ....wtf!!!!! i hated that way back when i started and iam afraid in todays market new players want things quick and i mean quick....they will not tolerate these things...they want them tomorrow......so to get more players playing together....Mergering whole shards or at least dungeons/play areas in some shards and leaving peoples precious ''real'' pixel houses alone.....BUT HELL if people cant give there luna shop up....or there Lord/ Lady Castle up...FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME then we can keep 19 lunas..and 19 vespers and 19 yews ...etc etc ....and share common dungeons....

BUT for the good of the game i would give my luna shop and castle up tomorrow...at the end of the day...with a SINGLE world......OR 2 WORLDS cramed full of people and shops all over...like it used to be in days of past....THEN luna would not be the mecca it is today.....SO GIVING UP that Luna shop would not be as bad!!!

 

[Petra Fyde]

THP Please accept a few truths you find hard to understand.

• Jeff Skalski has already said that shard mergers are not going to happen. This is the most important point and the reason this suggestion is not going anywhere, so please give it up.
• Not everyone sees the game and the items they own in it in terms of £ and $ - infact outside of the rares collecting community, very few do.
• Some have invested hours and hours of their time into creating something unique which should not be destroyed An example: http://uo.stratics.com/shard/Atlantic/TazarHouseJPGsmall.jpg
• There ARE new players in the game - some of them even find their way to these boards - I read posts that start 'I've only been playing # months'
• There are former players returning - look for the threads. I found 6 examples for another thread, and I only went back a couple of days!
• Some people prefer quieter shards - they don't have to compete for hunting spots

 

[THP]

Well okies ....thats '' your'' point of view...and i have never ever seen a post by devs stating merging WILL NEVER HAPPEN if this is true i need to read it.....then maybe even think about leaving myself....maybe to atlantic ......

so for now we all keep the blinkers on......and share a shard with 500 peeps tops....alas what i wrote does read true and makes sense...''my'' point of view

 

[Ivor_MacGregor]

So much for me quitting.... I simply cannot bring myself to close my accounts or take down the houses I built. Lol, truly, UO is my addiction and a 15 year addiction doesn't just go away.

What is really really funny is how a single evening with some great roleplayers, Asherone Crosse of Atlantic (spelling?), reminded me why I still enjoy EA UO from time to time. I was invited to Felucca Deceit to hunt down Neria and obtain her skull. Their purpose was to fulfill a plotline one of their members had working. I was suprised to see so many role players. In addition, they were loyal to Lord British and bore the True Brtiannian symbol. We fought the spawn side by side and it was not long till a rival faction "raided" the hunt. Even though we all ended up dying, it was still so much fun. Sure, if I could have it my way all Britannia would be Felucca based rule-set, there would be no insurance system, scripters would be heavily hunted down, SOT/SAT system would be completely different, and factions would go back to the O/C days. But, lets be honest here, UO has always been and still is the best sandbox game out there.

This RE-reminded me that UO is what you make of it. Sure, Trammel and the insurance system is not something I have ever enjoyed or agreed of. However, UO is still a game which you can CHOOSE not to partake. So...allow me to hook up the UO I.V. once again and get back to my 15 year addiction

 

[Petra Fyde]

Well okies ....thats '' your'' point of view...and i have never ever seen a post by devs stating merging WILL NEVER HAPPEN if this is true i need to read it.....then maybe even think about leaving myself....maybe to atlantic ......

so for now we all keep the blinkers on......and share a shard with 500 peeps tops....alas what i wrote does read true and makes sense...''my'' point of view

UO Stratics *New* | Transcript of Sosaria Reels interview with Jeff Skalski Use your browser's 'edit' 'find' function to search that page for 'merge'

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

Let me start off by stating this is not a another EA UO bash.

With that said...

I have been playing EA shards for about 15 years now with a 2 year break. I came back right after the creation of the Abyss. I was excited to learn the new content, mysticism, custom house designing, etc. It kept me entertained for a while. A few years ago a friend of mine whom I used to play with in a catskills rp guild (prior to the release of mondain's legacy) informed me about a free shard (name removed by Petra Fyde). Honestly, I brushed it off. I have always had a distaste for freeshards because I never considered them to be well-run or professional. I wish I listened to him all those years ago.

The truth is, EA's UO is no longer a true Ultima. I think it can be argued it ceased being an Ultima game a long time ago. Just recently, I have come to a point where I lost all respect and desire to play on EA servers. Like Lynk, I find myself playing less and less. This came about when watching the latest producer's video interview. It appears, at least to me, EA's stance on serious issues (such as scripters and bot users) is "we won't deal with them because their accounts make us money." There is an argument that states EA can't stop the scripters. I believe this to be false and rather, EA WILL NOT stop the scripters. This is just one of the many issues I have come to have with EA UO. Some others are the trammel, insurance system, LRC, sots, faction system, and so many more (all of which have been talked about over the years).

What is sad is how I recently come to realize EA truly doesn't care about UO as an Ultima game (this was apparent to me in the recent producer interview). EA, imo, cares only about the bottom line and profitability of UO. Of course, this is a serious matter and cannot be overlooked. But, in EA's pursuit for UO profits, they have destroyed the very essence and magic of Ultima Online. One only has to walk around Felucca (or any part of the game) to see that. UO has brought me a lot of joy over the passed years. I believe UO could have been the biggest and longest played online game ever seen had Richard Garriot's concepts been honored.

I am sad to see it come to this point. UO has out lived one marriage, a beloved dog, and two careers. Like so many before me I will be leaving UO EA.

R.I.P.

Thanks for the exit bash lol. Glad you got that off your chest.

I noticed you repeatedly referenced a "producer interview" as a main source for your discontent. Thats kinda laughable IMO.
Maybe more actual gametime and less interview dissection would have made you happier?

Peace

 

[O'Brien]

• Jeff Skalski has already said that shard mergers are not going to happen. This is the most important point and the reason this suggestion is not going anywhere, so please give it up.

I just read the statement you're referring to, and let's be fair here. He said, and I quote: "We talk about it." and later "Right now I don't have plans on merging any servers."

That doesn't mean that there will never be a server merger or that it's completely off the discussion table. He understandably says (and I'm summarizing now) that he hasn't found a good way to do it at this time.

I think to ignore the shard merger question is to ignore that the UO population is in decline. I don't mean to be depressing here, but it will likely continue to decline to levels we have never seen. Other than for logistics, there is little reason to keep multiple shards, when one shard is large enough for the entire UO playerbase. And by logistics, I mean both the cost and housing aspect as elaborated by Jeff.

 

[THP]

I just read the statement you're referring to, and let's be fair here. He said, and I quote: "We talk about it." and later "Right now I don't have plans on merging any servers."

That doesn't mean that there will never be a server merger or that it's completely off the discussion table. He understandably says (and I'm summarizing now) that he hasn't found a good way to do it at this time.

I think to ignore the shard merger question is to ignore that the UO population is in decline. I don't mean to be depressing here, but it will likely continue to decline to levels we have never seen. Other than for logistics, there is little reason to keep multiple shards, when one shard is large enough for the entire UO playerbase. And by logistics, I mean both the cost and housing aspect as elaborated by Jeff.

Okies so its still on the table.....so we still can be saved....

 

[Sevin0oo0]

the UO population is in decline. ... as elaborated by Jeff.

I keep wondering about that, I mob kill mostly, where gold Originates from, I see very few other players so I wonder Where the heck are they? I also sell a lot of what I think are 'pricy' consumables on my vendor, so I know they're in -game playing, killing, somewhere. Jeff mentioned subs were on a rise, and I believe that, because I don't 'see' them in action, means nothing. For those thinking the population is on the decline.. They're there, it's a game, figure it out.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Apparently the OP has changed his mind and isn't quitting after all. On that happy note, let's consider this one closed.