You make it sound like low population shards are by design and that they are there to provide players with a choice. They are not. Low popluation shards are the by product of a declining playerbase and a slowly dying game. You can bet your bottom dollar that both EA and BS would love all of the shards packed to the gunwales with players as this means a sucessful MMO game. They wouldnt give two hoots about players wanting a deserted shard.
Ouch. You just show how little you know about it
That's not how it works.C:\Users\**>ping atlantic.owo.com
Ping wird ausgeführt für atlantic.owo.com [107.23.95.234] mit 32 Bytes Daten:
Antwort von 107.23.95.234: Bytes=32 Zeit=126ms TTL=46
Antwort von 107.23.95.234: Bytes=32 Zeit=125ms TTL=46
Ping-Statistik für 107.23.95.234:
Pakete: Gesendet = 2, Empfangen = 2, Verloren = 0
(0% Verlust),
Ca. Zeitangaben in Millisek.:
Minimum = 125ms, Maximum = 126ms, Mittelwert = 125ms
C:\Users\**>nslookup 107.23.95.234
Server: ****
Address: fe80::1
Name: ec2-107-23-95-234.compute-1.amazonaws.com
Address: 107.23.95.234
Then why did UO personal have to go to Aust to set up their server, why did Amazon do it?
Lets use your own wordsOuch. You just show how little you know about it
"Try tracing".. ok:
Here is a pretty good up-to-date list of the servers running the shards: Shard IP AddressesCode:C:\Users\**>ping atlantic.owo.com Ping wird ausgeführt für atlantic.owo.com [107.23.95.234] mit 32 Bytes Daten: Antwort von 107.23.95.234: Bytes=32 Zeit=126ms TTL=46 Antwort von 107.23.95.234: Bytes=32 Zeit=125ms TTL=46 Ping-Statistik für 107.23.95.234: Pakete: Gesendet = 2, Empfangen = 2, Verloren = 0 (0% Verlust), Ca. Zeitangaben in Millisek.: Minimum = 125ms, Maximum = 126ms, Mittelwert = 125ms C:\Users\**>nslookup 107.23.95.234 Server: **** Address: fe80::1 Name: ec2-107-23-95-234.compute-1.amazonaws.com Address: 107.23.95.234
Always glad to help you out Frodo. But maybe you should learn to invest at least 5 minutes into truth checking the stuff that floats out of whatever you speak with
Just FYI: The shards are all running within the Amazon cloud nowadays. Broadsword does not touch a physical piece of hardware nor do they have to employ on-site people
The Cloud is everywhere, we should all be the same. Maybe you should learn to write better.
Stop! Wait!@Lord Frodo Can't see any contradiction at all. Your definition of cloud is very vague.
"The cloud" is not everywhere. It's just virtual server instances you rent. And they run on real hardware at some real place.
For some people it seems so hard to admit they learned something new. But I'm still happy to help you man
My comment was not meant as an open debate concerning the decline of the number players on the majority of the shards. That's very evident by just visiting the various shards, but bear in mind the sheer size of the game now as compared to 1997. By forcing players to be moved to another more active shard will reduce the player base even further. I'm all in favour of finding ways to create a larger player base, which with an older game such as UO is an uphill battle.
lel... you made me giggle irl and that's kinda hard nowadays. I only spent 3 or 4 years in software engineering(with a physics/comp sci degree of all things) while I finished my journeyman licensing for Electrician. I have never looked back to that job where I lived in a box for 8 hours a day, and never will. I spend my little amount of spare time doing 3D artwork/rendering and writing games to keep my knowledge of C# up or playing UO to keep my fun levels topped up, I'm no professional economist but I know how to make my money work for me because I have an accountant and lawyer in the family, and I hate the cloud and wish it never came about because it stores all my info to sell to everyone that wants it. I've also never met a single fat nerd living in their mum's basement that plays UO... Though I may just associate myself with better people than you.
Hey no need to get nasty about the cheetos and mt dew sir.
I wasn't actually calling anyone out, I'm more of the local troll that tries to induce laughter in a crowd of seriousness and stupidity. I'm not really the judge or the jury. I've admittedly been very disheartened with UO as of late due to what seems an incompetence on the part of the developers. Not only with content but with their MASSIVE fail in whatever the **** PvP balance was supposed to be...but I digress. UO as it was in past is in fact DEAD. They can never revive it, the community has moved on for varying reasons. Some for poor communication or disgraceful content. Some just due to other circumstances..i.e. Boredom, real life, better game whatever have you. It's just pathetic that I still pay for a game that is so utterly mismanaged it's pathetic...so now I live a life in the shadows trolling my past game-fellows and fellas. Sad sad times. Long live UO Pre-STUPID.
I know, I've seen it all, I sit around trollin when I can too
. You may recognize my name from the pvp balance threads lol. I miss the old days just as much as the next guy that remembers pvp back then, I made the bulk of the friends I play games with back then, I have watched a lot of them pass on irl... I agree that there is a problem lately with the coding and the bugs that slip through, but I cannot say I don't believe in them. I know they are trying as hard as they can because I talk to them. It's a very hard thing to do when you come in to an old program and have to add new things at the request of your bosses because the game needs to move forward. This game was written in C... not C++, not C#, but just C-Basic... barely anyone around knows Basic anymore, I am not sure that it is still in C but if it is, they have their hands full as hell. I only know a tiny bit of C-Basic and I went to school for this crap for 4 years from 12-8 years ago, I was ONLY taught C#. Not a single one of the devs I have spoken to has the mind to try and ruin this game, they are REALLY trying to make it better, it's just hard when people have been here for 20 years and we want what we used to have with the old massive dev team and original story writers. The reality is, Ultima as a franchise died well over a decade ago. The fact that this game is still running 20 years later shows me, personally, that there are just a lot of us who wanted to stay around because we made life long friends in this game, enjoy it no matter who is running it, or simply want to play because it's UO and we have a nostalgic feeling for the game and that the devs see us all here, recognize our love for the game, and want to give us new content to keep us happy.
I have been away for a while so I don't know where you got the Messana info but an in game store is a very good indicator of FTP on-the-way. If you look at LOTRO and SWTOR the in game stores were the first steps.
It was totally balanced when I was 1 shotting people with my vanq axes on my old Lumberjack. And when I would disarm people and steal their weapon, or mandrake, or black pearl... the game was actually balanced pre aos because all of us were capable of killing anyone VERY fast if we wanted to & had the know how. Then they gave us nerf bats instead of swords and axes and from there it just got more and more unbalanced. Insurance broke pvp for good.
There might not have been a direct plan to depopulate the shards but inactivity to address the problem is real. If everyone had access to shard shields or not have to pay 25 bucks or more to go to another shard and get back there would be no reason for a mass exodus of the shards. EA/BS greed, unreasonable vendor costs, not having auctions safes in vendor search, etc is why shards are dying and this is directly Broadsword's fault by not addressing it. I've gone through how this whole process works before in detail but if BS doesn't care why bother to go through it again.
I think if you started giving shard transfers for free to everyone you would have ALOT of pissed off vets. Right here included.
Wouldn't piss me off at all... I've had a shield for every shard for well over a year now... Any idea how many and how often I use them??? Almost never. Know why??? First off there isn't anywhere I'd rather be than on my current shard... and no It ISN'T Atl... I don't go to Atl to sell crap and I don't much go there to buy anything either... far as I'm concerned they could lock that bloody shard and let it rot. I did go and send some stuff to a few shards to start tamers over there for awhile... but I oft times ask myself why... I have tons of characters on other shards... used to X-Shard trade when that was a thing...
But I don't want one.
I have to back him up on this one, ollllld school bard was casual as ****. Back before a fairly major bard overhaul there were no difficulty levels on creatures, and your provo was just your chance to succeed at 100 music. So people were making new characters, 50/50 music provo, music you could GM by setting a stack of quarters on a button for a day (or less because it shot up) then head to destard and have a 50% chance to provoke dragons which at the time were pretty high end, on each other, then run off to safty because there was no LOS. Destart was pretty much constantly filled with dragon fights.
Well, I mean they are a new player. They don't even know what the game is about let alone what would constitute the kind of shard they want to play. Most people play an online game expecting to interact with others. I could see it being a big instant turn off if you logged on and saw no one for hours.
What's orange gold? I'm intrigued. NM cheetos, I get it. For some reason it made me think of those chocolate oranges you can get on the holidays.
I get you have your playstyle, you don't like ATL, you don't want to go anywhere but where you are.... That's great. That's one playstyle. And in that respect shard transfers whether free or not do not affect you.
Well they can be pissed. I put up with, and keep my mouth shut, about a lot of things I think are highly unfair. Because I know while it's not the best thing for me, it's the best thing to keep the game alive. Shard shields for all would probably hurt me quite a bit. I make a decent amount of gold wandering the shards and picking up bargains to sell on Legends. But it's not really that important what I got going on if the game continues to bleed players and there's no game here to play. We as players really need to stop being self centered about everything and make what concessions we can if it's for the betterment of the game as a whole.
I get where you are coming from Capt. Lucky, but do you *honestly* think giving free shard transfers is going to stop the bleeding? I mean honestly, if someone wants one they can buy one($15? in store right?) or just hop on another shard and start training....it doesn't take that long compared to days gone by to train a character...
I know you don't get it. That's fine. I think most do.
I'm just trying to have a civilized discussion. People get so heated over a video game.
I'm not in any way "heated" lol. I just I'd rather not start posting "books" again to explain the obvious as I have in the past. The point of the posting is not about just the game staying open but shard populations being the topic. Naturally it's all connected. It's about having happy populations, many of whom wouldn't move to Atlantic for any amount of gold, and seeing them successful and happy. When a shard is no longer viable for several factors and Atlantic is not an option then we lose another player. Can't get the things you need, no one to hunt with, etc etc. I don't think you qualify as the average UO player so I don't think you get it or are likely too. Or if you do get it your just gonna argue a self serving perspective. I really just don' t want to have this conversation with you personally, but I'm sure you can find my feelings on this topic in my older posts.
Really every time I hear that term I think of Mac and cheese.... probably because of those ridiculous commercials.What's orange gold? I'm intrigued. NM cheetos, I get it. For some reason it made me think of those chocolate oranges you can get on the holidays.
Ok, i can get behind this thinking. Im not filly behind it because while i think you are right on the new account/middle aged, on the flip side you have many vets who will suddenly feel betrayed for their loyalty.
I'd kill to not have to wait 3 more years to see a shard shield, not because I want to leave... I just know that I can buy more rares on other shards & I could actually go to some of the auctions & silent auctions like we used to have on Legends in the house/casino in E Britain(been a while... it burned down, yeah?). I could also sell the horde of pvp weapons I just have laying about to all those lovely people on AtlYou should run for public office...
But yeah, if tomorrow the whole world got a shard shield, it wouldn't impact my gameplay any. And it shouldn't impact the vast majority of the players gameplay. And it would certainly make multi-sshardd player run events a much easier to do thing. The main negative, I think, is that there are a very powerful few that oppose it, and they tend to have the developers ear most of the time.
Just imagine tho, if a 1 year player had a shield or two, and could go to another shard for the rares fest, or some huge event. I actually think it would benefit the smaller shards
.. I don't want to pay $15 to leave for a week and then spend 70m in game or $15 more to come home, no matter how much cool stuff I get.
I just stated a very decent way for them to completely 86 the need for xfer tokens at all... I would propose that the vets have access to things for 2 years before anyone else & older accounts already get more vet rewards per year aside from the first year.
Well they did open it up so anyone can place a house there as well as have one on a regular shard.
[Reply] I may agree to Shard Merges IF the fuller shards had to relocate to the lower population shards. However I doubt most on higher active populated shards would agree to that.
