Suggestion for the DEVs

[Lord_British]

Here's my proposal.

Make a purchase code that adds "Account Months."

This can go about 2 ways.

#1 - For $24.95, you can add 12 "Account Months" to your account and it will add veteran rewards accordingly.

#2 - For $24.95, you can add 12 "Account Months" to your account and it will not add veteran rewards accordingly.

I missed a few years. Thought I could quit but I was obviously wrong. I can only imagine there are quite a few out there.

This can only increase revenue for EA. I don't think this will imbalance the game in any way. The actual 12 year veterans are the only ones that might have a say in this but I can only see this helping the cause with new or semi new players having the ability to catch up if they want to.

Please blast off on your thoughts on this. Let's be constructive. Got to keep money coming in to keep this game developing and expanding for our enjoyment. I'm curious how many actual 12 year accounts there are versus those willing to spend a few bucks to get there.

 

[Damien Softstep]

Here's my proposal.

Make a purchase code that adds "Account Months."

This can go about 2 ways.

#1 - For $24.95, you can add 12 "Account Months" to your account and it will add veteran rewards accordingly.

#2 - For $24.95, you can add 12 "Account Months" to your account and it will not add veteran rewards accordingly.

I missed a few years. Thought I could quit but I was obviously wrong. I can only imagine there are quite a few out there.

This can only increase revenue for EA. I don't think this will imbalance the game in any way. The actual 12 year veterans are the only ones that might have a say in this but I can only see this helping the cause with new or semi new players having the ability to catch up if they want to.

Please blast off on your thoughts on this. Let's be constructive. Got to keep money coming in to keep this game developing and expanding for our enjoyment. I'm curious how many actual 12 year accounts there are versus those willing to spend a few bucks to get there.

More cash they should LOVE this idea...hell they already sell items you cant even get thru playing the game...

 

[Llwyd]

Account age should be based on active time in the UO world. I don't think it should be purchased -- just my opinion.

 

[Damien Softstep]

Account age should be based on active time in the UO world. I don't think it should be purchased -- just my opinion.

90% of EVERYTHING in UO can be purchased might as well honestly...i think we passed up the "lets keep it unique phase" long ago...

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

Just sell copies of the Veteran rewards. That's all the really matters about "account age" anyway.

 

[Petra Fyde]

I'm not in favour of this idea. It totally negates the premise that veteran rewards are a reward for staying with the game, a 'loyalty bonus' if you like.

 

[Lord Gareth]

*Shrugs* I could go either way. New Players have to wait 12 years to get a house teleport tile? I dunno.... thats a looooooong time we will be on Windows 29 client by then.

 

[Sneaky Que]

Account age = account age, not 'account money.'

Horrible idea.

 

[Ancient Sosarian]

As a 12+ year veteran of Sosaria I stand with the small and diminishing number of such veterans. "Veteran Rewards," were created for the sole purpose of rewarding Sosaria's oldest citizens for remaining loyal to Sosaria.

Perhaps instead of "teleport tiles" a "Veteran Rose" would reward us old timers without adding a housing feature highly desired by many owning houses.

Or maybe a rocking chair.

Regardless, I favor doing something in game to reward those who remained Players, since the earliest days of UO.

An SoS

 

[Serine]

I would like to be able to buy a token that makes a red character blue . Token of rebirth or something . Dont mind if statts are lost or something. But it would turn a murderer blue .

 

[WarderDragon]

I'm divided on this issue, but lean towards the idea that you have to be a veteran to recieve a veteran reward, but a younger account can still buy the item from an older player and use it.

Why? Well, I just bought a second account for the first time. I'm an eight year veteran on my main account. But on my second account, I can't dye things with reward dye tubs. I have twenty less skill points to do things with. Can't use an ethereal mount. So my second account with be little more than a placeholder for my second house until 2013.

 

[Trebr Drab]

I wish all rewards were earned in game, and we didn't have to worry about these kinds of things.

But as it stands, I'm tired of "UO the game" selling out for cash. That's not to say I'm totally against selling things, just not things that are important, decor only.

If you're going to have vet rewards, don't sell that out too.

Edit to add: By the way, I'm in the same boat. I started playing right at release. I was in game within the first minute of the first shard opening. But I've quit several times over the years and am lacking about 2 years in total time now.

 

[Lord Urza]

My Suggestions to the DEVs would be to ignore this suggestion.

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

*Shrugs* I could go either way. New Players have to wait 12 years to get a house teleport tile? I dunno.... thats a looooooong time we will be on Windows 29 client by then.

Exactly.

I`m a vet. I started before Tram was introduced. Its not my fault that other factors in life prevailed in breaking up my UO time,doo doo happens. After being in and out of game over the years my current account is barely 2 years old. Its BS I hafta FIND someone to dye my frickin leather.

Just one example of how outdated vet rewards are. I`m not against vet rewards,just against what most of the rewards are,since the coolest ones like house porters are what.... a decade away?

Yay! Can`t wait!

At the very least their should be copies,maybe of a different hue for sale on uogamecodes.

 

[Cogniac]

A better idea: Make all veteran rewards usable by all accounts (other than trial accounts) and keep the ability to claim them tied to account age.

 

[Mark Knotts]

I think 720 skill points should be even across the board regardless of account age. That's what they should fix. UO is the only game stupid enough to create an imbalance between vets and new players like that.

It'd be like Blizzard giving WoW vets 10 extra levels or something.

If by chance someone new does start this game (and provided they prefer the 2D client) they'd have to buy SA ($39.99), UOAssist ($15), and a 4 month+ account (I'll just say $30, no idea on account pricing) off someone (risky). That's 84.99. Don't you think it's a pretty big put-off for new players when they find out they have to have an account active for 4 straight years just to hit UO's skillcap?

I'm sure some of you will give the whole "I've been playing for 10+ years, I'm royalty, it's only 20 skill points, rewards are for vets only" speech.

This is coming from someone with multiple 90+ month accounts.

 

[KalVasTENKI]

Account age should be based on active time in the UO world. I don't think it should be purchased -- just my opinion.

I agree.. I like the creative thinking OP but why feed EA more cash when they serve loyal customers half-baked crap on a plate? That's my logic. It's not a bad idea just the morale of the situation.


I wish I could of input more constructivism , all I can do is say keep up the good ideas!

 

[Lil' Lucien]

I agree.. I like the creative thinking OP but why feed EA more cash when they serve loyal customers half-baked crap on a plate? That's my logic.

Really?!
I'll tell you why. Maybe because in order for your beloved game to continue and thrive Mythic needs the support. Why crush the gamecodes idea? Just don't buy stuff outside of the game if it bothers you so much. This game is antiquated and we should all be happy that the game we know and love is still active because we supported it. I think the Mythic team has been fairly creative in what they offer for extra $$$. Not game changing per say but nice to have if you want. At some point the nay sayers have to realize that the Mythic team is doing this to keep UO productive to the players and the company that backs it.

And.....
Loyalty should be rewarded and is but don't take it away from them... I agree that maybe we should at least be able to use later reward items say maybe after serving at least 12 months to show your serious. Let the vets receive the rewards and if they wanna sell em they can. Some of the rewards should definitely be usable by all sooner.

 

[Serine]

I have to agree on the 20 + skill points . All players should have 720 Skill points . There is no reason to unbalance the game like that . I am sure there are other ways to reward vet players than making them more powerfull in pvp /pvm .. My youngest account is 100 + month so its not for my own benefits . Still would pay for a token that pays for my red to go blue though hehe. Dont mind feeding EA with little money now and then to keep game up and running .

 

[BlackMagus]

As returning veteran who has no access to his original accounts , I also have to say that I don't really appreciate the fact that I am not veteran enough to get that 720 skill cap.

It sucks to know that some day I will have to buy a vet account from some more or less shady source to be able to fully compete in the game...

 

[Mark Knotts]

As returning veteran who has no access to his original accounts , I also have to say that I don't really appreciate the fact that I am not veteran enough to get that 720 skill cap.

It sucks to know that some day I will have to buy a vet account from some more or less shady source to be able to fully compete in the game...

You'd also have to retrain all your character skills and buy all the powerscrolls/stat scrolls again. All this after you've spent a ton of time and work on your new account.

I also forgot that you have to shell out $20 I believe for a secure account transfer from EA.

It may have been an incentive back in the day but now it'll just be one of the many things deterring new players (or in your case, returning vets without their original accounts).

 

[Evlar]

I'm not totally against the idea.

Perhaps a scaled price structure, increasing based on the number of years would seem fairest. Probably year 4 would be most popular for the stats.

I recently took over a 6 year vet account from a friend who had been inactive for a few years, had wiped the account clean, but for the vet rewards.

Were this option not available to me, given my desire to finally have a second account, (my main is still only 2 years old, but have been on and off since 98), then such an option to "upgrade" the account age would have been very appealing.

Usage of veteran rewards might benefit from being usable by all age players (such as the house teleporter), though I can see the other side of the coin regarding "loyalty".

It's a tricky one to say what would be the best option.

 

[Cetric]

How about make it so you can purchase this with in-game gold, like an insane amount, for a big time gold sink.


I'm all for finding ways to get some of the gold out of the game, which keeps growing and growing and growing.

Edit:::

I also agree that you should only be able to buy it up to what your account age would be from time started to current time (To help get your acct age to what it should be if you quit several times) You should not be able to start an account in January 2010, and buy it up to 11th yr vet rewards lol.

 

[Dolphoenix]

ok on the 720 cap thing... that's 20 points.

That's not even an issue!

Hell if we're going to make that an issue how about how humans have the 20 base points in all untrained skills? (jack of all trades) So that's what.. 900+ skill points for being a human? If there weren't so many ways for items to take people well past the cap, then yes it might be an issue.

As for account age, that's there to reward older players. The only change that I can see as acceptable is the age being based on the actual time the account was made versus time playing.

As for vet rewards... I can see that. 10+ years is an awfully long time to wait to get/use a game item legitimately. Perhaps the rewards should be maxed at five years. with years after that going for greater # of rewards, or perhaps special abilities?

I saw grumbling about new players having a hard time matching vets. I don't really see that. If anything I think there should be grumbling about newer players being able to match/surpass vets...

 

[Cruxshadow]

maybe they could make it so that your account age reflected how many months since you started the account, and not how many it has been active.

i know i started playing uo back in 98 or 99 but have quit and returned many times since then. so as it stands right now, my main account it only about 72 mos old, but where it to go from when i actually started, it would be a bit more.

 

[Cruxshadow]

As for account age, that's there to reward older players. The only change that I can see as acceptable is the age being based on the actual time the account was made versus time playing.

haha, oops, didnt read the post right above mine.

 

[BlackMagus]

Hell if we're going to make that an issue how about how humans have the 20 base points in all untrained skills? (jack of all trades) So that's what.. 900+ skill points for being a human? If there weren't so many ways for items to take people well past the cap, then yes it might be an issue.

I enjoy the game as it is with my 700 cap char, and I will continue to do so for some time, but fact is 20 skill points do matter in PvP. Not 0 vs JOAT 20 in some proxy skill, but 100 vs vet 120 in a core template skill... ;-)

 

[Zosimus]

Well the only thing I could see anything with vet reward status is the first year. The biggest argument is usually how do we get new players. Well vets eventually get ethy status and we gain +5 in skill points for 4 years. Or they should add more options of choosing more then one reward or 2 a year. So maybe add a new ethy for first year and charge 29.95 for the extra 20 points for skill cap.

 

[Silverbird]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with most ...

Acc Age and rewards for it should stay as they are...

Non of the rewards is a balance breaking advantage:
- 20 skillpoints is the difference between 6*120 and 5*120+100 Skill. On most templates thats not an issue. If it is, that player should rethink its template.
- ethereal mouns: you can now hav a charger of the fallen
- vet robes + cloaks: there are now enough items with stats for this slots around. Actually nearly no one uses those items anymore.
- dye tubes: I remeber how excited I was, when my acc hit 24 months and was finally able to use the leather dye. But today you have the staining system from plants and can dye your whole equipment without dye tubes.
- most other are decorative only
- house teleporters: anyone can use. So if your acc is not old enough to get one by his own, work and pay for them! While they are nice, they are only of use, if you own more than one house on a shard. Simply use recalls until your acc is old enough. Today its not really an isuue, if one of your houses is in Fel. There are simply not enough players around, to cover every corner of Fel and lure onto helless homeowners.

As for the suggestion to set acc age on creation and not on active playing time .... Do you have any ideas, how many (old) trial accounts are around? Accounts that were only created for holding a house, testing scripts, running bods etc? All these ones would become eligible for claiming vet rewards on activation. Not to mention that there supposedly will be another return to brit progrmm somewhere in the furture. Allaccount, that are only activated for a very short period will claim there additionally vet rewards.

 

[Mark Knotts]

ok on the 720 cap thing... that's 20 points.

That's not even an issue!

Hell if we're going to make that an issue how about how humans have the 20 base points in all untrained skills? (jack of all trades) So that's what.. 900+ skill points for being a human? If there weren't so many ways for items to take people well past the cap, then yes it might be an issue.

Because you have weak builds and you don't know what you're talking about. Go ask your favorite pvper or even pvmer if they'd like to be dropped to a 700 cap. And besides that, what's it matter to you? Would the change hurt you any? Nope. If you ever decided to start a new account (or had any below 4 years) you'd be on EQUAL footing with everyone else. (like how every other MMORPG is)

It's a simple fix but some people just love to argue when they don't have a clue. (ROFL @ your JOAT example)

I enjoy the game as it is with my 700 cap char, and I will continue to do so for some time, but fact is 20 skill points do matter in PvP. Not 0 vs JOAT 20 in some proxy skill, but 100 vs vet 120 in a core template skill... ;-)

This.

 

[Green Mouser]

I'm not in favour of this idea. It totally negates the premise that veteran rewards are a reward for staying with the game, a 'loyalty bonus' if you like.

How does this negate the "loyalty bonus"? You still get to brag "I didnt have to buy my rewards" although you do "purchase" with membership?

They could put a year cap on the purchase to ensure the 1st year (lets be real they are the ones who deserve the "bonus" since they have been with the game since the beginning) players get the goodies a year in advance of other players..

 

[georgemarvin2001]

Vet rewards should be just that: a reward for our time playing. They should NOT give us any competitive advantage in either PvM or PvP play. They should be a status symbol to show off. Letting young players have them is NOT a good idea. Making the house teleporters a 12th year reward was also NOT a good idea, as those aren't just a status symbol, but a useful, almost necessary item for some houses.

The AOS team should have had their heads examined for "fixing" the skills so that veterans get a skill cap bonus. Of course, they're the same people that gave us the horribly complicated and mismatched weapons and armor system, unbalanced PvP, made the power scroll and artifact system so that the game became item based instead of skill based, and so that only the ultra-rich could venture into Fel and PvP effectively, made our basic crafting tools wear out, while weapons and armor never do, made the horrible BOD system, and hundreds of other "improvements" that were more like grief tactics designed to force us to either make a tamer and spend endless hours training a dragon then hunting in Doom or leave the game (for like the first year after AOS, only tamers got artifacts, remember). No wonder large numbers of players chose the latter.

 

[Malimus]

Vet rewards and skill cap should stay as is. Those that are disputing this are just silly. Life is not fair and neither is UO. Some things must be earned and some are given.

Getting so tired of this "Other people have so i want it!" mentality. It ruins the game when everything is handed to you on a silver platter.

Remember its not the destination you should focus on.... Its the journey. As for more cash grabs for EA/Mythic... Bad idea. They make more than enough off of us UO players to keep UO running forever. They need to focus more on how to get there poop in a group and getting things running smooth again on a business level is what they need. Not more cash form loyal supporters/players that already pay to much for what they receive.

Just my two cents

 

[popps]

Hallo ??????????

The Veteran reward is about LOYALTY of a customer.

That is, of supporting the product MONTH by MONTH over the years.

It is about showing a customer who supported a product month after month, YEAR after YEAR gratitude and respect.

It is nothing, I personally think, which money should be able to buy. Ever....

So from me it is a total and absolute NO to this.

I would feel it as a slap in the face of those customers who stayed loyal over the years, month after month, year after year.

No way.

 

[popps]

Exactly.

I`m a vet. I started before Tram was introduced. Its not my fault that other factors in life prevailed in breaking up my UO time,doo doo happens. After being in and out of game over the years my current account is barely 2 years old. Its BS I hafta FIND someone to dye my frickin leather.

Just one example of how outdated vet rewards are. I`m not against vet rewards,just against what most of the rewards are,since the coolest ones like house porters are what.... a decade away?

Yay! Can`t wait!

At the very least their should be copies,maybe of a different hue for sale on uogamecodes.

I do not understand.

If a Veteran at some point dismissed their account why should those Veterans who instead kept supporting the game over the years instead of playing other games be penalized ??

Going with the OP idea would, IMHO, negate the whole concept of customer loyalty which the Veteran Reward Program is supposed to benefit.

Loyalty is loyalty and if a program is there to benefit customer loyalty then it should benefit the accounts left active for that time. Not just buy account age loyalty with money.

There is already for this game, IMHO, way too many codes up for sale for cash, I really do not think we also need a "loyalty code" selling for cash.......

No thanks.

 

[GarthGrey]

I"m for it. Veteran Schmeteran/Loyalty Schmoyalty. Sell me whatever I"m willing to buy. It keeps the game afloat. And to the poster asking for a huge price for a gold sink!! Again, if YOU"VE got too much gold, get rid of some of it.

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

Plus a huge gold sink does nothing when you do nothing to turn the faucets off in the first place.

I mean what is it now 25 cents a million, LOL.

 

[Lord_British]

I hope everyone understands that if the 2nd method was taken, people would not be getting any vet rewards for their account age purchases. Just the ability to use the rewards along with the +20 skill, etc.

My idea was not to take anything away from the veterans. I am hoping that they would not feel this is overpowered for a player to be able to purchase the ability to use the rewards.

I just want to see UO continue for a long time and any way to keep the interest going and to lessen the frustration of newer players is going to help.

How many people notice that even with SA that we do not see many new players. I'd like to retain as much as possible for as long as possible. I'd like players who leave for personal reasons right now know that they don't have to sell their account and can return a year later without losing a beat.

I realize that UO has made a lot of money but business is business. The more they make does eventually get back to us, even if it's a tiny amount.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

Yet noone turns to the people who mostly stole the money...

is this reality, or am I just dreaming ?

follow the white rabbit...

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

Yet noone turns to the people who mostly stole the money...

is this reality, or am I just dreaming ?

follow the white rabbit...

and once ya find it shoot that furry white ******* and throw em onto that big pile of cabbage.

Oh and I like pie.

Hare would be nice.

Dee Dee Dee!

 

[Slayvite]

I dont think its such a big deal anymore.

Vet rewards arnt what they used to be and to be honest, How many of these 12 year Vets are actually the original owners of the accounts?

I'd say many bought the accounts back a few years ago when you could still leave UO and sell your account for real cash. Not like these days.

The only Vet reward still worth having is the Polarbear mount anyway, the rest are just 'gimicks', house teleporter? recall you lazy .......
Armour/weapon engravers? erm nah i'll not waste a reward on something as wastefull as that. Engrave your imbued stuff? muppet.

There is enough of this game going item only,
Bring back the skill and bring back the enjoyment.

 

[popps]

I just want to see UO continue for a long time and any way to keep the interest going and to lessen the frustration of newer players is going to help.

How many people notice that even with SA that we do not see many new players.

I may well be wrong, but I think that a code here and there is simply not the way to keep UO afloat.

It would be way much better if the core problems that deter new players from playing the game are addressed rather than looking at patching temporary solutions with a code here and a code there which only can do very little towards the solution of a population problem.

This would help more stably the game to gather resources, IMHO.

Besides, royally upsetting real veteran players who endured everything over the years and kept their accounts as active no matter what to support the game and the company they wanted to be loyal to is just not the right way to go, IMHO.

 

[popps]

There is enough of this game going item only,
Bring back the skill and bring back the enjoyment.

Now, this would be such a dream come true.........

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

I'm not in favour of this idea. It totally negates the premise that veteran rewards are a reward for staying with the game, a 'loyalty bonus' if you like.

 

[Sneaky Que]

I"m for it. Veteran Schmeteran/Loyalty Schmoyalty. Sell me whatever I"m willing to buy. It keeps the game afloat. And to the poster asking for a huge price for a gold sink!! Again, if YOU"VE got too much gold, get rid of some of it.

No, what keeps the game afloat is the players that pay month after month to play this game. We already pay for vet rewards by keeping our accounts open to become vets.

 

[Amren]

Account age = account age, not 'account money.'

Horrible idea.

Actually he (the OP) has a point.

I have my "main" account that was open some time in December '97. Just recently in the past 8months I opened a second account. Technically I have survived the 11 years of this game, so every account that is open under my name should be eligible for the same rewards.

The only way I see that possible is if I could buy my way to vet. rewards OR if EA changes the way billing works so the system recognizes people by name/address and, as mentioned, reward them appropriately. If I transfer the second account to a friend, the timer resets on "account age" simple.

 

[Fink]

Let's see, I want to add +1 year to my account without actually waiting that long.. that's:

12 x $12.99 = $155.88

+12 years would be:

144 x $1,870.56

Sure, that works. If you want to fork over nearly two grand so you can ride an ethereal pogostick and keep the game running a little longer, I say go for it.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Let's see, I want to add +1 year to my account without actually waiting that long.. that's:

12 x $12.99 = $155.88

+12 years would be:

144 x $1,870.56

Sure, that works. If you want to fork over nearly two grand so you can ride an ethereal pogostick and keep the game running a little longer, I say go for it.

dang it you! now I have to rethink my thumbs up on Petra's post.

 

[Basara]

How about -

C. A code for $20 or $25 that will force the recalculation of an account's age based on the date it was started (plus the two free months), effectively converting all the months inactive into ones counted for vet rewards, etc. However, it would not get those rewards, until the account stayed active until its next 12-month cycle finished (in other words, an account that was 112 months old, but only 55 months active, would have to be kept active until it hit 120 months after recalculation, for the rewards from year 6, 7, 8 9 & 10 to kick in, but could start using EXISTING items bought at up to 9th year immediately on using the code). It would also include 9th Anniversary tiles, as a bonus.

This would allow returning vets to bring their existing accounts back up to speed, and allow persons to "mine" the existing closed accounts for rewards - while having to keep them reactivated long enough for the rewards to kick in, to bring in extra revenue for the game. The codes could also be given out as an easy fix (and compensation for the trouble) to accounts that have had aging prolems while active (after the aging error was confirmed by billing).

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

How about -

C. A code for $20 or $25 that will force the recalculation of an account's age based on the date it was started (plus the two free months), effectively converting all the months inactive into ones counted for vet rewards, etc. However, it would not get those rewards, until the account stayed active until its next 12-month cycle finished (in other words, an account that was 112 months old, but only 55 months active, would have to be kept active until it hit 120 months after recalculation, for the rewards from year 6, 7, 8 9 & 10 to kick in, but could start using EXISTING items bought at up to 9th year immediately on using the code). It would also include 9th Anniversary tiles, as a bonus.

This would allow returning vets to bring their existing accounts back up to speed, and allow persons to "mine" the existing closed accounts for rewards - while having to keep them reactivated long enough for the rewards to kick in, to bring in extra revenue for the game. The codes could also be given out as an easy fix (and compensation for the trouble) to accounts that have had aging prolems while active (after the aging error was confirmed by billing).

Well...problem with c. It only benefits those who have had inactive accounts.