The "magic" of UO.

[Stinky Pete]

So lately I have been mentioning this sort of "magic" that UO once seemed to have in a lot of my posts. I've made it clear that I believe that that "magic" was slowly drained away and my reasoning as to why revolves around the almost complete removal of non-consentual PvP and the interactions that it once encouraged, but I'm wondering if I'm way off base here. I want to know what you think. Is there still magic left in this game? What is the driving factor behind it for you? Is it gone?

 

[skett]

That’s a hard poll to choose from
Is it lost yes with this team
It could return with a different team
But will everyone ever accept what the uo magic is I doubt it
For me pre aos was the best times
I can’t vote here lol

 

[Cyrah]

For me it is now a very different kind of magic than it was. I could not wait to log off when I first played, talked into it by a friend. Until I discovered houses. I have to admit it is all somehow finally fading. Wish not true but it is. I keep trying to stay.

 

[Stinky Pete]

For me pre aos was the best times

Would you care to elaborate why?

 

[Stinky Pete]

For me it is now a very different kind of magic than it was. I could not wait to log off when I first played, talked into it by a friend. Until I discovered houses. I have to admit it is all somehow finally fading. Wish not true but it is. I keep trying to stay.

So I understand, it is pretty much only the housing system that interests you? What could make that better? Is it a more solo-type play style? How do you interact with other players? Is player interaction important to you?

Sorry, I'm just trying to understand better.

 

[Pawain]

Yes. UO was created in 1997. There were other online games to play with other people. I played on the Sierra network for years, Just read it ended right after UO began. Sierra Online I liked their games because they all had the choice of using a Roland MT 32 for sound. Games have never sounded as awesome as in the 80s and 90s with that, an amp, and big speakers.

The magic for me was, I logged on and did whatever I felt like doing. In the early days I just ran around and did whatever. I left because of PKs and returned after Tram was developed. When I returned I noticed I had no GM skills after all that time. I was a mish mosh of everything. I just played one character and just ran around making up stuff to do. I did no encounters, there were plenty of players to meet and help bring down an ettin or if you found a larger group a Lich. Or spend an hour dragging a 300 stone statue you found in the woods back to a bank where you could keep it.

So, Yes I could find magic in a game if I have never played a game like it before and enjoy what you are doing. Having no end to a game helps you feel the magic.

No. People play games for different reasons.
1. If the magic of UO was not from the gameplay, then you will not feel the magic again. Whatever the magic was from is gone, since it has been 25 years, that magic may have literally died.
2. If the magic was from doing new things you never did before, then after a while you have done everything in UO.

I am older now and I do not need magic.
I play games for entertainment. Maybe you have noticed that I have a coarse personality. I like to talk to others here and in the game but if you talk to me long enough I will say or do things that anger you. But, I do like to talk to other people, I just do not need to talk to the same other people so I have no skill (or maybe desire) in keeping "friends". Can't count how many times I have angered @Cyrah. Maybe they take the bad for that small amount of good that I may provide once in a while.

Besides chatting, I still like to run around and do things, but mostly things that have an end result. Like peerless and other Boss type Mobs.
I spend time decorating my houses. I spend time collecting deco. I spend time doing nothing specific still. I do not like crafting but I do it as needed. I do like building suits, so now instead of one toon, I have many built templates and suits. I love the new Dynamic things because they give two things that I like to get. An item to make a suit better, and Deco!

Basically UO has a lot of things to do.

Each person has their own thing about UO that was magic and may still be for them.

We will see if there is still magic in UO when NL is released.

 

[Lore]

Yes and it all boils down to the fact that the changes needed for the game to be fun for me all require an actual full development team and effort. Not to shame the Broadsword team, but the game needs a hard balancing pass and a concrete vision.

 

[Cyrah]

Yes, pretty much it is the housing system that interests me. I never played with dolls. UO is my dollhouse I guess. Deco calms me.

 

[Stinky Pete]

Yes. UO was created in 1997. There were other online games to play with other people. I played on the Sierra network for years, Just read it ended right after UO began. Sierra Online I liked their games because they all had the choice of using a Roland MT 32 for sound. Games have never sounded as awesome as in the 80s and 90s with that, an amp, and big speakers.

The magic for me was, I logged on and did whatever I felt like doing. In the early days I just ran around and did whatever. I left because of PKs and returned after Tram was developed. When I returned I noticed I had no GM skills after all that time. I was a mish mosh of everything. I just played one character and just ran around making up stuff to do. I did no encounters, there were plenty of players to meet and help bring down an ettin or if you found a larger group a Lich. Or spend an hour dragging a 300 stone statue you found in the woods back to a bank where you could keep it.

So, Yes I could find magic in a game if I have never played a game like it before and enjoy what you are doing. Having no end to a game helps you feel the magic.

No. People play games for different reasons.
1. If the magic of UO was not from the gameplay, then you will not feel the magic again. Whatever the magic was from is gone, since it has been 25 years, that magic may have literally died.
2. If the magic was from doing new things you never did before, then after a while you have done everything in UO.

I am older now and I do not need magic.
I play games for entertainment. Maybe you have noticed that I have a coarse personality. I like to talk to others here and in the game but if you talk to me long enough I will say or do things that anger you. But, I do like to talk to other people, I just do not need to talk to the same other people so I have no skill (or maybe desire) in keeping "friends". Can't count how many times I have angered @Cyrah. Maybe they take the bad for that small amount of good that I may provide once in a while.

Besides chatting, I still like to run around and do things, but mostly things that have an end result. Like peerless and other Boss type Mobs.
I spend time decorating my houses. I spend time collecting deco. I spend time doing nothing specific still. I do not like crafting but I do it as needed. I do like building suits, so now instead of one toon, I have many built templates and suits. I love the new Dynamic things because they give two things that I like to get. An item to make a suit better, and Deco!

Basically UO has a lot of things to do.

Each person has their own thing about UO that was magic and may still be for them.

We will see if there is still magic in UO when NL is released.

I've always had a strange respect for you and your ability to really enjoy what the game gives you, good or bad, and find entertainment in it. Your understanding of why you enjoy it goes deeper than most I think.

 

[Stinky Pete]

Yes, pretty much it is the housing system that interests me. I never played with dolls. UO is my dollhouse I guess. Deco calms me.

Do you ever think about how it could be better for you?

 

[MalagAste]

The "magic" for me has always been with the community... when that dies out... so does my level of enjoyment. Or when it becomes full of greed and corruption... so my enjoyment wanes... but it can come back when the community returns or grows or expands and people focus again on doing things together... that is what I enjoy.

 

[Pawain]

Community would be one of the things that will never return. I taught adults for 17 years, saw the class 5 days a week, about 36 people at the beginning down to 10 to 20 by the end of two years.

Each class had a personality, that was sometimes determined by an outgoing person. Sometimes by a few or as a group. So if you spend time with that group and like it, no other group will be the same.

So someone that had a positive community experience will probably never find that again. Unless they were the leader and could constantly bring new people in, the core that made their experience fun are gone. That exact experience is gone. It will never return. That magic will never return for them.

I had an older co worker that said, never marry a widow. You will never live up to what she thought her first husband was, even if he wasn't.
same for your first years in UO.

One thing I found was when a class had a Ra Ra person that loved everything and had lots of fun. You could put money on them dropping in 6 months or less. I presume they needed the adrenalin from that newness, and had to find more when that faded. Was a very expensive rush for those months. I have seen Ra Ra posters here come and go also. Oh that dude really loves UO, they wont be here long.

Funniest thing a student said, I'm dropping out of school and joining the Army, because I am tired of someone telling me what to do.

Weird thing, A student disappeared, we later found out he was AWOL from the marines for a year and was in our school, but they found him.

Creepiest, The guards at Huntsville could not tell me what to do, and you think you can. I was teaching him how to build a circuit...

 

[Pawain]

Yes, pretty much it is the housing system that interests me. I never played with dolls. UO is my dollhouse I guess. Deco calms me.

Spent many years playing with GI Joes. And making Lego people and houses. Is that why I like UO?

 

[Keven2002]

Good question @Stinky Pete . I'd also have a tough time answering this. I'm obviously still playing (but sometimes just paying) and enjoy getting new content so I guess there would have to be some magic there or I'd probably have walked away a while ago. That said, maybe I'm confusing it with nostalgia of 20 years ago and simply play to maybe find some of that feeling 20 years ago when I play now. When I do play UO, I do have a feeling of enjoyment but it's very different from the feeling I had 20 years ago. That enjoyment is also not quite as satisfying as it was back then if I'm being honest.

The difference for me I guess is that now I kind of take or leave the game. Typically I will log in to play an hour or 2 but by that second hour I'm like wracking my brain on what I can do because I'm bored (Treasures Of event would be the exception where I can play 3-4 hours before getting tired of the same stuff). I don't ever recall that being the case 20 years ago. In fact I vividly remember like thinking about making a mental list of what I was going to do in the game when I wasn't playing because I had school / work / vacation. I remember playing UO literally all night from like 9 or 10pm until server down and the best (or maybe worst?) part of that was 8 hours would go by in a snap and half the time I don't even think I was productive... I might have just run around doing dumb stuff. I would never do that now and in fact whenever I go on vacation now or I'm doing something outside of UO it doesn't usually even get much thought.

So based on that I'm not sure if I think the magic is gone or maybe still kind of here or what magic is gone could ever come back.

 

[Cyrah]

We are still here, so yes @Stinky Pete, there must be some magic left.

 

[Whitewolf of *VK*]

The current team defently does not help the current situation, but sadly no UO can never be that game again no matter what team is put in charge, UO mirrors our society, our society has become very greedy, toxic and entitiled.

 

[Merlin]

Like with any game - or any aspect of life for that matter - there are hills and valleys. I voted Yes because I'd like to think I've experienced more hills than Valleys, including finding new ways to enjoy the game in the post-pandemic world. The "magic" has changed meaning from year to year, just as many other life's pleasures do. My UO experience and my personal enjoyment aren't determined by who the "UO Team" is. There will ALWAYS be something to fix or something to complain about... there has never been a time in UO where the entire player base was happy. I expect that to continue going into the future.

 

[Barefoot Scribe]

I began playing this game shortly after it came out. A summer intern that I supervised at my workplace introduced me to it. I started on Cats which had and still has an active RP community which I enjoyed being part of. Our characters had a story with skills acquired to suit our personality. We had guild meetings weekly back then and activities followed. I did very little solo playing until I was able to have a house (so small that you couln't swing a dead cat overhead without hitting the walls) and then it was entertaining to work at deco. This was long before the tools came out so it was a bit of a challenge. In Spring of 2008 I set up a new character on Siege on a Sunday afternoon just out of curiosity. The alliance that our guild SCB was a part of was riddled with drama and I found it tedious. In fact, it seemed to have ended the magic of UO for me ;that and the increasing preoccupation with acquiring stuff. Within an hour I made some new friends and got a start there which I was surprised by. I talked three of my guildmates and long time friends from Cats into joining me there. After our stint in NEW we became a new house in Gilfane (which successfully survives to the present day).
I left the game for a number of years due to life changes, returned a while, and left again for reasons of serious health issues. I kept up with the friends I had made in the course of playing UO but I missed the fun of playing with them; doing quests, exploring places. And yes even getting killed at times. Some of these folks are gone now, a few have died and gone on to the next stage of their adventure. A few of us remain.
I have stories to tell; perhaps I will share them here on Stratics. In my long experience of this game, the magic has been created by fellow players as much or more so than the developers.
Now a question for Stinky Pete. I want to continue the thread about life in Barter Town as I live there and have stuff to say. Since it is a unique Siege location, should I post my stuff to the Siege shard rather than UHall?

 

[Stinky Pete]

Now a question for Stinky Pete. I want to continue the thread about life in Barter Town as I live there and have stuff to say. Since it is a unique Siege location, should I post my stuff to the Siege shard rather than UHall?

I suppose it depends on the format of your stories. I personally like to post fiction to the Stratics WordPress site. Current event type stories are best posted in the Siege forums here. If you need access to the Stratics WordPress site, get with @Larisa for instructions as to how to do it. She has been hoping for writers to step up and produce content for the site..

I appreciate your efforts in keeping Barter Town alive following my departure. If there is anything I can do to help, please DM me and let me know.

 

[John Knighthawke]

Like most polls, my answer doesn't really have an equivalent on the menu. I play UO because I like telling the story of my characters. I like that the story doesn't have a finite endpoint, I like that it's not the story of a Big Hero (I have heavily-modded, heavily-expanded Skyrim for that), and other things that I'm drawing a blank on the best words for right now. When RP was more active I interacted with players across 3 shards (not all at once!), participating in their characters' stories.

Is that all "magic?" I never considered it such. I did consider it worth my time and money.

For some players, messing with other players was part of the game's magic and it always struck me that, in those instances, it wasn't really the game part that had the magic -- it was the messing with part. And I just never got it. Based on decisions made by the players at large, most other players never saw the point either. So as, over time, the scope of one's ability to mess with other players grew smaller and smaller, does that mean the "magic" is gone from UO for those folks? I suppose so. But for most of the rest of us? If the magic is gone then it's for entirely unrelated reasons.

 

[Stinky Pete]

Like most polls, my answer doesn't really have an equivalent on the menu. I play UO because I like telling the story of my characters. I like that the story doesn't have a finite endpoint, I like that it's not the story of a Big Hero (I have heavily-modded, heavily-expanded Skyrim for that), and other things that I'm drawing a blank on the best words for right now. When RP was more active I interacted with players across 3 shards (not all at once!), participating in their characters' stories.

Is that all "magic?" I never considered it such. I did consider it worth my time and money.

For some players, messing with other players was part of the game's magic and it always struck me that, in those instances, it wasn't really the game part that had the magic -- it was the messing with part. And I just never got it. Based on decisions made by the players at large, most other players never saw the point either. So as, over time, the scope of one's ability to mess with other players grew smaller and smaller, does that mean the "magic" is gone from UO for those folks? I suppose so. But for most of the rest of us? If the magic is gone then it's for entirely unrelated reasons.

I guess I fail to see the difference between "messing with other players" and "interacting with other players and becoming part of their stories." If I need another players permission to interact with them, it becomes less like role-playing and more like performing a play.

 

[Sargon]

Would you care to elaborate why?

In my opinion, it was the simplicity of Pre-AOS that made it great. It was easy to make and obtain high-quality weapons and armor, and equally as easy to replace them upon dying. Everyone was on a virtually level playing field with skills and equipment. I simply don't like the role that items play in today's UO. With that said, I do understand the game had to evolve. How many people would really still be playing if weapons and equipment remained unchanged from 20 years ago?

 

[Anon McDougle]

In my opinion, it was the simplicity of Pre-AOS that made it great. It was easy to make and obtain high-quality weapons and armor, and equally as easy to replace them upon dying. Everyone was on a virtually level playing field with skills and equipment. I simply don't like the role that items play in today's UO. With that said, I do understand the game had to evolve. How many people would really still be playing if weapons and equipment remained unchanged from 20 years ago?

It's not the player with player interaction that caused the power creep we see today it's the ever increasing monster difficulty i can find 20 other people who are willing to play only gm gear we could battle equally all the day but one greater dragon world destroy us..

 

[Stinky Pete]

I think the power creep helped to destroy the interaction. You used to need a group of people to take down a decent mob. Now, you can pretty much solo anything. No real need to group up with other players. I don't even think that making mobs more powerful could fix it.

 

[Silent Singer]

Magic is still there for me. My arm problems have reached a point where I don't really talk to folks in game or here. But from 2014 until 2018 I was very active on Siege and the Siege forum. So many great memories of doing things on Siege without insurance or even good gear. Orc fort defense against Siege pvpers, doing Harrower while fighting off Virem (and successfully getting every scroll out safe), fighting GIL all day when we had three huge IDOCs back to back, winning the UWSP pet battle trophy, interviewing Siege players for my Stratics Peerless of Siege Perilous articles, collecting old bone suits, and getting VvV points both with and against Freja. Just a ton of what I feel make UO magic for me. At the root of all that was making and staying friends with Talia the whole time. Guilds and allies and even shards changed for me but Talia is always there to laugh at the game and help each other out. I know other folks have had a similar friend who they stuck with: Uriah and Dev, Tyrath and Vic, etc.

Now that typing in game is really limited for me I miss that aspect. Talia and I still play in game a few times a week but we have to call each other or get in Discord or it is mostly silent on my end. Kinda sucks. But not being able to play on Siege as much has forced me to change my play in UO. I have been doing IDOCs on prodo, or collecting EM items, or embracing the sell sell sell attitude of Atlantic. Working on house deco on prodo had been fun, doing event spawns even more so. Unlike most folks I feel that overall the actual development have been successfully working around Mesanna these last few years.

The reward items have gotten better, and her interface with players has been lessened slightly. That's a win in my book. Still a ton of problems, TONS, but I can appreciate how some things are better. But people are leaving. More of us are dead, many more of us have closed extra accounts, and I think there is a noticeable thinning of players from 5 years ago. Tyrath had 20 working accounts then, and we did his IDOC this week. He has one account left from what I understand. Freja let her accounts lapse except for one. I had 5, now have 2. Etc etc. The magic is still there for me but I know that we are on a glide path to the end. That might be 5 years or even 10 years from now, but the player base is absolutely diminished and I don't believe New Legacy changes that. We'll see I guess, maybe I'll be wrong. But while it lasts ill enjoy it. Now I'm gonna go ice my wrists from typing this much!

 

[Victim of Siege]

The magic is/was in the Friends I made and played with. I started Playing with a RL friend but he quit a couple of years in. I have made plenty of Friends since then and play with them on occasion, but the magic for me is gone. I cannot play for hours on end as I used to, regardless of who is on because it just seems forced. I'll give NL a shot and if that doesn't spark it again I may just fade away like Tyrath. of course I'll always be on here to toss a Meme or 2 and to pick on my friends.

 

[Percivalgoh]

I think the magic of UO is all about how YOU approach the game. It's an experience but if you make that experience "playing a game" then there was never any magic. If you are in UO to live and learn then there will always be some magic That is how I see it

 

[John Knighthawke]

I guess I fail to see the difference between "messing with other players" and "interacting with other players and becoming part of their stories." If I need another players permission to interact with them, it becomes less like role-playing and more like performing a play.

I do tend to emphasize consent in most human activities, yes, especially leisure activities. And I try to avoid performing my leisure activities at others' expense. It would take, however, considerably more than the mere presence of consent to turn role-playing into performing a play.

I could I suppose go on for many paragraphs about the conclusions my experiences in RP have led me to about the nature of RP as an activity, and the various risks and rewards it offers.

But....No point, really. Our philosophies are very different. Yours, of course, will continue to be very popular here on Stratics.

 

[Stinky Pete]

I do tend to emphasize consent in most human activities, yes, especially leisure activities. And I try to avoid performing my leisure activities at others' expense. It would take, however, considerably more than the mere presence of consent to turn role-playing into performing a play.

I could I suppose go on for many paragraphs about the conclusions my experiences in RP have led me to about the nature of RP as an activity, and the various risks and rewards it offers.

But....No point, really. Our philosophies are very different. Yours, of course, will continue to be very popular here on Stratics.

Hello John, my name is Stinky Pete. I am a thief. I would like to steal from you. Would that be ok?

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

I said yes, but only for me and only because I can't imagine any game being able to capture my imagination like UO did when I was 15. I don't think game mechanics factor into why that magic has dissipated for me. Age and time are more guilty than anything else. Even if UO were as populated as it was in the late 90s/early 00s and the mechanics were specifically tailored to my preferences... I still wouldn't have the time or interest to put in like I once did. I do the whole housing thing because I can do it at my own pace, I don't have to depend on time of day/availability of others, and it's relaxing. Like putting a puzzle together only with graphics. On the freeshard I play, I have every opportunity to do all of the things that I used to do - large RP guilds, spontaneous adventuring, open world PVP... and even with all that, I login about once a month to refresh my houses.

 

[drcossack]

I think the power creep helped to destroy the interaction. You used to need a group of people to take down a decent mob. Now, you can pretty much solo anything. No real need to group up with other players. I don't even think that making mobs more powerful could fix it.

Yup. I remember when the Paragon Balron & Ancient Wyrm were THE high-end monsters. I remember taking on a Para Balron several years ago on LS & we had maybe 5 people there? One of the tamers had a Hiryu tanking and multiple people were healing it, while other pets/players were doing damage. While it was rare (and I honestly think it only happened once), I was able to take on a Greater Dragon with a White Wyrm/Nightmare combo. Now? Monsters like that are not a threat at all. Even the endgame bosses aren't that hard to deal with - the only ones I honestly have a problem with (on a tamer, anyway) are Necromancer monsters like Juo'nar and the Harrower. Well, that was before I made one of my tamers a bard/tamer - I have the templates I need to "Solo" everything in the game, I'm just unwilling to do so.

 

[MoonCres]

For me the magic is in having people you enjoy to do things and interact with. I think people also don't understand how big part of pvp played was then.... the ppl who come and res you or help you against players will never be equal to someone who helps me at some casual event. will never forget the people that I first played with. The loss always comes from people who leave and are frustrated that things change in different directions. It's not that I'm completely frustrated with the game but I just cant understand why such an OP game of the day would move or not move in any direction that would make it better or try too make corrections as needed. It's dead here and I only have memories and some friends that keep me going. When they all are finally gone @Stinky Pete I'm going to need some birds because screw idocs!

 

[SugarMMM]

I don't know if I'd call it "magic" but something left from me in UO when they added all the %'s and all that to weapons and armor . It just made everything confusing for me and I still don't get it.

Oh and also all the items from events and other things that have "her" name on them. I just don't feel that it's necessary for the game. But holiday gifts with the old team names is ok IMO.

 

[MoonCres]

I dont want to hear about all the crap ppl give you and are so nice either FYI (could care less) most people left have lots a **** congrats on giving them something to start in a game. I do it it as well just to try to help with this dead place.

 

[Pawain]

Yup. I remember when the Paragon Balron & Ancient Wyrm were THE high-end monsters. I remember taking on a Para Balron several years ago on LS & we had maybe 5 people there? One of the tamers had a Hiryu tanking and multiple people were healing it, while other pets/players were doing damage. While it was rare (and I honestly think it only happened once), I was able to take on a Greater Dragon with a White Wyrm/Nightmare combo. Now? Monsters like that are not a threat at all. Even the endgame bosses aren't that hard to deal with - the only ones I honestly have a problem with (on a tamer, anyway) are Necromancer monsters like Juo'nar and the Harrower. Well, that was before I made one of my tamers a bard/tamer - I have the templates I need to "Solo" everything in the game, I'm just unwilling to do so.

Back when Airmid did the community hunts, we went to the the spiral trail that leads to an Ancient in Ilsh. We had a lot of players, a paragon popped, the trail was full of carnage for a long time before we finally killed it.

 

[a wizard]

Forever is a long time. And being lost implies the possibility of being found again.

Is it lost for now, and has it been lost for some time? Yeah.

Can it be found or re-kindled in the future? Sure it can, but probably not with the current direction things are going.

Also the magic of UO is relative. It's different for everyone, so maybe it's lost right now for some of us, but there are those who still have it.

 

[AvorinSwiftslay]

Imagine a VR version of UO. That would be awesome.

 

[Stinky Pete]

Imagine a VR version of UO. That would be awesome.

You know, I have played a few VR games. I can't play more than a couple of minutes without feeling sick. I'm the same way with 3D movies. My brother in law always invites me to 3D movies. I just close my eyes the whole time. I've told him this, I don't know why he keeps inviting me.

 

[AvorinSwiftslay]

You know, I have played a few VR games. I can't play more than a couple of minutes without feeling sick. I'm the same way with 3D movies. My brother in law always invites me to 3D movies. I just close my eyes the whole time. I've told him this, I don't know why he keeps inviting me.

I have never tried VR, but am interested. I think if UO wanted to gain and capture, not just recapture, we must advance the technology for newer generations. I'm gen x and we are getting old. I know there are boomers playing as well, which is cool. But sometime in the future, if the game is to succede, I think it needs to be revamped and draw a new generation. Just keep RG and the rest of his peeps away from the project.

 

[MalagAste]

I have never tried VR, but am interested. I think if UO wanted to gain and capture, not just recapture, we must advance the technology for newer generations. I'm gen x and we are getting old. I know there are boomers playing as well, which is cool. But sometime in the future, if the game is to succede, I think it needs to be revamped and draw a new generation. Just keep RG and the rest of his peeps away from the project.

I tried my son's VR... it's kinda neat ... but I think I'd hurt myself or break something... but yeah it's neat... but UO would NOT be something I'd want to play with that... No Man's Sky is... and I hear Skyrim is kinda cool in VR.

 

[Laura_Gold]

Yes. Lost.
Hit Gregorio the Brigand, for example. That's a record-scratch non-immersion experience. That one could be fixed by changing the text:

"Gregorio seemeth to be protected by special magics! Mayhaps someone in Skara Brae knoweth of this."

 

[Stinky Pete]

Yes. Lost.
Hit Gregorio the Brigand, for example. That's a record-scratch non-immersion experience. That one could be fixed by changing the text:

"Gregorio seemeth to be protected by special magics! Mayhaps someone in Skara Brae knoweth of this."

That's another thing that really kills it. UO has become so devoid of immersion over the last decade or more. So many things to ruin any kind of immersion the game once had. I can't blame Broadsword though, it has been going on much longer than that.

 

[Riyana]

A big part of the magic of UO was simply its time and place. For many, maybe even most of us, it was our introduction to MMOs. UO was something new, and at the time it was pretty much a free for all. Those days can't come back, and that is not the dev team's fault or the community's fault.

It wasn't Trammel, it wasn't Age of Shadows, or any other change or expansion or publish, it's just time. It will never be new and unique again. We will never be able to rediscover a world we've spent two and a half decades in.

That said, I feel like the magic now is that, beyond simple nostalgia, UO is home. Many of us have left and come back at least once. Many of us keep coming back despite absolutely hating some aspects of the game in its current state. There is still a quality to UO that no other game has to this day really replicated... the complexity, the object handling, the communication, the housing, and yes, the community. The community is smaller than it's ever been, but it's made up largely of people with a lot of history and relationships tied to the game. It's home.

 

[Stinky Pete]

A big part of the magic of UO was simply its time and place. For many, maybe even most of us, it was our introduction to MMOs. UO was something new, and at the time it was pretty much a free for all. Those days can't come back, and that is not the dev team's fault or the community's fault.

I think this is probably most of it. I like to believe I could get that "magic" feeling again, but you're probably right, it's never going to happen no matter what. The destruction of immersion, interaction, and conflict probably hasn't helped, but it probably isn't the root cause. I still feel like the developers pretty much giving up on these things was a big mistake, hopefully these are the guiding principles of NL.

 

[Lady Michelle]

the uo magic to me happens when someone finds something they enjoy doing in uo and really don't care if others enjoy it or not.
even though I don't pvp or pk the uo magic I made for myself in fel was
faction guarding and tracking til that magic was takin away
yew gate uo fights on great lakes not sure if that still happens.
fel idocs the barrels ruined that uo magic for me.
my major uo passion magic is housing and decorating

 

[Laura_Gold]

I can't blame Broadsword

I can. They didn't fix pre-existing examples (such as Gregorio), and then added plenty of their own (e.g. anyone familiar with The Savage Empire would be shaking her head at what they did to Eodon).

 

[Spartan]

Didn't vote. A player makes part of the magic, but so do other players interacting with them. Overall the population has dropped quite a bit IMO. When I modded Players Corner, there was at least one question every day, with 2 or more vets offering advice - in addition to the mods. It's awful quiet over there. To me that also shows the population drop - and lack of any new players.

AoS introduced complexities that have only added to confusion and frustration for some. I understand the need for growth and new stuff in this and other games ... however this team seems to have lost the vision for UO that should be there.

You can never go home again certainly applies.

 

[HRH Liz]

The day UO loses its magic is the day I close all my accounts.

 

[tr1age]

You cannot re-create nostalgia. You can chase it forever, but best to make new memories and look onto them fondly as you make more. That is why UO is great still to this day: You are not forced to create new nostalgia, you can stay in the past memories through books or old emulations, or you can go forward and create your new adventure as we all did when we played in 97.

It is not the game that makes the memories, but the people.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is know when it is time to call it quits. Specially in a game that no longer brings you joy. That is the MAIN PURPOSE of games