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THE ONLY THREAD ABOUT Shard Consolidations

Kirthag

Former Stratics Publisher
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Stratics Legend
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What shard do you play Crimson?
 

Crimson Hawk Moth

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Why not make a crafter and make it himself {{Mind blown}}. Engage the community to have one made. Buy one token and move where the people are. Go to Tok and get one as a drop. Your opinion is not the only solution.


Your retort only seems to address one of the three options in my post you quoted. How about, ".............Engage the community to have one made. Buy one token and move where the people are. Go to Tok and get one as a drop. Your opinion is not the only solution."
Tok ? I didn't realize that you could get a -15 mageweapon bokuto with no other mods, as a random drop in the islands.
Engage the community I did that spent 5 days asking in general, Nothing....
Once again, you are saying I need to spend an extra $19 or w.e it is to move a character to a different shard where I have no resources and thus be in an even worse off state then I currently am.

No, how about we let the devs fix the game, and breathe some needed life into the low population shards, which is like all of them except 3......
 

Longtooths

Supreme Commander
Alumni
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UNLEASHED
Tok ? I didn't realize that you could get a -15 mageweapon bokuto with no other mods, as a random drop in the islands.
Had no idea what you needed was so specific. No you cant.

Engage the community I did that spent 5 days asking in general, Nothing....
Perhaps you need to make more friends....

Once again, you are saying I need to spend an extra $19 or w.e it is to move a character to a different shard where I have no resources and thus be in an even worse off state then I currently am.
Nope, you could use gold to buy it. Besides if UO was to consolidate shards, you would lose atleast that in all your Baja items lost in the transfer. Not to mention everyone else.

No, how about we let the devs fix the game, and breathe some needed life into the low population shards, which is like all of them except 3......
So get you are only worried about getting what you need and screw everyone else that would be affected by the merge....nice attitude I cant imagine why no one helped you in general.
 

Smoot

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
That's lol. You know how long it takes to farm for a specific runic of any sort ? BOD rewards weeks.... Doing the Elf quests... days at the least. Now add in I need the silly Whetstone from shame to finish, which = 1 out of 5 drop on 3 different bosses, which require 10 shame crystals which if not on lvl 5 has a drop rate of about 1 in 50.
fyi drop rate for whetstone components is 100 percent fel side. much much easier than tram.
 

Crimson Hawk Moth

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Had no idea what you needed was so specific. No you cant.



Perhaps you need to make more friends....



Nope, you could use gold to buy it. Besides if UO was to consolidate shards, you would lose atleast that in all your Baja items lost in the transfer. Not to mention everyone else.



So get you are only worried about getting what you need and screw everyone else that would be affected by the merge....nice attitude I cant imagine why no one helped you in general.

Maybe I should make more friends.

The only way I would lose items is if the dev team made it where you cant take anything from your previous shard. The argument you presented is just
speculation not fact.

I guess you are trolling at this point but ill go ahead and respond to your 4th point as well.
I made a suggestion earlier in the thread, that instead of just blindly merging all the shards, they could just open 2 other shards leave the 3 major populated ones alone, and let us on the smaller shards have free transfers only to the new shard, wouldn't effect you as far as I am aware.
The fact of the matter is, if I am struggling trying to find stuff I need, and doing a quick search of the vendors on Baja further supports my argument, that most people on the shard that ran dry on anything would be left to farm for whatever they need, or shard xfer. I doubt that is intended gameplay. The facts about Baja's economy are obvious;
no runic tools of any shape for sale on any vendor, no Powder of Fortitude, No Stygian Abyss matts for imbuing Etc.. Etc.. So, the dev team doing something/anything for the smaller shards wouldn't just help me, but help the community, even if its not a merge and just a global auction house type system linked across all the shards, just something! I really have no idea what you are on about though, so I concede. Their is no convincing you their is a problem with lower population shards.
 
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Lord Frodo

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Engage the community I did that spent 5 days asking in general, Nothing....
What shard do you play Crimson?
I have no clue why this person is so upset for the simple matter is I play Baja and unless this person is playing in the middle of the night I have heard no one spamming in Gen Chat about a needed wep, so how is the community suppose to help him if no one hears him.
I hope this person realizes that Baja is a West Coast Server in the United States of America and we are in the Pacific Standard Time Zone.
 

Lord Frodo

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UNLEASHED
no runic tools of any shape for sale on any vendor, no Powder of Fortitude, No Stygian Abyss matts for imbuing Etc.. Etc.. So, the dev team doing something/anything for the smaller shards wouldn't just help me, but help the community, even if its not a merge and just a global auction house type system linked across all the shards, just something! I really have no idea what you are on about though, so I concede. Their is no convincing you their is a problem with lower population shards.
I use to run a vendor at McLunas and if you are from Baja then you have to know where this is and people just stopped buying. If you really need stuff get in Gen Chat and see if anyone plays when you do, if not you may want to change your time you play. I have no clue as to what time you play, try 5pm - 8pm PST and talk to people you might be surprised to find that yes people do play Baja. Baja is the place where people retire to so when talking to people on Baja be respectful because we boast one of the eldest populations in UO.
 

Crimson Hawk Moth

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
I have no clue why this person is so upset for the simple matter is I play Baja and unless this person is playing in the middle of the night I have heard no one spamming in Gen Chat about a needed wep, so how is the community suppose to help him if no one hears him.
I hope this person realizes that Baja is a West Coast Server in the United States of America and we are in the Pacific Standard Time Zone.
I am fairly sure it was you last weekend that told me in general chat that the chances of me finding a whetstone was very slim and I would be better off to farm for it. Also iirc you were the one telling me to go do level 5 shame stuff because of the 5 per drop and 100% drop rate for the crystals. After that, I quit asking in General for if anyone had any for sale.

I do realize Baja is a West Coast Server in the USA and that you are in the Pac TZ.

Once again Its not the weapon I need, I need the weapon with specific mods, so I can imbue for what I want ;x.
If its just making a bokuto that's simple enough ;c

Anyhow I am not upset, this is just a game. If I cant find the stuff I need, oh well Ill find other things to do.
 

Crimson Hawk Moth

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
I use to run a vendor at McLunas and if you are from Baja then you have to know where this is and people just stopped buying. If you really need stuff get in Gen Chat and see if anyone plays when you do, if not you may want to change your time you play. I have no clue as to what time you play, try 5pm - 8pm PST and talk to people you might be surprised to find that yes people do play Baja. Baja is the place where people retire to so when talking to people on Baja be respectful because we boast one of the eldest populations in UO.
Am I some how coming off as being disrespectful or facetious in my posts ? You are the second person in this thread to comment about respect or attitude o.o. If anyone thinks I am being this way, I apologize. That was not the intended tone of my responses. Please don't infer my attitude from text.

Also I have been around Baja for years, I just took a long break ( about 2 months after high seas came out was last time I was playing very actively).
 

Merus

Crazed Zealot
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UNLEASHED
That's lol. You know how long it takes to farm for a specific runic of any sort ? BOD rewards weeks.... Doing the Elf quests... days at the least. Now add in I need the silly Whetstone from shame to finish, which = 1 out of 5 drop on 3 different bosses, which require 10 shame crystals which if not on lvl 5 has a drop rate of about 1 in 50... so, the point is still valid. To get a single weapon in the game as a returning player its going to still take me 100s of hours for ONE SINGLE WEAPON! ( don't even factor in, that who knows if I roll the right mods etc.. etc.. and I still need a forged runic tool from the store to ensure the weapon I just spent a billion hours farming to make doesn't break when I try to enhance....). Not even mentioning group content, I don't have a lot of people online that are very social on the shard who want to go farm peerless with me( and I mean freeking farming) I don't have a lot of the items you take for granted centures etc.. etc.. .


And just for the record, I have all req. crafting skills maxed. Its the ITEMS that require GROUP effort to create I can not come up with, because the GROUP has all been moved to atl. I am not going to start over from scratch with 0 support on atl. Just because I have not been playing doesn't mean I have not been supporting UO by paying for my accounts. I have 2 castles and a MAG plot ( that I won from that auction around the high seas time...) with the deed. To me if I have to start over from scratch, just to have access to resources needed to compete, ill go play a newer game. In the end though, if something doesn't change Expansion whatever... I am going to unsub and not worry about checking back and that's the issue with UO.
Please explain your logic here. You complain that it requires too much of an investment of time to collect the materials needed in order to craft the weapon you desire. Then you complain that none of the materials are for sale or that the weapon itself is not for sale. Now I get that different people in UO enjoy different aspects of UO, but the time it takes to collect the materials and craft the weapon do not change(much) based on someone else doing it.
Kinda sounds to me like you feel like someone else should be the one to invest all those hours just to support your playstyle. And that if that person is not where you think they should be, that the game is therefore broken and people need to be forced into a different playstyle.
Playing a slow shard is a choice. It comes with advantages and disadvantages (which are not the same for everyone). One aspect of small shards is the opportunity/obligation to be more self sufficient. If what you find available to you on the shard you are currently on does not suit your playstyle, it should not be other players who are forced to change (particularly against their will). As others have pointed out, there are various options available to you as the player, some you may not like. Taking away another players choice to play UO in the manner in which suits them because you don't like your choice seems backwards to me.
 

Lord Frodo

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I am fairly sure it was you last weekend that told me in general chat that the chances of me finding a whetstone was very slim and I would be better off to farm for it. Also iirc you were the one telling me to go do level 5 shame stuff because of the 5 per drop and 100% drop rate for the crystals. After that, I quit asking in General for if anyone had any for sale.

I do realize Baja is a West Coast Server in the USA and that you are in the Pac TZ.

Once again Its not the weapon I need, I need the weapon with specific mods, so I can imbue for what I want ;x.
If its just making a bokuto that's simple enough ;c

Anyhow I am not upset, this is just a game. If I cant find the stuff I need, oh well Ill find other things to do.
No that was not me you were talking to, trust me.
 

Lord Frodo

Stratics Legend
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UNLEASHED
Am I some how coming off as being disrespectful or facetious in my posts ? You are the second person in this thread to comment about respect or attitude o.o. If anyone thinks I am being this way, I apologize. That was not the intended tone of my responses. Please don't infer my attitude from text.

Also I have been around Baja for years, I just took a long break ( about 2 months after high seas came out was last time I was playing very actively).
Yes to me you are being rude and if this is how you talk in Gen Chat then you will turn off most people esp. on Baja. Believe me when I say Baja has a lot, I mean a lot of older people, you know like people that have grandkids so the younger crowd needs to keep that in mind when talking to the older generation. Believe me when I started 17 yrs ago Baja was the friendliest shard around and to this day still is. People will bend over backwards on Baja to help and alls we ask in return is polite conversation and a hearty TY when done.
 

Crimson Hawk Moth

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Please explain your logic here. You complain that it requires too much of an investment of time to collect the materials needed in order to craft the weapon you desire. Then you complain that none of the materials are for sale or that the weapon itself is not for sale. Now I get that different people in UO enjoy different aspects of UO, but the time it takes to collect the materials and craft the weapon do not change(much) based on someone else doing it.
Kinda sounds to me like you feel like someone else should be the one to invest all those hours just to support your playstyle. And that if that person is not where you think they should be, that the game is therefore broken and people need to be forced into a different playstyle.
Playing a slow shard is a choice. It comes with advantages and disadvantages (which are not the same for everyone). One aspect of small shards is the opportunity/obligation to be more self sufficient. If what you find available to you on the shard you are currently on does not suit your playstyle, it should not be other players who are forced to change (particularly against their will). As others have pointed out, there are various options available to you as the player, some you may not like. Taking away another players choice to play UO in the manner in which suits them because you don't like your choice seems backwards to me.
For one, I am not trying to have someone else 'do the work' for me so to speak. You are totally right that people do enjoy different types of play styles. What would be nice is if someone was selling the runics ( because they like to farm ) atleast, that I need so I wouldn't personaly have to farm for each thing needed to make the weapon, when I have plenty of gold. They are getting compensated via me buying the item from them.. I am not asking for hand outs of free stuff, their play style benefits and so does mine.

Playing a slow shard is not a choice for some of us. Baja vendors were not totally broken 3 years ago. I could buy the items I needed from various vendors, if I didn't want to spend the time farming. I didn't make some sort of choice, that turned Baja into what it seems to be today.

I am not spending real life money on UO besides my sub. To transfer to a different shard ( making a choice in your mind), is going to cost me a stupid amount of money in real life. Or, are you suggesting that I just start from scratch on a new shard. I really don't like that idea as well...

self sufficient should not == over 100 hours of farming to make a single weapon. I think you are missing the point. If I want to make a high end mage weapon, from scratch IE not having any of the required items or mats to make. I got to spend countless hours farming for runic tools, so I can reforge and have a chance at rolling the mod I need. Then I got to imbue the item so some farming their ( although not nearly as much ). Then on top of that I have to farm for a whetstone which before I was informed of Fels 100% drop rate I figured it would take me about 80hours of game time in shame dungeon to acquire it. Then I still have to enhance the sword, which if I don't buy a forged tool I have a stupidly high chance to break the item. which puts me back in shame for another 80 hours.

How much time do you have on your hands to do all this yourself ? I would challenge you to roll a character on a shard you have never played on, and with out help build a high end suit. This means no buying stuff from RMT, This means not taking handouts from people, as well as not using any resources you already have on your current shard. I personally can give UO about 1 to 2 hours a day Monday though Friday, and if I am lucky I might have 5 to 6 hours total Sat and Sunday I can play. So yeah in about 4 weeks I may or may not have one piece of my suit complete.

What have I said at any point in this thread about forcing other people to different play styles to suit me ? Because I want to buy something from a vendor that is stupidly common on the other shards ???????

I have made the suggestion that a global Auction House type system would fix 90% of the problems I am experiencing on a low population shard. HOW DOES THAT FORCE OTHER PEOPLE INTO A PLAYSTYLE THEY DONT WANT ?

From my time here, I can see this community is very good at putting words in peoples mouths, and taking stuff out of context, I feel like I am in the troll center of the internets.......

FFS you guys are making me want to quit uo more, if this is how the community is at large why would I want to play with any of you. Everyone just seems so full of spite and hate. I am just trying to play a game as it was intended and have fun. I am not here to do battle with the internets.
 

Smoot

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Please explain your logic here. You complain that it requires too much of an investment of time to collect the materials needed in order to craft the weapon you desire. Then you complain that none of the materials are for sale or that the weapon itself is not for sale. Now I get that different people in UO enjoy different aspects of UO, but the time it takes to collect the materials and craft the weapon do not change(much) based on someone else doing it.
Kinda sounds to me like you feel like someone else should be the one to invest all those hours just to support your playstyle. And that if that person is not where you think they should be, that the game is therefore broken and people need to be forced into a different playstyle.
Playing a slow shard is a choice. It comes with advantages and disadvantages (which are not the same for everyone). One aspect of small shards is the opportunity/obligation to be more self sufficient. If what you find available to you on the shard you are currently on does not suit your playstyle, it should not be other players who are forced to change (particularly against their will). As others have pointed out, there are various options available to you as the player, some you may not like. Taking away another players choice to play UO in the manner in which suits them because you don't like your choice seems backwards to me.
hes saying that because of the low pop nothings for sale. which is a fact, as stated by frodo. its basically the perfect arguement for the need for shard mergers which is the point of this whole thread.

playing a slow shard is Not a choice for the people who come back to the game to an empty shard. they never made that choice, the only choices they have are very bad. spend rl $$ upwards of a hundred dollars for transfers to move everything, buy a vet account for rl $$ just for the shard shields, or quit the game.

the game is really unplayable without being able to find basic needs for sale which is a major problem a merger would solve.
 
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Merus

Crazed Zealot
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UNLEASHED
hes saying that because of the low pop nothings for sale. which is a fact, as stated by frodo. its basically the perfect arguement for the need for shard mergers which is the point of this whole thread.
I don't agree that the lack of items for sale on a slow shard is justification for shard mergers. The fact that people continue to be happy on those shards despite the vendor activity shows there is a market for those shards. If he is unhappy with the selection of vendor merchandise he has the ability to play a shard where it already exits if he wants.
 

Crimson Hawk Moth

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Yes to me you are being rude and if this is how you talk in Gen Chat then you will turn off most people esp. on Baja. Believe me when I say Baja has a lot, I mean a lot of older people, you know like people that have grandkids so the younger crowd needs to keep that in mind when talking to the older generation. Believe me when I started 17 yrs ago Baja was the friendliest shard around and to this day still is. People will bend over backwards on Baja to help and alls we ask in return is polite conversation and a hearty TY when done.
I am 32 years old, and I started playing UO at 14 years old iirc. I remember when their was no rep in the game it was all notoriety, and reds could walka round in town as long as they were not dread.
Please for my benefit point out in a PM where I was rude to you ? I came to this thread just to air my concern that as a returning player it has been extremely hard for me to do simple stuff, due to the non existent economy of Baja. All I have received in response is: "you don't know what you are talking about", "You are wrong because you don't want to farm a billion hours, for something that is available on other shards in high quantity", etc.. etc..

You know what actually this isn't worth any of my time at this point. If this is really the response I am going to receive then you guys can just have your game. Im done, obviously I am degenerate and lack basic social skills in your mind. You also seem to think I am on some sort of entitlement kick which is not the case. I am just frustrated that I have spent over 2 weeks trying to make the last piece for my suit. I don't need frustration like that. I wanted to play uo for fun and to relax but I see that is impossible now without starting over on a different shard from scratch, so I am done with it.
 

Kirthag

Former Stratics Publisher
Alumni
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ok... we all know Baja is a slow shard.

This thread is about Shard Mergers (or any sort of game feature merge) so PLEASE KEEP IT TO THE TOPIC.

Crimson - I feel for you dude. If you wanna make a thread about your specific situation, by all means - I believe the Trades Boards will best suit you as that is were a lot of cross-sharding crafters post their wares. And if they don't have something immediately available, well, maybe you can work something out with them.

Your case is echoed across the game. What we should focus on is not so much what is lacking, but what we can do to improve it all.

Steer the conversation toward that please, or we will have to trim and lock this thread.

Thanks everyone!
 

Smoot

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If he is unhappy with the selection of vendor merchandise he has the ability to play a shard where it already exits if he wants.
and how would someone do that without spending real life money or starting over? both are not options for the majority of vets is why i ask.
 

Merus

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
and how would someone do that without spending real life money or starting over? both are not options for the majority of vets is why i ask.
Might not be able to... But that is still his choice... Pay some extra money to get what he wants out of UO where it exists or don't. Having to pay a transfer fee to get what you want is much different than being forced to move for something you don't with no option to go back.
 

Lord Frodo

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and how would someone do that without spending real life money or starting over? both are not options for the majority of vets is why i ask.
#1 UOStratics is a very small portion of UO to begin with.

#2 Please do not try to speak for the "MAJORITY" of anybody, speak for yourself. The MAJORITY of vets that I know DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THEIR SHARD no matter what. You say "STARTING OVER" is not an option but with a shard merger that is exactly what you are proposing that the rest of us do by shutting down our shard of choice. Please make up your mind because you can not have it both ways, a shard merger and people NOT starting over.
 

Longtooths

Supreme Commander
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and how would someone do that without spending real life money or starting over? both are not options for the majority of vets is why i ask.
Can you not buy transfer tokens with gold?
 

Old Vet Back Again

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Rofl, you all crack me up.

Just keep holding this game back because you own a luna house on atl, 100 dread mares, 20 glacial spell books and a ton of other rares. Don't wanna risk losing your precious shinny pixels...

The funniest part is that no where does it say you would lose your items, again this is all just a discussion. There are no SET rules of what will happen, but you all are just going to continue freaking out because you fear you are going to lose all your belongings. Why not try and have an open mind and help move the discussion forward?

What Crimson expressed is in fact the truth, and it was the truth for me 4 years ago when I came back to pacific. If I didn't find an old guildy who then introduced me to the guild I am in now I would have left. You see I enjoy playing with a very high playbase but I live on the West Coast. Seeing as how the East has the more populated shards why should I be forced to move there to play them? It's the same argument you all are using about mergers. You don't want to lose your shard and think people are being selfish. I don't want to ping 120 and play a shard 3 hours a head of me and think you guys are being selfish. The people for and against have their points and they are valid. You cannot dismiss one because they are the opposite side as you. They play the game and pay their monthly sub just like you. Why is it so hard to just have a discussion?

I support Shard Mergers or Dungeon Mergers 100%
 

Longtooths

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Rofl, you all crack me up.

Just keep holding this game back because you own a luna house on atl, 100 dread mares, 20 glacial spell books and a ton of other rares. Don't wanna risk losing your precious shinny pixels...
Your assumption about me is patently false. It never crossed my mind that I might lose items, housing etc.. I'm pretty confident that if a decision to merge threads was decided it would be implemented in such a way as to harm as few people as possible. That being said, ATL would be a destination for smaller shards. But even if it wasn't, I have the means to pick up and move everything I have in game where I want whenever I want. I can also attain new property...

The funniest part is that no where does it say you would lose your items, again this is all just a discussion. There are no SET rules of what will happen, but you all are just going to continue freaking out because you fear you are going to lose all your belongings. Why not try and have an open mind and help move the discussion forward?
Again, (See above)I do not have a fear of losing my items. I am speaking up for those on the smaller shards that have the possibility of losing items, housing etc. I don't think it is fair to uproot people that are perfectly fine with the status quo for those that are not. Your assumptions and stereotypes of me are holding you back from considering anything I say as you think it comes from a specific place.

What Crimson expressed is in fact the truth, and it was the truth for me 4 years ago when I came back to pacific. If I didn't find an old guildy who then introduced me to the guild I am in now I would have left. You see I enjoy playing with a very high playbase but I live on the West Coast. Seeing as how the East has the more populated shards why should I be forced to move there to play them? It's the same argument you all are using about mergers. You don't want to lose your shard and think people are being selfish. I don't want to ping 120 and play a shard 3 hours a head of me and think you guys are being selfish. The people for and against have their points and they are valid. You cannot dismiss one because they are the opposite side as you. They play the game and pay their monthly sub just like you. Why is it so hard to just have a discussion?

I support Shard Mergers or Dungeon Mergers 100%
Again, this is all based on your assumption that I am worried/selfish/or whatever other derogatory assumption you have of me...I am not.

The problem is you don't mean discussion you mean, agree with you. Simply put I disagree with your narrative. I specifically disagree with the deletion and merging of smaller shards to bigger shards. I also disagree with blanket handing out shard shields or equivalent to non vet without a cost.

However, I think the merged shopping/vendor/mutual housing areas idea is interesting.
 

Kirthag

Former Stratics Publisher
Alumni
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LAST WARNING ON THE THREAD!

BE RESPECTFUL
BE COURTEOUS
BE INTELLIGENT

One more time and the thread will be locked. And there will be no more discussion about shard/dungeon/commerce/anything merging except via PMs.

Post something constructive or do not post at all. :slap:Simple.
 
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Judas D'arc

Seasoned Veteran
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Rofl, you all crack me up.

Just keep holding this game back because you own a luna house on atl, 100 dread mares, 20 glacial spell books and a ton of other rares. Don't wanna risk losing your precious shinny pixels...

The funniest part is that no where does it say you would lose your items, again this is all just a discussion. There are no SET rules of what will happen, but you all are just going to continue freaking out because you fear you are going to lose all your belongings. Why not try and have an open mind and help move the discussion forward?

What Crimson expressed is in fact the truth, and it was the truth for me 4 years ago when I came back to pacific. If I didn't find an old guildy who then introduced me to the guild I am in now I would have left. You see I enjoy playing with a very high playbase but I live on the West Coast. Seeing as how the East has the more populated shards why should I be forced to move there to play them? It's the same argument you all are using about mergers. You don't want to lose your shard and think people are being selfish. I don't want to ping 120 and play a shard 3 hours a head of me and think you guys are being selfish. The people for and against have their points and they are valid. You cannot dismiss one because they are the opposite side as you. They play the game and pay their monthly sub just like you. Why is it so hard to just have a discussion?

I support Shard Mergers or Dungeon Mergers 100%
I think you make some good points.

My experiences coming back to UO were very similar to yours, and I was also fortunate enough to meet nice players who made me stick around. I think the problem with this thread in general is that certain people can't distinguish a difference of opinion with evil ulterior motives bent on destroying the game or ruining their fun, and I appreciate those who don't fall into that trap. The eroding player-base is a real problem, regardless of if/what the solution is. You're also correct about selfishness -- the competing interests here are pretty equal and one isn't really any less selfish than the other. As I stated earlier, my perspective is that of a role-player and the need for role-playing communities to have decent numbers to survive. And I don't feel I should give up on that objective due to cranky logic. However, I can't be convinced that more populated shards, merger or not, and more players in general would ever be bad for UO's long-term health.

A dungeon merger or a mall merger idea is kind of interesting as well. I don't think it would solve all the problems but at least would address some of the difficulties new or returning players would face.

Looking at the other side of things, one con-argument I don't have the answer for is if someone really has more filled character slots than available shards remaining. While a viable merger option would have to include transfers for characters and items, I can't think of a solution for this specific issue, outside of some sort of compensation. I really don't know realistically how many people this might impact, what level of compensation they should get, or how to avoid compensation abuse.

Another con-argument I've been thinking about are non-merger solutions to increase player population. There have been some good posts about allocation of developer resources to attract or retain players. It feels like one of those "you need credit to get credit" scenarios because the developers need more subscriptions to have more resources to spend on attracting more subscriptions. I agree with others who've pointed out that they really could do more with what they do have, like the web-site -- it's not very appealing or helpful. I really hope the upcoming expansion isn't a wasted opportunity in that respect; I've already spoken to a couple of old players who were interested in it. Of course, their next question was about current levels of population and activity and my answers didn't seem appealing to them. Some people might argue that they're not worth it in the first place, but anyone who expresses interest is a potential sale that should matter. Anyway, besides improved marketing and more attractive/compelling features, which seem to be held up by resources, I'm stuck on non-merger solutions that would actually address the player-base problem.
 

Old Vet Back Again

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However, I think the merged shopping/vendor/mutual housing areas idea is interesting.
Then why not expand on that?

My opinion would be no housing. Maybe plots much like New Mag where you rent it out.

But again, this would cater to the voiding of vet rewards and the purchase of Xfer tokens. Both of which hurt Broadsword and Customers.

Could there be a charge in gold to make the exfer much like vendor search? Gold sinks are good, but obviously it would need to be a decent penny
 

Old Vet Back Again

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Looking at the other side of things, one con-argument I don't have the answer for is if someone really has more filled character slots than available shards remaining. While a viable merger option would have to include transfers for characters and items, I can't think of a solution for this specific issue, outside of some sort of compensation. I really don't know realistically how many people this might impact, what level of compensation they should get, or how to avoid compensation abuse.
I have 2-3 pvp toons on pretty much all US shards, a few on asian shards and 1 Event toon on each US Shard. If shard mergers happened, I would look at it this way; I would be condensing all my toons along with the merger. Most people find templates they like, and for many reason. They might excel at that particular template compared to the others. They might enjoy playing it more. Regardless of the reason all they would do is be condensing their toons as well. I have read people have crafters on almost every shard. If West Coast was condensed into 1 shard, they would basically condense all of those crafters on the West into 1. You're not losing anything in doing so.

Now in a RP perspective I understand this would be more complicated should you have a story line you are following on each shard. I have no background in RP, so this is something I would leave up to the RPer's to come up with a solution for.
 

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Regardless of the reason all they would do is be condensing their toons as well. I have read people have crafters on almost every shard. If West Coast was condensed into 1 shard, they would basically condense all of those crafters on the West into 1. You're not losing anything in doing so.
Yes you would lose by losing crafters. Every Smith/Tailor collects BODs to replenish/gather new BODs and by deleting them you lose collectors. What about Tamers, do you cut then down and now they lose pets on top of it. Every toon people have mean no less to them as they are all our children. You yourself may say oh this is easy, well great, sorry some of us do not so I guess you need to have UO give us a ton more Char Slots on top of new houses. I am sorry but to you this is so very simple and in truth it is not, you are asking people to give it all up and how many times has UO pissed players off only to lose more subs and you don't think this will not make people unhappy. The GOOD OF THE GAME means doing #1 what is right for your current player base and then find ways to get some new blood into UO. It is not doing what you think is best for a few and hope that the rest will just go along with it. If you are so gung ho then find ways to get people to play UO and get away from all the suck it up lose your shard ideas, #1 the UO Producers have already said many times this will not happen, but yet you think beating a dead horse is the way to fix UO.
 

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Ok, I guess I need to clarify what condensing means...

If you condense your tamers to one shard you will condense their pets as well. Do they need more animal slots? Yes.

If you condense Tailors that collect Bods it will make prices go up which will create a higher cost of PoF which if I am not mistaken will increase the ROI of the crafter farming Bods. Is this not a good thing??

This is just a suggestion but in condensing what if BS gave the account holder access to everything they had and allowed them to pick and pull from it to place it on the toon they wanted? Pets go to the new tamer, Materials go to the new crafter, etc...
 

Lord Frodo

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I totally give up beating my head against a wall. Just because someone thinks that this is so easy and that UO will not lose a thing but in fact gain new playes all I can say is great. UO go ahead and merge all west coast shards to one shard and when you lose your player base and subs because of it then please remember that according to some and definitely not all the player base, because UOStratics IS NOT all the UO players just keep telling yourself "But this was for the good of UO" Make me lose my shard, make me lose my toons, make me lose my homes and you will make me lose my wallet. And I am sure that there will be more following me than the for the best of UO crowd.

This thread is useless because the UO DEVELOPERS HAVE STATED MANY TIMES THAT THERE WILL BE NO, I REPEAT NO SHARD MERGERS so come up with others ideas that do not cost UO any money. GOOD-BY
 

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I have 2-3 pvp toons on pretty much all US shards, a few on asian shards and 1 Event toon on each US Shard. If shard mergers happened, I would look at it this way; I would be condensing all my toons along with the merger. Most people find templates they like, and for many reason. They might excel at that particular template compared to the others. They might enjoy playing it more. Regardless of the reason all they would do is be condensing their toons as well. I have read people have crafters on almost every shard. If West Coast was condensed into 1 shard, they would basically condense all of those crafters on the West into 1. You're not losing anything in doing so.

Now in a RP perspective I understand this would be more complicated should you have a story line you are following on each shard. I have no background in RP, so this is something I would leave up to the RPer's to come up with a solution for.
My concern was for people who'd feel they'd be losing the time and effort they put into building up those 6-7 characters per shard that couldn't possibly fit into a merged UO of only 5-6 shards. Personally, I agree with you that the sacrifice would probably worth the outcome, but I completely understand the opposite view. I suppose for a role-player, it isn't all that different. Sure there are the characters and histories that might be lost, but I feel it'd be worth it for more people to interact with. Also, UO lore is actually very helpful in this regard since it really supports the option of a character ending up on a mirror reality or creating an alternate version of a pre-existing character on that world. I've done the latter a couple of times and it ended up not being nearly as painful as I thought it might be.

On a related note, it's kind of funny timing that Hawkwind/the Time Lord is featured in the new global arc. Per the in-game book, "My Book" by Sherry the Mouse, the Time Lord's been arguing for shard mergers since 1997 :).
 

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Then why not expand on that?

My opinion would be no housing. Maybe plots much like New Mag where you rent it out.

But again, this would cater to the voiding of vet rewards and the purchase of Xfer tokens. Both of which hurt Broadsword and Customers.

Could there be a charge in gold to make the exfer much like vendor search? Gold sinks are good, but obviously it would need to be a decent penny

If it is a Maginica style world/land/etc. (which I like the idea of) I am assuming that all shards would be able to access this area to shop, but not to physically hand other people items. Thus still keeping the need for shard shields (items over 175m). On the surface i sounds like a fair solution. people that like low pop shards get to stay and those that like it but dislike no resources can still buy what they need.....yeah it sounds ok....

Trying to think who if any it is bad for...People that use shields to buy cheap and return to ATL to sell at a markup..meh not to worried about that....yeah I really don't currently see a downside to this at the present.

@Kirthag, you seem to be the only one that is freaking out with all the CAPS and threats in your post. Are you really making the accusation that your users are not intelligent or making intelligent posts (are the users beneath you)? Stratics used to tell people to adhere to the Rules Of Conduct. Now posts have to be constructive and intelligent, how vague and sad for Stratics. At every opportunity you choose to be authoritative and ratchet down on the community instead of promoting freedom and unity. Is this really the image @Ron Bron wants to send to the dwindling Stratics community, users are not intelligent and if you think our posts are not constructive or intelligent (not that it breaks the ROC mind you, just two subjectively vague conditions you set are not met) , then you will lock the thread? Seriously....?
 

Judas D'arc

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I totally give up beating my head against a wall. Just because someone thinks that this is so easy and that UO will not lose a thing but in fact gain new playes all I can say is great. UO go ahead and merge all west coast shards to one shard and when you lose your player base and subs because of it then please remember that according to some and definitely not all the player base, because UOStratics IS NOT all the UO players just keep telling yourself "But this was for the good of UO" Make me lose my shard, make me lose my toons, make me lose my homes and you will make me lose my wallet. And I am sure that there will be more following me than the for the best of UO crowd.

This thread is useless because the UO DEVELOPERS HAVE STATED MANY TIMES THAT THERE WILL BE NO, I REPEAT NO SHARD MERGERS so come up with others ideas that do not cost UO any money. GOOD-BY
I think the opposite conclusion can also be made regarding UO Stratics and the player-base, given the number of players that have voted with their dollars by not playing UO.

You're obviously very passionate about your opposition to shard mergers, and I can at least see where you're coming from when I don't agree, (although I don't appreciate some of your prior comments or assumptions about my motivations or history). What I don't understand is why a theoretical discussion when we know the current regime won't implement a shard merger is so offensive -- if any constructive solutions for UO's population issues comes out of this, then it's a good thing.

With respect to your last point -- do you have any specific ideas that you feel won't UO any money (subscribers)? Per my prior post, the anti-merger crowd's position on this is something I'm genuinely curious about.
 

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@Ron Bron wants to send to the dwindling Stratics community, users are not intelligent and if you think our posts are not constructive or intelligent (not that it breaks the ROC mind you, just two subjectively vague conditions you set are not met) , then you will lock the thread? Seriously....?
Just abide by the rules of conduct by avoiding trolling and personal attacks, that's all that is implied.
 

Old Vet Back Again

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Trying to think who if any it is bad for...People that use shields to buy cheap and return to ATL to sell at a markup..meh not to worried about that....yeah I really don't currently see a downside to this at the present.

The player base that flips items is not all that large, but they do also need to be taken into consideration. If we are going forward with the train of thought that we cannot work through this in a harmful way to anyone's game play, I can see this as still being a bit of a struggle to achieve. Granted I am on the same page as you...

I wonder if they did this, if those sellers that sell low would continue doing so on the new land mass? Retail is a very hard thing to remain current in. Some people take the philosophy of wal mart; buy bulk and sell cheap. This only works if you are able to move units in the tens of thousands. While others try and follow the limited runs that you can sell at a higher price point while moving less. Both can be successful and both can lead to closing up shop. It would be interesting to watch UO's economy in this scenario. The new player could get lucky and catch a huge break (one that is very needed)...

How does anyone else feel about a "luna mint" shared server by all of the US servers?
 

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You say new land mass. I dont even think you need that. maybe just a building...I'l explain. You are on your shard, you vendor search and see something on another server for cheaper. You use the map tool already in use and it teleports you to the building along with a facsimile of the vendor and you buy your item and return to your shard.

Would the Atlantic merchants lower their prices to meet the low population shards who have lower prices or would the low pop merchants raise their price to meet ATL. And how long would it be before either an ATL person bought out his competitor and resold at the ATL price. The hope or course would be that the ATL player would lower and the low pop player would raise their prices a bit and meet in the middle.

I thought about it on the way home and I think this is a good idea..
 

Lord Frodo

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I think the opposite conclusion can also be made regarding UO Stratics and the player-base, given the number of players that have voted with their dollars by not playing UO.

You're obviously very passionate about your opposition to shard mergers, and I can at least see where you're coming from when I don't agree, (although I don't appreciate some of your prior comments or assumptions about my motivations or history). What I don't understand is why a theoretical discussion when we know the current regime won't implement a shard merger is so offensive -- if any constructive solutions for UO's population issues comes out of this, then it's a good thing.

With respect to your last point -- do you have any specific ideas that you feel won't UO any money (subscribers)? Per my prior post, the anti-merger crowd's position on this is something I'm genuinely curious about.
#1 This can not cost UO any lost money so Xfers, Shard Shields, people forced to move, lose toons needs to be taken out of discussion. Joint dungeon as long as no goods can be traded is ok and a joint housing/vendor would take out Xfers so they are out also.

Possible fix for people returning to low population shards would be a Traders Hall and this Hall has to have a Moon Gate at it but does not have to be in a town, in other words get it out of Luna in fact make it its own area where you have one huge area for posting things you need or things you have for sell that even Reds can get to but zero fighting is allowed and Chat Chan does not work their. This is a place for trade only. There also needs to be a place for all manners of crafting, stables the works, I think you get the idea. On the BB you post what you are selling or buying and ways to contact you. The reason I say Moongate is everybody uses them and if it were listed by itself then everybody would see it. Moongate you select Open Market and the menu shows up Open Market kind of like the Royal City one. Now everybody has a place that they can go to on every shard to advertise. Vendor search is great and all but you also need a place for people to gather for custom gear work or to let people know that hey there is a buyer for this item too.

Ideas that may or may not help the population is after 1 year these boosters are no longer required to be purchased. The only reason to buy them is like the High Seas one gave you extra storage, that you would still have to buy for that only. Go on most shards and you will find open spots in New Mag and tons of open Commodity and Pet Broker Encampments, its been long enough so let us use them, yes I would open a selling one and a buying one. Nothing special came with those Boosters and I know a lot of people did not buy them because they were not worth the money, me included. If after one year I could use those I would and if I wanted the raised gardens then I would buy them from UO.

Gothic/Rustic Theme Pack Release Date: September 7 2009 $9.99 each. Make content usable by anyone and if you want the gifts that came with it then you have to buy it.

High Seas Release Date: October 12 2010 $14.99 this is worth the storage upgrade and is the only reason I bought it. Same as above.

King's Collection Release Date: June 24 2013 $9.99 Same as above.

This thread is no different than Tram/Fel threads and IMHO UO should be here saying UOStratics stop this and post "Nice try but it is not going to happen." This way at least we know that UO is listening.

We also need to see a UO presence in UO and a good place would be in New Haven or the MARKET to help new players/returning players. Both of these would be good meeting places. If they are not there maybe a BB to give them messages to pass on to UO with ideas. You could go so far as to put the EM Office here also that way Blues and Reds could both go there. Here people is one huge Community Center for Crafters/Tamers/Tradespeople to meet with buyers/new players/returning players to hang out and do meet and greets. WBB sitting at its finest where even Fellies (JK) are allowed.
 

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Just abide by the rules of conduct by avoiding trolling and personal attacks, that's all that is implied.
Not sure why you edited your post. It was refreshing to hear a positive message from Stratics staff.

But to the point, as far as I can see from the posts prior to kirthags post, no one Broke the ROC. Yet we are chastised and the insinuation is leaved that people are not being respectful, courteous or intelligent.

Since it was the LAST WARNING, may I inquire as to which post it was that broke the Rules of Conduct? Forgive me, perhaps I am not INTELLIGENT enough but I see no breaking of the ROC that facilitated a post like that? I would hate to see this thread locked.

Thanks.
 

Lord Frodo

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Just abide by the rules of conduct by avoiding trolling and personal attacks, that's all that is implied.
I understand why my post was deleted, not complaining, I get pretty adamant about things I care about but on the other hand please use the same erase pen when looking at the posts on the other side. Name calling/inferring name calling or that we don't care about UO as much as they do works both ways.
 

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Not sure why you edited your post. It was refreshing to hear a positive message from Stratics staff.

But to the point, as far as I can see from the posts prior to kirthags post, no one Broke the ROC. Yet we are chastised and the insinuation is leaved that people are not being respectful, courteous or intelligent.

Since it was the LAST WARNING, may I inquire as to which post it was that broke the Rules of Conduct? Forgive me, perhaps I am not INTELLIGENT enough but I see no breaking of the ROC that facilitated a post like that? I would hate to see this thread locked.

Thanks.
As you know, we can't discuss other people's posts or the removal of those posts. However, since the post broke the rules and was worthy of her posting the warning, it would make sense that the post was also removed, which is why you can't see it.
 

Lord Frodo

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You say new land mass. I dont even think you need that. maybe just a building...I'l explain. You are on your shard, you vendor search and see something on another server for cheaper. You use the map tool already in use and it teleports you to the building along with a facsimile of the vendor and you buy your item and return to your shard.

Would the Atlantic merchants lower their prices to meet the low population shards who have lower prices or would the low pop merchants raise their price to meet ATL. And how long would it be before either an ATL person bought out his competitor and resold at the ATL price. The hope or course would be that the ATL player would lower and the low pop player would raise their prices a bit and meet in the middle.

I thought about it on the way home and I think this is a good idea..
Shard Shields were suppose to do this and it never worked. Your idea sounds great on paper but UO would lose real money on this.
 

Lord Frodo

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Also I forgot that there could be a BB spot for people with Shard Shields to post their travel times and a place for people to post things they needed from another Shard. Kind of kills two birds with 1 stone because everyone now get to take advantage of those DANG Shard Shields.
 

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A central trade area, a la the New Magincia market, but accessible for all shards would be nice.
Oh, and the seller needs to be there - not dump stuff on a vendor and take off. That will actually spur some community interaction and yeah, make it a real marketplace. I still like my "central shard" idea - just limit it to what is carried plus bank access - no packies. Still have a need for shard shields - especially if you wanna jump from shard to shard collecting things from other shards and participating in events with friends - I believe that is in the spirit of what they are for. Still have the need for those Luna houses as the primary commerce is still on a person's home shard. Call it a huge auction across the shards or something - no houses, no other permanent set. Just people sitting in stalls barking out to passers by, "Hey! check out this sword!" "Yo, mate! Got some fish fer ya!" "Now this armor is the cat's meow, literally! Just look at the well-worn gouges!"

You get the idea.

However, short of the devs doing maniacal tricks with code - I really think we players should do a bit more to help make the game more enjoyable for everyone (see prior posts on that subject).

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: <--happy banana dance (my house is now inundated with the wonderful smell of baking banana bread! gotta love banana season!):drool:
 

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rather than starting a new one, just continue on here. :)
:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:
 

Lord Frodo

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A central trade area, a la the New Magincia market, but accessible for all shards would be nice.
The problem with this is UO will lose money with Xfers and it kind of makes Shard Shields a worthless vet reward.
However, short of the devs doing maniacal tricks with code - I really think we players should do a bit more to help make the game more enjoyable for everyone (see prior posts on that subject).

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: <--happy banana dance (my house is now inundated with the wonderful smell of baking banana bread! gotta love banana season!):drool:
This is what really needs to happen IMHO is get the Shards to take care of their own. See Post #334 Long but I think it is worth it. UO loses nothing and all the Shards gain something unique that both Blues and Reds can use.
 

Kirthag

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On a related note, it's kind of funny timing that Hawkwind/the Time Lord is featured in the new global arc. Per the in-game book, "My Book" by Sherry the Mouse, the Time Lord's been arguing for shard mergers since 1997 :).
*giggles*
...well now, think about that a bit...

I didn't want to point it out (glad someone did!) and aye, I believe that's really the reason for all this contemplation. After all, there are many who do read the content.
:drool::banana::banana::banana::banana::drool:
 
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