To those that are unhappy with UO....

[Frey Wavestrider]

Yeah, Jeff posts to Twitter... and that's great and all... but the UO community would be better served by posts here or on the Herald. However, honestly, 140 characters isn't enough to say anything of true substance. While I appreciate that he does use Twitter to chat back, and forth with a few players and I take the time to read his tweets, many (if not most) players probably don't even know he tweets, or wouldn't want to wade through 90% of his irrelevant (to UO) trash tweets.

And seriously, trying to trot out "new, younger players" as a reason to tweet is ABSURD. Tweets won't bring in any players once they hit the official site, or bother to see that most of the UO Twitter conversations are complaints about things most companies would be highly ashamed of.

Tweets are great for bite sized tidbits of conversation that should be followed up with more in-depth posts. 140 chars is not "increasing communication" as we've been repeatedly promised.

That was the point I was making, 140 characters is not enough space to provide useful information. It has to be followed up with more details. If someone has real concerns about an issue a tweet will not fill provide the information. Do new players tweet, some I suspect do. But, I have nieces, nephews and students who were big on tweeting and they found often they were missing things with just tweets. They always followed them with another form of communication if the issue was important.

Tweeting is like a one line descriptor of a movie. Done well it gives you a vague idea of what the movie is actually about. Done poorly is very misleading. Tweeting has been blamed on more misunderstandings than a lot of the other social media for good reason.

 

[deadite]

I just used my free 14 days to clean out my house now that decay is back. And honestly, up until they turned off decay I had really only been paying my sub once every 2-3 months to keep my house fresh. This time I think I'm going to let it rot.

But look, UO occupied nearly 15 years of my life. It played a big part in who I am now. So although I don't play anymore, of course I'm going to check in from time to time. I've given up on trying to suggest changes or have any hope that the game will improve. Like several people have already said, the game has grown too complex and unwieldy. Long gone are the days of a simple, but in-depth, sandbox.

At this point I think a Pre-AOS shard would be the only thing that would bring me back. I'd absolutely love it if they'd finish the Enhanced Client and release a classic shard. I wish for this so hard that it makes my heart hurt... With updated graphics and an improved interface, classic UO would absolutely stomp any of the other sandbox MMOs out there. And that, my friends, is a fairly lucrative niche for a 15 year old game.

My only hope now is the upcoming Ultimate RPG from Lord British. Maybe I'll see some of you there...

 

[GreywolfUK]

I keep playing because there is simple nothing to touch UO for depth of play, plus like some have said, the memories of past friends, things we used to get up to, also a lot of new friends, that is what keeps me returning to UO, if I get bored I take a break, and then come back refreshed ready to play again.

There have been somethings I hate about the modern UO, the fact that it is more item based now than actual skill based, and is becoming more complex in doing some things, but unlike a certain poster(s) assumptions about people being to stupid to work things out or know how to ask questions. I tend to think people are far more intelligent than that.

As for not seeing new players in game, I have seen a few since my return a few weeks ago, and these are COMPLETELY new players, not just returning players for way back before pub16 or even before the birth of Tram.

 

[Woodsman]

I remember years ago with MYUO they actually had a section for "In Development"... Where things that were being worked on were featured... now those things didn't always make it into the game but at least they showed you what you might expect later.

Every major MMO has some form of this, even if it's just blog postings. Why UO, Camelot, and Warhammer don't is a mystery.

BioWare's flagship game has this kind of stuff posted fairly often:

What’s next for The Old Republic

And stuff like this - this isn't even a proper producer's letter laying out specifics, it's just the "Game Director" taking a few minutes to talk about the game and what he sees happening:

Design Notes - Game Update 1.1 | Star Wars: The Old Republic

Today we are releasing our first major Game Update, Rise of the Rakghouls. Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ has had a very successful launch, but we know our work has only begun. We want you, our fans, to know that we’ll continue expanding and exploring the galaxy, ensuring it’s a place where new adventures are constantly unfolding.

Both high and low level players will discover new content and game systems waiting for them in this Game Update. Our goal is to provide something exciting for every type of player in the game: PVP players, Flashpoint fans, Guild members, space combat aces and role-players.

This first Game Update will show everyone how serious we are about expanding Star Wars: The Old Republic, and there’s much more to come. We have another major update planned for March and future content arriving throughout 2012 and 2013. We plan to release new Operations, Flashpoints, Warzones, Space Missions, single player content, vehicles, and companion characters. We’ll always be improving our existing game with additions like guild banks, PVP ranked matches and interface customization. Our Legacy system expands in March, bringing more options and a new level of depth to the existing character classes.

Our Game Updates will also include bug fixes, balance changes, performance improvements and exploit-proofing based on your feedback. We review reports from the community every day and compare them to gameplay metrics, QA bugs and our own experiences in the live game—where we’re playing right alongside you. Although we already address critical issues during our weekly updates, the major Game Updates will implement some of the most sweeping changes and fixes.

Expect a few surprises between these Game Updates, too. You never know when the Republic might strike Dromund Kaas, if a mysterious alien fleet could appear in the Core Worlds… or when the Rakghoul plague of Taris might infect the rest of the Galaxy. Changes are coming, and they’ll affect everyone.

We fully intend to support Star Wars: The Old Republic—and our players—for many years to come.

James Ohlen
Game Director

Other examples of BioWare posting information about upcoming changes:

New Year’s PvP Update

A word on bugs from James Ohlen | Star Wars: The Old Republic

A sneak peek from James Ohlen | Star Wars: The Old Republic

And BioWare's other major game coming out soon, Mass Effect 3, they are pushing out all kinds of screenshots and videos about the game, they've had people talking to the media, etc.

It's the 15th anniversary this year. I'd like to try and convince a lot of my friends and former guildmates to come back, and I know a lot of others would like to, but what are we supposed to show them or tell them about what's coming up? It doesn't inspire much confidence if they look at the Herald or try to find out what is planned. If you don't follow the patch notes or Twitter, it looks like UO is in maintenance mode.

 

[Woodsman]

You say you want more communication and you talk about growth but you have issue with tweeting? Even though it is no secret that tweeting is quite relevant to younger, new players. Hrmmm...

I'm glad someone is taking the time to tweet things to Jeff... that's great but Jeff needs to realize that Stratics is a staple for many "old" players. Those that have been here for YEARS ... This is where we are not on Twitter.

And even more of us are in GAME. I know more than 80% of the people I play with do NOT read the forums... and they don't tweet.

Think it's just time to admit it whether one likes it or not, twitter is the new form of communication that some companies use to pass on information that isn't quite ready for an "official" letter. That just how technology goes, one day it's through forums add blogs next day facebook, now it's twitter. The up side is that you don't have to sign up to read the twits...or is it tweets? I'm not exactly up to date on the terminology. lol

Best of both worlds. Have developers/artists/Jeff/etc. post serious content on the Herald. Have Jeff tweet the links.

Twitter is not optimal - Jeff posts about other games almost as much as he does about the games under his control.

Other BioWare game producers and developers seem to have a lot more freedom to post about their games and talk about specifics. UO stuff has to get signed off on by somebody high up. That aspect has not changed from Cal -> Jeff, and it has not changed from when UO was outside of BioWare to when it was officially made a part of BioWare.