NEWS Ultima Online 23rd Anniversary Livestream & Major Announcement!

[Jasoninator]

Here is one massive downside to their limited time shard... if I don't join within the first week or two I'm at a SEVERE disadvantage for the rest of the time it's active (before it shatters aka wiped) and let's just say it's a year period that it's active... well if we are 6 months into it then I'm definitely not going to start playing the shard at that point.

I understand the whole issue with new players trying to come up playing against people that have been around 23 years (playing) but personally I put those years in (and avoided being banned/trashing my account) to be established. I'm not going to go play a shard that gets wiped every X months to start over. Honestly if I wanted this then I'd just go play test center 1 where I can set my skills right away and go do whatever I wanted out the gates until it's wiped.

why are you at a SEVERE disadvantage? that doesn't make any sense. If you start playing live shards now by that logic you are at a SEVERE disadvantage so whats the difference?
seasonal is an interesting concept as things like lumberjacking / mining and hopefully every other skill will always be relevant so players can play the game the way they want to for that season. Not forced to grind the roof constantly to make any progress.

I mean it also looks like an ideal set up for roleplayers to have fun again this has some serious potential to be a success.

 

[Norrar]

Remember people, you don't HAVE to play the server. There are better things to whine about than something that will have no impact on you. Like the concept? Play it. Think it's stupid? Fine that is your opinion.

 

[Pawain]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Ya, the "biggest and boldest endeavor" was a waste of time, underwhelming, steaming pile of..... nothing.

Time to go then. Can I have ur stuffs?

 

[Lord Nabin]

Hey @THP is back! See its already working!!! Bring all those players back!

 

[Keven2002]

why are you at a SEVERE disadvantage? that doesn't make any sense. If you start playing live shards now by that logic you are at a SEVERE disadvantage so whats the difference?
seasonal is an interesting concept as things like lumberjacking / mining and hopefully every other skill will always be relevant so players can play the game the way they want to for that season. Not forced to grind the roof constantly to make any progress.

I mean it also looks like an ideal set up for roleplayers to have fun again this has some serious potential to be a success.

Severe disadvantage being late to the game is pretty obvious. After the first few weeks or month when all the server birth items are grabbed, people have started their characters and worked up to whatever level, operating in a potentially fel ruleset the people, having potentially all housing spots being taken (again smaller map with 1 facet it sounds like)... you think it's a level playing field? Which typically is fine on a live shard because you work your way up as you can but on this new limited time server it's a race to be the best and those that can't devote 20 hours a week to it aren't going to do very well on a temporary server.

This idea isn't even remotely close to bringing the biggest audience ever. Given that you can also use endless journey accounts, I don't see how it even gets new subs.

 

[ShriNayne]

I am so confused right now as to why she used those words to describe it, 'biggest boldest endeavour' ermmm no... 'widest audience ever' ermm no....I feel really let down and add to that the travesty of a conference with so much going wrong, it was uncomfortable viewing and looked so unprofessional, which explains a lot...
Do they even remember why Trammel was made? It will be just another empty shard with a dozen PvPers waiting for some hapless noob to come and get slaughtered. If they had made a pre-AoS shard I would have definitely been interested, PvP is just not for me.

 

[Lord Nabin]

Well It sounded like all new programing so none of the old code? At least that is what I got out of it. Now that could be a good thing for us.

 

[Cyrah]

Did I miss when we get the rodent ride?

 

[Pawain]

Did I miss when we get the rodent ride?

You'd look good on one. Im pretty sure you commented on it when it came out.

 

[Cyrah]

It is wicked cute, where is it? Store or vet?

 

[croy6325]

I'd much rather have old school server, Chaos vs. Order again, original armor system, and certainly NO shattering.

 

[Sweetpeez]

It is wicked cute, where is it? Store or vet?

Iffn meez rememberz rite - itz gunna beez uh store item. Demz seemz to beez releasin wun nu item uh monf.

 

[ShriNayne]

So who are all these people that told them this 'new legacy' shard was the way to go? I don't remember reading those posts. It seems like one of the Devs plays a game where this kind of server is a thing and decided to try it here, I just can't see it bringing any real quantity of new players. It's like they looked at the current shards and decided they were mostly broke and had no way to fix them so they would just make a new one instead.

 

[Giggles]

Well then.....

I am sure the 40 or so die-hard RPers left in this game are thrilled to tears...

For the rest of us?? Uhmmmmmm... Seems like a glorified test server that will reset once a year, and who in the hell has time to invest in something that will be lost? I don't even.... Is the dev team surrounded by the remaining RPers?? Do they even interact with the rest of the community? Who in the heck ever thought this was a good idea?????

/endrant

 

[Uriah Heep]

Choose either order or chaos on creation of character, and make that permanent. Go with old school armor and stats, vanq etc., with no PS either.

 

[Thrakkar]

WOW! That announcemenet really sparked my genuine interest in UO again.
Clean fresh start for everyone. Just a limited set of character slots. No PS madness. Ideally no or just a limited property system. Just humans, no other races. And no other baggage from the last 20 years.
Can't wait to hear more about the adapted skill system and the ruleset...
Definitely going to keep an eye on that!

 

[Sweetpeez]

Well then.....

I am sure the 40 or so die-hard RPers left in this game are thrilled to tears...

For the rest of us?? Uhmmmmmm... Seems like a glorified test server that will reset once a year, and who in the hell has time to invest in something that will be lost? I don't even.... Is the dev team surrounded by the remaining RPers?? Do they even interact with the rest of the community? Who in the heck ever thought this was a good idea?????

/endrant

Dat'z funnie kause dere sum ob dese 'rp' hummiez in meez kingdom dat say da same ting aboot da pvp'erz. Demz all tinkz diz place wuz made jus fur yooz pvperz.

 

[Angel of Sonoma]

... and add to that the travesty of a conference with so much going wrong, it was uncomfortable viewing and looked so unprofessional...

i think your expectations were out of whack. i'm on video conferences day in and day out using business-grade tools and we have glitches all the time. they experienced the same issues as a fortune 100 company. at least we didn't hear incessant barking in the background or screaming kids (we all work from home).

i'm trying to stay open minded about the announcement because i don't think there was enough detail shared to form an accurate opinion.

my hope is this shard will draw in new players and help them learn the game so they eventually transfer to production shards. in it's current state i don't think uo can draw in new players because the game is too freaking complicated and the uo economy is f'ed up

 

[ShriNayne]

My husband has done a lot of video conferences in the last 6 months since he had to work from home and none of them looked like that one. They didn't seem to have much clue and they didn't seem to have any notes or have rehearsed what they wanted to say, why do the video conference at all if you felt uncomfortable doing it or were having multiple technical issues? There were so many awkward silences and glitches. We are relying on this team to keep a video game afloat and they can't even manage to do a major announcement without making it look amateurish. As for my expectations, well I guess things went exactly as many people said they would.

 

[Giggles]

Dat'z funnie kause dere sum ob dese 'rp' hummiez in meez kingdom dat say da same ting aboot da pvp'erz. Demz all tinkz diz place wuz made jus fur yooz pvperz.

Though it is true that I am a pvper, I haven't asked for pvp specific content in years. We got the VvV system.... that was created and then abandoned with no changes or advancements. I mean, new VvV item pixel crack released since then has been awarded via bodsI Also when VvV was being discussed, I had to hear about certain devs stumbling upon the HOT forums and deciding at that point that all pvpers were psychotic nutcases. I lost hope at that point.

But this?? They hyped this as something magical awesome and amazing for everyone, the largest announcement in over a decade!!! And uhmm.... a shard that has a unique feature that we will use to test things on that wipes every year is not something that I can imagine the majority of the player base being excited for at all.

 

[Maximus Neximus]

...they didn't seem to have any notes or have rehearsed what they wanted to say, why do the video conference at all if you felt uncomfortable doing it or were having multiple technical issues? There were so many awkward silences and glitches...

I actually had that thought while watching -- they should have done a rehearsal. Heck, maybe even should have prerecorded it all considering how it was built up. Could have held a real time QA on the forums in a FAQ thread for the following hour or so.

 

[Lord Kurt Cobain]

Alot of people seem to be disappointed but I actually like the idea of a legacy server and im excited to see what happens with this.

I would much prefer this release over another dinosaur-type expansion. Pve content has been stale for years and pvp these days isnt much better. The longer I play this game the egotism and gluttony on most production shards just becomes less and less appealing.

I've always primarily been a pvper so a legacy server has its obvious appeals to me. I also spend most of my UO days now on Siege Perilous or playing WoW classic, which itself has been wildly successful. For someone who dosnt want to devote time to playing on a freeshard, has nostalgia for the older versions of UO, and already pays for an OSI sub, this could be a good thing.

 

[Giggles]

Pve content has been stale for years and pvp these days isnt much better.

Exactly, and just think of all the time they will be wasting on a server that maybe 30-40 regulars will end up actually participating in (if that)... while the rest of us keep regurgitating stale used up content for the next 5 years or more. It's going to be a year before its even live, another 6 months to fine-tune it, and I doubt anything else of any significance will receive their focus in the interim. Then... THEN... another year or two before their next big magical announcement of changes that will make the game better for everyone... Which based on the way things are going will be new VvV items obtainable by going to trammel EM events, and 5 new store items or some other such nonsense.
I have never seen a gaming dev team so completely out of touch with their majority current player base, which continues to dwindle.

Sorry if I seem a bit salty.. It's really my own fault for allowing myself to get excited over this announcement believing it was actually going to be really amazing and something for everyone.

 

[Merlin]

I would have settled for 8th character slot available in store.

 

[Jasoninator]

Exactly, and just think of all the time they will be wasting on a server that maybe 30-40 regulars will end up actually participating in (if that)... while the rest of us keep regurgitating stale used up content for the next 5 years or more. It's going to be a year before its even live, another 6 months to fine-tune it, and I doubt anything else of any significance will receive their focus in the interim. Then... THEN... another year or two before their next big magical announcement of changes that will make the game better for everyone... Which based on the way things are going will be new VvV items obtainable by going to trammel EM events, and 5 new store items or some other such nonsense.
I have never seen a gaming dev team so completely out of touch with their majority current player base, which continues to dwindle.

Sorry if I seem a bit salty.. It's really my own fault for allowing myself to get excited over this announcement believing it was actually going to be really amazing and something for everyone.

The announcement was never intended for current players they stated from the beginning that it is intended to bring UO to it's largest audience ever. They have catered to the current playerbase for 23 years and the game is in a trash state because of that. It is about time they seized the opportunity to appeal to all those that left or have never tried the game before.

 

[MalagAste]

And dump them into combat and PvP... and make them sheep for the slaughter by veteran players is going to really endear them to the game... NOT...

 

[Jasoninator]

And dump them into combat and PvP... and make them sheep for the slaughter by veteran players is going to really endear them to the game... NOT...

It's to bad you didn't play ultima online pre 2002 it was a lot of fun you would have enjoyed the game. Keep thinking PvP is evil.
Like I said the game catered to trammel for 20+ years now and it's a dead game. Sit on the sidelines now and let classic have it's chance.

 

[Merlin]

And dump them into combat and PvP... and make them sheep for the slaughter by veteran players is going to really endear them to the game... NOT...

Did you even listen to the webcast? Clearly weren't paying attention if you did.

 

[Merlin]

It's to bad you didn't play ultima online pre 2002 it was a lot of fun you would have enjoyed the game. Keep thinking PvP is evil.
Like I said the game catered to trammel for 20+ years now and it's a dead game. Sit on the sidelines now and let classic have it's chance.

Try finding a house on Atlantic. Then come back and tell us it's a "dead game".

 

[Jasoninator]

Try finding a house on Atlantic. Then come back and tell us it's a "dead game".

done in under a minute. UO is a dead game.

I even went to trammel because everyone claims it is the majority of players and Felucca might have been considered cheating since it is a 'ghost town'

 

[MalagAste]

I played UO in 1999 or whatever it was when UO:R came out... that's when I started and I've enjoyed it for many years... even enjoyed some PvP... for RP reasons... it was a big part of RP back when I played... but like I said there was no potty mouth bickery over it ... it was non-looting PvP... you died you got your stuff and moved on... you were a "ghost" for 15 min or whatever and you just collected your stuff and got out of the way... We did a LOT of sparring... which was fun... before AoS and after AoS... but then cheating became the "norm" and people who didn't care for the cheating did less and less PvP... Those who were really into the PvP aspect of it went with the flow and started cheating... but to me, cheaters are just losers who can't stand to lose... but they don't understand that to cheat to win is still losing...

I never cared for the Fel aspect... though I wish Tram had push through... and stam loss...

If there was a consequence to being a PK... a true consequence not just whooo your red for 20 min till you buy yourself a ticket and wipe that out... no real consequences to actions... then it might be more fun... but there is ZERO reward for being a good guy... most people who run protectors kill their own reds... make their own reds to kill... etc...

Back when you could take heads that was ok... but that also led to yep... cheating... bounties were often gotten not buy real good guys but friends of the PK who killed their friend so they could split the reward...

If they had it where if you were a red and got killed you went to jail and served time... or had to pay to get released... and where being a good person and killing reds you got points to titles and so on that might help... has to be a way to do things where it can't be cheated...

But given how Mesanna reacted to the question of cheating... I can't see anything being done to fix the problem...

And NO it is not leveling the field between the EC and CC if that's what you are telling yourself you are gravely mistaken... NOTHING in the EC lets you ignore everything... see through walls into homes... move where you shouldn't ... and cause severe lag to other players... and many other cheats... nothing in the EC lets you cast while running... jump 2 and 3 screens... see people who are hidden... and shoot at them. And countless other cheats I've seen over the years.

The only thing the EC does over the CC (and this is for non-mages as being a mage using the EC can stink)... is auto-navigate around objects... which is good and bad... as sometimes you don't want to go around the object. That is it... it doesn't completely ignore objects and move through them or take them away... or replace them with tiles... All the trees and stuff are there...

And no had I played UO in the "old" pre-tram days I'm absolutely sure I'd have the same hatred of UO that my brother does. 100% certain of that.

 

[MalagAste]

Did you even listen to the webcast? Clearly weren't paying attention if you did.

Did you? Because it sounded a lot like a Siege style shard to me...

 

[Merlin]

Did you? Because it sounded a lot like a Siege style shard to me...

Except that it isn't. Like I said, you didn't listen too closely to the webcast because they covered how PvP will be different.

You rushed to judgment because you told yourself and everyone else you were going to hate it with your persistent hateful and negative attitude. You literally use the word hatred to describe UO.

 

[Stussywear]

I played UO in 1999 or whatever it was when UO:R came out... that's when I started and I've enjoyed it for many years... even enjoyed some PvP... for RP reasons... it was a big part of RP back when I played... but like I said there was no potty mouth bickery over it ... it was non-looting PvP... you died you got your stuff and moved on... you were a "ghost" for 15 min or whatever and you just collected your stuff and got out of the way... We did a LOT of sparring... which was fun... before AoS and after AoS... but then cheating became the "norm" and people who didn't care for the cheating did less and less PvP... Those who were really into the PvP aspect of it went with the flow and started cheating... but to me, cheaters are just losers who can't stand to lose... but they don't understand that to cheat to win is still losing...

I never cared for the Fel aspect... though I wish Tram had push through... and stam loss...

If there was a consequence to being a PK... a true consequence not just whooo your red for 20 min till you buy yourself a ticket and wipe that out... no real consequences to actions... then it might be more fun... but there is ZERO reward for being a good guy... most people who run protectors kill their own reds... make their own reds to kill... etc...

Back when you could take heads that was ok... but that also led to yep... cheating... bounties were often gotten not buy real good guys but friends of the PK who killed their friend so they could split the reward...

If they had it where if you were a red and got killed you went to jail and served time... or had to pay to get released... and where being a good person and killing reds you got points to titles and so on that might help... has to be a way to do things where it can't be cheated...

But given how Mesanna reacted to the question of cheating... I can't see anything being done to fix the problem...

And NO it is not leveling the field between the EC and CC if that's what you are telling yourself you are gravely mistaken... NOTHING in the EC lets you ignore everything... see through walls into homes... move where you shouldn't ... and cause severe lag to other players... and many other cheats... nothing in the EC lets you cast while running... jump 2 and 3 screens... see people who are hidden... and shoot at them. And countless other cheats I've seen over the years.

The only thing the EC does over the CC (and this is for non-mages as being a mage using the EC can stink)... is auto-navigate around objects... which is good and bad... as sometimes you don't want to go around the object. That is it... it doesn't completely ignore objects and move through them or take them away... or replace them with tiles... All the trees and stuff are there...

And no had I played UO in the "old" pre-tram days I'm absolutely sure I'd have the same hatred of UO that my brother does. 100% certain of that.

There is no programs that let you cause lag for anyone else, cast while running, see people who are hidden, and other things you've apparently "seen" over the years. Im a purveyor of ending the programs and the things they bring to the game, but making crap up to justify your opinion is ridiculous. EC does more then anything you can do with 2 of the 3 programs. The One which is a client, takes hard scripting, and does offer a little more edge than the other two, but offers about the same edge over EC that EC offers vs CC.

You dont get anything for being a good person in real life either, if you're a thief you get a lot more. Maybe by your logic, we should all start stealing. That way we can get more outta life ya know?

 

[MalagAste]

It's PvP they aren't doing anything about the cheating... therefore... it is exactly what I don't care for.

 

[Jasoninator]

It's PvP they aren't doing anything about the cheating... therefore... it is exactly what I don't care for.

It's PvM they aren't doing anything the cheating... therefore... it is exactly what I don't care for.

Cheating in PvM is far more damaging to the game then cheating in PvP yet you still play. Why?

 

[Stussywear]

It's PvP they aren't doing anything about the cheating... therefore... it is exactly what I don't care for.

Lets also do something about all these non pvpers cheating. Ive been in 4 groups now, on multiple pve guilds that are using exploits to get more drops out of the Roof. Lets not pretend that it's just one community in the game that is cheating. It's everyone, and unfortunately its only the PVP side that gets called out for it.

Find the problems and email Mesanna. I email them once a week with issues caused from cheating, how I feel it can be fixed, and multiple off site references so they can have as much possibility to fix them.

 

[Stussywear]

It's PvP they aren't doing anything about the cheating... therefore... it is exactly what I don't care for.

Cause ill tell you right now, the state of the PVP side of things is all f'd up because of all the cheaters at roof when it came out. Botting, expoiting, etc.. flooding the market with items that should be 1 in a million.

 

[Stinky Pete]

Cheating in PvM is far more damaging to the game then cheating in PvP

Very true.

 

[The Doctor]

Yeah cause like 20 people actually pvp in this game.

 

[MissEcho]

You can swear in unleashed right?

 

[petemage]

I am so confused right now as to why she used those words to describe it, 'biggest boldest endeavour' ermmm no... 'widest audience ever' ermm no....I feel really let down and add to that the travesty of a conference with so much going wrong, it was uncomfortable viewing and looked so unprofessional, which explains a lot...
Do they even remember why Trammel was made? It will be just another empty shard with a dozen PvPers waiting for some hapless noob to come and get slaughtered. If they had made a pre-AoS shard I would have definitely been interested, PvP is just not for me.

After ruining T-Maps, one year of nothing unless I become an EM, there will be another year of nothing*yay*. The video didn't even look like they have done it yet. Just put up some trailer and the rest is just pipe dreams at this point. Plus it will be full of bugs. Funny Misk still has to show up, as clearly the only QA they do is on the new forums.

 

[MissEcho]

After ruining T-Maps, one year of nothing unless I become an EM, there will be another year of nothing*yay*. The video didn't even look like they have done it yet. Just put up some trailer and the rest is just pipe dreams at this point. Plus it will be full of bugs. Funny Misk still has to show up, as clearly the only QA they do is on the new forums.

Couldn't agree more. I am now seriously considering closing my accounts so they will need to get 5 fully subbed accounts before they are even equal to the number they have now. I have said pretty much all I wanna say on this on the 'official' forum. I can't post on there again as I have NOTHING good to say at all.

Has anyone considered the fact that if you aren't in the USA and your ping to the USA is crap (like mine is 280 on a good day) that the rest of the world has been totally IGNORED in this? So I am paying 70 bucks a month for a shard I will not be wanting to play on?

 

[Slayvite]

Couldn't agree more. I am now seriously considering closing my accounts so they will need to get 5 fully subbed accounts before they are even equal to the number they have now. I have said pretty much all I wanna say on this on the 'official' forum. I can't post on there again as I have NOTHING good to say at all.

Has anyone considered the fact that if you aren't in the USA and your ping to the USA is crap (like mine is 280 on a good day) that the rest of the world has been totally IGNORED in this? So I am paying 70 bucks a month for a shard I will not be wanting to play on?

This whole thing screams the latest in a long line of Mesanna treating UO as her personal game for her and her Guild.
Everyone else is just annoying filler that pays for her self indulgence.
She stopped listening to the playerbase about 10 years ago, and now just makes up things the "players" told her they want.

This will just bomb just like every other decision she has had as Producer, but it's Ok because a vocal minority will just blame the failure on Haters and not the fact she is incompetent.

 

[Don Killa]

I guess I am still confused how will this shard be any different than uoforever the free shard??

 

[petemage]

Well then.....

I am sure the 40 or so die-hard RPers left in this game are thrilled to tears...

For the rest of us?? Uhmmmmmm... Seems like a glorified test server that will reset once a year, and who in the hell has time to invest in something that will be lost? I don't even.... Is the dev team surrounded by the remaining RPers?? Do they even interact with the rest of the community? Who in the heck ever thought this was a good idea?????

/endrant

The format itself is pretty cool and induces competition also to progress skills, equipment, bases etc. while having to fight over resources on a shared map, etc.

It's some kind of king of the hill game, where the endgoal is to etablish yourself or your guild as the "alpha" of your server from scratch.

It's just does not fit UO. But is tons of fun in games like Rust, Ark, etc. In those games those rulesets induce more primitive PvP, because nobody cares about stuff that gets reset. Without the resets, people start to sit in huge defended bases after a while and all primitive PvP is gone for engame PvP.

 

[Arcus]

I guess I am still confused how will this shard be any different than uoforever the free shard??

Your avatar is quite disturbing lol

 

[Uriah Heep]

After ruining T-Maps, one year of nothing unless I become an EM, there will be another year of nothing*yay*. The video didn't even look like they have done it yet. Just put up some trailer and the rest is just pipe dreams at this point. Plus it will be full of bugs. Funny Misk still has to show up, as clearly the only QA they do is on the new forums.

Vaporware is the word.

Announcing something you don't even know what is gonna be, lol...talk about a stretch, reaching for attention .

 

[Keven2002]

Vaporware is the word.

Announcing something you don't even know what is gonna be, lol...talk about a stretch, reaching for attention .

Yea I think that's partially the reason for my pessimism too is that we were told for 6 months about this MAJOR announcement (which was delayed from April) and it was continually hyped up only for the announcement to be something that apparently is still in the brainstorming phase.

Like I said yesterday, based on their obvious lack of use of Skype (they admitted it was their first time using the day before); it shows me that they basically have been in cruise control for the past 6 months during the pandemic. I'm sure working on the new EM tool took some effort but let's be honest... 6 dedicated months worth (if so, why do we still need staggered releases of Black Gate then.. it should be bulletproof after 6 months)? I can see if they came out and said the new Legacy Shard details are pretty much ironed out and it's launching Jan 1... but they couldn't even give a timeline which tells me it's going to be a while.

Which leads me to my main question for the Devs for the last 6 months....

 

[Arcus]

they admitted it was their first time using the day before

Im not sure how that is even possible for someone in the tech industry.