Vet Age Token...

[Warpig Inc]

As one those ancient vets the memory does go first. Wasn't the soulstone sold at the store before it became a vet reward? Makes it's use in a few the arguements ammusing.

Age to pick and age to use needs to be rethunk on a bunch the rewards.

Rewards also could be balanced out more with being account bound.

It is hard to argue on the shield subject. IMO was a bad ideal from the start. Making the tokens produced by them not account bound could be a good ideal. LOL, like giving out tokens as a holiday gift to every character in the game at least 30 days old AGAIN. Unfair just made new character last week. Sell the shields on the store in an even more resitrictive form. Naked crossing and empty bankbox and backpack. Use token and a moving crate appears in bankbox that is restrictive by what can be put in it for crossing. Hit go and you cross with the crate in the bankbox and what is on your back dismounted 0 followers.

 

[Merus]

"I advocate two things:
1) Total Restructuring of the Veteran Reward System granting Veteran Status and access to all qualifiers of Veteran Status (3-5 years)"

Hrmmm. Your entire post starts out with you pretending to care about "new and younger players" by saying they are getting "screwed over" yet later in the post you personally decide that Veteran Status should officially become "3-5 years"
So how is this not screwing over the "new" players you mentioned? They don't get your new vet status for the first 3 years they play the game? Too funny.

Can't wait for the back-peddling on this one. Or please try to tell me I read it wrong

You really should count the amount of times you reference yourself & your gameplay in the post though. Its quite telling

I think most folks feel that there should be some sort of time frame to be considered a full fledged veteran. IMO that time needs to be long enough that it feels like you earned something, but not so long that it feels entirely out of reach... And certainly not forever out of reach because every year that you play the bar gets moved. I think a tiered system that maxes out around 3 years would fit just about right.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

I think most folks feel that there should be some sort of time frame to be considered a full fledged veteran. IMO that time needs to be long enough that it feels like you earned something, but not so long that it feels entirely out of reach... And certainly not forever out of reach because every year that you play the bar gets moved. I think a tiered system that maxes out around 3 years would fit just about right.

No. Period.

You don't get it both ways bud. You don't get partial vet status. You don't randomly place a new amount of years onto an existing system while at the same time nullifying all the years put in by older players. Its one or the other. Full vet status or no vet status at all.

It all boils down to one simple solution.

If the jealous mid-level vets in this thread just can no longer stand the thought of never attaining the oldest status then all you can do is consider scrapping the entire reward system from this day on. I would have no issue with that at all.
All current rewards stay as is and no more vet rewards are ever given out again.

New players have nothing to attain and current players no longer get anything that new players do not.

Mid-level vets will then ofc never be able to get a shard shield or Boura but since all they say they want to do is help out new players they should not care about this should they? Lol at that.

And anyone trying to tell me that this would still be unfair because the existing rewards have value is just plain idiotic and wrong. People that have been playing the game for many more years will always have acquired more things of value whether they were rewarded or crafted or looted. You cannot and should not change that dynamic. There are a lot of old xmas gifts floating around that add up to billions of gold. I guess these are unfair to new players also? Or all the old blessed clothing and event rares on display at Luna bank? Delete all these also in the name of new player fairness correct?

So lets do this right now. Turn off the entire vet reward system today all in the name of helping out the new players the OP says aren't considering UO.
I am sure it will create a gigantic increase in new subs and be the savior of UO.
There is no time to lose! Turn it all off now!

 

[Merus]

No. Period.

You don't get it both ways bud. You don't get partial vet status. You don't randomly place a new amount of years onto an existing system while at the same time nullifying all the years put in by older players. Its one or the other. Full vet status or no vet status at all.

It all boils down to one simple solution.

If the jealous mid-level vets in this thread just can no longer stand the thought of never attaining the oldest status then all you can do is consider scrapping the entire reward system from this day on. I would have no issue with that at all.
All current rewards stay as is and no more vet rewards are ever given out again.

New players have nothing to attain and current players no longer get anything that new players do not.

Mid-level vets will then ofc never be able to get a shard shield or Boura but since all they say they want to do is help out new players they should not care about this should they? Lol at that.

And anyone trying to tell me that this would still be unfair because the existing rewards have value is just plain idiotic and wrong. People that have been playing the game for many more years will always have acquired more things of value whether they were rewarded or crafted or looted. You cannot and should not change that dynamic. There are a lot of old xmas gifts floating around that add up to billions of gold. I guess these are unfair to new players also? Or all the old blessed clothing and event rares on display at Luna bank? Delete all these also in the name of new player fairness correct?

So lets do this right now. Turn off the entire vet reward system today all in the name of helping out the new players the OP says aren't considering UO.
I am sure it will create a gigantic increase in new subs and be the savior of UO.
There is no time to lose! Turn it all off now!

Are you daft? We have a partial tiered veteran system now... It just has 15 levels to be considered a full veteran... Here in a few months it will be 16 years to be a full veteran under our current system.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

Are you daft? We have a partial tiered veteran system now... It just has 15 levels to be considered a full veteran... Here in a few months it will be 16 years to be a full veteran under our current system.

Have you not read this entire pathetic thread?

Every person in this thread that is against the current vet reward system is supposedly only trying to help out new players.

How would any form of vet reward system do this? Especially since everyone seems to think 3 years is a good starting point lol. I guess new players get no love until 3 years are up? I wonder if the people in this thread understand what the word 'new' means though as they seem to think new starts at 3 years old.

Leave it as is or scrap it entirely from today on.

Though we all know that scrapping it entirely is not what anyone in this thread wants as that would only help the new players and hurt all the mid-level junkies that have jealousy issues lol.

 

[Cetric]

i'm completely indifferent in offering this. giving a newb 720 skill and an ethy does not change my gameplay.

I'd honestly be fine if they just removed the vet reward system all together, and everyone just got a "happy birthday, pick some rewards" thing. although shard shields kind of screwed that up. Then all the system would have to remember is to pull your birth date from the account information, rather than calculate your account age.

 

[Merus]

Have you not read this entire pathetic thread?

Every person in this thread that is against the current vet reward system is supposedly only trying to help out new players.

How would any form of vet reward system do this? Especially since everyone seems to think 3 years is a good starting point lol. I guess new players get no love until 3 years are up? I wonder if the people in this thread understand what the word 'new' means though as they seem to think new starts at 3 years old.

Leave it as is or scrap it entirely from today on.

Though we all know that scrapping it entirely is not what anyone in this thread wants as that would only help the new players and hurt all the mid-level junkies that have jealousy issues lol.

The only people I have noticed advocating for scrapping the system are people like you... Those who think that any changes to the system that reduces the exclusivity of the top tier rewards means the end of the program. Yes I have read this thread, have you? The main problem for new players is NOT that they can not get the item after one week... The main problem is that as a new player they will NEVER gain access to all if the vet rewards available. NEVER is very discouraging for new player... What do they do? Some probably play anyway, some hi to aftermarket sellers and buy an older account, but I would wager most quit.

The veteran program needs to remain. As many others have said, partial access to the list is fine for a few years. Wait 1 year for access to the first tier of rewards is great... Another year unlocks the second tier, yeah! After three years you are now a full veteran and have access to everything in the veteran reward program. Every year after that I get to pick some additional reward items. Veteran player older than 3 years get more rewards, just not unique rewards, so that they still receive credit for their years of service. New players get a system which offers incentive to keep that subscription active, but also does not feel unattainable.

3 years for full access to all the game content is achievable, NEVER gaining access to all of the content is not. Whether you think so or not, the NEVER that is inherent in the current system does cost UO players.

 

[Eärendil]

AMEN!

Goldberg, you sound mean, really mean

 

[Madrid]

3. Vets dont want things to change because it only benefits them

THP summed up Goldberg in one sentence.

 

[Cetric]

Hell i've played for a long time, but everytime the "next new reward" comes out it ticks me off too. Shard Shields are a really big deal, as they offer something that other players have to pay for (transfer tokens), i can't imagine how a newer player feels. by newer i don't necessarily mean brand new. I think the system would be very simple to overhaul and offer to anyone if shard shields weren't in place, as giving those to everyone would be a slight problem.

a real overhaul to the vet reward system could and should take place. I'm sure the dev team could put time into better places than "lets draw up a 16th year reward, yay".

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

THP summed up Goldberg in one sentence.

"3. Vets dont want things to change because it only benefits them"

Too funny because this entire thread has been all about vets wanting to change a long running system for no other reason then to benefit themselves.

Make no mistake about it. Every jealous pixel addict in this thread posting for a new system is a vet.

I just re-read all 5 pages and didn't see one post by a brand new player. Just a bunch of longtime and highly dedicated UO addicts begging for something they didn't get. Who do you think makes 98% of all posts on this board? Vets.
You people are all vets but because other vets have been around a bit longer you just cant stand it lol. How many of you have volunteered to return or give away the vet rewards you have already received? If you are so worried about new players why don't you just spam in gen chat and give away your goods?

I am so far the only person in this thread to state that I would be completely fine with the idea of scrapping the whole system even though it would mean me losing my extremely valuable future awards as a 15 year vet.
Which other people in this thread that dislike the current system are willing to scrap it entirely? Lol at that.

So who summed up what bud?

And for the record I have been playing UO for 15 years and never once heard of or saw even 1 player say he or she was going to quit because the thought of not being able to attain a specific vet reward was too much to bear. The fact that people in this very thread are basing their jealousy on nothing other then that lie is laughable and insulting.

You really should stop bringing a knife to a gunfight my friend

 

[Eärendil]

The fact that people in this very thread are basing their jealousy on nothing other then that lie is laughable and insulting.

You shouldn´t be that misanthropic... And you shouldn´t argue that harsh. Not everybody who wants to change something is driven by greed or other evil motives. I can live with the current system even though it is highly unfair. I simply question its´ logic. That´s all.

 

[Madrid]

" Every jealous pixel addict in this thread posting for a new system is a vet.

So now I'm a Veteran? Great!

Finally we agree on something….

The fact that we agree I’m a Veteran is why I strongly believe veterans should be able to choose from the entire list of rewards albeit with less choices based on their tenure.

As a Veteran I feel the system it totally unfair and I'm being screwed over by not given equal access.

Imagine how a new player starting from square one must feel.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

The only people I have noticed advocating for scrapping the system are people like you... Those who think that any changes to the system that reduces the exclusivity of the top tier rewards means the end of the program. Yes I have read this thread, have you? The main problem for new players is NOT that they can not get the item after one week... The main problem is that as a new player they will NEVER gain access to all if the vet rewards available. NEVER is very discouraging for new player... What do they do? Some probably play anyway, some hi to aftermarket sellers and buy an older account, but I would wager most quit.

The veteran program needs to remain. As many others have said, partial access to the list is fine for a few years. Wait 1 year for access to the first tier of rewards is great... Another year unlocks the second tier, yeah! After three years you are now a full veteran and have access to everything in the veteran reward program. Every year after that I get to pick some additional reward items. Veteran player older than 3 years get more rewards, just not unique rewards, so that they still receive credit for their years of service. New players get a system which offers incentive to keep that subscription active, but also does not feel unattainable.

3 years for full access to all the game content is achievable, NEVER gaining access to all of the content is not. Whether you think so or not, the NEVER that is inherent in the current system does cost UO players.

Again you defend your petty jealousy on false information.

Every vet reward ever given out is and has always been available to EVERY player. They simply need to purchase a vet account. They can be easily and safely obtained from any number of respected and trusted in game brokers or on a few different trusted websites. What's your point about NEVER again?

Or let me guess. You are talking about knowledgeable and dedicated players that are so obsessed with not being able to obtain vet rewards they will quit but these same people wouldn't buy an account to get the same rewards? That's funny bro
People pay cash for their monthly subs and people regularly pay cash for goodies from the EA store but I guess they wouldn't pay for a vet account?

Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Merus]

Again you defend your petty jealousy on false information.

Every vet reward ever given out is and has always been available to EVERY player. They simply need to purchase a vet account. They can be easily and safely obtained from any number of respected and trusted in game brokers or on a few different trusted websites. What's your point about NEVER again?

Or let me guess. You are talking about knowledgeable and dedicated players that are so obsessed with not being able to obtain vet rewards they will quit but these same people wouldn't buy an account to get the same rewards? That's funny bro
People pay cash for their monthly subs and people regularly pay cash for goodies from the EA store but I guess they wouldn't pay for a vet account?

Thanks for the laugh.

So your answer to providing equal access to vet rewards is illegal 3rd party sites. That says all I need to know about your position. Thanks for the laugh in deed!

 

[Eärendil]

Yes, I tried to be balanced in my opinion, but this...

They simply need to purchase a vet account. They can be easily and safely obtained from any number of respected and trusted in game brokers or on a few different trusted Websites.

...is such a silly argument... You have destroyed your whole credibility by arguing this way.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

You shouldn´t be that misanthropic... And you shouldn´t argue that harsh. Not everybody who wants to change something is driven by greed or other evil motives. I can live with the current system even though it is highly unfair. I simply question its´ logic. That´s all.

You are right but the entire premise of this thread is false and self-serving

Its pathetic how many vets in this thread have done nothing other then try to make older vets feel guilty.

Who in their right mind thinks that anyone should be made to feel guilty over a gift? Once you explain that one to me maybe I will stop being so harsh.

The devs took a lot of time to devise this system and they maintained it for a long, long time.
The rewards were absolutely given as gifts. The initial system was never asked for by the players.
And the only time the gifts were unfair (3 year ethys) the devs corrected it.

Shard shields are in no way unfair or imbalancing. Anyone that feels the need to xfer that badly can buy a token online or quite easily earn the gold to buy one in game.

So far the only thing that you could get me to possibly agree with in this thread is that the highest rewards may be a bit too valuable. But that still in no way makes them unfair or imbalancing. Just valuable. And value/gold is something that is and has always been equally obtainable by all players regardless of age.

And honestly, I believe the devs have always correctly felt it was right to highly reward the oldest players/customers so who is to say what is too valuable?

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

Yes, I tried to be balanced in my opinion, but this...




...is such a silly argument... You have destroyed your whole credibility by arguing this way.

Really?

So there was never an EA sanctioned safe account transfer system in place for people to buy accounts of all ages?

 

[Eärendil]

So far the only thing that you could get me to possibly agree with in this thread is that the highest rewards may be a bit too valuable. But that still in no way makes them unfair or imbalancing. Just valuable. And value/gold is something that is and has always been equally obtainable by all players regardless of age.

And honestly, I believe the devs have always correctly felt it was right to highly reward the oldest players/customers so who is to say what is too valuable?

This is a good point. That´s why I argue: Keep the Vet-Reward-System as it is and make the highly desirable High-End-Rewards (only a very small collection including the Shard-Shield) obtainable via Origin-Store. I would rather buy one for 50 or 100 Dollars - than buy token by token over and over again until I "am" 15 - which is in 9 (!) years... Can you feel my pain, Goldberg? Say "Yes!" - please...

 

[Merus]

Really?

So there was never an EA sanctioned safe account transfer system in place for people to buy accounts of all ages?

That system has been gone for years. The TOS clearly indicates that it is a violation to buy or sell an account. This is further evidenced by the fact that most legit marketplaces like EBay, etc will not allow you to even advertise them for sale. But you are right, there is a black market for UO goods and accounts. Unfortunately this is a result, in large part, to the development decisions made by EA/Mythic. Ingame content and systems should be designed such that the need for those markets are diminished. Where that is not really feasible, the content should be available at the UO store. I would much rather see the $ that are currently being funneled to those site go back into our game.

That brings us to the two options that have been put forth in this thread. Most everyone except expressing opinions here except a few 15 year vets agree that something needs to be done with the vet reward system. Either make the content accessible through some purchase (either a direct reward purchase or through an aging token) or redesign the system to be more equitable with younger accounts in mind thus reducing the need for outside purchases.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

This is a good point. That´s why I argue: Keep the Vet-Reward-System as it is and make the highly desirable High-End-Rewards (only a very small collection including the Shard-Shield) obtainable via Origin-Store. I would rather buy one for 50 or 100 Dollars - than buy token by token over and over again until I "am" 15 - which is in 9 (!) years... Can you feel my pain, Goldberg? Say "Yes!" - please...

I would have no problem at all keeping the system as is and making shard shields available in the store at a high price.

I think $75 - $100 for a shard shield is about right. Basically pay up front for multiple xfers and get the bonus of unlimited down the road. But I would be against letting anyone ride or wear the 15 year+ rewards because they are not simply a mechanic like the shard shields.

I know that I was not seriously believing that anyone would be willing to pay up every preceding month to attain full vet status. And I doubt the other people that referenced that were serious either. But the point needed to be made as the OP clearly stated paying for status.

Lastly, I think a big part of this particularly nasty issue is that there should be no pain to be felt.
Players need to understand that there is the possibility that a couple things may never be within their grasp. What is unusual or wrong with that? Especially considering the fact that UO is still alive and well and damn well may be around another 15 years. And if not, I guess it was moot anyway so whats the issue?

You didn't play UO from day one like some of us? So what. All it means is that you may never get one or two cool items.
Is that seriously such a huge issue? Lol at that

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

That system has been gone for years. The TOS clearly indicates that it is a violation to buy or sell an account. This is further evidenced by the fact that most legit marketplaces like EBay, etc will not allow you to even advertise them for sale. But you are right, there is a black market for UO goods and accounts. Unfortunately this is a result, in large part, to the development decisions made by EA/Mythic. Ingame content and systems should be designed such that the need for those markets are diminished. Where that is not really feasible, the content should be available at the UO store. I would much rather see the $ that are currently being funneled to those site go back into our game.

That brings us to the two options that have been put forth in this thread. Most everyone except expressing opinions here except a few 15 year vets agree that something needs to be done with the vet reward system. Either make the content accessible through some purchase (either a direct reward purchase or through an aging token) or redesign the system to be more equitable with younger accounts in mind thus reducing the need for outside purchases.

Good points all.

But let me ask you a question:
How many of the people in this thread were around when you could safely and legitimately buy a vet account? I bet a lot of them.

If they are so upset about not getting the highest rewards why didn't they buy an account when they could?
In your own words they seem agreeable to "make the content accessible through some purchase (either a direct reward purchase or through an aging token)"

So why not pay back then?
The rewards back then were very valuable. Obviously not as valuable as shard shields but people have also been ranting about Bouras also and they have no real dollar value like the shields.

 

[Eärendil]

would have no problem at all keeping the system as is and making shard shields available in the store at a high price.

I think $75 - $100 for a shard shield is about right. Basically pay up front for multiple xfers and get the bonus of unlimited down the road. But I would be against letting anyone ride or wear the 15 year+ rewards because they are not simply a mechanic like the shard shields.

This is everything I wanted... So, this issue is settled for me. I am no way interested in some silly mounts. You can have them all for you as well as all the other eye candy... I am out of this thread... Devs: Here is your solution!

 

[Madrid]

$29.99 TOPS for any item at the store I don't care what it is. Even $30 is on the high end. You price it any higher than that your going to stagnate sales imo.

The world is still suffering from the greatest economic downturn since the great depression. Great Depression lasted 15 years and the economy in the majority of countries is not booming by any means.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Too funny because this entire thread has been all about vetswanting to change a long running system for no other reason then to benefit themselves.

Does absolutely nothing to benefit me, so again your statement is false and misleading.

You are right but the entire premise of this thread is false and self-serving

Its pathetic how many vets in this thread have done nothing other then try to make older vets feel guilty.

Yep I just love making myself feel so guilty. Shame on me.

Hers are better statements for you.
Please stop trying to take my (Goldberg-Chessy) benefits away.
Please stop trying to make me (Goldberg-Chessy) feel guilty.

You would do a lot better speaking for yourself and stop trying to lump the rest of us older vets in with your ranting.

 

[Merus]

I think pricing of digital content needs to be carefully weighted. I am certain transfer tokens account for a pretty significant chunk of the online store revenue. Personally I think most of that revenue is coming from third party sites who stock on hundreds of them when they are discounted, but that is revenue to EA all the same. Buy offering a 1 time token for virtually all future transfers it has the potential to drastically reduce the purchases from third party sites, but that in turn reduces EAs revenue as well.

That said, the fact that those third party sites obviously make money and the upset posts when the Asian shards get new content in the store that we do not, I think there is plenty of demand for online purchases. IMO EA is missing a huge opportunity to sell content. If they would just up their game a little to add some desirable content they could easily offset any revenue that might be lost if they offered a shard shield for 29.99 and lowered the price of a regular token to say 9.99.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

$29.99 TOPS for any item at the store I don't care what it is. Even $30 is on the high end. You price it any higher than that your going to stagnate sales imo.

The world is still suffering from the greatest economic downturn since the great depression. Great Depression lasted 15 years and the economy in the majority of countries is not booming by any means.

Makes no sense at all.

People suffering from the "greatest economic downturn since the great depression" are paying $13 a month to play a game and will shell out up to another $30 for an item not even needed to play the game?

Doesn't sound like suffering to me.

You really will say any nonsense to make a bad point wont you lol?

 

[Lord Frodo]

You didn't play UO from day one like some of us? So what. All it means is that you may never get one or two cool items.
Is that seriously such a huge issue? Lol at that

Now this is funny, but it is such a seriously huge issue for you.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

Now this is funny, but it is such a seriously huge issue for you.

It is quite obviously not an issue for me at all. I have never once started a thread begging the devs to let me keep my rewards.

Who has the issue? Maybe the people like you Frodo that start or defend threads begging the devs for an item?

 

[Lord Frodo]

It is quite obviously not an issue for me at all. I have never once started a thread begging the devs to let me keep my rewards.

Who has the issue? Maybe the people like you Frodo that start or defend threads begging the devs for an item?

LOL I am not Begging for one thing and neither is anyone else begging for anything. And how many times does someone have to state to you that this does NOTHING, I repaeat NOTHING, for me, I am already a 15 yr Vet. If as you say it is not an issue for you then why are you here in the first place? It is very obvious that is a HUGE issue for you just look at all your ranting, how pathetic. At least be honest. LOL

 

[THP]

Its easy to see reading this vast thread older vets dont want change.....nor do the people that have bought older age accounts with ''castles on them'' ...etc etc [fullstop] ...these so called vets ..... would rather the bigger picture of new players etc and the ultimately the future of UO be put on the line because they want it all there way..... THE VET REWARD SYSTEM NEEDS LOOKING AT.....for the good of our beloved game....or quite simply there will be no UO for new players and no UO for the mid range paying folks and certainky no UO for the heel digging vets !!!!!!!

THP [Legendary Idocer of Europa]

 

[Madrid]

Shard shields are in no way unfair or imbalancing. Anyone that feels the need to xfer that badly can buy a token online or quite easily earn the gold to buy one in game.

If a player is able to transfer and buy an item on another shard for 20-30M less than their home shard, or the reverse which would be transferring to another shard buying an item and then raising the price (doubling what they paid for it) with NO COST whatsoever how is that not unfair or unbalancing? The ability to save or make millions with zero overhead. Do you really believe the stuff you post? *Don't answer that*

It's hard to take anything you say seriously and you lose virtually any credibility with statements like the one above.

Having the power to make millions or save millions by transferring via shard shield to haggle and do business on other shard with no cost isn't unfair or imbalancing? *Don't answer that either*

If that's not imbalancing then I don't know what it is...

And again the irony is that the 15 Year old Veterans aren't the ones hurting for gold as they've been playing all these years accumulating gold.

 

[Cetric]

Its easy to see reading this vast thread older vets dont want change.....nor do the people that have bought older age accounts with ''castles on them'' ...etc etc [fullstop] ...these so called vets ..... would rather the bigger picture of new players etc and the ultimately the future of UO be put on the line because they want it all there way..... THE VET REWARD SYSTEM NEEDS LOOKING AT.....for the good of our beloved game....or quite simply there will be no UO for new players and no UO for the mid range paying folks and certainky no UO for the heel digging vets !!!!!!!

THP [Legendary Idocer of Europa]

Probably the same people that refuse shard mergers for the betterment of the game because "theyw ant to save shard history, and dont want to lose their house"

 

[Lady CaT]

Probably the same people that refuse shard mergers for the betterment of the game because "theyw ant to save shard history, and dont want to lose their house"

Im all for closing YOUR shard and having it merged with another....lol

 

[Cetric]

Im all for closing YOUR shard and having it merged with another....lol

i left MY shard.. lol

 

[Lady CaT]

i left MY shard.. lol

Hey no fair floating around in the void!

 

[Lady CaT]

And again the irony is that the 15 Year old Veterans aren't the ones hurting for gold as they've been playing all these years accumulating gold.

Here is a thought from a 15 year veteran. Maybe the game isn't all about gold

 

[Irulia Darkaith]

Well once you sort through all the ugly posts it seems there is some common ground.

IMHO...
1) I think most vets are okay with addressing the usage issues to allow anyone to use certain items like dye tubs, seed boxes, etc.
2) Shard shields seems to be one of the biggest sources of complaints on this thread. So let the tokens be resold by those who have the shields and usable by anyone and put a token up for sale on the store for $9.99 or whatever. And/or how about the older your account the more tokens the shield produces, and in turn lower the year at which the shields are available? Or allow higher power shields so a shield owned by a 15 year account could pick a token from any shard, but a 5th year shield would be tied to just one shard? Just an idea...probably not a good one.
3) "Unattainable" vet rewards are NOT the achilles heel of UO. I seriously doubt anyone is signing up then going, "What the ? I'll never get to be the proud owner of a garden shed? I'm going to WoW." And stopping the introduction of new vet rewards?! Who would be happy with that? Fine, don't make any new high end rewards, but please don't punish everyone by halting development on new rewards.
4) Yes more money for EA is helpful. Let's face it, when they look at the balance sheet at the end of the year all they care about is that the game is making money, but don't act like this is going to be some huge cash cow that will suddenly result in a fresh infusion of development in this game. I doubt the actual revenue from this system would be enough to pay the salary of even one part-time employee (Then again I'm still floored by people who buy transfer tokens on a regular basis - wish I had that kind of discretionary income).
5) One of the things bugging a lot of vets, (at least me), is all the people saying all these vet items are unfair. Growing plants came out in 2002? So I've been sorting my seeds without a seed box for over 10 years (and I'm still playing) so please stop using that argument. It's a nice item, but it's not game changing, it's not even unbalanced. Having said that, I have no problem changing usability so that anyone can use them.
6) I think some vets feel that younger players should go through what they went through, that's what being a vet is about in our eyes, and that's why a lot of us don't like changing the status quo. Calling older vets selfish, and calling younger vets spoiled is not helpful. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, there is no right or wrong, so let's stop the name calling. In fact from here on in, I think every post should start with the acronym "IMHO"
7) I do think it would be nice, and yes I'm biased, for something(s) to be tied solely to vet status and not be purchaseable. Mounts are one of the best ideas as the functionality never changes, just the form. So move the charger to a 1st year reward or make a new mount for 1st year vets ( a goat? *grins*). My personal wish would be to allow older vets to actually have a different looking avatar as they age, but that would probably take too much time/resources to develop and would definitely be a source of frustration for younger players.
8) Buying a token to age your account? No...no...and definitely, no.


*sighs* Another idea is to simply award points for every year of vet status, so younger vets could save up their choices to get something high end, and in exchange older vets could get more choices. I personally don't like this idea and my guess is nobody would really be happy with this solution. Younger vets would insist that they get to buy points (or god forbid, link it to clean-up points), and vets like me, well that just totally waters down the whole idea of it being a vet reward.

 

[Madrid]

Here is a thought from a 15 year veteran. Maybe the game isn't all about gold

I hope it's not...

Neither is real life all about money but it sure is nice to have and has it's advantages doesn't it?

Round trip from home shard to destination shard will cost players 90-100M. Those with shard shields....zilch. But no...that's not an advantage in any way shape or form.

 

[Lady CaT]

I hope it's not...

Neither is real life all about money but it sure is nice to have and has it's advantages doesn't it?

Round trip from home shard to destination shard will cost players 90-100M. Those with shard shields....zilch. But no...that's not an advantage in any way shape or form.

Well I'm one of theose crazy people where the shard shield holds absolutely no value. Matter of fact I hate to see people leave my shard and pieces of our shards history get sold to the highest bidder on another shard who weren't even at the event. But I understand there are people who enjoy playing for virtual gold as some sort of measure of their success.

 

[THP]

I hope it's not...

Neither is real life all about money but it sure is nice to have and has it's advantages doesn't it?

Round trip from home shard to destination shard will cost players 90-100M. Those with shard shields....zilch. But no...that's not an advantage in any way shape or form.

bingo!!!...

 

[THP]

hey...and iam getting the shard shields very soon...so i should be on the other side of the fence....wanting things to stay as they are.....but if things do stay as they are then UO will die a lot sooner...thats a fact....same as the no no no saying shard merging dogooders.....if it allows UO to live iam happy to listen to any options including merging shards....any UO lover should feel the same....if its for the good and life of the game....

now be gone!

 

[Petra Fyde]

While on some level I can see the argument with shard shields, I do think those who are arguing for them being freely available are over simplifying. To go to a destination and come back requires 2 shields, that's 2 vet picks, not one. If you want to go to a different destination shard, you need another shield, another vet pick. Plus you can only take with you what you can carry in your back pack and bank - there's no shipping 5 packies full of goods with you.
Reading the arguments in favour people who are not fully aware of how they work could be lead to believe they are as versatile as a purchased transfer token - they are not.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

I hope it's not...

Neither is real life all about money but it sure is nice to have and has it's advantages doesn't it?

Round trip from home shard to destination shard will cost players 90-100M. Those with shard shields....zilch. But no...that's not an advantage in any way shape or form.

Advantage?

You have such issues with gold that the fact that a handful of random vets can xfer to specific shards at no cost is a major issue for you?

You believe that the gold these players are making "by transferring via shard shield to haggle and do business on other shard" is truly imbalancing or game changing? That is laughable and again proves that you will say any nonsense in your attempts to beg the dev team to change something for no other reason then to suit yourself.
Or wait, my bad. New players are going to start playing UO and then quit because even though they can someday become xshard dealers they cannot do the round trip at no cost. Too funny

So I guess that if you were to ever get a shard shield you would use it to spend your game time xferring and haggling to make more gold?
You seem like a true benefit to UO society. Bravo

You really have no clue what imbalancing means as it pertains to UO game play.

 

[Blood Ghoul]

Everyone I think understands exactly how the shard shields work. I agree there is a difference between them and the normal transfer tokens. But I’d wager that when they are used 99.99% of the time it’s not a permanent move where the player takes 5 loaded packies with them. If you are actually transferring shards then the normal tokens are the key but most of the time its just a quick move where you can bring 200 million with you to buy an item or sell a couple items. I do not find the entire argument of “I cannot take 5 packies with me” as one which devalues the shard shields in any form.

I’d also like to throw out my vote here that no matter what ever happens the tokens produced by the shard shields should never be tradable. That would even more imbalance the item as a never ending gold maker. A rough guess of 15 million a token would provide players/gold sellers with a never ending revenue stream. It’s a bad idea IMO.

The comment some have made about business should support their long time customers is not entirely correct. Anyone who works/owns a company which deals in contracts (which in my opinion a subscription is a contract of sorts) knows you tier your customers based on sales. If you have a small company which sells to another small company for 5 years but all of a sudden you win a contract with Northrop Grummen for several million in sales a year that becomes your platinum customer. So the player (I forget his/her name) who has 82 active accounts is more valuable than I am with only 2 active accounts. He/she pays in one month what I pay in 4 years basically.

I think the Devs need to take a better look at the vet reward system if they are going to continue to make items which provide an imbalance of any sort. While I feel the shard shields should be removed from the game as they provide too great of an imbalance some can argue the storage shed does the same. While in theory the current system sounds good but only a super select few, and not all of them have played since 1997 as many have bought aged accounts, get to fully experience the system. Every year there is a new reward which only that top tier get to experience. Unless they take a step back and only give new mounts and stuff which only look different but provide the same benefit its going to an issue.

I wager to say that a 15 year vet reward program is long enough. Every year those above 15 years will get too more picks but they will have to choose from the already created list of rewards. If the Devs decide to add more rewards they would fit within the current 15 year tier.

 

[Wenchkin]

If you're transferring to do some trading, then you include the costs in your prices when you sell that stock. Players manage to do this with the paid-for tokens, and will continue to do so alongside these shields. Not that I'm a fan of the shields, but they don't disrupt anything I want to do in UO, and never will.

I think it's safe to say that when it comes to customer loyalty programs, there are many many different types out there. EA are perfectly entitled to use veteran rewards any way they choose just as other businesses are. Without seeing the facts and figures (especially their customer complaints figures re vet rewards) you can't say what the impact of vet rewards is on profits. It's up to the devs to look at this argument objectively and decide what needs to be done. But I think some of you are rather optimistic if you think the devs will cave in to the more extreme demands you're making.

I've truly never met a player who even mentioned vet rewards in their quitting message, or complained about them. New and old alike. So I'm very sceptical about this line of argument. You guys don't speak for any player other than yourself, so the best idea is to own those comments you make and if you find these disgruntled newbies point them at this thread. Otherwise this is like a strange RP exercise where we all play newbie when it's over a decade since we were new. The whole game is different to when we were new, and gamers themselves are different. I really doubt the devs believe you're all channelling newbies here, y'know?

Wenchy

 

[virtualhabitat]

26 and 24 month accounts here -and if you look up my name on stratics you can see my very first posts roughly correspond with that time frame.

I'm not channeling anything but my own thoughts. You can read them further up in this thread. I find them quite reasonable and not at all extreme.

I can understand and even agree with some of the sentiments of Irulia, Petra, and Goldberg. I also think that some of the rules governing the vet reward system are arbitrary and irrational. Take runebook dye tubs. 4th year I believe. Why is it a good idea that anyone wait 4 years to be able to use it? Note that I am not suggesting that a third year be able to pick the reward, but why not let them use it?

I can use a davy's locker right now on both my accounts and it is an 8th year I think. That's perfectly ok with 8th year vets it seems (at least I haven't heard anyone complain their reward is less valuable because of it) Why can't I use a 4th year seed box? I hope anyone reading this can see that from my perspective, this seems random and irrational.

People throw vet robes and cloaks on the ground at the bank because they are so completely useless. They don't even bother to put them on a vendor because everyone knows they are junk. Why can't 1st years wear them? Really, can someone tell me why it's a bad idea for a first year to pick up garbage from the bank floor and wear it?

Does anyone really think sacrificial ankhs are too special for guildleaders under 5 (or whatever) years old? Can you imagine, I get to buy one of the Abyss houses for 50 million gold, but I can't put an ankh in it for everyone to use when they die in the Abyss. Why?

Why can a new account use a crystal portal, but not a commodity deed box? Both rewards are first year. Is there something more unbalancing about deed boxes than portals? BTW, my first year I kept a ship parked right out in front of my house so I could use the hold as a commodity deed box. I thought it was kind of stupid too.

You guys are spending too much thread-space talking about shard shields and ugly outhouse garden sheds.

 

[Madrid]

While on some level I can see the argument with shard shields, I do think those who are arguing for them being freely available are over simplifying. To go to a destination and come back requires 2 shields, that's 2 vet picks, not one. If you want to go to a different destination shard, you need another shield, another vet pick. Plus you can only take with you what you can carry in your back pack and bank - there's no shipping 5 packies full of goods with you.
Reading the arguments in favour people who are not fully aware of how they work could be lead to believe they are as versatile as a purchased transfer token - they are not.

Petra I think most are fully aware of how they work. The advantages far outweigh the negatives by a landslide. The fact that you need two shields in order to get back to where you transferred is something they need to consider when pricing it if it ever became available (which I hope it will). It's highly unlikely if it was made available at the store that players would be purchasing just 1.

Just for fun let's throw out another hypothetical and blow this really out of proportion ....

Let's say a Veteran player non-15year transfer 12 times in a year with 150 items each time (The number of tokens a shard shield produces). Round trip is going to cost that player over 1 Billion in Gold! Shard Shield owner nothing and they get to do it all over again the next year. Yeah this is an extreme example which is very unlikey but that was the point and it makes transparent the advantage of Shard Shields.

Another idea is to make a transfer token similar to the shard shield at the UOStore for $3.99 or $4.99... a "Shard Hopper" token if you will limited to bank and backpack items such as the shard shield.

 

[THP]

quite simply if a vet as 6 picks they pick there own shard...[for the return] and 5 others...and simply hop around all of them once a month...yes they can only carry 300 items home but u can SOOOOON move a lot of stuff around if u are hopping for freeeee once a month.....jesus...iam getting these in 2 months and iam arguing against them....FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME!!!!!!!!uo does not have to be an uneven playing field...and the sooner other vets see this the better and longer lasting UO will become...

i will have 4 picks this time.. so 3 shards and my own....''hop hop hop hop''...will give me a week on each shard...cant bloooody wait......its a shame i wasted so many early gifts...can u imagine the vets that have 14-15 picks left when they get to 14 years............KERRRRRRRRCHING!!!!

 

[KingHen]

Mine just flipped to 14... I will be getting two shields...
Then again I live on two shards... so for me its like a free round-trip bus ticket to see my mother...

Now even if they left it how it is, the rewards still need some help. The time on some of them is stupid. Make a rune, but wait four years to color it...

Seriously...
Quite frankly I don't see why new people (I do try and get people to play) must wait four years to get the full 720 skill cap. really? four years... <--- I am tired of apologizing for this one...
The game has been around a long time, back then it was King... It needs to evolve...

It can be difficult, managing your returning customers (vets of all years) versus trying to attract new ones with antiquated play and graphics.
Some of us who stay, do so because of the people and what we fell in love with years and years ago...

It's been like watching your children grow. You see good and bad, but you love em anyway.