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we need official details on Endless Journey like right now please

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
And that's why it's going to fail.
It really depends on what you think it's goal is. I think a lot of people are just looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not meant to make the game a pay to win style free to play game, it's simply trying to give people just enough to get invested, while lacking just enough to make them feel like subbing is a good idea.

If you give people a game that's basically the game we pay subs for, they would have to do a complete overhaul of how the game works in regards to real money transactions, because subs would be just as basically superfluous.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
It really depends on what you think it's goal is. I think a lot of people are just looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not meant to make the game a pay to win style free to play game, it's simply trying to give people just enough to get invested, while lacking just enough to make them feel like subbing is a good idea.

If you give people a game that's basically the game we pay subs for, they would have to do a complete overhaul of how the game works in regards to real money transactions, because subs would be just as basically superfluous.
Bingo. I was wondering if I was the only one that got it lol
 

StarstrukK

Adventurer
With the trial account limitations we can assume are on these accounts you can still make some ok templates to assist your paid accounts. Especially on siege. Don't know how I feel about that. :/

Could make a decent GM max crafter mule. GM Alch, Cooking, Carp, Bowyer, Inscribe, Tinker, Poison/Magery. Save you 60-70 bucks in soul stones. :p Less useful if they can't use runics, but still get good for potions, food, scrolls and tools. Can't hurt right?

A rouge/scout character would be a good use of EJ too. GM Hide, Stealth, Tracking, Detect, LP, RT, Magery. Good for clearing out champ spawns of cams, etc.

Or a treasure hunter (assuming they can do maps). GM Carto, LP, Mining, Taming, Lore, Vet, Magery. Might have to get creative with pet choices, but I think it's doable.
Alternatively, it could just be a facilitator second account, that decodes, digs up, unlocks/disarms the chest, then stands back while you actual characters do the looting/killing. Cart, LP, Mining, Detect, RT, Hide, Magery, GM whatever.
Where was it stated that the EJ will be anything similar to a trial account? As far as I've seen that's purely speculation from stratics posters that are hopeful the program will be a massive flop. And if the EJ is a failure like many in here seem to want how can you stand for the wasted development time on the project. Like I said earlier though which I will repeat for the 3rd time I don't care if it is because I will keep paying my subscription but the dev's have the details on what an endless journey account will be capable of and it's time that they share it with everyone.

I never once asked for player speculation on what the EJ will be and directed my post towards the dev's.
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
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Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Where was it stated that the EJ will be anything similar to a trial account? As far as I've seen that's purely speculation from stratics posters that are hopeful the program will be a massive flop. And if the EJ is a failure like many in here seem to want how can you stand for the wasted development time on the project. Like I said earlier though which I will repeat for the 3rd time I don't care if it is because I will keep paying my subscription but the dev's have the details on what an endless journey account will be capable of and it's time that they share it with everyone.

:lame:

I never once asked for player speculation on what the EJ will be and directed my post towards the dev's.

Email them next time. Sorry we bothered you.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Email them next time. Sorry we bothered you.
It has been really clearly stated what the goals are with EJ. Sure some things might change slightly and all that. But I doubt it will change much from what's been said. And why am I responding to you??? lol But I feel your pain ;)
 

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
EJ is set for spring of 2018, this can be March/April.
Now we all know not everything goes to plan in UO... its sort of the game's MO.
We also know this is not a F2P program change.
No matter how hard many may wish this to be a F2P game, Many of us do not and I believe as do the Dev.
This I base on things asked of Mesanna and the dev at M&G's.
Players these days do not have the free time we once did, and the shorter time means a 14 day trial might only be a few times logged in to make up their minds.
I do know many can and will live with the loss of a lot of the amenity's the game now sports to save the few pennies a day the game cost.
The limitations they will find may not make them happy once all is worked out..
I do want to point out for those who don't know, just remember there is a system for telestorming out of areas your not allowed to go.
 

dukarlo

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think old players returning should be able to get back into PvP reasonably well with EJ. I'm not saying give them access to everything in game but they should at least be able to wear a competitive suit and be able to store some pots etc in a bank. If a player returns and doesn't even have the option to be able to compete in PvP I don't think those players will stick around or re subscribe.

Also, I fear players that have been away for many years will have trouble with acct management. This would be a huge turnoff. Returning players would be important to any success of uo getting more players and more subs. I hope broadsword at least tries to do this right.
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
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We already know a lot from M&G's and questions asked at the Anniversary party. Just because you want the answer to be something other than it is doesn't make any of the information already given false.
Messana has stated many times that this is not a free-to-play model, it's just a longer free trial for people to spend more time playing and get a feel for the game.
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Where was it stated that the EJ will be anything similar to a trial account? As far as I've seen that's purely speculation from stratics posters that are hopeful the program will be a massive flop. And if the EJ is a failure like many in here seem to want how can you stand for the wasted development time on the project. Like I said earlier though which I will repeat for the 3rd time I don't care if it is because I will keep paying my subscription but the dev's have the details on what an endless journey account will be capable of and it's time that they share it with everyone.

I never once asked for player speculation on what the EJ will be and directed my post towards the dev's.
I don't have the source or the direct quote, but they stated multiple times that EJ would be a somewhat altered version of the trial account, and that they were still having discussions about what to change. Messanna has said frequently and loudly at meetups that EJ was not taking UO into f2p territory, as well. It won't be a trial account exactly, but it will be a pretty limited account.

As for the rest of the comment, why do you automatically see that kind of a client as "flop"? I'd rather there be an endless trial account than for the whole game to go f2p myself, and I think if they reach a big enough audience with ads, it will bring in people. The goal of EJ isn't to entice current players into becoming EJ account players, it's to give new and returning people enough space to get involved and attached enough to get they to want to pay a monthly sub.

As for development time... I don't think a ton of technical development has gone into this project. If it's just an alteration of a trial account, not a whole lot of work needs to be done.
 

Okami

Visitor
It really depends on what you think it's goal is. I think a lot of people are just looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not meant to make the game a pay to win style free to play game, it's simply trying to give people just enough to get invested, while lacking just enough to make them feel like subbing is a good idea.

If you give people a game that's basically the game we pay subs for, they would have to do a complete overhaul of how the game works in regards to real money transactions, because subs would be just as basically superfluous.
Ok. So, what's going to "invest me" in this game from the proposed trial that I cant get an upgraded, better version of in say, Guild Wars 2?

There's the top down 2d ISO view, which is mostly dead outside mobile gaming for a reason. I love it personally, but it's not the majority appeal.
And housing deco/design.
That's pretty much it, but feel free to enlighten me on what else you think it offers.

And I did mention for the EJ/F2P process to be successfull, the RMT shop -would- have to be overhauled.

Then they're selling things as addons that you still won't be able to access with your trial. High Seas as is, is going to cause them a lot of trouble if they maintain the "no boats" rule. Personally still feel if you plunk down the money for HS, you should get boat access for life, if you have game access.

And let's not even start about the tutorial revamp and progression system changes that need to happen.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Ok. So, what's going to "invest me" in this game from the proposed trial that I cant get an upgraded, better version of in say, Guild Wars 2?

There's the top down 2d ISO view, which is mostly dead outside mobile gaming for a reason. I love it personally, but it's not the majority appeal.
And housing deco/design.
That's pretty much it, but feel free to enlighten me on what else you think it offers.

And I did mention for the EJ/F2P process to be successfull, the RMT shop -would- have to be overhauled.

Then they're selling things as addons that you still won't be able to access with your trial. High Seas as is, is going to cause them a lot of trouble if they maintain the "no boats" rule. Personally still feel if you plunk down the money for HS, you should get boat access for life, if you have game access.

And let's not even start about the tutorial revamp and progression system changes that need to happen.
I think if we put our 2 coders on a 80 hours a week schedule for a couple years, and they do nothing else, it shouldn't be a problem ;)
 

Polaris75

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Ok. So, what's going to "invest me" in this game from the proposed trial that I cant get an upgraded, better version of in say, Guild Wars 2?

There's the top down 2d ISO view, which is mostly dead outside mobile gaming for a reason. I love it personally, but it's not the majority appeal.
And housing deco/design.
That's pretty much it, but feel free to enlighten me on what else you think it offers.

And I did mention for the EJ/F2P process to be successfull, the RMT shop -would- have to be overhauled.

Then they're selling things as addons that you still won't be able to access with your trial. High Seas as is, is going to cause them a lot of trouble if they maintain the "no boats" rule. Personally still feel if you plunk down the money for HS, you should get boat access for life, if you have game access.

And let's not even start about the tutorial revamp and progression system changes that need to happen.
Can't have boats... that allows endless scripting 24/7 for white fishing nets, on 20 accounts simultaneously via 1 PC using VPI's.
 

Okami

Visitor
Can't have boats... that allows endless scripting 24/7 for white fishing nets, on 20 accounts simultaneously via 1 PC using VPI's.
You seriously think someone's going to pay 15 dollars 20 times to fish on auto? Let me point out Im fine with boats being locked if you don't have High Seas.
 

Polaris75

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
You seriously think someone's going to pay 15 dollars 20 times to fish on auto? Let me point out Im fine with boats being locked if you don't have High Seas.
People can shuffle their old accounts around very easily I'm sure. They would find a way to script white nets, I can assure you. 100m = $10 for scripters... and people love tossing nets. They would script that all day, whether they had to pay for the high seas, or just shift accounts around, or whatever.
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
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UNLEASHED
You seriously think someone's going to pay 15 dollars 20 times to fish on auto? Let me point out Im fine with boats being locked if you don't have High Seas.
People with one account, me, are in the minority around here.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
People with one account, me, are in the minority around here.
I imagine so. On Legends you might see one person at the bank but they could easily be running 6+ accounts. And actually paying for them lol. One reason why it's so hard to guess UO subscription numbers. I'd guess someone who has the fortitude could count houses on every shard to get a pretty good guess but that would be a project!
 

Morgana Grim

Lore Master
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I imagine so. On Legends you might see one person at the bank but they could easily be running 6+ accounts. And actually paying for them lol. One reason why it's so hard to guess UO subscription numbers. I'd guess someone who has the fortitude could count houses on every shard to get a pretty good guess but that would be a project!
There used to be someone on Siege that did a house count. There are still so many things to consider....grandfathered, cancelled accounts that the house hasn't fallen yet, people playing the 90 day game with a house holder account, etc. Even with all that he would get a pretty good idea on Siege because he knew the players so well.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
There used to be someone on Siege that did a house count. There are still so many things to consider....grandfathered, cancelled accounts that the house hasn't fallen yet, people playing the 90 day game with a house holder account, etc. Even with all that he would get a pretty good idea on Siege because he knew the players so well.
Yeah I know but aren't ya dying to know the numbers lol We know they're not awesome or we'd hear about it. Maybe with EJ they could tell us there's a 40% increase in new accounts or something but I doubt they will. An EJ account on it's own doesn't do a lot for the bottom line but I'd love to see the graphs and what's up :) Bonnie says subscriptions are "good". Tells me nothing *sigh* I imagine every week they get paid again is a good week lol
 

Victim of Siege

Grand Poobah
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Yeah I know but aren't ya dying to know the numbers lol We know they're not awesome or we'd hear about it. Maybe with EJ they could tell us there's a 40% increase in new accounts or something but I doubt they will. An EJ account on it's own doesn't do a lot for the bottom line but I'd love to see the graphs and what's up :) Bonnie says subscriptions are "good". Tells me nothing *sigh* I imagine every week they get paid again is a good week lol
40%, that'd be what, like 5 account? :p
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
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Stratics Legend
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I imagine so. On Legends you might see one person at the bank but they could easily be running 6+ accounts. And actually paying for them lol. One reason why it's so hard to guess UO subscription numbers. I'd guess someone who has the fortitude could count houses on every shard to get a pretty good guess but that would be a project!
Well heres my take on that... the same people that write scripts to run IDOC accounts to check the house sign of every house they run past and have elaborate set ups to check them all could simply add some line in there to count them all as they pass by and they would know exactly how many houses there are.
 

The Craftsman

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Well heres my take on that... the same people that write scripts to run IDOC accounts to check the house sign of every house they run past and have elaborate set ups to check them all could simply add some line in there to count them all as they pass by and they would know exactly how many houses there are.
Maybe one of you scripters reading this could do that or would care to comment?
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Ok. So, what's going to "invest me" in this game from the proposed trial that I cant get an upgraded, better version of in say, Guild Wars 2?

There's the top down 2d ISO view, which is mostly dead outside mobile gaming for a reason. I love it personally, but it's not the majority appeal.
And housing deco/design.
Ignoring the fact that you can be invested in multiple different games/types of games... Why would anyone pick UO over GW2 in any respect? Because to some people UO is more appealing.
EJ is just giving people who might have interest in UO an easy, and most importantly risk free, at their pace introduction to the game.

That's pretty much it, but feel free to enlighten me on what else you think it offers.
First of all, the game would have to be appealing on other levels for people to care enough to want to own a house in it right? Second of all, do you think the real impact of how cool the houses in UO can be is better or worse represented IN GAME or via pictures/videos? I think it's obviously in game.

Then they're selling things as addons that you still won't be able to access with your trial. High Seas as is, is going to cause them a lot of trouble if they maintain the "no boats" rule. Personally still feel if you plunk down the money for HS, you should get boat access for life, if you have game access.
Again, this is to lure people into subbing so they can get this stuff. You are viewing the EJ accounts as a means in themselves to make money, when in actuality they are just the free sample that gets people hooked. It's not turning the game into a f2p model.

What I think people fail to understand is that UO absolutely will live and die by it's current hard core fan base. Alienating people who have been playing for literally over 20 years by altering the basic way they interact monetarily with the game would be a very dangerous idea. At the same time with a dwindling player base the game is getting stagnant. In that respect EJ is the safest type of account expansion they could have made. It has no effect on the game for people already happy with UO, and currently subbing, and should draw some people into subbing while doing all that can be done to prevent it from causing appreciable potential damage.

UO getting like... 200k new paying players is a dream. It's just a fantasy for such a niche product. People need to accept that. UO getting... 5-10k more paying players? Very possible. Getting those 5-10k more people will make the game MUCH more fun for the hard core gamers, and will hopefully lessen the slow trickle of sub drop offs.
 

Uvtha

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Can't have boats... that allows endless scripting 24/7 for white fishing nets, on 20 accounts simultaneously via 1 PC using VPI's.
Can trial accounts get white nets?

I think the boat thing is probably a free storage issue. The whole point of EJ is basically to get people to want a house, and having a boat to store stuff in would curtail that a bit.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Can trial accounts get white nets?

I think the boat thing is probably a free storage issue. The whole point of EJ is basically to get people to want a house, and having a boat to store stuff in would curtail that a bit.
Oh wow you just brought back a memory! I placed a boat on a little canal inside the walls in Trinsic when I was brand new to the world in the 90s lol. I played UO during the beta but stuck with my old game (Legends of Kesmai on Gamestorm) till EA shut it down. So I was about a year late starting in UO. It was really handy for a few weeks while I fought to find a spot to place a small. I would have chairs on the deck and watch the people go by sometimes. My furniture would decay but it wasn't a big deal lol It was just nice to have a little spot that was all mine. But yes house boats could be a real possibility if allowed.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
I hope that the dev team is doing a revamp of the "New Player Experience" in Haven as part of the programming for Endless Journey. I wonder if they are also revamping the existing tutorial in the Enhanced Client and/or coming up with another one for the Classic Client. Would love to see them bring back something like the little tour with The Wanderer to give new players an idea of what's in the world before they start.
I'll bet they're not doing anything with the new player experience. Maybe a little something but I just have my doubts. My worry is they'll choose the EC have those things popping up at them for like 3 hours with hints and tips they have no idea about. There was stuff popping up all over the place and I couldn't make it stop and I've played UO forever. I couldn't even figure out how to log out. It should be called the Advanced Client. You need an advanced degree to figure it out.
 

Polaris75

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
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UNLEASHED
I'll bet they're not doing anything with the new player experience. Maybe a little something but I just have my doubts. My worry is they'll choose the EC have those things popping up at them for like 3 hours with hints and tips they have no idea about. There was stuff popping up all over the place and I couldn't make it stop and I've played UO forever. I couldn't even figure out how to log out. It should be called the Advanced Client. You need an advanced degree to figure it out.
Yea, EC user control is a disaster until you play on it for about 4 weeks.... they seriously need to fix that. I won't even turn on EC but for 15 seconds to get a hue ID, zero interest in learning how to work that monstrosity.

What they seriously need for both EC and CC... is 1 simple pop up that informs returning players a couple of times that:
1) Most people play on Atlantic now, no Ultima is not dead, it's just whatever shard you are on.
2) Most people are in LUNA now... not West Britain bank or Moonglow bank.

I've found no less than 50 people the past 2-3 years wondering around Moonglow/Britain bank thinking UO was dead... that have had no idea about Luna or everyone moving to Atlantic either one.
 

SugarMMM

Sage
Stratics Veteran
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UNLEASHED
A old UO friend of mine messaged me the other day asking about Endless Journey and that she was looking for information.

She told me the first place she remembered to get UO information was going to "uo.stratics.com." But after going there she gave up looking because if you go to that address you'll see that the newest updates were from 2015!!! Think something can be done with that? I know it isn't Broadswords website but can we get the owners of stratics to fix it?
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
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Yea, EC user control is a disaster until you play on it for about 4 weeks.... they seriously need to fix that. I won't even turn on EC but for 15 seconds to get a hue ID, zero interest in learning how to work that monstrosity.

What they seriously need for both EC and CC... is 1 simple pop up that informs returning players a couple of times that:
1) Most people play on Atlantic now, no Ultima is not dead, it's just whatever shard you are on.
2) Most people are in LUNA now... not West Britain bank or Moonglow bank.

I've found no less than 50 people the past 2-3 years wondering around Moonglow/Britain bank thinking UO was dead... that have had no idea about Luna or everyone moving to Atlantic either one.
Not everyone gives a crap about Atl you know... there are many other viable and better shards... IMO.... Atl is a cancer on UO.

As for directing new and returning players..... they need directed to go into the Gen Chat.... which of course YOUNG players can't do.. sadly... as NO ONE is ever in Help Chat... the only help there is hearing about the gold for sale... by a lowlife...

It would help if new/returning players got at the very least a book detailing where to turn for information on uo... what chat to use... where to find people as a general rule and what the top 5 shards are for say the US and Asian shards... However IMO after someone picks a shard and makes a character it's a tad late to figure out what the best shard is. Not that they can't just go make another character on other shards... but still .... the thing that would help more than anything would be some sort of new player guide where they download the game from.... some sort of new player video they need to watch as the game is installing would help... something that gives them the clues and idea's on what's what from the start and a good new player experience in-game once they do make that character.
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Not everyone gives a crap about Atl you know... there are many other viable and better shards... IMO.... Atl is a cancer on UO.

As for directing new and returning players..... they need directed to go into the Gen Chat.... which of course YOUNG players can't do.. sadly... as NO ONE is ever in Help Chat... the only help there is hearing about the gold for sale... by a lowlife...

It would help if new/returning players got at the very least a book detailing where to turn for information on uo... what chat to use... where to find people as a general rule and what the top 5 shards are for say the US and Asian shards... However IMO after someone picks a shard and makes a character it's a tad late to figure out what the best shard is. Not that they can't just go make another character on other shards... but still .... the thing that would help more than anything would be some sort of new player guide where they download the game from.... some sort of new player video they need to watch as the game is installing would help... something that gives them the clues and idea's on what's what from the start and a good new player experience in-game once they do make that character.
Explain how Atl is a cancer?
I'm in Help all the time... I see people there all the time... maybe it's the other viable and better shard you're on.
 

Uriah Heep

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Just like advertising, I imagine BS is gonna rely on players to make youtube videos and such for new players. But after seeing in the other thread that they are gonna take out part of W. Brit for the EJ stuff, I'm about done with it anyway...If they want to bring players back to W Brit they need to do it by fixing the problem that took players OUT of west Brit
 

Morgana Grim

Lore Master
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A old UO friend of mine messaged me the other day asking about Endless Journey and that she was looking for information.

She told me the first place she remembered to get UO information was going to "uo.stratics.com." But after going there she gave up looking because if you go to that address you'll see that the newest updates were from 2015!!! Think something can be done with that? I know it isn't Broadswords website but can we get the owners of stratics to fix it?

I believe that is the old site that is archived. If you look at the top in your address bar, you'll see it's simply stratics.com and will bring her to the forum boards. Then main menu bar for the site runs across the top, where the wiki, resources and other information can be found in addition to the forums. Yes it is a bit confusing, but personally I feel nothing really needs to be done. The site has gone through many changes over the years and it's the best way to keep the overwhelming amount of old information still accessible
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Thanks for proving my point I guess.. The help channel is active on Atl. Whether you like what's being said or not is subjective.
 

Capt. Lucky

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Any time I've ever logged in on Atlantic on a character that has defaulted to the Help channel, it's usually a cesspool, a ridiculous argument, or mockery of another player. Rarely is someone helping someone else with useful advice.
Well as far as that goes there's not much difference between general and help chat on ATL so it probably doesn't matter much.
 

MalagAste

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Explain how Atl is a cancer?
I'm in Help all the time... I see people there all the time... maybe it's the other viable and better shard you're on.
It takes everything away from all other shards... all business is Forced to Atl where prices there are gouged so high most average players can't afford them... it's filled with Greed and the lag there is so bad you can't even shop... I tried it at the end of rares fest... I'd open 2 vendors promptly crash... reboot open two vendors search for a moment take a step crash.... on and on.... And I have a pretty decent rig and a 1GB highspeed fiber internet connection... 16GB ram and can't move there.... can't imagine what someone with a lesser connection does.

IMO if Atl were closed tomorrow... and no one could transfer to or from there again the rest of the shards would be FAR better off.

Atl is a cancer as all energy by everything seems to get sucked there.... so it can grow... is that not the description of a cancer???? a growing cell that feeds off it's surrounding tissues causing them to decay and die and sucking the life out of it's surroundings? Pretty sure that's a cancer... a tumor... what have you.... maybe a disease...

Anyway having a bunch of greedy SoBs around who like to scam and cheat people (always numerous posts here about that sort of thing happening there) isn't really that great IMO... but by all means carry on and please keep that sort of scum off the rest of the shards would you?

Just because there are a bunch of people on doesn't make the shard great... and here's a heads up for you... I answered once someone on here looking desperately for someone to help him learn about pirate hunting... He'd just gotten High Seas and was itching to do it... He asked and asked in Gen Chat but NO ONE answered him... So I went and helped him with my tamer. Guess where he was???? Yep ON ATLANTIC. Not one person would take the time there to show him how to hunt pirates... Someone from GLs had to do it.
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
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UNLEASHED
I learned how to Pirate hunt on ATL. The user that showed me posts on this board regularly too. I haven't crashed on Atl or any other shard since increasing my memory cache and using EC. The best shard I've played on was Chessy. I'd disagree about everything you said about Atlantic though. I'd rather hostile players than no players. I don't think player quality has anything to do with shard. I think it's just people living up to a reputation. And I've seen a lot of bad things on a lot of shards.
 

Polaris75

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Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
It takes everything away from all other shards... all business is Forced to Atl where prices there are gouged so high most average players can't afford them... it's filled with Greed and the lag there is so bad you can't even shop... I tried it at the end of rares fest... I'd open 2 vendors promptly crash... reboot open two vendors search for a moment take a step crash.... on and on.... And I have a pretty decent rig and a 1GB highspeed fiber internet connection... 16GB ram and can't move there.... can't imagine what someone with a lesser connection does.

IMO if Atl were closed tomorrow... and no one could transfer to or from there again the rest of the shards would be FAR better off.

Atl is a cancer as all energy by everything seems to get sucked there.... so it can grow... is that not the description of a cancer???? a growing cell that feeds off it's surrounding tissues causing them to decay and die and sucking the life out of it's surroundings? Pretty sure that's a cancer... a tumor... what have you.... maybe a disease...

Anyway having a bunch of greedy SoBs around who like to scam and cheat people (always numerous posts here about that sort of thing happening there) isn't really that great IMO... but by all means carry on and please keep that sort of scum off the rest of the shards would you?

Just because there are a bunch of people on doesn't make the shard great... and here's a heads up for you... I answered once someone on here looking desperately for someone to help him learn about pirate hunting... He'd just gotten High Seas and was itching to do it... He asked and asked in Gen Chat but NO ONE answered him... So I went and helped him with my tamer. Guess where he was???? Yep ON ATLANTIC. Not one person would take the time there to show him how to hunt pirates... Someone from GLs had to do it.
We play on both Atlantic and Pacific, but we pretty much have left Pacific since about 3-4 years ago. We still played there up until 2 years ago though... it just got too toxic. The good players seemed to be quitting (they did, all the top players in our guild for example, RAW.) Then I mainly grew tired of the IDOC'ing situation on Pac, which in hindsight... is caused by one of the most famous and despicable IDOCers from Atlantic actually. I left Pacific and almost quit UO 5 years ago b/c of 1 IDOCer (who is the richest person on Pac) but is actually the biggest IDOCer in all of the game. He always has a partner to IDOC with him he told me one day laughing, as he patiently waited for the huge IDOC on Justice Island to fall. That kind of gives it away, being that they always work as a team of 2. I went to work... and the owner of the house went to work also (he had just paid his account, but it was not refreshing for some reason... even though he was emailing Mesanna repeatedly. He begged them not to take his entire collection he'd had since 99'.) Well... those two took it anyway. His little stone tower fell a bit later on the same island, my wife and I were the only ones at that and we gave him back 100% of the items. We gave them to his friend anyway... he quit. His friend gave us 1 broken crystals (the big/full kind) for giving the html runebook library back. It was an entire HTML runebook library, worth tens of billions likely.

The point of my story... is that... there are about 5-6 people in the game that are cancer. It's not any one shard. 5-6 people pretending to be 100-150 different characters on 27 shards for money. Atlantic is just the filtering point for all of them... so it ends up the dirtiest. UO hasn't had a cleaning person for a long time, they don't want to be "police," someone stated about a year ago. If the players start seeing them as "bad cops...." then the players might get angry. Where do you think those statements came from?

We play on Atlantic now and Pacific, and in my experience, both are equally versed in both good and bad players (real players vs IDOC'ers/ gold sellers/ people ripping people to try to make gold). The problem is that those people focus on Atlantic for their $$, as you stated. We too have tried to open vendors on Pacific... but we literally lose gold (and we are not gold buyers/sellers, so we literally wouldn't have insurance money if we left items on vendors for nadda.) There is a big split between the 420 and RAW guilds on Pacific right now, and ZKV fell apart 4 years ago. Small shards run into problems like that... one wrong person in a guild can cause havoc. We don't even play with anyone else, so Atlantic is actually less dramatic for us. On Pacific... you can't even do 1 spawn without an entire guild showing up right at the end to kill the turtle or something with WoDs. On Atl... at least it's not just 6-7 people with the same guild tag right at the end.

Good players make UO great. Bad players destroy... games... guilds... trust in Devs... everything... and it's all for money.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
As for directing new and returning players..... they need directed to go into the Gen Chat.... which of course YOUNG players can't do.. sadly... as NO ONE is ever in Help Chat... the only help there is hearing about the gold for sale... by a lowlife...
There are helpful people in Atlantic Help Chat. And anyway, they should be directed to adventures, into the woods or dungeons, not a stupid chatbox. This suggestion is so sad in itself and speaking volumens of how used some people are to not seeing actual players anymore. People living in Gen Chat instead of the town centers are the real cancer of UO. Seeing no one on the streets but having anyone sit at home typing into Gen Chat, that's the cancer. Not a group of kids doing some shenanigans in a video game.

It would help if new/returning players got at the very least a book detailing where to turn for information on uo... what chat to use... where to find people as a general rule and what the top 5 shards are for say the US and Asian shards... However IMO after someone picks a shard and makes a character it's a tad late to figure out what the best shard is. Not that they can't just go make another character on other shards... but still .... the thing that would help more than anything would be some sort of new player guide where they download the game from.... some sort of new player video they need to watch as the game is installing would help... something that gives them the clues and idea's on what's what from the start and a good new player experience in-game once they do make that character.
Again, they are already in Help Chat. Of course, some shards don't have a single player there, but that's rather a problem of having very inactive shards and never closing them.

I'm all in for the showing the number of logged in players for each shard though. Like every other game does that today. Not sure why UO is *still* making such a secret out of it. As of now, there is a huge chance a new player starts on a shard where he doesn't see a single person on the street for hours.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
There are helpful people in Atlantic Help Chat. And anyway, they should be directed to adventures, into the woods or dungeons, not a stupid chatbox. This suggestion is so sad in itself and speaking volumens of how used some people are to not seeing actual players anymore. People living in Gen Chat instead of the town centers are the real cancer of UO. Seeing no one on the streets but having anyone sit at home typing into Gen Chat, that's the cancer. Not a group of kids doing some shenanigans in a video game.



Again, they are already in Help Chat. Of course, some shards don't have a single player there, but that's rather a problem of having very inactive shards and never closing them.

I'm all in for the showing the number of logged in players for each shard though. Like every other game does that today. Not sure why UO is *still* making such a secret out of it. As of now, there is a huge chance a new player starts on a shard where he doesn't see a single person on the street for hours.
So you want to spend what little time you have in UO standing around a bank in New Haven waiting on a new player that comes about once in a purple moon in may on a thursday???

I'd rather spend my time in-game actually playing and having fun and if I hear a young/returning player asking questions in Gen Chat talk to them and help them... and if need be come to the rescue when they get in over their heads.... NOT telling them to go out and repeatedly get killed in area's that they shouldn't be in or aren't prepared for... I'd rather they have positive experiences... but I can't ensure that 24/7... and eventually they are going to be in chat where they are going to hear a lot of things that won't be good.... and then direct them to Luna where they are likely to be scammed.... would rather NOT do that either...

So Yeah.... I'd rather they got in the real Gen Chat where decent folk can tell the scammers and creepers to stuff it and actually help new players. But I'm not about to spend all day standing around a bank... waiting.
 

Thrakkar

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
IMO if Atl were closed tomorrow... and no one could transfer to or from there again the rest of the shards would be FAR better off.
Don't think so. Because everyone will move to the second biggest shard and it will start all over again...

Character transfer should be some service, which one would use for permanent transfer, not hopping around like crazy between shards.
You shouldn't be able to have a token, which is an actual item in game and only supports stupid gold seller websites. Heck, if I google for character transfer, the first 3 hits are such websites, selling them for $12.99
It should only be accessible through the in-game shop, so the money goes into noone elses pocket than BS. They could even go up with the price to 2.5k sovs (instead of the current 2k).

So you can't really blame ATL. It's just a symptom of the actual root cause, which is called character transfer...
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
So you want to spend what little time you have in UO standing around a bank in New Haven waiting on a new player that comes about once in a purple moon in may on a thursday???

I'd rather spend my time in-game actually playing and having fun and if I hear a young/returning player asking questions in Gen Chat talk to them and help them... and if need be come to the rescue when they get in over their heads.... NOT telling them to go out and repeatedly get killed in area's that they shouldn't be in or aren't prepared for... I'd rather they have positive experiences... but I can't ensure that 24/7... and eventually they are going to be in chat where they are going to hear a lot of things that won't be good.... and then direct them to Luna where they are likely to be scammed.... would rather NOT do that either...

So Yeah.... I'd rather they got in the real Gen Chat where decent folk can tell the scammers and creepers to stuff it and actually help new players. But I'm not about to spend all day standing around a bank... waiting.
Can you read what he said again and show me where your argument makes sense in anyway? Not even going to argue with your intent... I just think you didn't read what he said. It sounds like you're arguing with someone else.
 

kaio

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think the EJ page is a mess
Fx
Endless Journey accounts receive complementary access to all Ultima Online expansions through Stygian Abyss. Other expansions can be purchased and applied to an Endless Journey account.

Then later in the restriction area.
Endless Journey accounts may not place ships.
So yes im sure alot of players will buy highseas expansion, so they can buy alot of boats they can't use.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
I think the EJ page is a mess
Fx
Endless Journey accounts receive complementary access to all Ultima Online expansions through Stygian Abyss. Other expansions can be purchased and applied to an Endless Journey account.

Then later in the restriction area.
Endless Journey accounts may not place ships.
So yes im sure alot of players will buy highseas expansion, so they can buy alot of boats they can't use.
The idea was they could "use" the boats just not place them.. but still not so well thought out IMO.
 
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