To be fair to the original poster, she did come back and graciously defer to the majority of arguments here. But what's more interesting to me is how she also admitted that her
real impetus for posting had nothing to do with crafting at all--an admission that everyone here has overlooked; at least everyone posting. I can't resist the wizened temptation to caution against venting in the heat of the moment on a public forum, where people will naturally mistake such emotional expression for an argument held up by actual reasonable thought. Now we have a bunch of serious-faced debaters arguing AT GREAT LENGTH against someone who never put that much thought into her argument to begin with.
Lace, in a fifteen year-old game, you'll find people leaving (or arriving) for a great multitude of reasons. When you're as invested in a game and community as you appear to be, it can be easy to get too close to the subject to see what anyone else might recognize as a perfectly simple, ordinary, and natural process. Times change. Many people stick around, but most people move on. I equally respect both camps, because depending on the person, it can take a great degree of courage to do either. I've seen this happen in other communities, both online and offline. Heck, there's still a thriving multiplayer community for Master of Orion II (released in 1996), but believe me, it's a community where most everyone knows your name. At some point, or more truthfully slowly over time, everyone in that community realized there was nothing to blame but time itself. But, whatever. People who enjoy the game are still playing it with each other.
What is more harmful than time? Self-fulfilled prophecies and self-perpetuated myth-mongering, rabble-rousing and rumors. Days from now, you might not think about a forum post made in haste and frustration, and though I'll acknowledge your good intentions, I'll ask you to acknowledge that you casually threw the developers of the reforging system under the bus in order to voice a very whimsical point. It's very likely, judging from the above replies, that reforging has brought a wealth of additional value to the crafting professions. But consider this. Posts like yours can appear as statements of fact to returning veterans. We should be careful not to undo ourselves what we seek to blame others for undoing.
Several years ago, people were up in arms, complaining about overpopulation, referring to Britannia's wildernesses as "urban sprawl". The forest around my house now looks more like a fantasy setting, and I'm not complaining about it. Since returning to UO I've made dozens of friends, joined a pretty active guild, and introduced myself to many of the new systems and features. There's still a game here, but it's not what it used to be. That's not UO's fault. It's life. UO's truest fans will continue to enjoy their old pastime, but the community will continue to shrink over time. Have your opinions, voice your suggestions and complaints, but pick your battles wisely, and please remember to be kind and civil to the people who keep UO's old gears polished...and turning.
P.S. I should add that the Ultima universe's first great community of players, the Ultima Dragons, were having to accept these simple truths at the time when UO was first released. At that time, they had already been playing Ultima games for fifteen years.
...And they are still around, playing Ultima games, and making games inspired by Ultima.
:gun:
