What do you like/love about UO?

[Terrorknight]

I know over the past few years UO/EA has given us players alot to complain about, but I want to flip this and show the devs some love, especially since Cal has been making attempts to communicate. I am going to go on a little rant here for a second; I understand that everyone is upset about the speed hacking program taking 12 years. I am just as equally frustrated that a company like EA took this long. But at the same time when I was in college a bunch of friends and I created an online game. Nothing as huge as UO, but it was inspired by it. It took us over a year to get the game operational so others could play it online. The coding was a pain in the butt and my friends all had degrees in computer programming etc. We had a speed hacking program in place after about two weeks of being live. We had about 1,000 players online at peak times. We didn't charge a sub. fee, we just wanted to see what we could create. When our servers were peaking at 5,000+ players out speed hacking programs crashed like there was no tomorrow. It became so unstable we had to remove it. We had players in our fourms bashing us (keep in mind it was a free to play game) that we weren't updating the game enough or fixing the speed hack program. We became very unhappy and all pulled away from the game we created. The people that complained made us shut the game down. None of us were getting paid to take that from people. Two years later and over $30,000 invested we finally found a stable speed hack program that could handle upwards of 10k players.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that yes, EA is a huge company and we do pay to play, but with over 100k sub. the anti speed hacking software that is out there isn't reliable. It takes a long time to code and program it and test it, and EA hasn't been kind to the devs. Everytime one comes in and gets comfortable they pull them from UO. Its hard to continue anothers work. So the purpose of this thread is to show the Devs that we stand behind them and that we still love this game. It will give them all the more reason to work twice as hard to get things fixed for us. Because everyone has to remember, this is a job to them. They work their hours and go home. We play this for fun.

So after that long rant I do apologize, but what do you like or love about UO? If you've quit a few times, whats brought you back? The things you love could be something from years ago or something current.

For me I loved all the people i've met, from all walks of life. I remember logging on every night and being so excited to go kill ogre lords with my newly created bard and dying a million times because AOL's dial up internet would crash. I hope that everyone can think of at least one thing and I am sorry if anything has offended anyone, its just my two cents.

 

[Aran]

That I can play it like a singleplayer game with network chat if I want, or completely ignore everyone, or troll people, or... just about anything.

Freeform > Levelgrind

 

[Miss Smoocher]

the freedom and choices you can do in uo you cant in other games.

 

[Terrorknight]

That I can play it like a singleplayer game with network chat if I want, or completely ignore everyone, or troll people, or... just about anything.

Freeform > Levelgrind

Totally agree, I've played hundreds of free to play games and nothing offers the openess of UO. You can do anything from being a baker (not very profitable) to being the ultimate pvper and be feared by the trammies.

 

[Coragin]

Own property
Own a shop
Walk in the woods and listen to the different sounds
Try try and try and finally be able to solo that big mob by building the perfect skills/suit
And there is of coarse building the perfect pvp template that I love.

 

[Terrorknight]

Own property
Own a shop
Walk in the woods and listen to the different sounds
Try try and try and finally be able to solo that big mob by building the perfect skills/suit
And there is of coarse building the perfect pvp template that I love.

What makes you love pvp? (I've never been able to master it so i'm curious) I've heard alot of complaints about it, and its good to see that someone is loving a part of it.

 

[Coragin]

Defending and the thrill. I dont pvp just to kill, I am a defender type, the killers are my guildmates lol.

 

[Terrorknight]

Defending and the thrill. I dont pvp just to kill, I am a defender type, the killers are my guildmates lol.

Ah lol. When I did pvp, I did nothing but die. (like I said I never really mastered it)

 

[Coragin]

Ah lol. When I did pvp, I did nothing but die. (like I said I never really mastered it)

I have far from mastered it lol. I die quite often, but I still have fun, I never let stat bother me, ect. And if after there is someone smack talking in Luna (usually is) I just put them on ignore. I have zero tolerance for 30 year old 6th graders. You talk and act like a child (win or lose) I just ignore you, problem solved lol.

But, my guild teaches me

 

[Tukaram]

My favorite thing has always been building characters. I love working skills up. Being able to place a house and run a vendor is fun too.

The new SA interface is great. I never did like KR. SA works a lot better and has a lot of great options.



The main thing I dislike is smack talking PvPers. Not all of them are childish smack talkers by the way.

I also dislike the graphics. I loved the 3D during LBR. Before they started changing it to look so much like 2D.

 

[Sonoma]

Hands down there are 2 things that keep me with UO...

1) The freedom to mix and match skills as i see fit. I can choose which skills I want to combine and in which order/intensity... and I have the freedom to swap them out for new or different ones at any time with soul stones.

2) Housing. I can design, and decorate my own personal house however I want. It also gives me the storage to keep what I want and what i value.

It amazes me that UO is the only game out there that really has a detailed and working system for both of these aspects. From the time i was born to the day I moved out I had parrents telling what to do and how to do it at home, all through school I had teachers telling me what to do and how to do it, and to for the next 40 years I will be working with people telling me what i have to do and how to do it. The government tells me what I can do and how I can do it. The last thing in the world I want is to pay for a game that tells me what I can do and how I have to do it. I really cannot believe that more game developers out there have not caught on to just how valuable a commodity that is.

Without a doubt its the freedom to play as I choose that keeps me with UO. I can PvP, PvM, buy and sell, collect, decorate, craft armor, or organize my house whenever I want. I can play in a big group, or by myself whenever I want. I can get on and live it up with good friends, or hide in my own little corner of the world whenever I want, according to what mood I am in.

 

[Trebr Drab]

I agree on "freedom".

Further, it's the worldly aspects of UO. Items on the ground are huge in that regard. Many newer games don't even have doors to open, chairs to sit in, tables to place items on, or in some cases you can't even go inside buildings.

Something I never see anyone else comment on is a thing I've talked about at other sites and blogs, such as Raph Koster's blog or Lum's Broken Toys. That is the feeling of reaching out into the game world. The cursor is you hands, a click is your eyes. If you are close enough, you can reach out and use things, open them, whatever. Or you can "look closely" at thing with a click on them.
I love this, it's more immersive and just feels right.

I love the lore. Mondain, his companions, the shattering and the shards, the Guardian, the Shadowlords, and the story as it's run in UO itself. Other games and stories have an abyss and an underworld, but they just don't mesh with the overall plot like UO's does.
I really wish that much more emphasis would be placed on this for game play.

Skills system! Big one. If only I didn't have to bow to the glorious overlords of powergaming supported by stratics staff (who come from this subset, after all...see Petra Fyde's lockage with final comment of personal opinion ) on these boards and UO developers in harmful fashion to the game in order to finish skilling up my characters.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

It's been mentioned that UO is essentially a sandbox environment. I'll back that premise 100% and agree with the responders here.

Sandbox > structured growth/levelup.

 

[MalagAste]

To me it's defiantly freedom... Freedom to create.....

Freedom to RP and imagine.... build and destroy....

The vast number of things that can be done... The way I'm not pigeon holed into this or that skill base because I'm this or that race...

The freedom to build my character and the freedom to destroy it...

Flexibility and the tools to let my imagination run rampant.

The community....

The ability to chose if I want to PvP today or not... without having to change shards.... or characters...

The ability to entertain others... if only for awhile...

Friendships... long standing friendships that have been forged over many years...

Knowing that sometimes..... my actions do really effect the game.

 

[Kallie Pigeon]

You can chose what you want to do from so many different things. you aren't confined to a specific template and can change and mix and match your skills learn new ones and get rid of old ones or stone them off to be used again. You have different playstyles that are available. If you don't want to deal with some self important player who thinks killing you as you try to kill difficult monsters add some excitement to your life, then you don't have to. If you think it does add some excitement then you can do that. The economy isn't the best but there are lots of ways to get things you want.

 

[canary]

Right now?

RP, housing, a bit of PvP and EM events. That pretty much covers it.

 

[Tanivar]

The depth of the game. You can log into and enjoy this game no matter what your day has been like or what mood your in. From vegging in some favorite spot watching the (game) world go by, to Crafting stuff to sell to NPCs or other Players, to hardcore combat.

My main joy in this game is the broad variety of Crafting that can be done. I rolled up two primary Crafters and a hunter to supply them with resources as my first three characters back in 2000 and have enjoyed playing them all these years. The only real combat I do is the Forager types (the combat characters) defending themselves or going after some ingredients I consider worth the effort of going after to supply the Crafters.

UO is, as far as I know, the only D&D flavor game that provides so much more than the standard modern game hack & slash. Why I've come back every time I've left. I can't find such a broad choice of play anywhere else.

 

[sablestorm]

UO gives us wonderful tools to be amazingly creative in-game. I can use dryad's allure on a Meer Captain, rename it to the name of another one of my characters, then hand it a com crystal and let that character speaking into the broadcast crystal, making it seem as though the Meer is talking. It looks even better of the one who allured the Meer is a stealther. Then I can lead the Meer around and make it seem to the players who are interacting with this Meer as if the Meer is walking and talking all on its own. It's fantastic for roleplaying events.

I can go gather a herd of ki rin from the Lord Oaks spawn, then herd them to another champ spawn and watch the two armies clash. It's quite an undertaking, but the payoff is very entertaining.

I can imbue an impressive weapon, dye it a special color with natural dyes, then label it with my weapon labeller. This weapon can then be placed into a locked and trapped chest and hidden in the depths of a dungeon. The other players now have a quest to find this artifact, fight their way into the dungeon, and retrieve it. You might be able to do this on other games, but I love how easy it is for us players to play Dungeon Master in UO.

 

[kelmo]

What I love... I can play this game as I want.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

• The complexity of the game.
• The extreme individualism and diversity (skill- and equipment-wise).
• The large number of mini-games inside the game (e.g. gardening, crafting, treasure hunting, fishing, chicken breeding, and more)
• The custom housing system.
• The community.
• That the fighting skills and equipment are very well balanced.
• That is has no level-system.

I also want to mention what I dislike most, as it shows what potential UO still has:

• The Trammel/Felucca split.
• The lack of a system that allows players to efficiently fight and punish criminals.
• The lack of creature AI and the stupid monster AI.
• That the world is static and predictable, thus destroying all sense of adventure.
• That the game is too item-based (while I like the number and diversity of available items, they should have less weight in fighting).
• The old graphics (Legacy Client).
• That game designers expand the world more and more, instead of improving the quality.

 

[Terrorknight]

• The complexity of the game.
• The extreme individualism and diversity (skill- and equipment-wise).
• The large number of mini-games inside the game (e.g. gardening, crafting, treasure hunting, fishing, chicken breeding, and more)
• The custom housing system.
• The community.
• That the fighting skills and equipment are very well balanced.
• That is has no level-system.

I also want to mention what I dislike most, as it shows what potential UO still has:

• The Trammel/Felucca split.
• The lack of a system that allows players to efficiently fight and punish criminals.
• The lack of creature AI and the stupid monster AI.
• That the world is static and predictable, thus destroying all sense of adventure.
• That the game is too item-based (while I like the number and diversity of available items, they should have less weight in fighting).
• The old graphics (Legacy Client).
• That game designers expand the world more and more, instead of improving the quality.

I agree that dislikes should be there for improvement purposes for EA/Mythic. I agree with all yours except the Legacy client. for some reason (probably because i've played using it for many many years) I have a hard time switching to the EC. But Nice post and thanks for responding everyone!

 

[Shelleybean]

There are a lot of great things about UO. I really enjoy the flexibility in creating characters, housing, crafting and pvm. I like that everyday I can find something fun to do and that I never seem to have enough time to do it all.

 

[Speedy Orkit]

I love:

-The PvP
-Freedom of the game: You can sail, run around woods, enter caves, etc.
-Movement
-The view of the game

The only other game I've ever played that even compared to UO was Dransik...then they changed it to crappy Ashen Empire.

 

[Mook Chessy]

I like my guildmates and I love my Gold!!!

 

[Serafi]

The freedom of the sandbox.

That I can scale my playing experience according to what time I have available. That any place in the world is just a few minutes away. The dynamic nature of having houses not instanced, the world is ever changing with the comings and goings of players. That I can put stuff down on the ground and it stays there for a few hours. People can even choose to decorate New Haven an evening... The ability to create your own house from scratch, the choices of decorating. The very advanced crafting systems of the game.

That I can choose to experience pvp whenever I feel like it, on the same shard, and can also avoid it. That I am in charge of my playing time, be it a minute, 30 or many hours.

The vast choices one has an UO player. No other MMO comes close.

 

[Terrorknight]

The freedom of the sandbox.

That I can scale my playing experience according to what time I have available. That any place in the world is just a few minutes away. The dynamic nature of having houses not instanced, the world is ever changing with the comings and goings of players. That I can put stuff down on the ground and it stays there for a few hours. People can even choose to decorate New Haven an evening... The ability to create your own house from scratch, the choices of decorating. The very advanced crafting systems of the game.

That I can choose to experience pvp whenever I feel like it, on the same shard, and can also avoid it. That I am in charge of my playing time, be it a minute, 30 or many hours.

The vast choices one has an UO player. No other MMO comes close.

Well said.

 

[Terrorknight]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I hope this gives the devs alittle boost of confidence knowing that there are still aspects of UO we love.

 

[Sunchicken]

Slapping self admited cheaters in the face 100% legitly.

And having something to pancake about

 

[RawHeadRex]

i like how uo is based on the lore of d&d which many of us played as children prior to uo.

 

[Lady_Mina]

the little things.

Be able to have a house and costumize it and decorate it.

Crafting furniture , food , cloths , those crafter skills that trigger your imagination.
Aspecialy tailor and chef is fun.
(still curious to ever try out florensic eval, make myself a detective à la csi lol)

+
(i get a thrill when i see 'crafted by Mina')
Put my mark on UO...even if i'm gone...there would still be stuff around created by me...

And being able to have pets.
Aspecialy dragons are quite cool to control. (well were...since they made them stupid it's less fun being a tamer)
But i love the little critter pets too...like my shapeshifting dog and my albino squirrel and my leather wolf eddy.


The fact that it works with skillpoints and not levels.
I truly hate level systems...i always get stuck behind on Lino and his brother leveling like mad...till a certain point i can't keep up and i can no longer join them for group quests and i'm forced to wander off on my own and struggle through each level on my own and PuGs.

The fact that i decide how much time i want to spend..i'm not stuck in the middle of a hostile town and need to run back to main town for 10min...i can log out when i want.
I'm not stuck in group quests that take 3 hours...wich i can't combine with my newborn.

 

[RawHeadRex]

the little things.

Be able to have a house and costumize it and decorate it.

Crafting furniture , food , cloths , those crafter skills that trigger your imagination.
Aspecialy tailor and chef is fun.
(still curious to ever try out florensic eval, make myself a detective à la csi lol)

+
(i get a thrill when i see 'crafted by Mina')
Put my mark on UO...even if i'm gone...there would still be stuff around created by me...

And being able to have pets.
Aspecialy dragons are quite cool to control. (well were...since they made them stupid it's less fun being a tamer)
But i love the little critter pets too...like my shapeshifting dog and my albino squirrel and my leather wolf eddy.


The fact that it works with skillpoints and not levels.
I truly hate level systems...i always get stuck behind on Lino and his brother leveling like mad...till a certain point i can't keep up and i can no longer join them for group quests and i'm forced to wander off on my own and struggle through each level on my own and PuGs.

The fact that i decide how much time i want to spend..i'm not stuck in the middle of a hostile town and need to run back to main town for 10min...i can log out when i want.
I'm not stuck in group quests that take 3 hours...wich i can't combine with my newborn.

congrats on the lil one ! rolleyes:

 

[Exolon]

I love classic and custom houses
I love to store items that I want to keep...thousands of them
I love Vendors
I love that I can run from a mob if I decide to
I love to gather resources
I really love the look and feel of the 2D Client
I love to open a container and put an item into it exactly where I want to place it (I'm looking forward to houses behaving like that!)
I love to place my single spell icons, gumps,containers,whatever on the screen where I want them to place
I love to play alone but if I really want to I can team up with others
I love(d) my mage killing even big mobs by investing time.
I love to sit down on a chair next to a table on which a bottle is placed waiting for me to drink it. I can do this wherever I want.
I love to lumberjack,then mine, then hunt, then craft, then decorate my house, then explore this, craft again, explore that and when I get bored with the last char or the last skill I start over with the first one and I have fun again.

And most of all:
I love to recall. That saves a lot of time, time that should go to my kids immedeatly when they need my attention, time for which I stopped playing other games that haven't had this feature.
I'm playing UO for ten years now and I'm looking forward playing another ten or more years if it does NOT try to catch up with modern games too much.

 

[Stupid Miner]

-Decorating events and festivals, well aware that, at best, it'll all decay in three hours, and more likely get ruined by griefers long before then.
Good times

(Though if my last event was any indication of how all my future events would be, it'd probably take 3 hours just to set up!)

Which correlates to my other:
-Building non-houses

 

[Amren]

I like the loyal customer service and dev team.

I also like the bug-free level playing field we all have. What other game has such balanced pvp and pve mechanics?