What keeps you playing?

[OREOGL]

Here we are 19 years later, and the question that comes to mind is what keeps you logging in and playing?

Is it PVM or Pvp?

Is it treasure maps or fishing?

Do you log in just to play with friends you've met in Uo?


It's interesting over the years how my playstyle has changed with the evolution of the game.

Weekend mornings i like to sit down with coffee and do a couple spawns while the house is still quiet.

I'll check the forums and then take a look at my vendors.

I pvp still occasionally but I admit is probably no longer the majority of my playtime.

The recent content has been great too and probably accounts for 90% of what I do now.

 

[Spartan]

major amounts of masochism ... pure and simple. I thrive on torturing myself by doing all sorts of mindless uphill thrashing to just simply get ahead in something.

 

[DJAd]

There is simply no other game out there like it + the banter with my friends in teamspeak / discord / vent etc.

 

[ShriNayne]

The lovely people of Europa, the wonderful people of the West Brit Bank meeting in particular. I don't think I will ever meet a more kind and helpful group of people!

 

[It Lives]

What keeps me in game the most these days is my need to constantly Move. I have got quite good at packing my house up. I have moved for reasons as simple as acquiring a new item to theme a new home around. My gypsy account if you will Of course I get to play more during the fall and winter months and new content helps out too.

 

[Longtooths]

Friends, Events, helping noobs and returning players not to mention It is still a great game!

 

[Larisa]

Everything!

Building/customizing and decorating my homes is by far my favorite in-game activity. I just did a new one, in the process of decorating now!



Trick or Treating with friends (Which is what I am doing right now!)

The simple fact that you can do one of a hundred things in any given moment on any given day and still have lots to do....finishing up that collection you're working on, building the best suit, finding the best pet, SO much....glad that we're still around

 

[OREOGL]

I wonder how many are it will be playing for the BOD crafting update

 

[Larisa]

I wonder how many are it will be playing for the BOD crafting update

I stopped doing BOD's a LONG time ago....but when I found out about the holiday crafting contest and new stuff? I started collecting them again It's as GOOD thing we have a new reason to do an old thing!

 

[SugarMMM]

14 x $14.22 a month keeps me playing the game. Hehe

I play to escape the real world and I like to set goals and chip away at them until I finish them.

Right now I am working on mining a pile (60k) of iron ingots on every server.

The last thing I worked on was getting a pile (60k) of feathers on every server. It was a lot of fun and didn't take that long. I am also building characters at the same time.

I used to build skills on characters across all of the servers and now that I've done that I'm working on tons of piles of resources.

Someday I'll go to a dungeon or visit any of the new areas that have been added to the game.

I always live/stay in Fel and I have only been to the dungeon with harpies. Hehe The newest place in game that I have gone to is Luna.

 

[OREOGL]

I stopped doing BOD's a LONG time ago....but when I found out about the holiday crafting contest and new stuff? I started collecting them again It's as GOOD thing we have a new reason to do an old thing!

Yep, I agree. Always nice to see them try and repurpose existing content.

Much like they did with the old doom arty for the new Kotl glasses.

Maybe I should be farming resources now?

 

[OREOGL]

Friends, Events, helping noobs and returning players not to mention It is still a great game!

It's funny to me, that I consider some of those I've played with better friends than others I've personally known over the years.

 

[OREOGL]

14 x $14.22 a month keeps me playing the game. Hehe

I play to escape the real world and I like to set goals and chip away at them until I finish them.

Right now I am working on mining a pile (60k) of iron ingots on every server.

The last thing I worked on was getting a pile (60k) of feathers on every server. It was a lot of fun and didn't take that long. I am also building characters at the same time.

I used to build skills on characters across all of the servers and now that I've done that I'm working on tons of piles of resources.

Someday I'll go to a dungeon or visit any of the new areas that have been added to the game.

I always live/stay in Fel and I have only been to the dungeon with harpies. Hehe The newest place in game that I have gone to is Luna.

14? Wow, how do you keep that many going?

Is for the housing?

 

[SugarMMM]

Well I taken on and inherited many accounts over the years from people that have quit or passed. I have kept them all paid for every month and they are all accounts from the first year of the game.

As far as houses go there are a bunch that I know of and even more that I don't know where they are. I bet if I let some of the accounts go there would be a huge IDOC Fest!

 

[Prince Erik]

For me it's the fact that I've been playing for so long that the game is my life detox routine that can match most of my moods. I can just sit there and chat in guild chat when I'm feeling sociable, pick a long term goal and chip away at it when that achiever persona manifests, perform some mindless or relaxing task (mining, fishing, chopping) over and over to shut my brain down after a challenging mental day at work, or when I'm in an adventurous mood, challenge myself with trying to solo something difficult with my non-uber characters. In rare instances I'll even take a stab at pvp when I need an adrenaline fix . The game gives me the chance to help friends out when they need something, and the opportunity to meet new people who share an interest in the UO world.

I belong to several communities from fellow motorcycle riders to fellow musicians but the community inside the game is the most attractive because of the ability to accomplish tasks (albeit virtually) of various complexities either alone, in small groups or at large. To me all of this makes UO the book you can't quite put down as even the boring chapters keep leading to something eventually.

I've tried much newer games with incredibly immersive graphics but to tell you the truth, I prefer my old warn pair of shoes over the brand new pairs that I don't have the time or inclination to break in.

 

[OREOGL]

Well I taken on and inherited many accounts over the years from people that have quit or passed. I have kept them all paid for every month and they are all accounts from the first year of the game.

As far as houses go there are a bunch that I know of and even more that I don't know where they are. I bet if I let some of the accounts go there would be a huge IDOC Fest!

Sounds like it, especially if there are some grandfathered houses with them, having multiple on the same account.

 

[OREOGL]

For me it's the fact that I've been playing for so long that the game is my life detox routine that can match most of my moods. I can just sit there and chat in guild chat when I'm feeling sociable, pick a long term goal and chip away at it when that achiever persona manifests, perform some mindless or relaxing task (mining, fishing, chopping) over and over to shut my brain down after a challenging mental day at work, or when I'm in an adventurous mood, challenge myself with trying to solo something difficult with my non-uber characters. In rare instances I'll even take a stab at pvp when I need an adrenaline fix . The game gives me the chance to help friends out when they need something, and the opportunity to meet new people who share an interest in the UO world.

I belong to several communities from fellow motorcycle riders to fellow musicians but the community inside the game is the most attractive because of the ability to accomplish tasks (albeit virtually) of various complexities either alone, in small groups or at large. To me all of this makes UO the book you can't quite put down as even the boring chapters keep leading to something eventually.

I've tried much newer games with incredibly immersive graphics but to tell you the truth, I prefer my old warn pair of shoes over the brand new pairs that I don't have the time or inclination to break in.

Yep, the framework for such a complex sandbox couldn't have been laid any better.

I've tried a few newer games but never quite compare to uo.

It's funny that the adrenaline still goes up when pvping after all these years

 

[CovenantX]

PvP & my Houses.

most of the players I played with have quit, some of my guildies still hold their accounts (still active accounts even) but They/I haven't been logging in so much.
Been playin other games lately, still waiting on some things to be fixed/changed here in UO, one could only hope someday the devs come around.

I've been playing WoW lately (about a month), already getting bored with it...

 

[OREOGL]

PvP & my Houses.

most of the players I played with have quit, some of my guildies still hold their accounts (still active accounts even) but They/I haven't been logging in so much.
Been playin other games lately, still waiting on some things to be fixed/changed here in UO, one could only hope someday the devs come around.

I've been playing WoW lately (about a month), already getting bored with it...

The majority of the people I played with are gone. The few I do know about are often inactive but still pay for the accounts.

I tried WOW years ago but couldn't get past the quests part.

I'm sure I have an account there but beats me if I know if it works or even what the account information would be.

Though even if I did, I'm not sure I'd have any desire to play.

 

[Uvtha]

I really don't play anymore. Too many good memories tied up in my digital house to let it fall. Worth the small amount of money to get on and run around for a few minutes/hours/days to enjoy the nostalgia, when the mood strikes.

 

[OREOGL]

I really don't play anymore. Too many good memories tied up in my digital house to let it fall. Worth the small amount of money to get on and run around for a few minutes/hours/days to enjoy the nostalgia, when the mood strikes.

What do you think would get you to play more, if anything?

 

[MalagAste]

It has always been the ability to escape the real world and be immersed in a fantasy for me... but since that way of UO is dying... and so are some of the friends I have had over the years as we all age... so is my interest...

Since UO has been seriously catering to the market of greed and most the game is geared more and more to stuff and having to have it and less and less revolves around community and such the less and less I play... and the more and more I consider just walking away.

I have for many years enjoyed deco and design... on the side of the RP but now with games like Landmark I get my design bug fulfilled so UO holds me less and less all the time.

I don't find joy and excitement in grinding endless hours solo to get more stuff. I find no joy in amassing mass quantities of gold. If I want to play solo which I have been .... old games like Baulders Gate, Diablo and the new game I've been hooked on Divinity do a FAR better job of being fun and engaging...

I'm sorry but bashing 400+ of something to get 1 or 2 items after sifting through that many corpses and such or to kill that many for 1 or 2 drops in a blue moon on a Saturday just doesn't appeal... and the more and more that gets added the more and more of a grind it's becoming and the less and less interest I have in UO... Spending countless hours grinding out the same thing over and over.... Boring with a capital B. While some seem to have the Knack or Luck or whatever it is.... I don't.

Once upon a time I was of the crowd that says and I still maintain there is NOTHING out there that compares to UO (the way it was 10 years ago... )

But it hasn't been what it once was for probably 5 to 6 years maybe more... and I've just been perpetuating a dream and hoping it would return... but I think that dream is long gone. I have no desire to go to another shard and rebuild.... with 10+ accounts it really isn't possible for me to go anyway... especially if I wanted to move to Atl with I think would be the LAST place I'd ever go... No offense Captain Norrington... but no... It would never be possible for me to rebuild what I have on my home shard..... and getting 2 castles a Keep and a bunch more 18x18's to support the junk I have stored and be able to move all that.... again not happening... and to sell it? I don't vendor things... so the thought of selling stuff on vendors and jacking around with pricing etc.... not appealing... sure I could dump it on a friend or whatever and have them do it... but that wouldn't be me. Besides GLs is my home... it has been since I began and I just don't care about any other shard... and I have tried... but my home is my home. I honestly would rather quit UO entirely than leave GLs.

So I have been left wondering what to do... How to close accounts?... I've never done that... I've not even started one in ages... I've acquired some from friends leaving/dying but never actually closed accounts or started a new one since AoS... So I keep paying them... and playing less and less often. And everytime I try to sort through all the years of clutter in my homes I become so profoundly sad and tired that I can't continue so I do nothing. I can't see me just turning them off and walking away... letting them all fall and no one I know is dumb enough to take on so many accounts.

Pretty much log on for the GLs EM event and log out anymore and I ask myself why?... Why am I still here??? What holds me here? Housing? The hope that someday things will return to community? I don't know... but I still linger here.

I think one thing I've been waiting for is the promised revamp of pets... since taming has been one of my greatest UO joys as well... and I think if it is a massive disappointment like I think it will be... that may well be the straw that finally does it... not sure.

 

[Acid Rain]

I keep at it because of the TONS of things to do. There's really no other game that has so many things to entertain.
PvP, PvM, crafting, suit building, treasure hunting, sailing the oceans, tackling bosses, endless questing, home deco,.. the list goes on and on.
The friends met, the friends kept, and the friends yet to meet, helping players , killing players , & everything in between is what keeps
me coming back to one of the best games I've ever played.

 

[chester rockwell]

Putting up with stubborn and drunk friends in vent is one too. haha.

 

[Acid Rain]

I wasn't drunk....you sure were tho !

 

[csagent108]

I started playing in 1998 and have taken several years-long breaks, but I have kept my account on active renewing subscription the whole time. I think I keep my account active simply because UO is a part of my life and I hope it always will be.

I've played with real life family and friends as well as people I will probably never meet who were/are some of the truest friends I've ever had.

I have a house filled with memories. My house is not one of those great feats of design in a prime location. It's one of those houses in the middle of nowhere you may have run past and never given a second look. But it's my house and it has my stuff and the stuff of my family and friends in it. In-game books they wrote, armor, weapons, and items they made or used, things they gave me when they quit, etc. All these things exist in this virtual world. I know they are not "real" and my house is not "real", but they are very real to me. So I guess, for a very small fee, I am maintaining a home and the memories associated with it.

I like that I can come and visit this ongoing, persistent, living world whenever I have the time and that even when I am gone for years, it's still there, chugging along, growing and evolving.

I hadn't really played in about six years, but I have been logging in recently to see what's going on and attend some of the shard events. I even joined in on a few hunts with my old guild, which is still going strong, and though I was clueless and useless, it was still fun. Now, I have recently upgraded to High Seas and I also just found out that I was automatically upgraded to Time of Legends. So, I hope to buy a giant ship soon and put cannons on it and sail around Britannia. I also hope to join my guild on more hunts soon and see if I can learn the new content. Either way, my account will stay active and my house will stand until I pass away or UO ends, whicever comes first.

 

[GarthGrey]

My account is set for auto renew monthly, that's really the only thing that keeps me playing. I don't do much of anything in game lately. I don't know if I'm sad about it though....hrm

 

[dukarlo]

The vast majority of my friends have quit or rarely log on. For me the reason i keep playing is because of the reaction from people that I rob. Some people take it in stride and realize its part of the game and are good natured about it as they should be. Some people are indifferent and dont have much of a reaction one way or another. Not really sure if they are angry, just dont care, are hiding thier dissapointment or dont even know theyve been stolen from.Ive had an EM abuse thier authority because i stole from her friend at a fel thief event. The EM was woefully unprepared to give special powers and items to her friends which is why its no longer possible to steal from EMs and thier assistants. Ive had marks sit in front of my house for hours while all the time complaining in chat . Ive had marks start threads on stratics complaining and ratting me out. Its always been about random encounters for me. Rarely have i ever talked smack after a theft unless the mark really deserved it.

I started playing in 99. There was no Trammel and I took my lumps early on but for me as I progressed thru character development I fell in love with the open endedness of uo. I started as a miner and got pked plenty.I didnt get discouraged and thought about the endless possibilities and freedom uo had. I originally started on gl and progressed to bards, tamers, pks mages and just about every template out there. I met a lot of great people but only a few of my closest friends are left. At one point gl had possibly the largest big guild fights in uo. Gl will always be where my heart is but i moved all my chars to atl since a couple remaining friends have moved there and it is still very viable to play a thief there. To me Trammel has and always has been unplayable but as long as I can still steal ill probably still be playing uo.

 

[OREOGL]

Putting up with stubborn and drunk friends in vent is one too. haha.

Unfortunately I've been one of those drunk friends.

In a drunken stuper one evening I got frustrated about something and deleted my house, only of course to end up frantically replacing it and trying to pick everything up before the neighbors helped themselves.

 

[OREOGL]

I started playing in 1998 and have taken several years-long breaks, but I have kept my account on active renewing subscription the whole time. I think I keep my account active simply because UO is a part of my life and I hope it always will be.

I've played with real life family and friends as well as people I will probably never meet who were/are some of the truest friends I've ever had.

I have a house filled with memories. My house is not one of those great feats of design in a prime location. It's one of those houses in the middle of nowhere you may have run past and never given a second look. But it's my house and it has my stuff and the stuff of my family and friends in it. In-game books they wrote, armor, weapons, and items they made or used, things they gave me when they quit, etc. All these things exist in this virtual world. I know they are not "real" and my house is not "real", but they are very real to me. So I guess, for a very small fee, I am maintaining a home and the memories associated with it.

I like that I can come and visit this ongoing, persistent, living world whenever I have the time and that even when I am gone for years, it's still there, chugging along, growing and evolving.

I hadn't really played in about six years, but I have been logging in recently to see what's going on and attend some of the shard events. I even joined in on a few hunts with my old guild, which is still going strong, and though I was clueless and useless, it was still fun. Now, I have recently upgraded to High Seas and I also just found out that I was automatically upgraded to Time of Legends. So, I hope to buy a giant ship soon and put cannons on it and sail around Britannia. I also hope to join my guild on more hunts soon and see if I can learn the new content. Either way, my account will stay active and my house will stand until I pass away or UO ends, whicever comes first.

I think for many of us the nostalgia and memories over the 19 years are often to precious to give up.

There are items of my friends over the years I've kept which aren't worth anything, but I keep them for the sentimental value they have for me.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

old games like Baulders Gate, Diablo and the new game I've been hooked on Divinity

I guess what keeps me playing is some sort of emotional attachment to the characters I've created. I still like to see them grow.
I also play other games, mainly old RPGs, since I haven't upgraded my video card to handle Witcher 3 or some of the other newer games.
Curious, are you playing Divinity: Original Sin? That happens to be a game I'm in the middle of. Didn't like it at first but now am getting a big kick out of it. BTW, if you've never played Planescape Torment, check it out

 

[MalagAste]

I guess what keeps me playing is some sort of emotional attachment to the characters I've created. I still like to see them grow.
I also play other games, mainly old RPGs, since I haven't upgraded my video card to handle Witcher 3 or some of the other newer games.
Curious, are you playing Divinity: Original Sin? That happens to be a game I'm in the middle of. Didn't like it at first but now am getting a big kick out of it. BTW, if you've never played Planescape Torment, check it out

Yes Original Sin... enjoying it... Getting a laugh out of parts of it... I just started it awhile ago so haven't left Cyceal yet... but it's been fun...

I might look into that... though I hear there is a Divinity: Orginal Sin 2 in the works.... in beta or something now... so might be good.

 

[Uvtha]

What do you think would get you to play more, if anything?

More/Better content, if anything, though I doubt anything could get me playing actively again.

I played this game actively for around 8-10 years, semi-actively another 1-2, and since the early 2010's I've just been hanging on, making sure my house doesn't collapse, and usually playing for a week or two in October, (Halloween content depending), and here and there for short unsatisfying bursts as content additions trickled in. I really just think my UO time is over, more than anything, and recent development has offered no cause for rethinking that assessment.

Really though, I am not a fan of this dev team, really in any facet of development. They seem pointlessly stubborn, shockingly short sighted, grind oriented and frequently out of touch with the playerbase. If you ask me things started going downhill when Draconi left. Almost everything post SA (despite its flaws, it was a very nice expansion, the last period I really had "fun") has been really lackluster to downright bad, IMO.

 

[Tanivar]

The fact I can find something fun to do in this game no matter what mood I'm in. So many games out there are just hack & slash, this one has so much more to do.

 

[Tina Small]

Barely hanging on to UO at this point. No time to play. Trying to keep houses from falling and loosing stuff I have no time to pack up. Hoping I'll someday have time to play more again. Got a new computer a few months ago and installed UO but haven't yet copied over the macros I saved from the old computer, so it's impossible to even consider doing much at this point. Used to check Stratics religiously several times a day and for the last couple of months I've found I'm not even doing that, barely remembering to look every couple of days.

 

[OREOGL]

Barely hanging on to UO at this point. No time to play. Trying to keep houses from falling and loosing stuff I have no time to pack up. Hoping I'll someday have time to play more again. Got a new computer a few months ago and installed UO but haven't yet copied over the macros I saved from the old computer, so it's impossible to even consider doing much at this point. Used to check Stratics religiously several times a day and for the last couple of months I've found I'm not even doing that, barely remembering to look every couple of days.

I miss seeing your thoughtful posts on here Tina. I hope life makes a little more time for you to drop by more often.

 

[OREOGL]

The fact I can find something fun to do in this game no matter what mood I'm in. So many games out there are just hack & slash, this one has so much more to do.

I think this is one of the reasons that so many other games I've tried are a fail to me.

I don't consider myself into art or decorations, but I like to update my house design when it strikes me to do so.

I will even do a random quest once in awhile.

 

[Aibal]

The friends I've made in game. I've had a million laughs with them, learned about Ultima lore, played for 1000's of hours and overall had a great time. They are what keep me coming back. Without them I'd shut the game down and walk away.