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Probably shouldn't name the emulated shard, since it's illegal to play emulated shards. Not really sure what the terms are at Stratics, but I assume it's frowned upon. Of course, Stratics did link to a well known emulator program for the longest time.
Anyway, playing what attempts to be T2A then assuming that's the "start of UO" is also sort of troubling. For anyone who wasn't around back then, you don't need to turn to emulation in order to understand what it was like. All we had was physical resist, or "armor rating" (AR), while any magic spell was reduced and/or resisted completely by the skill magic resist spells. It was simple times. Leather had the weakest AR, followed by Studded Leather, Ringmail, Chainmail, Platemail, Bone Armor, then magic armor. However, dex penalties were introduced, so the higher up you went in quality of AR, the more dex penalty you'd likely have to deal with (armor reducing total dexterity due to AR weight of armor, with exceptions when it came to bone).
Today, we don't have a dex penalty, just a STR requirement. The STR requirement isn't really an issue though, so I disagree with Galen. It's more than easy enough to get the STR needed to wear plate or wooden armor without magic resist. You might be in trouble against Dread Horn in some situations, but other than that, a curse won't do the job. Plus you can always reduce STR req. w/ the right material. The only problem with non-med armor today is a lot of dexxers rely on the meditation passive from being human, and the benefit that passive provides for your MR items. Therefore, the solution is pretty easy: focus should work much better with non-med armor than it does with med armor.
Z
Zyon Rockler
Guest
I think one of the things that drives us to go over this is, that we all know that there is something wrong but can't quite understand what exactly it is. Kind of like tripping over a tree stump and not knowing who to blame.
In my opinion, it's not just about plate armour, it's about a core structure that reflects the basic game play and feel of the game.
There's alot of examples. When we started in UO, the most important thing, was trying to find something to gear up in. In most games, you build up money and then buy good items from NPCs. You can also hunt and find unique items.
Before AoS, the suits needed to be worked on, in my opinion. They were very dull and unfinished. For example: We have many helmets in plate metal but we only have one leather cap, or did at the time.
Until I made a smith/tailor, I did not know these pieces were missing or seemed to be missing. Another example: Bone Armour, you could loot every piece. It had a helmet, it had gloves, legs, everything. The only problem was, most of the pieces only seemed to be for look.
Now, it's a new age and even the Samuari gear does not have gloves. People ask me to make leather gloves. Do you see how confusing this is? Even present day designers, of this system, are consistent. So, I don't know what to say. Is it that Samuaris' did not have gloves because in UO, even if they didn't, they really need to have them to complete the suit.
Did you ever notice that in the menues for smith, when you go to make a plate suit, the helmets are in a different menu. Why is that? Now they added gargoyle and it's just like a long mixed up list of stuff, that's probably not any good.
Confusing, messed up and never improved, just added to.
In most games and in common thinking, a thief wears leather. This makes him quick and stealthy. A knight wears armour, I guess to stop Robin Hood and give him a chance to get in there but the point is, they wear complete suits and each suit is for a particular reason. If you put a guy in full armour, you're not going to expect him to run very far. I think alot of the penalties are easy to see and alot of the benefits, as well.
They should start with revamping the basic suit. Who cares how it affects PvP or PvM. If you create a suit that has its' basic benefits, for its' basic type of character, then you're just, simply, enhancing the play style for all of these characters.
An example being: Making everything medable, might not be the best way to go but why not scale it at a percentage rather than, a drastic on or off and keep it scaled back to almost un-noticable but give each group of armour a basic benefit, if the suit is complete.
So, if a person has on a leather, GM made suit, it could give bonuses, such as, +10 stealth, +10 hiding, +10 mana, +10 med. You might not use all of these skills but if you're using the leather and any one of these skills, then you have a positive benefit and reason to use leather.
Then maybe something like, studded leather, could give a swing speed increase to mage weapons but a possible penalty to parry and even though that sounds confusing, you would still be working with suits rather than, mixes of armour.
I like the idea of plate absorbing damage but possibly it could counter certain moves, such as, bleed. It's hard to make a tin can bleed but there should also be penalties. Not being able to run very far, making it heavy. I just feel like the game is so far behind because we don't even have the basic jist of the suit, let alone, the way it affects the race of the character and other factors because the basics haven't been established.
In my opinion, it's not just about plate armour, it's about a core structure that reflects the basic game play and feel of the game.
There's alot of examples. When we started in UO, the most important thing, was trying to find something to gear up in. In most games, you build up money and then buy good items from NPCs. You can also hunt and find unique items.
Before AoS, the suits needed to be worked on, in my opinion. They were very dull and unfinished. For example: We have many helmets in plate metal but we only have one leather cap, or did at the time.
Until I made a smith/tailor, I did not know these pieces were missing or seemed to be missing. Another example: Bone Armour, you could loot every piece. It had a helmet, it had gloves, legs, everything. The only problem was, most of the pieces only seemed to be for look.
Now, it's a new age and even the Samuari gear does not have gloves. People ask me to make leather gloves. Do you see how confusing this is? Even present day designers, of this system, are consistent. So, I don't know what to say. Is it that Samuaris' did not have gloves because in UO, even if they didn't, they really need to have them to complete the suit.
Did you ever notice that in the menues for smith, when you go to make a plate suit, the helmets are in a different menu. Why is that? Now they added gargoyle and it's just like a long mixed up list of stuff, that's probably not any good.
Confusing, messed up and never improved, just added to.
In most games and in common thinking, a thief wears leather. This makes him quick and stealthy. A knight wears armour, I guess to stop Robin Hood and give him a chance to get in there but the point is, they wear complete suits and each suit is for a particular reason. If you put a guy in full armour, you're not going to expect him to run very far. I think alot of the penalties are easy to see and alot of the benefits, as well.
They should start with revamping the basic suit. Who cares how it affects PvP or PvM. If you create a suit that has its' basic benefits, for its' basic type of character, then you're just, simply, enhancing the play style for all of these characters.
An example being: Making everything medable, might not be the best way to go but why not scale it at a percentage rather than, a drastic on or off and keep it scaled back to almost un-noticable but give each group of armour a basic benefit, if the suit is complete.
So, if a person has on a leather, GM made suit, it could give bonuses, such as, +10 stealth, +10 hiding, +10 mana, +10 med. You might not use all of these skills but if you're using the leather and any one of these skills, then you have a positive benefit and reason to use leather.
Then maybe something like, studded leather, could give a swing speed increase to mage weapons but a possible penalty to parry and even though that sounds confusing, you would still be working with suits rather than, mixes of armour.
I like the idea of plate absorbing damage but possibly it could counter certain moves, such as, bleed. It's hard to make a tin can bleed but there should also be penalties. Not being able to run very far, making it heavy. I just feel like the game is so far behind because we don't even have the basic jist of the suit, let alone, the way it affects the race of the character and other factors because the basics haven't been established.
hehehe
that thread is priceless.... one of many illogical things that were never rectified...
I permit myself to quote Galen because he's so humble :
Yea...
that thread is priceless.... one of many illogical things that were never rectified...
I permit myself to quote Galen because he's so humble :
haha
Yea...
I'd be happy, for my part, with a PvM damage absorption from a full suit of non-meddable armor, even though on my main character (Galen of course) I will remain fully meddable. I feel I get other values off of the meddable armor that will overcome many advantages of non-meddable armor they throw in.
I like the idea of the bonus being PvM-oriented because it's hard to make changes in one (PvP or PvM) that won't screw up the other, and this was one.
For the str. requirements: I was thinking mostly of the Dread Horn attack.
And, to a lesser extent, of the 95 Str. requirement (is that right?) for a plate breastplate.
A character I play that used to use Order Shields without lower requirements used to get that knocked off him in normal PvM all the time; I can only imagine a breastplate being knocked off.
-Galen's player
95 is correct; on my sampire, I wear full darkwood with no ill effects. As such, wood armor--unlike plate--has several advantages when lucky with the RNG, Heartwood, and the like. Also, in the case of a sampire, mana regen is a moot point.
I suppose the question is what would constitute a full-metal buff? Would we go old-school archer for a half-buff (damage absorption), chain for an intermediate? How would bone armor fare, or dragon armor?
I suppose the easiest thing to do, regarding a shield, would be for the game to count the number of non-med items worn, then give that a value. Then take that value, multiply it by say 10, and add that value to an attunement/old-school reactive armor pool (physical damage) every five or ten minutes. That shouldn't be too overpowering for PvP. Or I suppose something easier, yeah, would be making it so non-med armor acts like a swamp dragon grade, times pieces.
T
Trebr Drab
Guest
I don't like different rules for PvP and PvM. With that, what works in one doesn't work so well in the other. It not only doesn't make sense, but it also comes with two important side issues.
1) for more casual players who don't know all the intricate rules specifics, they can't learn what works by playing, until they find out "something seems wrong".
2) PvMers are at a disadvantage if they get into PvP while PvMing.
But UO has gone "gamey", so that brings these sorts of inconsistencies.
Too late now.
Someone above mentioned making different armors resistant to different special attacks. That makes a lot of sense and seems like a good way to go here. Add in magic energies here.
Don't do a percentage reduction. Do a chance to deflect, fully or in half or failed totally. Add hit locations in for this. Hit locations used to be used for armor rating in the old days, depending on what you wore on that location, and that makes sense. They still use it for armor degradation.
Weaker armors like leathers should be more on the magic energies side with their resistances, while heavier should be more on the brute force side but also better overall. Maybe by having a better chance at resisting the attacks in question.
When you consider the whole idea here, remember that med-able armors would allow for more special attacks (as would a characters choice of having more INT than STR). This can play into all this in a very good way.
1) for more casual players who don't know all the intricate rules specifics, they can't learn what works by playing, until they find out "something seems wrong".
2) PvMers are at a disadvantage if they get into PvP while PvMing.
But UO has gone "gamey", so that brings these sorts of inconsistencies.
Too late now.
Someone above mentioned making different armors resistant to different special attacks. That makes a lot of sense and seems like a good way to go here. Add in magic energies here.
Don't do a percentage reduction. Do a chance to deflect, fully or in half or failed totally. Add hit locations in for this. Hit locations used to be used for armor rating in the old days, depending on what you wore on that location, and that makes sense. They still use it for armor degradation.
Weaker armors like leathers should be more on the magic energies side with their resistances, while heavier should be more on the brute force side but also better overall. Maybe by having a better chance at resisting the attacks in question.
When you consider the whole idea here, remember that med-able armors would allow for more special attacks (as would a characters choice of having more INT than STR). This can play into all this in a very good way.
L
LoL/Sonoma
Guest
I think one of the easiest way to look at a solution would be to do two things:
1) Identify what "types" of characters should, in many cases (not all), be wearing what types of armors (Rogue, Warrior, Archer, Mage, Necro, Samurai, Crafter, etc etc)
2) Identify what types of bonuses would make those base armor types the logical base armor for each character group.
I think the goal would be to give certain armors certain properties that make them attractive to certain character groups... not to give them restrictions that make them unattractive to others.
A good example would be the plate Physical DR idea (although i think it would have to have at least one more positive property to make it worth it). Physical DR would be most attractive to warrior-type classes that intent to stand toe to toe with enemies. If you are playing a character that does his damage from afar then the bonuses to other armor types would likely (hopefully) be more attractive than the DR from plate.
Obviously there are a million possible good (and fun) ideas for all the armor types... and crafters should be wearing cloth =)
1) Identify what "types" of characters should, in many cases (not all), be wearing what types of armors (Rogue, Warrior, Archer, Mage, Necro, Samurai, Crafter, etc etc)
2) Identify what types of bonuses would make those base armor types the logical base armor for each character group.
I think the goal would be to give certain armors certain properties that make them attractive to certain character groups... not to give them restrictions that make them unattractive to others.
A good example would be the plate Physical DR idea (although i think it would have to have at least one more positive property to make it worth it). Physical DR would be most attractive to warrior-type classes that intent to stand toe to toe with enemies. If you are playing a character that does his damage from afar then the bonuses to other armor types would likely (hopefully) be more attractive than the DR from plate.
Obviously there are a million possible good (and fun) ideas for all the armor types... and crafters should be wearing cloth =)
No one is going to want to hear this. But I'll throw it out there anyway.
The biggest problems with balance for armor is simply that our damage types have nothing at all to do with the machine of delivery for the damage.
Vis a vie-Neverwinter, all damage should come from a bashing, slashing, piercing, or etheral delivery device and then be distributed appropriately as to the form of damage delivered. If we implemented this in a sensible fashion, saints preserve us, it would be very simple to make differing types of armor make sense while allowing balance and allowing for choices of form as well as function.
The biggest problems with balance for armor is simply that our damage types have nothing at all to do with the machine of delivery for the damage.
Vis a vie-Neverwinter, all damage should come from a bashing, slashing, piercing, or etheral delivery device and then be distributed appropriately as to the form of damage delivered. If we implemented this in a sensible fashion, saints preserve us, it would be very simple to make differing types of armor make sense while allowing balance and allowing for choices of form as well as function.
N
nynyve
Guest
I don't think that that plate was made useless deliberately. When I started playing, my mages felt like they were going to battle dressed in paper armor. It looks like the designers have simply over compensated.
Designing a good, balanced armor system is extremely difficult, especially in a game where so many professions rely on some sort of magic, and almost everyone uses magic for mobility. The traditional balancing factor of "metal inhibiting magic" becomes problematic. Make plate too good, and suddenly everyone is wearing plate, the same with leather.
Also every time you introduce a property to armor, such as lrc etc., there are unintended consequences. Even playtesting won't necessarily reveal the overall impact of changes in the armor system. Many of these changes will only become apparent over time, as intense, serious, devious, and ingenious players begin to take advantage of new system.
Armor also needs to change to reflect new monster abilities.
So while I agree that changes are necessary, they represent a considerable design challenge.
Designing a good, balanced armor system is extremely difficult, especially in a game where so many professions rely on some sort of magic, and almost everyone uses magic for mobility. The traditional balancing factor of "metal inhibiting magic" becomes problematic. Make plate too good, and suddenly everyone is wearing plate, the same with leather.
Also every time you introduce a property to armor, such as lrc etc., there are unintended consequences. Even playtesting won't necessarily reveal the overall impact of changes in the armor system. Many of these changes will only become apparent over time, as intense, serious, devious, and ingenious players begin to take advantage of new system.
Armor also needs to change to reflect new monster abilities.
So while I agree that changes are necessary, they represent a considerable design challenge.
I guess im one of the few old schools that still uses full metal non-imbued runic armor on my dexxers. Its a super expensive treat i must admit. since val runics sell for 17 mill more than a barbed runic...
I dont think that they should take the medable penalty off metal armor but they should definately raise some of the resists caps. (Physical and fire maybe ) . Or at least give some kind of bonus on using plate, added resists making the most sense... Plus, We already have samourai plate that is medable. I like the fact that a regular piece of plate that is medable and as lrc , mr and such becomes a rare desirable item.
I dont think that they should take the medable penalty off metal armor but they should definately raise some of the resists caps. (Physical and fire maybe ) . Or at least give some kind of bonus on using plate, added resists making the most sense... Plus, We already have samourai plate that is medable. I like the fact that a regular piece of plate that is medable and as lrc , mr and such becomes a rare desirable item.
Very nice ideas methinks, but I heard those so often... it's been what 6 years since they first popped on here ?
I think everyone missed it...
I think everyone missed it...
Eh.
Just leave it as is....Easier.
IRL plate armor became useless anyway, as pikes and longbows and guns became more and more popular. And what do we have in UO? Cannons, and primitive bombs, and all kinds of magical attacks.
In UO we have a mix of attacks and weapons and a mix of armor and other protections.
The more I think about it any attempt to change the armors up in this manner just adds more complexity where plenty of complexity already exists.
It's possible now to get most of what you want in Plate. Hopefully sooner or later they'll do the thing many of us have asked for, where you could take the properties from an artifact or something and put it on another piece in the same slot. Then someone can put the Mace and Shield glasses on a Norse Helm or Plate Helm, combine that with the Heart of the Lion and the Jackal's Collar and some Imbued pieces, and all will be right with the world.
-Galen's player
Just leave it as is....Easier.
IRL plate armor became useless anyway, as pikes and longbows and guns became more and more popular. And what do we have in UO? Cannons, and primitive bombs, and all kinds of magical attacks.
In UO we have a mix of attacks and weapons and a mix of armor and other protections.
The more I think about it any attempt to change the armors up in this manner just adds more complexity where plenty of complexity already exists.
It's possible now to get most of what you want in Plate. Hopefully sooner or later they'll do the thing many of us have asked for, where you could take the properties from an artifact or something and put it on another piece in the same slot. Then someone can put the Mace and Shield glasses on a Norse Helm or Plate Helm, combine that with the Heart of the Lion and the Jackal's Collar and some Imbued pieces, and all will be right with the world.
-Galen's player
I want some of what u smokin... 
I remember the best suit you could have for your warrior was valorite plate and you could wear chain legs under your plate legs (if You had enough dex)
there was an obvious difference between leather and plate because it mounted to one armour rating.
This thread is a good OP
there was an obvious difference between leather and plate because it mounted to one armour rating.
This thread is a good OP
Came here to say this
Plenty of complexity dosen't exist here because everyone seems to agree leather is the way to go.Yeah there are exeptions, but mostly it's not complex enough.
What is everyone on ?
Did you know that OP means original post ?
This thread is NOT a good OP. It's not even literarly right, since this subject has been brought up like 10 times in the last 2 years ?
Good Idea Taka... something simple wouldn't hurt too much people hypersensitivity to CHANGE.
RIGHT ?
Any imbuer who has taken the time to actually understand how dragon armor work can see how great they truly are. Plate, Bone and Studded are another story though...
L
LoL/Sonoma
Guest
As someone who only maxed Imbuing a couple of weeks ago, i would ask that you expand on that statement ...
As an imbuer, you know that both the 20 random resist bonus from except/armslore and the resist bonus from material do NOT count in imbuing weight except if you overimbue the same resistances. So basically you're looking for pieces to imbue where the distribution of the free points is the most unbalanced possible, like in theory having all random points in the same resist for free and imbue the other weak ones. While there is nothing you can do about the random 20 points except craft several pieces until you get what you want, the material bonus is not random, it is for example always 4/0/3/3/3 (total 13) for Valorite and 2/1/2/3/4 (total 12) for Barbed, so in fact unfortunately rather balanced. But for Dragon scale, the material bonus is always 10 in one resistance and -3 in another, for instance if you craft with Red Dragon scales you get +10 Fire -3 some other resistance, which means that your fire resist always start with 13 (3 from base, 10 from material) plus whatever you get from the draw out of the random 20 free points. So while the material bonus before imbuing is less than using other material (7 instead of 12 or 13) it is easily completely unbalanced meaning you can have one high resist for free and just imbue the other ones, effectively giving you one more property to imbue.
Example:
Dragon Scale Arms
Base 3/3/3/3/3
Red scales 0/10/0/0/-3
Random Bonus 3/5/7/2/3
Total 6/18/10/5/0
Now Imbue Physical, Poison and Energy to the max and you end up with
18/18/10/18/18
In this example 82 resistances with only 3 properties imbued, leaving 2 more properties to imbue.
And you can, in fact have pieces with the free resistance over 18 (the max imbuable)
While you can in theory achieve the same result with other material, the maths (that I will spare you) prove this to be extremely unlikely.
i made an all 70s suit out of barbed leather with just 1 imbued resist on 2 pieces and 2 on the other 3.. the only artifact i used was folded steel glasses.
it wasnt impossible but it takes a bit of planning..
also your 18/18/10/18/18 piece is junk in a suit like this..
there is more of a chance to deflect a "pike" ect using plate then there ever is using leather. also , why is plate not medable ? is it the weight bearing down on the body or the noise that prevents meditation from occuring ?
plate should give -10 to energy, -5 to cold and fire and +5 to poison and
+15 to physical damage.
leather should give +10 to cold, -3 to poison and -5 to fire , energy gets a +5 as leather is non-conductive.
plate should give -10 to energy, -5 to cold and fire and +5 to poison and
+15 to physical damage.
leather should give +10 to cold, -3 to poison and -5 to fire , energy gets a +5 as leather is non-conductive.
How is your stupid suit relevant in any way? I was answering on the specific use of Dragon Scale from a mathematical point of view and how it can be used to max cost/resists on a single piece of equipment.
Beside, many people are trying to do the exact opposite of what you did: use as many arties as possible and adjust the resists with a single imbued part (usually the arms since there are almost no arty sleeves), in that respect Dragon Scale if very efficient because of it's pre-imbuing unbalance.
I agree, something simple but would lure people to use it hehe.
Yeah there are exeptions, but mostly it's not complex enough.
What is everyone on ?
Did you know that OP means original post ?
This thread is NOT a good OP. It's not even literarly right, since this subject has been brought up like 10 times in the last 2 years ?
Good Idea Taka... something simple wouldn't hurt too much people hypersensitivity to CHANGE.
RIGHT ?
Actually, you could enhance the 'plain' dragon armor from the Virtuebane invasion with some of the scale (not with red thou). It made for some interesting testing..... I posted my thoughts in the crafters forum on this.
I would say that the person who does your imbuing doesn't really understand what he's talking about.
Look at the Resists/Imbuing weight ratio of Each Resist for each material(AKA, Whats the Total Resists I can have on a piece of armor and Only imbue 1 Resist to max).
(Assuming that the difference between the minimum on IRON plate, and the Max Imbued Resist on Iron plate is 15)
Valorite Beats Barbed when it comes to Imbuing Poison, Energy, and Fire as far as Sheer Total Resists are Concerned.
Verite Only Beats barbed when it comes to energy, and Ties it when it comes to cold.
Agapite is the same exact as horned, so no point in using agapite when you can use horned leather.
Factor in WEIGHT of most plate Armor.
Factor in Non Med (So, no mages, no human characters who take advantage of their 20 med)
There is definately a complexity issue at work, so that only serves to show that those people whom stand rectified in this meta-philosophical discussion that span over the last or so year...
*breathes deeply in*
Yea.
That basically the only purpose of this is to show that you aren't the real bad guys.
I mean duh.
Look its obviously been broken...
but the real reason behind all this breaking and tearing apart is that its a virtue game, not a money game... the principle of the whole game became hooked on money and it drove it since then.
If the profeteers do not make an offer to me within the next 77 hours, 7 seconds I will think of them pretty bad in my heart (like anyone cares hehe)
anyways...
what a spoiled child I am.
I had forced myself out of UO before this terrible harm happened, alas it was the power of she who brought me back from the abyss, she who rules you...
she is even more terrible than it...
you don't want to stand in its path...
but it could be fun to try ?
I guess some of you do have what it takes... if we don't unite as one voice we will never effect any change as a community. Stratics is all about this, I guess we will see what tools they make available.
Or if we will continue this conundrum ; that stop whining and move to the illegal, I repeat ILLEGAL ; emulators.
DO NOT THINK OF ME SO LIGHTLY MORTALS !
I see profeteers where I see children playing, careful human adult, there is a great risk for the youngest ones
*coughs and looks all dismantled*
Well yes I'm not really evil. Just needed to write my deep, deep problem with the fact plate isn't good in a medieval game as it feels to me like so many other things as a camouflaged sarcasm and professional deceit.
Why...
Because UO is a virtue game, not a money game.
why would I be having SO MUCH DAMN FUN !!!
HAH.
*breathes deeply in*
Yea.
That basically the only purpose of this is to show that you aren't the real bad guys.
I mean duh.
Look its obviously been broken...
but the real reason behind all this breaking and tearing apart is that its a virtue game, not a money game... the principle of the whole game became hooked on money and it drove it since then.
If the profeteers do not make an offer to me within the next 77 hours, 7 seconds I will think of them pretty bad in my heart (like anyone cares hehe)
anyways...
what a spoiled child I am.
I had forced myself out of UO before this terrible harm happened, alas it was the power of she who brought me back from the abyss, she who rules you...
she is even more terrible than it...
you don't want to stand in its path...
but it could be fun to try ?
I guess some of you do have what it takes... if we don't unite as one voice we will never effect any change as a community. Stratics is all about this, I guess we will see what tools they make available.
Or if we will continue this conundrum ; that stop whining and move to the illegal, I repeat ILLEGAL ; emulators.
DO NOT THINK OF ME SO LIGHTLY MORTALS !
I see profeteers where I see children playing, careful human adult, there is a great risk for the youngest ones
*coughs and looks all dismantled*
Well yes I'm not really evil. Just needed to write my deep, deep problem with the fact plate isn't good in a medieval game as it feels to me like so many other things as a camouflaged sarcasm and professional deceit.
Why...
Because UO is a virtue game, not a money game.
why would I be having SO MUCH DAMN FUN !!!
HAH.
'the base resist on plate are a lot lower than leather'
Base Leather Armor Resist:
2/4/3/3/3
Base Plate Armor Resist:
5/3/2/3/2
No one who actually knows what they are talking about can make a statement like that. As the numbers clearly show, that is is not the case. The totals are exactly the same in terms of total resist (which, imo plate should be higher, but that's another topic).
Leather Armor Max imbue resist:
17/19/18/18/18
Plate Armor Max imbue resist:
20/18/17/18/17
'some of the resist cant be imbued as high as leather either'
That part is true, but to be fair, it's 1 point in each resist where leather can be imbued higher. While plate has a +3 advantage in physical.
The main advantage that leather has over plate is that leather is medable. The weight/strength factor I don't really consider that much, because of imbuing, you don't have to run intel as high anymore because you can imbue mana increase/mana regen to the point where you don't need to run max intel anymore and put those points into strength.
The biggest factor is the fact that if you use meditation then you do have not much choice other than to use leather (or the samurai plate). Outside of that fact there are a few reasons to select plate. Granted, it is a huge consideration (meditation), but if you aren't running meditation, then plate armor is a very real consideration (and if you have the gold, you'd probably go with wood armor... again, another discussion).
Taking meditation out of the equation.
If you know you are going to imbue fire, then Valorite is a better choice than Barbed, especially when you consider the +50 durability (cutting down on the PoF cost).
To say that plate is worthless and that it doesn't have a place any more in UO is place is really clueless. Does it need something more? Yes, it does need something more. In my opinion, currently most templates use meditation. But there are templates that don't use meditation that metal is actually better for.
In an overall scheme of things, is leather better than metal? Yes, simply because of meditation. Outside of that, it gives you a lot of options.