Your Predictions for the 15th Anniversary.

[Woodsman]

So we are just over 4 months away from the 15th Anniversary.

Going by pub 72, 73, 74, 75, and 76, that means we will probably get two more publishes after pub 76, before the anniversary, assuming that pub 76, 77, or 78 don't get pushed back a few weeks. If any of those get pushed back by more than a few weeks, then we might only get pub 77 before the anniversary.

Jeff said they just started planning pub 77. There is also this big interview in PC Gamer with Jeff and Mesanna about UO, but that seems to have disappeared, unless it was in fact the June and not May issue of PC Gamer, because I went over the May issue with a fine-toothed comb and know it wasn't in there. If it's still happening, I hope it's good, because PC Gamer reaches more people than play UO, including a lot of ex-UO players. Good chance for EA to bring some people back in depending on what's said.

For the 15th Anniversary, I believe these have a high chance of happening:

1) High resolution terrain and housing graphics. Grimm said "soon", and Jeff said they had increased the funding, so I hope they can get it in.

2) One more dungeon revamp or perhaps some areas such as T2A or one of the islands.

3) Finished or nearly-finished virtue system. Jeff said they wanted this done before the end of the year.

4) Return to Britannia and Bring a Friend programs reinstated. Based on what Jeff said about RtB.

5) New website. Based on what Jeff said.

6) Something being done with factions that will make some people happy and some people angry

I think these are probable:

7) Huge town invasions that are going to be influenced by town loyalty in some way. We're getting this huge story, we've already had rioters, we have the Exodus machines.

These could realistically happen.

8) Some pre-built housing and shop layouts based on "classic" UO houses and shops that we see with the NPCs. Some may want new housing tile sets, but I've seen more than a few buildings in my travels that I would like to have available as a pre-built house. It would be a nice way to get in touch with UO's past. Okay, so the reality is that we'll probably get a new theme pack based on UO history.

9) An announcement that all of the work Grimm is doing - doing stuff in 3D, putting in a high resolution animation pipeline, is building towards something huge and it will get announced in PC Gamer.

10) An appearance by Lord British (I know, EA doesn't have the rights to use LB, but maybe they can bury their differences with RG).

So what's everybody's predictions for the 15th Anniversary?

All I ask is that you try to keep it within the realm of possibilities - keep in mind that the devs have at most two publishes over four months to get this in - that's a few months of planning and a few months of testing. That rules out a classic shard, ditching of one of the clients, and shard mergers (not to mention the devs have repeatedly shot down those ideas). If you want to discuss things that won't happen before or during the anniversary, then let's start another thread, maybe about the 20th anniversary.

 

[silent]

Lets see i'm going to guess a 15th anniversary gift bag in our backpack that will include a roman candle wand, a coin commemorating the 15th anniversary, a token to delete your character.

 

[Lord Frodo]

We are still able to log into UO.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

I should have gotten in here earlier, all the good ideas already got taken.
what happened to that singing ball mentioned in a past chiloc?

 

[Bob the Merchant]

We will finally see the addition of the rideable sea horse.

 

[Tina Small]

An updated version of the Heritage tokens.

 

[old gypsy]

Introduction of a Romany Gypsy wagon for fans of tiny homes? Yes, I know... but an old gypsy can always dream.

 

[NuSair]

Going to see the return of Lord British in some form.
Going to see the return of Mondain and Minax.
Going to see a no tolerance toward scripting.
Going to wake up now.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Going to wake up now.

LMAO

 

[Woodsman]

Lets see i'm going to guess a 15th anniversary gift bag in our backpack that will include a roman candle wand, a coin commemorating the 15th anniversary, a token to delete your character.

You just jinxed us

Introduction of a Romany Gypsy wagon for fans of tiny homes? Yes, I know... but an old gypsy can always dream.

That would rock. Obviously they could be influenced by the gypsies in UO, but I kind of like the Gypsy wagon in Ultima 9:

Ultima 9 Part #73 - Chapter 7, Part 11

 

[Gorbs]

There has to be at least one gift given in the 15th anniversary bag that can only be used when locked down in a house. My guess would be a never-empty night sight potion.

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

We will finally see the addition of the rideable sea horse.

Please no.

I'd prefer to see a Sea-Doo in UO before a rideable sea horse.

BTW, I'm just kidding about the Sea-Doo.

 

[G.v.P]

1) High resolution terrain and housing graphics. Grimm said "soon", and Jeff said they had increased the funding, so I hope they can get it in.

EC/SA client, right? Meh.

2) One more dungeon revamp or perhaps some areas such as T2A or one of the islands.

They're on pace for one revamp every two months. It's definitely likely they could fit in one more revamp. I'm kind of interested in an Ice Dungeon revamp, but not sure.

3) Finished or nearly-finished virtue system. Jeff said they wanted this done before the end of the year.

I've honestly, no pun intended, given up on the virtues, ever since they made it so you lose virtue for actively rezzing people and the lot. Just a waste of time if you play more than one shard.

5) New website. Based on what Jeff said.

I won't hold my breath.

6) Something being done with factions that will make some people happy and some people angry

The return of Order vs. Chaos! ;p

10) An appearance by Lord British (I know, EA doesn't have the rights to use LB, but maybe they can bury their differences with RG).

Only if he logs-in from outer space!

Lets see i'm going to guess a 15th anniversary gift bag in our backpack that will include a roman candle wand, a coin commemorating the 15th anniversary, a token to delete your character.

lol

Here's ten random ones I've wanted:
1) the magic hat veteran reward we were promised but then was scraped
2) tameable Silver Steeds
3) an option to share or split party loot, decided by party leader (so we don't have to leave party in order to split loot evenly)
4) a capture and destroy factions system to replace sigils and put focus on the actual bases rather than the faction towns (just have mounts and vendors be placeable at the actual faction bases), using shard of the dead, covetous 2 influences
5) fix the staff of pyros and vorpal blade to actually function as originally intended
6) an upgrade to the white wyrm, ice dungeon, and 100% success to animal lore a bonded pet you own, regardless of animal lore skill (would make training 29.1s more fun on non-tamers)
7) more habitual action, like static npcs mining near minoc, static npcs fishing near vesper--make UO feel alive
8) a redesign of jhelom pits to make an actual, usable fighting arena
9) more use of defensive and unique abilities like dark wisp shields, changeling AI...maybe shield immunity to a specific incoming damage type for a duration, or something like serado uses on a small scall
10) a "house" slot for an account-shared boat, one per an account that does not affect the housing system proper (decay sucks)

 

[hen]

Rideable paragon gorrillas with banana cannons strapped to their heads.

 

[Lady Storm]

Hmmm...
I know what I would like to see, but I wont hold my breath.
Here is my wish list:
The ability of at least another house placement per shard per account... Siege needs this badly and many shards wouldnt be so empty if those who moved were able to return to a home.
A way to make my WW so its as good as the GD
Take the ethy off the followers list.
Reduce the GD to 4 slots rather then 5 so I can ride the bloody ethy!
Up the number of gift choices given per year for the rewards list
:whip:
Now for what I think they WILL give:
A fireworks wand
Box or Ticket for a Box with a cake dated, a card, a trinket of some kind (flower, statue or vase) with a Dev name or players name on it.
Events that are totaly undoable for 90% of the players of UO giving few and hard to get gifts that make the rest of us drool or mad.

 

[lit2fly]

we can finally swim... and a new skill called diving, and a new land underwater, only reachable by grandmaster+ diver

 

[Uvtha]

Cake!

 

[Sevin0oo0]

For housing... more little gimmick items like scaffolding or unusual deco like seen elsewhere. Suspension bridge, instead of gozas. What would really be nice is the removal of 'supporting' floor element rule, such a pain doing a level and then see a large floor section go Red.

 

[virtualhabitat]

At least two or three different castle and keep floor plan options

A couple of moongates on the ocean for traveling to and from tram and fel while on your ship. Moongate escape combat rules would apply in fel, of course.

Treasure map drops on Pirate/merchant ships

Resources on pirate/merchant ships are not double in fel. They should be.

Removing artificial scarcity in the economy by scrapping the "commodity price" algorithm

 

[Tina Small]

A couple of my thoughts triggered by your post, Woodsman.

For the 15th Anniversary, I believe these have a high chance of happening:

1) High resolution terrain and housing graphics. Grimm said "soon", and Jeff said they had increased the funding, so I hope they can get it in.

2) One more dungeon revamp or perhaps some areas such as T2A or one of the islands.

3) Finished or nearly-finished virtue system. Jeff said they wanted this done before the end of the year.

4) Return to Britannia and Bring a Friend programs reinstated. Based on what Jeff said about RtB.

5) New website. Based on what Jeff said.

6) Something being done with factions that will make some people happy and some people angry

No guesses from me on #1 (graphics). If I could get the EC to run on my laptop, maybe I'd care more. As far as being concerned what newcomers and ex-players think of it, I don't know what to think anymore. Without a comprehensive, current, and bug-free "new/returning player" experience, I really don't see the point of spending much money on updating graphics and clients at this point. If EA has no plans to attempt to expand the player base by drawing back and making a serious attempt to retain ex-players or attract completely new ones, why waste a lot of money making things look prettier for vet players who are already hopelessly addicted to UO? I suspect the majority of them would rather see the money spent on providing great content equally accessible to all players.

Another anti-virtue dungeon revamp seems likely and I wonder if it will be Destard, just because of the comment Jeff made indicating we should keep an eye on the dragons. The unfinished virtues at this point are Humility and Spirituality. If the developers wanted to do a dungeon revamp that also adds content for an unfinished virtue, I suppose that would be one way to kill two birds with one stone. However, I will make no guesses about which anti-virtue dungeon would have to be tweaked or adjusted to perhaps add Humility-related content. To be able to add content to a dungeon with a connection to the Spirituality virtue, I think they'd have to do something in Hythloth, if I'm not misinterpreting stuff I'm reading about which dungeons oppose which virtues.

It would be nice if they opened up the RtB and Bring a Friend programs just to give ex-players and new players a chance to poke around a bit, but maybe they won't want to do it because of the uproar it would likely cause with regard to people placing houses that may not ever fall.

I feel fairly certain the official UO website will get some love. It would be nice to have the character, guild, and faction search capabilities reinstated, even without the ability to log in and look at your own character information in more detail.

And yes, I suspect something is coming that involves factions, but don't even want to take a guess at what it will be and how people will react to it.

I think these are probable:

7) Huge town invasions that are going to be influenced by town loyalty in some way. We're getting this huge story, we've already had rioters, we have the Exodus machines.

Yep, very likely. And if the invasions waves are controlled by the EMs and only happen when the EMs are around to trigger them and if there are monsters that drop desirable loot but they are unbalanced as far as which types of characters can effectively kill them, I expect any invasion scenario to be basically a bust. You'll see about as many people/the same people participating as you now see today working on town loyalty (i.e., very, very few) and the rest will grow even more perturbed about how the EM program is run. Another concern will be if there are additional events that give people access to items that can be used to grief other players, e.g., the crystals to summon harbingers and the nexus items that spawn exodus minions. However, if the invasions happen automatically and ALL types of fighting characters can effectively participate at ANY time of the day and there are no items handed out to enable griefing, then most people will probably be delighted to participate and morale and population will pick up.

These could realistically happen.

8) Some pre-built housing and shop layouts based on "classic" UO houses and shops that we see with the NPCs. Some may want new housing tile sets, but I've seen more than a few buildings in my travels that I would like to have available as a pre-built house. It would be a nice way to get in touch with UO's past. Okay, so the reality is that we'll probably get a new theme pack based on UO history.

9) An announcement that all of the work Grimm is doing - doing stuff in 3D, putting in a high resolution animation pipeline, is building towards something huge and it will get announced in PC Gamer.

10) An appearance by Lord British (I know, EA doesn't have the rights to use LB, but maybe they can bury their differences with RG).

I dread the thought of having to decide whether or not to purchase any kind of an expansion, booster, or theme pack. I loved the Stygian Abyss expansion and have not regretted paying for it for multiple accounts. I've slowly been adding High Seas to a few more accounts for the storage increase only. Still don't own any of the new boats and have probably placed one of the older boats a handful of times since it came out and only to get to some place I didn't have a rune for. Haven't gone fishing even once since it came out because I just don't see the point. I have a couple of nice fishing trophies at one of my houses on Siege, but they're there primarily because of the person who caught the fish and not so much because of how they look.

I won't touch #9. Your guess is probably better and more informed than mine. And who knows on #10. It's hard for me to whip up any enthusiasm for stuff like that because (1) it will probably happen at a time that's impossible for me to accommodate and (2) the event will be overrun by griefers.

 

[T-Hunt]

Panda as a class.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

A 30 day server shutdown notice?

I prophesize unfulfilled expectations, unrealized potential, pixelcrack rewards/gifts (two months late, as usual), and several more arc-related grinds devoid of "fun."


Honestly, I'd really love to be proven wrong.

 

[Emil Ispep]

Storm suggested the multiple houses per account. I wouldnt mind this, but maybe some restrictions... such as if you already own a castle, you can only get a 5x5 as your second house... maybe some type of formula to establish this. Or perhaps a 15 year veteran reward for this?

I would like to get a sandstone foundation (unless this is already possible? I dont see one on my menu...)

Instead of the seahorses, how about magic sandals of Jesus? (let you walk on water)

I like GvP's idea of static NPCs. Would add more depth to the sandbox... NPC thiefs stealing random items from you, say in Bucs Den. Or maybe NPCs fighting golems all day in Luna/Jhelom.

Finally, a <expletive> box in the store at Gamestop, or Best Buy. Hell even Target or the Wal-Mart.

 

[MalagAste]

A 30 day server shutdown notice?

I prophesize unfulfilled expectations, unrealized potential, pixelcrack rewards/gifts (two months late, as usual), and several more arc-related grinds devoid of "fun."


Honestly, I'd really loveto be proven wrong.

Sadly this is likely the truth.... I too hope to be proven wrong but the given track record will likely continue.

As for what you are saying Emil Ispep I too would like to see sandstone foundations as well as a few others.... like white marble.

And the more than one house per account thing... I still like the suggestion that each account be given the ability to have up to 40x40 tiles worth... so if you own a castle you could have a castle and an 8x8. This way you could have 2 18x18's... etc... And it wouldn't be terrible. And perhaps that's an "add-on" that they could sell at the UO Store... "House plot expander"... additional housing per account up to 40x40. Though I never EVER want to see a return to having to refresh housing.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Please no.

I'd prefer to see a Sea-Doo in UO before a rideable sea horse.

BTW, I'm just kidding about the Sea-Doo.

a rideable seahorse u could only use on water wouldnt be bad could go along with the mermaid expansion

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

- The current ARC now at Part IV is the Begin of the End of UO
- We will see Exodus come back - Resurrecting BT who brings on Lady Minax with him
- LBR will make a comeback - taking Dawn with him
- Junoar will step up and say: NOOOOO DEEEEWWDSSS not WITHOUT me!
- *enter more old stories and EM played Chars here*

After all of this is done, the 15th anniversary will be held on all shards - Richard Garriot HIMSELFE will apear, kill them ALL - takes the Mic and:

"Dear fellow citicen of my sick brain imagination - this is the last day UO Servers are up - ANARCHY! - EVERYONE has ONE Life - if you DIE, your char just gets deleted - if you out of chars your account gets deleted - THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!"

Thats what we get!

 

[Woodsman]

Somebody told me the Kingdom Reborn client was introduced through the in-game storyline. Not sure if that's true, but would be interesting.

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Somebody told me the Kingdom Reborn client was introduced through the in-game storyline. Not sure if that's true, but would be interesting.

100% true. imo it was one of the most followed storylines in a long time. Inu the Crone ran us all over the place

 

[Woodsman]

As far as being concerned what newcomers and ex-players think of it, I don't know what to think anymore. Without a comprehensive, current, and bug-free "new/returning player" experience, I really don't see the point of spending much money on updating graphics and clients at this point. If EA has no plans to attempt to expand the player base by drawing back and making a serious attempt to retain ex-players or attract completely new ones, why waste a lot of money making things look prettier for vet players who are already hopelessly addicted to UO? I suspect the majority of them would rather see the money spent on providing great content equally accessible to all players.

I hope that the graphics upgrade is good. If they have truly given up on bringing in new players...that's such a bad sign for UO's future, but a graphics upgrade would at least get some more new and vet players taking a look.

Another anti-virtue dungeon revamp seems likely and I wonder if it will be Destard, just because of the comment Jeff made indicating we should keep an eye on the dragons. The unfinished virtues at this point are Humility and Spirituality. If the developers wanted to do a dungeon revamp that also adds content for an unfinished virtue, I suppose that would be one way to kill two birds with one stone. However, I will make no guesses about which anti-virtue dungeon would have to be tweaked or adjusted to perhaps add Humility-related content. To be able to add content to a dungeon with a connection to the Spirituality virtue, I think they'd have to do something in Hythloth, if I'm not misinterpreting stuff I'm reading about which dungeons oppose which virtues.

Although I have my doubts about if they can do it in back-to-back publishes, Destard and Hythloth would allow them to knock out the virtue system. Then again, at this point they might have nailed the dungeon revamping down and could do them pretty quick.

It would be nice if they opened up the RtB and Bring a Friend programs just to give ex-players and new players a chance to poke around a bit, but maybe they won't want to do it because of the uproar it would likely cause with regard to people placing houses that may not ever fall.

Jeff said the RtB would happen. They better not allow houses though because of what you pointed out.

I feel fairly certain the official UO website will get some love. It would be nice to have the character, guild, and faction search capabilities reinstated, even without the ability to log in and look at your own character information in more detail.

It maybe getting some love right now - it's been down a few days.

I dread the thought of having to decide whether or not to purchase any kind of an expansion, booster, or theme pack. I loved the Stygian Abyss expansion and have not regretted paying for it for multiple accounts.

I know he he said that they wouldn't be doing more, and I think that's true, especially if they've given up on new players. Expansions help sell the game to new and returning players since it draws attention to the game and can be used in advertising, and it helps pay for new content by getting existing players to pay.

While I wasn't playing when Stygian Abyss came out, I was very much aware of it, since it was being talked about and referenced on a lot of gaming sites.

Somebody said the dungeon revamps could have been included in theme or booster packs, but that's not the case, unless they were willing to block those dungeons to people who did not purchase the packs. That would piss off players if they could one day access a dungeon and the next couldn't unless they bought a theme pack. You can't take existing areas and block them off and make them part of a theme or booster pack.

The only new thing they are capable of doing and selling at this point would be the high resolution graphics upgrade, and selling it is not an option if they want a lot of people trying it out. They don't need to be adding new lands, since it would just be scattering an already-thinned out population even more.

I won't touch #9. Your guess is probably better and more informed than mine.

Just going off of what Grimm has said, they are doing things in 3D before rendering them down to a crappier resolution/look for the CC and EC, so I can dream that they won't let that 3D work go to waste

And who knows on #10. It's hard for me to whip up any enthusiasm for stuff like that because (1) it will probably happen at a time that's impossible for me to accommodate and (2) the event will be overrun by griefers.

It could happen, but I doubt it. Garriott is promoting his own RPG now and I doubt EA wants to give him publicity. But it could happen.

 

[NBG]

Dragon Saddle!!!! to ride Dragons!!!

 

[old gypsy]

That would rock. Obviously they could be influenced by the gypsies in UO, but I kind of like the Gypsy wagon in Ultima 9:

Ultima 9 Part #73 - Chapter 7, Part 11

That's not bad looking. I like that one, too.

 

[Sargon]

10) An appearance by Lord British (I know, EA doesn't have the rights to use LB, but maybe they can bury their differences with RG).

If UO makes it to 20 years, I would love to see a triumphant return by Lord British at that time. 15 years is a long time and great accomplishment, but it just doesn't have the same "huge milestone" feel to it as 20 years would.

 

[Redxpanda]

Tokens that include all the things we have been dreaming of like:

FARMS!!!!!

 

[SlobberKnocker]

hmm.

ridable elephant

non faction war horse

bank box for your house

the ability to un alter

the option to turn shroud of condemened or conjurors garb into a jin boori

a covered wagon that can be used to store more items so u can effectively play another shard (read seige)
without placing a house there

colored underwear

player housing in the city of britain

faction revamp

anything with fire animation

 

[Mirt]

Player Housing in Brit where there is blank housing would be awsome. I actually think they should do that for all the towns. Leaving one blank slate house for the EMs.

 

[Woodsman]

Player Housing in Brit where there is blank housing would be awsome. I actually think they should do that for all the towns. Leaving one blank slate house for the EMs.

That is one way to revive the towns. It would be very cool.

 

[MalagAste]

I don't want all towns looking like the trailer-park that magincia turned out to be. Though if people did what was intended then it would be nice but no no one does at least not on GL. It's a trailer-park.. hideous.

Rideable elephants... cool..... I always thought we should have a pack camel... it should come with two packs... and be able to carry 2x what a regular pack horse/llama carries. 3200 stones. Take two slots though... and be rideable.... Camels would be cool.

 

[Old Man of UO]

I predict that the Enhanced Client will come out of beta into full HD graphics release, with Pinco's UI bundled as the default UI.