Your two cents: Ultima Online Stygian Abyss

[Prince Caspian]

Fill out this quick survey and you get a free coupon for a Double Infernal Latte at the Hythloth Starbucks (offer void where obtainable):

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?

2. What is your least favorite aspect?

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

 

[The Fallout]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? I love the new dungeons and skills, I also like the tiered quests

2. What is your least favorite aspect? I honestly can't think of anything. I am sure I will eventually but I'm liking it all so far.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character? They need a little buff or at least better high end armor. Other then that I love flying lol

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? I think somewhere in between. It adds a lot and it will keep me interested for a decent amount of time. I love the imbuing/mysticism skills, throwing could use some tweaking... but to be honest I haven't been this into UO for years.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas? I like them, I think it is a pretty cool idea.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest? A lot of them do, I think the Stygian Dragon and Slasher of Veils look awesome.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? Those snake ambushers lol Also the rats with insanely high HP.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Damage and HCI to Throwing, not too sure about that, but that is what it seems to need. Some gargoyle armor artifacts to match some of the human/elf ones.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Solo and I am still doing it solo, though with people would be nice.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK) I give it an "A"

 

[Mapper]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? Its hard to tell, I love Crafting but I really like the new dungeons

2. What is your least favorite aspect? The quests are fun, but rewards rather poor

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character? I really like the flying ability but its nothing TOO special

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? I think SA will keep people busy for months and months, I returned to UO from a semi-break to play it and Ive never been so busy

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas? Havent tried them but its nice they gave Pvpers something

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest? I havent seen all the bosses yet but I like the vollems and the Slasher of Veils

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? Acid slugs!!

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Better quest rewards, One quest I did gave me 15 loyalty points...

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Both

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK) Huge +

 

[Uvtha]

1) I really am enjoying the new mini spawns. Dunno why. Teird quest systems is nice.

2) Overland. It needs more decoration, and there are areas like the two smaller city areas that are crying out for a reason to be there, but its just for looks.

3) Not very good. Will not convert to one.

4) I think it will to a degree, but everything gets stale eventually.

5) Well since all pvp in SA is optional not mandatory, I couldn't comment. But its all fel rules on siege anyway.

6) Boura. I think they look smashing.

7) Navery. Fun to kill, looks cool.

8) More quests in the overworld (especially outside of the cities) and in the abyss. More deco.

9) Solo

10) 9. Best expansion in ages.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? Love the limited housing spots. Because I got one. But like the depth of resources, imbuing, how old items are used to create new items. Dungeons are well designed. I could go on.

2. What is your least favorite aspect? Don't really have one. It would have been nice to have random encounters pop up. A push I have been suggesting for a long time. I've been able to make rune books. I'd like to have chance encounters.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
I don't have one as a character. A little cartoonish. T

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? Definately new life.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas? Very cool. When I get a PvPer, Ill go. Till then I have to upgrade my theif account and will wander around.6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? Clockwork scorpians. Most scary.... the burning gargoyle and the way it moves.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Toss it a few random encounters.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Alone but meet people while in there. Its a lonely place to die.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK) This is an A+ or a grandslam or they put the biscuit in the net with 1 sec left of game 7.

 

[guum]

I'll bite...


1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? Probably plant stains. Pretty and relatively easily obtainable. I also really like the puzzle board & rewards.

2. What is your least favorite aspect? A toss up between the suckfest that is gargoyles currently and the fairly mediocre quest rewards. There's something else I didn't particularly like but it's escaping my mind at present.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character? Aesthetically, I really like them. As they are, racial- and gear-wise, I see them as an almost completely unplayable race. My imbuer is currently human and honestly, I am dreading having to turn him into a gargoyle for that extra 2% -- it feels more like extortion than a perk.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? I'm sure people will get sick of it soon enough, but I'm enjoying it so far.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas? Shrug. I avoid them.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest? I kinda like the bouras.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? I hear trapdoor spiders are a pain, but I haven't run into any of them yet. My vote goes for the Slasher of Veils, who is very inconveniently placed smack dab in the middle of the only transit path between eastern & western abyss.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Make gargoyles able to fly for real in trammel rule sets. Dragons, daemons, and "wild" gargoyles can do it, so the code must already be there. Even if their racial abilities weren't improved, I'm sure I'd play at least one gargoyle simply for the cool factor of that.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Solo so far.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK). I give it a B. There are a lot of nice little touches with it, and it's clear that the devs are giving it the old college try, so I'd like to give it an A, but there are enough niggling little things (and a few big ones) so that I can't quite do that yet.

 

[Black Sun]

Fill out this quick survey and you get a free coupon for a Double Infernal Latte at the Hythloth Starbucks (offer void where obtainable):

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?

The new craftables and imbuing.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?

The lack of wandering healers

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?

I enjoy my gargoyle, although I find it hard to dress them up. Mine's been wearing the same robe since day one because I just don't care for the look of their clothing and armor.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?

It gives some new life, just how much exactly remains to be seen. I'm sure it will have some lasting effect on how we play UO.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?

I don't know how mandatory they are. I haven't been forced to go into them yet.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

Of the ones I've seen, the raptors, but I haven't ventured out too far into the new lands, nor have I visited the dungeon parts yet.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?

Damn trapdoor spiders! I hate those things. They've killed me twice before I realized what was going on.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

Add some healers to the wilds.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?

Opening night a guildmate and I made a quick run around the new lands together. We didn't even scratch the surface of all the new area though.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

At this point in time, I'd give it an A-. Pretty good, but there's room for a little improvement.

 

[EnigmaMaitreya]

To put in my 2cp's, but it wont be your survey.

I was psyched to do the SA upgrades on my 2 accounts.

Then a reality of the Tokens to Gargoyles kind of mitigated an important issue, i.e. the existing itemization.

That put me at a state of probably will do it.

Then came the Interview with the Care Bear remark and the Wild West thing and Draconi spending a day assuring everyone that .....

This kind of pushed things closer being back on the fence.

Then came the removal of the Pet Dyes, that in my opinion was unwarranted, that the Majority of players (I obviously can not say the overwhelming majority because EA/Mythics statistics are not published and they have a hidden source of data) wanted.

This certainly put me on the fence, rock solid.

Then came the Nerf to Greater Dragons, that in my opinion, for PvM was unwarranted and regardless is pointless as even under the absolute best scenario it just makes people spend more time doing the inevitable.

This brought to light, if nothing more, the capricious, whimsical changes to UO that can invalidate a play style. When the play style takes 2 hours to set up then one may not have much vested in the play style. But when one has 18 months+ invested in establishing a play style, regardless of some people opinions on that play styles value, to have it needlessly and pointlessly changed or invalidated may bring one to consider what is the point of making an investment to do new things, to just have the rug pulled out from under you. In the Bad Old UO things changed ... well always changed, BUT ones ability to adapt was measured in days if not hours. When change is measured in months if not years, then ... well no it is not the same.

This pushed me off the fence to a posture of why should I, what does it really bring me that I do not already have and hopefully is of no interest to those that seek to nerf others.

The issue with the PvP areas NOT informing people, as EA/Mythic said they would, is just a further anchor on the above posture. I respect Regina's(sp) claim that it would be rectified. I really do, but when it is all just words on a screen, the reality of UO.SA as of now, is that the Claim of the Old UO Wild West, anything goes, is far more reflective of reality than any claims to the contrary.

That is the end of my 2cp's

 

[Rocklin]

I want to thank the OP. I am not playing at the moment, but posts like this make it helpful to determine if I should return. Thank you.

 

[Warsong of LS]

1. new craftables and skills
2. lack of a printable map of the abyss and other areas
3. still debating this, i like them so far
4. some new life, but with zero marketing again, how many new/returning players are we going to draw?
5. good that they are adding things for all playstyles
6. all new monsters are pretty cool
7. ketpche ambushers
8. no really ideas yet, still absorbing the new expansion
9. solo
10. good solid B, was kind off put off that 2 days in there were already houses in ter mur and people had gm+ mystics and imburers. Thought it should take longer.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Note that this refers to content only, client issues will not be covered.

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?

The sheer volume of smaller systems, quests, and just plain things to find and/or do. Also the Ultima feel is back thanks to the new areas being directly from the game and the easter egg style rewards you find within them.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?

That there is still some final tweaking and rebalancing that didn't really come to light during beta. Not that I blame the testers, I'm talking mroe about situations that do not naturally arise UNTIL the content hits the shards (the third key, possibly Farmer Nash).

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?

They were the right choice for a player character in an Ultima game.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?

I think it will go MUCH further for longer than ML or SA did. Tokuno is pretty well forgotten unless ToT are active and we ALL know the boondoggle Heartwood quests are. It shows that the devs have learned from those how to put out a better questing system.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?

I have no problems with them... probably won't go there, but as long as they give something to the PvP players, I'm fine with that.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

Too early for me to say really. Everyone is going to say the Dragon though, and I can;t really argue.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?

Don't really have one that strikes me as annoying. I have noticed a lot of cool AI upgrades though. Really depends on your definition of "annoying". I guess if I HAD to answer the question, it would be the annoyance of spending about 7 or 8 minutes killing a Renowned Ratman for normal ratman loot, normal leather, and an imbuing ingredient. Reward /= the Effort put in, thus annoying.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

Renowned loot tables.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?

Solo, but have chatted with a few friends inside

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

A- (or 9/10 via another thread). Tweak a couple of quests and a few loot tables, and let us know that there is room for futher content expansion within the world and it's an A+

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?

I like many aspects of it. If I had to pick a favorite it'd probably be the way the new content is designed to incorporate many play styles.

There's crafting type things; there are monsters clearly designed for solo players to be able to make livings off of; there's monsters designed for small groups; there's monsters designed for big groups.

The expansion was clearly well-conceived. Now, granted, I may disagree with some of what was done, but I overall can definitely respect and appreciate the thought that went into it, and I like a lot more than I dislike.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?

I have experienced few bugs, but others seem to be experiencing game-stopping bugs of one kind or another. That's a damn shame. Also that initial quest to get into the Abyss from the Britannian side should have been done much better, and seems to be such a simple fix to boot. And, finally, the entrances to the Felucca rules champs need that warning up ASAP.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?

I have no intent to ever play a gargoyle character. I do, however, respect the restrained way that they implemented the new feature. It's better to have a new race that's under-powered than one that's over-powered, and I'm not convinced that some of the complaints about it being under-powered aren't really just complaints that it isn't over-powered.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?

In between. I was having fun as it was. New stuff is always nice, and is the lifeblood of MMOs. No game can survive very long by sitting on the same content.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?

I disagree with their inclusion, but I understand why it was done. There have been no new Felucca rules maps since the Fel/Tram split, save for the Dungeon Khaldun. There has been no new major Felucca content since Publish 16.

Think about that....That is 44 publishes ago. Quite remarkable.

Further, new Felucca content since then has been comparatively minor, consisting of Faction Artifacts, double fame/double resources, and EM Event items from the furst run of EM events. Comparatively minor.

I am, however, coming to feel that the rewards offered for the new Felucca rules spawns are too substantial. So far the new non-Replica artifacts seem to simply dwarf anything offered in Trammel, which is where the bulk of the player base is. I also fear that the reason for the inclusion of the new Felucca-rules content aren't the good, understandable reasons I have outlined, but rather has more to do with the UO Producer's pompous attitude towards Trammel and its player base....Most of his customers!

Finally, they need to put that warning in. Not every Trammel player is OK with the thought of random run-ins with PKs.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

I have not seen them all.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?

I have not-yet engaged them all.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

The inclusion of a warning to enter the Felucca areas, and beefing up that "shadow" critter that drops the Abyss key, and the artifact robe thingie.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?

So far mostly solo, but not exclusively solo.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

I shift between B+ and A-.

Either way, it is a "good grade" by anyone's definition.

-Galen's player

 

[Capt.E]

I give it an A+. There was obviously a great deal of thought put forth to make the entire game different. It has breathed new life into my crafter in every skill by making new loot and even old useless loot and items valuable. I haven't looked forward to playing this much since I started playing so long ago. It has been a long time coming and as far as I am concerned well worth the wait. Great job ea mythic!

 

[HippieMagic]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? I think Imbuing is a nice add. It allows some of our "useless" weapons to have the one mod that it is lacking to create a better weapon overall. It is annoying to work though and I really wish the crafting menu for it in 2d followed the same style as the others.

2. What is your least favorite aspect? Gargoyles being unable to use human weapons... Is there any reason a normal weapon won't fit in my hand? Seriously now... Who made the tiles for houses? The walls should make a square... I don't care what the intentions are they should REALLY form a square. The arches in some of the tiles are totally useless. Another thing... Where are the Mysticism spells?

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character? Very poor... They can't use archery, can't use human weapons, can't use most artifacts, can't ride mounts, can't wear normal armor... There really isn't much point in them that I have discovered. They seem to look decent but overall be the worst race in the game. Sure they can fly... the mount issue isn't a big deal but with all the other "nerfs" there really isn't a reason to be a gargoyle.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? It is a good try. I think it can be improved upon to fix some of the stupid little things. It will wear thin soon though. Once we get all the artifacts and kill Medusa and the Stygian Dragon an few times everyone will go back to their usual lives. I am glad they added a lot to crafting and all. I would like to see them continue to add things as little patches or whatever to keep it fresh.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?PvP areas? Fine... I think making the artifacts there appear better than the trammel ones is a poor choice though. They should be different but on par.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest? The Stygian Dragon looks cool.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? Any renowned is annoying... They have too many HP and not enough reward. I fail to see the point in killing them.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Make Gargoyles worth using... Fix the tiles to where every wall can make a square.... Make mysticism spells more easily availible... allow puzzles to have a very minor chance of dropping a 120 powerscroll. One chance per 24 hours is nowhere near as good as the fel champ spawns so it wouldn't cause a balance issue. 3.0 SoTs is good so why not a 120?

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Solo... everyone I know was imbuing or trying to get chicken eggs.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK) B it is a good try but needs a little work to iron out the little annoyances.

 

[guum]

bump for my curiosity.

 

[MariamATL]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
I love the new puzzles as well as the Cave of the Discarded. The decorative items are great as well!

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
Gathering junk armor to make magical residue in order to imbue.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
I have a gargoyle and right now he can't get anywhere because he was a mage. I have no LCR gargoyle armor for him which limits him greatly. Maybe I should have collected first and changed races later but I do still like the race.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
Yes I do think SA breathes life into the game but I also think that expansions should come out closer together than they have in the past. This is great *for now*. In a year or two this will be old hat and we will want something new.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
I am a Trammie by heart and rarely go to champ spawns or to Fel to pvp so these new areas are off limits to me. I just wished there was a warning that popped up on our screen or something.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
I love the looks of Ballems and raptors. Fire ants are cool too but I love the fur from bourahs so it's really hard to choose. And if you asked me this question after my chicken lizard bonds and I get eggs for battle chickens, I may change my mind.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
Hmmm....annoying......none really.....maybe the hordes of wolves and ratmen that attack me as I scavenge for junk in the cave of the discarded. Yesterday I found two dusty pillows there!!! While nothing for a fighter, it was a rare find for a house decorator like myself!

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
Make Tybald's Shadow have more hitpoint so more people can get to abyss. Wait! What am I asking for?? Leave it as is...it's pretty quiet down there now... =P

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
Both, I go through it solo mostly but do also go through it with friends.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
I would say a B+ because overall it's a great expansion! I would have hoped for a little more in the way of maps even if they are vague. I think the puzzle ideas were great. Imbuing could have used some work since magical residue is SO hard to come by.

Overall, I love SA and hope that we don't have to wait this long for another great expansion.

 

[Farsight]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
I like that there's something for nearly everyone. My swords character shines in the mini-spawn areas, my archer is great for the new "peerless", my tamer has new toys, my friend's crafters have imbuing, and there are enough puzzles to entertain us all for a few days at least.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
Client bugs. Especially the one where particle effects make playing impossible on my computer (especially the AI champ and SoV)

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
I may or may not experiment with them in the future.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
I love having the new areas to explore, but at the core, UO is still the same UO that AoS created. Unless they start on the next expansion now, things will wear thin after a while.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
There are no mandatory PvP areas. Running is always an option, and nobody HAS to go there. I've had some fun fights and some not-so-fun fights in the new champ spawns. Personally, I'd have liked to have seen more Fel-rules area in this expansion.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
The three new peerless are all great.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
Fire demons and fire ants. A lot of work for not much reward.
The legacy (should I say "classic" now?) client art for the void creatures is horrid.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
See Hawkeye Pike's bug list in the SA client forum. Also reference many many threads about SA client memory issues.

My personal non-critical issue is finding a use/balance for the skree.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
Yes.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
I give it an 8/10 for the Underworld/Abyss and a 4/10 for the client (it would be 7 if it didn't have issues with particle effects which made it unplayable in certain areas and if I could play it outside of full screen mode. And yes, I'll repeat this again and again until it changes or I give up and remain in the classic client forever)
The apparent weakness of throwing and the lack of mysticism spells prevent the game from reaching a '9'. Any one of a hundred issues prevents it from getting to '10'

 

[StifledArgument]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? There are so many, I am not sure, but to see Gardening get a renewed life makes me very happy.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
This isn't Stygian Abyss content related, but the Enhanced Client lag.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
They are ok, but I think the penalty for not having serious stamina regeneration is a bit high.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
I don't think they will wear thin, because there is something for everyone. I have seen a lot of returning people, let's just hope they realize how much it has to offer and stay,

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
I don't PvP (not because I don't want to, but because I think I would suck at it), I think it is an interesting turn of events, and I am glad the PvPers got something.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
Vollems, and Stygian Dragon.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
Kepetch and their festering wounds, and trapdoor spiders should not be as fast or hit as hard as they do.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
I would like the encounters with some of these monsters streamlined.
-The Acid Slug/Slime area with it's instant spawn, and HEAVY damage to armor/weapons is ridiculous.
-I understand making things faster is great and all for a challenge, but if you are on foot, you are screwed. This expansion makes me wonder if tamers were considered that would have GD's.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
-Solo. I play during the day, I have hubby aggro at night and I don't get to play on the weekends.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
-I would give it a B+ . I am having a terrible time with lag spikes when my machine can run any other game like a champ. The toughness of some things that shouldn't be so hard is making my butt twitch.

I think there is a ton of content, and that the devs did a very good job. I would give them an A, but there are a ton of things that were mentioned in beta to be fixed that once again weren't at launch. I know they have limited resources, but some of the really bad things should have been top priority.

 

[Zym Dragon]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
I have been spending a majority of my time working on creating stains and exploring the Abyss.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
Having to decide what to do on a given night.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
So far, so good with what little I have seen so far. I have been playing other aspects of the expansion however and I have not devoted much time to develop my gargoyle.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
I can't speak for others, but it breathed new life into the game for me. It will take me a long time to do everything I want to do.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
I have not been forced into one. They don't seem very mandatory to me.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
Boreas.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
None some to mind yet.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

• Finish the Enhanced Client (couldn't resist )
• Don't allow people to pull weeds for the Farmer Nash quest while hidden.
• Allow is to create a smaller Soul Forge (yes, I know they can be chopped).
• If possible, have seeds stack as they are taken off the plants (a "remove all" button for resources and seeds would be nice too.)

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
Mostly solo.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
I give this expansion an A. It's the best expansion UO has ever had.

 

[Wolfways]

My wife and i came back to UO recently and there have been lots of changes since we last quit (when 3D was scrapped) so we decided to rework our characters. So, because of that we have half-trained characters with really crappy gear and haven't even tried looking in the SA dungeon yet.
But taking that into consideration here are my thoughts...

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
Would have been champ spawns, but i don't pvp so that's out for me. Maybe just that gargoyles look good?...

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
Champ spawns being pvp areas.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
Don't seem any different from the other races really. The flying is nice i guess.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
KR might have given UO new life, but SA is just more areas to see and creatures to kill. Interesting but nothing really new.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
Stupid idea. Of course i expected to be punished again for my playstyle ...EAMythic seem to think that punishing pveers is fun or something...
Other games companies have figured out that you shouldn't mix the pvp and pve. why can't they?
Make pvp areas for pvp! Not pve!
If i hadn't already been screwed over because i prefer pve (in UO anyway) then this might have made me quit.
I will probably never get to see those champ spawns.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
I haven't seen many (on the forums) but the stygian dragon looks great.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
Only seen what was around Ter Mur with a new character. Those trapdoor spiders and the other things that pop out of the ground were really annoying.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
Uum...fix the bugs? Other than that no "minor" tweaks, just huge changes.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
Haven't yet but will with my wife...and maybe some old guild friends.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
Hmm, maybe a D. If Fel and Tram had their own versions of the abyss then it would have been A+ (ignoring the bugs of course).

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?

I like the quests and craftables - except for the soulforge, damn that thing is huge.
2. What is your least favorite aspect?

The fact that this expansion is so obviously unfinished at launch that it is embarassing. I can buy that 'things will be revealed later' to an extent, but the beta testers know things weren't quite in the shippable state yet.

I don't like the fact that the Tyball is so annoyingly weak, and that a quest mob that you HAVE to kill also drops that stupid (and hideously ugly) robe that everyone seems so intent on farming. Whoever thought that was a good idea dropped the ball.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?

Slightly underpowered. Gargoyles need strongback... they are HUGE and muscular, far much more than humans. Give them a perk for that. Flying is fun. I still think they should change the polymorph spell so the caster gets the flying perks...

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?

In a limited sense yes, it is the EMs that are breathing new life into UO. Static content is secondary. Ter Mur will be mapped and marked as soon as the remaining areas are opened...The mystery will be gone. The EMs bring us dynamic content tailored to our shards - THEY are UO's future.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?

Calvin crowner is so woefully out of touch with the playerbase that it is shocking. His foot-in-mouth interview style must send Mythic's marketing people into fits. Calling the 99.9% of UO's playerbase "carebears" and implying they will just have to 'deal' with a playstyle thats been shunned since the Fel/Tram split is asinine. Calvin, like EA, obviously doesn't understand what makes UO work, and he sure as hell doesn't understand Ultima. Please keep him 100 yards away from the Dev Team at all times.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

Slasher, Stygian Dragon, Navrey

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?

Slasher (the silly stun effect after seeing him for the 50 billionth time) The renowned - their loot SUCKS!

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

Tyball, loot, removing the freeze when you walk up to the Hall of Death in the Underworld, MORE QUESTS!

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?

Mainly solo. The Abyss is about as dangerous as walking in a field of wildflowers - i.e. NOT DANGEROUS AT ALL.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

C- Sorry Dev Team. SA is okay, but not worth $30 yet. It needed another month or two before it was ready for release. Too much is unfinished, there is no content outside the two gargoyle cities, and your communication skills since release have sucked. (Draconi said we would get the event that connected the moongate in Ter Mur to Britannia 'by the end of the week' after launch...still waiting.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Mainly solo. The Abyss is about as dangerous as walking in a field of wildflowers - i.e. NOT DANGEROUS AT ALL.

Oh my.....you're a lot better than I am!



-Galen's Player

 

[Godiva_DF]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
Training Imbuing, so complex and demanding. All the dungeons

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
heavy devaluation AGAIN of perfectly innocent serverbirth rares

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
They fit in well as crafters so far, lets see what they can do if the got armor.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
It has done a lot for the community already, lots of returning players. I hope the content is keeping them. There is no game that has only a fragment of the UO content.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
Great

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
boura - design award

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
trapdoor spider or fire ant, can't decide

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
stop the devaluation of my babys, the serverbirths

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
First solo, then I did guided tours

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
Not sure on the american system, here in Germany it would be a 1-

 

[Manticore]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? Size and openess of the abyss dungeon.

2. What is your least favorite aspect? Artifacts. Developers don't you understand by now that when you run around Doom and Mines and Fan Dancer Dojo that NO ONE bothers to steal artifacts levels 1-5. Why? That is because they are EVERYWHERE!!!!. You should have and still can fix this by changing the artifact levels of SA to start at least from level 6 and go upwards to level 15 or something. If level 12 ruined painting is 3 months the level 13 would be 6 months and 12 months for level 14 that would make this market so so much more appealing. In addition, if you are able to randomize the spawn locations that would even rock more. Day before yesterday there were 5-8 thiefs hidden by the level 8 2nd respawns in SA because they were so predictable.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character? Don't care, the constant flying is annoying.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? Overall yes, there are many different things to do. The random environmental sapwns in the fel champ area makes me want to spend all my time spawning.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas? Love the idea.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest? Staygean Dragon

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? Them tiny spiders that gang bangs you

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Change the way new stealable artifacts are spawning, make the levels higher and randomize locations.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Solo

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

 

[RaDian FlGith]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
My favorite aspect... hard to say... I'd have to say a cross between the puzzles and the new monster AI that I've seen. It really feels like some of the monsters really do have AI.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
Bone magi deaths. I mean, seriously, they're bone magi. No, actually, it's the amount of Gargoyle Only stuff dropping. While I get that the gargoyles are the new race, there ARE humans and elves still playing, and with all the gargoyle only stuff, there's little reason for humans and elves to venture in looking for gear for themselves.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
Haven't made one yet, but I think they're an awesome addition to the game.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
It breathes some new life into the game... but like any expansion, that life will be only temporary. However, if the DevTeam keeps this kind of innovation and momentum moving forward, it could breath a lot of new life into the game.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
They're just like the other Fel Champ Spawns... I don't think they'll encourage anyone who isn't interested in PvP to do so. Like the old Fel champ spawns, they just don't do anything but centralize the potential PvP areas, which is, ultimately, bad for PvP in nature. PvP needs better reasons to become involved in PvP, something that would encourage a newbie to do so... and the scrolls and stuff that drop are not really going to be that reason.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
I'm torn between the raptor and the Slasher of veils.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
Fire ants.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
I'd modify the hall of death so that you cannot inadvertently kill someone else... kill yourself all day long, but enough of killing other people.
Also, it's not necessarily an immediate tweak, but I do hope that the rewards from the puzzle boxes get cycled out over the course of time... add new stuff, remove old stuff. Obviously staples like the 30 of this item should remain, but the "rare" stuff should cycle out... maybe they can cycle it back in down the line, but keep the boxes fresh every couple of months.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
Both.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
I give it a solid B+. It's a little less than what I'd expect from a full-grade expansion, but it is the best UO expansion we've seen in years.

 

[Zooithion]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?
Exploring everything new

2. What is your least favorite aspect?
Trying to get used to the enhanced client. Can't seem to make it feel as easy to use as 2d. I should spend more time in it but I get frustrated.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
Too soon to tell. Seems like embuing is being used well but other skills are flaky or underpowered

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?
So far, yes. Too soon to tell if it will keep me going and going .......

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?
Don't think I like it

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?
Can't say, haven't see/fought many of them yet

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?
n/a

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?
enhanced client not fully baked yet

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?
So far, part of it solo... soon with friends

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)
B+ I think the dev are doing great in getting the old feel of real (pre uo) Ultima. They have seemed to somewhat seen the light in the past year and I salute them.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Oh my.....you're a lot better than I am!



-Galen's Player

She does it stealthed. While the Abyss isn't exactly danger at every corner, it also is not devoid of difficulty.

 

[Kiminality]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?Fresh content that caters to more than the endgame, and more than just PvE.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?Execution. It was a bit like "Oh look, there's a volcano, have fun!".

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?"Special".

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?Too early to tell. I think it'll wear thin for those at the "endgame", if you already have everything, once you've got the new everything you're back where you started.
For those that aren't at that stage yet, there's a lot of content that makes the progression more encouraging, and benefits it.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?They don't bother me any more than Fel does.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?I'm going to go with the Slasher of Veils.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?Skree.
Whenever I talk about it, I always mispronounce it "Squee".

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?Pub 60.1 works pretty well for me.

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?Solo.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)9/10
It feels right.
I love SE, but I have to ask myself "Really?" when I run around it
I don't like ML, it feels a little slapdash.
LBR... Uuuuuurgh...
SA actually feels like it fits, and more importantly, it feels like there's been some real effort put in.
Even with al its problems, it feels

 

[Deb]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss? Hmmm...so far all of it.

2. What is your least favorite aspect?Maybe the Color puzzle quest

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?
No opinion

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon? Definitely new life

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas? They are needed.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest? Raptors so far

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying? Raptors lolol but in
a good way.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first? Stacking to be fixed

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends? Both

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)A+++++++

 

[Sneaky Que]

1. What is your favorite aspect of Stygian Abyss?

The design of the new areas and having new places to go and things to do. A+++++ for the way the SA looks (in both clients).

2. What is your least favorite aspect?

Not enough PvP content.

3. What are your overall feelings of the gargoyle race as a player character?

Good, glad we have more options now. I am yet to play a Gargoyle yet however so I can't really pass judgment.

4. Do you think SA breathes new life into the game, or its just simply a new set of innovations that will wear thin soon?

New life for sure. There is enough content in SA to keep us going for awhile and forcing Gargoyles to use their own items etc sort of forces players to start again when making one. SA is much bigger (and better) than ML and look how long it kept us going.

5. What are your thoughts about the mandatory PvP areas?

There should be more of them that are truly mandatory. Love them.

6. Which of the newest monsters looks the coolest?

Hmmm. Have not seen them all. The Stygian Dragon is kinda cool.

7. Which of the newest monsters is the most annoying?

I dont know.

8. What are some fast changes (ie no overhauls) and tweaks you'd like to see first?

Fixing of the new spawn areas as detailed in my post here - http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=157409

9. Did you explore the Abyss solo or with friends?

Solo first. The rest of my guild was trying to do the key quest to get in, I 'cheated' and used the Abyssal spawn entrance in Hythloth to gain entry and had a run round the entire place first.

10. Overall, give Ultima Online Stygian Abyss a grade (+/-'s OK)

It is the 2nd best expansion there has ever been for UO. The 1st is of course the original expansion (t2a) which will never be surpassed in my book. Considering how awesome UO was during The Second Age (the best it has ever, or will ever be unless some massive changes are undone) that is a massive rap on SA.

So I give it a grade of 7/8. 8 being t2a - the best, and 1 being Ren - the worst.