I have been playing since the original release. I don't believe this game really needs a story line so much. But what I do think is there does need to be more involvement, something to draw people who are not into joining a big guild and doing player vs player combat or other certain things.
Most of the quests that have been made are actually very lame and near pointless, let alone the fact of how long they can take. I have given up pretty much on doing anything in the game as far as what they develop. I pretty much login, do a few spawns and pvp a lot.
What they need to do is stop making all this new stuff to attract new players and start focusing on the players they have. EA really seems after the money on this and only the money. Mainly because they make more off in store and account sales then they do off the monthly accounts as long as they sell them fast enough. So release another upgrade at $40 that is a complete waste and totally full of bugs. Then they go and release new graphics, targeting systems etc that really nobody has any care for. Sure it looks pretty, well I am a member of 6 large guilds throughout a few servers and I don't know a single person that is looking forward to the new graphics to come out, or the uses the poor excuse for a targeting system they released.
I would wish that something would change, but honestly EA had failed at every other mmo they have ever tried to put together and I believe the end of ultima online is also coming near. A sad day indeed as I did really love the game when I started, and I have always enjoyed the previous Origin Ultima series games.
Well I have a different point of view on UO. I started about 9 months after release, I understand the first 9 months were pretty bad. Yes there were quite a few bugs and the notoriety system put good-guy players at a disadvantage to reds. The reputation system was a great improvement. The time of its implementation to the intro of Trammel was the prime UO experience IMO. I really think the addition of trammel was not the backbreaker you feel it was. I always lived in Felucca, my girlfriend too who never pvps. We did just fine. Had the house looted a few times, no big deal, part of the game. Trammel was necessary, because not everyone wants to pvp. I think it worked well, if you wanted to pvp, you adventured in Felucca, if not trammel. I sort of agree. To the average non-PvP focussed player, Trammel was not the end of the UO. However it did mark a significant turning point in UO development philosophy. Even Raph Koster was against it, citing that the death penalties for murderers had already brought the rampant pk problem under control. Additionally it ruined the element of danger and unpredictability that made UO so unique. Even if you were not out to PvP you always had to be prepared. On Trammel you could be half asleep or watch your favorite TV while playing and not have to worry about surprises - Yawn...
What really broke the camels back was "Age of Shadows". There was the expansion that really deviated from Richard's Ultima. For the average player, I think you are correct this was the big hit to the game. A total deviation from the Ultima philosophy.
What they need to do is stop making all this new stuff to attract new players and start focusing on the players they have. EA really seems after the money on this and only the money. Mainly because they make more off in store and account sales then they do off the monthly accounts as long as they sell them fast enough. So release another upgrade at $40 that is a complete waste and totally full of bugs. Then they go and release new graphics, targeting systems etc that really nobody has any care for. Sure it looks pretty, well I am a member of 6 large guilds throughout a few servers and I don't know a single person that is looking forward to the new graphics to come out, or the uses the poor excuse for a targeting system they released.
I agree, I get turned off when a company makes it so obvious that they are only after the money. I have been away from the game for so long that I have lost track of how many expansions but the first few that I bothered to look over were so mundane and lacking any creativity that they were so obvious cash grabs. Blackthorne's Revenge was blatant recycling of Todd McFarlane's artwork under contract from the mothballed UO 2 project. Samurai Empire, well, is that the extent of the imagination of EA talent?
Well written OP. I agree 100% and hope that the current top dogs at Origin read this thread. Let them know how big of a cry there is for a UO2 and just lay UO to rest!
Yes I was a Pre-UOR player. In fact, I still have the original game copy with cloth map and pin somewhere around the house. What got me into UO was the fact that you could be ANYONE you wanted to be. They didn't give a toot about your name (unless it was racist/sexist etc) or if someone else had it already. There you can already see where modern games fail. True, they want their ingame messaging system, but honestly, big mmo gamers usually have their own chat room anyway.
UO:R - I wouldnt exactly call it the downfall of UO but it was the first nail in the coffin. Don't get me wrong, I was a trammel boy for a long time until I got bored of it. One day i was sitting at trammel bank, just reading what other people wrote for a good 3 hours. "im paying $10/month for this?" And so I started going to Fel a bit more, building my store there (everybody wants Death Inc. weapons :P) and just having a good time with my thief.
I pretty much quit when Age of Shadows came out. Don't get me wrong, I really liked some aspects of it all, like the ongoing quest (was it invasion of trinsic or something? yew? i cant even remember) but the updated graphics were so unecessary for the game. To this day I'd still rather play pre-UOR UO for $20 a month than WoW for free. Give me shitty graphics, connection dependant gameplay compared to dull and lifeless questing anyday of the week.
What made UO fun? Open ended-ness. You could go out with a 50 mage, a bag full of blade spirit scrolls and rake in money at ogre lords. Nothing was level dependent. You could bend the game rules to your advantage. In this game, skill was more important than items.
I've played many of player run shards, trying to rekindle my flame for UO, but it never really gets me going. It's never going to be the same as back in 98 or 99. I just hope that one day, EA will see where they went wrong and Open UO:Legacy, shards that follow the pre-UO:R ruleset. I'd pay $20 for that.
Sad to read this ... just started playing UO about 8 months ago and I enjoy the game ... Will EA revamp the problems or is this game run it's course for the most part??
Sad to read this ... just started playing UO about 8 months ago and I enjoy the game ... Will EA revamp the problems or is this game run it's course for the most part?? - FRAG
The crux of the situation is that EA, or the team overseeing UO, does not identify the types of issues identified in this thread as problems. So to answer your question, I seriously doubt it.
If you enjoy the game then, by all means, keep playing. I have to admit that, compared to more recent MMO's, there are still some highlights to UO. Unfortunately much like the pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies fans, old-school UO fans often just can't stomach the changes.
It's common for more recent players of UO to not realize how drastic a change the Renaissance expansion was. Even veterans of the game tend to forget. But, overall, UO: Renaissance was a much more drastic change to the fundamental Ultima Online game than the Age of Shadows expansion. The Age of Shadows expansion is only more easily recalled because it was much more recent.
While Age of Shadows introduced item-based gameplay, UO: Renaissance was a 180 degree shift in the entire concept. Renaissance split the world in two, doubled the land mass overnight and, most infamously, was the beginning of the end of the virtual world community design in favor of a protected solo-player oriented environment.
UO: Renaissance was the definative change to the game concept and resulted in the game losing both growth and appeal shortly thereafter. Ultima Online was at 185,000 accounts when Renaissance was released - six months after the release of Renaissance the game only grew by 15k more. It essentially converted UO from a community driven virtual world into a video game merely competing as an EQ clone with poorer graphics and poorer solo-player design.
The thing about this UO:X as i thought it was called [due to there alreadsy being like 2 billion offline versions before the online game] was that it was a complete turn around and a completely different game. I doubt they would of kept old fans on things like just the lore. The new game is a revamp, but still they keep it so it will run on a very low spec machine, and they kept all the old stuff that everyone persumably likes [well i do ^^]. Some games arent for everyone folks, I just think we should all get over it
I'll never get over the fact that one of the best MMOG designs ever was turned into just another mediocre MMOG design by the likes of Electronic Arts. And, I don't want to get over it.
I will always remeber it for what it is, one of the most ignorant changes in MMOG history.
It seems that most people forget one thing that made Ultima Online great. The endless possibilities. As long time role player I must say that no other game out there gives me as must satisfaction as a role player as Ultima Online; the amount of things you can do and interact with are astonishing. Role players have never gotten the attention they deserve in Ultima but we have always been there, perhaps not as obvious as one would like, but we have been there. And the role playing community on Europa is well developed and established, although as always in need of adjustments, and we love it! We love Ultima because it gives us a community to be in, friends to talk to, and people to interact with. Hell, they could introduce laser beams but the role playing community will most like stay the same.
I don't think Ultima sucks. I do agree that some things could be done differently and that the game perhaps have moved from being great to not so great, for NORMAL players. Role players still enjoy role playing and will most likely keep liking the game. I just wish people would try all the angles before throwing the box away. I think Ultima still is a great place to be if you are a hard core role player who wants seriousness and maturity.
Did you ever roleplay back in 98 or 99 before Trammel? That was when the UO audience was the most mature and was the height of roleplaying in Ultima Online. There were dozens of roleplaying guilds, player establishments, player towns, and player events on every shard and many of them such as taverns had regular hours of operation, every day.
Ultima Online is now a mere video game chatroom for kids, the disabled, and poor; an empty shell of it's former glory.
admitedly the roleplaying is not as big now on Europa as back in 98/99 but thats only cause numbers have been cut....the community still exists and its STILL good.....Im also on Europa :P
Yes, it is true that the numbers have reduced greatly. But like Mr. Carrot man says, the community still exists and there is still fun to have. Depending on what guild you chose obviously.
In my eyes there are only two hard core guilds out there at the moment.
If UO released a Classic server (pre-Renaissance), I'd re-sub in 2 minutes....2 minutes and not 2 seconds because I'd have to dig up my old account name which I am afraid is in a very dark place.
Tried some classic shards, but couldn't stand the neon dyes, poor staff, horrible connection, and lack of players.
Did you ever roleplay back in 98 or 99 before Trammel? That was when the UO audience was the most mature and was the height of roleplaying in Ultima Online. There were dozens of roleplaying guilds, player establishments, player towns, and player events on every shard and many of them such as taverns had regular hours of operation, every day. Ultima Online is now a mere video game chatroom for kids, the disabled, and poor; an empty shell of it's former glory.
Semp, you name me one game out in the industry that keeps it's strength after 8-10 years. No game will. Even the monster WoW won't keep it's glory all those years. Most games that people stick with seem to have their magic moments in the begining. It's not because of the rules, but mainly because it's a new experience for the people and no one forgets new experiences throughout their lives. Then they get upset when something is change just the slight. I'm sorry, but there is no way a game with ancient graphics, and is almost 10 years old going to hold the same amount or more in the player base, it's just unrealistic. In a matter of time, WoW will begin to lose it's player base, and I think Blizzard is aware of this too....which is why they are currently in development for another MMo.
It would have been really great if UO2 and UO:X would have been released. The ultima universe would still be very active and who knows what we would be playing right now. It's sad to think about, but what's in the past is already set. UO was a great thing for games, it was the first big MMo that started the fire that we know of today.
Sure, I miss the great days of t2a. I miss the dwelling community and the thieves and PKs. I will never have an experience like that, shiverying and shaking when I see a red name across my screen. But that also comes with the new experience, to capture that again something totally new and unlike anything else will have to be created. It will come around again someday.
/played-mmorpgs
Total time played:9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
I think it has a lot to do with all the garbage they kept adding into UO. A classic pre-Renaissance server would suit me just fine. I like to learn the rules of a game and once I know them, just play it for fun, indefinitely - not have to learn the rules all over again any time a new expansion comes out with the sole intent of selling boxes. An extreme example is chess, you don't need any updates to keep it interesting because it focuses on direct PvP, its almost never the same no matter how many times you play and it's different with every person you play with. I'll still be playing chess when I'm 80 and I would have liked that to have been UO also, but instead of focusing on maintaining the integrity of the game, they sold out for short-term profits. Probably because they assumed, just like you, that a game can never last. For the very same reasons they probably felt that upgrading the technology of the game was a waste of money also.
Yet, now look what they are trying to do. They have finally realized that MMOs can be long-term services. But the upgrades are coming too little and too late for UO and the UO world is already littered with ridiculous trinkets and garbage that ruin the game atmosphere. However, what is the worst part, is that the gameplay has been sold out too, in favor of "carebear" designs that have proven to do nothing but feed off the existing customer base. The game has not had any sustained growth for over seven years.
It's a cop-out to tell yourself that the game was only good because it may have been one of your first experiences, I have been playing games for 27 years, and the original Ultima Online was one of the best games I have ever played. It was one of the best games I have ever played because it focused on the players rather than content. The players were creating the world and competing within it.
For me, graphics mean very little, what is important is the integrity of the game environment, gameplay, and competition. The original UO had high levels of all three. But now, the assortment of ridiculous mounts, unbelievable neon garbage and item properties plastered all over everything destroy the integrity of the gaming environment. The gameplay is imbalanced and many classes have become pointless, it's mostly about collecting stuff. And last but not least, with two sets of rules for the same game, one of the most absurd game concepts ever - choose the rules you want to play by - the competition is literally GONE. Most everyone logically chose the easy set of rules.
The game is dead. The only chance for restoring any glory to Ultma Online gameplay is to create classic servers. All the current players are never going to want to give up all their trinkets and toys.
empiternal, I must suggest you try the role playing community. We don't allow magical gear so the pvp is none-item based. We don't allow odd hair-cuts with neon hair and blastering eye burning pink suits. We don't ride freaky mounts as we frown upon most mounts. The only mounts currently allowed in the Baronship for example is the horse, which may not even be used in pvp combat, to make things more equal and fun for everyone.
The old Ultima IS dead, yes. But not all run around yelling LOL while blasting some new expansion crap at each other, wearing a pitch black mohawk while riding a pink elephant. I suggest trying at least, and not be to quick to discard it. You can contact me for more information. 203-911-891
It's good to hear that at least a handful of players are able to ignore the disaster that EA has turned UO into and continue roleplaying regardless. It's commendable that you only use horses and stick with a theme inspite of the neon, ninjas, and nerds swarming around you.
I dabble in roleplay at times, and appreciate roleplay efforts, but I'm not much of a "roleplayer" myself. I prefer when the game enironment encourages players to assume certain roles, in character or not, over pure make-believe.
Perhaps if you compare the total number that has played UO over the year, you could say that the role players are a hand full. But I wouldn't if you consider the fact that there are a lot of role playing guilds out there, which has a lot more than 100 members each.
If you let me, I could show you what kind of atmosphere there is in the community on Europa.
As far as the Role playing community is going...do y'all have a website set up? Either for the community or for the guild? I'm looking to possibly attempt playing UO again. I hate to start over, but it could get me back into the game...I'm for it
the Community I roleplay in Europa is known as CoRE and i m pretty sure that is the one Del will be in too. we have forums and links to homepages/rules etc on alot of the guild forums. http://www.f4g.net The Drake and Dragon is like the big everyone in one place area. It might be worth checking out if your even remotely interested, it not only has stuff about what we do in game, but it also goes to show you what sort of community there still is in UO
As far as the Role playing community is going...do y'all have a website set up? Either for the community or for the guild? I'm looking to possibly attempt playing UO again. I hate to start over, but it could get me back into the game...I'm for it
No, I'm not in CoRE. I'm in one of the biggest role playing guilds on the shard. Baronship of Cove, (which can be found here cove.fantasyworld.nl/ )
The biggest are outside of CoRE, but we all follow the basic rules. (I'd check out BoC as we have the coolest web site and best RP on the shard !)
Comments
Most of the quests that have been made are actually very lame and near pointless, let alone the fact of how long they can take. I have given up pretty much on doing anything in the game as far as what they develop. I pretty much login, do a few spawns and pvp a lot.
What they need to do is stop making all this new stuff to attract new players and start focusing on the players they have. EA really seems after the money on this and only the money. Mainly because they make more off in store and account sales then they do off the monthly accounts as long as they sell them fast enough. So release another upgrade at $40 that is a complete waste and totally full of bugs. Then they go and release new graphics, targeting systems etc that really nobody has any care for. Sure it looks pretty, well I am a member of 6 large guilds throughout a few servers and I don't know a single person that is looking forward to the new graphics to come out, or the uses the poor excuse for a targeting system they released.
I would wish that something would change, but honestly EA had failed at every other mmo they have ever tried to put together and I believe the end of ultima online is also coming near. A sad day indeed as I did really love the game when I started, and I have always enjoyed the previous Origin Ultima series games.
Ok this is my take.
Yes I was a Pre-UOR player. In fact, I still have the original game copy with cloth map and pin somewhere around the house. What got me into UO was the fact that you could be ANYONE you wanted to be. They didn't give a toot about your name (unless it was racist/sexist etc) or if someone else had it already. There you can already see where modern games fail. True, they want their ingame messaging system, but honestly, big mmo gamers usually have their own chat room anyway.
UO:R - I wouldnt exactly call it the downfall of UO but it was the first nail in the coffin. Don't get me wrong, I was a trammel boy for a long time until I got bored of it. One day i was sitting at trammel bank, just reading what other people wrote for a good 3 hours. "im paying $10/month for this?" And so I started going to Fel a bit more, building my store there (everybody wants Death Inc. weapons :P) and just having a good time with my thief.
I pretty much quit when Age of Shadows came out. Don't get me wrong, I really liked some aspects of it all, like the ongoing quest (was it invasion of trinsic or something? yew? i cant even remember) but the updated graphics were so unecessary for the game. To this day I'd still rather play pre-UOR UO for $20 a month than WoW for free. Give me shitty graphics, connection dependant gameplay compared to dull and lifeless questing anyday of the week.
What made UO fun? Open ended-ness. You could go out with a 50 mage, a bag full of blade spirit scrolls and rake in money at ogre lords. Nothing was level dependent. You could bend the game rules to your advantage. In this game, skill was more important than items.
I've played many of player run shards, trying to rekindle my flame for UO, but it never really gets me going. It's never going to be the same as back in 98 or 99. I just hope that one day, EA will see where they went wrong and Open UO:Legacy, shards that follow the pre-UO:R ruleset. I'd pay $20 for that.
Sad to read this ... just started playing UO about 8 months ago and I enjoy the game ... Will EA revamp the problems or is this game run it's course for the most part??
- FRAG
If you enjoy the game then, by all means, keep playing. I have to admit that, compared to more recent MMO's, there are still some highlights to UO. Unfortunately much like the pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies fans, old-school UO fans often just can't stomach the changes.
It's common for more recent players of UO to not realize how drastic a change the Renaissance expansion was. Even veterans of the game tend to forget. But, overall, UO: Renaissance was a much more drastic change to the fundamental Ultima Online game than the Age of Shadows expansion. The Age of Shadows expansion is only more easily recalled because it was much more recent.
While Age of Shadows introduced item-based gameplay, UO: Renaissance was a 180 degree shift in the entire concept. Renaissance split the world in two, doubled the land mass overnight and, most infamously, was the beginning of the end of the virtual world community design in favor of a protected solo-player oriented environment.
UO: Renaissance was the definative change to the game concept and resulted in the game losing both growth and appeal shortly thereafter. Ultima Online was at 185,000 accounts when Renaissance was released - six months after the release of Renaissance the game only grew by 15k more. It essentially converted UO from a community driven virtual world into a video game merely competing as an EQ clone with poorer graphics and poorer solo-player design.
I'll never get over the fact that one of the best MMOG designs ever was turned into just another mediocre MMOG design by the likes of Electronic Arts. And, I don't want to get over it.
I will always remeber it for what it is, one of the most ignorant changes in MMOG history.
I don't think Ultima sucks. I do agree that some things could be done differently and that the game perhaps have moved from being great to not so great, for NORMAL players. Role players still enjoy role playing and will most likely keep liking the game. I just wish people would try all the angles before throwing the box away. I think Ultima still is a great place to be if you are a hard core role player who wants seriousness and maturity.
Did you ever roleplay back in 98 or 99 before Trammel? That was when the UO audience was the most mature and was the height of roleplaying in Ultima Online. There were dozens of roleplaying guilds, player establishments, player towns, and player events on every shard and many of them such as taverns had regular hours of operation, every day.
Ultima Online is now a mere video game chatroom for kids, the disabled, and poor; an empty shell of it's former glory.
In my eyes there are only two hard core guilds out there at the moment.
Tried some classic shards, but couldn't stand the neon dyes, poor staff, horrible connection, and lack of players.
It would have been really great if UO2 and UO:X would have been released. The ultima universe would still be very active and who knows what we would be playing right now. It's sad to think about, but what's in the past is already set. UO was a great thing for games, it was the first big MMo that started the fire that we know of today.
Sure, I miss the great days of t2a. I miss the dwelling community and the thieves and PKs. I will never have an experience like that, shiverying and shaking when I see a red name across my screen. But that also comes with the new experience, to capture that again something totally new and unlike anything else will have to be created. It will come around again someday.
Total time played: 9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds
Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
I think it has a lot to do with all the garbage they kept adding into UO. A classic pre-Renaissance server would suit me just fine. I like to learn the rules of a game and once I know them, just play it for fun, indefinitely - not have to learn the rules all over again any time a new expansion comes out with the sole intent of selling boxes. An extreme example is chess, you don't need any updates to keep it interesting because it focuses on direct PvP, its almost never the same no matter how many times you play and it's different with every person you play with. I'll still be playing chess when I'm 80 and I would have liked that to have been UO also, but instead of focusing on maintaining the integrity of the game, they sold out for short-term profits. Probably because they assumed, just like you, that a game can never last. For the very same reasons they probably felt that upgrading the technology of the game was a waste of money also.
Yet, now look what they are trying to do. They have finally realized that MMOs can be long-term services. But the upgrades are coming too little and too late for UO and the UO world is already littered with ridiculous trinkets and garbage that ruin the game atmosphere. However, what is the worst part, is that the gameplay has been sold out too, in favor of "carebear" designs that have proven to do nothing but feed off the existing customer base. The game has not had any sustained growth for over seven years.
It's a cop-out to tell yourself that the game was only good because it may have been one of your first experiences, I have been playing games for 27 years, and the original Ultima Online was one of the best games I have ever played. It was one of the best games I have ever played because it focused on the players rather than content. The players were creating the world and competing within it.
For me, graphics mean very little, what is important is the integrity of the game environment, gameplay, and competition. The original UO had high levels of all three. But now, the assortment of ridiculous mounts, unbelievable neon garbage and item properties plastered all over everything destroy the integrity of the gaming environment. The gameplay is imbalanced and many classes have become pointless, it's mostly about collecting stuff. And last but not least, with two sets of rules for the same game, one of the most absurd game concepts ever - choose the rules you want to play by - the competition is literally GONE. Most everyone logically chose the easy set of rules.
The game is dead. The only chance for restoring any glory to Ultma Online gameplay is to create classic servers. All the current players are never going to want to give up all their trinkets and toys.
The old Ultima IS dead, yes. But not all run around yelling LOL while blasting some new expansion crap at each other, wearing a pitch black mohawk while riding a pink elephant. I suggest trying at least, and not be to quick to discard it. You can contact me for more information. 203-911-891
It's good to hear that at least a handful of players are able to ignore the disaster that EA has turned UO into and continue roleplaying regardless. It's commendable that you only use horses and stick with a theme inspite of the neon, ninjas, and nerds swarming around you.
I dabble in roleplay at times, and appreciate roleplay efforts, but I'm not much of a "roleplayer" myself. I prefer when the game enironment encourages players to assume certain roles, in character or not, over pure make-believe.
If you let me, I could show you what kind of atmosphere there is in the community on Europa.
As far as the Role playing community is going...do y'all have a website set up? Either for the community or for the guild? I'm looking to possibly attempt playing UO again. I hate to start over, but it could get me back into the game...I'm for it
The biggest are outside of CoRE, but we all follow the basic rules. (I'd check out BoC as we have the coolest web site and best RP on the shard !)
I say CoRE tbh.....but we are all warred to each other ^^