The two biggest reasons for the shitty state of UO free shards

Hey there. So I've said this before, but I want to say it again.
Here are the two reasons why I, as a die-hard UO fan, haven't played for over 6 years:

1. Too many servers.
As a result, the small UO community is spread thinly across all the servers, which results in small server populations. And server population is important if you want to have a living world.

2. Lack of new content
By "new content" I mean the following:
GMs do not create interesting and elaborate events and quests.
Any GM event I've seen so far has been along the lines of "hey it's halloween so we've dyed some monsters pink and given them increased stats, go kill them and earn some neon-colored robes".

None of the shards I've been to have a real story going on  - with quests, struggle, conquests, interesting storylines, etc. It's extremely sad.

Let's face it - default UO without a storyline is quite a boring experience. Combat is basic and PvE is not exciting. While the expansions added new scenery and new stuff to do the biggest issue was that they trammelized ALL servers. They didn't make separate PvP servers without Tram and PvE servers with Tram. They just trammelized everything - a prety horrible and incompetent decision by all standards.
(And yes, I know about Siege Perilous).

Shit, at this point it's more interesting to play WoW on some free vanilla server even with it's total lack of reasons to pvp no looting and virtually no way to lose your items (which makes for a stale economy once enough ppl hit max lvl).

So yeah.
It saddens me that I feel I really don't want to go back to UO. There's nothing there for me. I'm having way more fun in vanilla WoW even tho it drives me crazy that I can't loot fallen enemies (and that nobody can loot me) or steal from them as a rogue.

I feel like an incel who can't get laid no matter what. It's maddening. I can't get my proper MMORPG fix no matter what.

EvE is a somewhat nice alternative but I dislike the fact that it's mainly fleet-pvp oriented (it's not really possible to go out there by yourself and wreck. Well, you could, but it would take you some time to find someone willing to fight you, since in this game people can escape the location even before you emerge out of warp, lol. And it doesn't help that some can just call their buddies from across the system - they arrive in the matter of seconds and you get 1v10'd). Otherwise EvE is a pretty good game for people who are looking for a virtual world they can live in, but overall not really my cup of tea.

Why WoW never had a full-loot server?

I've always found it wierd that WoW never had a server with full loot enabled.
With its large audience I am sure this server would be full of players.
World of Warcraft has almost everything a MMO needs - excellent setting, epic design, great music. There's even some immersion there if you can find it. I have nothing but great memories of WoW.

So why did not they create a full loot server? At least one? Sure they could do it.

I guess it's just that big companies do not really care about minorities. Hardcore PvP players are a minority. Why even acknowledge their existence, if there's a ton of softcore players out there that are waiting to be spoonfed another shitty expansion?

Duh.

The Fall and Fall of Ultima Online

Greetings. It is me, Templar, delivering my latest insights in barely readable English.
Twenty minutes ago, as I was taking a shower, I got the idea for my latest article. Here is the idea: the second fall of Ultima Online.

SotA continues to crap itself... just as I've foreseen

Just read the OP post. And the thread. That's what happens when incompetent people try to make a game. People who have no idea whatsoever what the heck they are doing.

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/in-regards-to-the-distracting-nature-of-the-deck-system.25960/

> Or, what if the game is smart enough to know what type of opponent you are fighting and allow multiple options with a skill?  

Thanks, no. This I can do myself. Don't need robots to make decisions instead of me, this aint the 24th century still.

The only good use I see for a deck-based system is if we have two types of spells. The first kind is your ordinary spells that you can cast at any time. The second is special spells, that need preparation before being used.

I ask you once again. What's wrong with having people who would mock you and your mother after they defeat you?It doesn't even break IMMURSHUN, it's a totally normal part of this world. Those guys don't break your RP.

Something that could make PvP viable (for PvE crowd) and add meaning for the PvP crowd is to make full loot on cosmetic items only (with a twist on loot mechanic).

..and the rest of the OP.
No.
There are no ways to make PvP "viable" to someone who is afraid of losing virtual (and nonexistant in the real word) items without gimping it and taking away basic features that make PvP interesting.

There's no bargain here really, no middle ground.
We, the PvPers, are the minority. You wanna take away the sole reason that could make us play sota? What do you give in return? The possibility to loot your tricorne hat and your trousers? No.
Keep your trousers. I want your head.

On the Power of Death

Trough all these years I've learned a few things. The Ultimate RPG aint about killing dragons. Aint about the story, or the quests, or the 55 kinds of shirts a man with a sewing kit can make.
It aint about good, evil, magic, knights or exploring.

 Limiting trade is not a viable solution. It breaks immersion.
Making farming IMPOSSIBLE tho is a good solution.
No powerfarming. No solofarming mihty dragons.
You either go solofarm small drakes for a bunch of leather, scales, teeth and a tiny amount of gold or you gather a huge party and go kill the strong monsters.

So. No cookie-cutter builds for PvE.
No powerfarming. Big monsters with big loots should only be handled by a group of players.

From UO to today's MMO's, gear has become more and more the goal in character development.
Some gear would require raiding weekly, killing bosses with full groups and just being dependent on RNG for the correct drops.
It could take weeks to months to get top end gear. Hours and hours of game time.
In UO, the gear was simple (Pre AOS)

On the Armageddon spell from UO

Possibly written by Aheufislhadjk (or whatever his name is)

For further clarification on the Armageddon Spell as it first re~appeared in Ultima Online;

The spell was only a roomer or myth that it could still be possible within UO to cast  
Back in the early computing days, "Back Doors" and hidden things within programs that could be accessed were all the rage in both fiction book as well as in movies and tech talk. During this time in UO a group of game hackers calling themselves "The Knights of Access" appeared and hack attacked any UO player that they felt like doing so to and there were a few other groups of the same styled hacker groups. So the stage was set for such a roomer to spread and be believed by many.
Thus this roomer spread quickly through the shards and gained a following on both sides, those who wished to find everything to be able to cast it, as well as those who wished to stop those that wished to cast it.

[quote="rune_74, post: 170212, member: 13549"]This is one of the reasons discussions on here go no where.[/quote]

Discussions on here go nowhere because there is no need for a discussion.

There are some people with the right idea of how online roleplaying should be handled in a mass multiplayer game.

And others who only care about being safe and happy in their online grinding casual little game.

It's like in real life. Some people like to travel, to discover, to risk. Others don't appreciate this way of life and prefer to stay home no matter what.

Okay. Maybe its time to comment on this post. If theres anything to comment on.

Silent Strider said: ↑

What I learned out of roleplaying for a couple decades, mainly through pen and paper RPGs, is quite a bit different.



While the technical part should be a requirement, it should only include what makes sense for the story that is being told. It's why most RPG books I've read in the past include something to the effect that all rules are optional, and it's the role of the game master to break, bend, or rewrite them as needed to move the story along and keep everyone having fun.



In a sense it's similar to how books, and other kinds of entertainment, deal with the details. When well done, they present and reinforce the details that will strengthen the story, create a better experience, while glossing over anything that doesn't really make a difference.

when I hear RG's plans I don't worry about the quality of this game. My question is will other devs/backers try to keep him from designing the game he wants to design. When you hear what is laid out in the forums and the "promises" set in stone it (No "Don't Lawyer me, Bro"?) sounds like a different game then what he describes in interviews. RG isn't a Game Maker he is a World Creator, let him make his world cause his legacy is on the line (and the only reason this game stands a chance at success).

I was thinking of something way more sophisticated... why are we so lazy ?

I mean I like you guys ideas... but all your ideas seem to miss the simple fact that the game is big enough to have game masters...

you guys forget about DnD ? how creative a gamemaster should get when faced with behavior problems that do not lead to good roleplay ?

More carebear stuff

Thanks for the clarifications Strider I'm glad you think we might have a similar nerdy past, I'm sorry that I dislike your hidden elitism, I know its not misplaced or ill intentioned but it really goes against a vision we have.

I won't attempt a IRL alegory since we all know it would have varying degrees of implications because IRL has less "tangible" rules than we are expecting out of a well made open PvP system. (we do expect alot of semi-magic rules and hard consequences, not a free-for-all like UO) We know full well that the half programmed UO is all you experienced of it, but the one that exists in our minds still exists even if you deny it.

Playing on a Minecraft server with PvP and griefing allowed gives me almost the same feeling as I UO did. Recently I went to a non-griefing server of Minecraft because my favourite server is undergoing maintenance. It was so boring. People were just building stuff for no reason. There was no reason to play because there was nothing to lose.

More on Immersion

Ristra said: ↑

Also, as a follow up to immersion. How immersion breaking is it when someone logs in to enjoy some event. Say a guild wedding. Very well planned and set up. Only there are tons of people there with no care about immersion, they only want to stab people at a wedding.

Break someone's event just to get your game play while destroying someone else's game play.

If the world itself creates immersion by forcing certain rules (open pvp, full loot, interactive environment, customization of houses and equipment, ability to write and copy books, etc) everything turns into immersion. Sudenly we swim in a sea of immersion, and even the l337_dud3s who like to stab people become roleplayers in our eyes.

That was the magic of Ultima Online. It's only sad you never got it.

This post pretty much sums up what's going on over at SotA forums.

Also, I would like to add something.

That thread shows very well the opinion of the general audience about SotA.

While this forum consists mainly of devoted fanboys and backers, the true crowd, the huge crowd is out there, on forums like that one. So if you want to hear different opinions and see what the people out there think about sota, you guys better visit forums like that one. 

Zealous fanboyism ain't ever a good thing. If the dev team is to know our opinions, it should hear ALL kinds of opinions. And here on these forums mostly they can hear stuff like " Оооh its so great keep going YAAAY DEV TEAM HOOORAY I donated 500 bucks so I gotta make myself believe I like everything the dev team does!".

Owain said: ↑

What's Yin without Yang?

Presumably a pool of blinding light and goodness sealed in an infinite loop of love, hugs, and PvE until the end of time.
Sounds horrible, btw.