Ryandor.com

Here's a general question to everyone:
How long (if at all) did you play on OSI shards? And if you still play will you quit soon because of the month cost increase?

-Ryandor

I played for almost four years, I quit about a year after trammel came out.

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The fastest way to a woman's heart is through her ribcage.

For one thing, it?s EA. I?ll defend OSI because OSI was a good company, but it hasn?t been a company for many years. It?s disgusting that people should associate such trashy work as that done by EA with the otherwise untarnished name ?OSI?. It?s not even a division at EA anymore. Hasn?t been for quite a while.

So blame EA for the stupidity of UO currently ? it was a great game until they saw how much money it could make, and changed it from a ?great game? to a ?cash cow?.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

Yeah I have to agree with Sydius on this one.
I was there for 4 years.
I was even a Senior Training Counselor on the Atlantic shard for 18 months.
But everyday I heard how bad OSI was treating their players. After a while it got to me. All the counselors even got together and made a list of all the bugs/exploits and customer problems and worked out how to fix them. OSI didn?t care and blew us off. When we heard of all the money being diverted to The Sims online and that all staff except for GM?s would be fired, I left.
Walked away from a multi million dollar business, tower full of rares, 6 boats, 3 of each of the tame big 3 animals and over 1 mil in gold.

I?ll never go back..

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Dragonfire
http://www.tragena.net
New screen shots added!

As many know, I use OSI as the catchall. The original map is based on OSI's Ultima, and will always be "OSI" to be. Calling it "EA" gives credit where credit is NOT due. You'll not here me say "EA" very often.

Symantics aside, I actually played regularily for about 6 months, then wastes $10 a month for a long time until I finally got around to canceling my account.

-Ryandor

EA! EA! EA!!!! NOT OSI!!!! OSI GOOD, EA BAD! *gets out his caddle-prod*

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

I played off and on, though once trammel came out I thought what was the point. I was already sick of a lot of changes they made, and finally had enough. And that's when I went on my search to find a way to play without paying
Though I have to admit... I've thought of going back. But then I think of paying each and every month just to play a game that I can play without paying. So I guess you could say I'm just to cheap to go back.

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People ask me why I do this. Why I write such gross stuff. I tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.
~Stephen King

I played until I ran out of money (was in high school), just over 2 years. I only played extensively for the first half year though.

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...but if we don't taste like chicken, then why did I put this guy in the frying pan?

What loaded answers to choose from, none of the above.

I've never played because i'm too cheap. Smart has nothing to do with it.

Originally I played player run shards so I could get a better idea of how UO worked and be prepared when i tried osi. But I found so many good player run shards that divided my time that I never even as of yet tried it on a trial bases. I really want to get around to seeing what its like sometime though.

It?s like being a small town boy who goes to a big city for the first time. ? Well, San Francisco? everybody has neon hair now days.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

O- oogly
S- sucky
I- icky

E- EEEK
A- AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Hope this clears things up for the rest of you, since UO IMO has been and always will be an insult to the original Ultima games so long as it is in the hands of those wishing to charge me to play (not that a lot of free servers I know are much better, but at least I can speak nicely about a few player run shards (and before you reply Syd, yes I go 0wnz0rz b1c+hez but only on shards that encourage that kind of behavior).

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Xelah
--Admin of some nameless shard that is still in developement

I have to agree too...OSI does not = EA......

I first started playing in December of '98....UO was sooooooo cool before EA bought it......LOL, I remember when I just started playing and the first time I saw a black dye tub......I was going around asking everyone--How do I make a black dye tub?--finally, someone told me that I have to drain a great heart of its blood and get it into an empty tub.....he gave me an empty tub and for about a month I was going around trying to figure out how to get the great heart blood into the tub.......LOL!

Anyways, I quit UO exactly a year ago.......EA screwed the game up so bad......it seemed to me they were more interested in making a buck than maintaining the happiness of the consumer.....they failed to realize that if they wanted to keep UO sucessfull, they HAD to keep the customers happy......man......they ruined a good game.....

Man, I had sooooooo much stuff!......I had 7 accounts at the time I quit.....a house or 2 on just about every shard.....a spellbook with 115 spells on Napa.....tons of tubs and other collectables and holliday gifts and such.....I just got to the point that I could see that either I could spend my monthly fee on a game that was no longer fun.......or.....I could give all my stuff away and make some UO addict happy and start my own UO shard.......LOL

This is why I love the UO emus......you can take it back to the time UO actually was fun...

I began paying for UO just before the they began adding shards in Asia and t2A came out. (so about 4 years ago). Things were interesting, new stuff to see and do. But then rules changed - it felt like God said "gravity no longer pulls you to the floor but to the wall instead" and God did it every week. murder counts, housing, screwing with skill gain, Tram and Fel on and on. I couldn't take the constant changing.

Not to mention that it was everyone for themselves (mostly those who played 30+ hours a week). Since I'm not the competing kind, I left.

In fact I haven't played in 3 years now. But other family members play, and we start to mess with RunUO. Now I spend my spare moments searching the forums for the "how" it all works. trying out the graphic editors/patchers and really having a blast.

My playtime (important for all adults) is so much more rewarding.

I have played since the second week of release. My accounts have gone almost none stop, small lapse while beta testing other online games like EQ or AC.
The $13 bucks a month is nothing and I don?t mind paying it because I do get my months worth. Online games are nothing more than an advanced chat room with bobbles to play with. Lets face it, $13 bucks a month is the smallest long-distance phone call you will make considering you talk 3+ hours a day 7 days a week for going on 7 years now.
I was a Counselor (Dagnir) for a while and I agree with everyone else that they have done a lot to destroy the overall framework of the game but the basics still remain the same. Log-in, kill something, set in front of the bank the rest of the week bragging about it or getting laughed at because you got ganged...
Everyone says that EA ruined the game and that?s why they left but I doubt that?s really it. I would dare to say that you all left because...your friends left the change were just a catalyst.
All games no matter which ones and I have played a lot of them are all the same. If you quit UO because they tried to change something or grow then you will never be happy with "any" game because they all do the same thing. While I might not like "some" of the changes that have happened over the years there are "some" I do like, like the new crafting systems or the new house system.
If I want to PVP there is the same old world of Fel, yeah you can't steal everything they have but was that ever really the point? (Besides chopping them up and making them cry?)
If you left UO because you didn?t like all the changes then why do 40,000 people (according to their numbers, 1800 by mine) play RUNUO servers which are almost identical to the online game?

Signed,
That shit head party pooper!
Dev Viperrious

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"So...if crazy people don't know their crazy...does that mean your only sane if your know your crazy?"

I couldnt agree more there.. it makes no sence, a lot of the people that claim they hate osi and all the changes, are often the ones advertising a 'Clone' OSI shard, rofl.

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Forget what you know, know what you forget.

eh i liked osi until ea got ahold of it and made it worse, it was never great but atleast it was reasonable enough to deal with ea is so very good a screwing up games..

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http://ax-n.net Admin X's News and Resources

My train of thought on the subject has changed somewhat since the last time I posted in this thread (been a while). I?m not really sure how to sum up how I think at the present, but I?ll give it a go just for the sake of putting my 2 cents in (again)?

No two human beings think the same or like the same things. That part is obvious. What I don?t think is obvious is why so many people feel hurt and cheated by EA?s changes to an online game. That?s a much more complex social issue.

I equate UO to a new continent being discovered ? in a somewhat literal sense. When it was released, there was so much to do and see, but not only that; there was also an entirely new society that was suddenly and instantly created. With the complete ignorance of game mechanics and the simple desire to explore this new society ? there was a new atmosphere that was extremely tempting and inviting. It allowed you to interact with other people like never before, without the shackles of real-world laws and expectations or even consequences. That?s a good feeling for both honest and evil players.

I attended a tea part yesterday (yes, laugh all you want ? I was forced into going by my girlfriend?s father, who is English), and there was a speaker who spoke of the history of tea parties and what they stood for, and how they are diminishing today. He pointed out how they were a place to interact and be social, not a place to simply drink tea. He also pointed out that, once it became a standard tradition, the social aspect was lost, and it did become all about the tea. UO is very similar in this respect ? it began as a social event and now it?s all about the game.

With no ignorance of game mechanics left to fight, and a far less warm and inviting social structure, UO simply isn?t what it was, and no game ever will be again. Now people know what to expect, and plan and prepare to be the best at it. Now all games are about the game ? and little more.

You could argue that role-playing shards or societies don?t fall into that little generalization, but I would have to point out the unquestionable difference between 300,000 and 300 social people. Besides, often they try too hard and seem so much like a renaissance fair of nerds that it just seems pathetic in the end. Even with all that aside, the exploration and joy of discovery of new mechanics (especially social) is still missing from the equation, and all the new maps and scripts in the world wont bring that feeling of uncertainty and freedom back.

As for EA ? I believe they couldn?t have stopped the inevitable consequences I mentioned above from happening even if they tried. The problem is, however, that they facilitated the destruction of them much more rapidly than would have otherwise happened. That aside, they also commercialized the game far too greatly and, in the end, removed all freedom of social structure form the game completely. Certainly nostalgic memories of what used to be and what currently is can lead one to blame the organization that brought about the changes, as well.

We here in the UO emulation community are doing little more than chasing a lost dream of what once was and what we believe might be created once more. Certainly, to a large extent, a player-ran shard can come much closer to that blissful beginning than any commercial game is willing to dare, but I have lost hope in ever experiencing the sensation I felt the first time I saved up the 300 gold for a simple horse.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

Old post. but what the hell

When I play a game (And play, not staff or anything) I don't care for the politics behind it. I just try to enjoy the game. First time I set foot on Ultima Online (And that was a VERY long time ago) I played with an account of my friend. He was pretty rich and had some powerful characters. I eventually bought my own account and played for the month. I can't tell you how much I loved playing an online game (it was my first ever MMORPG). Ultima Online is a great game.

You do need to keep in mind that this is all about money, and not about the gaming experience. Sure there's people and even developers who want to give the players a good time. But the main purpose behind it all is how much money it will bring. If the sims online will bring more money, then guess what's got the first priority.

Apart from that. With many games I see complains such as: "Ban that cheater; ban that hacker; ban that botter." It's pointless. As long as they are paying customers, nothing bad will happen to them unless they have seriously harmed the game in some way. This goes for bugs as well. Fixing bugs takes time and money. So why bother if the game already runs decently and carries truckloads of players?

So. I never cared for teh politics. I stopped playing simply because I didn't have the money for it. I'd pay if I had a credit card, or acces to game-time checks or whatever they are called. And I'd probably still be playing and would've never heard of all this.

Only reason I got into the emulating community was because a friend of mine also played UO and didn't have the money for it. He started searching for free servers and eventually found something. Well. the first free shard I was on was TAR. That lasted a whole 5 minutes, as I got PKed for lighting a candle (duping candle bug. Light a candle and become a criminal). Then I played on eternal-myst for a very long time. And now I'm here. Still doing stuff with UO

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Wands don't kill people, wizards kill people

I know more than a few banned players, so I wouldn?t go so far as to say that paying EA is enough to keep your account alive. A lot of people I know were banned for speed hacking, a few for housing exploits, and one for just being stupid (he named himself ?HiroshimaGoBoom? on the first Japanese shard).

There were, by far, more bugs when UO came out than it has ever had since. EA did do a pretty good job of weeding most of them out (even though they certainly took their time). I know bugs bothered people, but it was unavoidable considering the circumstances of the game?s release and the nature of it to begin with. Lag was also a huge issue with the game?s release: I remember only being able to move 3 tiles per minute at times, and this was customary of the time, regardless of connection speed. Even with all the bugs and lag, though, I know most that played then would greatly prefer to go back to when the grass was less trodden and the laws less imposing. I know I would.

People who didn?t play within the first year (or even half a year, really) of the game?s release missed out on the initial atmosphere created by the social circumstances of a new world being discovered. By about 6 months, more players than not were used to the social structure of the game and were learned enough about its mechanics to begin ?power-gaming? and becoming far more competitive. Those players, in turn, forced the younger generations to do the same if they were ever to compete. Thus ended the social atmosphere of the game, and the game then became all about the game. Subsequent online games suffer from the large player-base who have played games like UO in the past, too, so they don?t even have that initial period of social euphoria that UO had at its release.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

Damn Sydius, you hit it right on the head. I don't think it could of been said any better.



Dev

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"So...if crazy people don't know their crazy...does that mean your only sane if your know your crazy?"

I just read my comment about being a small town boy who goes to San Francisco? *recently moved to the bay area to be with a girl* So yes, now I can verify that my previous comment is true based on actual experience.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

'HiroshimaGoBoom'. Lmfao. Maybe it's different for players who've never played on an online game before, but I certainly got this weird tingly feeling when I started playing UO.

The first time I played it was a long time ago and I'm not even sure if it'd be like this anymore. People were actually very kind and helpful, in any area where I went. Well, next to helpful also mean =(. Fighting in the graveyard, and then encountering a daemon claiming to eat newbies, having me run away O.O; yeah.

I had a great time playing. Some friends of me played it too, though, so I had a small guild to start out with. Mhmm. I do remember that dungeons like Despise where packed in trammel, while there were overspawns in felluca.

Oh yeah. But there were some people exploiting the systems already. Such as guild looters, or whatever they are called. Claim to be people looking for a weak guild (being very strong by themselves) and then 'practice' together. They filter out the ones they think are strong, and kill the ones they think have something decent to loot. Ofcourse, as a guild member you may loot your 'buddies' corpse as well without getting criminal. o.o; so that's something that was... less fun.

But then again. PK hunting was sweet. We went PK hunting with a group in felluca's britain graveyard. My plate armor was still too heavy for me to carry, so I died and lost it all. One of my guild mates was carrying some vanquishing weapon and got pretty pissed when he lost it . I then proceeded to run into the house of the PKs where they dumped the loot. However, they didn't lock it all down so I stole a truckload of items (as much as I could carry), when they told me they'd kill me if I didn't move on (woa. That's a fist. I wasn't called a 'n00b' and they didn't 'just kill me'). I looted more then I came with. Fun times.

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Wands don't kill people, wizards kill people

I?m personally against any sort of pre-defined social structures in UO, other than a basic response to thieving and murdering in towns. Sure, they have their plus sides, but I think going back to the roots of human intellect is far more rewarding. After all, we somehow get by in the real world without having the luxury of seeing other people as glowing one color or another depending on the kind of person they may be. Unique names are a must, however, since there is no sure way of uniquely identifying a character by their appearance alone (unlike real life, where we all, for the most part, look very different). I liked it back in the days when there was no color-highlighting, murderer status, and especially guilds.

I think everybody aught to just work by the same rules that govern groups in the real world ? you know if somebody is in your group of not because you either know that person or think you can safely assume that they are based on their appearance (uniforms?). This, of course, lends itself to spying and what-not, but that?s a benefit, not a draw-back in my mind. A war should be fought between both guilds as well as good v. evil on far more levels than simple combat.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

I started playing the 1. January 1997, and my account is still active Though I seldom play. Heh. I keep my account for nostalgia purposes

The terms "human intellect" and "virtual world" do not mix well It's almost as if most players return to the basic human instincts, like... clubbing eachother over the head with big rocks/sticks.

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-= Ho Eyo He Hum =-