So, now a few years have passed and people have gotten a tad older, more experienced and hopefully wiser; lets think again about AOS.
Do you still think it was a mistake?
Would UO have survived if it hadn't tried to conform and keep up with other item based games?
Would it have been better to have pandered to the needs of a small but dedicated hardcore of fans who were resistant to change?
Was UO's decline inevitable regardless, and was AOS a convenient scapegoat?
UO AOS
Moderators: Benn, Calix, senji
UO AOS
Signatures broken since 2009...
AoS was a big shock. Those who put in the effort to learn about all the changes adapted the best. The rest of us struggled to acclimatise and did things like run around in shitty pre-aos invuln armour suits etc.
What I liked almost immediately though was the faster paced combat, mage battles could be so dull before. Warriors were also given greater variety and tactical opportunities.
Of course it was going to cause a lot of people to pack it in, but it wasn't the cause of the game's demise.
The simple fact is that EA were guilty of a shocking lack of marketing. They did things they thought would appeal in the modern world of MMORPGs without ever actually letting people know the game existed. The influx of new people ever since aos was absolutely minimal, the occasional new box presence in shops got a few more each time, but the learning curve was simply too high for most people to come in, with little assistance now available.
What I liked almost immediately though was the faster paced combat, mage battles could be so dull before. Warriors were also given greater variety and tactical opportunities.
Of course it was going to cause a lot of people to pack it in, but it wasn't the cause of the game's demise.
The simple fact is that EA were guilty of a shocking lack of marketing. They did things they thought would appeal in the modern world of MMORPGs without ever actually letting people know the game existed. The influx of new people ever since aos was absolutely minimal, the occasional new box presence in shops got a few more each time, but the learning curve was simply too high for most people to come in, with little assistance now available.
_______________________________________
NEVER enter Felucca.
Denied victims the evil turns upon itself. It whines, cries, and wails for more victims.
Deny evil its prey.
NEVER enter Felucca.
In time, Felucca will die AND evil will die with it
NEVER enter Felucca.
Denied victims the evil turns upon itself. It whines, cries, and wails for more victims.
Deny evil its prey.
NEVER enter Felucca.
In time, Felucca will die AND evil will die with it
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King Cyric
- N3cr0 fr0m H3ll
- Posts: 1153
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2003 2:27 pm
Killed the playerbase of people like me who don't like sinking hours into repetitive PvM in order to compete in PvP, which seems to be the trend in current MMOs (hopefully darkfall withstanding).
I didn't like it because P16 and AoS started the senescence of the O/C PvP scene, the days of guild wars and rivalries with players you could compete with on a purely skill vs skill basis. Afterwards I always felt bitter about getting beaten by somebody who had better items or scrolls than me. I couldn't be shagged to put the effort into getting them.
A lot of the oldschool PvPers I guess felt the same, because there was an influx of guilds like AI who didn't really (IMO) understand the origins of UO pvp and would just steamroll into people in groups of ten relying on their superior items to win, with moderate success.
Don't get me started on bola's/dismount - by far the worst thing ever to come into UO. I know people will say it was good for stopping runners, but I'd happily trade a couple of kills for never getting knocked off my horse and pounded into the ground by groups of 4/5. I preferred the days when, if you got outnumbered, you could run away (paraganks withstanding).
I lost a lot of mates when AoS came in. For that, and the reasons above, I don't like it. Was it necessary? It brought UO closer in line with market trends. Whether that was the step needed to keep it going I am not sure. It would be interesting to see some subscription figures, because I'm sure it lost them a lot of core players.
I didn't like it because P16 and AoS started the senescence of the O/C PvP scene, the days of guild wars and rivalries with players you could compete with on a purely skill vs skill basis. Afterwards I always felt bitter about getting beaten by somebody who had better items or scrolls than me. I couldn't be shagged to put the effort into getting them.
A lot of the oldschool PvPers I guess felt the same, because there was an influx of guilds like AI who didn't really (IMO) understand the origins of UO pvp and would just steamroll into people in groups of ten relying on their superior items to win, with moderate success.
Don't get me started on bola's/dismount - by far the worst thing ever to come into UO. I know people will say it was good for stopping runners, but I'd happily trade a couple of kills for never getting knocked off my horse and pounded into the ground by groups of 4/5. I preferred the days when, if you got outnumbered, you could run away (paraganks withstanding).
I lost a lot of mates when AoS came in. For that, and the reasons above, I don't like it. Was it necessary? It brought UO closer in line with market trends. Whether that was the step needed to keep it going I am not sure. It would be interesting to see some subscription figures, because I'm sure it lost them a lot of core players.
Problem with the subscription numbers for AOS is, the fact more people than ever had multiple accounts.
The BOD bugs, BOD craze, etc totally screw up any subscription numbers, and OSI have turned that round to make AOS look like a sucess.
I still see it as a massive failure - if it came alongside a brand new release of the game UO:XO or whatever it was going to be called, then fair enough.
Bola's/Lance's = gayest thing ever. It was only ever good in equal number fights which were few and far between.
The BOD bugs, BOD craze, etc totally screw up any subscription numbers, and OSI have turned that round to make AOS look like a sucess.
I still see it as a massive failure - if it came alongside a brand new release of the game UO:XO or whatever it was going to be called, then fair enough.
Bola's/Lance's = gayest thing ever. It was only ever good in equal number fights which were few and far between.
Sonez's attitude is the exact reason most hardcore pvpers left. If you remember though I was able to persist in havin the same attitude for two years of aos before caving in and doing things like go to Doom for the first time etc.
In the early months of aos the Fel dungeons were never busier, and you could get yourself nice items purely by pking people. If only more people realised this then they wouldnt have needed to leave.
Then of course we had the wonderful bod collecting script for people who wanted barbed runics.
In the early months of aos the Fel dungeons were never busier, and you could get yourself nice items purely by pking people. If only more people realised this then they wouldnt have needed to leave.
Then of course we had the wonderful bod collecting script for people who wanted barbed runics.
_______________________________________
NEVER enter Felucca.
Denied victims the evil turns upon itself. It whines, cries, and wails for more victims.
Deny evil its prey.
NEVER enter Felucca.
In time, Felucca will die AND evil will die with it
NEVER enter Felucca.
Denied victims the evil turns upon itself. It whines, cries, and wails for more victims.
Deny evil its prey.
NEVER enter Felucca.
In time, Felucca will die AND evil will die with it
I reckon p16 was the busiest time overall, when scrolls became available and everyone wanted one - when even +10 discord was worth something.Zim Zum wrote:
In the early months of aos the Fel dungeons were never busier, and you could get yourself nice items purely by pking people. If only more people realised this then they wouldnt have needed to leave.
Signatures broken since 2009...
Yeah but that didnt include places like Shame/Fire etc outside of harrowers. Of course champ spawn areas were the busiest parts in general, particularly early on in P16 where people used to crowd the upper balconies and get fire fielded.
_______________________________________
NEVER enter Felucca.
Denied victims the evil turns upon itself. It whines, cries, and wails for more victims.
Deny evil its prey.
NEVER enter Felucca.
In time, Felucca will die AND evil will die with it
NEVER enter Felucca.
Denied victims the evil turns upon itself. It whines, cries, and wails for more victims.
Deny evil its prey.
NEVER enter Felucca.
In time, Felucca will die AND evil will die with it
p16 was pretty near perfect - Scrolls just needed to be less powerful, and statloss should have been taken out completely.
The kick-to-chaos on deth rule was pretty aidz as well but bearable.
Europa players tend to have really bad memories of p16, mostly becouse every recognised PvP guild was filled with absolute faggots that were happy sitting at a spawn with 100 other people on a blue in the hope of getting a scroll, rather than Pking people, or doing the spawns as a guild and defending it with reds.
Quite a few American shards did things the right way, big guilds fighting it out for control, as happened later in AOS, but obviously without all the aidz AoS rules.
AoS was shit, but I don't deny absolutely loving p25 on drach and the wand-necro days...
The kick-to-chaos on deth rule was pretty aidz as well but bearable.
Europa players tend to have really bad memories of p16, mostly becouse every recognised PvP guild was filled with absolute faggots that were happy sitting at a spawn with 100 other people on a blue in the hope of getting a scroll, rather than Pking people, or doing the spawns as a guild and defending it with reds.
Quite a few American shards did things the right way, big guilds fighting it out for control, as happened later in AOS, but obviously without all the aidz AoS rules.
AoS was shit, but I don't deny absolutely loving p25 on drach and the wand-necro days...
Chaos shrine was a blessing and a curse in p16. I used to love fighting at Chaos and seeing Villa get more nerd rage than me dying in stat = hilarious.
Most of the old pvp guilds were as Calix said, absolute pussies and cared more about completing spawns than actually fighting at the spawns.
Statloss in p16 didn't bother me overly (maybe just saying that now as I remember raging a lot) as it kept things interesting.
And shame....PK'ers heaven in p16, killing Lookfar was always satisfying till Meph came with his scary axe.
imo, UO needed something like p16, Felucca was dead without it. Europa was quiet, but compared to some shards it was busy as fook.
Most of the old pvp guilds were as Calix said, absolute pussies and cared more about completing spawns than actually fighting at the spawns.
Statloss in p16 didn't bother me overly (maybe just saying that now as I remember raging a lot) as it kept things interesting.
And shame....PK'ers heaven in p16, killing Lookfar was always satisfying till Meph came with his scary axe.
imo, UO needed something like p16, Felucca was dead without it. Europa was quiet, but compared to some shards it was busy as fook.
Last edited by Nixon on Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:29 am, edited 1 time in total.