by Azaroth | October 19th, 2009
Once and for all, these two mighty titans clash.
Nostalgia – He may be old, but he’s a wily veteran. He knows just what buttons to push. His only weakness? Endurance.
Evolution – The Unknown Challenger! The Six Million Dollar Man! Robocop! Designed better, stronger, faster – but can you ever substitute for experience and that incredible “think of your grandma’s lemonade” and poke-you-in-the-eye trick? … Did we use steel or aluminum? I forget, kinda….
My argument is that while oldschool UO is great – it’s not 1999 anymore. In fact, I’d say had UO not evolved it wouldn’t be alive today. Not because one ruleset is better or worse necessarily, but because change and evolution is absolutely necessary in order for an online game to survive. When you’re talking about one with no PvE, no endgame, and none of the modern trappings of newer games, evolution becomes even more important.
UO is an incredible base. As a foundation, you can’t beat it. But it has its problems, and nobody can deny that. While the low to midlevel of the game is stacked with sandboxy goodness, there’s nearly nothing for the PvE player. How does a new player even get started? That’s another question left unanswered. When you’re talking about scoffing at new blood and PvE-minded players, you’re talking about a fairly short period of life for a game.
Yet, some people don’t want any change.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It’s the reason IPY existed in the first place. That, and UO was a damn good game the way it was. People are afraid that mucking with a good thing will leave them with something less desirable.
I agree, it’s a serious concern. I’ve never pretended to have all the answers or be the smartest man alive. My solutions may be poorly designed. Or poorly coded (<— Unlikely, as my guys are terrific, of course). They may, however well intentioned or thought through, simply fail when introduced to the wild. There are a lot of variables to deal with. Or they may just lack fun.
Who knows, but success is anything but a guarantee. In fact, it’s probably more unlikely than it is likely, all things considered. Then, there’s the fact that no matter what you do, some people will never be happy with change.
The Old is comfortable. I know how to play already, I know I like it, and I know I want to play me some right now. Putthatdamnserverup.
But what about later? What about in six months? In a year? Do you want to play then?
Some of you might. Maybe it’s still on IPY, maybe it’s on a new server with the exact same ruleset (that is somehow better because it’s new, leading us back to the fact that while the game is fun there’s no endgame, nothing to do after a point, and nothing to do but start over. Starting over isn’t ever truly fun unless everyone else is starting over too, because being at a disadvantage sucks. So on and so forth.) – but most of you probably won’t. We’ve been through this before.
You hit a wall when you play UO. Once you’ve completed your macros, farmed your gold, and placed your tower… things can get repetitive.
Evolution is an attempt to step in and not just bandaid that problem, but holistically deal with it to find a true solution. Whether I can accomplish that is yet to be seen. No matter what, some people will dislike everything I do. It’ll be up to you to decide whether you approve or not when the time comes.
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Neon’s are kinda obnoxious on the eyes… it’s like the guys who name themselves with alternating capital letters.
But I’m all for unique dye tubs as quest line rewards: Maybe take out dyes alltogether and implement leather or sandal or hair dye tubs of a predetermined color that is a quest line reward…. since traditional armor and stuff isn’t all that special.
Granted maybe you aren’t even doing quest shit, which I wouldn’t mind – I probably wouldn’t do them anyways as I’m just playing UO to get to 7x and PvP everyday.
Oh and on that note: UO continues to be fun even after you hit 7x – slow skill gain just makes it tougher for my type of player who plays UO explicitly for that reason. I keep reading people say that the game is more fun with slow skill gain…. maybe for you! not for me and the rest of my niche!