It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 4:06 am


Post a new topic Post a reply Page 1 of 1   [ 7 posts ]
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:27 am 
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:07 pm
Posts: 1760
So a couple discussions with a few different people have brought up some points that get argued every few years, and i feel it's time for another one of those.

Specifically, there are a few concepts that made sense, or at least were fun, when obsidian launched. Now, with the passage of time, changing expectations, or just the large downtime, some of them haven't aged well, and there are arguments they are holding us back, so I put the following up to discussion/vote, and note suggestions are split apart, but can be mixed:

1. Age system - Great when everyone started within the same few years, now that we're 20 decades old is a bit daunting to novices and has a definitely slant feel on pvp. This is very much a "past nostalgia" vs "current growth" argument. Suggestions have ranged:
-- Getting rid of it (Flat 680/780 for everyone),
-- Reducing the max(max of 40 skill to 720/820)
-- Increasing gains to weekly, maxing in a year or two of play.
-- It's fine

2. Dark Elves - A race that in obsidian's history lost the great war (event) and was banished, with only a few "surviving". In order to keep them rare lore wise, only a few are allowed to be made every so often. In addition their racial skills were balanced towards this rarity, and the fact that they are/were basically kill on sight. Currently the only reason they aren't extinct is one holdout veteran plays their dark elf enough to keep the creation rate positive. Suggestions have ranged:
-- Remove them (effectively same as right now except permanently locking creation to 0 and forcing change on any existing).
-- Open them to everyone
-- Nerf them
-- It's fine

3. Vampire Bloodlines - Most of the same objections to dark elves in terms of rarity, balance and cost. Can also go "extinct" through player choices, if leaders are killed(or don't login, ancients are in jeapordy) and none left in line stay to be new leader.
-- Remove them
-- Open them to everyone, remove permadeath and rebalance, each line would lose at least one skill and nerf to others.
-- It's fine

4. Ships - Currently tied to a guild warfare process(Buc's den) to restrict supply and limit abuse potential. Uses a resource that directly competes with PVP crafting to force a choice between self gain or harassment potential.
-- They should be cheap for everyone
-- They should be expensive for everyone
-- They shouldn't exist, remove them.
-- They should be rare but not tied to pvp, make a new drop not in buc's den.
-- They're fine but should be destroyable, give us cannons
-- They're fine but should be stealable, give us piracy
-- It's fine

5. Names - Obsidian's been big on history, but some argue that holds us back a bit since ages and names means everyone knows everyone and some of the "mystery" in pvp is lost. Allowing name changes would allow people to fight without worrying about old grudges.
-- It's fine
-- Allow changes all the time
-- Only once every x years.

6. Server Status - Another staple, especially with the achievements system. It's getting a revamp since it's broke and needs the work anyway, so what should we show
-- It's fine, Name, Guild, Guild Alignment, Kills, Age
-- Any other suggestion

7. Any topic i've missed. I'll edit this to add more as discussion happens.


Relevant race statistics:
TOTAL, not counting previously deleted:
Frost Elves: 390 (3%)
Wood Elves: 355 (3%)
Dark Elves: 12 (0%)
Warlock: 488 (4%)
Vampire: 766 (7%)
Human: 8344 (80%)


ACTIVE(Past 3 years)
Frost Elves: 45 (13%)
Wood Elves: 29 (8%)
Dark Elves: 3 (0%)
Warlock: 38 (11%)
Vampire: 29 (8%)
Human: 188 (56%


Top
 Offline   
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:33 am 
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:15 pm
Posts: 1230
Bot Check: GAMER
Website: https://twitter.com/TaxDiabolus
Location: Liverpool, England
1 Age system. I’ve always liked the age system, even when I was a new player. One or two of use have remained active to an extent and are utilising skill caps with vet bonuses.

Our age skill bonus is also kind of unique or at least unusual for most shards. Bonuses elsewhere tend to be something aesthetic - a neon horse, robe, hat etc.

My vote would be the ‘Increase the gains option’ but with current caps.

2 Dark Elves. I don’t know much about them or how I would go about getting one.

If they are reasonably balanced but just super rare, let’s keep them. Maybe an additional quest every now and then with the prize of becoming a Dark Elf to bump their numbers?

3 Vampire Bloodlines. Option 2. Open them up etc. They’re a good addition to have but it’s difficult if it’s linked to player numbers.

Permadeath was always quite off putting for me too. Maybe it could be changed to more of a prolonged period as a ghost. If the character has been staked, say 30 minutes? Yeah you’re looted dry but you are not done forever!

4 Ships. Options 2 and 4. I’ve always loved the boats in UO. Keep them, they should be expensive, a complete luxury item. Maybe one or two drops for the resources elsewhere to vary a hunt for them.

Let’s see some sea serpents to battle with!

5 Names. You have made your bed, sleep in it. If this is going to be permitted then it should be once every six months or a year. It should also have a big cost, something like the skill transfer crystal.

6 Server Status. Yeah name, guild, alignment, kills and age sound good.

Maybe a link to a profile with those badges. I was going to suggest a tie in with the Player Profile scroll off the ingame paperdoll but that could be open to abuse.

_________________
Miner/Smith/Lumberjack/Carpenter/Cartographer
Alchemist/Fisherman/Tamer/Warrior/Daemon


Top
 Offline   
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:04 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:19 pm
Posts: 3197
Bot Check: GAMER
1. Age system - Great when everyone started within the same few years, now that we're 20 decades old is a bit daunting to novices and has a definitely slant feel on pvp. This is very much a "past nostalgia" vs "current growth" argument. Suggestions have ranged:
-- It's fine

2. Dark Elves - A race that in obsidian's history lost the great war (event) and was banished, with only a few "surviving". In order to keep them rare lore wise, only a few are allowed to be made every so often. In addition their racial skills were balanced towards this rarity, and the fact that they are/were basically kill on sight. Currently the only reason they aren't extinct is one holdout veteran plays their dark elf enough to keep the creation rate positive. Suggestions have ranged:
-- Open them to everyone

3. Vampire Bloodlines - Most of the same objections to dark elves in terms of rarity, balance and cost. Can also go "extinct" through player choices, if leaders are killed(or don't login, ancients are in jeapordy) and none left in line stay to be new leader.
-- Open them to everyone, remove permadeath and rebalance, each line would lose at least one skill and nerf to others.

4. Ships - Currently tied to a guild warfare process(Buc's den) to restrict supply and limit abuse potential. Uses a resource that directly competes with PVP crafting to force a choice between self gain or harassment potential.
-- It's Fine

5. Names - Obsidian's been big on history, but some argue that holds us back a bit since ages and names means everyone knows everyone and some of the "mystery" in pvp is lost. Allowing name changes would allow people to fight without worrying about old grudges.
-- Only once every x years.

6. Server Status - Another staple, especially with the achievements system. It's getting a revamp since it's broke and needs the work anyway, so what should we show
-- It's fine, Name, Guild, Guild Alignment, Kills, Age

_________________
Quote:
A non-bob gm who shall remain nameless did it!


Last edited by kingblacktorn on Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Offline   
PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:50 am 
User avatar

Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 8:02 am
Posts: 2592
Bot Check: GAMER
Website: http://jizaboz.com
Location: USA
1. Age System
- Get rid of it, but give players old and new the HIGHEST flat total. No one wants to have their total stats reduced!

2. Dark Elves
- I don't have a strong opinion on this one, but would it be possible for the holdout player(s) with dark elves keep those players, but no new dark elves can be created, at least in the near future? The race system is confusing enough as it is (at least to me).

3. Vampire Bloodlines
- I used to really dislike vampires because at one point it seemed like EVERYONE was a damn vampire. However, that isn't the case now. I'd say it's probably fine the way it is.

4. Ships
- I agree with Taxman Keep them, they should be expensive, a complete luxury item. Maybe one or two drops for the resources elsewhere to vary a hunt for them.

5. Names
- No name changes.

6. Server Status
- name, guild, alignment, kills and age

_________________
Ultima avatar: The Famed JIZABOZ,GWAR Guildmeister


Top
 Offline   
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:23 pm 

Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:17 am
Posts: 804
Bot Check: GAMER
Location: Aberdeen, WA
1. Age system - I'm of the opinion that having an account for so long should yield some sort of veteran reward. I like the way it works at the moment but I'd rather see it max out after one year of using the account.

2. Dark Elves - Open them to everyone but keep the quest in in order to attain one. Just remove the open slot system for it.

3. Vampire Bloodlines - Remove them. Condense the existing bloodline skills down into a fair balanced raceskill layout that everyone can have. Vampires are already limited in using their raceskills during in-game daytime.

4. Ships - They're fine but should be stealable, give us piracy

5. Names - I say allow them once every year but only allowable to one character on the account.


6. Server Status - It's fine the way it is (when it's working properly)

7. Skill Gains - Adjust so all skills gain more frequently, make the game slightly less grindy.

_________________
Image


Top
 Offline   
PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 4:51 pm 

Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:50 pm
Posts: 56
Bot Check: GAMER
1. Age System - Reduce to max of 40 (720/820)
2. Dark Elves - Open them to everyone
3. Bloodlines - Open them to everyone, remove permadeath and rebalance, each line would lose at least one skill and nerf to others
4. Ships - They should be rare but not tied to pvp, make a new drop not in buc's den --should be stealable, give us piracy
5. Names - Fine
6. Server Stat - Fine

_________________
Maestro
Skuz


Last edited by Maestro on Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Offline   
PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 5:09 pm 

Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2004 6:34 am
Posts: 2670
Bot Check: GAMER
Location: Boston
1. -- It's fine
2. -- - Open them to everyone but keep the quest in in order to attain one. Just remove the open slot system for it. (Copy pasta from 502Dude)
3. -- Open them to everyone, remove permadeath and rebalance, each line would lose at least one skill and nerf to others.
4. -- They're fine but should be stealable, give us piracy
5. -- Only once every x years.
6. -- It's fine, Name, Guild, Guild Alignment, Kills, Age
7. We discussed this on discord race/class stone change pretty pls

_________________
Quote:
lol I see now... we don't change monster spawns to suit pkers who get owned by them, sorry.


Top
 Offline   
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post a new topic Post a reply Page 1 of 1   [ 7 posts ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  


Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
twilightBB Style by Daniel St. Jules of Gamexe.net