The sad truth about UOSA...

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Annoyed Gamer
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The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Annoyed Gamer »

I've been playing here for a few weeks now and I must admit I had a few laughs while playing. A few. So I regret to say that I will not be playing for much longer. This hostile environment that has been created here in unbearable. I don't know how or why but as many others have pointed out, the experience is not the same.

First of all, Kudos to Derrick. You've done a great job recreating the game mechanics. I started playing UO on Atlantic just after the T2A release and quit playing just after the 3d release. I've lived on the streets of Britain during the golden years and that time period is the only UO I ever knew.

Initially, UOSA seemed too good to be true. Everything I loved about UO was here. I had a blast killing orcs with my wannabe dexer. I even enjoyed the nostalgia in mining for hours on end. I just enjoyed being in this fictional society and interacting with other people. Everyone I met was an old school gamer. Obviously, that's 99% of the people here, and I felt like that was a great community. I never met any childish people, I never met many PKs, I never met a single person who was out to do anyone any harm. After a few days, a PK stumbled across me a few times, while I was ferociously battling a bear or something equally impressive, and the experience was the same. "Good day sir! Fine time to be reliving childhood, no?". It just seemed like everyone was glad to find other people to share this game with.

"Finally", I thought. I recently quit WoW and was looking for a more mature game to play. UOSA was just what I wanted. I saved up enough gold to buy a small house and was able to place it easily, in the area I wanted (That's one thing that makes this shard BETTER than OSI!). I macroed day and night. I would drive home from work to log in and macro every day after the server restart. I could not wait to recreate all the characters I had so much fun playing as a child. I had even bigger dreams than I did back then. Now that I can have 3 accounts, there was barely a limit to what I could do.

So, needless to say, it wasn't long before I had the urge to go do something. Just like when I was a kid, I packed by backpack full of bandages, a few potions, backup swords, etc, and off I went to hunt monsters in dungeons. To me, that was what the game was all about. Making your character(s) stronger and better equipped so that you can progress from killing harpies for money, to killing cyclops.

I'm sure you all know where this is going. It's probably because you have shared this experience. As soon as I got the nerve and skills to go into some dungeons, I soon realized the nature of this beast called UOSA. The PKs rule this shard. You can't go to any dungeon any time of day. You WILL be PKed. This shard is a PVP shard, and more specifically, a PK shard. I make that distinction because here no one gives a shit about Order/Chaos, and factions don't exist. All I have ever seen is reds bullying new players/blues in general. There doesn't even seem to be any anti-PKs worth mentioning, except maybe a few, but even so they are vastly outnumbered and aren't nearly as dedicated as the griefers.

The Griefers. There are highly organized teams of players on this shard who have ONE purpose and one purpose only. To kill you. As if being a damn bard wasn't hard enough, there's people who play this game with the sole intention of preventing others from playing. Unless of course, your idea of playing UO is getting slaughtered or hiding in town all day. These players cannot be reasoned with, bribed or persuaded to do anything other than kill everyone they see who isn't part of their gank squad. They aren't even looking for a fight. They are just looking to kill you. They don't want a challenge (they gank me, a a bard, in groups of 3 usually), they don't want money (they could PvE if they cared for gold, and be much more efficient), they don't want social interaction, apart from their gank squad, and they sure as hell don't want to let others co-exist on this server. They are determined to chase off any new players such as myself, and I must admit, they are quite good at what they do.

So go ahead and flame me, that is to be expected. As I've said before, no one is going to be insulted by a UO nerd's opinion in 2010. We're all huge dorks when it comes down to it, regardless of your epeen size. We would be wise to not provoke each other to bring out our flaws, but then again, we'd be even more wise to do something else with our spare time, and clearly that's not happening for either of us :).

The only reason I even post this at all is for Derrick's sake. I've never seen someone so committed to something so trivial as a nostalgic UO server. Clearly this server is important to Derrick, and I believe Derrick agrees that the PK ratio is a problem here (despite me never having any interaction with him whatsoever). In my opinion, that is all that really needs to change for this server to be extremely accurate to T2A era OSI, and for the population to flourish. Okay, provoke is a little glitchy, taming tables aren't 100%, the AI is slightly drunk... this is a damn good framework Derrick has established here. I am in awe of how great this server COULD be, but disappointed in the actual atmosphere. The frame is near identical, but the portrait wasn't always this red...

I think it would be hard for even the PKs to argue with me. People like me are what you want. You want someone who will go hang out in dungeons by himself and be easy prey. You enjoy shooting fish in a barrel, I get it. But PKs are hunting us to extinction. I for one will no longer be playing the game, and my experience is not unique.

Derrick seems to advertise this shard as much as possible. It is therefore obvious that Derrick wants more players here. I found this server through a youtube video and downloaded the client soon as the video was over. Here I am, your marketing initiatives were successful. You managed to attract another UO gamer. Unfortunately, like many others, I am very disappointed to find that I will not be able to relive my UO experiences here because of the sheer number of PKs. Derrick, you must realize that 12 years or so have passed. People who were UO gamers back in OSI are 12 years older. People who were UO gamers in OSI are likely much more casual gamers, not concerned with shoving others players faces in the dirt and taking their lunch money. If you truly want more players, then you need to address this issue. In my opinion, if you can successfully make it safe at least MOST OF THE TIME in dungeons you will attract MANY more players. That is a good thing even for PKs. If you truly want to fix this problem, I have a few ideas that would fit within the T2A era accuracy you are aiming for. Just PM me and I'd be glad to discuss it with you.

In the mean time. I am logging out of UOSA for the last time. It is even harder for me to say goodbye to UO this time than it was when I was a kid. Back then, UO was ruined because of 3D and overpopulation and other things that were basically out of control. Now, it's just a few douchebags who like to ruin other people's nostalgic gaming experience so they can enjoy their own. This is much more depressing.

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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by BobDobbs »

I think you're exaggerating the amount of PKs here and how much they control the dungeons.

I want to feel sympathetic, but the stuff you're saying just isn't true.
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Mikel123 »

I spent two straight hours today farming at one of the top farming spots on the shard, without even seeing one single other player, red or otherwise.

Persistence is rewarded on this shard. If you prepare yourself and learn from your mistakes, you will find yourself enacting revenge on most of those who are bothering you right now (if that's the path you want to take). You can also just mostly ignore them, if you wish. Again though, it does take some effort on your part to prepare and adapt.

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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Kander »

There are plenty of ppl that farm just fine with out worrying about pk. and there are a few anti pk groups like c^v and pov. some real nice guys. C^V even built a navy to go after pirates. What ya need to do is just make some friends and join a nice guild. Maybe even make a anti pk char and fight off the evil.
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Downs »

UO has always been a harsh environment. It's all in how you react to it. If it's not fun for you, that's fine. It's a sandbox that doesn't cater to one specific type of playstyle. If pks bother you a ton, form an anti pk guild
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Feldeath »

So many people complain about the PKs but so few people actually do anything about it.

Yes, PKs can be a nuisance but I farm solo all the time with a bard. Show incoming names plus a emergency recall hotkey is usually enough to escape being killed.

You should find a guild or some people to play along with you. The game is more fun and you are safer that way. PM me if you'd like any help with anything or just someone to chat with or hunt with in game.

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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by niqeo »

I must admit, at heart I am more of a social butterfly myself. Although I'd like to pretend I am somewhat capable of defending against a raid of PKs (even ONE at that), I rely on the safety of town or others. Thus I am what most consider a carebear. However, it is this "free will" that keeps me coming back. I have always enjoyed the idea that if I dont like someone or something that is going on, I can choose to act on it.

I TOO thought that at one point the PKs had overrun UOSA. So, in turn I created H4H with Imp a long time back for the sole purpose of helping new players settle in and slaughtering anyone with a red name. It was quite an accomplishment and in fact many players were crowding the dungeons because of our efforts.

I was finely somebody. I was impressed with myself and even began winning server wide tournaments. The problem that I eventually ran into though was this: I was beginning to get bored of farming/hunting and there were only 2 PKs left on the entire shard, which never showed their face because they were afraid of losing their Murderous PK toons that they worked so hard to create.

This is when I released that no matter what you decide to do in game, if everyone was "following" the same path instead of creating their own destiny, life gets boring.

I strongly believe that the only thing that never changes...is change itself.

If I could reach the same group of friends from when I started here, I think we would be complaining about not enough reds instead of too many. I think we all have our own playstyle and not one of us are exactly the same. I like hunting alone occasionally. I like hunting with friends even more. If it is ANTI-PK that you want then that should be your next goal. There are plenty of us willing to jump on the bandwagon for a Save-The-Dungeon protest.

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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by nightshark »

If you lag terribly, it can be impossible to deal with PKs, but with a decent connection and some potions/pouches ready (aka properly prepared), you should find yourself getting away the heavy majority of the time.

There are plenty of good places to farm that are not ghosted, even during peak times. If you stick with it you'll find yourself wondering where the PKs are, so you can find some heads to turn in ;)

That being said, some of the most fun I've had on this shard was rounding up groups of players from banks to go on a witch hunt...
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Sandro »

the only pks I ever see in dungeons anymore is TG, and they are too easy to get away from..
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Pirul »

Annoyed Gamer wrote:I just enjoyed being in this fictional society and interacting with other people.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. Join a group. Not necessarily a guild, maybe just put a group of people together to go hunt with. If you enjoy interacting with people, you should have no problem drawing up a group ready to go hunt. Sure, the money will need to be split up, but at least you will be splitting something, instead of spending to restock.

If what you want is farming with the sole intent of hoarding riches, that too is possible. You just have to play smart, and play safe. 3 minutes of preparation before heading out can save your life in a dungeon. A use once hotkey for trapped pouches, a recall "panic" button (if your magery is not too high, use a scroll), invis items, a mini-heal self hot key, show incoming names and carrying "impassable" items like tables or stools, potions (G-Heal, Cure, Tot Refresh) and if you use them efficiently, in the right places, at the right time, you should live to farm many moons without being pk'ed. There are many people who do that successfully, you just need to play smart. Ask the EttinKing how much he has farmed in this shard. I'm sure he's died coutless times, but he's made millions farming alone.

EDIT: And yes, what Sandro said is true. There are currently 3 pk's that patrol dungeons. That's it. Lately I haven't seen pk's not named after B-list comedians.
Last edited by Pirul on Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by chumbucket »

Annoyed Gamer wrote:Trammel PLS
I don't mean to be rude, honestly, but this is the nature of an open game. If you don't like the number of PKs, take steps to avoid them. Better yet, do something to stop them.

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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Mys »

The problem with UO 2010 is that people think if they come and whine about something on the forums it will get changed. Where as UO 1999 was adapt or GTFO.

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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by Derrick »

I'm glad you were enable to enjoy the shard as you did, and I'm sorry to hear of your frustrations.

The only social engineering we really by policy will act on is correcting broken mechanics. On the staff side the community, for better or worse, is up to the players. It's at least my personal belief that when the mechanics are correct, other things will fall (more) into line. Times change and the nature of free shards in general do effect this of course, but it's my impression that we are approaching our goals, albeit slow and steady.
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by nightshark »

Mys wrote:The problem with UO 2010 is that people think if they come and whine about something on the forums it will get changed. Where as UO 1999 was adapt or GTFO.

Times have changed. Experiences may vary. Recall macro.
Well, actually... whining and trying to get things changed are era accurate ;)
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Re: The sad truth about UOSA...

Post by chumbucket »

nightshark wrote:
Mys wrote:The problem with UO 2010 is that people think if they come and whine about something on the forums it will get changed. Where as UO 1999 was adapt or GTFO.

Times have changed. Experiences may vary. Recall macro.
Well, actually... whining and trying to get things changed are era accurate ;)
Real Era Accuracy: If we whine enough, Derrick will put in Trammel.

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