The Gaming Community of today, Compared to yesterday.

[Mephilic]

I've read a post on the forums just a while ago and it had me thinking.
(Read this http://forum.uosecondage.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16972 for the reference I am referring to.) Since I have returned to this server I cant help but notice the increase of grieving and just the overall negative attitude of many individuals.

The original community for gamers has sure changed over the years. At first it was about having fun and just enjoying the games. But as time passed it seems more like fun is considered to be at others expense, and only the "baddest" of the bunch prosper as the docile fade away. Gamers in general has gone down hill quite a bit, we and they have become quite a bit more aggressive.

In this community would we not just want to move back a phrase to the earlier beginnings of the gaming community?
Perhaps or perhaps not depending on your viewpoints of the situation. But just listen to me here for a second, a kinder community would mean more people playing. New players wouldn't be drove off the server as much. People wouldn't log off as often from what some may call "rage" but I would like to call "taking a break from the situation at hand". So even the selfish could surely see a benefit in this. Plus lets not forget it will just be more fun for the average Joe.

What I'm proposing doesn't mean take the sandbox gameplay away, but to just make it easier without the expense of suffering your self. For example "Sam Kills Tod in Deceit, He then loots what he is interested in and gates his rune and then recalls out." You know what just happened? He prevented a player from being stuck in a dungeon and allowed him to get back in action that much quicker. For theifs out there, steal what you want, but not what you don't need. If you loot a house, do not dry loot just take what would be valuable to you.

The most important fact I am just trying to lay out here tough is Give newer players a little bit of a break. Don't like stalk the player non stop killing him over and over where he cant do anything in the game but die. Do not bother trash talking its wasting you time and his/hers patience. Or if you do not plan on killing the new player why not pass him a heal if your passing by. Just the little simple things can make this game so much more easier. Hell maybe it would even strengthen the bonds between the community. I'm not telling anyone to actually listen or do what i say i am just asking people to at least consider it. Just think of the benefits.

[Arkosh Kovasz]

Didn't read the article but It seems to me that UO is now mainly more PvP oriented. Every other day theres someone new on the forums saying "Hey, just started here looking for a groups of guys to go jack up people with". Thats what alot of people play for. The gratification of killing others. I totally can understand this, however I have yet to be bitten by the PvP bug.

I for one feel like the gaming community of today is so used to games like First Person Shooters, which offer that fast paced instant kill gratification, that UO is treated much in the same manner. Everyone wants a quick thrill at others expense.

I doubt many of us UO players actually come from the days of table top RPGs, where you worked together for a common goal.

Granted, I'm a thief and I do on occasion steal from new players, but I ussually return what I stole and just warn them of the dangers of the area they are in and give them a few tips on how to better protect thier goods. Not a very good business practice for a thief but ah well.

I think it's just easier for alot of people to be jerks than to be nice. People want to escape and blow of steam. Take a break from being nice to everyone around them and just step on someone else for a change.

Sad but probably true.

[rouss]

Didn't read the article but It seems to me that UO is now mainly more PvP oriented.

its not pvp in its true form, its more like PK vs Noob Bard.

those who call themselves pvpers here - mainly just a bunch of pussies afraid of statloss period.


hence the ghost cams to assure theres only a lonely bard struggling to make a few hundred gps.

[KydVicious]

It's sad how Derrick and company have put so much time and effort into creating a really great re-creation that is very close to the way it was back in the day only to have it populated by little pricks, assholes and douchebags who for some reason or another really think they're good because they can kill bards at will or grief people at the Brit bank.

Not to mention they can go to a tourney and after mastering hally jousting (basically that's what tourney PvP boils down to) just gush all over themselves in a grotesque display of masturbatory narcissism when they can chain repeated hally hits and finally harm spam someone to death after sudden death is called.

The multi-clienting issue is what really fuels the PK deluge. There simply are no repercussions for being red and when you have 15 characters you can cycle through, you're not going to have to worry about any downtime.

I'm in agreement that there are no true anti-PK guilds and absolutely no RP guilds (not that I give a shit about that, but a shard that lacks that element seems to run rampant with assholes). To maintain an anti-guild requires that there be strong leadership at the helm, problem is there's prolly 4 people on this shard that might be able to handle that kind of responsibility.

I'm still having fun though, so thanks Derrick I'm really grateful for your efforts

[uofuntime]

Although I have experienced this type of treatment as a new player, it doesn't really bother me. It's just a game... a free shard. That guy from the other thread is super sensitive. I was like "are you kidding me?". He seems like a polite enough guy but he needs a reality check. I wouldn't say it's a problem with this shard, but rather this is the way people act on the internet. He challenges griefers by putting himself out there in one of the most hostile/grief-ed locations on this shard (Brit GY)... No new player should expect this type of carebear treatment--I certainly didn't. "Don't pk me I'm new" ... "Alright, sorry." <-- If that worked people would be pulling the "new player card" all the time. And he was also flabbergasted at how someone stole all his stuff while "teleporting" to different locations... I think the thief was stealthing. I rolled my eyes at how he "explained he was new and politely asked for his stuff back"... and then attacked the guy when he didn't give it back--and died twice. Call me heartless, but the reason things like this happen is not because of the "immature" player base, it's the game mechanics that allow this. I'm sure if WoW offered non-consensual pvp, stealing, and total looting, grieving would be rampant there as well.

Another thing, I think the guy's problem is he doesn't like to be at the bottom of the barrel and wants to get to the top of the crop--fast. He doesn't really seem like he enjoys the game for what it is, but he has so much ego and wants it nurtured. If you want a piece of the cake you got to earn it. The T2A style shard is not for him for sure.

[Bag]

this shard does seem particularly hostile, but I do feel like I remember even OSI being that way much of the time. it's a hostile game BECAUSE there's so much risk involved. every time I've stopped to say "what's up" to someone, they either try to steal from me, pk me, or tell me to f off. now I mean that hasn't prevented me from getting a tower, small house, 3 7x gm chars and more in the works in ~1.5 months, but it does sort of set me up to get bored and just quit.

social aspect = 99% of any good game experience. some good forum threads/IRC banter has done loads in terms of keeping me interested.

[Ulor]

People should know that UO stands for Unfriendly Opposition.

As someone mentioned, the "i pwn j00" crowd is similar to OSI server populations in-era, so whenever I encounter these types, it is nostalgic and I really wouldn't have it any other way. Like life, you have to manage the good with the bad. If anything, it keeps people on their toes and forces players to stay creative when dealing with "evil". Also, like life, this game is whatever you make it to be. Granted, classic, cooperative "good" RPG players are the minority, but at least, in theory, the good people of the world could someday rise up and take over. Not likely in this lifetime, but the mechanics of the game at least leave room for the scenario.

[Bag]

I'm sure WoW would be a lot less friendly if cooperation wasn't REQUIRED for progression or success. even in PVP, the most successful players play on organized teams in a structured environment. bullsh*t like that is why I quit WoW and prefer UO. I hate having to rely on people to get what I want, but there is a balance. having RL pals to play UO with makes a big difference in my enjoyment. if people I know quit, my participation would be short-lived, because the community in-game is pretty cold.

I think it's sort of built into UO to have a wary/unfriendly player base without a real functioning global/regional chat system. forums just don't have the same effect.

[Lazarus]

You know pvp I can deal with, thats understandable and whenever I step foot outside of guard zone I'm prepared to both die or escape. However this is beyond pvping or pking, this is griefing. I had gated an npc to my house to train. I had to step afk for a minute so I hid my two characters. I come back, a couple mins later and everyone is dead. I guess some doosh wanted to kill the npc, not know I was logged in hidden, not that it would matter I'm sure, and casted an area spell. Whats the point of doing that? Its just grief. I was able to get all my stuff but its a hassle, an unnecessary one.

[MatronDeWinter]

mastering hally jousting.....gush all over themselves in a grotesque display of masturbatory narcissism....and finally harm spam someone to death.

I love it, entirely accurate too. Hally-Jousting is my new favorite verb.

My main complaint about the change of "gamers" from past to present (refering to UO), is the lack of exploration. Everyone here seems to want to read the same guide on how to make a bard to fund a tank mage, and then PvP in the graveyard until they can afford a generic brick house that they can use to lock down their PvP trophies with. If that does not apply to you, it's because you are probably one of the 10% of the population who tame/tmap/bard on a non-stop basis to fund the rares that you were not quick enough to get, or lack spawning locations on.

Nobody wants to try anything new because it's all been done before.

Well, it hasnt.

[Domnu]

Speaking of different playstyles, here's an interesting blast from the past I came across recently on another forum:

http://uo.stratics.com/content/professi ... urer.shtml