Wand Update

jkg8787

Master
there are alot new players.
there basicly 6 big guilds with 3 of them mostly players that on uof for less than 12months
not counting all the other players.
I guess I just meant that the potential pool of UO:F players is "people who have already played UO at least once in their lifetime". We aren't getting any actual "new blood" or I'd imagine so little that its statistically insignificant.

Because of this limited pool (and the fact the population is split between various free shards anyways) care has to be given to maintain the playerbase because making changes has the potential to alter population level.
 

Darkarna

Grandmaster
I don't think it matters what is done anymore, someone is going to leave regardless. Doesn't help either when those who threaten to leave are welcomed with "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

The shit has already hit the fan, damage control is needed so blaming one side over the other is pretty pointless. The blame game was once warranted as it was easier to buffer any losses, now it requires a different approach instead of flicking switches to the off position.

Time to face reality, twenty years is a long time for anything to last and I hope what I say is incredibly wrong, but the hour glass is against us where UO is concerned. If by some miracle numbers increase with this new player influx that keeps being said, then a simple but direct comment to the powers that run this place, next time you are warned about something and choose not to listen, then by all means make sure you have already ordered a virtual tombstone because it wont be long before it takes centre place where this forum currently resides.
 

Silly Santa

Grandmaster
So much stuff keeps getting changed, tweaked, nerfed and nothing gets posted on the forums prior to it being changed. From a players perspective, its frustrating trying to keep in the loop with whats going on with all of these on the fly changes.
 

girana

Grandmaster
So much stuff keeps getting changed, tweaked, nerfed and nothing gets posted on the forums prior to it being changed. From a players perspective, its frustrating trying to keep in the loop with whats going on with all of these on the fly changes


noone of these changes are on live.

some of test some are just in brains.
 

Silly Santa

Grandmaster
noone of these changes are on live.

some of test some are just in brains.

I am not talking about just this in particular. I understand that some gets posted in discord.. and not the forums.. although for those *cough* who are banned from discord... are in the dark about said changes.
 

jkg8787

Master
It's quite the pickle.

I think UO:F has potential to squeak out a few more years of "prime" UO. It feels like the goal is to try and create "the best" free shard (which in many ways UO:F already is) in an attempt to draw people playing on other servers as well as the Nostalgia-Seekers.

Some things I'd like to see.

- slow and steady pace. Generally what we have now. But if anything I'd like to see a bit of an upkick in pace but nothing crazy.
- communication and streamlining of information. While interaction between staff and players is AMAZING here, I still notice a huge divide in how information is doled out. The last couple of changes to the game seem to all have come from random comments in Discord from eppy copy pasted to forums. Eventually there is patch notes but they are bullet-points and hardly even sentences. I know they dont like to reveal hard numbers etc, and I'm not asking for fancy Patch-Note-Videos like this was LoL or something, but it seems like there is a disconnect in how changes are being communicated to the public.
- less binary on/off changes and more middle ground. It seems like recently things are just switched on and off at will. Every time I've seen discussion threads I ALWAYS see tons of great middle-ground ideas that seemingly get no love. The other day in Discord I saw staff reply to someone asking if they read a discussion thread on forum with (paraphrased) "its just the same usual suspects every time and the threads eventually become unproductive due to ego/flaming" while there is tons of truth to that, I don't think that means dismissing the threads entirely is the right choice.

I dont want this to sound like I'm harping on Staff. They do a great job and if anything we're SPOILED here having such great interaction and staff willing to listen and make changes for their players but I still think communication could be improved. Ban/suspend/mute the ragers/flamers. Try to get people who don't normally interact in on the discussions (maybe in-game popups the lead to forums where people can vote on issues? Or maybe in game voting? I dunno.)

Just some random thoughts.
 
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manolo

Adept
I'm a huge fan of wands in general because the reality is that many battles are far from being evenly matched in terms of the number of players but wands can be used by the underdog as a tool to even the odds. My suggestion would be to give heal wands for everyone but prevent offensive wands from being used to target non-militia blue players if you want to protect noobs from getting zapped. Totally excluding reds from using wands would put them at a ridiculous disadvantage given the current mob agro mechanics and stat loss.
 
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Silly Santa

Grandmaster
noone of these changes are on live.

some of test some are just in brains.
Where are the notes on what changes were published on the test shard? If this is only being posted in discord sometimes, how are we supposed to know what to test on the test shard.. and what to expect... before said changes gets implemented on live ?
 

Darkarna

Grandmaster
It's quite the pickle.

The other day in Discord I saw staff reply to someone asking if they read a discussion thread on forum with (paraphrased) "its just the same usual suspects every time and the threads eventually become unproductive due to ego/flaming" while there is tons of truth to that, I don't think that means dismissing the threads entirely is the right choice.

Then if that is the attitude, remove the general/pvp discussion forums and keep the trading/roleplay and other sections that are heavily monitored and/or whatever.
 

jkg8787

Master
My suggestion would be to give heal wands for everyone but prevent offensive wands from being used to target blue players if you want to protect noobs from getting zapped.

This is a perfect example of a "middle-ground suggestion" I mentioned above which will ultimately be completely ignored. Lol. But I like it.
 

jkg8787

Master
Then if that is the attitude, remove the general/pvp discussion forums and keep the trading/roleplay and other sections that are heavily monitored and/or whatever.
That was my paraphrasing and probably a bit of my bias. Not their exact words. Im not mentioning names both to prevent drama and because tbh I cant remember 100% who it was.
 

Darkarna

Grandmaster
That was my paraphrasing and probably a bit of my bias. Not their exact words. Im not mentioning names both to prevent drama and because tbh I cant remember 100% who it was.

You don't need to explain, it has been said quite a few times before.

Wands are a different ball game, I loved them because they were easy to steal and easier to sell, more of a profit based item for a thief than any actual usage, the problem rests with people who can or can't use them *obviously*. I had a chat with Blair about them when they were first introduced and because of the ABC's they were limited to PVP only. Strangely, if they were allowed for all then perhaps this conversation might not be a thing.

Then we have the Third Party Program issue with wands, allowing the ability to set scripts which would be considered unfair, then things are changed to try and balance and once again, the pitchforks and torches are making their rounds.

Strange really, how everything always seems to land back at the core issue, third party programs.
 

girana

Grandmaster
This is a perfect example of a "middle-ground suggestion" I mentioned above which will ultimately be completely ignored. Lol. But I like it.

its ignore because staff said healwands for reds/thiefs/greys/etc while fighting blues is no option at all.

Totally excluding reds from using wands would put them at a ridiculous disadvantage given the current mob agro mechanics and stat loss.

but thats the gameplan.



Best solution is:


Make Bandages +2 sec for ppl in militas.
Make Firehorns/Wands/Bolas only work while any nocut area + any guardzone.

pvpers gets what they want and the rest of the population isnt touched.
 

jkg8787

Master
You don't need to explain, it has been said quite a few times before.

Wands are a different ball game, I loved them because they were easy to steal and easier to sell, more of a profit based item for a thief than any actual usage, the problem rests with people who can or can't use them *obviously*. I had a chat with Blair about them when they were first introduced and because of the ABC's they were limited to PVP only. Strangely, if they were allowed for all then perhaps this conversation might not be a thing.

Then we have the Third Party Program issue with wands, allowing the ability to set scripts which would be considered unfair, then things are changed to try and balance and once again, the pitchforks and torches are making their rounds.

Strange really, how everything always seems to land back at the core issue, third party programs.
While I agree that 3rd party programs and the differences between them definitely create lots of issues I think the actual issue is skill-differential.

This is a sandbox MMO meaning that naturally higher skilled individuals get to interact with low-skilled individuals. There are more low-skilled than high-skilled so they have a bigger voice. They get upset at dying due to skill imbalance and then go on to advocate for changes on their behalf.

I'm struggling to think of ANY modern game that doesn't use some type of Ladder system to separate players into groupings based on skill which is a natural balancing effect in and of itself.

While I'm not asking for a ladder system and don't see how that could even put in, I bring this up to clarify my point. Lesser skilled players SHOULD die and balancing to the lowest common denominator to suit them is a disastrous idea.

Really I think the only solution is tough-love. A trial by fire. Newbs simply must be ground down and re-moulded. Unfortuneately what's more likely to happen is they just stop playing and leave.
 

De Medici

Grandmaster
Dont bring wands back. It sucks to restock and its just completly unnecessary. You can make enough damage with explo pots while running. Furthermore, you will just make pvp more complicated for new players.
 
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