Boring.

Credit where credit is due: the last event cycle you could get all the points you could want by doing the city with 9 mini-bosses and then 1 boss, most importantly, without ever touching the boring dungeon grind. That being said, it was far from being without it's own flaws/problems, but hey that aspect was really nice.

I thought this one was going to be different as well... where the maps and/or the Matriarch would offer a great alternative and you could ignore the bot train dungeons. However, that's impossible, as the maps themselves cost up to 20 points each, so you can't ignore the dungeon. Furthermore, turns out, the maps don't give any turn-in points and the Matriarch I have yet to see spawn or any progress being made. Doesn't seem it is anywhere near as popular as the manifestation was, but is also competing with the dungeon going on at the same time, and the fact you can silently not contribute to the Matriarch spawning (WHY?). 

So I checked out the dungeon. Innovative stuff here, the same thing we've gotten for the last 7+ years? The rotation was in Deceit (3rd ToT to include Deceit BTW) not like it would be any more fun in a different dungeon. At least I could just stay in the main hallway near the rest of the "players" that are huddled in piles, as a safety net. I play an archer so I could fight near and with them, mostly struggling to even attack most things before they immediately die (I play CC so I don't get to auto attack everything the millisecond it shows up on the screen). Luckily some things had high hit points so I could still get a few swings on it.

About 30 minutes in I am no longer doing damage, got hit with the anti-afk. I was moving around, albeit in a very small area, so clearly not afk, but got hit anyways.... sure whatever cool. I guess I don't know the 'secret' all those other "players" know to not get hit by the timer.

... and I'm already done with this before it's barely even started. Not interested in another 3.5 months of the most boring grinding. You can have it, and I hope you enjoy it more than I did. I, like the majority of players, can't stand to do another one of these, therefore, as far as I'm concerned no new content for me.

Instead, I will be spending this 3.5 months in game time during the ToT to clean out/consolidate my few accounts down to one, converting everything to platinum by selling off all my 27 years of UO stuff . I had started this just over a year ago, closing 3 accounts. I put that on pause over the last year with the announcement of the new leadership and the summer with the glimmer of hope with the Mistas event. But now I sadly see it's back to being the same boring status quo content that I thought was being depreciated.

I have been told multiple times "if you're so upset with the game, why don't you quit?"
Well, as the zoomers would say, "BET". The time is neigh.

I will be down to 0-2 accounts by the time this event ends. Maybe I'll leave one open to check out New Legacy next go but it sounds like the events there were much the same as live.

ps: game time for this account doesn't run out for another 5 months so you'll have to deal with me until then at minimum.

username said:

I guess I don't know the 'secret' all those other "players" know to not get hit by the timer.

This one had me cracking up.

I felt the same doing the Trammel version in nov/dec 2024.. what is the point to PLAY my single account when I could be auto farming on both? Do I want to auto farm? no..

Then I had fun on Felucca, for 4-6 days, till the moment they started doing the choo choo PvP train. I was powerless vs 3 players cuz in fact they were using 12 characters.

imo, the content/grind ain't THE problem but only the conditions and terms of said grind.. it's even promoted, wich is sad. (legit user triggering the AFK mechanism while the third party user can reply to a GM while sun bathing on the beach and auto grinding)

KroDuK said:

imo, the content/grind ain't THE problem but only the conditions and terms of said grind.. it's even promoted, wich is sad. (legit user triggering the AFK mechanism while the third party user can reply to a GM while sun bathing and auto grinding)

I can 100% see that but at this point I really couldn't care less about bots. I tried for YEARS to page on them and push for reform but it seems they've won, just like the 3rd party client users. Correction, it's 100% obvious both of those groups won.

The problem is these ToTs are designed SPECIFICALLY for those types of "players" and "play style" in mind. No legitimate player enjoys the boring grinds. Check out the cheater Discords if you don't believe me. They say this content is given to them as their payday. Pathetic.

I can't do this anymore. 7 years of the same thing, with a few minor variations that gave me a glimmer of hope only to be crushed shortly afterwards with the release of another boring ass ToT. I had hope for @Kyronix for change to this but this is also 100% clear these lazy TOTs are here to stay.

username said:

The problem is these ToTs are designed SPECIFICALLY for those types of "players"

I hate to admit.. you are 100% correct.. by design it's intentional, BS want them to sub as much as they can.. they showering them with Heresy while they blatantly botting on multiple accounts.

username said:

Check out the cheater Discords if you don't believe me. They say this content is given to them as their payday. Pathetic.

I'm not cheating and I share the same believes.

username said:

No legitimate player enjoys the boring grinds.

I'd argu on that.. I LOVED those ToT à la SamuraiEmpire first edition.. but once every 18 months for 3 months.. I would already feel spoiled, even in better "legit" conditions.

That being said:

username said:

I can't do this anymore. 7 years of the same...

I hvn'T experience those ToT every 6 months for the past 7 yrs, so.. take my enthousiasm for ToT with a grain of salt.
In fact I stopped playing UO after ~10 days of my first ToT under BS.. cuz of said conditions.
(i came back in June 2024 played everyday full time, grinding, gathering, farming, crafting.. till dec 2024)

So yeah, I still got that virgin drive for ToTs, but the last one i played in FULL, was samurai empire the first edition in ~2004.. very good memories of this one. The most valuable items were freaking aesthetic dyes.. good stuff.

Mariah said:

I'm sorry to disagree, but This 'legitimate player' does enjoy these events. I might not, I suppose, if they were the only thing I did, but I do many, many other things as well in between.

Go try it on Felucca, come back to me.

I couldn't tolerate sampie followed by x automated garg thrower on his back from Trammel and the little spawn on Trammel.. so I went on Felucca.. you can FEEL the problem if u ain't bother by automated bots all around the map on Trammel.. u gonna FEEL it on Felucca no matter what.


Heck when I call one of those cheater on main chat.. he puts one of his automated garg thrower on my back.. the reason why I went on Felucca...

Edit: all that to say.. I could acnkowledge I hvn'T experienced what the OP did (i'm still  a virgin in this case).. but u did not do that.. wich is dishonest, imo.
PS: as far as I know you are friend with those third party cheater like Cookie.. so yeah, take what she saying with a HUGE grain of salt.

I like killing stuff, so I think this is fun.


First, why would someone want to play in Fel? @KroDuK ; Not an option for those that do not want harassment when they play.  Would be nice if only those who play UO would give feedback.

Bots are an Atlantic problem in dungeons.  I can kill the mobs before they get to them.  

Lots of mobs that can not be reached.

Deceit opened and was much better.

Just piles of Mobs after I killed. 

@Kyronix ; But the Fame is not placed very well.  The Overseer does not give me any fame and it takes the longest.  Some others do not give fame either.  I think the Ophidians are ok.
The Paladin and Brittle weapons wear out too fast.  Nice to give Macers weapons finally, But they lose more than 250 durability per hour.  Need more paragons on LS,  should be 1/10  there's 20 to 30 mobs and not 1 para in a group.

Pawain said:

First, why would someone want to play in Fel?

KroDuK said:

Heck when I call one of those cheater on main chat.. he puts one of his automated garg thrower on my back.. the reason why I went on Felucca...

I legit only start reading and I already *smh*
(it was to be able to kill the bots, duh..)
Wich I was doing, even with reds trying to chase me out of the zones.. till the moment RED vanish to start doing the blue choo choo PvP bots train.


Consider this: if you're friend with cheaters like Cookie, using third party with 5 accounts.. all u can do is mess around like on your thief hunting hidden chest from time to time, to complete your group of friends.
Wich is why u wasting your time.. User do not seems to be the kind of guy to be friend with a group of cheaters that would ToT on multiple account 24/7.

PS: I only assume u came here to help Mariah take, cuz after that first sentence.. I couldn't care less to read the rest.. u have to be trolling.

Also, do not forget; Paiwan is also an automation lover.. cheering GMs to sanction people reporting them bots: https://forums.uo.com/discussion/15510/did-you-know-saying-hi-trumps-the-tos

So yeah, "I" like killing stuff, so I think this is fun.. next..

Edit: btw not only ATL shard is a sandbox.. when u saying botting is an ATL problem.. all shard have market run by "players". This is such a bad take.

You want me to fantasy play UO like you do, I prefer to really play, and kill stuff.  Thanks tho.

Still don't understand Sarcasm I see.  When did I become the decider on which accounts get actioned?

Pawain said:

When did I become the decider on which accounts get actioned?

You were (still are) a cheerleaders, son.

Pawain said:

You want me to fantasy play UO like you do, I prefer to really play, and..

*insert the BDSM chair picture* he's ready to be strapped in, for another 3months.. let's goooo!!
Automation lover, shouldn't be allowed to speak on a ToT grinding topic.

Pawain said:

I prefer to really play, and kill stuff.

Pawain said:

I can't reach that automation activated  🙁
Was he your automated pocket healer? 

Edit: my bad your "attended" automated bot pocket healer cuz:"these people go thru a lot of trouble to automate the game."
Use; "we" not "these".

I was hoping for something more laid back like the last event for my thief. This one is more aimed for the slash n bash. I can only stomach killing stuff for a very limited time so i think i will get the bare min for what i want and call it a day. 

Not taking away from anyone else that does enjoy this gameplay, just not for me. Props for the rewards and pets though. 

KroDuK said:

I can't reach that automation activated (while taking a screenshot).. "play"  🙁
Was he your automated pocket healer?

Yup  CUO can open corpses like CC.  When you walk away too fast, the corpse is not close enough to open so you get that message. It makes lag in a crowd.  I think i will turn off that, there is too much gold to grab, I'd rather not see it.  Amazing what you learn by playing a game.

This dungeon event too easy to need a Bard following. Nothing does enough damage.

Needs more Paragons on LS. @Kyronix ; thanks!

He really wants us to believe he only has corpse open activated.

I know you ain't the sharpest tool but no way on earth u'd have that activated and just now realised when I point it out that u should shut it down.. nothing more triggering than having trash mobs corpse that u have no intention of looting popping randomly on your screen while trying to fight a ToT content..

Be honest..

Pawain said:

Yup  CUO can open corpses like CC.  When you walk away too fast, the corpse is not close enough to open so you get that message. It makes lag in a crowd.

PS: on CC it ain't doing that without an illegal loop activated.. if u ain't close enough, no spamming like u got.

No I might shut it down because it takes a while to open them all in a crowd.  And there is too much gold, I cant resist grabbing it.

So, make your fantasies happen on someone else besides me.

You can come watch me play, like I invited you the last event.  Not that exciting to watch me go from one group to the next and WW them to death.

And CC does it if you have war mode on.  It does not have lag like CUO so it opens them as soon as they die.  Its not still trying to open them after you leave.

And u say you know a little about computers?  Well maybe not since you don't know how things work.

i really like this event also, having alot of fun with it, you ever notice it always the same 2 people complaining about this stuff? there is other games out there guys.

Whitewolf said:

i really like this event also, having alot of fun with it, you ever notice it always the same 2 people complaining about this stuff? there is other games out there guys.

They pay to complain here, I doubt either play.  They get ideas to complain about from Discord.  They are banned from those, so they have to come here.

Whitewolf said:

i really like this event also, having alot of fun with it, you ever notice it always the same 2 people complaining about this stuff? there is other games out there guys.

The numbers do not lie.

A game like UO should have wayyyyy bigger number.. Mythic and now BS corporate culture ain't it.
Just compare it with a game like Albion online.. UO could have a 10 times better Open World and numbers.
PS: 2 people on 9 total (not considering alts) is alarming 

@paiwan I was busting your balls /s.. cuz you are an automation lover.. I found that hilarious u were doing automation while taking a screenshot. Nothing serious here.. a good third party wouldn't be that obvious. Do not sweat it.

I love the auto door open and open corpse.  Also how NL was not fel in it!

I'm a simple man.

It is a system hog.  I can't run 3 UOs and stream TV.  
Laggy for opening corpses and HP bars don't update.

KroDuK said:

Be honest..

Pawain said:

I'm a simple man.

   

Whitewolf said:

i really like this event also, having alot of fun with it, you ever notice it always the same 2 people complaining about this stuff? there is other games out there guys.

Tell me you didn't read anything, without telling me you didn't read anything.

KroDuK said:

The numbers do not lie.

A game like UO should have wayyyyy bigger number.. Mythic and now BS corporate culture ain't it.
Just compare it with a game like Albion online.. UO could have a 10 times better Open World and numbers.

Comparing it to Albion Online is kind of odd since Albion has that cartoonish 3D look that many UO players despise (and Albion's housing system sucks, I put it with Final Fantasy's).  Unfortunately, cartoonish 3D games seem to do extremely well.

While it's fun to blame them, UO's drop started way before Broadsword, and years before Mythic - although Mythic introduced the most horrible branding, with all of the black graphics and later that idiotic Ultima Forever game that sucked up resources that could have been spent on UO.

With that said, the ultimate problem for UO is that it was not supposed to last more than a year or two (so was hastily written and used hacked-together coding from DOS games), and then the competition really started kicking in between 2001-2004. 

A lot of MMO players simply do not care for UO's perspective/graphics style. I've tried to get my guilds from various other MMOs to try UO, and the ex-UO players were usually game, but everybody else just turned their nose up at it. Part of getting UO out to a larger audience would probably involve changes to the clients and probably a change in the artwork so that it scaled better (which would require going to something more akin to Diablo III's 3D environment). This might not make a lot of current players happy even if it made development easier (using a modern engine).

With that said, whether you or others agree or disagree, the content has been coming fairly fast and furious. I came in at the end of the last event in February/March, and a few months went by and then *BAM* Rifted Crown, NL Publish 3/Fractured Veil, Halloween, and now the Draconic story line.  That's a really solid 5 months of activity, and things are planned out for the next 4 months..

Lokea said:

Comparing it to Albion Online is kind of odd since Albion has that cartoonish 3D look that..

Let me stop you right here.
AO original dev team, plan the entire game design based on Ultima Online.

It was a lesser UO and still is.

If u wanna talk about cartoonish go try Dofus. Design wise AO is what UO was.. just a lesser version of it (way smaller and less complete)


PS: you should know better than anyone i'm looking at the actual version and actual work that is being done. since june 2024 the best thing for UO (except false announcement like a WAR in summer 2024 and CC upg for summer 2025) was a third clients.. I could name you a VERY long list of bad things for UO long term, starting with NL.. or just look at my avatar picture..

We could do so much more, imo, with the actual work force we have.. starting by shutting down NL and those temporary 3 months event every 6 months. do them every 18 months for 3 months (it could rain) then perm content and work on your open world PvP & sandbox tools.. like the sims pets theme pack idea I drop recently.

So much stuff could be done.. we could at least TRY.. but from where I sit, We gave up, working on a lesser UO; a passion Theme Park project + those temp events for prodo with BiS heresy that is killing the sandbox even more.

We just going down n down for short term success bribery.. it ain't an opinion here, it's a fact, if u consider UO as a sandbox. (horizontal sandbox vs vertical themepark UO) with no new harder, real perm content.. it's just a joke.. 95% of the content is ruined for short term success.

Just activating the RNG roll on those BiS on a PERM content with fewer pieces every 18 months.. seems so f'ing obvious.. way easier for them also.. more time to fix more stuff like the balance.

Instead of promoting the multi bots every 6 months for 3months with a poop load of BiS heresy on temp event, that kills the Sandbox for short term success..

We could at least try, so much idea we could try, instead of digging even more for the long term.
Cuz soon enough the prodo is going to be normal D2 (the non seasonal ladder/ non NL) if we don't wake up.

Edit: I still maintain, with the 30yrs+ people or anyone with a potato PC; UO could still be in the top 10 MMOrpg, with 100k+ player base, easy.  Where is the guild PvP stuff? I'm looking at you HS!! So much stuff could be done instead of promoting the mutli bots events on prodo while working on a passion project.
NL is not what it was supposed to be, it's a niche for a niche. And those temporary bribe events are an heresy for the sandbox prodo on the long term.

Here is how many will open, they started closing, the mobs last longer than previous but less than normal.  I guess they improved Atlantic Lag.  The mobs just come right on over to my Hammer.

KroDuK said:

Let me stop you right here.
AO original dev team, plan the entire game design based on Ultima Online.

It was a lesser UO and still is.

Let me stop you right there - I've played Albion Online. Sure, it's open world, a sand box, but the similarities end there - otherwise you might as well try to say that Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are just alike because they are racing games. A better comparison would have been Legends of Aria (which was meant to be a true UO spiritual successor), complete with noted former UO developers behind it, but it's dead.

Look I respect AO - open world/sandbox MMOs are unicorns these days and should be encouraged, and I love, love the multi-platform work they put in, and it's truly multi-platform.  Magic systems were different, Combat - AO was more gear-driven (reminiscent of WOW's "use this weapon and armor for X amount of time until you move up). Progression is different. The UI and graphics, as we both noted, are way different.  But they are just too different and AO feels more limiting than UO when it comes to housing, etc. (if an MMO has housing, I expect it to come closer to UO than Final Fantasy).

KroDuK said:

We could do so much more, imo, with the actual work force we have.. starting by shutting down NL and those temporary 3 months event every 6 months. do them every 18 months for 3 months (it could rain) then perm content and work on your open world PvP & sandbox tools.. like the sims pets theme pack idea I drop recently.

So much stuff could be done.. we could at least TRY.. but from where I sit, We gave up, working on a lesser UO; a passion Theme Park project + those temp events for prodo with BiS heresy that is killing the sandbox even more.
......................

Edit: I still maintain, with the 30yrs+ people or anyone with a potato PC; UO could still be in the top 10 MMOrpg, with 100k+ player base, easy.  Where is the guild PvP stuff? I'm looking at you HS!! So much stuff could be done instead of promoting the mutli bots events on prodo while working on a passion project.
NL is not what it was supposed to be, it's a niche for a niche. And those temporary bribe events are an heresy for the sandbox prodo on the long term.

NL was almost always packed when I played, and almost always at "Medium" on the shard population screen when logging in, with only Atlantic or one of the Japanese shards matching/beating it. And when I say packed, I mean Atlantic levels of packed. 2-3 events going on at any one time with plenty of players.  Moonglow looked like ATL Luna.

It clearly is not for you, but it was great for many UO players, as evidenced by all of the discussions on various forums/Discord, as well as in general chat as we were all saying our goodbyes this weekend and preparing to play on the normal shards. When non-NL players see what is brought over to production shards, a lot more people will be playing NL season 2 when it starts. I think maybe there was some confusion over what it is, what it was meant to be and even I was a bit leery about it at first. I think some people saw the initial quests and gave up, and those initial quests, while boring to UO vets with their UO cut-scenes, etc., serve a purpose of getting new players up-to-speed on a lot of things. Once you get past them and into the larger NL world, it's a nice new aspect to UO.

I wish you had seriously played it - I played way too little as it is, and wished I had played more, because I was playing with people I don't normally play with, I was doing things that really can't be done on a production shard without upsetting some players (big changes to systems, etc.), and there was always something to do. I literally had to skip a lot of the NL content because of time constraints. I only really did the antiquities stuff, Fractured Veil at the end, and way too little of a lot of other stuff.

And stuff was tested on NL that has made its way to production shards (or will in the future) and benefitted the production shards (Rifted Crown could not have happened with NL) and it's a shame you don't appreciate that, because they were able to test systems and designs on a large scale and get player feedback.

When you say it's a niche for a niche, you are telling me that you didn't actually login and see a lot of the activity, even though you could have seen that it was the 2nd or 3rd most active shard every day on the shard population screen at login.  The devs absolutely saw how active it was, and we wouldn't be getting a season 2 if it wasn't active enough.

When S2 starts, login and create a character, and I will help you and get you started so you can see for yourself all of the content that was available.  If you still don't like it, fine, no problem with that, but there were more than enough people playing to justify it, especially as its systems that were popular will be moved over to production.

Lokea said:

Let me stop you right there - I've played Albion Online. Sure, it's open world, a sand box, but the similarities end there

I thought you were book smart.
Look for interviews from the original 4. They were 3 dev + 1 business guy at SBI when the beta launch.
You clearly never touched AO.

PS: AO does the job for a while, but if you're on PC and ain't brain dead(FPS style); after 9-12 months u play something else. Cuz it's a lesser version of what UO used to be (good OW PvP with risk vs reward); built for mobile devices.
Just look at the actual event.. 0 risk vs reward.. u can go on Felucca for the same loot.  😂
Take more risk for 0 more reward. pathetic.. it shows the HUGE disconnect from the actual dev team with their sandbox product/game.. even, if a simple look at NL could show the same.


UO should have tens of thousands of neck beard playing the game.


I've read the rest but I'm trying to ignore it cuz so much stuff.. like; UO spiritual successor was SotA. -.-

Shard Online was a copy pasta of UO. You clearly do not know what a spiritual successor is. (you got the essence but not the DNA) Like AO got the DNA but not the essence... SO had both.
The problem with SO.. aka LoA is their kickstarter campaign.. they wanted/needed to do camelot unchained numbers, they didn't even made 5% of that number. (CU did ~2,2m months prior to them; they did ~100k) It was during the hype of the kickstarter MMO era.. and Garriot had already raffle the money; ~2m, from the UO lover not long before CU, ~1 year prior SO.
Yes, I was one of the sucker that drop 40 bucks on SotA.


But yeah, i'll stop here cuz as usual.. I could write 3 paragraphs for every sentences u said. I'm disapointed; this time around u decided to lie on top of twisting the facts/bending the reality to fit your narrative.
                                                 


But I get it; the "message" how can u be bored on UO with such a good produce as NL being around!

You made valid points, not!



Edit: sry I had to:

Lokea said:

NL... it was great for many UO players, as evidenced by all of the discussions on various forums/Discord, as well as in general chat as we were all saying our goodbyes this weekend and preparing to play on the normal shards.

Lokea said:

When you say it's a niche for a niche, you are telling me that you didn't actually login ...

In the same freaking post.. this is 

You even keep going:

Lokea said:

When non-NL players see what is brought over to production shards, a lot more people will be playing NL season 2 when it starts.

Do you even know what a niche to a niche is?
Do you prefer my other comparison: they building a new shed and painting the driveway connecting to the house. while the house's foundation is full of cracks? Instead of fixing they adding more, with those temp event with heretic items bribery for short term success.. Sub as much as you can.

We need a poop load of this:
                                              

@KroDuK People say and promise stuff in interviews all the time, but when the actual game is out there, you see exactly what their final intent is. If there are major differences, it is hard to call it a spiritual successor, and it's even harder to call it a spiritual successor when the conditions in 2025 are so vastly different than in 1997-1999 (I'll get to that in a minute). Great, they wanted an open world sandbox MMO. So do plenty of other MMOs, but again, saying they are alike is like saying Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are alike. Albion has some great stuff - I love the multi-platform play, love several other things about it, loved some of the multi-player aspects, but ultimately UO has a much better housing system, and is so much deeper and immersive, and feels more like an RPG which is what I prefer.

The problem for a lot of people, is we can never go back to the 1990s UO and we can never truly have a spiritual successor. Doesn't matter if it's a new MMO that declares itself a "spiritual successor", or a third-party clone with a different ruleset, or a group of former UO dev team members (or the man himself) trying to recapture that 1990s-era magic.

We can't go back to that time or declare a true spiritual successor because here in 2025, anybody interested in playing with a bunch of people can find exactly the kind of game they want, with the ruleset they want (PvM or PvP, non-consensual PvP vs arena-style, instanced vs non-instanced, etc., etc). 

From 1997 - mid-1999, if you wanted to play with a mass of players, UO was it (sorry Meridian 59). We were all crammed together in what we now call Felucca, and we were all confined to one ruleset. Casual players playing an hour in the evening out of curiosity, college students playing 12 hours a day, PvPers who cut their teeth on Doom and Quake, people who just wanted to mine or farm or kill monsters and didn't want conflicts and just wanted to sell or make their goods in peace and quiet.

For better or for worse, you had a massive amount of very different people with diverse playstyles crammed into the wonderful world of UO because it was the only MMO in town (I'm so sorry Meridian 59), and it made UO feel so very special, and you can't recapture that because now everybody picks the game they want instead of playing the only game available. When EQ came out in '99, it peeled some people off. When Tram opened up, it spread us out and reduced a lot of the friction between PvPers and non-PvPers. And then more and more games became available in an incredibly short stretch of time from 2001-2006. UO grew up along the way.

By the way, if you are looking for inspired by/would-be spiritual successors (assuming we are talking about 90s-era UO), you are sleeping on EVE Online - I would consider it more of one than AO, as well as Star Wars Galaxies, and both of those games are my favorite MMOs behind UO. UO's DNA is/was all over them (literally with Raph Koster and SWG).

As for Shards Online/Legends of Aria and Shroud of the Avatar - both had solid ex-UO folks behind them, and I backed both of them and don't regret it, I'm just disappointed. They tried to find their own way around to claiming the mantle of "spiritual successor", but both made decisions that upset a lot of us. SoTA also couldn't figure out what it wanted to do - it had a push/pull effect of trying to be an always-online multiplayer game while trying to recapture the single-player RPG magic of the Ultimas. At times it was sold as an MMORPG, at other times it was sold as a follow-up to the single-player Ultimas with multiplayer aspects. I can praise both and critique both, but that would make this post too long.

I actually believe that NL is pretty close to being a spiritual successor of the 1990s UO.  It threaded the needle on providing that persistent feel that MMOs give us, while also providing a lot of the RPG aspects that people wanted. It gave us better single-player quests in some ways (particularly if you were new to UO) than production UO, but it also gave us storylines/events that could only be done with other players.

It shrank the world down so that we were all constantly bumping into one another, something you don't get outside of Luna and one or two other places on production shards. It forced many of us to run/ride to various locations, or ask for a gate.

Cutting down the variety of weapons and armor got us back to the 1990s UO playstyles where a vanq or power weapon and some fortified or invulnerable armor was all you needed. You could literally loot monsters and then fight the next monster with what you looted (and because of how weapons and armor wore down, plenty of us did just that). Luck didn't matter.  There was no way of powdering your equipment for durability. You didn't need to spend tens of millions of gold building the exact suit you needed (although I'm sure some spent hundreds of thousands of gold on their suits to look good at the Moonglow bank/moongate). 

With only two character slots, you had to get creative and rely on other players. I repaired/upgraded a fair share of equipment for other players that couldn't do it themselves (looted equipment started at 25 durability and I could bump that up). That's something I had not really done after Tram opened up and more and more people had their own houses and could safely build their super crafters/mules (and with the introduction of BODs, many players made their own super-crafters). I repaired more gear for more players in NL over the past 2-3 months than I did from late 2000 - 2013.

I know you may find all of that boring, and that's fine, but I had a blast, as did my kid, and it brought a lot of players from a lot of shards together, and I saw so many players that were sad it was over, and that is awesome (while also being sad).

When Season 2 starts, let's both go to the NL S2 shard on Day 1, and continue this conversation in person and talk about what we see from players coming back to NL, and maybe play together for a bit - I think we may agree on more things than you realize.

@username

This was during an argument on Discord.  Sounds serious.

Was I cheating when I played Mistas on 2 shards at the same time? 😂

KyronixUO — 4:44 PMThursday, October 16, 2025 4:44 PM

Pawain said:

@ username

This was during an argument on Discord.  Sounds serious.

Was I cheating when I played Mistas on 2 shards at the same time? 😂

KyronixUO — 4:44 PMThursday, October 16, 2025 4:44 PM

You can play multiple characters per shard (multi clienting) if you are actively playing those characters. The bottom line is if you FAFO with scripts and automation be prepared to face the consequences. I’ve said that multiple times.

Sounds as serious as his threat to those KNOWN people that are botting housing. He's super cereal. I'm sure all those 25 (in the same guild) botted sampires on Atlantic are scared.

username said:

I'm sure all those 25 (in the same guild) botted sampires on Atlantic are scared.

 😂

Words gonna word. Meanwhile we can judge the action (lack of it) and the state of the game with our own eyes.

Just log on CC and go try this event on Felucca. Every players are going to be frame skipping all over the place, impossible for you to stay on top of them.. when they're not.. It's their automated sampies bots.