Potjeh wrote:sfbmod wrote:Hardcore is cool and all, but that's what really destroyed UO for a lot of people. Trolls camp new players just because they could, making it impossible for new people to join much less enjoy the game long term. Even UO eventually put in balances to prevent that.
I haven't actually played UO, but from what I've read it seems that watering down is what destroyed it.
Some people like hardcore open PvP. Why shouldn't they get a niche game of their own? There's more than enough other MMOs for those that don't like it.
It's one of the longest running original MMO's, still around and sponsered by EA. So one could say the anti-griefing changes are what saved it.
I played it when it was first released in the late '90s and distinctly recall being constantly killed at the new player spawn point, never having a chance to actually get anywhere in the game longer than a few days to weeks at a time. My experiences with this game so far reminded me of that. Today a new player at UO can actually earn themselves a place in the world or be left along long enough to build friendships and join a community to help stay in the game for as long as they wish. Much like in real life. This game lacks that balance and realism simply. People don't just spawn out in the middle of nowhere or next to well established greifers who hate new players so much they kill them on sight, in real life. People tend to be born in an established community safe enough to allow them to be raised and grow up with half a chance at life. Or they don't start the game of life at all usually (village is slaughterd, tribe given smallpox infested blankets, etc.) This is why I made the comment that these type of unrealistic unbalanced unregulated "life simulation" survival games cater more towards the sociopathic or hardcore criminal psychopathic types. They get to act out their inner aggresion without having to worry about... "society".
This game's mechanics and overall structure seem really fun and ideal for gamers like us who are looking for a more open or free will type of sandbox game. However, there really should be some sort of balance or system made to allow for the non-sociopathic individuals to be able to either get ahead enough to protect themselves, or better yet just be left alone to not be harrassed. Wurm did this effectively by using two servers, their "Wild" and "Freedom" areas. Players can choose how "hardcore" or how much grief they want to endure in their search for a fun sandbox survival game. And I'm not saying that system is perfect, many gripe about the over-population of the Freedom server, but even that can be and actually is now being re-balanced. I'd just like to see this game, which I am enjoying more so than Wurm jorb (thank you, there is far more crafting variety in this game than Wurm), to find those kinds of balances as well.
I realize that this game does offer something like that with the ability to choose to spawn at a village at character creation. The few times I've tried this in the past there was noone or anything actually around to help. So perhaps it was just bad timing, but it gave the impression that I was imposing on someone else's property still and I would take off and .. get killed. Perhaps as this game matures there will be better established settlements that can help those who need that protection from the griefers to be allowed to get into this game to help fight the psychopaths. Or, perhaps the psychopaths will win and prevent anyone whom they choose not to exist in "their" world and the game will devolve into something only the Hun would enjoy. Those who value peace and all that mushy stuff will just have to find or make their own game as has been suggested here repeatedly.