Hail dear EnigmaUO players. Hi Draconis (as I have already found out who's the admin of this game). First I want to thank the Staff for providing us the unique UO experience, something I was looking for years, but nobody seemed to be interested in recreating pre-alpha era.

I used to find original pre-alpha client and source code(it is still on my pc somewhere) and hacked the .exe file so that it could connect to the emulator and ran the game, but I did know figure out how to script so that's it. SInce like 2005 that client was around and I know that many people were trying to run it and recreate this game once again, but for various reasons these projects never saw light and developing either did not even start or was canceled without any file distribution, as usually. This is great to see a completely working and stable pre-alpha client and server online. I will talk about it more, but first, I want to describe, how I feel about UO and what I am actually thinking about pre-alpha.

To be honest, I never managed to play pre-Alpha. I started playing UO in the last beta perioud (around July-Aug 1997). But I can figure that it was a completely for lulz sake testing project to see how players would interact with each other, before the main game was getting ready. Developers did not take pre-alpha serious, let's be honest. But pre-alpha had an incredible impact on UO as a whole. So if we are talking about early pre-T2A UO, pre-Alpha cannot go without mention, IMO. In the stage of pre-alpha it was found out that the mechanics and bugs is not the only problem of the first MMO. People and developers have met PK's and griefers. Everybody discovered that cooperation is imporant in this game. First guilds have been formed.

But pre-alpha was a minor, temporary stage of the game with nothing much implemented there. Few spells, monsters and skills. However, all of us know (because I don't think there are any "new school" players here) that since UO development continued, the concept of the game was basically ruined. What I mean is that as time passed, old UO ideas were let go and the game was further developed into a completely another game and was eventually turned into Trammel.

In my opinion, the best UO era is pre-T2A and the early one. The following addon (T2A) is a completely different game. I think that the best UO experience, or at least "how it should have been" was briefly shown in pre-T2A era, before the game developers started to ruin it.

OSI had huge sandbox ideas planned towards UO. These include ecology system, persistent world and other stuff. In fact, in early UO animals would attack each other, and new players aswell, but it was annoying at those times so they soon disabled it. This video here actually reveals some OSI plans for the game, which never turned out to be true. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CyO7ur6 ... 3BE2D80F20

Since a lot of problems back in the day (pk rage, slow connection issues, countless bugs) OSI decided to "postpone" most of the project until the game was put in order. However, the realease of another game, which was non-PvP or anything, was very attractive to the players and OSI eventually decided to make UO more "new player friendly" thus forgetting their old plans and making it anti-PK, which eventually turned into all this unnecessary bullshit (Trammel, Malas, Injure items etc.). In other words, once perfect game became an old-fashioned WoW-like.

But let's see how the early (pre-T2A UO) looks like, without any additions, customs etc. Basically, it is (since a lot of the original ideas were let go) an incomplete game. For example, house placement. Placing houses in UO is unfair. People who are lucky to place a house on a good business spot are either playing the shard with low population or are lucky to place one on the first day of a shard with online count as IPY. Originally, OSI wanted to create a completely persistent world, with ecology, politics and other systems. Nothing is static (even resources are exaustable). So, as it was initially intended, a player could effect other people lives by various means, not just killing them. In fact, if you download a release UO manual, you will see that it says that house doors are pickable, which we all know, isn't true. If UO became what it was originally planned, a player, no doubt, should have payed taxes for good housing spots, near moongates, cities etc. He could not just hold monopoly on trades. But since it is not, a very dedicated player or a guild can basically take over all the main trading spots and his vendors will be the only, which are needed. This situtation will make new players, either forget about making a vendor house or deal with the owner so he could let the new players use his houses to place a vendor there etc. On the shards with a huge online count such as UOG or IPY2, these spots are taken usually on the first/second day after launch. Same thing. Until these houses are sold or collapsed, other players cannot do anything with them. The whole point of this - static gameplay.

With that being said, I find house placing in UO unfair. Thus only lucky players or players playing on the low pop shards can achieve great spots. I got a lot of MG houses from a quiter on another shard. I gave most of them away to the new players and let the rest drop. Why? What for? I don't see a competition here, nor do I find it interesting to use these spots because the game offers me much less freedom than I thought 13 years ago. When I started playing UO, I thought that its features are limitless. But after many years of playing, I figured out that PvP is actually the only fun in this game. Anything else is grinding. Mining, chopping, macroing, farming mobs etc. It is all grinding, no competition, nothing. In "Original UO" they did not plan monsters to respawn just like that. In fact, if a dragon would have nothing to eat he could attack a nearby village etc. But what we got in reality, is what we have.

Basically, UO is a sandbox game with static everything. Static map, which you cannot modify, static weather (snow, rain), which give does not change the gameplay at all, static light leves (which also do not affect anything, just annoying sometimes) and static economy (every 30 minute default items restock on every single town NPC), I mean no economy at all. If you guys have played early Ultima games, then you can remember as how NPC's used to wake up, have a dinner break, go to tavern, go to sleep, work since Ultima 5 I think. In UO (even though UO is much younger than U5) they just stand there 24/7 as zombies...for 14+ years. In early UO they used at least talk something, but later even NPC conversations were removed.

You know guys...we all had a feeling of joy when we could take revenge on someboyd in UO. You know..he whacked you, you came back, whacked him. This is why how most of us got our UO experience. We did not read manuals nor did we try to learn the mechanics. We just played. And PvP offered a lot to learn. But let's face it. There is not game with more stupid PvP than UO. I mean, running around in the woods and randomly attacking any player you see, just because it is either too boring to not to attack him, or he will attack you. What's the purpose? Loot? Naw. The dependance on the gameplay is what makes us crazy. We do not have other choices rather than kill, loot, grief, duel etc. I personally know at least two players who only do crafting in game. Not matter what is the shards online...all they do is mining, chopping, crafting. To me it sounds like a syndrome or so because it is the most boring stuff to do, especially on the shard with 2-3 people playing.

Imagine if UO became what is was planned to. Players could become kings or feudal lords, for example. Guilds could form, make wealth in the towns, run for a political offices, compete with other guys. There would be reason. But dayummmmmmmmmmmmm...........whats the aim of killing a guy you never heard of? He is not even against actually, he is down for being attacked, because it is still fun for him. He dies, he trash talks, but its fun. Its like living in the ghetto suburban with countless of aimless murder. Not typical for the whole society.

World map? Its not big, but its not small either. But how many locations are actually used there? Two main towns + random spots random ppl prefer. No special locations with special resources to get, everything is the same everywhere. We cant go to another town just because some guild put a strict monopoly on the certain craft and demands huge taxes for you in order to work. Becuase there is no competition in this game.

UO is very sandboxish but at the same time its very limited. Not in the sense of mechanics, but in the sense of occupation. A very big, static map with a lot of drawn houses, two castles and they arent used for anything. Static furniture, static economy, NPC's who just sit there 24/7 etc. Other casual games like WoW are extremely static, but they don't claim to be any hardcore sandbox MMO. UO does, and no doubt it is/was. But its an incompelte game. A lot of stuff could be yet implemented, making gameplay even more interesting rather than just grinding, macroing and mindless slaughter. Just saying. UO2 would be even worse...it would not have free PvP, only in some specific areas, just like in WoW which is "wow".

One more point about UO. Shards population. Do you guys think it is better to have a shard with high or low population? Why? If you compare H&H and UO with the same player count (apx. 1500 players) then you will see that 1500 players in Haven affect the gameplay MUCH more greater, than the same ammount of players would do in UO. In H&H resouces are exhausted and big guilds try to regulate economy as possible. They punish people, who chop more wood than they allow on their territory, or who steal their iron, for example. UO is static. Thats why I am against shards with population of the IPY. Their politic system might be ok with their playerbase, but overall I find it harmful to have so many players. For me, the perfect population would be 50-100 active, unique players. Here's why. On the shards with low pop, you know everybody/most of the players or at least you have heard about a lot of guys. Player affairs become much more realistic/fun with populatioon of 50-75-100 people, because then you actually can affect players lives at some point. "OMG THAT BAD KARMA DUDE IS A GRIEFER BLAH BLAH" or "HEY TRAINBOW AND HIS BUDDY FILLED ALL THE MOONGATE SPOTS OUT THERE". There could be 2 or 3 really big guilds and they could be all in war with each other. That makes sence. "Hey wanna roll TG tonight?" "Yea these guys killed my alchy afk at my tower".

Now think about shards like UOSA, HYbrid, IPY. YOu don't know most of the people. Only people you ineract with. Most of the time, you just run into various random guys and kill them or they kill you. There's absoluetely no point in trash talking on forums, except if that dude is extremely famous, like Heavy Smoker or if its a big guild. "Orcs were fun tonight keep it up guys". But anything else doesnt matter. With low pop you can make yourself name, became famous, became outlawed by the community etc. On the big shards this game is nothing else but a slaughter. Without reason, without anything.

In H&H you dont want to aimlessly kill people, because you can be tracked down with your scents you leave after the crime and summoned from offline and be killed back. Thats why PvP is more reasonbale there. "These dudes robbed our village today lets ride" "Yea dawg lets ride on thez bitches tonight". Or "hey mah g's dead" "yea i heard these punks came here while we were afk" "damn man..wheres my fukin axe bro"?

See what I mean guys? UO could be perfected, but business is business. And making a player run shard with more sandboxish features is also pointess. How many free custom shards you know which are popular nowadays? Most of them are dead. People stick to "era accurate" oldschool stuff, but it's unfinished. I still don't get why OSI added blue/grey/red system and why did they add Trammel. Instead, they could make systems, which would punish players, but would not affect the gameplay - would not remove/limit the mechanics. For example, reds could have permdeath or get a life sentence (then escape from prison etc). THis could make a red think twice, but adding strict limitations is nonsense for any sandbox game IMO.

UO is a business project, thats why it failed.

Well, enough of UO. I just feeled like I want to describe my UO experience and what I think of this game and why it eventually dissatissfied me. Let's talk about EnigmaUO.

Well, nothing much to say here, but Bad Karma is now a new player here. Since I don't really want to play UO right now, I will spend some time here, since pre-Alpha project was my dream for years and I hope that somebody would finish it, not just start or think about it. Again, thank you Draconis for providing us that unique and true UO experience. My expectations here are about playing the game, which would be something, that I miss in the oldschool UO. Something, that UO could have become, but did not. It is ok, if there wont be much development here, I will still play, because pre-alpha sounds fun.

Now, the main part of my post.

2 short questions:

1)Is Darkness spell avaiable here?

2)How much do you (the Staff) think the game (its engine) can be modified? The point of that question is simple. Since pre-Alpha is basically nothing much, why not make a completely unique UO-like project out of it? Complete the map, npcs, skills, mechanics etc. Together we could create a new experience, something like "what UO should have been" or close. But I have no idea how limitless the developing could be on this kind of client/engine. So this question is all up to Staff.


Advertisings. I think I should make a new thread for that lol



IIght, I hope you guys survived through all this dietribe. Sorry, for a huge post, I was really excited to see a pre-alpha project live and decided to throw my humble 2 cents into this.

It's always pleasing to get great insights like this. It tells a lot about a person and their visions.

I apologize that the server is currently locked as we are doing a mass overhaul. The first test phase explained a lot and opened up information and ideas that were hidden to me before then. I want to make it clear, that we are not distributing a completely custom client. It is but a modified modern client. (5.x.x.x). With that its very obvious there are some limitations. The reason I chose to do this rather then a totally custom client is that in and of itself is a whole project that takes an extreme amount of time an patients. I can and have provided a very accurate experience so far. However, the biggest thing I seen quickly during the first test was we do not have enough here to make players stay.

A true replication of the prealpha, meaning every thing 100% would yield a very boring and lacking world. Here is where I make the difference: Many shards if not all of them replicate an era but change its workings so much that it really isn't what it claims. I don't mean in terms of "hey the pre-alpha didn't have a bounty system!", I mean taking away from its world. I seen a few T2A shard have things such as tokens, levelable items and many other great ideas, however they change the feel and potential of their original plans it no longer is the same world. A great example is UOGamers Revelations. No foundation, its to complex and doesn't keep a solid feel throughout. Too many directions. Every custom addition I have made here has been made to work in this world. A good example: the guard system here is realistic. You must be caught by a guard before he attacks you, there is never a safe moment for any player. Immediately this yields a very savage and risky environment. I just set the tempo, I need to be sure that any other system doesn't take away from another and that they all realistically fit with eachother. I wouldn't want to add mounts when my guards walk, nor add "safe-zones" making my guard useless. Thus making risk/reward very weak and conditioning my players to play like cowards. Many(not all) shard owners fail to see this.

To me the ideal population is as you said 50-100. Perhaps less. Currently the world is VERY small and couldn't natively support anymore. I think larger shards such as IPY and UOG, while they do great don't get me wrong, they offer a gamestyle that is NOT what UO is supposed to be and only attracts the truly immature and lazy players. Making skill gain extremely slow (IPY2) and is implementing a grind that only makes the player want to get thru it as fast as possible. Never being able to experience the world and live the character. The game should never be restricted to you because of your skills. The world needs to offer everything to you at anytime. Just as real life, because im not millionaire doesn't mean I cannot find other ways to occupy myself or explore.

Ultima Online to me has been an adventure ill never forget, while some might argue its just a game. It still, like any past-time or hobby provides experiences and emotions that developed from who I am and how I chose my actions. I have played hundreds of free shards and been there thru thick and thin with OSI. I have done it all. So many players hold onto this game trying to find that truly unique experience that got them playing in the first place. No matter what free shard I play they all provide the same basic experience. I don't want that, I want Ultima Online to be what it is, not what's its been.

We are currently trying to get a solid system here. We need to build what was left to die and look at it after and say "Where do we go now?". The outcome of First Dawn is not from only my vision but from what its world tells us.

Create Dark Source: This is unfortunately a victim of modern client capabilities. The client handles light badly. The capabilities and future of it are told more below.

First Dawn is adzactly this. Out goal is not to replicate the prealpha and keep it that way. But to get the concept and go from there. What would have been here or there?
If we cannot directly emulate a specific feature of the prealpha we will find a way to get just as close if not better with this opportunity, and have in many different things already. Almost anything is possible and will not stand in my way off fulfilling my vision.

It is great to hear that you are going to add something new to the gameplay Draconis. Btw, I heard about spider webs which spawned giant spiders in this era..is it just a rumor? This place looks like the most extensive pre-alpha source.

Yea, I know that UO client cannot really replicate the same Darkness effect. I wrote about it before I downloaded a client so I did not know that you guys use 5x instead of pre-alpha client.

Any idea on when the 2nd beta wave starts? I cannot wait to try it out!

Spider webs are a negative. Only creatures that existed are listed here: EnigmaUO Wiki - The World.

The second test will begin very soon! Before the end of the week. Check here daily as it could be anytime.

Ohh I've heard about EUO wiki but did not find it on the site..thx for providing a link! Iright..well, nothing is negative to create since its a "fresh" project.

Btw, I think Lord Blackthorn also had a character in pre-alpha. The dude who's standing near the British http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae29 ... pha6-1.jpg

Also, I think fire wands looked more like a red mace rather than default UO wands... Not a problem though, but aren't we all tired of UO graphics a little

P.S. Draconis, I like that you stick to the Ultima lore and history. UO has little to do with original classic Ultima games. Would be cool to have a lot of things from U5-U7 implemented here in the future.