Things that made UO the best game ever

I hope so, it is an often overlooked reality. I liked also in UO how dropped items showed up in that dungeon, I forgot what it was called. I found some good stuff there on occasion.

 

There is a thread about items on the ground

 

The sand.

So much sand.

 

What made UO a great game was the era it was released. Nothing could compare but this is Richard Garriotts way, he and his team make games that change the face of gaming.

 

me...
I mean...
Glorious Lord Kiyotsura and Dread Lord Klauth...
I mean me.

Okay fine:
player vendors... yes, those goodies in bags that you could sell "reagent" kits or "crafting" kits for people... dye your bag a special color to let repeat customers know what to get quick... good old player vendors.
skill not item (until later years)... oh you have a 2/6 caster set? that's item based and I still can whoop you without it sucker! (I did end up getting 2/5 and then right before I left the game got my 2/6 set).
sandbox... what / when / how I want.
moongates/runebooks... I've been there... I got a rune to prove it
crafting... CRAFTING makes the bored times less boring
no auction hall... (have I mentioned that I hate wow/diablo style auction halls?)
vet rewards... "bling" to say you've been around the block

 

Could not agree with you more.

 

What made UO great? No add on store.

 

Would you like me to list some of the stores that still sell items for $$$.

This is money that doesn't get invested back into the game btw.

 

<face palm>


damn...E-Stalk much?

 

See someone in their house near Moonglow east gate.
Run several screens away. Hide.
Stealth over to their porch.
Pray to Mondain they don't have detect hidden skill.
Wait patiently for them to Kal Ort Por away only to recall back in and reenter the house.
Stealth in behind them.
Curse as they I wish to release this and I wish to lock this down quickly.
Manage to stealth onto the tile where the table is locked back down.
Accidentally stealth an extra tile next to them.
Catastrophe! They walked over you. It is only a matter of time before they see their stamina or read the message.
Waiting for the reveal and I ban thee.
Never comes. They recall away.
Hold breath and wait 5 more minutes.
Loot. Everything.

 

Seriously UO is the best game I ever played!

 

To this day I think UO is probably my favourite game. At least, I have the fondest memories of it. I think it comes down to the amount of freedom allowed in the game:

1) Freedom in exploration. Wandering around in what I thought was the middle of nowhere, and then discovering there was something hidden there in the world. There weren't just a bunch of main dungeons or areas you went to, there were smaller, nameless areas that you would stumble across. You weren't locked into certain areas because you weren't a high enough level to go to the next stage yet. No linearity in the area progression.
2) Freedom in interactions with PCs and NPCS. You could do practically anything. Attack, steal, whatever from PCs or NPCs alike. Although I guess there wasn't much NPC dialogue, so not so much depth in that sort of interaction (mostly "buy" or "bank") =P
3) Freedom in PvM combat. This is something I'm worried about SotA lacking. There were so many ways to deal with combat - if something was too strong to handle, you could hide behind a wall and summon an EV, or use provocation, or have your tamed animals attack. Ogre lords were strong but slow, so you could use ranged attacks and never take a scratch. While some of these got kind of silly or boring, it was far, far superior to a lot of the later MMOs where you're pretty much always locked into attacking and using your normal combat abilities, enemies are all basically interchangable except for the type of damage they do or the resists they have, and if you're too weak, you just lose and have to run.
4) Freedom in level/skill development. You didn't have to reach a certain level to cast a spell - you could get your magery skill up and cast it as soon as you had the scroll and enough skill. Levels weren't a thing that existed, which meant a much less linear character advancement. This is another thing I'm worried SotA will miss - by forcing players into a level scheme (which they seem to be doing), you miss out on the richness that comes out of having numerous skills and stats that can each be improved (somewhat) independently.

Based on what I've heard, it seems SotA will definitely have 1 (though maybe in a different way than UO due to dual-scale world). 2 is sort of up in the air, it seems - they haven't worked out the PvP system yet, but I'm hoping for reasonable freedom/depth there. What I'm worried about, though, is 3 and 4. For 3, Combat as it's been talked about so far seems pretty linear - if there's a baddy, you go and bash them and use your combat-skills, but you may or may not have enough freedom to use other things to your advantage, and there may or may not be significant differences between baddies that will make you change more than just the type of damage you'll want to do. They've been pretty explicit that they're going with a level, ability tree, exp model, which sounds much worse than UO in my opinion.

 

Arctic Ogre Lords is how I maintain my Glorious Lord title!!

 

I remember Day 1 of UO it was carnage bodies everywhere! town guards racing here there and everywhere, booby trapped chests on street corners attracting noobs, limbs torsos flying all over the place
Total meyhem but it was funny

 

UO was definitely the best game ever.

Freedom.
Exploration.
Community.
Freedom.