Land, totems, and the coming launch - My thoughts.

[AlexTaldren]

I just finished another one of my laps around the map last night. From what I can tell, there is a lot of of unsettled space. Is this because of the wipes and people aren't bothering to redo what they've done now a hundred times? Maybe. Then again, most of the larger tribes have rebuilt again. Here's the way I see it, you increase the map size, great, but then those junk piles run out. The answer to this potential problem shouldn't be "give us more space and more junk piles," but "give us an alternative way to get the resources that we currently get from the junk piles."

I believe that the map is just fine at its current size given the player population. And, if they wanted to add smaller junk piles in the mountains or along a road somewhere, I'd be cool with that too.

[tredo]

The land is big enough... I have spent a real life year traveling this map... there are areas that are perfect for tribes high in the mountains, that is at least 300m wide and as flat as a table top, lots of animals, trees, grass, water and open sky... yes it does lack a junk pile. Junk piles will not last forever... most tribes do not consider where they will be in a year from now... or even 6 months. What happens when the junk is gone, the towns are built, and we hear the calls... "theres gold in dem der hills!" A new dawn will rise and the shift to mining, rail systems, lumber mills, farming, taming - animal farms, medicine and all kinds of future ideas.. and these tribes are stuck next to a dried up hill that used to provide them with the parts they needed to "get started." The crowd is surrounding the lake because they think they need to.... this is not at all true. Go outside of your "got to have my village built in a week" mindset find a place that will suit your needs now, and for many months. Spend some time thinking outside the box of what this game has and instead think of where this game will be in a year from now. The game is built for us to develop IT... not for it to develop us. Xsyon has already said, he is open for ideas and feedback... this is a game for the gamer by the gamers.... not a game being shoved down our throats and us being told "you will play the game this way or not at all!"

I have seen some small tribes above 800m high, there are small junk piles high in the mountains at the end of some roads. The area is nice, the resources are plenty (especially if your the only one using it) and these kinds of areas will do very well in the future I have a feeling because they will have the future resources at hand.

To build in the mountains does take more work, I will give you that... we all know from RL that mountain men are a different breed of men... they have their own way of doing things.... this can be true in this game as well. Live off the land is a mountain mans motto. This can be true here as well.

Here is my recommendation; make the nature skills require less "junk" for example... redo the crafting slightly. A bear bone armor set requires screws and allot of them... why? In the past they did not build heavy armors with screws why are we?

Why does grass armor require junk?

Why does leather armor require junk?

Why do wooden walls require nails?

Why can we not make mud paste for our rock walls from dirt and water? Why do we have to have sand? So a rock wall could be limestone rock + mud paste = rough rock wall.

There are things that can be done to not force a tribe to be near a junk pile. This would cause more tribes and new players to be able to get away from the lake some, to spread out and make homes elsewhere. The land is big enough! Go look for a place outside the box!

[Arcturus]

Depending on the amount of subs at launch, (only Xsyon knows what they are) it might be worth opening another square out into the mist on all sides of the map. It all depends on how finished those areas are. However if subs drop (and they normally do after a mmo launch) we might find our self playing in too big a play ground.

[Redemp]

Tredo and Alex ,

Thank you very much for your replies they are both wonderful suggestions on how not negate some of the current negative aspects regarding the resources and areas avaliable. I will get back to those posts after a while, the lodge calls and I need to step out for a bit. I look forward to continuing the conversation in a little bit.

[FabricSoftener]

Depending on the amount of subs at launch, (only Xsyon knows what they are) it might be worth opening another square out into the mist on all sides of the map. It all depends on how finished those areas are. However if subs drop (and they normally do after a mmo launch) we might find our self playing in too big a play ground.

To be honest I think its likely the entire 1200km area is actually finished now and its just being held back until population prooves its needed. The reason I say this is because the map itself from my understanding comes from existing geological maps in which case all he has to do is put on some auto trees and a few other things and its ready.

Besides, we have all see into the green zone and we have all seen developed land

[Lerxst]

The land is big enough... I have spent a real life year traveling this map... there are areas that are perfect for tribes high in the mountains, that is at least 300m wide and as flat as a table top, lots of animals, trees, grass, water and open sky... yes it does lack a junk pile. Junk piles will not last forever... most tribes do not consider where they will be in a year from now... or even 6 months. What happens when the junk is gone, the towns are built, and we hear the calls... "theres gold in dem der hills!" A new dawn will rise and the shift to mining, rail systems, lumber mills, farming, taming - animal farms, medicine and all kinds of future ideas.. and these tribes are stuck next to a dried up hill that used to provide them with the parts they needed to "get started." The crowd is surrounding the lake because they think they need to.... this is not at all true. Go outside of your "got to have my village built in a week" mindset find a place that will suit your needs now, and for many months. Spend some time thinking outside the box of what this game has and instead think of where this game will be in a year from now. The game is built for us to develop IT... not for it to develop us. Xsyon has already said, he is open for ideas and feedback... this is a game for the gamer by the gamers.... not a game being shoved down our throats and us being told "you will play the game this way or not at all!"

I have seen some small tribes above 800m high, there are small junk piles high in the mountains at the end of some roads. The area is nice, the resources are plenty (especially if your the only one using it) and these kinds of areas will do very well in the future I have a feeling because they will have the future resources at hand.

To build in the mountains does take more work, I will give you that... we all know from RL that mountain men are a different breed of men... they have their own way of doing things.... this can be true in this game as well. Live off the land is a mountain mans motto. This can be true here as well.

Here is my recommendation; make the nature skills require less "junk" for example... redo the crafting slightly. A bear bone armor set requires screws and allot of them... why? In the past they did not build heavy armors with screws why are we?

Why does grass armor require junk?

Why does leather armor require junk?

Why do wooden walls require nails?

Why can we not make mud paste for our rock walls from dirt and water? Why do we have to have sand? So a rock wall could be limestone rock + mud paste = rough rock wall.

There are things that can be done to not force a tribe to be near a junk pile. This would cause more tribes and new players to be able to get away from the lake some, to spread out and make homes elsewhere. The land is big enough! Go look for a place outside the box!

I agree with this and the other person that mentioned spreading out the smaller junk piles in the mountains. I haven't spent a year, but I have spent about a week walking around a large portion of the wilderness in my futile quest as a hunter. There are dozens of suitable locations for tribes out there. Lots of easily defensible hilltops plateaus (or ones that can easily be made level) near water with lots of trees and animals around.

I'm also in agreement that not every recipe should require junk. I live (in real life) in the Southwestern USA. Lots of people build adobe houses using nothing but the right mix of clay/dirt and sand. In place of metal, many pioneers also used wooden pegs and ropes to secure their creations - which you can still see in some of the ghost towns that litter the landscape out here.

If you reduce the absolute need for junk in this game to create everything, then a lot of the more remote areas become viable homesteads and tribal lands, while the junk piles can still supply the higher-end metal resources while they last. What's going to happen when the junk disappears? We need more alternatives to the recipes than plastics, fabrics and metal.

[blackzilla]

By the time I joined UO back in its hayday, I could not get any land to place a house.... Just saying... I still played the game and never complained... Also I didn't feel entitiled to come to the forums and tell the devs to restructure stuff so that I could get a piece of land and place my house...instead I seen it for what it was and that was my fault for starting late.

[Lerxst]

By the time I joined UO back in its hayday, I could not get any land to place a house.... Just saying... I still played the game and never complained... Also I didn't feel entitiled to come to the forums and tell the devs to restructure stuff so that I could get a piece of land and place my house...instead I seen it for what it was and that was my fault for starting late.

UO's houses decayed if they weren't maintained. I camped a house for a week straight until it crumbled apart and I placed my own. Unless they plan on implementing a decay in this game as well then I think we have a right to suggest alternatives.

[Bluebizzer]

Another thing you have to consider is that a lot of tribes aren't really bothering to fully group up, while they test for spots or re-roll or just wait for final wipe. So you get a lot of 10-20 man tribes with 4-5 members off on their own making a homestead just to dick around. I've also ran into tons of 'testsiteA' 'bobstestC' 'mountainspotD' homesteads set down just as placeholders while deciding on which spot to choose.

Come final wipe people will have the final spots, and tribes will have grouped up into the main camp.

[Arcturus]

To be honest I think its likely the entire 1200km area is actually finished now and its just being held back until population prooves its needed. The reason I say this is because the map itself from my understanding comes from existing geological maps in which case all he has to do is put on some auto trees and a few other things and its ready.

Besides, we have all see into the green zone and we have all seen developed land

I was erring on the side of caution. Your right they do look pretty complete, but you never know. Glitches in terrain, misplaced rocks etc..