consider removing mercenary camp

consider removing mercenary camp - Printable Version

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consider removing mercenary camp - Falstaff - 04-04-2012

i think the mercenary camp was a good idea in theory and I know it's popular with a lot of players. But in my opinion it leeds to a more anti-social UO experience and it removes incentives for players to seek out other players, form guilds and train together. One of the things I've always liked about UO and why I still play this game is the social aspect of it. There are things you need to depend on other players for. Back in the day you needed to find other players if you wanted to train up melee skills and once you did you ended up forming social relationships with them in the game.

One thing I noticed here is that guild membership among the player base is lower than it should be. I've been following the status page and calculating guild membership and it's consistently around 50% of the player base that are in guilds. This is pretty low. Since players don't need to join guilds to train melee combat, they are either waiting longer or choosing not to join a guild at all.

As a GM of a guild I've found it very difficult to get players. Speaking to other GM's they have told me the same thing. One thing we are missing here are big guilds. Most of the guilds here are what you would call crews; 5 or 6 players that PvP together etc. These kinds of guilds are fine but i think every great server needs a couple big guilds that have a good influence over the server narrative. Otherwise i think the server will just become a bunch of guys lolzing and lmaoing and waiting for the next tournament to start.

consider removing mercenary camp - Xerxes - 04-04-2012

What is a big guild to you ? I have 17 members and 4 new member are waiting my approval before joining, so let's say 20 members, on 150-200 players its like 10% of the server, I'm considering that big. I get your point through about the mercenary camp, back in the days people even sparred inside britain at the bank!! Ive tried to do it here but with their critical system its kinda not the same feeling... different aids system also.. and different swing system... and different skill gain system... do I have to continue?

-Xerxes

consider removing mercenary camp - sm0ke - 04-04-2012

simple solution would to add a skill requirement to use the portal id say

consider removing mercenary camp - Falstaff - 04-04-2012

Xerxes Wrote:What is a big guild to you ? I have 17 members and 4 new member are waiting my approval before joining, so let's say 20 members, on 150-200 players its like 10% of the server, I'm considering that big. I get your point through about the mercenary camp, back in the days people even sparred inside britain at the bank!! Ive tried to do it here but with their critical system its kinda not the same feeling... different aids system also.. and different swing system... and different skill gain system... do I have to continue?

-Xerxes

i'm not saying there are no big guilds. Yes I would say Legion is big.

My larger point though is that the merc camp takes away the incentive of players needing to find other players. Once players must interact with each other on basic levels it creates a social atmosphere . I feel that is missing here. The server is a bit anti-social in that respect.

i think one solution could be to allow guilds of 5 members or more to purchase mercs. These provides two incentives: players to join guilds and players to train together and create social bonds.

consider removing mercenary camp - Thenu - 04-04-2012

I completely agree with with Falstaff. The Merc camp is very nicely done. However, it provides a safezone for ALL players, and not just new players. Regarding the "old" (longer player on IN), they should get a house or macro in GZ. I mean common, it is legal to afk macro anywhere (exeption: resources ofc). Regarding the new players (whether veteran or completely new), it takes the adventure away. Some of my best experiences in UO was looking for new stuff. Knowing that I was gonna hunt for stuff and might get PK'd. Thats why I always teamed up with 2 -5 other guys who were around my exp level. With the merc camp you dont need to take a dagger/ shield into the wold to train your melee to GM yoru fighting skills. You just stand there and macro.

In short: I agree, maybe add a skillcap on the portal as sm0ke suggested.

(Another suggestion: Make the sparring partners only useable till say... 60- 80%? This would make the melee you so love more valuable, would be nice to see brt GY etc crawling with newbies)

consider removing mercenary camp - por corp wis - 04-04-2012

i don't agree. It's extremely hard and annoying for new players to start playing on a new shard. Not everyone wants to run naked and macro his war skills for months, UO is not about macro and sparring. IN as it is now is perfect for new players.

consider removing mercenary camp - tranith - 04-04-2012

por corp wis Wrote:i don't agree. It's extremely hard and annoying for new players to start playing on a new shard. Not everyone wants to run naked and macro his war skills for months, UO is not about macro and sparring. IN as it is now is perfect for new players.

X2

If someone's gonna join a guild, they will. If not, then they won't. Merc camp in any way i see it holds any bearing on that.
Altho the Idea of Guilds buying Sparring Partners is pretty cool.

consider removing mercenary camp - Falstaff - 04-04-2012

por corp wis Wrote:i don't agree. It's extremely hard and annoying for new players to start playing on a new shard. Not everyone wants to run naked and macro his war skills for months, UO is not about macro and sparring. IN as it is now is perfect for new players.

for months? now lets be serious. If you join a guild it takes days not months to macro up a melee skill.

Thenu makes another good point. The merc camp is also a safe zone for the whole shard. People macro all sorts of skills there knowing they can't be touched.

consider removing mercenary camp - Dracolith - 04-04-2012

I'm wondering wtf all these people are doing in the merc camp? We constantly have 150-200 players online and most of them are in the merc camp. What is it that takes so long that they spend so much time there? Surely not fighting skills?

consider removing mercenary camp - Elia - 04-04-2012

Dracolith Wrote:I'm wondering wtf all these people are doing in the merc camp? We constantly have 150-200 players online and most of them are in the merc camp. What is it that takes so long that they spend so much time there? Surely not fighting skills?

You can train almost everything except crafting skills in the Mercenary Camp.

consider removing mercenary camp - Thenu - 04-04-2012

Elia Wrote:You can train almost everything except crafting skills in the Mercenary Camp.

you can train crafting skills at the merc camp... in an environment where most offensive actions have been blocked aka safezone

consider removing mercenary camp - por corp wis - 04-04-2012

am i the only one who think that this is total absurd? since when guilds are for macros and sparrings? Idea with add guild mercs for guilds will ruin the server. This is not ~2000y, get over it. You can't bring the old classy times. there a lot of dying servers with low onlines and even when online is low people are still hiding at their rats places all over the map.
Mercenary Camp is a public place. public places are good for any kind of servers. mostly all players who wants to find a new server at first will check public places like britain bank/ britain bridge or any other pvp places and public places like casino etc. If everyone will macro at houses the server will be empty. The only good idea was from smoke. Merc Camp should have a skill limits like newbie dungeon has.