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Fixing UWO Problems
NovaTerra
Posts: 4Member Beginner
Hi Everyone,
I've been playing since before UWO moved to OGPlanet.
I've been seeing a lot of talk about wiping the server. But wiping the server won't solve the problems. The game would be back to where it is now within one year or less.
So let's talk about solving problems.
One main problem is inflation, and there are various reasons for it. Playing multiple toons simultaneously is part of the problem, but also part of a solution to other problems. So let's list the problems and try to come up with solutions.
FrozenRuby said something in another thread:
"i personally over the almost 7 years have spent over $7000 on this game,
i have had several instances where the game prevented me from spending
more cause went over the monthly limit."
That's disturbing to me, as a businessman. Preventing your customers from spending money sounds like a bad idea.
Maybe they did it to limit how many items a player could buy in total within a specific amount of time? Maybe they did it because they didn't want to have to refund more money than that for whatever reason? Maybe they did it because they didn't want to upset the in-game economy? (That last point doesn't make sense because a player can create multiple accounts.)
Solution?
- If the company in concerned about unbalancing the in-game economy, maybe the company should put a per-item limit on each individual items that can be bought from the NC store. It would be easy enough to change the item purchase limits if Papaya Play things that too much of one item is flooding the game or unbalancing the in-game economy.
- If it's about refunds, Papaya Play can say that they won't refund more than x amount of dollars worth of purchases made within a single month.
One big problem is multi-boxing (or playing with more than one character simultaneously). Restricting the game to one character per PC is a good idea. Restricting it to one character per IP address is less desirable, because multiple family members could be playing together as the same time on a shared IP.
The following suggestions are intended to make it possible to play with only one character at a time.
Inventory Storage
One big reason why players play with only one character is because of limited storage space and limited skill slots. Shipbuilding requires a lot of inventory and ship-holding space.
Players who make toons to hold stuff will not pay for storage space. If they won't/can't pay for storage space now, they won't pay for it if they're restricted to using only one toon at a time.
And some players need storage a short distance from where they're working.
Solution?
For Shipbuilders:
- Maybe Shipbuilders could get extra storage space from a Quest that requires a specific Shipbuilding rank. The storage space could be conditional: if they put their Shipbuilding skill into a Skill Book, the extra storage becomes inaccessible; if they delete their Shipbuilding skill, the extra storage space is removed. The extra storage space could include extra ship inventory slots, but I'll discuss that later under Warehousing.
For Other Players:
- Aides can be put in charge of ships. An Aide ship's storage is counted as part of your own storage. Could an Aide be put in charge of something that gives a player more Inventory space? Or could players buy a one-time NC item to give to an Aide so that the Aide can give the player additional Inventory storage? It would be good if an 'Aide inventory Bag' is not tied to whether the Aide is the Aide Captain.
- Could players buy a one-time NC item, like a storage room in their Quarters, that allows them to have more storage space, or allows them to add more furniture to their Quarters to increase storage space?
- Could a player be given more Vault space by completing Quests?
Ship Cargo
It would be nice if more of a player's Aides could accompany the player and have their own ships. Could that be made possible based on a player's Court Rank? (I don't know whether or not it's already possible.)
Skill Slots
There are many skills, professions and recipes in the game. Maritime is a money-sink. Maritimers need a way to make money. Adventuring takes time and can be a money-sink if an Adventurer does things that requires Land or Sea Battle skills. But in reality, playing only one class, or only one profession, can become boring after a while. Most players in the game have a range of skills that include all three classes.
An extra 10 Skill Slots would be appreciated, but may not be necessary for new players. In any case, they should not be easy to get.
It would be nice if high-level players could get more Skill Slots.
Solution?
- Perhaps they could be given through Quests or when a player reaches a specific Court Rank (or Quests that are made available when a player reaches specific Court Ranks)?
- Perhaps a Court Rank or a Quest could unlock an Aide ability that allows you to use a Skill in your Skill Book if your Accompanying Aide gives a +1 to that skill?
- In addition to that, perhaps some Court Ranks could augment the number of skills that you can have in a Skill Bookshelf?
Warehouse
Some Shipbuilders hold ships to give to other players. Some customers pay a Shipbuilder to build them a ship. This can fill up Ship Inventory Slots.
Solution?
- Allow Shipbuilders to store their ships in a Warehouse. A Warehouse could be made accessible through the Shipyard Master (or a Warehouse NPC). The Warehouse could be used as a drop-off location. The Shipbuilder could enter the name of a player who is supposed to pick up the ship and enter any amount of ducats that the player has to pay for the ship. The Shipbuilder could pick up their payment when they visit the Warehouse (the same way that players pick up their payment when they visit the Company Admin Office). The player could visit the Warehouse, pay the fee, and pick up their ship. The Shipbuilder could pay a storage fee for using the Warehouse. The storage fee could be a percentage of the value of the ship's sale (like at Company Shops when a player Exhibits something) or it could be a percentage of the price of each class of ship (the Shipyard has a price for each class of ship that it sells, so setting the Warehouse fee as a percentage of a ship price by class shouldn't be hard). Each Warehouse location can be city-specific: if a ship is put in the Warehouse in Seville, it must be picked up in Seville. The number of ships that a player can put in a Shipyard's Warehouse can be based on that city's Development.
NC Ships
All ships should be player-made. Ship parts can be NC, but, in my opinion, all ships should be made in-game.
Postal System
Some players want to give/sell each other Items. It would be nice if they could do that when one player is offline or in a far-off place.
Solution?
- Implement a Postal System that allows players to mail packages to each other. The mailer could pay a shipping fee and set a price that the other player has to pay to receive the package (similar to the Warehousing system). The package could be delivered to the player's 'Receive Item' menu at the Bank (or through a separate 'Postage' button, or a dedicated Postage NPC). A player could visit the Bank (or Postage NPC) to pick up any payment for shipped items.
In addition to that...
Long-Distance Shipping
If a player wants to pick up a Postage item outside of Safe Waters, the player may have to pay a fee based on the City's distance from Safe Waters. If a player wants to post an item while in Hostile Waters, the player may have to pay an additional shipping fee. Postal services may be unavailable in cities that are in Lawless Waters.
Import Duty
Every Nation and every Allied City (or Mayor of an Allied City) could be set an Import Duty in incoming packages. If the package was mailed in Spain and you don't want to pay an import duty, pick the package up in Spain.
During an Epic Sea Feud, Postal Services could be unavailable between nations, their allies and their mercenaries who participate in the Epic Sea Feud.
Nanban Trade
There may be a good reason for 1:3 trade when trading non-EA goods during Nanban trade, but it would be nice if trading EA goods within EA is a 1:1 trade.
Does anyone else have any suggestions?
I've been playing since before UWO moved to OGPlanet.
I've been seeing a lot of talk about wiping the server. But wiping the server won't solve the problems. The game would be back to where it is now within one year or less.
So let's talk about solving problems.
One main problem is inflation, and there are various reasons for it. Playing multiple toons simultaneously is part of the problem, but also part of a solution to other problems. So let's list the problems and try to come up with solutions.
FrozenRuby said something in another thread:
"i personally over the almost 7 years have spent over $7000 on this game,
i have had several instances where the game prevented me from spending
more cause went over the monthly limit."
That's disturbing to me, as a businessman. Preventing your customers from spending money sounds like a bad idea.
Maybe they did it to limit how many items a player could buy in total within a specific amount of time? Maybe they did it because they didn't want to have to refund more money than that for whatever reason? Maybe they did it because they didn't want to upset the in-game economy? (That last point doesn't make sense because a player can create multiple accounts.)
Solution?
- If the company in concerned about unbalancing the in-game economy, maybe the company should put a per-item limit on each individual items that can be bought from the NC store. It would be easy enough to change the item purchase limits if Papaya Play things that too much of one item is flooding the game or unbalancing the in-game economy.
- If it's about refunds, Papaya Play can say that they won't refund more than x amount of dollars worth of purchases made within a single month.
One big problem is multi-boxing (or playing with more than one character simultaneously). Restricting the game to one character per PC is a good idea. Restricting it to one character per IP address is less desirable, because multiple family members could be playing together as the same time on a shared IP.
The following suggestions are intended to make it possible to play with only one character at a time.
Inventory Storage
One big reason why players play with only one character is because of limited storage space and limited skill slots. Shipbuilding requires a lot of inventory and ship-holding space.
Players who make toons to hold stuff will not pay for storage space. If they won't/can't pay for storage space now, they won't pay for it if they're restricted to using only one toon at a time.
And some players need storage a short distance from where they're working.
Solution?
For Shipbuilders:
- Maybe Shipbuilders could get extra storage space from a Quest that requires a specific Shipbuilding rank. The storage space could be conditional: if they put their Shipbuilding skill into a Skill Book, the extra storage becomes inaccessible; if they delete their Shipbuilding skill, the extra storage space is removed. The extra storage space could include extra ship inventory slots, but I'll discuss that later under Warehousing.
For Other Players:
- Aides can be put in charge of ships. An Aide ship's storage is counted as part of your own storage. Could an Aide be put in charge of something that gives a player more Inventory space? Or could players buy a one-time NC item to give to an Aide so that the Aide can give the player additional Inventory storage? It would be good if an 'Aide inventory Bag' is not tied to whether the Aide is the Aide Captain.
- Could players buy a one-time NC item, like a storage room in their Quarters, that allows them to have more storage space, or allows them to add more furniture to their Quarters to increase storage space?
- Could a player be given more Vault space by completing Quests?
Ship Cargo
It would be nice if more of a player's Aides could accompany the player and have their own ships. Could that be made possible based on a player's Court Rank? (I don't know whether or not it's already possible.)
Skill Slots
There are many skills, professions and recipes in the game. Maritime is a money-sink. Maritimers need a way to make money. Adventuring takes time and can be a money-sink if an Adventurer does things that requires Land or Sea Battle skills. But in reality, playing only one class, or only one profession, can become boring after a while. Most players in the game have a range of skills that include all three classes.
An extra 10 Skill Slots would be appreciated, but may not be necessary for new players. In any case, they should not be easy to get.
It would be nice if high-level players could get more Skill Slots.
Solution?
- Perhaps they could be given through Quests or when a player reaches a specific Court Rank (or Quests that are made available when a player reaches specific Court Ranks)?
- Perhaps a Court Rank or a Quest could unlock an Aide ability that allows you to use a Skill in your Skill Book if your Accompanying Aide gives a +1 to that skill?
- In addition to that, perhaps some Court Ranks could augment the number of skills that you can have in a Skill Bookshelf?
Warehouse
Some Shipbuilders hold ships to give to other players. Some customers pay a Shipbuilder to build them a ship. This can fill up Ship Inventory Slots.
Solution?
- Allow Shipbuilders to store their ships in a Warehouse. A Warehouse could be made accessible through the Shipyard Master (or a Warehouse NPC). The Warehouse could be used as a drop-off location. The Shipbuilder could enter the name of a player who is supposed to pick up the ship and enter any amount of ducats that the player has to pay for the ship. The Shipbuilder could pick up their payment when they visit the Warehouse (the same way that players pick up their payment when they visit the Company Admin Office). The player could visit the Warehouse, pay the fee, and pick up their ship. The Shipbuilder could pay a storage fee for using the Warehouse. The storage fee could be a percentage of the value of the ship's sale (like at Company Shops when a player Exhibits something) or it could be a percentage of the price of each class of ship (the Shipyard has a price for each class of ship that it sells, so setting the Warehouse fee as a percentage of a ship price by class shouldn't be hard). Each Warehouse location can be city-specific: if a ship is put in the Warehouse in Seville, it must be picked up in Seville. The number of ships that a player can put in a Shipyard's Warehouse can be based on that city's Development.
NC Ships
All ships should be player-made. Ship parts can be NC, but, in my opinion, all ships should be made in-game.
Postal System
Some players want to give/sell each other Items. It would be nice if they could do that when one player is offline or in a far-off place.
Solution?
- Implement a Postal System that allows players to mail packages to each other. The mailer could pay a shipping fee and set a price that the other player has to pay to receive the package (similar to the Warehousing system). The package could be delivered to the player's 'Receive Item' menu at the Bank (or through a separate 'Postage' button, or a dedicated Postage NPC). A player could visit the Bank (or Postage NPC) to pick up any payment for shipped items.
In addition to that...
Long-Distance Shipping
If a player wants to pick up a Postage item outside of Safe Waters, the player may have to pay a fee based on the City's distance from Safe Waters. If a player wants to post an item while in Hostile Waters, the player may have to pay an additional shipping fee. Postal services may be unavailable in cities that are in Lawless Waters.
Import Duty
Every Nation and every Allied City (or Mayor of an Allied City) could be set an Import Duty in incoming packages. If the package was mailed in Spain and you don't want to pay an import duty, pick the package up in Spain.
During an Epic Sea Feud, Postal Services could be unavailable between nations, their allies and their mercenaries who participate in the Epic Sea Feud.
Nanban Trade
There may be a good reason for 1:3 trade when trading non-EA goods during Nanban trade, but it would be nice if trading EA goods within EA is a 1:1 trade.
Does anyone else have any suggestions?