Asheron's Call 2

Sloth

I've been trying AC2 over the last few days and all I can say is that it's bloody boring. I was playing on the English speaking European server (Dawnsong) and it seemed to have an average of about 450 people on it at any one time. I played around the starting region for a human character and the place was pretty much deserted. Within 5 hours of playing I had only seen about 6 people across 2 different towns. Combat was also decidely dull with nothing but the typical rats and wasps to level up on and there wasn't even all that many of them about so leveling up took ages and ages across incredibly barren plains with only the odd tree to liven things up. I managed to join a guild eventually (or allegiance as it's called in the game) but none of them were ever where I was and at around level 8 or so I had pretty much had enough of wandering around wasp slaying and fetching piles of wood for npcs. It's a pity the game wasn't what I thought it would be, I was really looking forward to playing it now that I have my bb connection (thank god too because theres about 75megs of patches to download before you can even get going in the first place) but it looks like my search for a game that can hold the same appeal as Ultima continues.

Myg

"but it looks like my search for a game that can hold the same appeal as Ultima continues."

Let me ask you this: was UO your first Online game?
If so, you will never find another game as appealing as Ultima was, i know. Ultima Online is a sinister disease/Drug that slowly takes over the mind, warping you to its ways, then slowly destroys your emotions and personality..... You will never , EVER get the same fix as you did when you were a newbie in that game.

Sloth

Yeah it's been 3 and a half years since I logged onto Europa that fateful Christmas Eve. I still play UO every day and by gum it still has me stuck in it's trap but I thought I might as well try out some other mmorpgs to compare them.
To be fair to AC2 it picks up a bit the higher you get but not enough for me to pay for it once my free trial is over.

Detonated Sauce

Sloth you probably wont believe me but at the higher levels the game is great, all it takes is time. When I started playing Ultima Online I found the early levels incredibly fustrating and I had to call upon the help of a player named "Sloth" for help more times than I can remember. But then when I got into it I kept it up and found it a great fustrating game until my trial ran out. I was also a blacksmith which was boring too.

Sloth

UO is a joy at newbie level thanks to the huge amount of help you get both off people and from the built in quests. It's not my fault that you chose the most boring profession of all to play on your month trial :P Come back to uo matey, your missed.

Hobbes

UO is dated, and kack.

The splitting of the worlds is what screwed it over for me. I played when it was just Fellucia world (basically PvP outside of towns).

It was risky in areas, major clans fought, someone annoyed you they got smacked.

Then Trammel came and it was all 'me me me'. Seriously.

For short period of time I went over to trammel my character was able to enter an area that previously I would have no way in hell of getting into/out of alive (even without other players) and I made a ton of loot with little risk. Place was called Cyclops Valley.

One part that pissed me off, which was conductive of the whole mentality of that side of the server was "Mine". I See three monsters on thier own, so I use my bard skill to provoke them on each other (which isn't easy). As soon as they are attacking each other an idiot comes out of hiding and shouts "MINE!". Then tells me he was here first and I would have to wait my turn like everyone else... Seriously.

So I ignored him and continued to kill them, at which point he kept trying to steal my kills so I provoked a large spawn and when he went to take them out I did a peacemake (which stops them fighting temporary) and they all attacked him. He dies. I laugh.

After this I get threats from him telling me hes going to report me to a GM and get me banned and that I should go back to Fel.

UO when I left turned into nothing but a monty haul.

Asherons call (not AC2) had some aspects of Monty Haul to it but in general the loot was weighed properly against the risk, and while the server I played on wasn't PvP centric it was still a hell of a lot more fun and risk that UO is.

That's what I like about Neocron as well. The GM's don't like prissy whiners who seem to survive in UO. If someone moaned they got killed over and over as they spawned the GM would say "Why didn't you spawn somewhere else" or if they cry to a GM because a PK'er took thier gun they would say "Why didn't you blueprint your Gun so you could get a new one made?".

Sloth

Well lets be honest here, I'm biased, completely and utterly towards UO. Yes UO was great when it was just felucca and things were pretty crappy once Trammel launched but things are a lot better now then they were. The addition of the two new landmasses means that Trammel isn't quite as packed as it used to be so theres less of the mine behaviour than there was. Couple this with the removal of the counsellor staff and the reduction in the number of gms means that mine claims don't get anywhere anymore seeing as theres no one to listen to them.
Nowadays I live solely in fel in my very nice custom house with only the odd trip to trammel and it's great even if it is a little empty at times. I miss the old days when it was just one landmass but that doesn't mean UO still isn't a great game and one that I hope to play for as long as possible (or at least until something that holds the same appeal comes along).