Title: Check out this shard. Post by: randy on May 26, 2007, 09:08:09 am www.zuluhoteloz.com/forum
Not sure if this is anyones cup of tea, but this a free custom made UO shard that's been worked on for a while and just went online (yes I'm involved :)) Still getting the website fully done up btw. Anyone whos ever played on a POL emulated shard or even any UO shard will probably appreciate the elegance and direction of the shard at the moment, we have a lot that many other free shards don't. There are plans to take it even further too, a more dynamic world is a goal as well as innovative ways to breathe new life into the first MMO ever. Spawning is about half done though, but coming along. So please give it a try and see for yourself, tell me what you think. In the initial stages as the player base is small things will seem kind of static, but that changes dramatacilly when the ball gets rolling. At worst it'll become the most brutal and violent chatroom you've ever been in,, but I think we have some good ideas and notions on how to make UO fun again (Runegates for example, you gotta see em). Its also possible to become undead and eat your enemies, as well as lurch forth from your supposed death and further kick ass (there is a way to kill undead players, but Im not telling. Ok its fairly obvious). The is also scripted mostly from scratch (scripted well for that matter), so a lot of the lack of polish and broken-ness of most other free shards is not there. You can legally download UO and its expansions, think there are directions in the forums. Also of note, the legality of POL based shards has not been challenged by EA in the 7-8 years since its founding, perhaps because of the use of custom clients (no ones property) or maybe the relative harmlessness of it all. It is generally accepted though that any new attempts at creating shard emulating software violates a more recent passage in the user agreement. So rest easy. Title: Re: Check out this shard. Post by: Shiver on May 26, 2007, 05:32:15 pm That is nifty, but I am never, ever playing any MMORPG ever again. As I vaguely recall, Ultima Online was especially bad in terms of griefing.
Title: Re: Check out this shard. Post by: randy on May 27, 2007, 04:38:00 am Yeah UO was bad for that, we're adding certain tactical options for players and trying to bring more depth to the game though, so there are more ways to stop and escape a particularly developed player than just brute force.
One thing that would always happen to new players hunting in the britain graveyard is that a tanked up warrior or mage would recall in mounted, with no time to reacted everyone would be dead in seconds. Now there will be a slight keening sound on the site the player will appear to give a vital 2 or 3 seconds. Its also a cool effect. The part that will lead to some wierd and wonderful situations though will be runegates I think, rungate co-ordinates are a very sought after thing and they provide the possibility of being the first to venture onto new worlds other than britain and delucia. They will also lead to some rather nasty places and the wrong kind of things can use them to come into britannia, date specific and also random encounters are planned through runegates. December 25th for example could see a twisted Santa Clause from a parrallel reality terrorise britainnia, collecting heads for his sack to give to the children back home. Another situation is the possibility of an entire guild of undead players, the location to becoming undead is a secret so you probably won't see too many undead players running around to start with. The wierd emergent tactics possible here though will be the fact that a single undead player can die and rise and repeat, but by himself is easily finished off. 5 undead players though, would be a rather scarey site considering the naturally gorey nature of their abilitys and the fact that if you kill one there would always 3 more after your blood and 1 or 2 in the proccess of violently coming back to life. Title: Re: Check out this shard. Post by: KanmuX on May 27, 2007, 07:42:38 am They will also lead to some rather nasty places and the wrong kind of things can use them to come into britannia Hello to our *house*. Do you feel *better* yet? If you are *campers* you will enjoy *the change*, but maybe not yet. It is best if many happy Orz are coming to your *house*. Let's *spitting* the fun words for several *pieces* and then surprising things!!! Title: Re: Check out this shard. Post by: randy on May 27, 2007, 08:49:08 am Haha that was a thought that came to mind when posting this thread here. Hmm don't see why there couldn't be an Orz inspired 'visitation'.
Title: Re: Check out this shard. Post by: Shiver on May 27, 2007, 12:50:29 pm yeah mang, you sound pretty dedicated. I hope someone decides to play on your modded UO server.
Title: Re: Check out this shard. Post by: randy on May 30, 2007, 03:34:54 pm Thanks, a few people already are, the player base has grown steadily since it went online, average around 60 now. Few updates have been added, including new website, things are coming along nicely.
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