I often hear that the new UO producer uses Twitter and sometimes responds to messages. Perhaps someone who uses this could ask if he has any plans to try and rejuvenate the Siege population?
https://twitter.com/Jeff_Skalski
Didn't get any response to my first tweet asking about any plans for the next year.
He only responded to the question I asked after I tweeted him for the second time.
I tweeted him at the end of Januaray (was waiting for the Producers letter).
Quote from: Doive on February 17, 2012, 10:04:34 AMHe only responded to the question I asked after I tweeted him for the second time.
What did you ask and what did he respond with?
First Tweet: Just wondering if there are any plans for our wonderful shard over the next year.
Didn't get a response.
About six days later I asked (meh, i was trolling a bit lol but kinda annoyed and not getting any response to my first tweet lol, not even the usual canned response).
Second Tweet: So no news for Siege? Nothing? Not even perhaps a rotating EM schedule as Siege can't keep the same EM? #justanidea
Jeff replied with: Its tough. We have r EMs spred out basd on population 2reach as many playrs as possible & Siege unfortunatly has a low pop.
And that was that. Did send another tweet explaining that I was refering to the odd event on a rota so that one EM wouldn't be lumbered with us. But nothing since.
Happy to send any other questions if peeps have them.
I guess Siege questions are just going to get the same response as we have had for the past few years: shard is too quiet for us to bother with; we don't have the resources to spare; blah, blah.
My argument is that Siege provides an alternative experience for UO players and in some cases keeps people subscribing longer than they would otherwise. It is in their interest to encourage the diversity providing it is not draining many resources. What we really need is for them to give the shard a promotion to try and rekindle interest. We know this works when someone official does it because Petra's initiative last year brought in quite a few folk, but it just wasn't enough and they gradually drifted away.
My idea would be along the lines of:
a) Re-enable Advanced Character tokens.
b) Give new characters something account-bound for, say, a month (perhaps a couple of soulstones).
c) Appoint an enthusiastic/knowledgeable EM to run lots of events for this month (or help player-run ones).
d) Run a couple of "Introduction to Siege" events like we have done in the past, with a Dev or two in attendance.
e) Put an article on the Herald about Siege, extolling the virtues of the shard, the chance to make a new start here, and pointing out all the above.
f) Several other minor things which I won't go into here.
Still, this is more or less what I wrote to Cal about a few years ago, and he didn't even read that. However, UOForums (http://www.uoforums.com/uoforums-general-discussion-news/92690-we-need-your-questions-jeff-skalski.html) is going to be doing a QA with the new producer soon. I have submitted a question for consideration, which attempts to summarize what I have just said in only three sentences. But even if the question gets included, I'm not holding my breath:
The Siege Perilous population has fallen to such a level that many new and returning players there are no longer staying around for very long. This is a shame as Siege is a different kind of product than normal shards and a place where many veterans come for a new challenge, in some cases extending their UO lifespan. Would you not consider giving the shard some sort of promotion (using minimal Developer resources) to try and help rejuvenate it?
I see not much has changed. Sad...