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I can't be bothered to read the rest of the thread but I'll lay my thoughts out. Ultima's decline ultimately boils down to how the server is managed by Larva. It's not OP weapons or any custom stuff, I believe there's an audience for that but it isn't fulfilled by Ultima. It's the silly stuff like PGF being available one month out of the year. It's needing 80 hit just to hit certain enemies, therefore encouraging people to donate. It's the lack of any kind of change to better this server and has just be in the same state it was 3-4 years ago. It's events always starting almost a month late sometimes. It's toxic people, or even worse(such as pedophiles and conspiracy theorists),getting warned 10 times instead of being banned. It's the happy hour system that only encourages playing in 3 hour bursts instead of more often. It's the lack of anything to encourage people to play outside events, since most things worth using are event online. As a (ex)player, it's just obvious there's hardly any effort being put into this server anymore and it'll stay declining in population until there's an effort put forth by Larva to actually listen to his player base and admins who play this game to improve this server. As someone who's probably played close to 20,000 hours, I don't want to see this server die off. I would love to see this server alive again, but just letting it idle isn't going to fix anything. We can complain all we want but ultimately there's little we can do as players. You'd think having your server dwindle down to 10-20 players online would be enough of a kick in the pants to change something but apparently not. Ultima's problem ultimately dwindles down to Larva's inaction to change anything within the server. This isn't a hate post aimed at Larva, it's just stating facts from someone who's put entirely too much time into this game.

I wouldn't necessarily say that Ultima has perished, but rather that it's become a shadow of it's former self — a shell of what it used to be. And that's for many reasons. Namely because of Ultima's inability to adapt and change. There needs to be a shakeup. And in more ways than one. Where are all of the Ultima staff? Shiida is often-times, the ONLY active GM on the server. If other staff members are unable or unwilling to step up, then there are a handful of select individuals who would be willing to. While we do appreciate all that she does, we can't expect Shiida to carry Ultima on her back forever. Which leads me to my next point; I believe that it would be beneficial for Ultima at this time for @Larva to elect a staff member to have elevated administrative privileges. More specifically, with the ability to start events in a timely manner. There are players that are very hyped for an event, but if it's delayed passed the expected start date, then their enthusiasm is deflated and their attention will be placed elsewhere. Ultima needs that enthusiasm, and that can be preserved with punctual event start times. Shiida would be the perfect staff member to assume this role. In the same vein as punctuality, the happy hour changes that were announced 9 months ago have yet to be implemented. The two biggest events of the year are coming — it would be great if the HH changes were active for them. An Ultima social media/Twitch presence could also be a gamechanger. In the right hands, of course. Now a few points that I believe would help to bolster player retention; I agree with @C01D1 in that the past forum events were great and were a fun way to keep the community engaged. While it's true that anyone can create such events, 'official' staff ran mini-events would be welcomed. I've also suggested in the past for 5x exp and/or green names to be turned on during event off-time. This would give players something to do when there's no active event.

Hey Larva, thanks for chiming in. I personally don't think Ultima is dead at all and appreciate you even still hosting it. Certainly not when people still care enough to talk about it even if its negative heh. The community is small but passionate. I do however think that bringing in some new staff with fresh ideas will increase community engagement and QOL. We also need to get some of the items fixed up like Ultima Bringers. We also need to really be open to change. This can come as weapon balance and class balance, quests, new events and FORUM contests much like Saith was doing a few years ago. I share the server out where I can, the Ultima trailer still gets views and questions. Cheers.

I remember when there was extra staff that understood the game, had connections with other devs, and generally cared for server quality. Too bad he was removed by a loud minority that wants a lot for Ultima but has no ability to act on it. crazy 😂

Ok i am on now.

Ill be live streaming on https://www.twitch.tv/jollytimestv from now until the end of christmas event. I will be spamming CCC Practice, Roct, POD, WOI. Come hang out and maybe we can do some runs. Make Ultima Great. PS. Be fast.