taken from UO U.Hall


As has been stated there are no plans as yet to discontinue the 2d client but once a 95% take up of KR is achieved then they most likely will shut down 2d.

But why 95%?

This is not just a number off the top of the EA execs heads. They have done the math. It would seem that EA are prepared to risk losing up to 5% of their players and with that the 5% loss in revenue.

This would also suggest that EA's profit margin on UO isnt too good. Suppose they had said 75% instead of 95? This would mean shutdown and a potential loss of 25% UO income. Obviously unacceptable to EA as they arent making too good a profit to begin with, and thats why they are only prepared to lose potentially 5%.

As long as 6% of players are using 2d then the bottom line is that EA CANT AFFORD to pull the plug on 2d. Its a thin line and it looks like 2d will be around for a very long time.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to switch.. but unless changes are made from this intial beta, it ain't gonna happen.

And I'm not even TESTING it. I'm working from what I see and read, and what other testers report first hand.

It has a lot of good things. And a lot of not so good ones. I'm hoping they fix the not good ones, and make even the diehard 2d fans happy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are missing a point.

EA obviously believes that KR will bring in new players, and that those new players will use KR exclusively. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the investment to develop a new client...

Therefore losing 5% of their players will not mean losing 5% of revenue, since they plan on having many more new players which will overcompensate the loss caused by the veterans who might quit.

I hope for UO that the implementation of KR will be good enough to make this plan succeed...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe it is because when working in numbers like this there is always a 1-7% percent of error. I don't think it has so much to do with dollar signs as it does with the way the counting system is programmed to work.
Jeremy stated elsewhere it's not how many of the population is logged onto KR at any given point, but instead how often each account logs into the KR client versus the legacy client. This information will be gathered over time and when IT'S percentage reaches the 95% range they will discuss the feasibility of discontinuing support of the legacy client.
This in and of itself does not mean that they will simply erase the legacy client as they did with 3D, but instead no longer support it with patches and updates.
Anyway, it's methodological research, not some sort of "acceptable losses" game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has all to do with Dollar signs Flutter. Just because you are buddies with all these guys dosen't mean you gotta believe everything they say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is there no common sense in this realm?


ALL JEREMY IS SAYING is 2D will be around and its not being cancelled anytime soon.

THE 95% is just a number she tossed out.

She just saying "GUYS/GALS were not planning on cancelling it. But if we find 95% of the player base is in KR then we might."

The 95% is just a number. She should of just said if we find everyone playing KR and relatively few people playing 2D then EA will decided what to do.

They arent using 95% as a target. Not 95% of current base. Not 95% of future base. Not 95% of last years subscriptions or 95% on subscriptions in 2008.


She just saying relax. No plans to stop 2D.

They want to make money its a business. WHEN IF WHEN IF WHEN the majority of the money for subscriptions comes out of KR and 2D isnt needed... THEN POOF. Its gone.


Hehe. Now I might be wrong. Cause I am a lot. But Even if I am. Why in the world would you want to worry about the 95%? Geez. Go find some bugs in KR. Help out in the present.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It's a handy percentage that illustrates the point. We honestly don't have a set figure, date, etc - we will have to see what the acceptance rate looks like, and various other factors.


E. Jeremy Dalberg
UO Community Coordinator
EA Mythic




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The new 3d screenshots do look really nice but i dont think a new computer is in the budget just to play Uo.

@Cerwin:
First of all: thats pretty off topic
Second of all: I don't know about your PC, but the system requirements are pretty low. Basically 1GHz Processor, 512MB RAM and 64MB Vid Card. That substandard nowadays...

@Tabbitha:
Interesting thing you dug up there. Thanks for that.

There are no new 3D screenshots. (???? KR is actually an enhanced 2D running on a 3D engine - KR does not use 3D graphics). Part of the reason they didn't go with 3D is their goal of keeping computer requirements low.

Even with KR, the requirements are still slated to be lower than any other MMORPG out there.

Zooming sure looks nice in KR. Atleast from the sample video I watched, you don't just zoom into your char's feet and see huge pixels.

---
KR does not use 3D graphics
---

I thought it was 3d models on a 2d landscape - sorta like Final Fantasy X+

From the KR FAQ at http://www.uoherald.com/kingdomreborn/faq.php

Q: Is the new client 2d or 3d?
A: Yes! In a way, it is both. It's a 3D engine that will look and play like a 2D engine, except for some special effects, lighting and other small details.

Our goal was to preserve the look and feel of Ultima Online, while also providing the benefits of a modern graphics engine.

------------

(which sounds to me like 2D models running on a 3D engine, with the exception of some spell effects/lighting, which will look 3D)

It's kind of awkward to explain.
What they've done is designed high-detail models of everything, and rendered them to flat textures, which are applied to 2D polygons.
It is very similar to the way the 2D client does things (each 2D frame, I recall, is a render of a 3D model).
The main diference is that rather than layering all the graphics in 2D, they're using a 3D engine to do it.

It's pretty hard to describe without drawing picture, or energetic hand gestures...

LOL yes, energetic hand gestures are difficult to convey here!

*pictures Kit and Kimi in a slap-fight*

Kinda like that?