Fellows!

We've come down a very long road together. Eleven years have passed since Uthgard was started. Since the launch back in 2003 the server has evolved a lot. We’ve gone through many changes together. From a pure 3D chat without a working melee and spell system to a complex game engine. There has always been a lot to do for us to keep your game experience as enjoyable as possible. Although all of the changes that Uthgard has seen were always meant to make this server better, we have also made mistakes. Some of those mistakes that had little influence back then, but led to bigger issues much later and caused trouble that we are facing in these days.

In the past there have been issues with incorrect drop rates which led to a high gap between the wealth of older and newer players. Some players were able to buy anything they wanted while others had to work for a long time to obtain the same wealth. In addition, non-classic DAoC items were introduced in the game which made drops from original bosses unwanted. This led to people farming in instanced regions in small groups instead of gathering as a realm to conquer enemies. Unfortunately these items were too strong for our envisioned classic setting. Since they were introduced, they couldn't simply be removed or adjusted later without significant impact to the players who worked to obtain them.

Not only the PvE is affected by Uthgard's history - the RvR is affected as well. Compared to the server's population over the last few years, in the beginning there were fewer people in the game. When more and more people were attracted by this server, those who had been in this game for a long time already had high realmranks, items and money from previous settings which newer players don’t have access to anymore. The gap between old and new players became bigger and along with it, the attitude of a lot of players changed. While the server population grew, the RvR population didn't as much. This caused the endgame RvR to become more and more an elitist's game where other's couldn't compete and stopped trying or re-rolled for battlegrounds over and over.

We are aware of the fact that there have been missing features all the time, such as class abilities, pets or certain RvR features for keeps and relics. We always had this in mind, but we got distracted and worked on other issues in detail. Another example is the development of the old realm abilities. We have been talking about this for too long.

All of these problems have led to the situation we're in: Our population is back to where it was years ago. The player count is dropping day by day and there isn't really anything good we could tell you about this. We want to get these things straight now. That's why we have decided to shut down the server until we have worked this out. We do not want to offer an incomplete server any longer. We want to focus on all of the current problems as fast as possible, which is not possible with a running server that needs to be supported.

There have been many suggestions from the community about how to solve the problems mentioned above. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get to more balanced and consistent structures in the game. We have tried to find solutions in the past and they have all failed. In order to offer a good DAoC experience in the future, we have come to the conclusion that the best thing for the server is a fresh start. You can trust us that this is a once in a lifetime occurrence and its not easy for us. We know it is hard for all of you, our loyal players, and we feel with you! However nobody wants an empty server. Newcomers must be included into the community and they must have the feeling to stand a chance. For DAoC to work, a crowded server is important. We will focus on missing features to be in good shape for a big comeback. After this we will see which alliances, guilds or players will spread the most fear among their enemies!

The Uthgard game server will be closed on Monday, January 27th, at 01:00 CET and we will start a major revamp. We can't give you any estimated date when the server will be back online, because we don't know. We will announce on Facebook and will send e-mails to forum and game users when the server is ready. Our goal remains delivering the highest quality pre-ToA, pre-NF, classic DAoC gameplay for you.

Kind regards,
Your Uthgard Staff

Well, your server and your call, but I do think you guys see things only black and white. Either you blindly stick to one idea or the other. I still think re-implementing recharge stones, bottles and/or barrels, lowering down time and so on would give server a population boost. This seems like a panicked decision caused by population drop. So what, people are trying Origins...big deal. Some of those people will quit DAOC as a game fast, some will stay because it's easy and they enjoy the bugs, many of the will return to Uthgard(oh wait, there will be no Uthgard to return to) and maybe some new will come.

While admitting that not only one thing caused the population drop, we all know that the main reason was Origins. I just don't understand why would you bring such a hasty decision after origins has only been up for a week or so, without even trying to bring some things back and boost the population. Funny as it may seem, many people are indeed only trying out origins.

Anyway, by making hasty decisions and having a black/white view of the world, with absolutely no shades of grey, you will only lose more active and dedicated players. I hope I am wrong. Good luck with your work and I hope Uthgard will be up in the near future.

Finally a good news, good that the staff start to listen players. Thanks

So a fresh restart means all players/accounts will be erased? and we will have to start back at 1?

Oh god if I have to re-lvl almost every class in every realm -.-

i feared the day would come...
Seems the silent majority of Players who enjoyed the Spirit of Uthgard had no Chance at all.

5 Years of Fun for me though, but all lost within a week of Confusion caused by the Start of Origins.

No Chance for me to start all over again.

Guess that decision closes the last Chapter of DAoC for me!

But I just came back and started getting into it again.

But I also agree with any plan to revitalize the server and I agree that there needs some fixing.

I'll eagerly await this new finished product, and hope that is not good-bye.

Thanks Blue, and thanks to the staff.

Kenderkenobi wrote:But I just came back and started getting into it again.

But I also agree with any plan to revitalize the server and I agree that there needs some fixing.

I'll eagerly await this new finished product, and hope that is not good-bye.

Thanks Blue, and thanks to the staff.

same for me wipe = goodbye

interesting

dealinjah wrote:

Kenderkenobi wrote:But I just came back and started getting into it again.

But I also agree with any plan to revitalize the server and I agree that there needs some fixing.

I'll eagerly await this new finished product, and hope that is not good-bye.

Thanks Blue, and thanks to the staff.

same for me wipe = goodbye

But what do you think the start want ? you know, your goodbye will be 10 newcomers, if staff do it well, with advertising, good clean, and a totally fresh start, believe me, there will be a lot of people that will play here

We are waiting for old ras and SI for 3+years and they cant even stand a week? ...

pweet wrote:We are waiting for old ras and SI for 3+years and they cant even stand a week? ...

Such cowardice, I feel like puking my guts out, literally haha. Well, dumb decision was expected, but not this dumb...I really don't understand this.

I think you are making the right choice. I will be back and will relevel.

I will level again as well no doubt haha. I will just take it as the longest Beta phase in MMORPG history!!!

At least you guys shot yourselves in the head instead of the foot this time!