I find it funny if people are actually 'outraged' by this. Why? because it is so relativilty easy to max out your characters in UO, for an expierenced player, this is maybe, 2-3 days worth of work for them at tops, that character level/skill means two things in terms of "status" in the game - Jack All.
It doesnt mean a single thing. Things like
- Rares
- Houses
- Gold
are the "status" symbols in this game. You could have a total n00b character, but if you had like, 50 mill gold, a large tower and a full set of rares, you have more "status" then the 7X GM mage/bard.
For newbies, it lets them get into the game with a little bit of extra ease for 29 bucks. For expierenced gamers, it saves them a day or two of work if they want to roll op a new toon.
I honestly dont see any problem here. Its not like they are bypassing MONTHS and MONTHS of work to get to that skill level.
I am 19, and I started to get into BBS's just as the peak was dying off as the net started to make it's way into smaller towns. Think I had my BBS up for a year or two before my town got net access from Barrie, I have lots of fond memories and ran a BBS from a fairly young age untill I was 14 or 15. Think I finnaly closed up shop when I was 15 or 16, as the number of callers per day just was not worth the effort I wanted to put into it.
Hoewver, last week I was sorting though piles of old stuff in my room as I am moving to toronto tomorrow, and was popping in CD's w/o lables to see what was on them, and found a backup of my BBS as of the last day it was running, logged on locally and had alot of fond memories come back.
Many of my RL friends I have now who I see on regular baises (as they live like, 15-20 mins away) I met from the local BBS scene when I moved 3 hours away from where I was orginnaly from.
I'm guessing its more usefull for people who dont feel like sitting around waiting for their laundry to finish and would rather go grab a cup of coffee or something while they wait.
Personnaly, I think I'd just take a book to the laundry mat and use the tiem to read/catchup on work that doesnt require me to be at a computer.
Being overly restricted at work can lower worker moral. If they are stuck doing the same mundane job with no form of a 'break' other then lunch, then it can harm efficeny and producitvity.
I know when I was doing a programming job awhile ago, there would be days I'd sit at a screen just being brain-dead, but not being 'allowed' to do anything beyond that.. didnt make much progress.
But, now and then I'd "break" the rule (was never monited, so no real repercuions), chat on IRC for a bit or surf a web page/etc, get my mind off it. Then get back at it and be far more productive then I was previously.
Also, if you are stuck doing mundane/repetative tasks (depending on the job), I almost find I go faster if I have something to keep my mind off of what I am actually doing. Either it talking to a co-worker, or sending a quick msg off on MSN if I am at a computer.
It is when workers 'abuse' it, and dont get their work done that it becomes an issue.
Slashdot Mirror
I find it funny if people are actually 'outraged' by this. Why? because it is so relativilty easy to max out your characters in UO, for an expierenced player, this is maybe, 2-3 days worth of work for them at tops, that character level/skill means two things in terms of "status" in the game - Jack All. It doesnt mean a single thing. Things like - Rares - Houses - Gold are the "status" symbols in this game. You could have a total n00b character, but if you had like, 50 mill gold, a large tower and a full set of rares, you have more "status" then the 7X GM mage/bard. For newbies, it lets them get into the game with a little bit of extra ease for 29 bucks. For expierenced gamers, it saves them a day or two of work if they want to roll op a new toon. I honestly dont see any problem here. Its not like they are bypassing MONTHS and MONTHS of work to get to that skill level.
I am 19, and I started to get into BBS's just as the peak was dying off as the net started to make it's way into smaller towns. Think I had my BBS up for a year or two before my town got net access from Barrie, I have lots of fond memories and ran a BBS from a fairly young age untill I was 14 or 15. Think I finnaly closed up shop when I was 15 or 16, as the number of callers per day just was not worth the effort I wanted to put into it. Hoewver, last week I was sorting though piles of old stuff in my room as I am moving to toronto tomorrow, and was popping in CD's w/o lables to see what was on them, and found a backup of my BBS as of the last day it was running, logged on locally and had alot of fond memories come back. Many of my RL friends I have now who I see on regular baises (as they live like, 15-20 mins away) I met from the local BBS scene when I moved 3 hours away from where I was orginnaly from.
I'm guessing its more usefull for people who dont feel like sitting around waiting for their laundry to finish and would rather go grab a cup of coffee or something while they wait. Personnaly, I think I'd just take a book to the laundry mat and use the tiem to read/catchup on work that doesnt require me to be at a computer.
Being overly restricted at work can lower worker moral. If they are stuck doing the same mundane job with no form of a 'break' other then lunch, then it can harm efficeny and producitvity. I know when I was doing a programming job awhile ago, there would be days I'd sit at a screen just being brain-dead, but not being 'allowed' to do anything beyond that.. didnt make much progress. But, now and then I'd "break" the rule (was never monited, so no real repercuions), chat on IRC for a bit or surf a web page/etc, get my mind off it. Then get back at it and be far more productive then I was previously. Also, if you are stuck doing mundane/repetative tasks (depending on the job), I almost find I go faster if I have something to keep my mind off of what I am actually doing. Either it talking to a co-worker, or sending a quick msg off on MSN if I am at a computer. It is when workers 'abuse' it, and dont get their work done that it becomes an issue.