Best Game Ever - Ultima Online Legacy

Seth

An interesting read for the 25th anniversary.

The Legacy of Ultima Online

Some takeaways and numbers:
1) UO first mmo to cross 6 digit population.
2) PK environment was driving away 70% of the game’s new players and that Origin had asked him for a “shutdown plan for the game” 
3) Introduction of Trammel doubles the player base from 125k to 245k subs.
4) Subsequent decline as it lost ground to newer titles with fancier 3-D graphics. The fight was never between EC and CC. EC failed to keep the players from switching to other games.
5) In 2012, Time honored Ultima Online in a list of the 100 greatest video games ever made, saying that subsequent MMOs “owed a debt to the lessons learned” from this game.

Will New Legacy get back the 6-digit?

Yoshi

“I know people say this every year but just recently I actually feel like the game is ending now.

I don’t think it’s a big issue to disclose I have access to a discord channel that automatically notifies of IDOCs (multi shard) and the notifications have been blowing up crazy this week.

combined with the seemingly end of support/development for official clients. 

I hope it’s not the end but I really do feel it’s closing soon.

(trammel was needed back then, I remember the very first time I saw an orange I immediately lost connection and logged back in dead and lost my armor, but the introduction of item insurance has now mostly removed the requirement for trammel)”

Tim

Except most player I know really don't like PvP.

Seth

Another good read.

How Ultima Online was made

These articles should be on UO.com.

Seth

Yoshi said:

“I know people say this every year but just recently I actually feel like the game is ending now.

I don’t think it’s a big issue to disclose I have access to a discord channel that automatically notifies of IDOCs (multi shard) and the notifications have been blowing up crazy this week.

combined with the seemingly end of support/development for official clients. 

I hope it’s not the end but I really do feel it’s closing soon.

(trammel was needed back then, I remember the very first time I saw an orange I immediately lost connection and logged back in dead and lost my armor, but the introduction of item insurance has now mostly removed the requirement for trammel)”

Pvp and Pking are two different things. 

Pvp is fun in the boxing ring. Both sides are geared to fight. Both sides get the fun.

Getting murdered while u are just shopping or walking in the park isn't fun. One party gets the fun only. 

And they created the PK system like a rat trap waiting for greedy rats to run in. 

popps

Yoshi said:

“I know people say this every year but just recently I actually feel like the game is ending now.

I don’t think it’s a big issue to disclose I have access to a discord channel that automatically notifies of IDOCs (multi shard) and the notifications have been blowing up crazy this week.

combined with the seemingly end of support/development for official clients. 

I hope it’s not the end but I really do feel it’s closing soon.

(trammel was needed back then, I remember the very first time I saw an orange I immediately lost connection and logged back in dead and lost my armor, but the introduction of item insurance has now mostly removed the requirement for trammel)”

Personally, I will never get it how anyone can be happy when seeing an IDOC.... for me, each and every time I see an IDOC it means to me that an UO player is shutting down his/her UO account and, thus, a piece of Ultima Online is going away....

Indeed, if recently there has been a surge in IDOCs, it is not a good sign.... for a game this old, I imagine that the shutting down of accounts might be more likely then the opening of new, subscribed accounts.... therefore, for an account that goes away, it is not guaranteed that a new, subscribed one, might open shortly after, to keep the game above that level of Accounts that are needed for it to keep going....

It would be interesting to know what the lowest number of Accounts is, to keep Ultima Online above its costs and thus possible to keep going....and how far we might be, from reaching that lowest number of Accounts below which, costs will exceed active subscriptions and, thus, call for a shutting down for good of Ultima Online because running at a loss.....

Urge

Atlantic had a massive flux of people come from all shards for the destard event. The timing is about right for those accounts to go down and their houses to drop. I would assume most shards had some of the same. The fly by nighters have always came and gone. 

You worry when you start seeing established 18x18s keeps and castles dropping. You definitely know it's the end when Luna houses open up. 

popps

Urge said:

Atlantic had a massive flux of people come from all shards for the destard event. The timing is about right for those accounts to go down and their houses to drop. I would assume most shards had some of the same. The fly by nighters have always came and gone. 

You worry when you start seeing established 18x18s keeps and castles dropping. You definitely know it's the end when Luna houses open up. 

Considering how Housing on Atlantic is way more difficult as on other Shards, if it was as you say, this would mean that all those players moving to Atlantic had found a House there and, thus, they're getting their newer House on Atlantic condemning their House on whatever Shard they were moving from....

Quite unlikely, considering how difficult and expensive it is, to my understanding, to get a House on Atlantic for those many players.... not impossible for some but, certainly, significantly more difficult as compared to low Population Shards for a significant number of players....

Not to mention, that I would not understand why, if all of these players were "relocating" from a low Population Shard to Atlantic, why they did not first empty out their House on their source Shard, take all their items to Atlantic to stock up their new house there, and then take down their older House on the Low Population Shard and recover its cost...

I mean, why let it go IDOC and loose all of the items inside with it, if they keep playing the game, albeit on another Shard, Atlantic ?

By the way, from what I understand from other players who do IDOCs, Keeps and Catles do drop... maybe not on Atlantic, but on other Shards I heard that they do....

Urge

I meant opening another account for the event. 

Event ended, accounts closed, houses decay. 

popps

Urge said:

I meant opening another account for the event. 

Event ended, accounts closed, houses decay. 

If so, that would mean all these house would be falling on Atlantic.... assuming that so many players where able to get a House on Atlantic for the Event, where we know Housing is significantly more difficult and expensive as compared to other Shards...

@Yoshi , out of curiosity, all or most of those IDOCs notifications that you are getting are referred to Atlantic or to other Shards ?

Because, if they were related to players opening an extra Account on Atlantic for the Event, and getting somehow Housing there for the limited time of the Event, then most of the notifications that you talked about, should refer to IDOCs on Atlantic, and not on other Shards....

JohnKnighthawke

People's ability to deny reality never ceases to amaze me. The article's couple of paragraphs on the Trammel go something like this.

1-90% of population goes to Trammel and doesn't look back.

(So logically that means most people didn't want the Fel lifestyle.)

2-Someone says that somehow this was the "beginning of the end."

(What? Based on all available empirical data it helped, not hurt.)

3-Someone else says subscriptions doubled after Trammel.

(So not only does this mean most players don't want the Fel lifestyle, but that Fel was actually a problem for the UO brand name. People stayed away because of it.)

4-Same person then says Trammel was somehow a problem because it cost UO the hard-core PKers.

(Umm...what? Based on the information provided, they were a problem...)

First thing someone says here? "Trammel isn't needed anymore."

(Umm....What?)

Oh well. We're living in the post-fact, post-truth world now. When UO finally does shut down these folks will blame Trammel even though the available evidence suggests the polar opposite and even though the end of UO by definition will have occurred decades after Trammel.

popps

JohnKnighthawke said:

People's ability to deny reality never ceases to amaze me. The article's couple of paragraphs on the Trammel go something like this.

1-90% of population goes to Trammel and doesn't look back.

(So logically that means most people didn't want the Fel lifestyle.)

2-Someone says that somehow this was the "beginning of the end."

(What? Based on all available empirical data it helped, not hurt.)

3-Someone else says subscriptions doubled after Trammel.

(So not only does this mean most players don't want the Fel lifestyle, but that Fel was actually a problem for the UO brand name. People stayed away because of it.)

4-Same person then says Trammel was somehow a problem because it cost UO the hard-core PKers.

(Umm...what? Based on the information provided, they were a problem...)

First thing someone says here? "Trammel isn't needed anymore."

(Umm....What?)

Oh well. We're living in the post-fact, post-truth world now. When UO finally does shut down these folks will blame Trammel even though the available evidence suggests the polar opposite and even though the end of UO by definition will have occurred decades after Trammel.

It might be interesting to read what, to my understanding, a Developer who was there when it happened, remembers....

https://community.crowfall.com/topic/102-gordon-walton-are-you-the-one-who-brought-us-trammel/?tab=comments#comment-1610

A paragraph which I found very much interesting to read, was this....

We were not successful in bringing back the (literally)100's of thousands of players who had quit due to the unbridled PvP in the world (~5% of former customers came back to try the new UO, but very few of them stayed).  We discovered that people didn't just quit UO, they divorced it in a very emotional way.

This is why, to my opinion, game Design dealing with PvP should be dealt with with a ten foot pole.....

McDougle

popps said:

JohnKnighthawke said:

People's ability to deny reality never ceases to amaze me. The article's couple of paragraphs on the Trammel go something like this.

1-90% of population goes to Trammel and doesn't look back.

(So logically that means most people didn't want the Fel lifestyle.)

2-Someone says that somehow this was the "beginning of the end."

(What? Based on all available empirical data it helped, not hurt.)

3-Someone else says subscriptions doubled after Trammel.

(So not only does this mean most players don't want the Fel lifestyle, but that Fel was actually a problem for the UO brand name. People stayed away because of it.)

4-Same person then says Trammel was somehow a problem because it cost UO the hard-core PKers.

(Umm...what? Based on the information provided, they were a problem...)

First thing someone says here? "Trammel isn't needed anymore."

(Umm....What?)

Oh well. We're living in the post-fact, post-truth world now. When UO finally does shut down these folks will blame Trammel even though the available evidence suggests the polar opposite and even though the end of UO by definition will have occurred decades after Trammel.

It might be interesting to read what, to my understanding, a Developer who was there when it happened, remembers....

https://community.crowfall.com/topic/102-gordon-walton-are-you-the-one-who-brought-us-trammel/?tab=comments#comment-1610

A paragraph which I found very much interesting to read, was this....

We were not successful in bringing back the (literally)100's of thousands of players who had quit due to the unbridled PvP in the world (~5% of former customers came back to try the new UO, but very few of them stayed).  We discovered that people didn't just quit UO, they divorced it in a very emotional way.

This is why, to my opinion, game Design dealing with PvP should be dealt with with a ten foot pole.....

If only there was a pvp only shard..

Seth

popps said:

JohnKnighthawke said:

People's ability to deny reality never ceases to amaze me. The article's couple of paragraphs on the Trammel go something like this.

1-90% of population goes to Trammel and doesn't look back.

(So logically that means most people didn't want the Fel lifestyle.)

2-Someone says that somehow this was the "beginning of the end."

(What? Based on all available empirical data it helped, not hurt.)

3-Someone else says subscriptions doubled after Trammel.

(So not only does this mean most players don't want the Fel lifestyle, but that Fel was actually a problem for the UO brand name. People stayed away because of it.)

4-Same person then says Trammel was somehow a problem because it cost UO the hard-core PKers.

(Umm...what? Based on the information provided, they were a problem...)

First thing someone says here? "Trammel isn't needed anymore."

(Umm....What?)

Oh well. We're living in the post-fact, post-truth world now. When UO finally does shut down these folks will blame Trammel even though the available evidence suggests the polar opposite and even though the end of UO by definition will have occurred decades after Trammel.

It might be interesting to read what, to my understanding, a Developer who was there when it happened, remembers....

https://community.crowfall.com/topic/102-gordon-walton-are-you-the-one-who-brought-us-trammel/?tab=comments#comment-1610

A paragraph which I found very much interesting to read, was this....

We were not successful in bringing back the (literally)100's of thousands of players who had quit due to the unbridled PvP in the world (~5% of former customers came back to try the new UO, but very few of them stayed).  We discovered that people didn't just quit UO, they divorced it in a very emotional way.

This is why, to my opinion, game Design dealing with PvP should be dealt with with a ten foot pole.....

Again, please don't mix up PvP and PK. Many multiplayer games that are designed solely for PvP is fun. PvP is like a sport.

PK is not, just like real life. E.g. our houses are supposed to be secured so we don't get murdered in our sleep. There is no need to go deeper but you all should know what I mean.

Back to the OP, its not about Fel Vs Trammel, not about EC vs CC. Each serve a purpose and players are free to choose any client or facet. They don't compete with one another. You can argue which is the best, but none of them has succeeded to keep the bulk of players. They have all failed.

Perhaps others have learnt from UO to become successful, but what has UO learn from its own history.

JohnKnighthawke

Seth said:

popps said:

JohnKnighthawke said:

People's ability to deny reality never ceases to amaze me. The article's couple of paragraphs on the Trammel go something like this.

1-90% of population goes to Trammel and doesn't look back.

(So logically that means most people didn't want the Fel lifestyle.)

2-Someone says that somehow this was the "beginning of the end."

(What? Based on all available empirical data it helped, not hurt.)

3-Someone else says subscriptions doubled after Trammel.

(So not only does this mean most players don't want the Fel lifestyle, but that Fel was actually a problem for the UO brand name. People stayed away because of it.)

4-Same person then says Trammel was somehow a problem because it cost UO the hard-core PKers.

(Umm...what? Based on the information provided, they were a problem...)

First thing someone says here? "Trammel isn't needed anymore."

(Umm....What?)

Oh well. We're living in the post-fact, post-truth world now. When UO finally does shut down these folks will blame Trammel even though the available evidence suggests the polar opposite and even though the end of UO by definition will have occurred decades after Trammel.

It might be interesting to read what, to my understanding, a Developer who was there when it happened, remembers....

https://community.crowfall.com/topic/102-gordon-walton-are-you-the-one-who-brought-us-trammel/?tab=comments#comment-1610

A paragraph which I found very much interesting to read, was this....

We were not successful in bringing back the (literally)100's of thousands of players who had quit due to the unbridled PvP in the world (~5% of former customers came back to try the new UO, but very few of them stayed).  We discovered that people didn't just quit UO, they divorced it in a very emotional way.

This is why, to my opinion, game Design dealing with PvP should be dealt with with a ten foot pole.....

Again, please don't mix up PvP and PK. Many multiplayer games that are designed solely for PvP is fun. PvP is like a sport.

PK is not, just like real life. E.g. our houses are supposed to be secured so we don't get murdered in our sleep. There is no need to go deeper but you all should know what I mean.

Back to the OP, its not about Fel Vs Trammel, not about EC vs CC. Each serve a purpose and players are free to choose any client or facet. They don't compete with one another. You can argue which is the best, but none of them has succeeded to keep the bulk of players. They have all failed.

Perhaps others have learnt from UO to become successful, but what has UO learn from its own history.

*sighs* OK, so. With Trammel you saw a move that saved a game that was close to closure very close to the outset, and you're deeming it to be a failure because it didn't prevent the game from declining many years (and many, many decisions) later? "See, it's still a failure because a couple of decades later, the game still declined." No.

Yoshi

“league of legends, starcraft, fortnite, crossfire, all total game business failures because literally nobody likes PvP, delete fel"

Fortis

Yoshi said:

“league of legends, starcraft, fortnite, crossfire, all total game business failures because literally nobody likes PvP, delete fel"

are you saying that banana taste the same than orange now? cant compare any games you mention with uo....and btw for your idocs numbers nothing have change since i do some since couples years ago....uo is a come and go cycle for many people...the population seems to be the same or even mroe people than 5 years ago...but yeah if you only look fel like you seem to be...maybe you need to go play a shooter game...

Arnold7

Have played a lot of games over the years.  Even with all the bugs and primitive graphics this game has all the elements it needs to succeed except for one.  It does not have the thinking going into it that knows how to put all of the elements together in a meaningful way to attract and retain new players.

Most of the marketing effort appears to focused on meeting the needs of those existing players whose subscriptions pay the bills.  The little bit of effort that goes elsewhere is focused on using EJ accounts to get old players that that have quit back into the game.  Although I admire EA’s commitment to the existing player base, I suspect EA has already set a sunset date for UO.

The developers thinking continues to be focused on bringing back those elements of the game, pvp, stealing and forcing players to go to Fel., that don’t really hold must interest for much of the player base.  I appreciate that UO provides separate environments and that players are free to play in either.  NL appears to be focused on bring back group play, guilds, and pvp.

As the years pass I see fewer and fewer players on my shard.  I also see fewer and fewer of the essentials being bought and sold on vendor search.  I see the game itself being a little more stable now than it was a few months ago.  I just think 

Yoshi

Fortis said:

  for your idocs numbers nothing have change since i do some since couples years ago......

"i have the actual logs, but yeah lets just go by your rough experience.."

Fortis

Yoshi said:

Fortis said:

  for your idocs numbers nothing have change since i do some since couples years ago......

"i have the actual logs, but yeah lets just go by your rough experience.."

you have logs of every idocs on the last 5 years on every shards...how come? i really want you to share with us where you get this info and give us all the information to prove you are right...

Yoshi

"not for last 5 years, maybe year

it's just bot from each shard that keeps log with discord webhook"

Arnold7

I just think persons more experienced in knowing what players want and selling games take a hard look at this one and develop a plan to make it more desirable to more players young and old.  Maybe determine what player base this game appeals to.  I really enjoy playing with the players I know and really like that most of them are middle aged and older adults that I can relate too.

Sorry for the two posts.  Did not realize I had posted the other one when I thought I had saved it.

Soldahouse

this month i started keeping idoc info. now this isnt every idoc cause some days i cant check. 
Between 9/1 and 9/15, 216 idocs 31 of those keeps and castles. This doesnt count SP or asian SP. There was a few days i missed all idocs. There is a player that does idocs and keeps all info and still has it. maybe he will share how many have fallen in last few years. 

Smedly

Is there not a way to combine Feluca and Trammel and let players chose to PvP with a char or opt out and make it invunerable to player attack? Maybe some way to change designation with a delay for it to take effect? (ie VvV) That way we could all live in same world.

I suppose combining shards to increase population would be good but how do you decide who moves and where they place their houses on new shard? Maybe blow up both shards (placing gold for houses in account) and let players place houses first come first served on new shard. Could be a fun restart like when shards came online one at a time, but knowing UO there will be bitching like never before! LOL

PvP, especially in large scale melee, is some of the most fun I've had in UO and being PKd some of the worst. (Insurance took most of sting from both!) PvP is an important part of the game and I think needs to be kept but players should be able to opt out! (murder sucks)

UO pulled me, and most of the others playing Diablo, to it when it came online and it keeps pulling players back (this is third return for me) because it is more than PvP and PvM ! Many players have tradesmen or merchants as main chars and hardly ever hunt/fight! 

Sorry if im rambling and thats all so far. 

popps

Soldahouse said:

this month i started keeping idoc info. now this isnt every idoc cause some days i cant check. 
Between 9/1 and 9/15, 216 idocs 31 of those keeps and castles. This doesnt count SP or asian SP. There was a few days i missed all idocs. There is a player that does idocs and keeps all info and still has it. maybe he will share how many have fallen in last few years. 

Considering that every House that falls means a subscription cancelled.... that is quite a lot of accounts closed in a couple of weeks only....

Lord_Frodo

popps said:

Soldahouse said:

this month i started keeping idoc info. now this isnt every idoc cause some days i cant check. 
Between 9/1 and 9/15, 216 idocs 31 of those keeps and castles. This doesnt count SP or asian SP. There was a few days i missed all idocs. There is a player that does idocs and keeps all info and still has it. maybe he will share how many have fallen in last few years. 

Considering that every House that falls means a subscription cancelled.... that is quite a lot of accounts closed in a couple of weeks only....

Or they placed another house and didn't bother to take down the old one.

McDougle

popps said:

Soldahouse said:

this month i started keeping idoc info. now this isnt every idoc cause some days i cant check. 
Between 9/1 and 9/15, 216 idocs 31 of those keeps and castles. This doesnt count SP or asian SP. There was a few days i missed all idocs. There is a player that does idocs and keeps all info and still has it. maybe he will share how many have fallen in last few years. 

Considering that every House that falls means a subscription cancelled.... that is quite a lot of accounts closed in a couple of weeks only....

might be an account that was opened just for  a month 

gay

LOL @ "will the new legacy get back to six digits".

UO hasnt seen six digits since ML.

Right now it's operating at high four digits.

Seth

Arnold7 said:

Have played a lot of games over the years.  Even with all the bugs and primitive graphics this game has all the elements it needs to succeed except for one.  It does not have the thinking going into it that knows how to put all of the elements together in a meaningful way to attract and retain new players.

Most of the marketing effort appears to focused on meeting the needs of those existing players whose subscriptions pay the bills.  The little bit of effort that goes elsewhere is focused on using EJ accounts to get old players that that have quit back into the game.  Although I admire EA’s commitment to the existing player base, I suspect EA has already set a sunset date for UO.

The developers thinking continues to be focused on bringing back those elements of the game, pvp, stealing and forcing players to go to Fel., that don’t really hold must interest for much of the player base.  I appreciate that UO provides separate environments and that players are free to play in either.  NL appears to be focused on bring back group play, guilds, and pvp.

As the years pass I see fewer and fewer players on my shard.  I also see fewer and fewer of the essentials being bought and sold on vendor search.  I see the game itself being a little more stable now than it was a few months ago.  I just think 

I hope there are indicators to show that it's not heading for sunset soon. I hope what @Yoshi suspects won't come true.

I am not sure about the rest of you. When I pay for UO sub, I feel that I am paying to keep virtual assets that will last my "lifetime". Assets that I value alot and afraid to lose. We don't pay sub to keep "playing actively" but if we don't pay, we will lose the valuable items and rewards earned over the years. Paying is for keeping and earning such items.

If I need to pay to play and entertain, then I would look at standalone PC games or perhaps try a seasonal game, which I may pay one time or for a few months until I get bored and move on. I don't care about "owning" anything in the game. Paying is for the active playing, and there is nothing to lose if we stop any time.

popps

Seth said:

Arnold7 said:

Have played a lot of games over the years.  Even with all the bugs and primitive graphics this game has all the elements it needs to succeed except for one.  It does not have the thinking going into it that knows how to put all of the elements together in a meaningful way to attract and retain new players.

Most of the marketing effort appears to focused on meeting the needs of those existing players whose subscriptions pay the bills.  The little bit of effort that goes elsewhere is focused on using EJ accounts to get old players that that have quit back into the game.  Although I admire EA’s commitment to the existing player base, I suspect EA has already set a sunset date for UO.

The developers thinking continues to be focused on bringing back those elements of the game, pvp, stealing and forcing players to go to Fel., that don’t really hold must interest for much of the player base.  I appreciate that UO provides separate environments and that players are free to play in either.  NL appears to be focused on bring back group play, guilds, and pvp.

As the years pass I see fewer and fewer players on my shard.  I also see fewer and fewer of the essentials being bought and sold on vendor search.  I see the game itself being a little more stable now than it was a few months ago.  I just think 

I hope there are indicators to show that it's not heading for sunset soon. I hope what @ Yoshi suspects won't come true.

I am not sure about the rest of you. When I pay for UO sub, I feel that I am paying to keep virtual assets that will last my "lifetime". Assets that I value alot and afraid to lose. We don't pay sub to keep "playing actively" but if we don't pay, we will lose the valuable items and rewards earned over the years. Paying is for keeping and earning such items.

If I need to pay to play and entertain, then I would look at standalone PC games or perhaps try a seasonal game, which I may pay one time or for a few months until I get bored and move on. I don't care about "owning" anything in the game. Paying is for the active playing, and there is nothing to lose if we stop any time.

I feel that I am paying to keep virtual assets that will last my "lifetime". 

And what about the time, if it will come, when that paying will be useless anyways, because too many other players have closed their accounts and costs will exceed resources and the decision will be made to close down Ultima Online for good ?

Will keeping paying one's own subscription be of any good to keep one's own virtual assets or will it become useless, overwhelmed by a large number of other players shutting down their subscribed accounts for good ?

This is why I insist that the Developers should do A WHOLE LOT better when Designing Veteran Rewards to prize Ultima Online players who have maitained their accounts as active for so long.... to incentivate them to keep doing so and appraise their being loyal customers to Ultima Online....

Unfortunately, the latest 25 Years Veteran Reward, totally underwhelming to my opinion, does not look to go in that direction....

There is much better Veteran Rewards for lower Years as there are for higher Years (just look at Auction Safes, a mere 1st Year Veteran Reward and the extreme high value that they have, and you'll easily understand my argument...) and this sends a wrong message to my opinion.... why should a player want to keep maintaining their account as active for amazing 25 Years and soon to come 26 Years if then, the Veteran Reward to thank them for their amazing, long loyalty will be an item that is totally, absolutely sub-par as compared to Veteran Rewards which can be gotten with much, much less Years of an active subscription ?

Hell, a mere 1st Year active Account can get Auction Safes which obliterate the value of pretty much most of any of the other Veteran Rewards from much higher Years, even the 25 Years one !!!

Just a thought....

Petra_Fyde

What veteran reward I will get has no impact whatsoever on my decision to keep playing, and nor should it. I keep playing because I enjoy playing. 
When assessing the number of IDOCs one must also take into account
1. How many of them are in fact the result of the owner placing a new house elsewhere and
2. How many of the are instantly replaced by new homes. 
I understand that on Atlantic those houses may be replaced by persons selling them for profit - but there still must be someone to sell them TO, otherwise they wouldn't do it.
Instead of spreading doom and gloom referring to 'dead shards' and forecasting the end of the game take the time to actually go out and count the number of houses spread over the shards, because for every house that isn't falling, there is an active account paying for it!