Opps did I say 2006, well you certainly would have thought it was if you play UO. Every year EA gives Christmas gifts to those active accounts that are 30 days or older from when the gifts are given out. Well not this year, EA having laid off half or more of the development staff due to redundancies and the moving of the development studio to a location that the other developers did not want to move too has left the 10 year tradition as a joke this year.

Every year for 10 years EA has at least made an attempt to give something different and new to its subscribers, but as another sign things are not all well at UO HQ, this year was an exact rehash of last years gifts except with the date changed to suit the year.

Personally I think it shows little respect to UO subscribers as it clearly shows that the UO producer has given little thought to this age old tradition and even less when he approved the rehashing of last years gift.

If due to the shake up with the dev team they couldn’t develop new art assets and get them into the game then why not use your brain and do something else. Like rehashing a gift from each year of UO. Take one of the gifts that were given each year for the last 10 years and make that the Christmas surprise. It shouldn’t be too hard to code and the art assets will be in the game. It wouldn’t have been a complete cop out and would even have been a nice surprise for those players that haven’t been playing UO for 10 years.

For those that don’t know, heres a list of all the Christmas gifts given over the last 10 years(courteous of JCtheBuilder of Stratics UHall):

1997
The launch of our glorious game! The developers started the time honored tradition here of giving out gifts on holidays. During the first year, nearly every major American holiday saw gifts distributed. Even St Patrick's Day. Not only were gifts distributed, but Santa Claus and his Reindeer spawned on production shards. You could even kill Santa and loot his prized red chainmail tunic.

Gifts were distributed based on your notoriety If you had bad karma, you got a bag saying "You were naughty this year!" and it held a lump of coal, switches, spam, etc. Good karma players got a Season's Greetings card, Bottle of Champagne, Fruitcake, etc.
http://www.uorares.com/Database/ItemCatalog/holiday1997.php


1998
This year saw a change in how gifts were distributed. Instead of just getting the gifts in a bag you received a numbered ticket. You had to find another player with a matching number ticket to claim your gifts. This added a whole new dynamic and adventure to gift collecting. But it might have been a little too difficult with dozens of different numbered tickets. Also changed was the number of gifts. You could only select one.

Gifts given were Black Dye Tub, Coupon for Free Hair Restyling, Deed for a Holiday Tree, Fireworks Wand, one random Piece of Ranger Armor or Spyglass (not tinkererable at the time).
http://www.uorares.com/Database/ItemCatalog/holiday1997.php


1999
One of the greatest holiday seasons in my opinion. It had the perfect balance of desirable gifts and you still had to interact with other players. But this time only two tickets had to be matched, no fiddling with numbers. Once again you could only select one gift.

Gifts given were Clothing Bless Deed, Holiday Timepiece, Deed for a Holiday Tree, Deed for a Potted Plant, Holiday Timepiece and Pile of Snow.
http://www.uorares.com/Database/ItemCatalog/holiday1999.php


2000
This year saw two major changes to the gift giving system. One was the elimination of having to interact with other players. You simply double-clicked your holiday ticket and claimed a gift. The second was the obvious "dumbing down" of gifts. Previous season gifts were turning out to be worth tons of gold. To try and "fix" the problem only two new gifts were given. Some very lucky players were treated with a rare white bell. However, the town snowglobes and bells were still a very good gifts in my opinion. It would have been nice though to have more choices which had more year round use.

Gifts given were Deed for a Holiday Tree, Pile of Snow, Holiday Bells and Snow Globes for cities.
http://www.uorares.com/Database/ItemCatalog/holiday2000.php


2001
Almost exactly the same as last year except Bells were changed to Statues. The snow globes were changed to different names also. One nice change was the the introduction of artificial rarity in the statues.

Gifts given were a Deed for a Holiday Tree, Pile of Snow, Holiday Statues and Snow Globes for new locations.
http://www.uorares.com/Database/ItemCatalog/holiday2001.php


2002
You might think that this year (2007) is the first time gifts were regifted. I thought so too until I created this list and saw it happened in 2002. Only one thing changed this year and that was the name of the wrist watch to a holiday timepiece.

Gifts given were Deed for a Holiday Tree, Pile of Snow, Holiday Statues (same as last year), Holiday Timepiece, Snow Globes [City] and Snow Globes [other].
http://www.uorares.com/Database/ItemCatalog/holiday2002.php


2003
After such a disappointing previous year, the development team turned it around and came out with some decent gifts. One big change was the elimination of selection deeds and the introduction of the gift box container. I have mixed feelings about not being able to pick a gift anymore. Now you have to throw away lots of extra stuff that is not necessary. This year also marked the end of generic gifts. All forward are seasonal in nature.

Gifts given were the gift box, Poinsettia (red flowers), pile of snow, holiday wreath, snow flake and snowman.


2004
Another year with all new gifts but every one of them is themed towards the holidays. Sure you could use a snowy tree on ice island, but those candles really stand out in July.

Gifts given were gift box, mistetoe, Light of Winter Solstice Candles, one of three random winter themed potted plants and glacial snow.


2005
This year was a little sparse. The snowglobes could be used year round but they have already been done to death. Sleigh and Reindeer are definitely Christmas only.

Gifts given were gift box, sleigh or reindeer, snowglobe of some new locations and holiday tree.

2006
After reusing the same package for years, finally a new one. The red and green stockings were a delightful change. As with recent years all the items were very holiday themed, but at least there were many.

Gifts given were stocking, gingerbread cookies, gingerbread cookie recipe, gingerbread mini-house deed, candy canes and a card from a random developer to your character.


2007
The current year. An exact rehash of last year's gifts except the date on the card was changed to 2007. It is such a shame that the prior year was pretty good and then to have it redone exactly. This is even worse than what happened in 2002, at least then you had the chance to get some old snow globes or try again for a rare statue.

Gifts given were stocking, gingerbread cookies, gingerbread cookie recipe, gingerbread mini-house deed, candy canes and a card from a random developer to your character.

For screenshots of all presents, click here.

Cheers
Shane