Login Maintenance for Asian Shards – 09/12

Kai Schober

12 Sep 2012 14:25:06 EST

We will perform a login server maintenance on all Asian shards tonight, starting at 6pm EDT (10pm GMT). During this maintenance you will not be able to log in or transfer your characters., and veteran reward won’t work. At this time we expect the login servers to be available again within one hour.

Thank you for your support.

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Ask & Answer No. 1

Kai Schober

10 Sep 2012 10:35:40 EST

You ask and we answer. In the last days our team took the time to address some of the questions that keep coming in. If you have something you want to know about Ultima Online and the team, post your questions on your fansite. All interesting questions will be collected and send to our team, so we can continue to answer them.

Here are the first seven:

1. Would it be possible to convert the older quests to the new Quest system? The older system only allows one quest to be active at a time. (Drachenfels, General Chat)
Mesanna: Are you speaking about the context questions vs the paperdoll quests? I know this is not the answer you want to hear but without looking deeper into the code we can not give a definite answer for this question.

2. Are Harpsichord rolls a permanent or time limited drop? If limited, when will they stop? (popps, Stratics)
Mesanna: This is a permanent addition to the game, hopefully in the future we can add additional music rolls.

3. Can you mention Fansites by URL in game…. there has been talk in the past you can and then some say you cannot (Rupert Avery, UO Auctions)
Mesanna: Yes, you can advertise any URL in game on your profile as long as it DOES NOT sell any items.

4. There’s a number of items that were introduced with SA that resemble & relate to the other Imbuing crafting ingredients. But they have no current use. Fey Wings, Fur, Horn of Abyssal Inferno, Kepetch Wax, Lodestone, Primeval Lich Dust, Slith Eye, Vile Tentacles, Void Core. Are there plans to make all those items, or some of them usable at one point? (Nystul, Ask the Devs)
Kyronix: We’re always looking for new and creative uses for underutilized ingredients and are currently working on adding some to upcoming content.

5. Hello, I just want to ask a question about Distilling. Are there any plans to expand it so that wines, beers, ales and sake can be made? Thanks (Edward Striker, Ask the Devs)
Mesanna: I will add this to our list of things to do, good suggestion Edward.

6. Is there any plans to make Golems semi “bondable” at some point in time? The big problem with Golems nowadays is that not only are they mostly underpowered, but also that any training put into them is undone when they can die so easily. Another part of the solution, would of course be to lessen the cooldown incurred upon healing the Golem. The cooldown is currently like 30 seconds, which is WAY too long. It should be shortened to something like 10 seconds. (PlayerSkillFTW, Ask the Devs)
Mesanna: We have talked about adding new golens to advanced Tinkering, but we are not going to add another golem to be a training punching bag for Luna.

7. Are there any plans to review getting to and from certain areas of Siege? There are many places on the shard that you cannot gate to from the Ter Mur facet and also from many places in the Tokuno facet, for example to areas around Luna and also areas around Yew and Skara Brae. (When you try, you get a very unhelpful message that says your spell doesn’t seem to work.) The inconsistencies make no sense at all and cause a lot of frustration for newcomers to the shard, especially when they work hard to make enough gold to place a house in an area that looks ideal for housing (because it’s sooooo empty) and then find out that the reason for the emptiness is just plain old bugginess. (Tina Small, Ask the Devs)
Mesanna: Tina we agree, and we are entering a problem report on this today.

That’s all for today, but we are sure you have more questions.

Keep them coming and we’ll see you in the game.

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Publish 78.1 Despise Fixes

Kai Schober

6 Sep 2012 15:59:11 EST

We have made the following fixes and changes that will be seen after maintenance tomorrow.

• We have made the following changes to the game mechanics of Dungeon Despise (Trammel)
  1. When a player damages any orb-controlled creature, that player will receive retaliatory damage
  2. Players now do less damage to orb-controlled creatures
  3. Orb-controlled creatures now receive a damage bonus against players
• Fixed issue resulting in Despise artifact distribution not rewarding players involved in killing the Despise boss.
• Fixed issue resulting in looting rights not being given to players involved in killing the Despise boss.

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Sneak Peek III

Kai Schober

4 Sep 2012 17:58:05 EST

Here is another Sneak Peek, as promised in the Producer’s letter:

• If all goes well we will have UO.com up and running by the end of September.
• ‘Return to Britannia’ starts tomorrow at 9am EDT, sorry for the confusion on this date.  It will run from September 5th to October 5th.
• After tomorrow morning’s maintenance:
  • Despise healing mobs healing Andros or Adrian will be fixed.
  • You and your pet should no longer be teleported to a location that you cannot get out of.
  • Gargoyle Faction armor will no longer immediately disappear when fighting a monster in Trammel.

And we have two more pieces for you to enjoy.

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Account Center Maintenance – 09/04

Kai Schober

3 Sep 2012 21:48:48 EST

We will bring down the Account Center for maintenance tomorrow, Tuesday September 4th, at 10am EDT (16:00 CEST). During the maintenance you will not be able to change subscription or redeem game codes.
At the moment we anticipate the Account Center to be back online at 12pm EDT (18:400 CEST).

Thank you for your understanding.

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Return to Britannia

Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong

31 Aug 2012 17:08:48 EST

For fifteen years Britannia has been a world of arcane arts and cold steel, a world where the Apprentice can become Legendary, a world where Warriors become Champions. Throughout its rich past Britannia has been a place where histories have unfolded, where new friends have become family, and where each new adventure can lead to great fortune.

We would like to once again invite old friends to Return to Britannia for the month of September!

Simply log in using any past Ultima Online account information and begin your adventure today!

If you have forgotten your account password please visit https://accounts.eamythic.com/ using the “Forgot your Mythic account password”.

If you have forgotten your account name please e-mail [email protected] to help recover your account.

See you in Birtannia,

The UO Team

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Publish 78.0 Comes to All Shards – 08/31

Tim Chappell

30 Aug 2012 15:36:01 EST

We will push Publish 78.0 to all shards during the maintenance this evening.

For your reading pleasure, here are the completed notes:

Publish 78.0.0

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Anniversary Items

Anniversary items for the 15th Anniversary of Ultima Online have been added. Considering these are a gift from us to you, we will drop a few sneak peeks in the upcoming weeks.

• All Characters older than 30 days will be eligible to receive Anniversary Items beginning September 1st, 2012 and ending September 30th, 2012

List of Anniversary Gifts

• Harpsicord and Harpsicord Rolls
• Heritage Token (due to request for ladders)
• Sands of Sosaria (16 unique historical items, hint: dbl click them when you pick one)
• 3 exploding muffins (just for something to go boom)
• A new Anniversary Cake has 10 pieces of cake each. Careful once you eat all the pieces the cake will disappear.

Despise Dungeon Revamp

This was the premise for the two brothers which serve as the Boss mobs in Dungeon despise.
Two brothers, both well learned in the arcane arts, lusted for the same woman. She was but a simple maiden, tending to the ranches dotting Britannian countryside, her beauty, however, was without equal. Both men knew should they compete against one another, neither would succeed in bearing fruit with such beauty. So the brothers conspired, and began to corrupt the very fabric of her love. Together the brothers conjured a powerful Polymorph spell to transfigure themselves into the perfect man for the maiden to love. For months they would deceive her love, the maiden unknowingly accomplice to a corrupt triangle. Finally, she gave birth to twins. Despite the powerful magics the brothers used to pursue their ruse, the mother’s love for her children was too great and the brother’s trickery was uncovered. Outraged at such a thing the maiden cast away her lovers forever, cursing them to the Abyss. As the twins grew and their mother aged they would learn of her hate towards their fathers. As each twin grew to adulthood and became their own man, they would blame the other for their own father’s fate, and come to despise one another. Already practiced in their fathers’ art and fully possessing their arcane talent the twins began bartering with the mysterious Wisps. Eventually each convinced the Wisps to conjure an army with which to destroy the other. Their mother, bearing witness to this feud and knowing the dangers of the likely outcome, pleaded with her sons to reconcile. Corrupt with rage, there was no foregoing their anger and so she mediated at the Shrine of Compassion, hoping in her heart of hearts for her sons to end the feud. As she meditated a mysterious Wisp appeared to her and in an instant an eternal pact was struck. The mother’s love was enough to save Britannia from impending war, but her sons, filled with despise would be cast there forever…

• Note that this new content is on Trammel only
• There is a mysterious wisp near the entrance to Despise. Double-click it to have a conversation and learn something of the new dungeon content.
• The top two levels of the dungeon are now aligned to Good and Evil and are at war
• Look for the stone ankh inside the dungeon, and use it to commune with a Wisp
• Your purpose is to help out your side in the war by building and training your army
• The strongest army will periodically be transported to the Final Battle in the depths of Despise
• Collect Putrid Hearts (the Dungeon Crystals of Despise) and spend them with the Mysterious Wisp on powerful rewards
• The Final Fight can yield new artifacts!
• Siege only – Artifacts will drop on the Covetous mobs and Cora

Despise Artifacts

Compassion’s Eye
Ring

• Intelligence Bonus 10
• Mana Increase 10
• Mana Regeneration 2
• Luck 250
• Spell Damage Increase 20%
• Lower Reagent Cost 20%

Unicorn Mane Woven Sandals/Talons

Human: Sandals
Gargoyle: Leather Talons

• Nightsight
• Random Damage Eater 2%

Despicable Quiver / Despicable Vail

Human: Large Quiver
Gargoyle: Leather Wing Armor

For Quiver:

• Archery +5
• Damage Modifier 10%
• Dexterity Bonus 5
• Reflect Physical Damage 5%
• Hit Chance Increase 5%
• Random Resist 10%
• Lower Ammo Cost 30%
• Weight Reduction 30%

For Wing Armor:

• Throwing +5
• Dexterity Bonus 5
• Reflect Physical Damage 5%
• Hit Chance Increase 5%
• Random Resist 10%

Hailstorm
Human: War Fork
Gargoyle: Gargish War Fork

• Random Super Slayer
• Hit Lightning 15%
• Hit Mana Leech 30%
• Hit Cold Area 100%
• Hit Chance Increase 20%
• Swing Speed Increase 25%
• Damage Increase 50%
• Cold Damage 100%
• Durability 255/255

Cleanup Britannia Dyes

Two new and two old dyes have been added to the Cleanup Britannia Collection.
Players may choose the following dyes:

• Black and Green Pigment
• Shadow Blue Pigment
• Vibrant Crimson Pigment
• Reflective Shadow Pigment

Halloween Masks Added

Two new Halloween Masks have been added. Beware of the pumpkin patch between October 1st, 2012 and November 10th, 2012

New Casino Games

• Visit the Fortune’s Fire Casino at the base of the volcano on Fire Isle
• See the Cashier to buy Casino Chips or to cash out your winnings. The exchange rate is 100 gold for 1 chip
• Bet your Chips with one of the two dealers in the Dice Tent:
• Chuckles’ Luck: Bet on a number between 1 and 6. The dealer rolls 3 dice. You win your bet amount for each time your lucky number comes up!
• Hi-Middle-Lo: Place a bet on “High”, “Middle”, “Low”, or “Outside”. For the real gamblers out there, the “Outside” bet pays 5:1 on a win!
• Enjoy a mug o’ Fortune’s Fire Grog, and don’t forget to tip your waitress

Stewards

Some of you asked for this type of NPC and here it is. We have added a Steward to the Clean up Britannia system, it will cost 10,000 points, and we have replaced the Bless Deed with the Steward. Below are the requirements for using one.

• Requires 125 house item storage and one vendor slot to place.
• Can only be placed in public houses
• Can be named
• Can be dressed
• Can be programmed using give words to will give items out to other players when spoken the correct word or phrase.

Bug Fixes

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• The rockslides preventing passage into Central Ilshenar have been cleared.
• Act II of the Awakening has been disabled.
• The Afflicted Gargoyles of Ter Mur have been healed
• Seedboxes will now hold up to 300 unique seeds and 5000 total seeds.
• Rare hued vanilla plants are available from completing the Naturalist’s Quest.
• Lava Lobster traps will now retain the correct name when returned from buoy form.
• City Raiders have been added to the Brigand Fort between Yew and Britain.
• Ghosts will no longer get stuck in the Experimental Room within the Abyss.
• The maximum price of an item on a player-run vendor is now 175,000,000gp
• Players who kill certain creatures in other parts of Covetous will no longer receive score credit on the Void Pool scoreboard.
• Mannequins can now wear faction armor.
• Removed the restriction for the Advanced Character Token and the Mythic Token on Siege.
• Increased the artifact drop chance on Cora from 10% to 30%
• Mannequins and stewards cannot equip Holy and Vile items on Siege Perilous/Mugen
• Infected gargoyles will no longer spawn.
• The raiders will no longer spawn in Ilshenar and/or Malas.
• Players should no longer be teleported into invalid locations when answering the Call to Arms.
• Players should no longer be ejected from the Despise boss encounter if they enter specific regions of Despise Level 4.
• Negative karma inhabitants of Despise will no longer aggress onto negative karma players, however they will still fight back if attacked.
• Andros and Adrian encounter changes
• There should now be a leash on their wisp lieutenants.
• There should now be a 5 minutes notification before the Doom Spell is casted.
• Players will now be given 5 minutes to loot and will no longer be teleported back to their base immediately after the encounter.
• If a players possessed minion is conscripted more than 1 minute after Call to Arms is answered, they will not be transported to the battlefield and will need to wait until the next Call to Arms is called.
• Conscriptions will only be accepted for one minute after the Call to Arms. If you conscript after a Call to Arms is answered, then you will have to wait until the next Call to Arms.
• When players fail to slay Andros or Adrian the Doom Spell will now be cast properly.

Classic Client 7.0.27

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• Cliloc Changes
• Fixed issue where the sitting animation and a chair can allow the classic client to become out of sync.
• Fixed classic client crash related to Gargoyle throwing weapons

Enhanced Client 4.0.27

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• Cliloc Changes
• Fixed EC crashing periodically when dealing with loading and unloading dynamic objects.

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Happy Birthday Stratics and Ultima Online

Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong

30 Aug 2012 13:44:39 EST

As Ultima Online, forerunner and pathfinder of the MMORPG genre, rapidly approaches it’s 15th Anniversary, so too does www.stratics.com, possibly the oldest continuously active MMORPG fan site on the internet.

Why is it the oldest? Because it was launched in October 1997 by Ryan(Den Dragon)Finlay to support this awesome game and its players.

The ‘tree’ that is Stratics has developed other ‘branches’ over the years, supporting later games and is now owned by George Vanous of TGN.

The strongest, and oldest, ‘branch’ is still uo.stratics; continuing its staunch support of Ultima Online over its full 15 year history through comprehensive play-guides and news features on the portal, http://uo.stratics.com and through message boards at http://uo2.stratics.com/community.

Now, in a move to strengthen this already long established bond, Petra Fyde, Managing Editor of uo.stratics, senior administrator of stratics.com/community and avid UO player, takes the title ‘UO Community Liaison’. In this role she, ably supported by a select group of uo.stratics staff and Airmid Cecht,TGN community manager, will form a conduit between the UO team, led by Mesanna, and the player base.

All UO Fan sites will be invited to feed into this conduit to communicate their user’s questions and concerns. These questions will be compiled by Petra and sent to Mesanna to be answered on a weekly basis. Fansites should appoint one person to be a contact person for that site and introduce yourself to Mesanna.

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Letter from the Producer

Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong

29 Aug 2012 10:07:12 EST

Hello everyone,

There is a lot going on in UO, so let me tell you all about it. First, there is Publish 78 which is on its way to all shards soon. We have revised Despise, placed the artifacts on Siege only on Cora and level 3 in Covetous, relocated some of the monsters everyone is missing in other areas, and for the younger players we have earth elementals and more! The Anniversary rewards will be given out starting the month of September as some of you know the Harpsichord is among one of the items, additional music can be found on monsters in Ter Mur. We have removed the Bless deed and added a Steward to the list, since this is an ongoing clean-up system we will be changing out items on it from time to time. Remember nothing is gone forever *grins*.

We have already started working on Publish 79! I am sure everyone will be happy to know we are working on a method to distribute the Scroll of Valiant Commendation. We have come up with seasonal content for Halloween and added a few new items to the pumpkin patches, so have fun and remember to visit your graveyards *evil laugh*. For this publish we are getting Christmas gifts and Veteran rewards put in so I hope everyone enjoys what we have come up with. Yes, sneak peeks will come later!

As everyone is aware we are quickly come up on our 15th year Anniversary. To start celebrating this we are bringing back Return to Britannia for the whole month of September. I hope to see old friends and new ones! Let me go ahead and assure everyone that they cannot place houses (see we have learned from past mistakes =P)

I have received a lot of emails regarding the Party here in Fairfax on the September 29th, everyone that has written in so far has a reserved slot already. We have a block of rooms reserved for you at a discount rate if you will be spending the night. Here is the link to the motel. I will be posting an agenda for everyone soon on the Herald.

If you want to enter our writing contest announced on the Herald (We love to read how creative our players are), please send them to your EM’s so they can compile all the entries and send them to me. I will be sending them to the judges without names on them to avoid concerns about favoritism. The judges will be one person from the Japan team, one from the community team, EM team as a whole (EM’s will not vote on the shard they work on), Petra from Stratics, a mystery judge, and myself. Please remember it has to be between 250 and 500 words, the ones I have gotten directly have fallen a little sly of the requirements. I look forward to reading all your memories!

Last but not least I wanted to tell you what we will be working on after Christmas. Publish 80 is going to be a bug fix as I promised. All we are going to be working on for this publish is bugs, both our team and the Japan team are all looking forward to being able to take a breath and fix as many bugs as we possibly can for this publish. Misk has been going thru the Stratics boards and looking for open issues that are not written up. If you do write a bug please give details so we can reproduce the issue. The whole team is really looking forward to this as much as I am sure most of you are. Will be nice to get the most pressing bugs off our plates!!

Now for the exciting part of the letter. Remember what you are going to read after this is not written in stone….*takes a deep breath* This is a list of things we have been talking and brainstorming about:

• Vendor search
• High Res Art
• New Art pieces such as new furniture ( if we don’t break the new artist to much maybe even new armor and new monsters/tameables)
• New Paperdoll (time to change the diapers)
• New tasteful hues on tameables other than cu sidhes
• Enhanced UI Improvements for EC client
• Currency Conversion (gold would be on character/account, no checks)
• Revising UO Armor to make all types useful again
• Revising pet slots
• Pet Revamp
• Chaos/Order and doing away with factions
• Reworking champ spawns (improving mobs, loot etc)
• Add new items to fishing and fishing quest rewards
• New sea creatures and encounters
• New wearable’s for both male and female
• Working closer with Stratics to streamline the search to help filter out duplicate questions so the team can address some of the player questions weekly
• Meer/Juka Loyality quests
• Battleground shard

So my friends this is what the team has worked on, is working on and wants to work on in the future. I will be putting up some sneak peeks to finish out what Jeff started in his letter to you guys so see if you can guess what the puzzle is. I know everyone will have a lot of questions, especially about the last list. When we make our decision as to what we are going to work on each publish I will give you guys a heads up. Thank you for reading this and if your coming to Virginia. Please have a safe trip! I will be putting up an agenda of what we are going to do and what you can expect of the day soon, so please keep an eye open for that.

This is the second piece of the puzzle… good luck!

Thank you everyone!

Mesanna

Australian ISP Maintenance – 08/27

Kai Schober

27 Aug 2012 10:36:24 EST

Our Internet Service Provider in Australia will perform a maintenance today between 10am EDT and 1pm EDT (12:00am AEST to 3am AEST). During the maintenance window the connection to shard Oceania might get lost for a short time.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.

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