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Zoo Community Collection Changes
posted by Sakkarah on Mar 09, 2006 09:36
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WOOOHOOO!! Proof that the Dev Team DOES listen when you talk to them (rather than flame, moan and endlessly complain). There has been a VERY LONG and extensive thread about much needed changes to the currently zoo community collection. The decay rate is ridiculously high and has all but made it impossible for any shard to reach Tier 2, let alone maintain Tier 1. Through a very constructive thread, tamers across Sosaria have provided the feedback and idea to help the Dev Team come up with a solution to this problem. Here are the proposed changes...
quote:
Thread: Zoo Community Collection Changes
Post Date/Time: 03/07/06 01:39 PM (GMT –6)
Niobe: Hi Everyone,
I’ve been looking at the Community Collections scripts and reviewing much of the information provided in the many Zoo Collection posts. I have some initial numbers to share with you and would like to hear what you think about it! Keep the following in mind:
- The Zoo Community Collection is far too difficult currently.
- The Zoo Community Collection should still be a challenge, especially at the higher levels.
- Decay will not be eliminated entirely. The zoo needs continual patronage to thrive.
- Personal collection points, reward items and donation points will not be altered at this time.
(...)
Niobe
Designer, Ultima Online
See this thread for detailed charts and further information on the proposed changes.
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The new Starter Kit prices
posted by Sakkarah on Mar 09, 2006 09:29
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People please... I know how much new pixelcrack can be appealing, but do you really need to let yourself get ripped off because you just can't wait? You've waited 8 years for the Dev to bring these latest items to you, what's another few weeks? The Starter Kits are currently available on the Asian shards and are basically another decorative items package like the Evil Decor items were. Some traders have been xsharding them to American shards and people are paying through the nose for them. STOP!! They will soon be available on our shards too. If you really have this much money to throw out, find your local event organizer (player not EM) and help him/her out fund the community events on your respective shard.
quote:
Thread: I see the starter kits are hitting us shards
Post Date/Time: 03/05/06 07:52 PM (GMT –6)
Comment: . . . I'm just curious how much they are charging for them,, my friend payed 30 mill for a set, thats like $90 at prices now a days, i cant see those being worth $90.
Wilki: They'll be considerably cheaper than that. If you're interested in these items, they'll be out soon for a very small fraction of that amount.
Wilki
UO Community Coordinator
Read more on this topic here.
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Name and Gender Change Token are HERE!
posted by Sakkarah on Mar 06, 2006 12:41
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WOOHOOO!!!
We all have at least a character with a crazy name or a wrong gender, create on a drunken night that you love but whose name is just an unbelievable source of embarassment. Yes, you can now rename you 6x120 mage named Pwnzorus Maximus to a more suitable name without having to delete him. So get them while they're hot!!
From the uo.com's home page:
quote:
Name and Gender Change Tokens On Sale Now
Want to see how the other half lives? Did you create your character in a rush and accidentally choose the wrong name? Maybe you just want a fresh start for an existing character? Well now you can experience life as a whole someone new with UO Name and Gender Change Tokens.
Click here to buy Name and Gender Change tokens now.
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Account's age fixed!
posted by Sakkarah on Mar 06, 2006 12:37
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For those of you who were miserable about account's age being bugged (especially for those of you waiting for your vet rewards!), it's finally fixed! YAY! Which reminds me, I have to check how many months I'm at now... Last I checked I was at 101 months (yes, UO junky here!)
From uo.com's FYI:
quote:
Account Age Issue Fixed
Mar 4 2006 2:48AM GMT (PST +08:00)
The account age issue that some players were experiencing recently has been addressed, and account ages should be updating to their proper values over time. Please give the process a few days to complete before you report an incorrect account age.
We thank you for you patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
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Redwood Townhall Meeting
posted by Sakkarah on Mar 06, 2006 12:35
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Man, how I wish I had been there *cries*
A lot of topics were covered. UO Radio had a correspondent over there who reported some of the topics that were discussed during the meeting, provided pictures AND videoclips! So you might want to check out their site for more details!
From uo.com:
quote:
ULTIMA ONLINE TOWN HALL MEETING: REDWOOD CITY!
Another day, another successful Ultima Online Town Hall Meeting! UO Players, UO Programmers, Designers, Artists, QA Team Members, Game Masters and the UO Community Team all came together last night at the EA Redwood Shores campus in Redwood City, California. What an awesome evening of UO fun! After Binky got the ball rolling and welcomed the large crowd of enthusiastic UO players, Darkscribe introduced himself in his new role as UO Producer. He talked about how he became involved with UO on the marketing side of things, and how he started playing to familiarize himself with his product, but then quickly fell in love with the game. Now, he can't stop playing, and is practically giddy at the opportunity he's been given to take UO into the future.
MrTact, Live Team Lead Designer, explained some of the things that are likely to be seen in Publish 40. He's going to be posting some more information in the Stratics Developer's Corner on the combat changes over the next few days, but he also revealed a few client changes that are in development as well. These changes include: an improved targeting system, "buff/debuff" icon indicators that will let you know when you're under the effect of a spell or ability, and an improved character status sheet. (Note that these changes are still in development, and could be pushed back from Publish 40 if unexpected difficulties arise.)
We then had a lengthy open Q&A; session that focused mainly on combat, but other topics were covered as well. One of the highlights during this session was Darkscribe revealing the rideable polar bear that we want to have as a future veteran award. He did note, however, that this is still in the very early stages of development, and may not make it into the game. After the Q&A; was wrapped up, the PvP tournament began. After many close battles, the 1st place winner, Blade of Lake Austin, faced off against our reigning in-house PvP champ, Serado from the QA Team. This final battle lasted quite awhile, with both Blade and Serado exchanging heavy hitting spells, and getting off last minute heals a split second before death. After several close calls, it was Serado who emerged from the battle victorious, having successfully defended the honor of our entire team!
Blade of Lake Austin now holds a special in-game title: Blade, the guy who got owned by Serado.
We'd like to thank everyone who came out to show their support for Ultima Online, and we hope to see YOU at the next Ultima Online Town Hall Meeting!
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Farewell Binky!
posted by Sakkarah on Mar 06, 2006 12:28
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Well, I didn't see that one coming, but we just lost another one... Binky has decided to move on to different horizons. That is unexpected news and I must say I'm quite curious as to where he will be headed next. Speculations are high, but I think that the one rumor that sounds like it could fly (and I have my money on it too) is that Wilki will be filling Binky's shoes...
quote:
Thread: Today I lay down my sword...
Post Date: 03/03/06 02:42 PM (-6 GMT)
Fare Thee Well…
It seems like only yesterday that GoatBoy and I spent countless hours venturing through the lands of Britannia befriending newcomers to this strange land. I made a great many friends in that time, such as my old pal BookWorm. BookWorm was one of those characters that was a real, breathing person, not just some character in a game. I never knew the person behind BookWorm, but I knew my friend BookWorm.
Just nights after meeting BookWorm I encountered a group of people role-playing Orcs just outside of Yew. I was on a quest to return some items to the bank so after chatting with them for a bit they asked me to join them. I agreed, but needed to put away some things first, so we made plans to meet at one of the great Yew trees. Upon returning to the agreed upon tree I found one of my new Orc friends and tried to talk to him. He replied in the strangest manner…by attacking me! I was so outraged and betrayed by my “friend”. I tried to escape through the thick forest but he kept attacking. My heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty. I was so angry. I typed “STOP!! PLEASE STOP!” over and over. I tried to find out what I did wrong. My health was getting lower and lower and my stamina was rapidly dropping. Then, in the blink of an eye, the screen went grey and I heard the sound you fear the most…the death groan.
I was so upset. I threw my mouse across the old Origin Customer Support area and screamed at my screen…at my “friend”. It was 2:00 in the morning, so no one witnessed my outburst. I was determined to find out what I did wrong. But I couldn’t find the guy, so I logged into a tester client, found my Orc buddy and drilled him as to why he killed me, why he betrayed me. He wouldn’t answer. He just continued his aimless wandering. After a few minutes I realized this was not the friend I had made earlier in the evening….but an NPC monster. Man, was I humiliated. I was so embarrassed but at the same time, relieved, relieved that I wasn’t betrayed by a human being.
That was the moment I fell in love with Ultima Online. That was nearly 10 years ago. Today I love the game more than ever.
I have seen Ultima Online revolutionize the gaming world. I have been there with UO through so many changes. I have worked with so many talented industry legends and I have seen so many players come and go and then return that it has made UO such a cherished and valuable part of me. I have gained real-world friends, ended real-world relationships, and made memories that I will carry with me forever. Ultima Online is simply amazing.
But the day has come when I must put down my sword and retire my steed. I must step aside and let a new adventurer take the helm with the new day. As of today, March 3rd 2006, after spending one third of my life working on Ultima Online in some manner, I will be leaving the Ultima Online team and Electronic Arts.
I am leaving UO but I will never leave Britannia. I must venture forth and try some new things and seize the day. Ultima Online is in one of the best places I have seen it in the past 5 years. Darkscribe is the most passionate producer I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and as a former marketing director, he gets it. He understands the relationship that must exist between development, community, and marketing. He is also a great motivator who has the ability to make some amazing changes and give stuff like the new events a chance. The team is in better spirits and is more motivated than any team I can recall. You are in good hands and the next few publishes of bug fixes and system changes will poise UO to regain the throne as the greatest online world ever created.
I leave with a heavy heart but I know that UO is in good hands. I have more faith in Britannia’s future than I have had in a long time. I thank every one of you for all the great memories and support you have given me over the years.
…I’ll see you in Britannia.
Chris “Binky” Launius
“I created worlds!”
Safe travels to you Binky. Thanks for all your hard work!
You can read more here
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Experience vs Balancing
posted by Sakkarah on Feb 27, 2006 15:32
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This has been, is, and continues to be a hot topic. Should veteran players be more powerful than newer players? Should items level the playing field vs experience/skills? I have mixed issues on the topic. I do believe that a better trained char, a more experienced players and especially an older char should have an edge over a newbie char. It always blows my mind to see a 1 month old character owning people that have been playing over 3 years. But at the same time, new players should have a chance to compete without getting obliterated.
At the same time, there is the issue of bringing the game back to a more healthy state. There are a lot of things that are wrong with UO. Most of them, we all agree came from AoS. AoS however is already a few years old now. And more damage has been added since its implementation. Years during which more players have developped and adapted their chars. In the latest attempt to fix the design flaws of AoS and bringing the game back to the healthier state it was in before, a lot of this hard work is going to get the shaft. Unhappy players? Yes, understandably. But as the saying goes, you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.
quote:
Thread: WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!!
Post Date/Time: 02/25/06 06:08 AM (GMT –6)
Comment: Think of things in these terms.......just like in real life.
You went to college for 8 years to become a doctor. You spend 12 years building up your practice working 12-16 hours a day. You've paid off the thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans and now your hard work has finally paid off. Your family has a beautiful home, you have a nice car, and all the other stuff that comes with working your butt off and dedicating 20 years of your life to obtain.
Suddenly all of the voters that didnt do this complain to congress that it's not fair for you to have more stuff than them......it should be BALANCED. So along comes congress and decrees that everyone must live in a house of limited size, must drive a car of limited value, must have televisions of limited size, must limit all their possessions.
So you've worked hard all of this time for what? To be no better or worse than anyone else in the US. At this point what do you do with all of your accumulate wealth? You simply retire since you dont have anything to spend it on. That's what the most loyal group of players, the veterans that have played for so many years, in UO would have done in this situation.......retired.
Wilki: Flawed analogy.
For one, UO isn't "just like real life".
Second, nobody said everyone had to be equal. No one is forced to have the same sized housing plot as the next guy, or the same amount of gold stashed away as everyone else. However, in the interest of keeping the game fun for the greatest amount of people, there does have to be a limit on player power. Items will still very much play a role in combat, but instead of having the high-end player being 300% as potent as the average player, she'll be knocked down comparatively so that she'll now have perhaps a 50% advantadge. i.e. a surmountable difference using pure player skill (not skills, but ability to play the game well).
UO isn't a giant collection activity, where the player with the most stuff or the most time spent in game automatically wins. While stuff and time spent can still be important to you depending on how you play, it shouldn't automatically hand you a large competitive edge over players who actually have a much greater ability at playing the gam.
As it is now, we're in a cycle of giving more power to players, making monsters with bigger numbers, giving more power to players, making monsters with bigger numbers... meanwhile, all the existing content is being left behind as it was never intended to exist in a world where players can do this much damage so quickly. On top of that, PvP battles are often over in only a few seconds, also because the PvP system wasn't designed to exist in a world where players could do this much damage so quickly.
There many things that have added up since AoS to contribute to this: the original flaws in the AoS design, the bump in random loot generation that occured several times, the adding of ever more powerful artifacts to the game, and some honest mistakes like the ML bow dps issue and the broken bottle quest.
It's time to remedy this problem, as we need a solid gameplay foundation on which to grow UO in the future. What we have now is slowly crumbling under the accumulated weight of these issues, and continuing on the path we were on would be the surest way to strangle UO into insignificance.
I'd really rather that not happen.
Wilki
UO Online Community Rep
Read more or discuss this topic here
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Redwood UO Town Hall!
posted by Sakkarah on Feb 27, 2006 15:22
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Yes, this is me very jealous and wishing Redwood wasn't so far away *cries*.
I'm sure you guys in the area will have a blast over there. Meet the Devs, voice your views live and get a sneak peek at what they have in store for us. From uo.com:
quote:
ULTIMA ONLINE TOWN HALL MEETING: REDWOOD CITY!
Curious to see the home of Ultima Online? Been wanting to meet members of the UO Team to ask questions and share ideas? Think you're the best PvP'er around and want to prove it once and for all? Like to eat free pizza? Well, here's your chance!
We'll start the evening off with a presentation from the UO Producer, who will share with you some things we've got in store for the future of UO. Follwing that, will be the lengthy Q&A; session where you can ask the questions that are on your mind and give us your feedback. So, come to the Redwood City Town Hall Meeting to take advantage of this chance to spend an evening with the UO Team, your fellow players and just have some plain ol' fun.
We'll also be handing out some really cool Ultima Online: The 8th Age posters (yes, we'll sign them for you!) and some other random cool things to give away.
Redwood City Town Hall Meeting Details
When: Thursday March 2nd, 2006 7:00PM - 10:30PM
Where: EA Redwood Shores campus - Redwood City, CA
Who: Many members of the UO Team, including (but certainly not limited to!): Ando, Binky, CatHat, DarkScribe, Draconi, JIB, MrTact, Niobe, Serado, Shepherd, TheGrimmOmen, Wilki and most importantly YOU!
Address
EA Redwood Shores
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA
94065
Click here for directions to the EARS Campus
DON'T MISS OUT!
See ya on March 2nd!
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New Producer & Mr. Tact gets a promotion!
posted by Sakkarah on Feb 27, 2006 15:16
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Things are moving over at EA. We get a new producer and Mr. Tact gets a promotion that frankly had been a long time coming considering how involved he's been with everything relating to UO lately.
From the Update Center of uo.com:
quote:
New Year, New Team, New Producer, New Ideas
Feb 24 2006 12:14PM (-6 GMT)
New Year, New Team, New Producer, New Ideas Feb 24 2006 12:14PM Have you ever wanted a job so bad that you'd literally beg for it, down on your knees, hands clasped in front of you, pleading in your eyes? Have you learned the true meaning of the phrase: "Be careful what you wish for?" I can honestly answer both questions with a hardy "yes-in-freakin'-deed."
So here I am, the new producer of Ultima Online, after eight years of working for Electronic Arts in various ways, as a PR director, marketing director, E3 demo monkey, screenshot taker, the press tour guy, the ad copy guy, party thrower, ninja, press release scribe, Powerpoint giver, coffee runner, and once, voice actor. (I did a bad celebrity impersonation in the expansion pack for Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun.)
It took me eight years, but I'm finally doing what I've always wanted to do, working with artistic and technical wizards to build worlds, or in this case, make a world better. I sit in meetings all day and marvel that we get paid to talk over and argue about topics ranging from world building to swing speed to immersion to how much treasure should a dragon drop when hit in the head.
And I'm not the only new face. There is a whole new Ultima Online Live Team that you'll be getting to know over the next few years. We're a mix of old guard and new blood, war weary vets and bright-eyed young recruits who can't wait to jump into battle.
The new Live Team lead engineer is Randy Eichman, a seasoned game vet with one of the most impressive resumes imaginable. If you want to build a client-server game, Randy is one of the first guys you'd hire.
Our new Live Team lead designer is someone you already know, Tim "MrTact" Keating. Tim was a pure engineer mere weeks ago, but now he is officially the creative visionary for all things UO Live. He'll still code here and there, but these days he's mostly the official director of fun for UO.
We, a growing team, are deep into planning out the next two years, mapping out what we want to do and how we're going to do it. We'll be talking about our full plan for 2006 in upcoming website posts, newsletters and live town hall meetings. There are a couple things I can say about the near future:
1. Pub 40, due out in April, will be chock full of PvP changes, fixes and perhaps a new feature or two. It is officially "The PvP Publish," though some things we want to do could take multiple publishes. MrTact and the PvP Strike Team have been plotting for a few weeks now, and the plan they've put together is looking good. More news on that soon.
2. Throughout the year, our goal, our guiding motto, the slogan that will be tattooed to our forearms, is this: "More reasons to log in, more often." That means we'll be alternating between a variety of projects each publish, sometimes introducing new features or content, sometimes addressing old concerns. Dramatically improving PvP definitely qualifies as a "reason to log in" as do a new series of in-game events that the Community Team is putting together with help from the GM and EM teams. Those will be coming very soon.
So, thanks for playing Ultima Online, thanks for staying with us, and thanks ahead of time for all the feedback and ideas you're going to give us. We've got some big surprises in the works.
If you are wondering what happened to Lady Lu, she's taken on a much bigger, more important role. She became a mother a few weeks ago to a beautiful, bouncing future UO player. She is an amazing producer and I hope I bring as much energy, discipline and smarts to the job that she did.
Cheers!
- Aaron "Darkscribe" Cohen
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Some cheese with that whine?
posted by Sakkarah on Feb 22, 2006 14:30
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Ever read the Stratics boards? If you like soap operas, it's the place to be. Whine central extraordinaire. I never thought so many people could complain so much all the time! I never quite understood how people seriously think they will get cooperation from the Dev when they flame, whine, moan and complain every chance they get. I'm surprised the Devs still even bother answering half the threads, especially when people flame about stuff that has already been answered or is currently being addressed. Go figure...
quote:
Thread: Final Petition
Post Date/Time: 02/21/06 04:13 AM (GMT –6)
Comment: would like a dev, MrTact or Wilki or whoever, to tell us that either:
A) The changes put forth by MrTact, baring minimal changes, are going to be published to all shards, or
B) The changes put forth by MrTact, are still up in the air about whether they will ever make it to any shard, and that balancing the game in its current form is still an option.
Myself and many others are just waiting for this info to decide what to do.
Wilki: Please read several of my prior posts where I answered this very question in detail.
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/STpostlistdev.php
There is a reason why the shard is named "PvP Experiment".
___________________________________________
Thread: Final Petition
Post Date/Time: 02/21/06 04:14 AM (GMT –6)
Comment: They'll never answer you. They don't actually play like we do. They only look at the game from a profit/loss standpoint and whether they'll get a bonus when all of this is done. Of course, I have a sneaking suspicion that if their bonuses are based on profits that they won't get big ones after publish 40. It's unfortunate.
Wilki: Where to start?
1. I'm answering.
2. I have many thousands of hours across my 3 active accounts. I don't remember the exact amount, but it's 4-5 maybe 7k? I'd say I've played enough UO over the years to have a thorough understand of just about every system in the game. Having lived exclusively in Fel that entire time, I also have significant experience with PvP.
3. Nice snide comment about bonuses and profit/loss, but what on earth does that have to do with re-designing combat? Do you honestly think the CEO of EA is going to take a look at Pub40, and say, "Wow, you know Bing, that's an awesome design! They're having some problems getting the players to understand what they're doing, but let's give that UO Team big bonuses this year!"
Please.
What's unfortunate here is the complete lack of understanding I see on this forum. I don't know how many ways I can say, "The changes aren't finalized, they aren't even done being implemented on the TC, and we stuck this out here this early on in the design process precisely so you could give us feedback!"
Somehow, that message isn't sinking in.
And don't tell me we're "ignoring you" or any other nonesense along those lines. I've read more of those posts than is allowed by federal work safety regulations (shhh, don't tell OHSA), and I know what you've some have been saying. I also know that much of the negative feedback is based on completely wrong assumptions.
The bottom line is that you cannot make a final determination of how balanced these changes will be until they're done being implemented on the TC, and we've made some tweaks to the specifics based on your feedback. That's exactly what MrTact has been working on the past couple of weeks. When he's finished with the next round, they'll get published and you can check them out then.
Until then, all of this hootin' and hollerin is really unjustified.
Comment: People are in such a panic over the game that all major commerce has stopped, no one is buying. Sad but true. Hmmm.....thinks to self, things only got this bad AFTER AoS. Maybe this should let people know something.
Wilki: Yeah, it let's us know that we need to undo some of the bad aspects of AoS.
Wilki
UO Online Community Rep
Read more here
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Sex Change Tokens Coming Soon!
posted by Sakkarah on Feb 22, 2006 14:15
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We've waited for those long enough! Well cheer up, they're now around the corner. The gender change tokens and name change tokens will soon be available on all production shards! YAY!
quote:
Thread: When will we see the Sex Change and Name Change tokens for sale? They already being sold on Japanese UO site
Post Date/Time: 02/20/06 08:56 PM (GMT –6)
Comment: Any responses we could get from EA on this would be greatly appreciated Thanks!
Wilki: We hadn't made an official annoucement yet, but they should be on sale on March 3rd.
We'll have more details posted on UO.com soon.
Wilki
UO Online Community Rep
Read more about this topic here
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