Old News: July 1999

Recent Changes

DLL Version 1.11.0 Exe Version 1.2.0 - July 27


Dress/Undress added -- NOTE because so many items potentially are being moved it has a chance of failing to complete. Just try again to complete the process. ALSO while it is 'working' don't open items (containers, doors ...) or move items or you will most likely fail as well. NOTE 2 - You must setup the hotkeys for this feature.
Remove hat function -- you must assign hot key.
Remove rings/earrings function -- you must assign hot key.
Keys page has been altered to make it easier to assign/review hotkey assignments.
On the display page there is an option to 'Show spell with power words'. When UOAssist 'sees' power words it will display the name of the spell the power words match for you if this option is on.
Disarm and Undress into a specified bag. Now you can set a bag that disarm will place your items into, same for undress. NOTE: you must count resources before disarming/undressing. WARNING -- If you set a disarm bag and disarm your spellbook it will go into the bag and you won't be able to cast spells and could lose the spellbook if you die. This will be changed in the next update but for now be VERY careful if you disarm spellbooks.
Auto text coloring now works with NPC speech and system messages
Lockpicks count correctly
Yarn stacking finally works correctly
User1 and User2 user defined resource counters now load/save correctly when 'Global settings' is checked.
Base skill calculation now takes into account the wearing of plate mail items and the mage hat so you don't have to 'get naked' to calculate base skill levels correctly.
The problem with the disappearing dex on the skills window has been corrected.
The UOAssist updater now has a backup site if it fails to get the update from the first site it will attempt to download from an alternate site automatically. NOTE: you must first have 1.2.0 to have this work so the update after this will be the first time you'd see it.

Coming Soon - ???


Enlarged UOAssist so all 'tabs' are visible without scrolling.
Fixed dress settings so when you setup one character and switch to a charcter with no dress setups it doesn't attempt to use the last characters settings.
Disarming a spell book will put it in your main pack even when a disarm bag is set.
Last target and target self can now be assigned to keys with 'modifiers' like ctrl, shift and alt without causing the target cursor to remain after use.
Ability to reassign 'close all gumps' to shift-ESC to prevent gumps closing accidentally while trying to cancel the target cursor.
The [trapped] message you get when using Detect Hidden now appear in the correct color even when you have incoming text color setup.

 

This could happen to you!
Friday - 9:00 am EST - Dr.TwisTer
I guess the GMs wanted to make a point about macroing. Next thing we will see, is public hangings, or heck, even public burnings for performing wizardry in town. Oh that's right, magic doesn't work in town already...never mind.

 

July 29, 1999
Changes to the UO Development Team
From ladyMOI...
As many of you have no doubt noticed by now, Designer Dragon (Raph Koster), Faceless (Christopher Mayer), and Dupre (Rich Vogel) have been markedly absent from public forums as of late. There is good reason for this. At Origin, there has been a 'changing of the guards' so to speak. Join with us in wishing DD, Faceless, and Dupre the best of luck with their new project, which is an as yet unannounced new online title not based on the Ultima property.
We are extremely pleased to present the new management of the UO team to you, the vast majority of whom you already know. SunSword (Anthony Castoro) and Toad (Todd Bailey), who have been designers on UO for sometime now, are the new Lead Designers. SunSword has kept himself busy over the years, having served as a quality assurance tester for Origin games, moving into entrepreneurial pursuits with small high-tech businesses, and finally acting as a UNIX consultant for such companies as IBM and Motorola. Since returning to Origin, he's been a designer on the UO Development team, bringing such advancements to the game as house ownership and lockdown.
Toad brings to the table not only his experience as UO designer, but also a long history with Origin, as both a quality assurance tester and a GM in the years past. Runesabre (Kirk Black), a programmer on UO and a driving force behind Siege Perilous, takes on the responsibilities of Lead Programming.
Since coming to the UO team, Runesabre has been consistently improving the state of the UO code base and proving himself to be an invaluable asset to the team in general. All three of them have been avid players of UO, just as passionate about the game as the most hardcore veterans out there.

Origin is firmly committed to Ultima Online, and to using its veteran staff members to continue the success of this game. SunSword, Toad, and Runesabre also have new talent coming onto the team to help them with the tasks and responsibilities of the ongoing project.

Finally, we want to introduce you to Jason Bell. Jason is not only new to the UO team, but also to Origin. As producer, Jason's job is to lead the UO team and the product, into the future. Jason brings to us a wealth of experience from his former employement with Kesmai Corporation, a leading developer and publisher of online multiplayer games. At Kesmai, Jason was the executive producer for Aliens Online and served as creative director for other successful titles such as Multiplayer Battletech, Air Warrior III and Legends of Kesmai. You can look forward to hearing more from Jason in the future.

We are very happy to have this team as it is and are confident in the exceptional talents and abilities of these people. We believe that you will enjoy getting to know all of them, some more than you have, others for the first time. We look forward to the future of Ultima Online and the future of this team.


Thanks, ladyMOI!

 

From Dove,
Good Folk,

Against the advice of some well meaning friends concerned for my physical condition after having escaped my captivity just last week, I am going ahead with the Shrine Pilgrimage. If being so close to death has taught me anything, it is that we mortals have only so much time to
accomplish the important tasks of life. At 70 years of age, I'm not getting any younger.

Overview:
This trip will be not only to the virtues but of the virtues. I am confident that opportunities will arise along the pilgrimage for us to excercise these virtues and find within us the qualities to which they
are monutments.
As with all pilgrimages, this will also be a great journey, a chance to see new places and make new discoveries, an opportunity to meet new friends. I plan many short "side trips" along the way as breaks from the long road and am sure that tangent stories will crop up as well for our entertainment.
A final note. Besides the personal reasons we might each have for such a spiritual journey, it is the journey itself for which I do this.
Thus, we will not be employing more than our own good legs and a boat when necessary. No recalls or gating.

Schedule:

Knowing the time involved in traveling so great a distance, especially with possible distractions here and there along the way, I will be devoting two hours each day to the pilgrimage. Knowing that other people can not be available every day, the make-up of the group will change daily.

Times:

Knowing that we are "awake" in the world at varrying times, and having friends in various "zones" of time, I will be traveling at different times each day so as to allow people to participate in at least some leg of the trip. Below is a schedule showing the day of departure and times for a week there after.
Sunday: Depart from the Chamber of Virtue, Britain. (2 pm - 4 pm est)
Monday: (8 pm - 10 pm est)
Tuesday: (10 pm - 12 pm est)
Wednesday: (8 pm -10 pm est)
Thursday: (2 pm - 4 pm est)
Friday: (10 pm -12 pm est)
Saturday: (8 pm - 10 pm est)
Sunday: (2 pm - 4 pm est)

Route:

We will begin at the Chamber of Virtue in Britain. From there we will travel south, making Spirituality our first shrine. Then further south to Honor. From there, we will take the boat "circle tour", island hopping our way northward, stopping at all the isle Shrines, until we
finally land in Vesper. We shall then finish with Sacrifice, Compassion and Justice, respectively. I plan to visit a good many cities in between for shopping, sight seeing, etc.
I will arrange for my own boat, but depending on the size of the group each sailing day, people will need to book thier own passage.

Routine:

At the end of the first day, we shall either have reached Spirituality or found a decent landmark as the next day's starting point.
NOTE: Each day I will arrange for a rune to be marked of our stopping point and will then lock this down in the Yew Community Center so that people might easily recall off it to gather for the next day's march.
In this way, even people not with us the previous day can conveniently join us. Of course, those wishing to camp at our stopping point until the next day won't have any such concern.

Final Thoughts:

For those who have wondered after the Community Walks if all I do is wander about the countryside...well, I am a 70 year old, pacifist, healer. Did you think I'd be leading dungeon treks? Seriously, I am planning on this being more eventful than walking from point A to point B, and in the company of interesting people such as yourselves, I am
sure it will be two hours each day well spent.

See you on the road.

Until then, be safe,
Dove the Healer of Yew


Thanks

Siege Perilous to Become a Permanent Shard Jul 28 1999 5:08PM CST
The code that will be implemented on the permanent Siege Perilous shard should be active on Siege Perilous Test after its maintenance tomorrow morning. This is an excellent (and your last!) opportunity to test some of the new features in preparation for your one and only Siege Perilous character.

Siege Perilous Test will be wiped on Friday, July 30th at about 9AM CST. At approximately 10AM CST, Siege Perilous will open as a permanent shard!

We’d like to thank all of you for your feedback while playing on Siege Perilous Test and we hope you find the permanent shard to be both challenging and rewarding.

Stat and Skill Gain on Siege Perilous Jul 28 1999 5:09PM CST
The Siege Perilous Shard is meant to be a very challenging shard to play on. It will require teamwork, specialization and communication to succeed in this difficult world. To raise the level of difficulty suitable for the types of players attracted to a veteran shard, the rate at which you will gain in time-resource skills and all stats will be slower than on the standard shards. The “rate-over-time” system and daily caps will curb the unbalancing effects of macroing, since everyone will be subject to the same rules.

It’s useless to compare absolute values of skills and stats on Siege Perilous to those of other shards. The inherent value of skills and stats is relative to the rate at which they can be gained. The effectiveness of skills and stats is relative to what the others around you have. What could be considered a low skill level on the other shards, may be quite competitive on Siege Perilous. Furthermore, this new system ensures that everyone will be subject to the same advancement curve, which creates a fair and level playing environment.

Part of this advancement system defines skills as either material-resource or time-resource based. Material-resource skills will not be affected by this new system and you will gain as you normally do on other shards. However, time-resource skills and stats will be influenced by the “rate-over-time” system. The following skills are considered time-resource based:
Anatomy
Arms Lore
Animal Lore
Evaluate Intelligence
Forensics Evaluation
Detect Hidden
Hiding
Snooping
Spirit Speak
Tracking
Meditation
Stealth
Stealing
Swordsmanship
Fencing
Tactics
Macefighting
Wrestling
Magic Resistance
Parrying
Remove Trap
The time-resource skills and stats are subject to the “rate-over-time” system. The system is broken up into two parts.

Firstly, there will be intervals of time limiting the amount you can gain in time-resource skills and stats. The time per interval at which a time-resource skill can advance will lengthen as the skill raises. For stats, the interval will remain constant regardless of how high your stats are.

Secondly, both time-resource skills and stats will have daily caps on the total amount of points you can gain in them in a given day. For time-resource skills, this daily cap does not come into effect until you reach 70.0 in that skill. This daily cap is cumulative and affects the progress of all time-resource skills of 70.0 or higher. Gains in time-resource skills below 70.0, or gains in material-resource skills, will not count towards the daily cap. For stats, the daily cap is set from the beginning and remains the same throughout the development of your character.

After you hit the daily cap, time-resource skills can still be used as normal, but no gains will be made on those time-resource skills above 70.0.

Ok, so what does all of this mean for advancing time-resource skills and stats on Siege Perilous?

Here’s an example. Make the following assumptions for a player: 1. His skills are at zero, and 2. He plays a good, hard 6 hours a day. After about 2 days, he could be at 50.0 in any and all time-resource skills he chooses to practice (limited only by the 700 point total skill cap). After about 3 days, he could be up to about 60.0 in these skills. After about 9 days, these skills can reach up to 70.0 points each.

At this point, the daily cap on the total amount of points he can gain in time-resource skills per day takes effect. Now, if he wishes to reach Grandmaster levels in some of these skills, he’ll need to plan carefully, and consider the daily cap, when choosing which time-resource skills to work on.

Note this cap only applies to skills that are at or above 70.0; any gain in time-resource skills below 70.0 will not count towards the cap. In total, under this system, one can reach Grandmaster level in two time-resource skills in approximately 49 days.

For stats, the “rate-over-time” system works a bit differently. During any given day, the maximum total stat gain that can be achieved is 6 points. Stats will advance at constant time-based intervals and the stat raised per interval will be determined by the skills that one uses.

This should give you a clear idea of how time-resource skills and stats advance on Siege Perilous. We believe that this system will foster a fair and level, albeit challenging, playing field on the shard. Citizens of Siege Perilous can be confident that their efforts are worthwhile, because everyone has to play under the same system which carefully balances advancement over time.

Siege Perilous will have its own section in the playguide on the uo.com website by Monday, August 2nd. We will release the new url for Siege Perilous section when it is ready. The newest information about the Siege Perilous Shard will be posted here in Shard Issues first and then updated to the Siege Perilous section a couple of days later.

East Coast Connection Problems Jul 26 1999 11:40AM CST

There are still some connectivity problems occurring to these servers, symptoms include; unable to login, help button not working, and other general latency related issues. We are aware of the situation and are looking into it. We will keep everyone updated to any developments that occur.

We apologize for any inconveniences that this may cause, and we thank you for your patience.

July 26, 1999
Comments from Runesabre and Siege Changes
From Runesabre on the DevBoard
You will be happy to know that your discussions do mean a lot to me and I take everything you say seriously and objectively.

The vision of Siege was not only to create a shard that was challenging for the veteran UO player but to address some of the fundamental flaws that I feel the game has carried with it since its inception.


Recall and mule characters as well as the ease of gaining gold in Britannia are good examples. Siege has addressed those issues wonderfully.


This was our one true chance to try out what I felt were good ideas for the game and its players... there may never be another chance to try out ideas as radical as Siege. It has been my goal, however, to ensure that Siege does not become reduced to another form of imbalanced gameplay replete with its own hideous problems. For example, the changes to the time-resource skills are intended to improve the gameplay and balance on Siege.


In light of the discussions I have observed over the past few days, I will be taking out the changes relating to INT affecting warrior accuracy, HP using a mix of INT+DEX and the dex scaled casting delay for magic.


It has not been my goal to create a new form of test shard that remains in a constant state of limbo and tweaking irregardless of the intent of the changes. In this case, I feel it is in the best interest of the players to fall back to what has proven tried and true up to this point.


I thank you all for your interest in Siege and must say it has been nice to see players so actively involved in the shaping of their world. The major changes to Siege Perilous will be over soon; it is our goal to polish it off and turn it over to you the players as soon as possible.


As always, my email is open to any who wish to send me their thoughts.



Check out the latest on the DevBoard and keep it on topic!

 

Notice the new Hit Point Calculation. Perhaps they do listen when the players complain that the new changes will destroy pure mages!

From Calandryll, on the Dev Board
We will be implementing the following changes to Siege Perilous Test that will go into effect once the shard restarts from its regularly scheduled 5am CST maintenance.
Firstly, the scale for which Dexterity affects casting delay has been slightly modified and will be as follows:

0-30 = 2x normal casting delay

31-64 = 1 1/2x normal casting delay

65-84 = normal casting delay

85-98 = 3/4x normal casting delay

99+ = 1/2x normal casting delay

Secondly, the calculation for hit points will no longer be based solely on your Strength statistic. The new calculation will be 60% of your Strength plus 40% of your Dexterity (60%STR + 40%DEX). This change will help those who chose to have low strength and increased dexterity and intelligence to be more viable in combat situations.
-- Posted by PGoH News Team

Runesabre posted this on the Dev board at CoB. It directly affects Siege Perilous, but we can expect these changes to be placed on the regular shards after testing on SP. Also of note, is the apparent use of Siege Perilous as a test shard.

 

The current dex/int changes on Siege aren't exactly what I will be using. Sometime tonight I will probably restart Siege with all the newest changes which includes both the int/dex changes as well as the new rate advancements for certain skills and stats.

In regards to how the dex changes will work:
- A Mage with less than 25 dex with find spells taking 3X their normal casting delay.
- A Mage with dex between 25 and 49 dex will find 2X casting delays.
- A mage between 50 and 84 will find normal casting delays
- a Mage with dex 85 or greater will find the casting delays cut in half.

For the warrior, Intelligence will account for 25% of the accuracy formula. So, weapon skill is still a large determant factor but Intelligence will certainly have a noticeable difference.

Runesabre

Twenty minutes after that post, Runesabre revised his design after viewing the immediate reaction of Dev Board posters. He posted the following changes.

 

I have revised the changes to Dex and Mages. The new changes will be as follows:

- Mages with 24 or less dex will have 3x casting delays
- Mages with 25 - 64 dex will have 2x casting delays
- Mages with 65 - 84 dex will have normal casting delays
- Mages with 85 - 98 dex will have 3/4 casting delays
- Mages with 99 or above dex will have 1/2 casting delays

Mages will find that pre-casting no longer works.

Additionally, I capped the total int effect on accuracy to account for possible imbalances with monsters who might have extremely high int.

Comments and discussion always welcome of course.
Runesabre

 

We are currently looking into why players cannot log into our East Coast Servers. We have contacted our network staff concerning this issue and login availability will resume as soon as possible.

There are currently some connectivity problems with the East Coast servers. Global Center has announced that they are experiencing some degradation, are looking into it and hope to have it resolved soon. If you are unable to login, please send a trace route to uotrace at owo.com, with 'East Coast connection problems' as the subject. Thanks.

Time for celebrating..

Hail ye feller Catskillians! It seems like only yesterday we was celebratin' the Summer solstice. But the time is nigh fer our comin' Greater Festival...known as Lughnasadh or Lamas.
The festival'll be held in the small fort north o' the shrine o' compassion, same as last time.

Join us on the Saturn's Day, thirty-one sunrises inta the seventh moon, at 10:00 in the evenin' accordin' ta when the sun hits the eastern coast.

I'll be postin' more details 'bout the Festival in the comin' days. What we'll be doin' an' what it's all 'bout.

Pray ta whatever gods ye worship for good weather! *winks*

--Cattie-Brie, Druid
IronRoot Clan

*OOC - for more information on our Clan visit our skypage at http://members.xoom.com/Ironroot/clan.htm


Thanks!

In an unexpected turn of events, the Lord General Jetrin Valek has been arrested on charges of accepting bribes, abuse of power, accessory to murder and behavior unbecoming of an officer. In addition, Lieutenant Wendell and a local noble, James Winters, have been arrested on related charges. Sir Geoffrey has ordered that the day-to-day rule of Trinsic be returned to the local council as soon as an orderly transfer can be assured.

In the final days of the General’s rule, there was a stirring among the assigned Order Guards that something was not as it should be. One guard, William, felt so strongly that he enlisted the aid of the fine citizens of Trinsic in order to gather evidence against Valek. In what turned out to be a well-timed gathering, the General was discovered in a hidden room above the barracks arguing with James Winters about the murder of Sara Braccalese. The General departed, but not before Winters was captured along with a very large collection of weapons, gold and incriminating documents. The documents in this room were instrumental in locating the additional evidence required to convince Sir Geoffrey of the need to issue an arrest warning immediately. Since then, we have found out a bit about what has really been going on in Trinsic.

Apparently things had begun to unravel for the General following the murder of Sara Braccalese. The investigation of the murder was carried out in such a haphazard manner that raised the suspicions of all those close to Valek that he was forced to act more rashly than in the past. Shortly following the murder, the General’s well-liked Lieutenant Finn was given a field demotion and returned to Britain without explanation. It has since become apparent that this demotion and exile was in direct response to Lieutenant Finn’s suspicions concerning the General. Conversely, Lieutenant Wendell was given a field promotion to Major in return for his support and silence. Sir Geoffrey has since reversed Wendell’s promotion although Sergeant Finn’s demotion will stand.

“All guards of His Majesty are held to a high standard and His officers to an even higher one. It is commendable that Sergeant Finn would follow his conscience in this matter, but that does not excuse the fact that he was not willing to report such a gross misconduct out of some feeling of loyalty for his former commanding officer. We continue to have the utmost confidence in His Majesty’s forces. This situation just underscores the need for all men, no matter their station, to remain vigilant against evil.”

As with Private Drepler, the disposition of justice to members of the military will be a closed affair although all are expected to receive life sentences. James Winters has already been sentenced to a life of labor in the mines north of Minoc following his conviction for the murder of Sara Braccalese.

But strangely enough none of this answered the questions that brought these men to Trinsic. Who was the mysterious contact in Trinsic? What was the reason for the betrayal at Cove? Presumably the docks being built in the Cove area had something to do with it, but no direct evidence has come forth. James Winters has been able to show that he had no knowledge of the situation in Cove until after the fact, so these questions must remain unanswered for now.

Prepare yourselves, brave travelers, for this land truly will test your skills as a player. Aggressors who chose to alienate themselves from their fellow adventurers will find quickly it is a struggle to simply survive. Only those who can master the arts of teamwork, communication and trade, as well as combat, will prosper in this challenging world.

Remember that for the first several weeks of operation, Siege Perilous will be a Test Shard. While the shard remains open, we will be monitoring it closely for any sign of problems. In the event that we find a major issue, we may need to wipe the shard. If all goes well, the shard will become permanent and we will not wipe it.

Check the uo.com site for future updates on the Siege Perilous Shard!

 

In order to properly test all of the changes to Siege Perilous, the shard will be opened on Friday, July 16th. Remember, that the Shard will be considered a Test Shard for the first week or two of its opening. During this time, we will be carefully watching Siege Perilous for any issues resulting from the differences. If and only if, we find a major problem will we wipe the shard. If all goes as planned, the Shard will become permanent and no wipe will occur. We will update you further on the status of Siege Perilous as it remains open.

Below are the changes that will exist on Siege Perilous. Those that chose to live in this altered shard are wise to read them carefully.

Your Character
There will be only one character slot available per account.
The advancement gates, once a feature of Abyss, will not be present. Character advancement must be made by traditional methods.


Townsfolk
The shopkeepers on Siege Perilous hoard their gold greedily and will not buy items from players. They are, however, more than happy to sell their wares…at three times the cost of other shards!
Townspeople will also charge three times as much for training of skills, stabling animals, joining the NPC guilds, and for hiring them.
Player Vendors will charge 3x as much for their services.
NPCs will not have any gold in their backpacks and therefore, you will not be able to steal from them or kill them to get their gold.
Townspeople requesting escort will not travel with someone who is already escorting another, you may only have one escort at a time. As with all NPCs, they will not have any items on their persons either and the only way they will part with their gold is if you actually bring them to their desired location.
Considering these differences and the ones noted under “Your Character”, it would be very wise to befriend, rather than to attack, your local tradesmen. A skilled blacksmith, alchemist, tailor, or scribe can be a very powerful ally.


Magic
Spellcasters adventuring in Siege Perilous should be wary of the changes to their trade. Most noticeably, the spell “recall” will not function.
You will not be able to mark runes in dungeons nor cast Gate while in a dungeon.
For those involved in faction or guild wars, it is vitally important to note that direct damage spells will work in towns.
The spells Blade Spirits and Energy Vortex have been weakened significantly.


Breaking the Law
The biggest difference that individuals of ill repute will notice about Siege Perilous is that there is no stat-loss of any kind. However, murderers should be careful when venturing close to town, as all towns are justice regions (except for Buccaneer’s Den) and the guards will kill murderers on sight!
Criminals can breath a small sigh of relief, as the Guards will not patrol the wilderness.
There will be wandering healers willing to resurrect those that stray from the path of good.
The shrines will no longer forgive murderers of their crimes (as they did on Abyss) and therefore, one cannot remove their murder counts by visiting a shrine.
Killing an innocent human NPC will result in a Long-term and a Short-term murder count.
The gate to the lawless town of Buccaneers’ Den will no longer be present.
Although you must still be in the Thieves Guild to steal from players, you will not be removed from the guild for collecting a murder count, nor are there any skill or time requirements to meet before joining. The NPCs will defend themselves against thieves and will attack any thief who steals from them outside of town. Also, one cannot steal an item randomly, you must actually “snoop” a pack and select a specific item.
Murderers and Criminals will not be able to kick/ban others from their home, nor will they be able to insta-log.
The title “Murderer” has been done away with, murderers will now show their karma/fame title.
The Good/Evil system will be present on Siege Perilous


Skills
Bards will find some monsters are provoked less easily since the skill “provocation” will now be difficulty-based. The use of provocation will wear your instrument down, requiring that you replace it from time to time.
In addition to musical instruments, fishing poles, herding crooks and axes used for lumberjacking will also wear down with use.
Fishermen will notice a decrease in the rate that they find SOS bottles and will not be able to fish up treasure maps at all.
Those seeking to gain treasure from chests are advised to have skill in “detect hidden” because all chests in dungeons, in the wilderness, and in towns will be trapped. Opening a chest without detecting the trap first could have deadly results.
Making leather armor will not require as much skill for Tailors as it does on other shards.
Wearing leather armor will not cause any penalties to Stealth or Meditation.
Rogues will find it a bit easier to sneak up on their marks as the chance to be automatically revealed when near player-characters while stealthed has been reduced to one tile.
The following skills will not unhide you when they are used: Snooping, Detect Hidden, Item Identification, Anatomy, Arms Lore, Animal Lore, Evaluate Intellect, Forensics Evaluation, Poisoning, and Arms Lore


While skill in the art of combat will certainly help one survive on Siege Perilous, the true path to success will be through making allies. As one cannot possibly have all of the skills necessary to obtain every resource essential to survival, setting up trade agreements with other players will often offer the best chance of prosperity. Those who shoot first and ask questions later could quickly find themselves alone and lacking in supplies.

Be sure to check the uo.com website for future updates and information about Siege Perilous!

When: Friday, July 16 at 10pm CST (11pm EST)
Where: One of Lord British's cities
What: The emergence of the true religion of Sosaria and an attack on Lord British This is a plea to all whom have been seduced by the lull of the serpent. Does it not strike you as odd that your Lords symbol is built upon the mesmerizing gaze of a serpant? Do you not feel the strength of will being drained from your soul as you are forced to conform to his ways? His dictatorship of rules and etiquette must be followed under threat of life and death. How many of you have stood idle as your friends and loved ones have been slain in the streets by the 'protecting' town guard? Who's will do they serve? Do you believe they fight for the people? Your freedom? Perhaps not.

We have all sat idle under the tyranny of our vacant Lord. We have all come under the ways of his oppression. The Temple of Mondain fights to free you.

We strive to break away from this oppression. We battle on your behalf in order to create a new better world. It is at this time that I wish to warn and invite each of you of a coming event. We have mustered enough fighting souls to commence the battle against Lord British and his vile ways. We invite you to join us and stand up against this tyranny. We will continue to fight for a better Sosaria and implore you to carefully watch the hateful actions of your king. Until such time as Lord British officially recognizes that he and his kingdom fall under the power and divine rulership of Lord Mondain we will continue to battle on your behalf.

On this coming Friday night, at approximately 10 pm (CST) we will march upon one of Lord British's cities. All whom represent his ways will be taught a stern lesson of the tyranny they support. If you wish to support our cause, though are unable to assist in the battle. We advise you to adorn the cloth of bright yellow. Mark your bodies, your houses and your possessions with this yellow cloth and when Mondains army comes marching, you and all you own will be spared. Those failing to adorn this chosen color of Mondain will be seen as the vile corruptors of Lord British and his foul misdeeds. When they are found and captured they shall be treated accordingly.

To freedom and prosperity,
The Voice of Mondain

 

Friends of the Road,

Sunday is fast approaching and it's time to announce another destination for our Community Walks. I had put off a walk to Trinsic earlier in light of the martial law imposed on that city, but now that we've only an army of Orcs to deal with...*chuckles*.

In all seriousness, I realize some will question my choice of Trinsic during a siege of that city, but in truth, what better gesture of community solidarity than braving this siege to visit our brothers and sisters to the south? This may seem foolhardy to some, but those who know me well, certainly know that I have walked the roads of this land
with little care for what possible rogue or murderer lay in wait around the next bend. I simply will not let fear stop me from helping those in need or doing what I think right. I think showing Trinsic that we have not forgotten them, even during this dark week, is right.

Date: July 18
Time: 2 pm (eastern)
Place: Again, due to a long trip, meeting at the Community Center seems best.
(map available at: www.homestead.com/yewcommunitycenter/index.html)
Destination: The city of Trinsic and the small "mini-towns" to its south run by groups such as The Ravens of Morrigan and The Guardians of Light.

Several special notes in light of the last walk:

1. We were lucky enough to make it to Virtue Village last Sunday in record time. However, I would like to invest some of that time on this walk getting to know with whom I travel. We'll begin the walk with introductions and stop somewhere along the journey for a bite to eat and sharing of stories.

2. If anyone deems this walk too dangerous, given our destination, or has allegiances to either Trinsic or the orcs and thus would be in peril on such a walk, I surely understand if you pass this weekend. I should hope that you know by now that I am a pacifist and plan this (as much as
possible) to be a trip devoid of bloodshed.

See you on the road.
Until then, be safe,

Dove the Healer of Yew


Thanks Dove!

As the remains of the old Abyss crumble into dust, a new land takes its place. It is called “Siege Perilous” and is designed with the veteran player in mind. This advanced shard will be a very different place from the other shards. Of note, you will find that magic works a bit differently and the penalties for committing crimes are not quite as harsh. While one may be tempted to take advantage of these softer penalties for misdeeds, those of tempered spirit will often be more successful in this land. What makes Siege Perilous unique among the other shards is listed below and those wishing to travel to this challenging place are advised to read carefully.

Your Character
There will be only one character slot available per account. The advancement gates, once a feature of Abyss, will not be present. Character advancement must be made by traditional methods.

Townsfolk
The shopkeepers on Siege Perilous hoard their gold greedily and will not buy items from players. They are, however, more than happy to sell their wares…at three times the cost of other shards! Townspeople requesting escort will not have any items on their persons and the only way they will part with their gold is if you actually bring them to their desired location. Considering these differences and the ones noted under "Your Character", it would be very wise to befriend, rather than to attack, your local tradesmen. A skilled blacksmith or miner can be a very powerful ally.

Magic
Spellcasters adventuring in Siege Perilous should be wary of the changes to their trade. Most noticeably, the spell "recall" will not function. However, for those involved in faction or guild wars, it is vitally important to note that direct damage spells will work in towns.

Breaking the Law
The biggest difference that individuals of ill repute will notice about Siege Perilous is that there is no stat-loss of any kind. However, murderers should be careful when venturing close to town, as all towns are justice regions (except for Buccaneer’s Den) and the guilds will kill murderers on sight! The shrines will no longer forgive murderers of their crimes (as they did on Abyss) and therefore, one cannot remove their murder counts by visiting a shrine. Although you must still be in the Thieves Guild to steal from players, you will not be removed from the guild for collecting a murder count, nor are there any skill or time requirements to meet before joining. The NPCs will defend themselves against thieves and will attack any thief who steals from them outside of town. Also, one cannot steal an item randomly, you must actually "snoop" a pack and select a specific item.

Skills
Bards will find some monsters are provoked less easily since the skill “provocation” will now be difficulty-based. The use of provocation will wear your instrument down, requiring that you replace it from time to time. Those adventuring in dungeons are advised to have skill in “detect hidden” because all chests in dungeons will be trapped. Opening a chest without detecting the trap first could have deadly results.

Factions
Each faction will no longer highlight different colors; instead, their affiliation will be above their head and factions will highlight orange to one another, just as with guilds.

While skill in the art of combat will certainly help one survive on Siege Perilous, the true path to success will be through making allies. As one cannot possibly have all of the skills necessary to obtain every resource essential to survival, setting up trade agreements with other players will often offer the best chance of prosperity. Those who shoot first and ask questions later could quickly find themselves alone and lacking in supplies.

We are targeting July 15th as the date to open the Siege Perilous Shard. However, because of the considerable differences between Siege Perilous and the other shards, during the first week of its operation Siege Perilous will be considered a Test Shard. This means that during this first week, we will be watching the shard carefully, looking for any problems associated with the changes. If, and only if we find a severe issue will we wipe the shard and restart it. If all goes as expected, the shard will be made permanent and no wipe will occur.