Old News: June 1999

In the world of Ultima Online, effective communication methods are a vital part of community building and information sharing. In the interest of helping our players communicate better in UO, we are happy to announce the Ultima Messenger.

Ultima Messenger is the backbone of a new GM call system. This system will make for better tracking of your service calls within Ultima Online, and is part of Origin's commitment to upgrade the customer service in UO. Modifying this system to allow players to send messages to each other, instead of only into the support queue, turned out to be an easy and natural extension of that system.

The Ultima Messenger allows players to send each other messages within UO itself, rather than relying on external, potentially unsecure technologies. The system allows you to send and receive messages and forward messages to others. The Ultima Messenger is designed to ensure that you only receive messages from people you wish to communicate with. Best of all, sending and receiving messages is simple and intuitive, and the system won’t disrupt your gameplay because it only retrieves your messages when you want it to.

Ultima Messenger will be included in the previously mentioned patch, targeted for July 24th. Keep an eye on the UO website for more details on both the Ultima Messenger and the new GM call system in the future.

Good Folk,

A quick note to let all know how the Community Walk to Kinship went. It went very well indeed. We began at Empath with between 15 and 20 folks and after a slight mishap of taking the wrong road (seems none of use the roads in Yew much) we were moving along at a pace that saw us in Kinship before 2 hours had passed. More importantly though than our time, were the wonderful conversations, the display of community pride, and several comments made by my fellow travelers of how varied our group was and what interesting and charming people came together to walk.

After several monsters (poor things...with the size group we had, they never stood a chance), one resurrection of a ghost that happened across our path, and passing the Britain Crossroads unscathed, we arrived in Kinship. Following a brief stop in Kinship Tavern, those who remained were treated to a wonderful tour of the town by Rook. All very memorable and well worth doing again.

We set our sights next weekend on Winterfell, but I will post again closer to the date with more details. I hope to see more new faces as well as those I put to a very pleasant memory from this afternoon.

Until we meet again on the road, be safe.

Dove the Healer of Yew

If you downloaded a test client from our ftp site and have replaced the original client.exe in your Ultima Online directory, the patching process will not work for you. You should restore the original client.exe (version 1-25-37a) to your Ultima Online. If you no longer have the 37a client, go to our ftp site and download it into your Ultima Online directory. You only need to download the file called client.exe.

For T2A users: ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/uo/client/client37a/gold/

For non-T2A users: ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/uo/client/client37a/gold/

Remember to always follow the download instructions carefully when using a beta test client to preserve your original files.

We will be updating the client today for all UO members to include the features from the 37f test-client. In addition to stability fixes and various performance optimizations this update also includes the new colored lighting effects and the ability to create a macro to toggle your circle of transparency.

The lighting effects are optional and the default is set to "off". In order to view the colored lighting, add the following lines to your uo.cfg.

ColoredLighting=on
ShadedFonts=on

In a future update, we will be adding the ability to toggle this from the options menu in-game.

To clear up some of the confusion here is the latest and greatest regarding last target.

This posted on the UOAssist site:

---

6-15-99 2nd update

There is some confusion on the use of 'last target' in UOAssist. I have emailed OSI about this to try and clear up what they are saying to people about last target. From the responses I've received it isn't last target that OSI is concerned about but unattended macroing or using last target to exploit a bug (I don't know of any that still exist).

---

Also in the search for truth your PGoH News Team contacted OSI directly and what follows is the E-Mail exchanged (the initial message simply asked if last target is illegal or not):

---

-----Original Message-----
From: Gameplay [#support at owo.com]
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 1999 12:27 AM
To: madmax at techcom.net
Subject: MX0000012291 Last target is illegal?

Greetings,
UO Assist has been approved by Origin Systems Third Party Software Program. TugSoft has met all the requirements necessary to have this program approved. Although UO Assist has been approved through our third-party program, we are not reinstating accounts which were banned for usage prior to approval. Those accounts which used UO Assist prior to approval were doing so in conflict to our terms of service agreement.
Gm Clyde

---

Not all that clear eh? So we sent this reply: I was speaking directly to the Last Target issue. Not UOA alone. Or is it okay to use Last Target just in UOA? (dumb question I know)

---

-----Original Message-----
From: Gameplay [#support at owo.com]
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 1999 4:47 PM
To: madmax at techcom.net
Subject: RE: MX0000012291 Last target is illegal?

Greetings,

Currently the only means to "Last Target" is through a third party program. The only program approved at this time with this option is UOA. I hope this clears your confusion. Take care!
Gm Clyde

---

Well as you see. Last Target is fine. OSI will still get you for using Last Target as part of unattended macroing but for other applications Last Target is fine.

 

The Goddess Araya let it be known ta us that somethin' was amiss fer the Festival... Aye! Perhaps we was ta be attacked by evil on a holy day...*frowns*

Nothin' is certain but fer the weather! 'Twas terrible! I meself wasn't even able ta find me way fro' the Villager's Hut just north o' the fort! Rain the likes o' which I remember only in me younger days in this land!

We'll try agin' -- fer nothin' can keep us fro' markin' the beginnin' o' summer wit' a celebration fer our friends an' family!

--Cattie-Brie, Druid
IronRoot Clan

*OOC -- due to the login server being down, we were, very unfortunately, unable to hold our Festival as planned. We have postponed it until next Friday, 7/2 -- at 10:00 pm EST.

Good Folk,

Much has been said lately of the "death of community" in this land of our's. Some have acredited this decline of involvement to the lack of organized events. Others propose the spread of some plague of appathy or passing away of key figures.

I have no doubt that all of these contain grains of truth. Events, weeks in the planning, are over in a day and quickly moved to the realm of memory, leaving us to wonder when someone else will plan something better...something more fantastic. And which of us, disheartened by some injustice, frustrated by some limitation, or even bored by monotony, has not grown appathetic at times or even considered putting aside this world all together.

However, I firmly believe that the ability to nurture and maintain community (OOC:and good interactive role play) lies with each of us and takes no more planning, coin, or spectacle than seeking out a few others of similar interest and walking arm in arm to find even more with the same mind-set. Armed with this belief, I propose the following:

I am arranging a series of walks to the various communities of this land. Each time, I will begin in Yew and set out with folk of like mind. Having been about the land for some time, I have visited many other communities, and yet, even those I have frequented often, surely hold buildings, people, and happenings I have never beheld. To see and meet these in the company of good friends would be a grand adventure indeed while costing little in planning or coin. I would like to begin with witha walk to Kinship, but certainly Winterfell, Virtue Village, and the mini-towns about Trinsic would follow.

Date: Sunday, 6-27-99
Time: 3 pm (eastern)
Place: Beginning at the doors of Empath Abbey
Destination: Kinship Tavern

It is my hope that friends in Kinship might gather to meet us and arrange for a tour of the town for those of Yew unfamiliar with this fine village.

One final note...I must stress what this is not, so that folk hoping for these things will understand. This is to be a community walk...not a run...not a race. Part of the enjoyment is the company with whom you travel, and we will take a stop here and there along the way as things take our interest. This is not a hunt or a monster killing party.

It is, instead, a show of unity within the communities of this world and a demonstration that one can meet new folk, enjoy new places, and create lasting bonds that continue to generate interest in this world with no more effort than walking from point A to point B.

I hope you will join me.
Dove the Healer of Yew

 

Hail friends! I would like to announce the opening of the 'Tiny Tavern of Jin', located on the Catskills shard, below the guarded crossroads west of Minoc at co-ordinates 67o 19'N 55o 15'E. We offer all types of delicious food and refreshing drink for sale, so please feel free to come by and share an ale and a tale.

 

In honor of Dungeon Month we'd like you to send us your best dungeon screenshots. Do you have a shot of an epic battle or an unusual occurrence? Then send it in right away! We are looking for shots that capture the mood, action, and danger associated with dungeons.

Selected shots will be posted on the uo.com front page and the sender of the shot will receive a free month of UO! If you'd like to send us a shot, see the rules and guidelines here: http://town.uo.com/uo_shots.html.

 

UO Spawn Map Earns UOPro Approval

 

Origin Systems is proud to announce that UO Spawn Map has officially passed
Ultima Online's UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility
promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and
value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will
not be considered by Origin as cheating.

 

The UO Spawn Map utility provides easy access to the information about the
spawn areas on Britannia and the creatures that will be encountered. This
includes creature descriptions, strengths, and the rewards they carry. More
information about this program can be found at http://software.freepage.de/drako/uo/

 

The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party
Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work
with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro
are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows
approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems.
Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to
OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro.

 

A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html.

After much research and gathering of information, Rainman has completed the essay on Resisting Magic. In the essay you will learn how to calculate the chance of resisting spells and the possible damage done given the Magery and Evaluate Intelligence skill of the attacker and the Resisting Magic skill of the defender. As an added bonus Rainman also whipped up a Resisting Magic Calculator that will help you with the math.

What you will not find in the essay is how to gain skill in Resisting Magic. We're still working on a guide to gaining Resisting Magic skill, so you don't have to send emails asking about that

Test Center will be unavailable for public use as of today, June 23, 1999. The shard will be wiped and will be used for extensive internal testing. When this is complete, Test Center will once again be available to the public. We expect that this will take approximately two weeks and we will keep you updated as we move closer to reopening the shard.

Coming soon, to a shard near you, Companions will be making their debut. The Companion program is the latest installment in the continuous upgrading of our customer service. The purpose of the Companion program is to team up new Ultima Online players with helpful, experienced players to assist the new player through the first few hours of the UO game experience. Companions will be volunteers who provide advice and guidance to new players who request assistance in understanding skill management and choosing careers in UO. Companions will provide the new player with a veteran's insight into the inner workings of the game.

In any kind of online community, there will always be those who get satisfaction from helping others. These are the people who, once they’ve learned their environment very well, they get continued satisfaction out of assisting their fellow members in learning the ropes of the community. They like to teach the mechanics of the game, the social structures of the community, and the survival and success techniques of the world to those who may be less familiar with them. The Companion program basically gives a title and role, with real responsibilities, and a couple of cool powers, to the people who would like to do this kind of thing in an official capacity within Ultima Online.

Any experienced Ultima Online player that is 18 or older can apply to be a Companion. There will be an application form posted next week for prospective Companions. Do you understand and enjoy participating in the social experience of online gaming? Do you have a desire to help new players get involved with the game? If so, you may be just the kind of person we’re looking for

Watch the UO website at http://www.uo.com for the upcoming Companion application and more details on the program!

Tolian's UO Journal Converter Earns UOPro Rating Jun 18 1999 10:09AM CST
Origin Systems is proud to announce that Tolian’s UO Journal Converter has officially passed Ultima Online’s UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating.

Tolian’s UO Journal Converter allows the user to save their journal in an easy to read and understand HTML file. Users have the ability to filter unwanted messages (skill messages, player speeches, etc.), store their journal in separate files for each day, and split large cumbersome journals into smaller, easier to manage ones. Visit http://uo.stratics.com/uojc/main.html to learn more about UO Journal Converter.

The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro.

A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html.

Here is a list of items DD announced will be coming soon.

* Recalling to boats off of keys
* Character-to-character email
* Access to said email from the web
* Switching help paging system over to use email (mostly transparent to you at first)
* Confirm window on vendor purchases to prevent vendor scams
* Confirm window on calls for harassment (to cut down on bad calls & thus improve response time)
* Revised character creation: GOOD starting templates, better starting location list, more control over initial character
* Newbie quests for training
* More newbie guidance ("infodump" windows for new account holders as they play)
* Newbie protection
* Some revised artwork & graphical enhancements (lighting, framerate, etc)
* Stuff to work against cheat programs (won't describe this in more detail, sorry.
* Some backend stuff that you can't see yet but which will make a big difference in a few updates

The Father's Day spotlight has been posted on www.uo.com; you can go directly to it here and the following is their intro blurb:

 

June 20th is Father's Day. In the world of Ultima Online, it's difficult to
discern who may be a father, midst the myriad of players in the game.
Unless, of course, you happen to be a family member of that particular
father. With Father's Day coming up, we decided to find out how fathers
affect the lives of their families through the world of Ultima Online. We asked
you to send us stories about dads and UO and we've picked two of these
tales to highlight and celebrate all of the fathers that play UO.

 

There has been a slight delay in the date for the character purge. Most likely, the purge will start on Monday, June 21st, but that is not a definite date. If the purge is delayed beyond Monday, we will update you further. Please remember that this purge only affects accounts that have been inactive for 3 months or more.

Origin Systems is proud to announce that Xena’s UO Magic Tool has officially passed Ultima Online’s UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating.

Xena's UO Magic Tool not only allows users to keep count of their reagents, but also has features for keeping track of reagents stored in other containers elsewhere. Also included are features to warn the user if a spell is "town friendly" and information about a selected spell, including mantra, mana cost, damage, duration, and general information. Visit http://uo.stratics.com/xena/uomagic.html to learn more about UO Magic Tool.

The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro.

A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html.

Ultima Online Goes International
Err..wasnt it there already?
OSI has announced that it is now officially going to sell its product in Europe beginning with a German version. Up until now European players had to buy the english version and have it shipped to them. Here is what they had to say:

Origin Systems is pleased to announce that we will be officially launching Ultima Online: The Second Age in Europe on June 25th. We have already established servers in Europe. This launch marks the first time we will be selling product in Europe. We’ve created a German version of UO, complete with a German manual. We are also launching our first European Customer Service and volunteer programs for the European Shards at this time. Now European gamers can count on European Customer Service representatives and European Game Masters and European Counselors to support them. Origin Systems is very excited about this European Launch and welcomes all the new European players into the service.

-Dragons 8:37 am MST

 

June 16, 1999
Pvp Fight Match
Shard : Catskils
Location : art guild in Britain
Date : June 16,1999
Time : 8pm (eastern)
Sponsor’s Name : krell of the Clan of Darkwater
Sponsor’s Email : sideshow at together.net
Description : This will be a pvp fight match to see who is the best fighter in the land.
All fighters may enter. The rules are: no magic weapons, gm made weapons, armor, nor reporting for murder. The match is to the death. I will have ppl on sight to rez. If mages are willing to rez i will give them 20 of each rez reg. Also there is a 500 gold entrance fee (you may bet on the side on who’s going to win as I will have bookies there.)

There have been some rumblings underground regarding the ability of OSI to detect the use of UO Extreme. Here is a clip from Dr. Twister's site:

I have been getting alot of emails of concern regarding OSI's recent approval of UOAssist. Not because people now have additional features that they may not have, but because this may mean OSI has other plans for users of UOExtreme.

It would seem that the rumor is out that OSI has implemented a new tracking method for UOE users. This simply logs your account ID and notifies them about the use of the program. This is all suppose to take effect with the upcoming patch. In OSI's eyes, if they are adding last target abilities to the client, than there is no need for us to need UOE.

Here is one players comments that I was sent.

Apparently UOE users send signals TO the UO server..that a special code int he UO server picks up and alerts OSI that such and such a user ID is using illegal prg. Osi are planning to activate the script, when it goes active then all accounts who are registered as using UOE wil be perma banned, and their credit card info invalid for OSI purposes..wont even be able to buy another copy of UO and register same credit card.They finally got the source code for the prg built into the server prgs to work it.

I have now heard several comments from counselors and players saying the exact same thing. OSI will ban UOE users and will be able to trace the program specifically upon logging in. If anyone has additional comments, please let us know, otherwise, we will continue to look into this rumor.


Wow. Does this violate some privacy issue? LOTS of discussion on that one. There was a fairly steady panic of paranoia going on over at the UOE discussion boards.

Inactive Accounts to be Purged
Type: UO Update
From Common Issues at OWO.com:

This is a very important announcement. Please be advised that we will be deleting accounts that have been inactive for 3 months or more (i.e.: accounts that have not paid for service for 3 months or longer) in the very near future. The exact date is not set, but you should expect it within a few days. We will make an announcement the day before the purge on the website, http://www.uo.com, in order to properly prepare you for this purging. Once these accounts are deleted, it will not be possible to retrieve characters or items associated with them. If you or any of your friends have an inactive account, now would be an excellent time to reactivate before your old characters are purged. The world of Ultima Online continues to expand and be refined. We would love to have you back in the game. Characters on active accounts will not be affected by this purge.
ALSO:

In order to better serve you, we are permanently opening the Account Support phone line on Saturdays, 10am to 12:45pm and 2 pm to 5:00pm.

 

Pictures at the bottom:

The evening was warm and the wind blew gently in from the north. The streets of Trinsic were quieting as the day was coming to an end. All seemed normal and yet something was not right. I headed out of my shop to take a look around. There was a foul odor in the air but I could not place its origin. I called to out to a guard patrolling the streets “Do you feel something is not right tonight”. “Smithy I think ye have been at the fires to long. I suggest ye hit the tavern for an ale then call it an early night” the guard said as he slapped my shoulder in passing. Surely the guards could sense something was wrong, tis after all what they are trained to do.
No sooner did the guard pass my person that he stopped and slumped over onto his halberd. I stepped closer and noticed he was staring off at nothing as if seeing something that was not there. Concerned for the safety of the people in Trinsic I rushed toward the town cryers. Along the way I noticed several other guards in the same dazed state.
As I ran toward the town cryer the ground shook with the force of an earthquake, quickly followed by a deafening boom. I turned on my heels to see smoke rising from behind my shop. “Catapults” I yelled as I ran to the cryers. As I reached the cryers I now realized the origin of the foul odor…. ORCS. The Cryers were already yelling of the attack upon our city.
The Orcs had sailed from the north and were raiding the city. Some how they had found a way to lull the guards allowing them access to the inner city. The air became thick with magic as gate after gate opened revealing warrior and mage alike readied for the fight at hand. Most were shocked to see Orcs inside the city walls yet fought with all the skill and raw power for which the warriors of this land are known.
The battle raged through the night yet the Catapults still rained their destruction down upon the city I call home. The Catapults must be taken out. The warriors pressed the fight outside the gates to find and destroy the accursed war machines. The Orcs seeing the surge of warriors fell back to the catapults to defend them from destruction. The warriors cut through the orcs as though they were a breath on the wind and headed to the catapults. There was silence as the rain of explosions stopped. The warriors had done it, they had destroyed the catapults.
Several warriors informed the cryers of a strange Crystal mounted to the mast of the lead orc ship. The cryers summoned Krylin the artifact keeper to examine the crystal. Krylin determined the crystal was an ancient artifact only know to us as The Crystal of Sleep for its true name has been lost with the passing of time. The keeper stated that the crystal if properly manipulated by a powerful mage could lull any creature into a waking sleep. The keeper removed the stone and cast a ward spell upon it to negate the effects it had upon the guards.
Trinsic has once again returned to its tranquil state and all seems well except for dire repairs needed to be done on the city walls from the bombardments. One question arises in my mind. If the crystal required manipulating to work properly, who or what manipulated it?

 

 

 

Well after our report earlier or Last Target in UOA being illegal still we decided to pursue the topic. On the COB developement board it was noted that Designer Dragon (or someone who hacked his board login) was responding to the posts there! Sunsword and Runesword have been posting of late as well. So your news team took the initiative posted the question of it legality to Designer Dragon.

Alas it would appear he only had the energy to reply to a few of the posts because he has yet to reply to it. But! Someone named Dagda (name highlighted green as in board admin I do believe) posted saying that since UOA was authorized, Last target was legal. There were a couple of other posts. One or two to call into question the validity of information found on twister's site and such.

Well we have posed the question to Support at owo.com and await an answer. We will keep you...uhh posted!

Here is an email that a player sent into support at owo.com and the response that he received. Time for another meeting folks....and figure out what you want to tell us about your new policy regarding UOAssist.

Is last target legal to use since its in UOA and is a UOpro utility?

Response from OSI

Hail!

Thank you for contacting us about this before using it. The answer is NO. Last target is still an illegal macro to use.

Good luck!
GM Case

Found this first on COB then went to OWO to verify. This is from the OWO site:
The next update to Ultima Online will be a much larger affair than a typical 6-9 week cycle update. The UO Development team has been working towards this update for sometime now and is looking forward to presenting you with a whole palette of changes to UO. The target date for this update is July 24th, but you should treat this date as a target and not a hard-and-fast deadline. We are going to be testing this update extensively within our QA department and will not let it be published until it passes a white glove treatment by QA.

Curious as to what the next update will include? Veterans to UO will find that we’ve improved our interface functionality by including the ability to target via the keyboard with such key commands as Last Target, Target Self, and Target Next. We’ve also improved the target interface feedback by adding mini hit-point bars and outline highlighting. Furthermore, we’ve added Arm/Disarm macros for both hands, or for left hand or right hand, so that they may work independently.

Graphically, we’re making a few changes as well. We’re adding colored spot lighting and colored ambient lighting. We’ve improved the day and night cycle, and added seasons! Last, but not least, we’ve added some client frame rate improvements just to keep things moving along at a good clip.

With all this for our current players, we thought it would be a good idea to help out our newer players while we were at it. Coming in this update, new users will find revised introductory screens that are more intuitive, easier to use, and more streamlined. We’ve created a much improved professions selection, with extensive help on professions and starting cities. The first iteration of the Quest Engine will debut as “Newbie Quests”. New accounts will be given a quest that will train them in their starting skills and the basics of the game as soon as they enter the game the first time. Veterans can look forward to this Quest Engine being expanded in the future to offer cool, dynamic quests to all UO players.

New users will find themselves under “newbie protection” for a short time when they first begin the game, which will keep them safe from attacks by other players until they are strong enough to begin defending themselves. There will be additional newbie helping features added to UO, like special assistance from NPCs such as wandering healers and arrows that help direct the newbie to certain locations which will make death less onerous, healing easier to obtain, and gameplay, in general, easier to become accustomed to.

This next update is a major step in the evolution of UO and we look forward to being able to give this to everyone soon. Because the patch includes so many new features, we are being extremely cautious about its release and giving our QA department plenty of time to make certain it is ready to go before we let it loose. Stay tuned for future developments on this update. We’ll be keeping you informed as we draw closer to our patch date.

Origin Systems is pleased to announce that UOAssist, a Tugsoft utility designed and written to be a playing aid in Ultima Online, has officially passed Ultima Online’s UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating.

UOAssist allows players to take advantage of special features, such as counting reagents; arming/disarming; automatic “allnames” and more. Visit http://www.tugsoft.com for more information about what Tugsoft and UOAssist can do for you.

The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro.

Information about the UOPro program at Origin Systems can be found at http://support.uo.com under the 3rd Party Program heading. A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html.

We wanted to let all the Abyss fans know ahead of time that the Abyss Shard will be unpredictable and unstable this week. We will be taking it up and down at odd times and it may crash while we make some changes to the server.

As a reminder, we will be having the same extended maintenance period for the CATSKILLS and CHESAPEAKE shards tomorrow (Thursday June 10th). We expect those shards to be down for around 5 hours beginning at their normal maintenance window of as close to 5AM Eastern as possible. Thanks again.

Greg reported this a couple of days ago and indeed it seemed to be true during our treasure hunt but we waited to get a second corroboration before posting that indeed Field Spells are again operational.

The Gamemasters now have the ability to suspend accounts for 24, 48, and 72 hour increments. We will be using this new ability to remove harassers from the game for longer periods of time and to catch the attention of anyone whose email address is not valid. We have to email all parties involved in our harassment logs; including the person who made the call. If your email continues to come back returned, whether your calls were valid or invalid, we will temporarily suspend your account until you update your account information.

 

Well as reported earlier there is a new test client out, version D. Pandemonium over at OSI has been working to make the client faster and to enhance some of the visuals. Colored lighting is one visual enhancement. Another is DARKNESS! That's right. Very much darkness. Here are some screenshots posted over on the Crossroads boards: (notice the green glow surrounding the communication crystal)

 

There has been a lot of controversy stirred up regarding the new darkness including discussion on this causing a lot more people to use illegal third party apps such as UO Extreme and UO Plug-in for theirAlways Light Feature.

Of course this IS still a test client so changes are still possible and there are some bugs. There have been reports of 'Ghost' creatures and players as well as the fact that Nightsite only illuminates the Radar and not the screen. Making it very hard to maneuver around in todays cluttered Sosaria.

 

The Yew Communication Team has sent word of their newest project.

Races of Yew,

The Yew Guild Directory Team is now collecting information about guilds that operate with any regularity within Yew. The goal of this project is to catalog all the guilds in our area so as to make this information available to the public. In this way, we hope to better inform the people of Yew, perhaps even leading to membership in which ever guild strikes their fancy.

Note, this is strictly for informational purposes...this directory does not favor any guild or race over another.

Please have a representative of your guild mail the following information to Marrukha at this address:  astevens at pacific.telebyte.com

 

1. Guild Name & abbreviation
2. General alignment and philosophy (your guildstone charter would do)
3. Guild Master
4. Link to a web site for further information

All of this information is optional, though at least the guild name and possible web site would be helpful.

Thank you for your participation,
The Yew Communication Team

[Editor's Note: Please note that this FAQ is not an official OSI document. -- Beans Baxter]

 

I was sent the following Seer Letter, which answers many questions several of us have concerning the Seer Program, and what Seers can and can not do:

Seer Letter:

The purpose of this letter is to help clear up some of the confusion about what Seers are and what they do.

What is a Seer?

A Seer is a player, selected based on their role-playing ability, who assists IGMs (IGM = Interest Game Master and are different from Support Game Masters you call via the help button) in their attempts to introduce quests and events into the game. They do this by acting as catalysts for role-playing. Seers can assist IGMs with Major Plot events or run their own events and role-play their own characters. Seers are NOT Game Masters and have none of the abilities of one. In fact, the Seers have no role in the support of Ultima Online at all. They are there to promote role-playing and to increase the level of quests and events in Ultima Online.

Since they play the role of a character who exists only in Britannia, Seers will remain in-character regardless of the situation. If you encounter a Seer and see them being asked such questions as: "Who gave you that robe?" or "How did you get to be a Seer?", then you will see the questions answered according to the personality of the character the Seer is playing at the time. And often that will mean the character knows little or nothing about such things. In general, if a player asks a question like "Are you a GM?", it tends to lessen the role-playing atmosphere and make things more difficult for those who wish to enjoy the event.

As a result, Seers, whether in green robes or role-playing a character, are likely to gravitate toward role-players rather than those who run around the bank screaming or those who ask about games-mechanics, including things like "what's your magery?" Seers will always avoid contact with players who prefer to spout obscenities or who fill the screen with "spam". Since Seers are unpaid volunteers who use their own time to encourage and facilitate role-playing, avoiding situations that require an out-of-character response is one means of maximizing their effectiveness. This doesn't mean you have to use "thee" and "thou" if it's not comfortable to you. All that is needed is to act and speak as in-character as you are able. There is no contest to find the "best" role-players, so you need not worry about being perfect. But allowing yourself and those around you to role-play while in Britannia will result in a better experience for everyone. Especially during Seer and IGM events.

The Seers can play many different kinds of characters that can appear in many different forms. In particular, there are three roles that a Seer will fulfill: a green-robed character, role-played character, and role-played monster.

What is a Green-Robed Seer character?Each official persona of Ultima Online has a different colored robe: Support GMs are red, Counselors are blue, Seers are green, etc. If you open a robed Seer's paperdoll, you will see that their skin is green also. Green-robed Seers are invulnerable and can inter....

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