Martok

Those that have never lived in Columbus might think you were trying to be funny. Yet, in all seriousness, you are very true!

I won't dignify Kalinaf's or Baltazar's post with any sort of response.

Let me just say I have serious problem with the way this thread is ending up.  Remember what happened the last time there was a thread like this???  It started a mass exodus in the guild.  How soon we forget.

I also have a BIG problem with some of the members that are posting to this thread that were so quick to chastise those that posted in the old thread.  I can see that some are beginning to speaketh with two tongues.  

*chants DEATH*

Computer is ate up bad. No, its not from some barnyard animal porn site.  (Balt didn't think I could get on to see his post!)

I am currently on my old 486 processor computer.  *sighs*

It might be a couple more days before they fix my computer, if they can.  If not I will be buying a new one.  *sighs*  That is the last time I accept a file from Baltazar!!!!

*tells everyone not to accept files from Baltazar ever*

And just an fyi:  Fing, no need to put my house up for sale again!  Last time, I had 1 million icq's when I got back!!!!

I've been refreshing it as I stock my vendors. Don't worry.

testing 1 2 3

testing

Lance and myself traveled to the Balron cage for a little Ballie killing.  But alas, it seems balrons have been made invulnerable to EV's!  Between myself and Lance, we threw at least 15 EV's at the balron.  Not a single bit of damage!

We then started casting spells at the balron.  VERY little damage from our magic!  I am talking about two GM mages, one with high eval, the other with GM eval.  After fifteen minutes I was too mad to continue, I left and logged out.

What are they thinking?  I hope this is just a "bug" that Ev's aren't working right.  If not, my fate with UO has been sealed.  It has been fun (not so much as of late) but I will be leaving.

I plan on putting two of my accounts for sale this week on ebay.  I will keep the account with Martok on it for a little while longer (most likely until shadowbane comes out).

I would be willing to wager, when Shadowbane comes out there will be an overwhelming flood of UO accounts for sale on Ebay.  Think of it as your next door neighbor putting toilets in their front yard with flowers in it, and painting their house pink.  Property value is getting ready to go way down.  I can see it now:  7X GM tamer accounts with castles....$50 or best offer!

No thanks.  I will sell my goodies before that time.

If you ever wanted a GREAT account, your chance is coming.  But be careful........when you pay that $50 for that great account, they will turn the switch at EA....and the world will go dark.

Departmental meeting?

Its their company picnic!  Don't let them fib!

Its not too bad, we have been waiting long enough, a few more hours won't hurt at all.

:argue:

Maybe not.  No patch, none of the servers were taken down.

I guess we have to wait and see what they have to say about this one.

Lan,

Perhaps we could get together with a potion keg vendor.  I have been operating one out of Fing's crossroad vendors ever since Gorion owned the place.  The only problem is, I have a lot of trouble keeping up with it.  I could spend a whole day grinding potions.....and then they're gone.  

The same with my scroll vendor.  

ICQ me.  I am a GM Tailor as well as a GM Scribe.

None of the posts on the boards have said.  If you check previous posts, it is said that vet rewards are going to be part of publish 12.  I would guess that it will be included. *crosses fingers*

Posted on FYI of UO.com:

Publish 12 will be published to all remaining shards today, to be active following their next maintenance period. The schedule for these maintenance periods is as follows:

All East Coast and Central shards (with the exception of Chesapeake) will be taken down for an unscheduled maintenance at 2:00 pm CDT, July 23rd.

Japanese and Korean Shards will be taken down for their normal maintenance period on at 8:00 AM local time, July 24th (JST).

European Shards will be taken down for their normal maintenance period at 5:00 am local time, July 24th (GMT).

Siege Perilous will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 5:00 am, July 24th (CDT).

Formosa will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 8:00 am local Taiwan time, July 24th.

Oceania will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 5:00 am local Sydney time, July 24th.

AOL Legends will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 5:00 am EDT, July 24th.

The changes will be added to Latest Game Updates once the publish is active on all shards

Imperial scouts have brought words of a savages that have begun to band together.  The scouts say that they call themselves "The Eaters of the Dead".  

Additional attempts by the House of Espionage have failed.  All espionage plebes that have been sent to gather more information have not returned.  This Saturday, July 21st the Imperial Legion shall take a force to search for this new tribe of savages.  We shall gather information to determine whether or not they pose a threat to the Empire.  Those with enough VALOR to attend please reply by scroll here.

Calandryll posted this overview of the scenario on the UO.com boards.  How do you think the scenario went?  What suggestions do you have?

A few weeks ago, based on some requests from players, I promised I'd write a synopsis of the scenario, describe the goals, and write my view of what we accomplished. Ask and ye shall recieve:

The Savage Empire Scenario

Scenario Description

Strange creatures (the savages) are driving the orcs out of their homes, which is causing the orcs to attack the player cities. The savages' reasons for doing so is not revealed...yet. Note, while the scenario title bears the same name as the single player Worlds of Ultima game and was inspired by it, it is not based on that game.

The Savage Empire Scenario had 6 major goals:

1. Introduce players to the concept of scenarios and set the expectations.

a. Since everyone reading this knows what a scenario is by now, I think we achieved this one.

2. Update new content into the game within a context (story) on an ongoing and uninterrupted basis (no delays or off-weeks once a scenario starts).

a. With the exception of the Chesapeake shard, there were no delays, off-weeks, or interruptions in the scenario.

b. We did split week 4 into two weeks (the orc bomber was originally supposed to be with the orc chopper and town attacks in week 4) to give QA more time to test, but most players didn't even realize the change to the schedule and it was a good example of fluid design.

3. Make sure new content is fun and useful and try to include as many play-styles as possible.

a. Most feedback from players regarding the new monsters (especially the orc scouts and savages) was very positive. The new AI introduced worked well and players seemed to enjoy the challenged they presented. Good AI, with respects to monsters in a video game, does not mean "make the monster more difficult"...it means "make the monster fun and challenging."

b. The interaction of the bola with savage riders (need to knock them off the ridgeback to tame the ridgeback) helped create some grouping, while not forcing it on those that like to solo.

c. Some players played the scenario because of the story and role-playing. Some played it for the loot. Others enjoyed searching for the orc encampments and exploring the new dungeon. All of that is good.

d. Most of the new monsters were texture changes. The artists did a great job making sure everything looked good as far as the Third Dawn models and most of the 2d replacement art looked good.

4. Introduce as few bugs as possible, fix any bugs by the next update, and don't impact other development.

a. We published the shards nine times. During those nine publishes, we had no reverts and with the exception of the merge issue with publish 12 (which was not a problem caused by scenario code and only occurred on Chessie), we did not impact development at all.

b. There were only two bugs of major concern released as part of the scenario. One was a shard crasher (happened once, was fixed an hour later) and the other was an issue with stealing caused by the orc mask (again, fixed within 12 hours of the first GM report).

c. The majority of other bugs were fixed by the next week's update (what few there were) and overall, considering the amount of content and nine shard publishes in a row, our QA team did a bang-up job catching the bugs during testing before any of you ever saw them.

d. We also had a lot of help from folks such as Prophet, Evocare, Vex, Adrick, and Groover working on things such as the looting rights change, client patches, making savage paint work (you have no idea how many changes we made to code that had not been touched in years to make this happen), and general design ideas. The team pitched in a lot while continuing to work on their systems.

5. Create a dynamic outcome based solely on code and systems

a. While the dynamic outcome got a bad rap, actually, the code worked perfectly, the timing issue is what caused concern. The fact that it ended too quickly was a major disappointment for many players and one we plan to resolve in future scenarios. But, the way in which the code reacted to the players' actions proved that we can code dynamic outcomes without having to manually update or force anything.

6. Take the feedback from players on the first scenario and incorporate them into the next scenario.

a. I'd like to concentrate on the last one. I've been reading the feedback and here is what I believe were the major concepts players wanted more of.

- i. More in-game fiction. Books, scrolls, etc.

- ii. Less camping...have some monsters spawn in random locations.

- iii. More story in general (explanations and reasons). This is more a product of the fact that the Savage Empire scenario was more of a set-up scenario. You'll learn a lot more in future scenarios.

- iv. More craftables and less that require fighting to get the resources. While I believe that having some craftables require fighting (again, encourages community group play - sorta the point of play an MMORPG) not all should.

- v. Make sure the dynamic outcome lasts longer. This one goes without saying.

b. While not all of these will make it into the next scenario, the feedback is useful and could influence future scenarios. Did I miss anything?

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna

Designer, Ongoing Content

Quote from Coldren,

.. however Martok who DIDN'T take my advice *cackles* is not so happy with his purchase.

I am quite happy with my video card.  

Posted on FYI on UO.com

Since activating Publish 12 on the Chesapeake shard in late June, we have been monitoring the shard closely, and we are targeting to release the final week of the event scenario publish to the Chesapeake shard on Tuesday, July 17th. Once it is determined that there are no unforeseen issues involving the final week of the Savage Empire scenario and Publish 12, a schedule will be set for the release of Publish 12 to the other shards.

Publish 12, which includes the veteran rewards system, is our highest priority, and we hope to see it released to all shards soon. We are looking to roll out Publish 12 to all shards by late next week, but please understand that due to testing considerations and time-sensitive problems that may arise, all schedules may be subject to change.

A list of the changes included in this publish can be found in Testing for the Next Update.

Considering the complexities of the rewards system, we will wait until all public shards have received Publish 12 before the veteran rewards system will be activated. Once all shards are running Publish 12, and we are confident that the veteran rewards system is functioning properly, we will begin to activate veteran rewards systematically on pre-determined shards. Please note that this means that players will not be able to choose rewards immediately once the publish is received. We are working to see that this delay will be as short as possible, and we appreciate your patience.

Calandryll recently posted this on the UO.com boards.  Questions to Calandryll are noted in bold text.

--First, great feedback!!!

--I pulled out the major points of each of your points to respond to. If I took something out of context, please correct me.

"If neither outcome is worse, then there is no reason to favor a certain outcome at all -- or even participate at all.

--I don't agree. Perhaps neither outcome is worse, but different players will benefit from different outcomes. For instance, let's say two outcomes in a fight for the city of Skara are: a) Skara becomes a dungeon (meaning monsters spawn there) or b) skara is saved (meaning you can bank there). For some players, the idea of a new dungeon is preferable, while to others, Skara is their home and they want it back the way it was. I'm sure I could think of a better example, given enough time. What I meant by my original statement was that outcomes where the player-base as a whole "loses" are a bad idea.

Perhaps the worst outcome should come from doing nothing??"

--I like that idea a lot. In fact, that is what happens now, if players don't retake the towns, they will be forever under attack. Doing nothing does result in a negative outcome until they do something.

During this scenario I felt a little bit that the new content (which took the form of new items many times) was used as a crutch to help support a story that could not be fully expressed in game.

--Actually, it was more that much of the story was not told on purpose. Again, think of this scenario as the opening chapter of a book. For instance, lets say that book starts out with an invasion of a town by marauding monsters. Do you (or the characters in the book) learn in the first chapter who caused that invasion? Usually not. Usually, you have to read a few more chapters before you can put the pieces together. In-game fiction didn't fit in this scenario...in the next one (the next chapter if you will), it does.

"This scenario needed to be far more dynamic. There were basically three outcomes: orcs, savages, or neither."

--For us to do what you propose in the first scenario would have been the absolute worst thing we could have done for a first pass. What you have listed in your second example is the result of an evolution of what we did in the first one. It is extremely easy to make that diagram, even easy to fill it in, but as you said, infinitely harder and more time consuming to design, code, balance, and test it. The fact that the first, fairly simple dynamic outcome did not go well is proof that trying to do something that complicated would have been disastrous. Too often, in our eagerness to flex our design muscles, we design above our own experience. It’s like trying to run before one has learned how to walk (to quote Tyrant).

--Is it a goal to have a scenario like that? Actually, I'm not sure if they ever need to be that complicated...but even if I did, they won't be like that for quite some time until we learn more.

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna

Designer, Ongoing Content

A messenger brings this invitation to those of the Empire

Come to The Universal Festival. Hosted by Jaco Universal, Lord Beldin, and

Jack Ransom. This Grand Event is The First and Last time it will ever Happen! So Don't Miss it! There will be a Gaming Area,

Palm Reading, Gambling, Chicken Fights, Food, Drinks, and even a Band! Yes People this is a Once in a Life Time Chance! You ask "Is there any more activites!?!?!?!?"

But Of Course! We will have Player Run Sales, Bars, Horse Racing. Food and Drinks are Available for Sale and It is First Come, First Served! We will also Have Live Shows, Even some Boxing, and that's not all

We Have Much, Much MORE!

First and Last Chance People!

July 21st, at Noon Eastern time! At Festival Tower! Gates Will be given at All Town Banks!

The door to the tavern swung open, to allow a rotund dwarf to enter the establishment.  He looked around at the patrons of the tavern, and wrinkled his nose.  The tavern was well known for its shady inhabitants.  Those in need of a mercenary could surely find one within these walls.

The dwarf walked over to the bar, shoving several drunk warriors out of his way.  They were about to protest, but saw the large battle axe upon the dwarfs back, and decided against it.  

The dwarf yelled at the barkeep for an ale, and quickly guzzled down the liquid.  He winced at the taste, for it was of poor quality.  “Nothing like the ale of the mountain dwarf taverns.” he thought to himself silently as he looked through the bottom of the mug.

A log in the fireplace crackled, shooting sparks through the air behind the dwarf.  The dwarf turned his head to glance upon the warm and inviting fire, and saw what he thought was a set of red eyes perched in the shadows beside the fireplace.  The dwarf looked to the set of eyes, and nodded his head in silent communication.

Casually, the dwarf ordered another ale, and proceeded to the table set back beside the fireplace, hidden in a shroud of darkness.  As the dwarf approached the table, he could see the man sitting against the wall.  His figure blended in with the shadows, only the fiery gaze from his eyes gave away his presence.  

The dwarf sat down, and began to speak.  “The price of eggs is rather high in Sullust,” remarked the dwarf.  His eyes did not look up, but concentrated on the mug of ale in his hand.

“Yet the price of chickens remains low,” remarked the shadowy figure.  His deep voice startled the dwarf.  Yet, the correct words were spoken, there was the man he was to meet.  Their previous communications were made through a third party, a mercenary of rather low esteem.  This was their first face to face encounter.

The large woman on the makeshift stage began to sing, unfortunately, she was the only entertainment for the evening.  Her shrill voice mangled the words of her song.  Several of the patrons threw bits of their meal towards her, showing their obvious displeasure at hearing her voice.

“Have you completed your task?” asked the dark man.  The darkness clung to him as a cloak, concealing his appearance from everyone in the tavern but the dwarf.  The dwarf’s face grew red with rage upon the question.  

“If I hadn’t completed the task,” thought the dwarf, “would I have come?”  he thought silently to himself.  He was about to speak his thoughts out loud, but thought better of it.  The shadowy man frightened  him greatly.

“I have.  Just as you had requested,” replied the dwarf with extreme calmness and caution.  His eyes lifted from his mug to meet the gaze of the dark man’s.  His hand patted the scroll case at his belt.  It had taken him months to compile all the information written on the parchment:  the names of all the tribal leaders of the orcs, their locations, their titles, their responsibilities.  The dwarf had started out with six members of his mercenary team.  Only he had survived.  The orcs brutally murdered his associates that were caught.  The price for the information was heavy.  The reward he was to gain in return seemed hardly worth his efforts.  

The man in the darkness held out his hand, without speaking, the dwarf removed the scroll from the case upon his belt, and handed it over to the dark man.  He unrolled the scroll, and gazed over its contents.   A faint smile appeared on his lips.  This was the final bit of information he needed.  This scroll, combined with the maps he had acquired from the late warriors outside the orc camp was to be used for intricate planning; the planning of an all out assault on the orcs.

The dark man removed a small leather pouch from his belt, and handed it to the dwarf.  “I have heard of your comrades early departure to the abyss,” stated he stated.  “I grieve for your loss.  I have added a bit extra for your troubles,” continued the man.

The dwarf looked inside the pouch, and found triple the amount of gold that had been agreed upon.  His stomach began to knot.  His friends were dead, and it seemed as if he was being paid for their untimely demise.  He closed the pouch, and fastened it to his belt.

Without any further conversation, the dwarf rose from the table, finished off the remainder of ale in his mug, and began to walk towards the door.  He was finished as a mercenary.  He had experienced more death in his lifetime, then a dozen men should have.  He had made up his mind; he would go back to being a blacksmith, a more respectable trade for one of his heritage.  

As the dwarf exited the tavern, three warriors emerged from the shadows to stand directly in the dwarf’s path.  “You have something that needs to be returned,” stated one of the warriors.  Their curved swords gleamed in the moonlight

“What might that be?” questioned the dwarf as he drew his battle-axe from his back.  He knew what they were looking for:  the scroll he had given to the man in black.  “The orcs must have sent them,” thought the dwarf.  Off in the distance, as if to confirm his thoughts, stood two orc shaman.  

The dwarf took a wide swing with his battle-axe towards the mercenaries.  The three warriors jumped clear of its path, save for one of them who left his foot within the axe’s reach.  His foot separated from his leg, and the warrior fell to the ground with a shriek.  The dwarf spun around, and gave his axe another swing towards the other two warriors.  His axe managed to find a target once again, this time, directly in the midsection of one of his would-be attackers.  The warrior managed to slash at the dwarf with his sword as he fell to the ground.  

The dwarf groaned in pain.  The wound was not serious, but gave him extreme pain.  The remaining warrior ran off, leaving his two comrades behind.  He did not want to suffer their fate.  The dwarf thought of chasing down the remaining attacker, but clutched his bleeding shoulder instead.  The dwarf disappeared down the dark dirt road.

The dark man exited the tavern, and looked down at the two maimed warriors just outside the tavern steps.  He looked around for the dwarf, but failed to find him.  The man turned the corner of the tavern, and found the dwarf on the ground, frothing at the mouth.  The dark man bent down, and gazed upon the dwarf.  

The dwarf attempted to talk, but only a few unrecognizable gurgles came from his mouth.  The man in black knelt down, and moved his ear close to the dwarf’s mouth, in an attempt to hear him better.  

“Poison,” the dwarf gurgled.  “Sent by the orcs,” he struggled to whisper.  “Two Shaman, in the distance......too late.....,” he managed to say.   The foam continued to flow from his mouth.  The man opened a pouch at his belt, and withdrew a small vial.  Before he could lift the vial to the dwarf’s lips, he was dead.

The dark figure sighed.  The orcs must know his plans.  There was no longer any time for reconnaissance.  He had to return and tell his comrades, they had to prepare for the atttack.  As he finished his thought, the dark man made runic symbols in the air above the dwarf’s corpse.  The corpse began to glow with a white light, then disappeared.  

Many men died to bring the information the dark man now held, but many more would die when the war started.  With another wave of the man’s hand, his figure began to shift and contort.  Within seconds, the dark man was no more, replaced by what appeared to be a raven.

 Several town guards ran down the road in front of the tavern, searching for the cause of the commotion.  When they arrived, only two corpses of the mercenaries remained; and a raven perched upon the sign of the tavern.  

*looks to Kalinaf*

I have yet ventured to this area....I hope you all have some runes for me to use!  

I used to play Diablo all the time.  I uninstalled it a while back and now I lost my cd.  Prom is yelling at me on a daily basis to get my lazy butt out and buy it with the expansion.  *chuckles*

One minute, I am a god of peace and goodness, the next, a god of destruction and pestilence.  

How the???

Oh well, its much more entertaining to have my pet eat villagers that stray.  Whats that you say?  Need more housing??  I can solve that problem!!  *instructs creature to eat excess population*

Aye, it will be a welcomed change!  I won't know what to do when I am able to actually find some reagents!!!!

According to UO Stratics, patch 12 is currently up and running on the Chesapeake shard.  Also according to Stratics, patch 12 includes an addition of exactly what type of murder count you have!  It will tell you what your short, long, and ping-pong counts are by saying: I must consider my sins.

Posts on the UO.com boards also speak of an increase in the reagent spawn as well.  Rumor has it that the npc reagent vendors have had their spawn rates increased!  You can now expect to see anywhere from 400-999 of each reg spawning every fifteen minutes!!