Steel DarKnight

*chuckles* Looks like the Orc Outpost is in the lead Ange.

My brother "Maven uth Mateur" reporting for duty milady....errr Centurion.

*ducks under his office table* Gods! give me Liches, Dragons, or even a Balron...but please keep me a good distance from a irritated Praetorian!

Lukkan, by all means please continue. It was for me a very enjoyable read and I for one was wondering what "adventures" would result of it. I am quite proud to hear the story that you told of "Kodoz" and I would like to think that all of us would do the same. His actions bring "honor" to the empire. If we can be of any assistance please let us know. We all were "young" once and I for one was given aid by a "vet" upon my first steps into the realm. The lessons and teachings of that "vet" formed me into the entity I am now.

Winter, you are correct on that point. I chaired that meeting and the motion to form a seperate "red hunter" squad was put down. In fact, there is already a division of the empire that would be responcible for this mission. The Praetorians. But your mission in a somewhat different form would not be in vain Shaun, if perhaps focused on a different aspect. Time and again I have seen the "evil" forces of the realm attack us and our alliance. Small numbers of them have been able to raise havoc on our forces. What I have seen for example would be as follows. A small group of "evil" forces would attack a member or two. Confusion would be the result as most involved would avoid battle to avoid turning "grey". After the initial targets were slayed the "evil" forces would pick new targets. Rinse and repeat. In the meantime some would come forward to defend their guildmates and in the confusion we have had many conflicts between allied guilds as unfortunetly at times targets were misidentified (Ever happen to you Lora, BB i.e being misidentified?). In the end, a small group of aggresors would pick off our larger "allied group". This happened for two reasons. 1) The fear of going "grey". If all unified early the "aggresors" would have easily been crushed. Nothing says loving like 10 "Corp pors" on a "red". 2) Confusion and lack of unity - When it comes to the heat of battle, ultimetly one sticks to their guild not the alliance meaning that the aggresors fight 3-4 small groups instead of a unified force. There has been talk of ways to orgainize more effiecently and to work out these issues but I have not seen much progress. Perhaps this would be something you could pursue Shaun?

As was mentioned by Senator Logan in the weekly meeting we will be working to revise our old standard of combat. The Age of Shadows have brought many changes to our realm and in order to survive we need to adapt. Next weekend we shall gather to test some new ideas regarding combat. Im sure Senator Logan will be posting more on this in the near future. In the meantime, I invite each of you to review the tactics previously followed at Battle Tacts manual Once reviewed, I invite each of you to respond to the this post with suggestions for modification and change.

Excellent work Doddz! This is quite informative, and I hope I speak for everyone when I say that this will be a great reference (I have bookmarked) and your work and time, to provide to us, is greatly appreciated.

Ah, but there's a method here. There are a number of wearables that can have magical properties--typically armor pieces--and the listed gift clothing items were chosen because they don't take up the same slots when worn. In this way, if you wanted to wear your gift sandles, for example, you won't have to sacrifice your favorite magical armor-legs in order to do so--you'll be able to wear both the leg pieces and the sandles. Later that same day: Some players have been asking about hats, wondering why they weren't included in the gift-wearable list. The reason explained above is the same reason as to why hats weren't included in the list. (Hats would take up the same slots as helmets.) ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- unless of course, your favorite armor piece is plate legs, then you cant wear any footwear. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plate legs actually take up the "pants" slot, and you should still be able to wear actual footwear in conjunction with plate legs. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why couldn't we have been given a list to vote on? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually, we at OSI started several long-running threads where we invited gift idea suggestions, and after revisions and continued player feedback, these are the items we felt were appropriate for the game & situation, and presented a good reflection of player requests. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can anyone explaim me? that rose is the wispering rose? Why something thats suposed to be a gift need to nerf others items and $? Like me thousands of players bought roses and wasnt free...why nerf old item if there are THOUSANDS of unused items that could be used for that purpose? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The new rose won't be exactly the same, if only for the different name it will have. (As for using alternate items, it may be interesting to note that the whispering rose itself is actually based off one of the mandrake art pieces.) ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sannio, if i use the + 5 now, can i use a +25 later for a total of 255? or will the +25 only bring me to 250, like the current +5's work. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As it stands right now, only this new +5 Stat Scroll gift would allow the possibility of breaking the 250 barrier. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So then if we use a +5 Stat Scroll now, and get a +20 Stat Scroll in the future, would the maximum still be 255, or would using the +20 Scroll later negate that and stop at 250? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The short of it: The existing champion spawn stat scrolls aren't cumulative, but the new +5 bonus scroll is. If you have both champion spawn stat scrolls and a +5 stat scroll gift, I would recommend using the +5 stat scroll gift after you've determined that character won't be using any more champion spawn stat scrolls. The longer version: Think of the champion spawn stat scrolls not so much as "+5," "+10," "+15," "+20," and "+25" but instead as "new cap of 230," "new cap of 235," "new cap of 240," "new cap of 245," and "new cap of 250," respectively. Think of the new "+5" stat scroll literally as a "+5 bonus to your stat cap." This means if your current cap is at 225 and you use the +5 stat scroll gift, you maximum possible stats cap will go up to 230. Then using a champion spawn stat scroll of +20 will change your stat cap to 245--remember, a +20 stat scroll is actually a.k.a. a "new cap of 245." If your timetable and resources allow, my recommendation would be to first use your champion spawn stat scrolls, and then--once you feel you won't be using any more champion stat scrolls on that character--use the +5 stat scroll gift scroll. And, of course, the best bonus can come into play if you've already used a +25 stat scroll to achieve a 250 stat cap and then use the +5 stat scroll gift to exceed the normal limit and achieve a 255 stat cap. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sannio, since you are answering questions, I'll ask mine again. When will we know what the possible phrases to put on gift items will be and what colors will be available? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's true that we haven't yet announced the phrases or colors, but I don't have an official list for you at this time. I'm going to take a little chance here and suggest that we might still be open to suggestions for some of the phrases and colors. Suggestions for phrases should be fairly short (as in probably 3-6 words) and may somehow connect with the "Age of Shadows" theme (but this isn't a necessity)--and of course be appropriate as per our service rules. If you have a couple of nicely worded phrases in mind, I'd love to hear them. I can't gurantee that these suggestions (or exact suggestions) will be used, but any recommendations that seem appropriate for this gift item will be forwarded on to the rest of team. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- when do we get these items? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We're still working on some of the finer points right now, and there's still a few tweaks that need to be finalized and published before the gifts can be completed. I apologize, but I'm going to have to be a little vague: The items won't be finished within a few days, but the current plan is to not have to wait months before these gift items enter into the game. We'll keep everyone updated on the progress of these gifts. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems

These gifts are not just for AoS-enabled accounts. Everyone was affected, and we want every player to know that we appreciate their patience and support. You'll be eligible for these gifts even if you haven't yet upgraded to Age of Shadows. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems ******************************************************** In response to people wondering about the +5 stat gift, Sannio had this to say on the myUO boards: The Stat cap bonus scroll grants exactly that, a bonus. So if you're already at 245 then this scroll can bring you to 250. Further, if you're at the normal maximum of 250, this scroll will bring you past the normal limit to 255. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Matrim, Hope it gets better sooner rather than later.

As Sunsword promised (and after several weeks of brainstorming on the message boards with Vex and the team), we would like to offer an in-game gift as a way of showing our appreciation for all those players who've made this one of the busiest times in UO's history, as well as a way of offering something out of consideration for anyone who’s gone through a revert or other problem caused by the high traffic during the Age of Shadows launch. The gift will consist of two parts, and will be distributed per character, not per account. This means each character will receive Item #1 and Item #2 (see below). The actual date for these gifts has not yet been decided, but players should expect to see these come to the game in one of our upcoming publishes (basically, once we’re out of immediate bug-fixing mode). Item #1 For the first item, players can choose one of the following things: tunic surcoat jester suit sash robe plain dress fancy dress kilt skirt half apron full apron sandals shoes boots thigh boots cloak rose (for those who would prefer not to choose a wearable) Next, the player will be able to choose from a selection of inscriptions to engrave on the item, which will include the character’s name. Lastly, the player will be able to select a hue for the item from a selection of unusual hues. Choose wisely, because the item cannot be dyed once selected! This item (Item #1) will be blessed, and will be transferable between characters. Item #2 In addition to whatever they choose for Item #1, each character will be able to choose from the following: A scroll good for +5 to any skill of the player’s choice (This will act as an immediate 5 point skill gain in any skill. It will not raise a skill over its current skill cap.) A scroll good for +5 to their stat cap These items will be usable only once, and the effects will be permanent. These scrolls will be non-transferable, meaning it will only work for the original character who claimed it. Remember, each character will get two gifts! Item #1 can be traded, but Item #2 will only work for the claiming character, and will be consumed on use.

According to all information I have read, It appears that "use best weapon" skill is broken when it comes to range weapons (i.e bows). This is not intended and should be fixed, hopefully, soon. Hold on to those "Use best weapon skill" bows...as they will definetly add a nice aspect to your "melee" only warriors. Me, Im looking for a decent "use best weapon" repeater crossbow.

Noticed this on a UO "news-sight" I review occasionally. Credit to "Orion" for researching this issue. ******************************************************** So, in my previous post I thought going out and killing a couple hundred liches would solve the question about luck. Guess what I did today? I went out and did just that. Wearing gold armour that increased my luck to 338 I went out and slayed 100 liches. Those 100 liches gave me 36 enhanced items, 1 lvl 3 tmap, and 21,265gp. Wearing a mix match set of armour (to get high energy and fire resist) that gave me no luck, I again went out and slayed 100 liches. These liches gave me 36 enhanced items, 2 lvl 3 tmaps, and 22,873gp. I sure didn't expect exactly the same number of items dropping (ignoring tmaps), but it sure helped make a point. As I killed each list I made a note of what it dropped, such as "Chainmail Tunic - HP Increase 1, Luck 47" and "Basicnet - Mana Increase 4, Mana Regen 1, Luck 60, Lower Reagent Cost 11%". From that information I can quickly see that the items dropped while I had 338 luck, had in general higher modifier properties, than those that dropped while I had 0 luck. I'm putting all the information from the 200 kills into a table right now, and then I'll be using a basic formula I came up with to assign a base value to each set of items, in hopes to see just how much luck increases the 'phat lewt'. So to summarize this information. 1. Luck just increases the modifiers on items dropped by monsters. 2. Luck does not increase the frequency or the number of items dropped by monsters. 3. Luck does not increase the amount of gold dropped by monsters. 4. Apparently it does not help you stay alive to the torrent of flamestrikes from five liches (even with 49 fire resist!). I hope this helps everyone understand a bit more on how luck works in UO. Update: Just a couple more points. 5. Luck doesn't seem to increase the drop of tmaps on monsters. 6. Luck does not increase the items given, or their properties found in treasure chests from either Treasure Maps or SOS's. Update 2: And another point. 7. Luck is spread out in a group. So if you have a group of two guys, one with 900 luck, and one with 0, the game would treat it as if they each had 450 luck (more or less). In otherwords, it takes the middle ground (thanks Mitar).

Ha! Kodoz....speaking of not dying *smirk*..Now if that aint the kettel calling the pot...*chuckles* Have no choice on this one KD...use to be I rarely got my self in a situation I coudnt get out of alive...but 56K (and a unstable 56K at that) is a foe my sword will not touch.

Congrats to Ballyn on the birth of his Grandson. Finally, one you can spoil and then hand over to Mommy!

*grins* Quotations for me are kinda like BORGS capital letters. ******************************************************** But Prom for the poor "chuga chuga" me 750gp per item per death equals...well alot of gold in a days time *winks*

*thinks about his many "connection" deaths* Hmmm, I agree with a more easily replaced color. Unfortunetly, in the past the "Uniform color" issue was suprisingly enough a "major issue". I wish not to see it rear its ugly head again as I for one have much better ,less petty, things to contemplate. The choice of a "specialized" material opens us up to these arguments once more. Although the "BoD" color is by far the most unique we are for the most part a "military" ..i.e. death. We are also tied to a charter that we as a orginization, expect strict compliance and adherance too. In my opinion "Uniforms" should be the easiest part of this "Law" to follow. My choice is "Purple 6". Of course I have no problem with the majority rule but believe it would be wise that a decent sized "stockpile" is procured before our standard is changed.

Hahahaha! *ouch* *looks down* Hey! who put this freaking axe here?

Holy!...*runs to the store to buy Cheetos*

I won't go into details about everything with this. But there is an exploit out there where someone is able to cause your shroud to drop to the ground. If you are wearing your shroud and plan to take it off you should do so in your own home or someplace safe. I know this is all very vague. But I want to make sure that it's not given out how to pull the scam/exploit that is associated with this. *Markee Dragon*

There was a event scheduled (in my mind not yet posted) but this coincides nicely. Shall we set a time perhaps? Would 8pm est be acceptable to all?

Unfortunetly, for many The release was of AoS was not so grand. Those whom did not recieve copies in time, or just simply coudnt make it through the overburdened servers. I was only able to achieve my personnal little dream of home placment through the aid of others. I am starting this post to thank those whom assisted me, and I urge any whose day would not have been near as succesful without aid to post as well. Antonius, using a faster connection than my own was able to get me through the overburdened account server for upgrade. This effort took him hours. And, he did this knowing that he himself would not be able to place because of a delay in delivery of his copy. Antonius, I am very grateful for your aid and I thank you for making my expirence enjoyable even though yours was not. Logan, after placing his own home waited patiently for me to be able to log in. Even though his *camping* was to no avail due to my inability to log in. He made a effort and took from his own time with the best intent. Ser Brightblade (BB), contacted me shortly before I was able to enter the realm...and waited patiently while I logged in and out to get my account upgrade to activiate. BB then gated me to a place he had scouted that allowed me to place my Home. Thank you BB.

Full list of AoS bugs I got this from the uo.com boards. Someone actually compiled a list of all the reported bugs so far. Some are perhaps new 'features' though, not bugs. Here they are: * massive screen spam through the "mouse over" * guild titles are hidden now, it needs a "mouse over" to see them * casting a spell cancles the current one, which makes just holding down the spell key impossible * the HPs of tamed pets have been reduced by 70 (SEVENTY !!!) percent * tamed pets have such low resistances that a imp can kill a 4 x GM dragon * ancient smithing hammer have stopped working * all runic hammers have dropped down to 15 charges * some players have had their main characters backpack disappear * quite a lot of characters can not log in, the attempt crashes both clients * the locked down chests in some houses have become inaccessible * items with certain specific properties seem to be disappearing * banning from houses is not working * BODs can be smelted for an incredible amount of ingots * some (random?) items are unlocked or unsecured after the AoS publish * grandfathered houses are not refreshing anymore * 100% success hiding in your own house no longer works * wisps have become aggressive towards blue players * the detailed status page of random houses can be viewed by everyone * house add ons that cant be redeeded no longer display the "Is this Ok ?" gump * some houses end up having a negative number of lockdowns * buying from NPCs or using the trade Window can end up with the bought or received items being invisible in your main backpack * red "Healers of Mondain" started appearing in Trammel * Some of the new LBR monsters are invisible in 3d (chaos daemon, doppelganger etc) * Various mounts 'vanish' or change colour if i pull the status bar * Several graphical glitches with the new hooded robe thing

Previously it was stated that it would be necessary to clear the ban and friend lists of all houses due to an issue that arose during the conversion process. We’re happy to say that we’ve found another way, and that earlier statement won’t exactly be true. Since the Lake Austin shard has been up and running long enough for the data to be saved, we’re afraid that both friend and ban lists will still need to be cleared on that shard. However, on all other North American shards, we will be able to fix this before they are made live to the public. It’s likely that this fix will add some additional downtime, which we would prefer to avoid, but it’s preferable to the inconvenience to the players of having to rebuild those lists. We'll keep you informed as we know more, and thank you very much for your patience.

*Har* Save me a plot Lora!