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Upcoming Town invasions ETA?

Slayvite

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So it was said that we would get some of the old (and new) town invasions before the upcoming 20th Anniversary.
Said anniversary is now just over 3 .5 months away.......
When are these town invasions happening? Please not for just a couple of weeks before September!!
Some of us don't play 24/7 and need time to plan in stuff to our working weeks.

I understand your "redesigning" them to be new and such but.....
.....just chose an old dead town like Jhelom or Delucia and just turn on a random invasion....

Anything....i'm so bored of waiting for my new pets to bond before I grind...at least let me grind on a town invasion with them?

@Mesanna
@Kyronix
@Bleak

Edited because i cannot use a calendar :D
 
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petemage

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May .. *wondering if that joke works when done in mid-may*
 

GarthGrey

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Yes, it gives me a warm feeling inside with how many want the Dark Steed and Hell Steed.
The dark side is strong on stratics :devil:;)
The Hell Steed better damn not be anything special if they do turn it on. My Grizzled Mare is a 1 slot, untrainable waste of space after this publish.
 

Dot_Warner

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So it was said that we would get some of the old (and new) town invasions before the upcoming 20th Anniversary.
Said anniversary is now just over 2 .5 months away.......
The rest of May plus all of June, July, August and a most of September is more than 2.5 months.

I'd expect Pub 98 around the beginning of August, going by the dev's ~3 month schedule. I'd also expect EM-led events building up to said invasion(s).
 

Slayvite

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Crank up the ophidian invasion in Delucia.....anything to make those dead towns have some meaning for a change.
Personally I don't care if it fits in lore or not these days, most things these days are a "stretch" of the UO lore, but if a town is dead.....then why wouldn't the bad guys think it's an easy target?
 

Kylie Kinslayer

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The official fiction for the whole game is GL-centric...?
Not really just GL-centric. I remember one of the last "global arcs" I was around for the Devs put a lot of faith in the EM's to run the events on their shard. I forget which one honestly but there were mini-invasions here and there the EM's could turn on and off.. as well as the EM team writing most, if not all, of the fiction surrounding it.

Seems a lot of shards had dragon themes along those lines recently though. To me it seemed more of a "celebration" of St. George's day. (and in all honesty I haven't a clue what St. George's day is lol) But.. to add to that there is a "St. George's Cross" in Luna on Atlantic that I did not see until yesterday. Possible tie in to the 20th arc? Hmmm seems like a long shot honestly.. but ya never really know.

but EM Bennu, who was always fairly active, does seem to be quiet since I have been back.. perhaps they have him and some other EM's chained to a desk somewhere penning fiction for the 20th arc.
 

Merlin

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If they do go through with the invasions - I hope it's something significantly difficult like the equivalent of a high-level void pool force coming in - that makes it so folks have to work together.

With all these new powerful tamers and other gear/templates that are in game, it needs to be far more challenging than the older invasions.

I hope they make it happen!
 

Thrakkar

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Anything....i'm so bored of waiting for my new pets to bond before I grind...at least let me grind on a town invasion with them?
Just curious: What's the difference between killing mobs in tows vs mobs in dungeons or anywhere else?
 

Dot_Warner

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The official fiction for the whole game is GL-centric...?
EM Malachi is on GL; Mirendel is a "baby" platinum dragon character on GL (in Yew). Most of the fiction he writes has far more resonance for, and thus repercussions, GL.

The current arc on GL is also taking place (mostly) in the Ethereal Void, complete with the Shattered Obelisk and a floating house.
 

Judas D'arc

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EM Malachi is on GL; Mirendel is a "baby" platinum dragon character on GL (in Yew). Most of the fiction he writes has far more resonance for, and thus repercussions, GL.

The current arc on GL is also taking place (mostly) in the Ethereal Void, complete with the Shattered Obelisk and a floating house.
Mythran???

This is kind of unfortunate for the rest of us who actually enjoy having background fiction to role-play around but don't play on GL or follow GL lore or particularly want to be thrown the occasional GL fiction scraps. It's like that Time of Legends stuff all over again. Not that this is on you, or even something I'd blame EM Malachi for -- we all have our pet Ultima theories and elements that we favor, it's not like Ultima fiction (single player or otherwise) ever came with a coherent plan, and it's certainly not a priority for the developers to implement any consistency. I used to try to make sense of things and wish it were otherwise, but I feel like all of it (player or EM or otherwise) is just fan fiction anyway, so all of it matters or doesn't pretty equally.
 

Riyana

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EM Malachi is on GL; Mirendel is a "baby" platinum dragon character on GL (in Yew). Most of the fiction he writes has far more resonance for, and thus repercussions, GL.

The current arc on GL is also taking place (mostly) in the Ethereal Void, complete with the Shattered Obelisk and a floating house.
If the global fiction is being written around GL-only storylines, then we have a problem. That's not appropriate or fair to the rest of the game. A wink and a nod here and there that doesn't affect the story as a whole is one thing, but the floating house, for example, makes ZERO sense and derails and confuses the story to everyone who isn't a GL follower.

I'm all for shard individuality. However, and with nothing against GL or Malachi: GL is not UO. No individual shard is. Fiction that's for everyone shouldn't require a background on one specific shard to understand or appreciate.
 

Restroom Cowboy

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Mythran???

This is kind of unfortunate for the rest of us who actually enjoy having background fiction to role-play around but don't play on GL or follow GL lore or particularly want to be thrown the occasional GL fiction scraps. It's like that Time of Legends stuff all over again. Not that this is on you, or even something I'd blame EM Malachi for -- we all have our pet Ultima theories and elements that we favor, it's not like Ultima fiction (single player or otherwise) ever came with a coherent plan, and it's certainly not a priority for the developers to implement any consistency. I used to try to make sense of things and wish it were otherwise, but I feel like all of it (player or EM or otherwise) is just fan fiction anyway, so all of it matters or doesn't pretty equally.
You are always welcome to make a character on GL, and there are plenty of helpful people around the community who would be willing to help you make the move with items from your home server. If you enjoy the fiction element, GL is always a good shard to check out...
 

Judas D'arc

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You are always welcome to make a character on GL, and there are plenty of helpful people around the community who would be willing to help you make the move with items from your home server. If you enjoy the fiction element, GL is always a good shard to check out...
Thanks, I genuinely appreciate the offer. Right now, I'm playing on Catskills with a decent-size (for UO of 2017) role-playing guild and pretty satisfied with our setup, and I've been enjoying EM Dramnar's events and story/line fiction since he joined us last year. If I get some free time, maybe I'll check out an EM event or council meeting or something. I'm sure that GL is a fun place to RP as well; my comments weren't intended as a commentary on the quality of the shard or EM. It's more my general disappointment with the suggestion that any official lore we do get is basically scraps from GL-shard specific events and story-lines. Which, as quality as they may be, don't always reflect the histories or sensibilities of other shards. That's a top-level failure though, not an EM or player one. But the only way to really to react is to just resign myself to not bothering to really consider anything as "official" anymore.
 

MalagAste

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Anytime you want to check us out on GLs you just let me know... Love Malachi... but yes you are right however remember NO ONE on the current DEV team is a good writer unless you want Minax having her mascara running again... and such.

While I dearly love Malachi's creative style and how he knows so very much about Ultima's history and such and ties things in with that .... between he and Kyronixs it's pretty cool.

While yes it doesn't fit with all the shards RP now that they all have separate EM Stories and such it would be a challenge for anyone to tie all that into one big plot for all shards... however we are a single game from a small team as many are so quick to point out... and all the shards originated from one Prime world.
 

John Knighthawke

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If the global fiction is being written around GL-only storylines, then we have a problem. That's not appropriate or fair to the rest of the game. A wink and a nod here and there that doesn't affect the story as a whole is one thing, but the floating house, for example, makes ZERO sense and derails and confuses the story to everyone who isn't a GL follower.

I'm all for shard individuality. However, and with nothing against GL or Malachi: GL is not UO. No individual shard is. Fiction that's for everyone shouldn't require a background on one specific shard to understand or appreciate.
I read this fiction and thought "cool, fiction!" and noted how Malachi, like any decent writer, used characters he already knew how to write. To most of the audience of course these characters'd be tantamount to "Bob the Blacksmith," or other random characters as the case may be.

As a constant GL player, I, for one, didn't see this as GL fiction. I saw it as the game-wife fiction that happens to have used characters that made their first appearance on GL. For the rest of you of course these are the usual random NPCs that often appear in game fiction all the time.

Game fiction generally contradicting shard-specific fiction, especially player fiction, is always a possibility. It's a constant worry of anyone who does fiction. I could tell you some neat-o stories from three different shards about how the RP communities there about how we tried very, very hard to work within a framework given to use by EA, with varying degrees of success and failure. It happens. We work with it.

The thought that there are negative reactions toward fiction, and a negative reaction that one has to work pretty hard to find, is disturbing.

-John's player
 

John Knighthawke

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Just curious: What's the difference between killing mobs in tows vs mobs in dungeons or anywhere else?
Purpose, meaning, story. The stuff of fantasy, legend, and literature, that led to these games we play.

If that's not enough for you, then feel free not to participate.

-John's player
 

John Knighthawke

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If the global fiction is being written around GL-only storylines, then we have a problem. That's not appropriate or fair to the rest of the game. A wink and a nod here and there that doesn't affect the story as a whole is one thing, but the floating house, for example, makes ZERO sense and derails and confuses the story to everyone who isn't a GL follower.

I'm all for shard individuality. However, and with nothing against GL or Malachi: GL is not UO. No individual shard is. Fiction that's for everyone shouldn't require a background on one specific shard to understand or appreciate.
PS: Additionally I note that krett isn't a GL specific character.

BNN: Workers - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

And here's that dragon thingie. Aesthyron.

BNN: Platinum Dragons - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

Google is fun.

-John's player
 

Judas D'arc

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Anytime you want to check us out on GLs you just let me know... Love Malachi... but yes you are right however remember NO ONE on the current DEV team is a good writer unless you want Minax having her mascara running again... and such.

While I dearly love Malachi's creative style and how he knows so very much about Ultima's history and such and ties things in with that .... between he and Kyronixs it's pretty cool.

While yes it doesn't fit with all the shards RP now that they all have separate EM Stories and such it would be a challenge for anyone to tie all that into one big plot for all shards... however we are a single game from a small team as many are so quick to point out... and all the shards originated from one Prime world.
Hah. Yeah, Minax is definitely a character I wouldn't mind seeing gone after what, 17+ years of her? Some stories and characters really need a resolution and she's become a joke at this point.

I don't doubt Malachi (and other EM's) have knowledge of Ultima lore -- while UO is its own entity, there's probably still a lot of single player Ultima fans playing this game, myself included. While each shard obviously has its own history that deviate from one another after the shattering of Mondain's gem, there have been global elements that have been implemented on all of them. For example, the Awakening global arc fiction, which I believe was written by EM Drosselmeyer, was done in a pretty shard-neutral manner that didn't seem to favor one over another. Now, for all I know, maybe all the references in the Here Be Dragons are foreshadowing some global content. Like the little man in the floating house, as I posted earlier, sounds a lot like Mythran from Ultima 8, and Dot Warner's references to the Shattered Obelisk seems to support that theory. And it could be really interesting if elements of that were going to show up across the board. But given the lack of focus on any real story from the developer-level, it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt here. Just look at the Eodon story and the way it suddenly stopped once things shifted from the Kotl drop system to the revamped Doom drop system.

It sucks, and that's sort of the purpose behind complaining that any "official fiction" should apply to all equally, though I hope it's clear who the complaint is about -- it's not about EM Malachi or GL.
 
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Judas D'arc

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I read this fiction and thought "cool, fiction!" and noted how Malachi, like any decent writer, used characters he already knew how to write. To most of the audience of course these characters'd be tantamount to "Bob the Blacksmith," or other random characters as the case may be.

As a constant GL player, I, for one, didn't see this as GL fiction. I saw it as the game-wife fiction that happens to have used characters that made their first appearance on GL. For the rest of you of course these are the usual random NPCs that often appear in game fiction all the time.

Game fiction generally contradicting shard-specific fiction, especially player fiction, is always a possibility. It's a constant worry of anyone who does fiction. I could tell you some neat-o stories from three different shards about how the RP communities there about how we tried very, very hard to work within a framework given to use by EA, with varying degrees of success and failure. It happens. We work with it.

The thought that there are negative reactions toward fiction, and a negative reaction that one has to work pretty hard to find, is disturbing.

-John's player
I don't think anyone is complaining about the fiction, or even the potential for contradiction between shards. It's Ultima, where there's a nearly 40 year history of tradition of contradicting lore. And it's Ultima Online, where every shard has developed differently and it would be impossible for each to reconcile stuff. Hell, I was one of the worst offenders of being a lore elitist in the late 90s and early 2000s on Catskills, but these days I'm not going to bust someone's chops for contradicting some piece of lore about a city from 1998 that probably only I remember. I'm mostly content just having people to interact and tell stories with. But when something is released as official global fiction, it should apply to all shards equally. I don't want to just dismiss someone as "Bob the Blacksmith" or a random character. Especially when it's a semi-important Ultima figure like I'm assuming that story references. So again, it's not a slight towards your EM or your shard or the fiction itself.
 

Dot_Warner

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Hah. Yeah, Minax is definitely a character I wouldn't see gone after what, 17+ years of her? Some stories and characters really need a resolution and she's become a joke at this point.

I don't doubt Malachi (and other EM's) have knowledge of Ultima lore -- while UO is its own entity, there's probably still a lot of single player Ultima fans playing this game, myself included. While each shard obviously has its own history that deviate from one another after the shattering of Mondain's gem, there have been global elements that have been implemented on all of them. For example, the Awakening global arc fiction, which I believe was written by EM Drosselmeyer, was done in a pretty shard-neutral manner that didn't seem to favor one over another. Now, for all I know, maybe all the references in the Here Be Dragons are foreshadowing some global content. Like the little man in the floating house, as I posted earlier, sounds a lot like Mythran from Ultima 8, and Dot Warner's references to the Shattered Obelisk seems to support that theory. And it could be really interesting if elements of that were going to show up across the board. But given the lack of focus on any real story from the developer-level, it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt here. Just look at the Eodon storyand the way it suddenly stopped once things shifted from the Kotl drop system. back to the revamped Doom drop system.

It sucks, and that's sort of the purpose behind complaining that any "official fiction" should apply to all equally, though I hope it's clear who the complaint is about -- it's not about EM Malachi or GL.
The man in the house, at least on GL, is indeed Mythran. The EMs recreated the Ethereal Void from Ultima Underworld II for their arcs over the last year or so. His house is linked to it.

They also created Balema, the homeworld of Gorn (and where The Quest and Ring Quest games took place) for an arc a few months ago.

They also took players to the other worlds from Underworld II, created the gargoyle's domed city of Ambrosia, and crafted a version of Dawn (the city).

Dawn, the Void and Balema are still accessible.
 

FrejaSP

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Dot_Warner

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No, we get that even to on Siege EM Site Feed - Here there be dragons! (and drakes, and wolves, and poison elementals, and titans) together with a lot of minor EM event with different levels of soulless Minions, some easy, some hard. Siege got the most Active EM we ever had all this years and we love EM Kincaid :heart:
Uhm.. no. That's shard-specific fiction, it just has a similar theme. What is on uo,com is game-wide metafiction. The Here be Dragons story used elements directly from current GL lore and events (Mirendel, the shattered obelisk and the man in the floating house) along with shared metafiction characters.
 

MalagAste

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Well.... I guess my thoughts are why should anything effect all the shards anymore? It's been YEARS since the shattering and all the shards have become their own entities... so what sort of insanity would have to occur to make all the shards have the exact same fiction?
 

Judas D'arc

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Well.... I guess my thoughts are why should anything effect all the shards anymore? It's been YEARS since the shattering and all the shards have become their own entities... so what sort of insanity would have to occur to make all the shards have the exact same fiction?
Well, in theory I agree with you, but in reality, pretty much the timing of all the expansions from The Second Age to Time of Legends and all the game-wide big arcs have occurred around the same time on every shard. Obviously, the reasons for this aren't due to in-character/lore considerations, but they all still happened around the same time on almost every shard.
 

Kirthag

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There has been a general move toward implementing the lore of the solo-Ultima series into the shards (hence dinosaurs) and bringing that into the game is something I seriously look forward to.
Perhaps they are testing the arc over there on GL for implementation Soon™ to other shards....

An ongoing arc which integrates shard-relevant lore would be even better. Takes creativity on behalf of the EM though and the EM really needs to know the shard(s) s/he works on.

Of course, that was a pipe dream of mine back years ago. Has since been "shattered" like our shards. *shrug*
 

Judas D'arc

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There has been a general move toward implementing the lore of the solo-Ultima series into the shards (hence dinosaurs) and bringing that into the game is something I seriously look forward to.
Perhaps they are testing the arc over there on GL for implementation Soon™ to other shards....

An ongoing arc which integrates shard-relevant lore would be even better. Takes creativity on behalf of the EM though and the EM really needs to know the shard(s) s/he works on.

Of course, that was a pipe dream of mine back years ago. Has since been "shattered" like our shards. *shrug*
Yeah, I do enjoy seeing elements from the Ultima games as well, though I think there have been varying degrees of success. For example, I loved the Savage Empire single player game, but I didn't love the incorporation of Eodon into UO and feel like the logic behind its presence is sort of weak. Maybe there are some limits on how much Broadsword can exploit the Ultima IP that we're not privy to, but I also wish we'd see the development of something new. Or real world change.

I like your idea for using EMs. I agree, and it might take some planning, but I think broadly-plotted game-wide arcs can allow the EM some creativity and leeway for their specific shard implementation. In the distant past, I know things seemed to work this way, but I think it's also different now because the EM system serves two sometimes contradictory functions (story-telling and item drops), and with the addition of the PEC, the dynamics between an EM and their community have also been changed.
 

John Knighthawke

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I don't think anyone is complaining about the fiction, or even the potential for contradiction between shards. It's Ultima, where there's a nearly 40 year history of tradition of contradicting lore. And it's Ultima Online, where every shard has developed differently and it would be impossible for each to reconcile stuff. Hell, I was one of the worst offenders of being a lore elitist in the late 90s and early 2000s on Catskills, but these days I'm not going to bust someone's chops for contradicting some piece of lore about a city from 1998 that probably only I remember. I'm mostly content just having people to interact and tell stories with. But when something is released as official global fiction, it should apply to all shards equally. I don't want to just dismiss someone as "Bob the Blacksmith" or a random character. Especially when it's a semi-important Ultima figure like I'm assuming that story references. So again, it's not a slight towards your EM or your shard or the fiction itself.
I see nothing in there that can't apply to all shards equally, so I again find myself at a loss as to what you are fretting over.

I've pointed out in another post, above, how two of the characters in that post are from previous, game-wide fiction. The young dragon thingie originated on GL but, again, there's no reason she can't be just a random background character from a story-line, and, no, that's not dismissing a character, it's pointing out that this wouldn't be the first bit of official fiction to use a random character to describe something. To go way back: Remember the random beggar from Trinsic who was involved in one Solen-related fictional post? He survived the fiction but we never heard from him again. How about the random noble of Magincia whose drunken, womanizing ways were used as a symbol of what the city had become, just before the demons smashed it.

Let's see what else is in that post. A floating house. Well I'll take Dot's word that there was a floating house in GL, someplace, other than the time we entered the dancing hut of Baba Yaga (yes you read that right). But I don't recall it. I must point out, though, that Lord British also was floating someplace in the Ethereal Void, guarding an artifact from Minax, and he has to live someplace. (Honestly that's where my mind went when I read those lines. Largely because I think that was the lamest excuse, ever, for the fact that Ultima can't use Lord British. It reminded me of that weird Star Trek episode where the dude fought the antimatter version of himself and had to remain locked in a separate plane of existence, fighting himself for all eternity.)

The Silver Gate: referred to in game-wife fiction in 2015. The Silver Gate – Ultima Online Yes that fiction is by EM Malachi but I submit that doesn't make it GL-specific. I recall no complaints about that at the time. Isn't that gate also part of Ultima lore?

The Plane of the Shattered Obelisk: never heard of this one. Google shows one UO-related reference, that being this fiction. Indeed using that as an exact phrase search in Google brings up....This fiction.

The Kotl, the Crimson Dragons, and the Platinum Dragons, all are part of the broader game, by definition. So, umm....What are we talking about again, exactly? I'm confused.

-John's player
 

John Knighthawke

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PS: While I could be wrong, easily, I honestly thought this fiction was just an excuse for tame-ables based on Crimsons and Platinums. It hadn't occurred to me this would be part of the storyline/invasions.
-John's player
 

Judas D'arc

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I see nothing in there that can't apply to all shards equally, so I again find myself at a loss as to what you are fretting over.

I've pointed out in another post, above, how two of the characters in that post are from previous, game-wide fiction. The young dragon thingie originated on GL but, again, there's no reason she can't be just a random background character from a story-line, and, no, that's not dismissing a character, it's pointing out that this wouldn't be the first bit of official fiction to use a random character to describe something. To go way back: Remember the random beggar from Trinsic who was involved in one Solen-related fictional post? He survived the fiction but we never heard from him again. How about the random noble of Magincia whose drunken, womanizing ways were used as a symbol of what the city had become, just before the demons smashed it.

Let's see what else is in that post. A floating house. Well I'll take Dot's word that there was a floating house in GL, someplace, other than the time we entered the dancing hut of Baba Yaga (yes you read that right). But I don't recall it. I must point out, though, that Lord British also was floating someplace in the Ethereal Void, guarding an artifact from Minax, and he has to live someplace. (Honestly that's where my mind went when I read those lines. Largely because I think that was the lamest excuse, ever, for the fact that Ultima can't use Lord British. It reminded me of that weird Star Trek episode where the dude fought the antimatter version of himself and had to remain locked in a separate plane of existence, fighting himself for all eternity.)

The Silver Gate: referred to in game-wife fiction in 2015. The Silver Gate – Ultima Online Yes that fiction is by EM Malachi but I submit that doesn't make it GL-specific. I recall no complaints about that at the time. Isn't that gate also part of Ultima lore?

The Plane of the Shattered Obelisk: never heard of this one. Google shows one UO-related reference, that being this fiction. Indeed using that as an exact phrase search in Google brings up....This fiction.

The Kotl, the Crimson Dragons, and the Platinum Dragons, all are part of the broader game, by definition. So, umm....What are we talking about again, exactly? I'm confused.

-John's player
The problem isn't that things can't be applied to all shards equally, it's that they're not. As a GL player, you have content that reflects this game-wide fiction, as a Catskills player, I don't. Where's my Mythran? Where's my Shattered Obelisk? They're appearing right there in the "official" fiction. But again, my issue isn't with EM Malachi or GL, it's with how game-wide fiction is implemented in general. And it isn't about whether something is "Ultima" enough or not, all UO fiction shouldn't need to be Ultima Prime-sourced. I'm more than happy with new stuff.

While the Silver Gate/ToL fiction was shard-wide, it was based in lore that EM Malachi originated on GL. Maybe the GL version of the associated events were a lot of fun, but I don't think they were as smooth or enjoyable on every shard. And part of that is probably because Malachi was slowly been building up his theory linking the facets to the lost continents from Ultima I on GL, while on other shards, it came out of nowhere. (And yes, I know that Tokuno was previously established as being the Land of the Feudal Lords, but the ToL fiction retconned that as well, at least in terms of when that continent became Asian-themed).

On the chance that Here Be Dragons is really the launch of some upcoming shard-wide story-line, then a number of my complaints are erroneous I read it as the re-introduction of the dragon stuff, in the same way that there were introductory stories for Lasher and Windrunner, with a bunch of GL references thrown in. However, if it is the start of something new and big, I hope it isn't implemented in the same manner of the ToL events. But that's a top-level issue, not a specific EM one.

As for your theory regarding Lord British, really? Everyone knows he's not in the Ethereal Void, he's hanging out over in Novia, selling his blood for cash ...
 

The Doctor

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Really looking forward to the old school town invasion and have been working up a variety of pets with AoE's for the massive mobs. I hope there will be a sufficient reward system in place for such an event to encourage participation in pushing back the hordes for days/weeks on end. I know from past events of this type people can give up on clearing cities after a few days due to the endless quantity of low level creatures. To me it would be awesome to see a ToT type system with items you can only get during the 20th anniversary. But I have faith from the way things have been stated that it will as least be interesting.
 

John Knighthawke

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
The problem isn't that things can't be applied to all shards equally, it's that they're not. As a GL player, you have content that reflects this game-wide fiction, as a Catskills player, I don't. Where's my Mythran? Where's my Shattered Obelisk? They're appearing right there in the "official" fiction. But again, my issue isn't with EM Malachi or GL, it's with how game-wide fiction is implemented in general. And it isn't about whether something is "Ultima" enough or not, all UO fiction shouldn't need to be Ultima Prime-sourced. I'm more than happy with new stuff.

While the Silver Gate/ToL fiction was shard-wide, it was based in lore that EM Malachi originated on GL. Maybe the GL version of the associated events were a lot of fun, but I don't think they were as smooth or enjoyable on every shard. And part of that is probably because Malachi was slowly been building up his theory linking the facets to the lost continents from Ultima I on GL, while on other shards, it came out of nowhere. (And yes, I know that Tokuno was previously established as being the Land of the Feudal Lords, but the ToL fiction retconned that as well, at least in terms of when that continent became Asian-themed).

On the chance that Here Be Dragons is really the launch of some upcoming shard-wide story-line, then a number of my complaints are erroneous I read it as the re-introduction of the dragon stuff, in the same way that there were introductory stories for Lasher and Windrunner, with a bunch of GL references thrown in. However, if it is the start of something new and big, I hope it isn't implemented in the same manner of the ToL events. But that's a top-level issue, not a specific EM one.

As for your theory regarding Lord British, really? Everyone knows he's not in the Ethereal Void, he's hanging out over in Novia, selling his blood for cash ...
I capably have demonstrated that the fiction is not GL-specific. Here's a summary.

  1. Of the three characters I note in the fiction (Krett; baby dragon; adult dragon) only one (the baby dragon) even originated on GL. (See links in a previous post.)
  2. As I previously have noted, I'm taking Dot's word on there being a floating house on GL, but whatever it was I (a constant attender of GL events) didn't even think of anything GL-specicic when I saw that. I've honestly told you where my mind went when I read that, and it was anything on GL. (Feel free to scoff at it, I honestly don't care...It's what my mind went to.)
  3. As I also previously have noted, I recall no reference on GL to the Plane that was referenced in the fiction.
  4. I have demonstrated that the Silver Gate is part of official fiction. The fact that our EM write that fiction is beyond irrelevant to it being official fiction or not. (If we as players could decide what fiction was and was not official, this fiction would not be on a list of things I'd erase.)

Let's say I can think of something like the Plane and the something like House on GL: Who's to say the references actually were to those, just because the references could fit. I remember one of the informal rules of being a dungeon master in D&D was that not every prophecy had to be fulfilled. Some were just there to make players think a little too much, to read too much into their own actions. Also anyone remember the end of the second Percy Jackson movie? Was the prophecy fulfilled in that movie or not? Who knows?

Here's an example from GL. We once encountered a message from the future that read in part: "Demons of an unknown type attacked our cuties." Think of how many times this "prophecy" (for want of a more appropriate term) has been fulfilled, in one form or another, in GL or on many shards. To which of these was the prophecy a reference?

I've met the test of logic here. The fiction is not GL-specific, and, realistically, you have nothing to fret over. I can't stop you from fretting anyway but I continue to post as a service to other readers who may be drawn in.

-John's player
 

Dot_Warner

Grand Inquisitor
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
@John Knighthawke I'm a little concerned regarding your memory, especially since you were at the obelisk so recently...

obelisk.png

The floating house is just a short walk to the north west...

Mythran'sHouse.png

Walking onto the steps takes you "inside" where you can find a certain mage...

InsideHouse.png

The fairly large Void area is a mix of Ultima Underworld II and Ultima VIII, though has seen minor elements of others as well.
 

Judas D'arc

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I capably have demonstrated that the fiction is not GL-specific. Here's a summary.

  1. Of the three characters I note in the fiction (Krett; baby dragon; adult dragon) only one (the baby dragon) even originated on GL. (See links in a previous post.)
  2. As I previously have noted, I'm taking Dot's word on there being a floating house on GL, but whatever it was I (a constant attender of GL events) didn't even think of anything GL-specicic when I saw that. I've honestly told you where my mind went when I read that, and it was anything on GL. (Feel free to scoff at it, I honestly don't care...It's what my mind went to.)
  3. As I also previously have noted, I recall no reference on GL to the Plane that was referenced in the fiction.
  4. I have demonstrated that the Silver Gate is part of official fiction. The fact that our EM write that fiction is beyond irrelevant to it being official fiction or not. (If we as players could decide what fiction was and was not official, this fiction would not be on a list of things I'd erase.)

Let's say I can think of something like the Plane and the something like House on GL: Who's to say the references actually were to those, just because the references could fit. I remember one of the informal rules of being a dungeon master in D&D was that not every prophecy had to be fulfilled. Some were just there to make players think a little too much, to read too much into their own actions. Also anyone remember the end of the second Percy Jackson movie? Was the prophecy fulfilled in that movie or not? Who knows?

Here's an example from GL. We once encountered a message from the future that read in part: "Demons of an unknown type attacked our cuties." Think of how many times this "prophecy" (for want of a more appropriate term) has been fulfilled, in one form or another, in GL or on many shards. To which of these was the prophecy a reference?

I've met the test of logic here. The fiction is not GL-specific, and, realistically, you have nothing to fret over. I can't stop you from fretting anyway but I continue to post as a service to other readers who may be drawn in.

-John's player
I don't think my position on this is so toxic as to require a public service to protect people from being drawn into it, especially in the grand scheme of any and all things that are toxic about UO, and I'm clearly not the only person in this thread who takes issue with how the game-wide fiction is implemented. I also feel like you're stuck on arguing whether or not this is GL specific fiction, rather than the bigger issue being raised here. Dot Warner's post has pretty much demonstrated that those references actually were to GL specific fiction, so your suggestion that they could just as easily be something else and the implication that I'm reaching doesn't seem to hold.

And as I said before, if these elements are part of what's coming for the 20th, I'm more than happy to be wrong about this. I just hope they're introduced equally and just as smoothly for every shard.
 

Kirthag

Former Stratics Publisher
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Campaign Benefactor
*pipes back in*

The shards, in and of themselves, are all unique. We all have a common sharing of knowledge of things with a common history, but (as was designed), each shard has developed its own sort of stuff.

Now, if the EMs can somehow tie an overall and all-reaching story arc across all shards with a bit of tweaking for the shard's own population, culture and society - that would be optimal.
However, that takes a wee bit of coordination, knowledge and study - something that Broadsword obviously doesn't have the resources (time, money, manpower) for.

An example of this (bear with me) was the "arc" created to deal with the departure of Lord British from Sosaria (when RG was ousted by EA).
An announcement was made publicly, but for the sake of our RP pleasure, on Napa, Dupre stepped out and announced that Lord British was accosted by orcs and the Royal Guard was gathered to help find him. Oh the jolly hunt we had! However, and as the obvious became apparent, Lord British would "never" return to Sosaria. Our shard became restless, and we decided to vote for a new king. BEFORE governorship was introduced. Several of the RPing guilds wanted to vote for a king who would help to lead our shard (and be a possible spokes-person of the shard to the Developers, working with the EM). A council was formed of guild leaders who would interact with this newly elected king at court, who would then speak to the gods of Mythic for boons. We actually had it all sort of worked out. So people started campaigning (of sorts) on Napa ... guilds started interacting more. We even had a cult that wished to brainwash everyone! Vampires that wanted to rule over Trinsic's "Blood Forest", Elves that wanted to make a Yew enclave, another guild (forgot their name) who wanted to ensure the longevity of liches.... I can go on. What was important is that the PLAYERS WERE INVOLVED in their own governing, had a stake in the shard, and were actually doing things that helped to enrich the game play for everyone who logged onto the shard.

One day, everyone was called into Castle British, we all chanted for a vote for a king (or queen). The EMs & GMs got upset... and then started pulling influential players from the crowd to up near the thrown. Each of these players were asked to take the sash of the Royal Guard, thus swearing fealty to Dupre (and essentially making him King). Several refused, I was one of those who refused. If the EMs were not going to consider the individual histories and development of the shards, why would we participate - even symbolically - in the generic arc that really had nothing to do with any sort of Ultima or even Shard lore.

As we saw it, RG & EA had a falling out. Our king was gone. We needed a new king to rule our land. Let US vote for our King, draw up a charter, and self govern the shard. We would only need boons and blessings from the gods at certain times, and the gods could do as they wished with overall story arcs.

Instead, Mythic decided to become "involved" in everyone's play, and decided to make the shards generic with "standardized events".
Granted, some of the EMs did awesome jobs making the events as relevant as possible to the populace of a given shard. I've participated in events on 4 separate shards in the early days. No two EMs are alike, but the standardization was rather plain and apparent. It was a thorough disillusionment for those of us who had helped to develop, grow, and lived within our own cultures of our home shards.

And to be honest, I believe that is why so many have left. Why the great guilds of Napa are mothballed castles now. Why the very Spirit of Sosaria is dwindled to a meager shade of what it once was.

There are so many other "guided" MMOs out there... a major part of what made UO so... specially unique... is that the PLAYERS helped to shape their shard (server, world, whatever). Is part of why Freeshards will never go away (and why they keep being mentioned in general context). Is part of why other MMOs are "almost getting it" by allowing the Player Base to help shape their virtual realities. Other games like Shards Online just might kill UO....

Think about it. When the population of any town feels like they are actually making a difference, that town thrives. When they are made to feel like they are just paying the taxes, they leave.

Sound familiar?

Getting gifts, loot, booty, rares, and even events don't mean squat. Give the player some MEANING and a sense of BELONGING.... that's what makes a loyal player.
 

Uriah Heep

Grand Poobah
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Just curious: What's the difference between killing mobs in tows vs mobs in dungeons or anywhere else?

In town your casters are useless. No summons, no area spells, etc etc. So yeah, this will end up being tamers and throwers once again.
 

Sauteed Onion

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
I have not really done much invasion fighting. I did a little. The last one I did was what the Blackthorne dungeon was modeled after, and it got pretty boring. We were allowed to set boxes up to keep them boxed in bu t I tink thay was a concession due to how few people participated.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
*pipes back in*

The shards, in and of themselves, are all unique. We all have a common sharing of knowledge of things with a common history, but (as was designed), each shard has developed its own sort of stuff.

Now, if the EMs can somehow tie an overall and all-reaching story arc across all shards with a bit of tweaking for the shard's own population, culture and society - that would be optimal.
However, that takes a wee bit of coordination, knowledge and study - something that Broadsword obviously doesn't have the resources (time, money, manpower) for.

An example of this (bear with me) was the "arc" created to deal with the departure of Lord British from Sosaria (when RG was ousted by EA).
An announcement was made publicly, but for the sake of our RP pleasure, on Napa, Dupre stepped out and announced that Lord British was accosted by orcs and the Royal Guard was gathered to help find him. Oh the jolly hunt we had! However, and as the obvious became apparent, Lord British would "never" return to Sosaria. Our shard became restless, and we decided to vote for a new king. BEFORE governorship was introduced. Several of the RPing guilds wanted to vote for a king who would help to lead our shard (and be a possible spokes-person of the shard to the Developers, working with the EM). A council was formed of guild leaders who would interact with this newly elected king at court, who would then speak to the gods of Mythic for boons. We actually had it all sort of worked out. So people started campaigning (of sorts) on Napa ... guilds started interacting more. We even had a cult that wished to brainwash everyone! Vampires that wanted to rule over Trinsic's "Blood Forest", Elves that wanted to make a Yew enclave, another guild (forgot their name) who wanted to ensure the longevity of liches.... I can go on. What was important is that the PLAYERS WERE INVOLVED in their own governing, had a stake in the shard, and were actually doing things that helped to enrich the game play for everyone who logged onto the shard.

One day, everyone was called into Castle British, we all chanted for a vote for a king (or queen). The EMs & GMs got upset... and then started pulling influential players from the crowd to up near the thrown. Each of these players were asked to take the sash of the Royal Guard, thus swearing fealty to Dupre (and essentially making him King). Several refused, I was one of those who refused. If the EMs were not going to consider the individual histories and development of the shards, why would we participate - even symbolically - in the generic arc that really had nothing to do with any sort of Ultima or even Shard lore.

As we saw it, RG & EA had a falling out. Our king was gone. We needed a new king to rule our land. Let US vote for our King, draw up a charter, and self govern the shard. We would only need boons and blessings from the gods at certain times, and the gods could do as they wished with overall story arcs.

Instead, Mythic decided to become "involved" in everyone's play, and decided to make the shards generic with "standardized events".
Granted, some of the EMs did awesome jobs making the events as relevant as possible to the populace of a given shard. I've participated in events on 4 separate shards in the early days. No two EMs are alike, but the standardization was rather plain and apparent. It was a thorough disillusionment for those of us who had helped to develop, grow, and lived within our own cultures of our home shards.

And to be honest, I believe that is why so many have left. Why the great guilds of Napa are mothballed castles now. Why the very Spirit of Sosaria is dwindled to a meager shade of what it once was.

There are so many other "guided" MMOs out there... a major part of what made UO so... specially unique... is that the PLAYERS helped to shape their shard (server, world, whatever). Is part of why Freeshards will never go away (and why they keep being mentioned in general context). Is part of why other MMOs are "almost getting it" by allowing the Player Base to help shape their virtual realities. Other games like Shards Online just might kill UO....

Think about it. When the population of any town feels like they are actually making a difference, that town thrives. When they are made to feel like they are just paying the taxes, they leave.

Sound familiar?

Getting gifts, loot, booty, rares, and even events don't mean squat. Give the player some MEANING and a sense of BELONGING.... that's what makes a loyal player.
Great Lakes was rather similar not going so far as electing a King but we had our High Council which consisted mostly of "Good" Allied groups working together to ensure law and order and safety in the Kingdom and even expanded to include RP run towns and such. We debated over electing a new King but few would agree on whom that should be. But yes this was largely ignored by most EM's until the recent group but then shortly after they started actually interacting with the Council... someone cried foul and they now refuse to acknowledge any RP going on.. even when it happens right there in front of the King... Which IMO ruins much gameplay when the King says something like "Well I'm sorry that the Governor was assassinated... I hope someone steps forward to take there place." but does nothing else. Once upon a time they were allowed to interact but no more.

If they could more than anything I think it would bring more interaction and community... it isn't about the DROP or any of that crap it's about the immersion and feeling that you are making a difference and having fun as a community...

One of the biggest battles I recall from ages ago was the battle against the Void Shadow Demon... there was no drop expected... no anything but defeating this most undefeatable adversary... And it was exciting. The only thing anyone "got" out of it was the satisfaction of having beaten it.

I remember orcs invading Moonglow... Got nothing from that either.

Sad fact now is unless there is a multi-millions gold worth drop of some sort no one is interested in doing much... they don't participate in anything that doesn't have the potential to "make a buck"...

Greed is KILLING UO. And until that stops ... nothing else will matter... and no one will care save the few left who treasure the game for the community, the story and the escape...
 

Judas D'arc

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
*pipes back in*

The shards, in and of themselves, are all unique. We all have a common sharing of knowledge of things with a common history, but (as was designed), each shard has developed its own sort of stuff.

Now, if the EMs can somehow tie an overall and all-reaching story arc across all shards with a bit of tweaking for the shard's own population, culture and society - that would be optimal.
However, that takes a wee bit of coordination, knowledge and study - something that Broadsword obviously doesn't have the resources (time, money, manpower) for.

An example of this (bear with me) was the "arc" created to deal with the departure of Lord British from Sosaria (when RG was ousted by EA).
An announcement was made publicly, but for the sake of our RP pleasure, on Napa, Dupre stepped out and announced that Lord British was accosted by orcs and the Royal Guard was gathered to help find him. Oh the jolly hunt we had! However, and as the obvious became apparent, Lord British would "never" return to Sosaria. Our shard became restless, and we decided to vote for a new king. BEFORE governorship was introduced. Several of the RPing guilds wanted to vote for a king who would help to lead our shard (and be a possible spokes-person of the shard to the Developers, working with the EM). A council was formed of guild leaders who would interact with this newly elected king at court, who would then speak to the gods of Mythic for boons. We actually had it all sort of worked out. So people started campaigning (of sorts) on Napa ... guilds started interacting more. We even had a cult that wished to brainwash everyone! Vampires that wanted to rule over Trinsic's "Blood Forest", Elves that wanted to make a Yew enclave, another guild (forgot their name) who wanted to ensure the longevity of liches.... I can go on. What was important is that the PLAYERS WERE INVOLVED in their own governing, had a stake in the shard, and were actually doing things that helped to enrich the game play for everyone who logged onto the shard.

One day, everyone was called into Castle British, we all chanted for a vote for a king (or queen). The EMs & GMs got upset... and then started pulling influential players from the crowd to up near the thrown. Each of these players were asked to take the sash of the Royal Guard, thus swearing fealty to Dupre (and essentially making him King). Several refused, I was one of those who refused. If the EMs were not going to consider the individual histories and development of the shards, why would we participate - even symbolically - in the generic arc that really had nothing to do with any sort of Ultima or even Shard lore.

As we saw it, RG & EA had a falling out. Our king was gone. We needed a new king to rule our land. Let US vote for our King, draw up a charter, and self govern the shard. We would only need boons and blessings from the gods at certain times, and the gods could do as they wished with overall story arcs.

Instead, Mythic decided to become "involved" in everyone's play, and decided to make the shards generic with "standardized events".
Granted, some of the EMs did awesome jobs making the events as relevant as possible to the populace of a given shard. I've participated in events on 4 separate shards in the early days. No two EMs are alike, but the standardization was rather plain and apparent. It was a thorough disillusionment for those of us who had helped to develop, grow, and lived within our own cultures of our home shards.

And to be honest, I believe that is why so many have left. Why the great guilds of Napa are mothballed castles now. Why the very Spirit of Sosaria is dwindled to a meager shade of what it once was.

There are so many other "guided" MMOs out there... a major part of what made UO so... specially unique... is that the PLAYERS helped to shape their shard (server, world, whatever). Is part of why Freeshards will never go away (and why they keep being mentioned in general context). Is part of why other MMOs are "almost getting it" by allowing the Player Base to help shape their virtual realities. Other games like Shards Online just might kill UO....

Think about it. When the population of any town feels like they are actually making a difference, that town thrives. When they are made to feel like they are just paying the taxes, they leave.

Sound familiar?

Getting gifts, loot, booty, rares, and even events don't mean squat. Give the player some MEANING and a sense of BELONGING.... that's what makes a loyal player.
These are all excellent points. I was absent from UO from about 2004 to 2011, but after learning what had occurred during this time and seeing what's occurred since, you're right that it's really just this unfortunate trend to standardize of all the shards, and it really culminated under the current Developer regime. We have a static King figure, all the big Ultima villains are repeatable encounters that lack any sort of meaning, shard-wide lore and fiction is poorly implemented if at all. The EM program has evolved to a point where the priority is no longer serving their community, but drops, and while the PEC program has some positive aspects that I've appreciated, it wasn't exactly created in a vacuum unrelated to the bigger problems. Maybe it's just easier to manage this way with less resources, I don't know, but it's definitely disappointing to play in this environment.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
These are all excellent points. I was absent from UO from about 2004 to 2011, but after learning what had occurred during this time and seeing what's occurred since, you're right that it's really just this unfortunate trend to standardize of all the shards, and it really culminated under the current Developer regime. We have a static King figure, all the big Ultima villains are repeatable encounters that lack any sort of meaning, shard-wide lore and fiction is poorly implemented if at all. The EM program has evolved to a point where the priority is no longer serving their community, but drops, and while the PEC program has some positive aspects that I've appreciated, it wasn't exactly created in a vacuum unrelated to the bigger problems. Maybe it's just easier to manage this way with less resources, I don't know, but it's definitely disappointing to play in this environment.
I agree... When I first heard of the Governor system and read the initial idea's and such for it I was super excited and hopeful... when I later found out it wasn't anything like what was initially sounding like I was extremely disappointed... Same with the EM Program... what started out really positive and wonderful for the RP community quickly took a dive and turned into the farce that it is today.
 
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