Mesanna's Blank Check Thread

[EM Nestor]

Mesanna has offered her help in developing OUR Shard. Let's get some constructive ideas going! What would you like to see!

 

[Jandruz]

Here are my ideas for the new "place".

1. Something on the water. Not only for aesthetic uniqueness, but for functionality. Deep water docks for community net tosses and fishing events. I don't know if anyone saw the docks as they were before the tower was pulled, but they were really cool. Large enough for a big event.

2. Ankh or Healer. Those Leviathans can be rough!

3. EM Town Crier

4. Inn Keeper so people can log out safely and quickly.

5. Dueling Pit - Mostly for aesthetics now, but it sounds like it could have real use in the future.

6. Moongate - It would make the place much more accessible, and even if it's in a secluded place it wouldn't feel secluded because everything is only a moongate away.
*Also a moongate in luna to the new "place"

7. Teleporation Hub - This would link to unique, special, or historical sites around the shard.

8. Dungeon Teleportation Hub - It would work like a crystal portal. Say the name of the dungeon and appear at it's entrance.

9. Hitching Post - Handy to drop off/pick up pets. Especially if the place were used for a staging ground for community hunts or even EM events.

10. Banker - Lends itself to making the spot more convenient, central. People would be more likely to stay to conduct trades and work on crafting with access to their bank boxes.

11. Community Crafting - Special Forges, Soul Forges, Carpentry, Tinkering tables and workbenches, etc. They would give perhaps a small +5 skill bonus and/or an exceptional bonus for use (similar to queens forge).

12. Tavern would be fun

13. The idea of a house owned by Mesanna is appealing because of its uniqueness (ideally it would be a castle with the interior walls blown out so there would be tons of space to congregate, but big docks outside would be a fun place to hangout too. I did like the tower because the tower is a very function building), makes it easier add features like a rune library (the one torn down was to have a small one, big enough to be useful, small enough not to compete w/ the great rune libraries we have), house teleporters as new player owned sites pop up who want a quick link...
---Actually, we have blank check so why not a small village on the water? Main tower, a couple of houses connected by bridges, as i believe one of the EMs volunteered. - really, if we did the village route some of the above ideas could be moved out of the central structure. could have a teleporation hub house - there's tons of spots to link to so it should be large. A fishing house. A Crafter's house. Could put the tavern in a large brick house.

14. Player Town Teleporters.

15. This is a small one, but it would be cool to have a chest/bag/whatever that people without the ability to mark could drop runes in and have instant return runes.

*edit*
A couple other points. Making it secluded, like north Moonglow where it was, adds to it being a destination spot. Also, no individual player could place a house nearby and profit off its proximity to the place. Of course, maybe Mesanna would be willing to just put it out in the middle of the ocean

*couple more thoughts: Obviously, some of this stuff sounds just like a mini town, but I think the hyper condensed factor creates a level of convenience that will attract players.

Also, the central structure should be themed. Nestor's idea (I think it was Nestor) of calling it the Center for the Arcane Arts was good. Or it could be called The Arcane University...

 

[Assia Penryn]

What I'd like to see...

1. I'd like to see the Mage tower be restored in Moonglow along the same lines as it was in the past. Trammel or Felucca doesn't matter to me, although Trammel might be used more than Felucca by the global community.

a. Teleporters to recognized player towns that could be updated by our EMs as new towns are created and old towns go inactive. It makes sense that any sort of teleporter hub is located in an arcane setting.
b. Hitching post for folks to stable their mounts before going inside.
c. A library with books relating to arcane topics/relics with an interactive book with information about the original mage tower via keywords.
d. A room for lectures and classes.
e. An arcane circle for focus and/or a ritual area.
f. A quest geared for players to apply for membership to the Mage Tower. The reward for doing the quest is a simple blessed scroll titled along the lines of "diploma of arcane studies" or "recognized member of the Mage Tower". This does not exclude people who want to use it, it only furthers the rp of those who are truly interested.
g. A few non-traditional npcs reflecting the mage tower premise with keyword responses including magical creatures such as imps perhaps.
h.​

2. I'd like to see the NPC cities and locations be revitalized to better serve the community as a whole. I really feel we don't need 'another' community center, but to improve the towns we have to better serve for community events.

a. Extend all of the existing city docks to allow for community net tosses. While the global non-rp community can hold events anywhere, many in the rp community are limited due to territory/land claims. It would give rpers a chance to enjoy the new additions without suspending our rp world/reality to do so. Nothing else just extend the docks and push back the guardzone off the docks so griefers do not whack the spawn. Players are very resourceful and they can choose a town that either has a nearby healer such as Skara Brae or they can assign heal/res to a few of their event staff.

b. Make sure all town criers at NPC banks are working effectively and as they should be for EM and global arc event announcements.

c. Improve the Skara Community Center, Britain Festival Fields and other hot spots in our existing cities. Perhaps placing several tables for player market/bazaars in some cities such as Trinsic. We have fantastic cities and we don't use them as it is.

d. Have a book or NPC at each bank that will distribute a -regular- book with information about the different sights and special spots in the city and possibly a normal looking map of the city with numbers for book reference. Think of it as a tourism brochure for those unfamiliar with the city. These could highlight community centers, taverns, special locations like outdoor markets, gardens, etc.

d. Clean up the taverns and other cool -existing- locations. For example, the gypsy camps outside of Minoc are fantastic, but its fustrating to use them as when you sit in a chair, you may not actually sit. A lot of town places are glitched like that or are just so cluttered with stuff on many tavern tables that it makes it difficult to put drinks down, but also use the tables for anything.

e. Focus on what makes each town unique or special and focus on adding decorations/improvements based on that. Skara Brae has the ranger huts... make an archery range nearby. Umbra is known for necromancy, perhaps a more 'evil' fairground area or tables for player 'black markets'. Yew for its wine, I could see an outdoor tavern thing near the winery. This can go for many of the cities.​

We have -so- many really cool places that aren't used as it is and as a community we need to start using them and improving them. We don't need yet another town to replace the ones we have. We aren't going to replace Luna bank. EA redesigned West Britain Bank and it didn't work. What really needs to be addressed is the original idea behind the improvements/additions to really help the community or is it propaganda for those who hate Luna? If the majority of the community really cared about the size or the location, they'd be using other banks such as West Brit or Zento.

In closing, I'd like to see us have the ability to use what we already have and improve it to try and fix the reasons why they aren't used now. We don't need new eye-candy, we need to improve what we already have.


Note: I do not own a house or run a vendor in Luna.

 

[Taylor]

One of my guild mates posted the following suggestion:

"If the tram side kahldun is still there and just blocked off use that as the kick off or side quest to the ophidian story about to start. How many tram people have ever actually ever seen much less fought a harrower? The lost lands is where next story arc is so kahldun to ocean invasion fight them on boats before they land to taking sides. "

 

[Taylor]

Another guild mate suggestion:

"How about doing something with all the non-crystaline blackrock everyone has been saving?"

 

[Norture]

So this post is going to be a RPer's perspective on the whole thing. My own wants and needs from community places are probably a lot different than most of the shard's, so go ahead and add onto any idea I have to fit everyone better.

One of the big things that stood out for me was how we have community centres as it is, but nobody uses them. This is certainly our fault. I began asking other roleplayers, why aren't we using the Skara centre? We did for a few weeks after it was added. I think part of the problem is we just RP in land that our guilds own, unless an event is held elsewhere. After the Skara centre was created, there was a lot of talk in the RP community about making Skara unclaimable so the land could remain neutral and anyone could go there. But that seems to have just been the nail in the coffin for it because now none of us go to Skara. I was talking to a RPer who enjoys hosting taverns, we're going to begin using it again.

As for changes that could be made to the Skara centre to improve it, I think the biggest one would be adding a tavernkeeper NPC so players could easily buy booze/food. Outside of that, my imagination went wild and I came up with a crazy idea that just seems awesome to me. I was thinking it would be really cool if there was a basement or something to the Skara centre. While I know you can't make a -true- basement with stairs going under the first floor, you could make a black tile (a "hole") in one of the corners that could teleport to a "basement" area made out in the vast black expanse of unused area, with a ladder that would teleport you back out. The basement itself could be a seedy cellar with tables strewn about, and perhaps even a hidden door that would lead to a smuggler's tunnel that would go to the ranger huts on the mainland. I have a huge love for secret tunnels and smuggler areas, they are awesome. The RP community has some pirates, gamblers, and drug traders, I love the idea of having the community centre also having an area where evil RPers could come and do our thing.


As for the new mage tower/community centre, I like the idea of a mage tower more than just another community centre. But I'd also like it to have something to set it apart from the Lycaeum or any other mage area we have now. I suggested at the meeting if there could be magic books, like what we have in Umbra and Moonglow, but would have basic magic knowledge? Like words of power and what they mean, where if you say the word of power it would give a definition. Or something similar with reagents. Even a basic Britannian bestiary would be cool, where saying "orc" would have the book give a brief blurb on orcs. But all of this is content for the tower, again my imagination is going crazy. What we need to talk about is would people use the tower? I know I certainly would, I would hang out there and prod other mages to come RP with me there. But that's just what I would do, I don't know what needs people have for it. I wasn't RPing when the original AMT was active, honestly I'm not exactly certain what other RPers want from the mage tower either.

 

[Taylor]

Question from another guild mate:

Can ya give us some basic examples of what they are looking for or whats within the powers of this thing?

We talking deco areas? Town-recognition type things? Spawn invasions? Sub-plots and mini-arc story lines?

Or we going further with the ability to put in more serious changes?

I have a few ideas I might flesh out depending...

 

[EM Nestor]

Question from another guild mate:

Dang, Hard questions on a Sunday!

Mesanna has the power to do a great deal.

I think the primary idea was for a structure(s) that will provide utility to help improve the player experience.

Decoration will be a large part, knowing Mesanna she loves to decorate and has a great eye for it.

The town recognition is a seperate animal, though I am hearing a great deal of interest in having a town teleport system, that this mesanna project could incorperate.

Spawn/invasion i doubt would be a primary focus, since we want the project to last beyond a single are/event.

I am hearing a lot about a replacement for luna; why do people rob banks? cause that's where the money is; why do people chose Luna?

I am thinking that we are looking at two seperate structures, one an enhanced community type center and then perhaps an Arcane Arts center with an eye toward remembering the old Mage tower (not replacing) with an education center, dueling pit etc.

I think the hardest part will be to boil the ideas down in a plan of execution. Please keep all the ideas rolling in!

Happy Father's days to all the dads out there!

 

[Taylor]

Thanks, EM Nestor. I've forwarded your response to my guild mate. Happy Father's Day to you, too. ^^

 

[TullyMars]

Thanks for the clarification.
So here are some brainstorms.
Nothing really fleshed out but more off the cuff.
I will probably go off focus a bit (even with your clarification) because I am just typing without editing.

1. I am with everyone on player town teleporters or moongate links (or even crystal portal links)
2. Possible structure could be a large aquarium building. We have the Moonglow Royal Zoo, how about the Britannia National Aquarium. Not sure if you'd want to consider a community collection with this. You know 1 point for a minoc blue, 2 points for striped sosasarian swill. No new shineys with it maybe just titles and stuff.
3. A marketplace is a neat idea. The implementation would be a large building or two with vendor rental contracts and "stalls" controlled by the EM's , but not sure how much maintainence this would take. And I am talking about a crapload of vendors. One vendor per character so no one person could take over. Free vendor rent and they would auto end after a week and you'd have to re-apply or whatever.
4. A "Hall of Fame" would be interesting to me. People would be nominated, EM's would decide, and you would be inducted into the hall with a simple character statue maker and sometype of engraving or book on a pedastal to give a bit of history. It would become a who's who of Atlantic type thing and with enough room could have plenty of room to grow.
5. Titles and Town Citizenship - I would love to be able to earn the title Atlantic Felucca Vesper Citizen. Not sure if this would be an earned title or simply based on home location. For that matter, would be interesting to "zip-code" homes. You could tell if your home is considered under Yew, Britain, Minoc, or Vesper "rule" etc. and perhaps go a step further and tell if your house is in or near a player run town as well.
6. In each NPC paperdoll is a profile scroll that does nothing. I used to think for new player experience that these should open up to a basic explanation of this NPC and how to use them. But now I am thinking that allowing EM's to open and edit them may give them a medium to add some instant character and personality. Of course players would have to be able to open them to read too.
7. Each crafting/trade skill should be given a town of focus. Adding a few more npc's of the appropriate type and perhaps focusing in some deco of the area accordingly may be enough to make a town the center for that skill. But not sure if this would really work. For example the Lycaeum should be where everyone goes for scrolls with the amount of scribes there. Instead you are more likely to find someone who worked up scrolls at the Holy Mages in Luna Mint. Perhaps that is something that Luna has that is intangible. The proximity of a bank, a tailor, a smith, holy mages, etc. just lends itself to be the most useful bank.

Possibly more later. Got to go grill for Father's Day. It is quite ironic, here it is father's day and I am put to work cooking rather than sitting there playing UO with a cool brew in my hand watching out the window someone else slaving over hot coals.

 

[Beleth of Atlantic]

Hello, this is Beleth of OES. Before the ingame meeting regarding the mage tower this (with a couple of minor edits) is what I sent to Eris for my vision of the new Mage Tower and how to have it compete with Luna for attention. One idea brought up at the meeting also stood out to me which was a Crystal Portal for Dungeon entrances. I think that would be a great addition to the ideas I am about to present below.


http://img190.imageshack.us/i/amt1a.jpg/

Location for the Atlantic Mage Tower. This is north of the original location and not used by any other servers Towers.

http://img695.imageshack.us/i/amt2a.jpg/

Location for the AMT Annex. This was originally a vendor house but its purpose will be described below.

http://img404.imageshack.us/i/amt3.jpg/

This location would be given the properties of an Inn/Tavern in a normal city providing a safe logout location for anyone who wishes to logout close to the Tower.
-A mailbox could also be placed on the AMT steps to allow for donations of “house teleport tiles”. Once donated these tiles could be placed within/outside this building by the EM’s to allow players to permanently link there homes to a location right beside AMT. The caveat would be, they would need to be the veteran reward version so EM’s do not need to recharge the tiles for players.
-Each teleport tile would need to be placed in a bag with a book describing the location it leads to so people know where they are going.


Things required to compete with Luna:

-Banker
-Stable Master
-Town/EM Crier
-NPC Vendors (all types available)
-Safe Logout Location
-Ankh – for resurrecting and tithing
-Moongate

-4 Gates leading to the 4 corners of Luna (outside the bank area). These gates would exist on the Luna side as well to allow for easy return.

The Annex

On the front steps – Banker/Table Master/Town Crier
Inside the Annex – Main room would include every type of NPC vendor (Mage/Alchemist/Tailor/Provisioner/Blacksmith/Inn Keeper/Bowyer/Mapmaker/Etc). These would be used in place of the player run vendors of the original to be fair to everyone.
-Back two rooms – These would be used for crafting resources, forge/anvil/soulforge/spinning wheel/oven

http://www.themagetower.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10&Itemid=9

Please view this link as it provides an example of how the original Mage Towers were designed. Surrounding both the new Tower and the Annex would be a plateform (hopefully styled like the Catskills one rather then marble/wood) to allow people to “bank sit”.
The original AMT had a red Moongate which led to Felucca Fire Island. A command to teleport to this Moongate (as it still exists) would allow players to access Felucca easily and create a link to the AMT tribute that currently exists. From the roof of the original AMT the word “roclaf” would teleport players to a small arena created on Felucca Fire Island. If this functionality was restored it would provide an area for the PvP crowd to teleport to for duelling outside of guild/guild wars/alliance. The word “setra” was used to return to the tower from the arena.

The roof of the Atlantic Mage Tower contained the Eternal Flame of Mages. This flame was placed inside of a “chimney” designed on the roof by the Seers. This is where you would speak the words of power to be teleported into the Felucca Fire Island arena. This area would be the best area for a memorial to TIFFRIC I would say.

The first floor contained the meeting room. The second or third floor contained a library/teaching area. I think it would be best this time around however to make the third floor room a meeting room, the second floor room the teaching area, and on the ground floor add a stage area to start events from.

The one thing that truly stood out for me about the original AMT/Annex area was an invulnerable dolphin in the water directly beside it. For some reason as a newbie that dolphin made an imprint in my brain as it was one of the coolest features of the area.


Though this project started off rocky and even though I got my back up against a wall regarding taking part due to the way things went at the meeting, a few days have passed and I have “cooled” off and felt it would be a waste not to post this publicly.

 

[TullyMars]

Just a quick question.
Do EM's have the ability to create quest giver NPC's?
And if they do,
Do they have the ability to select rewards?

I was thinking that if EM's could place (and subsequently remove) quest NPC's they could create a bunch of traffic anywhere they wanted.
If they could decide appropriate rewards that would even further there abilities.

Imagine for an event, you decide that the people of Cove have had enough of the orcs and are looking for players to rid them of this threat. The EM places a quest giver right in Cove, opens up the fiction for it writes a short story, targets an item for collection such as orc helms, sets a quantity(in this example lets say 10), and targets a basic item or two as a reward (no special items just basic like gold or gems or a commodity deed for iron ingots), sets an amount (lets say 500 gold) and this allows players to take part in the event at their leisure until the EM decides to delete the quest giver.

 

[EM Nestor]

Just a quick question.
Do EM's have the ability to create quest giver NPC's?
And if they do,
Do they have the ability to select rewards?

I was thinking that if EM's could place (and subsequently remove) quest NPC's they could create a bunch of traffic anywhere they wanted.
If they could decide appropriate rewards that would even further there abilities.

Imagine for an event, you decide that the people of Cove have had enough of the orcs and are looking for players to rid them of this threat. The EM places a quest giver right in Cove, opens up the fiction for it writes a short story, targets an item for collection such as orc helms, sets a quantity(in this example lets say 10), and targets a basic item or two as a reward (no special items just basic like gold or gems or a commodity deed for iron ingots), sets an amount (lets say 500 gold) and this allows players to take part in the event at their leisure until the EM decides to delete the quest giver.

Not at this time. They are adding tools, havn't heard about giving EM's quest giver NPCs; we do have use of Oracles, they are very usefull. We do now also have the reward giver tools so that all that are at an event can receive a reward. I will ask about getting this type of tool, it would be nice to be able to expand the time frame for some events.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Hmm.. well I'm finding it hard to put all my ideas together properly so that I don't sound like I am rambling. Heres my best try, though. Please note some of this may echo what other players have said:

I'm in agreeance with the others here who are in favor of bringing the Mage Tower back. However, I don't see the difference between a Mage Tower and a community center. They are one and the same in my opinion. Whether or not the building and the surrounding area is themed toward the arcane arts, it will serve as an additional community building for the shard and I hope to see activity and hopefully even guilds spring up around it.

With that being said, here are some of my ideas for a Mage Tower project:

- Located in Moonglow, Trammel. I say Trammel because, basically, it wouldn't get near the people if it was located in Fel. That is a well-known fact. And I say Moonglow as a hommage to the original. I pretty much agree with Beleth/Teh_Complainer as to where it should be located.

- A public memorial placed by either Nestor/Eris or Mesanna via the new memorial system that was introduced with Publish 66. I think that this memorial should be in Felucca at the site of the original Atlantic Mage Tower, near the AMT Memorial. There could also be a cooresponding memorial in the Trammel site, but I really believe its only proper to put at least a memorial at the original site. I don't think that its right to move forward with the future AMT without paying proper respects to the original. Not only that, but we lost our Mage Tower because TIFFRIC passed away. He held the stone for many, many years.. even after AMT went mostly inactive. I believe a firm start to the project would be with a TIFFRIC/AMT memorial. A gate or teleporter with a warning that you are going to enter Fel should link from the new site to the old site.

- The reconstruction of the Eternal Flame of Mages. Outside of its function, which teleported people to the Arena on Fire Island, the Eternal Flame of Mages stood as a symbol of the AMT, of Mages, and of the Atlantic Shard as a whole.

- An additional building, an "Annex", to be placed nearby containing all the town NPC vendors you could need. Tailor and smith should be close together to make this a convenient spot to get BODs. Also in this building would be crafting stations. Public forges and anvils, etc. A woodworker's bench for the carpentry bonuses, special forge for BS bonus if one exists, etc. Also, an arcane circle or circles for spellweavers and a stove for chefs. Basically any vendor and/or add-on one would need in a crafting environment.

An additon that REALLY may bring people here is a soul forge that functions just like the one in the Royal City, allowing players to imbue items at the Mage Tower. In fact, I think this single addition would seperate this site from any other site created in the past.

- Functional NPCs. A banker, a stable master. A town crier and an EM event crier. A healer.

- Ankh for tithing.

- Additional NPCs around the tower/site for flavor. Fishermen, rangers, NPC mages, beasts and creatures. Perhaps a summoning room where there are different elementals. Or a mini-zoo of magical creatures.

- A transportation hub. A moongate, crystal portal, gates to the town banner towns and EM buildings, a gate to Luna and a return gate in Luna, possibly as others have suggested a crystal portal like system for dungeon entrances (all Facets + SA Entrances). Also: gates to OTHER IGM/EM placed community places (Luna Fairgrounds, Britain Festival Fields, Skara Brae Community Center). If EMs are willing, updated gates to common EM event starting points (Castle British, Cove, Papua.. these are just current places). If you do gates to towns, the hub will end up being bigger than the tower. If players are willing to contribute, maybe even a rune library.

- Possibly a teleporter to the old (or to a new) dueling arena in Felucca. This arena should be a no mark/no recall in closed area that people could teleport to from the mage tower to duel.

- Aesthetics. Benches, chairs, tables. Chessboards, dartboards, mongbat dart boards, archery targets. A garden. A place for a wedding. Magical swirls and effects. Perhaps items around the outside with unlimited fireworks charges. Decoration and effects to add to the immersion of a mage tower, or an arcane setting. If it is like the first "new" site, and there will be docks around, maybe a ship like in Papua. Unmovable, but uniquely designed to add flavor to the scene.

I don't think the site should be lavished with neon colors, but tailored to blend in to the Moonglow landscape while keeping with the austere presentation that an arcane tower would have.

- Space. Space to sit and talk, space to bank sit, space to spam that you are selling TANGLE FOR 30 MILSS!!!!!!!. Space to bang on a golem to get that last 3.8 points of fencing. Space to roleplay. Perhaps a tavern-like area or at least a commons with a barkeeper to sell drinks.

- Quick-log point. Innkeeper or something to that extent.

- Perhaps integrate the EM reward hall into the site. The reward hall is located in a pretty remote place out there in Malas... and while it is nice, I'm sure it isn't visited that often. I am not saying to take that down.. as from what I understand the reward hall is in that spot in a lot of (if not all) the shards. BUT, new additions that would typically go in the reward hall could go on display at the new Mage Tower. A "Hall of Fame", as mentioned by someone else in this thread. Perhaps EMs could display some (not all) drops from the quests that they perform, and take some out and put some in from time to time.

- If possible (and I'm suspecting that it would only be possible by Mesanna), a bag/box/chest that works similar to the Malas bags, except that when you drop a rune into it, it would mark the rune to the mage tower. If that system is flexible enough to edit and incorporate it.. that would be awesome. So non-mages can have runes too.

- LORE. Towers just don't spring up out of the sea. This doesn't necessarily mean that the EMs or Mesanna would have to write the lore as I am sure that their normal lives/responsibilities, plus the other aspects of this project will keep them all more than busy. I was thinking something more along the lines of an EM sponsored writing contest, with the winner having their lore made the official lore of the new Mage Tower. Players could vote on the stories on the EM site and/or Stratics. There could also be a 1st and 2nd runner up, with perhaps a small item as a token for winning given to the players, as well as displayed in the Mage Tower. If Eris/Nestor/Mesanna are feeling extremely giving, perhaps the winner could have an award subtitle. "Loremaster of the Tower", or something to that extent. Either way, items or titles aside, my general suggestion here is a lore-writing contest

- SUPPORT. I know that Eris and Nestor have to be busy. With real life, full time jobs, families, EM work, and personal UO time, I realize that your plates must be pretty full. I honestly wish that you two could get some help by way of some additional EMs, but thats a whole 'nother conversation However, if something as grand as this project is seen through, I really think that it would be the perfect jump point for a themed event chain, and future themed event chains based around the Mage Tower. In addition to quest events, a "grand opening" event would be neat as well.. to really bring the site into the spotlight when it is finished. Tours of the new facility, door prizes with EM item prizes (I hate to mention items, but we all know that items attract attention and participation, and these aren't your typical kill monster and loot items.. these are commemoration items and in my mind, are fully appropriate.), perhaps a souvinir item for all who attended. I actually have tons of ideas for a grand opening event that could be coordinated between EMs and players, but we're not even close to that far yet

Now, I understand that this site is for the players of the Atlantic Shard. It is up to us, as players in a "sandbox" MMO, to create our own intrigue. However, the EMs have a unique ability to draw in people with their support. As this tower does not and will not belong to any guild, group, or player, I think that the EMs supporting it and advertising it will go miles in helping to bring attention to the project. I am not saying, by far, that the EMs should provide all the events for this new Mage Tower. I am just suggesting that occasional support, from time to time, and especially in the beginning, will be a good thing.

- Naming Contest - This is not the Atlantic Mage Tower. The Atlantic Mage Tower fell, and we are honoring its memory by constructing a new community building in its image. So therefore, I think a new name is in order. This would be in line with what I mentioned above about a lore-writing contest. Player-submitted names, with maybe a few favorites picked by the EMs and/or Mesanna, and voted upon on the EM site and/or Stratics. Winner, 1st, and 2nd runner up with little tokens to the winners as well as displayed in the tower.

The reason I keep mentioning contests is because they are a good way to involve the community in the little aspects of the project. As the tower is supposed to be for the players, by the players, I think it would be fun to wrap a little contest around the naming of the place and to vote on the winners. And as always, winners deserve trophies




*takes a breath*

I think that is it for now, though more will no doubt come to me in the future. Now that I've spoken my thoughts on the Mage Tower, I'd like to speak in the spirit of several other opinions I've read in the thread so far.

We do have current community places that are unused. The Britain Festival Fields, the Skara Brae Community Center, and the Luna Fairgrounds just to name the major ones I can think of. I agree with others here who have stated that these places need some pick-me-ups. Just because we're planning a new community site does not mean we must forget about the old ones. I think that there are some small additions that could be added to these already-existing places to add flavor there as well. And, as I mentioned above in this post, I think that there should be gates in the transportation hub of the Mage Tower to these other community sites.

Some ideas for Skara CC, Britain Festival Fields, and Luna:

- Add functional NPCs to each site. Even though Skara is smack in the middle of the city, add a stablemaster outside and an innkeeper/barkeeper inside. The same for the festival fields. There is a spot where a stablemaster used to be, but no stablemaster anymore. I personally believe that there isn't much you can do with these places. If they were going to be hubs of activity, they would have already been so. In addition to this, those locations have confined areas that a Mage Tower built on and expanding into the sea would not. BUT, adding NPCs to each place will help facilitate events in these locations that may not have been planned there before.

It should be also noted that in the case of the Britain Festival Fields, events were planned by several RP guilds for it back when it was created. There was a yearly spring festival that took place that was run by the Britain Council of Compassion. This was a player guild and an RP guild that put their efforts into the city of Britain. Other than those festivals, I can't remember anything else that those fields were used for.

Also, the Skara Center was created during season 1 of the EM events. It was supported by EM Nikademus for awhile, and by some RP guilds afterwards, but as the EM support for it died, so did the interest. I think the shield in the Britain Throne Room from EM Nikademus's character, Lord Arathin Wudrin, should be moved to this site where he and the original EMs can be remembered.



... annnnd that is it for now. If I think of more, I will post

- Dryzzid of Atlantic

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Additions/refinements to my post:

- The banker should be close enough to the crafting area that players can use resources at the forge directly out of the their bank box.

- The invulnerable dolphin that jumped out of the water from the original tower must live again!

- On the topic of the transportation/teleportation hub, a gate from the tower to New Haven as well as one from New Haven to the tower would be critical in helping new players familiarize themselves with the location. In addition to this, if there are gates to Luna as well, it can help bring the Luna crowd together with the New Haven/newbie crowd.

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

The ONLY reason, we had to arrange a meeting, and the only reason people raised a concern. Is that this entire ordeal had
"The Mage Tower" associated with it. Even phoenix was calling it the mage tower. The meeting was called to discuss the mage tower.
So many of us felt, that people had come to our shard, to take something away from the players who have held on to this
tradition for 12 years, and do what they wanted with it. The Mage tower has never died, sure it fell once but its been there ever since.
Dules still happen on the roof of the tower.

At the meeting, it was clear this had nothing to do with a mage tower. The Mage Tower was not even mentioned once.
So lets move on from there.

Everyone can now get what they want, in theory. There are actually no conflicts. If people want a community center thats fine.
And while some would agree that with the Skara center, luna fairgrounds, and brit fairgrounds underused, we do not need another.
I'll leave it to the people petitioning for a community center to decide what we need. A new center, or a revisited old center.

This caught a lot of buzz, lets be honest, because of the mage tower being brought up. So I will go ahead and petition for it to be revisited.
Mesanna, you need to take ownership of the mage tower. Reinstate the eternal flame of mages on the roof. Saying "setra" by the flame should
transport you to the mage dueling arena on fire isle. Saying "roclaf" should transport you from within the arena, tot he roof of the mage tower.
There should be house teleporters to both goodmans rune library, and leiah's rune library. I wouldn't be opposed of the mage tower annex being reinstated
within the guard zone either.

One reason I think the mage tower is a good idea is that is has a function, and therefore a larger replay ability.
Not only can you go there. But you have an incentive to remain there. people can roleplay there. or just go there to
practice mage fighting. People can have an infinite amount of communication crystals linked outside the arena to announce fights, plus general chat.
When duels get going, the party stays around.

Thank you for your time

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Some more ideas I had, on two seperate topics; The first being the Mage Tower, and the second being some additions to NPC towns.

On the topic of the mage tower, I wrote in my first post about EM support for the tower. Plots based around the tower and events that start there, et cetera. I had the added thought, though, that EM support does not necessarily have to begin only when the project is finished.

In my opinion, a series of events revolving around gathering rare and unique resources for the construction of the tower/site would be an easy way to extend an interactive opportunity for the players to take part in the "building" of the tower. After all, a Mage Tower or Arcane Tower would surely require special reagents to bind all that magic energy to the site, and supply the necessary magical essence to keep all those gates in the transportation hub fueled! There are really countless possibilities with the things that, in an in character sense, could be needed to create such a grand spectacle of magic.

Next, continuing from my first post in support of player contests, what about a decorating contest for the interior of the tower? I'm sure there are many players who would be willing to exercise their expertise in the area of 2d house decorating It really shouldn't be up to Mesanna or EM Nestor/Eris to be responsible for ALL aspects of the project. Sure, they are able to add unique objects/systems/decorations that we as players are unable to, but our players here on Atlantic (and I have witnessed this) are SO creative. I've seen some houses that have dropped my jaw with the decoration. I think to myself "How did they get that to look like THAT!?".

The winner of the decorating contest could be co-owned for a short amount of time until the decorating is complete, and then have their co-ownership removed as to keep things in the spirit of fairness. If this route is taken, I, for one, would be completely willing to donate gold or items to the winner so that they would not have to foot the bill for all the decorating.

Next. My short thoughts on the topic of player vendors on the site: Impossible. As nice as it would be, and it would be extremely nice, it couldn't be something that is fair to all players. There are only a limited amount of vendor spots for a house, and even with an additional Annex building, the project could not fairly support all the players who would want a vendor in a new shard "hot spot". In Luna the situation is different. The houses are owned and ran by players. I imagine that there would be an outcry of favoritism or unfairness if only a select number of people got to have player vendors at a EA/EM placed house In addition, since Mesanna will be the owner of the tower with no co-owners, if a vendor went inactive there would be no way to update/remove/add new vendors without Mesanna doing it directly. Though, on a useless note: I think the actual idea of having player vendors there is great. I just don't think it could be done fairly.

Next. In my first post I mentioned EM items. I don't want to give the impression that I think this project should be another outlet for EM items. I realized that there is a demand for these items and that the rares community thrives off of these items. In my first post I suggested items as rewards for contests, and also commemoration items for the "opening". I still stand by my opinion on commemoration items for the opening, as it is a significant event and I firmly believe that the opening of a new Mage Tower deserves some souvenirs. HOWEVER, as far as players receiving rewards for contests, I'd like to revise my words and say now that, instead of items being given as rewards, I think that a display item for each winner should be put in or around the building itself.




And now on to my second topic: Adding flavor to the dormant NPC towns of Trammel and Fel.

Although, I don't think it is fair to say that NPC towns are dormant only in these facets. I never find people in Zento, and being that OES is based in Umbra and I am there a lot, I still never see that much traffic other than guildmates.

Anyways, just some small ideas to add unique personality to each town:

- Add a wedding spot to each town. People like to get married in their "home towns". There are some nice wedding spots throughout the Sosarian landscape, but I think adding one tailored to each town's atmosphere would be a great addition.

- Decorate the counselor halls. Other than Britain, Tram, which is the EM Meeting Hall, and a select few others (Yew Fel was IGM blessed for the Yew Town Council, Trinsic Fel was decorated by counselors pre-Tram, as was Vesper Fel.) Decorate them to look like meeting halls, or festival halls. Places where, if a guild wanted to base their activity in a town, people would have a place to meet and sit and do "governmental stuff" inside the town, or a just a place to congregate and party down. Now, I realize that players could do this now. There are buildings in NPC towns that could be used in this way, but no NPC building is appeasingly decorated, unless it has been IGM blessed or used for a past EM/Seer event. The stock decor for 99% of the NPC buildings is bland and unthemed.

Honestly this could be combined somewhat with adding wedding spots to each town, but then again I don't think that every counselor's hall should be a wedding chapel.


... and thats all I have. I honestly do not think that too much can be done to liven up the old world cities. The focus of the game itself is not in the town anymore, its in the dungeons and with the peerlesses and champ spawns. There's really no reason to use a town unless you're planning a player event there. It would just be nice to have some options of nicely decorated places to hold those events.

Just some more of my two cents.

 

[Brujah]

I set out to write my comment on the theme that "We don't need more places, we need less places." But the more I wrote, the more I realized that it's not really about the number of places, but how we need more players to fill up the places we've got.

The size of the community is the one thing that has impacted me the most since I returned to play 9 months ago from a 4 year hiatus (played 3 years previous).

I would encourage everybody commenting on this thread to think up some ideas that Mesanna could implement that might actually drawn more players to ATL from other shards.

Maybe a housing cleanup "event" where houses return to the old must refresh every 2 weeks rule. Opening up housing to people who are active players rather than those who don't play, just pay their monthly $12.99 to maintain their legacy, would ENHANCE THE COMMUNITY by offering choice housing to ACTIVE PLAYERS. Maybe offering a 500k gold housing credit to people who transfer a character from another shard to ATL.

I would hope that even those who dislike this particular idea would agree that having more active players is a benefit to the community. So, again, I encourage you all to think up some ideas that might make ATL "the place to be" with enough draw to actually make people want to invest the $ in character transfer tokens.

Regards,
Stefano of Vesper

 

[TullyMars]

Very interesting Stefano.
What makes someone want to change shards?

I liken Atlantic to New York City. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. We have a decent population in size (compared to many of the shards). We have our fair share of different types of people and community. Active RP, active guilds, active factions etc. We have one of the (if not THE) highest cost of living (based on shard price variances), But we have large vendor stores and good availability of items. We also have more than our fair share of a-holes or elitest and the like that are less than exemplary ambassadors of our shard. But that is somewhat offset because we have a good amount of guilds and general good samaritans that try to lend a helping hand. There does tend to be a general consensus of fend for your ownself first however. Our shard is also filled with more experienced players and power-gamer types. If you are not sure of how to do something and ask a fellow player (that isn't in your guild for example) you have a 50-50 chance of them either helping you or them giving a "LOL NEWB" type response. Perhaps to some this add to the character of Atlantic.

These are things that both drive people to and away from Atlantic. Some people don't like "big city" living. Some people do. This tends to be the reality of the situation.

So dealing with the realities and our shard character what could be done.

Events-News-etc
I am looking at the Atlantic shard news on stratics front page right now. Been a week since last event/newspost. Then our oldest news on the front page is 6-3. Now compare that to Baja right next door on that page. Now we aren't as bad as say Lake Austin, but it does show a lack of community effort. (Btw Fallon if you read this I am not blaming stratics atlantic reporters). So I am thinking people want to be on a shard that is happening, events all the time, EM events, on-going events, player-run events, etc. This is not as easy to do and didn't seem to be the focus of this thread. My suggestion would still be to give the EM's the tools to create on-going events. Be it through quest givers or some type of creature AI. What if every day you log on there was a 1-20 chance that the skeletons in brit cemetary decided to attack brit with no interaction necessary from Devs or EM's...that would be neat to me. If somehow they could code in what drives certain groups or spawns and give it random chance to fire.

Housing -
Yep you hit the nail on the head there. Everyone wants a house, if not that elusive 18x18 or castle spot. And though there are still some plots to be had and plenty of IDOC's (especially recently) the housing market on Atlantic is dog eat dog. I have seen people leave to go get their castle on other shards. So what can be done about that. Perhaps clear out some T2A lands and give out houses in lotto events much like the Abyss housing. Now that would take some thinkng through. (What happens when it goes IDOC or demolished is it returned to the lotto system? Can the player sell-trade-resize etc)

Location and ping.
-Well there are still some old school people like me that just won't move to a shard too far away in the feeling that connection will limit my playing ability. Don't think there is anything that can be done about this and definitely believe it is out of the scope of this thread.

Economy-
Atlantic is up there in inflation and prices. And that won't change with more people. We do have a ton of stores and you can buy most anything. The whole market area thing intrigued me but as pointed out previously by others probably too hard to implement. Barring a well thought out system where it can auto-regulate (Imagine a building with a bunch of EM Vendor Rentals where you click on the deed- it checks if you already have a vendor on that account - says you got 1 week of vendoring then when it expires the deed is replaced - in which case you could do it again or someone else could do it). But it won't do anything for prices but it would give you a unique and possible diverse area to shop that anyone could use.

Items-
Let's face it, people in UO love shinies. Shard specific named rares usually draw peoples attention. Of course they also draw much grief when you get "How come he has one and I didn't even have a chance to get it". But regardless of this supplying unique shinies that can't be gotten anywhere else will draw people. And I mean occasionally we might have to have the EM's make uber items that people would yell about game imbalancing on. You know once a month an EM can make an item (singular) as if he could imbue it to 600-700 weight and put a bunch of people through hoops for it.

Fun -
Well this is the true reason we all play a game right? What would make Atlantic more fun than other shards? The major problem with many suggestions I think of is they are not shard specific and would be for the entire game. Plus fun is so broad and subjective.

The only other thing I could think of that just kind of popped in my head here is a spawn generator type thing. Imagine a stone in the middle of jhelom fighting pits where you could go up and say "spawn Navrey" and a replica of the monster sans loot and artie chance would spawn so you could fight it. Not sure hwere that would fit in.

Anyway long and drawn out and sort of rambling off topic response, but you got me thinking again at least Stefano.

 

[Tazar]

I have seen a lot of good ideas here - though I have not taken the time to read them all.

The one thing I see that is needed at a community center (that has been lacking in all prior centers) is a reason to come back again and again - to stay and linger...

These days, everyone has a forge, anvil, etc in their house so there is no need to go to town or to a community center.

What about taking the idea of the Queen's Soulforge a little farther?

At the community center:

Add a woodworking bench with +10 carpentry (something more than the version sold in the uo-store).
Add a forge or anvil with +5 or 10 smithy if you are in range.
Add a spinning-wheel with +5 or +10...
etc. for the remaining crafts.

Give us a reason to come and stay for a while!

 

[EM Nestor]

Eris and I have been discussing the next step. There are some great ideas. Please be patient.

 

[Jandruz]

Hi Everyone,

So, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but not much has happened with our blank check project. Curious about that, I IMed Mesanna last night to ask her about it's status. She told me (and I'm paraphrasing here) that in order to move forward we, as a group, need to agree on a unified project. As I understand it, she wants us to come to a consensus on what we want.

Before Eris left the EM program I was working with her to try to come up with a unified proposal that combined the ideas listed in this thread. Eris was passionate about this project and she told me that she believed we needed a new tower, rather than simply sprucing up an old place. So, together, we compiled the following list of ideas for a new tower site. They were divided into ideas that should be added from the start, and ideas that could be added later though quest or event (of course the categories are subjective).

I would really like to see this project come to fruition. I know that as a community we can come up with something great, and Mesanna has said she will deliver. I'm posting this list in hopes of jump starting a new discussion that will conclude with a consensus. Again, this is a list of the ideas Eris and I compiled from this thread (if we left anything out, please point that out!)

So, here is what we had:

1. Core Features:
a. Deep water docks for community net tosses and fishing events (the ones Mesanna originally placed were great!).
b. Ankh for tithing/resurrection
c. EM Town Crier
d. Inn Keeper so people can log out safely and quickly.
e. Moongate – to Luna (the four corners and one central as suggested on Stratics) and one to New Haven, with return moongates at those locations as well.
f. Teleporation Hub – To unique, special, and historical sites, as well as to player run towns (this could potentially be huge and perhaps could take the form of an annex – up to Mesanna of course. Allow for the addition of house teleporter tiles for new sites)
**The teleportation hub could really fall under both categories b/c new
locations could be added by event
**Create a spot (perhaps in the teleport hub) where a player can
transport to the red moongate at the Fel Mage Tower memorial.
g. Dungeon Teleportation Hub
**same as above
h. Hitching post
i. Banker
j. Tavern – might put as a stipulation for design contest…
k. Return rune creation bag/box
l. Create a spot on site where saying the proper words will transport a person to the dueling pit on avatar isle, and back to tower from island.
i. This could also fall under the other category. This could be inactive until the first PVP event…then quick quest to “discover” the words and go to the dueling pit.
m. A chest or set of chests that spawn daily “rares” would be fun for rares/semi-rares collectors.
n. (A great idea from Eris) Magic Themed garden w/ wedding chapel. Themed after fairy tales. Magic herbs and regeants, perhaps imbuing ingredients?
i. Add rare harvestable resources to the garden through events.


2. Features revealed by quest or event:
a. Name contest
b. Deco contest
c. Lore contest
d. Dueling Pit – when dueling goes live, have event to open pit at tower.
e. Dolphin – could create an event around freeing/finding this mystical dolphin
f. Hall of Fame/Hall of Heroes – could start with a couple like Memorial to Tiffric Take applications for others.
g. Community Crafting Centers that offer special bonuses – The soul forge, forge, arcance circle, carpentry and tinkering workbenches etc. could be added by lore and event.
**Maybe a couple of these features could be considered core to attract
crafters right away.
h. Event to light the Eternal Flame of Mages on at tower (in my mind, this one could go either way. I’m sure a really cool event/lore could be built around this).
i. Create group similar to baja town guards, name the group after the tower or something similar to keep it themed. (some roleplay for Em Bennu to work with?)

Again, these are only ideas, it doesn't have to be this way. We just all have to agree on something! I know we can all work together to make this great.

 

[Lady Wynn]

Last night would have been a great night to have a community center. In haven we had rpers galor. We had some playing dice, chess, checkers, or some just being pets. All this was taking place in the middle of Haven at 1100pm est. IF we would of had a community center we could of had alot more people join in and also we would of had alot more things we could of rped out.

THe other reason I Like the idea of a community center is because we could possably have alot of resources in one place. Forge, gates, banks, npcs and events that way everyone would know where to start even as a newbie. Alot of times it is very hard for newer players to find the spot they need to be for an event if it always started there and then a gate to the main location everyone could be involved. just and idea. I Love this idea thanks so much for wanting everyone imput to make this the best area for everyone.

 

[Tazar]

Atlantic does lack "community" these days. We need a place where the different play-styles can come together for common cause. This could give newer players, returning veterans, or players that are simply new to Atlantic a place; to gather; to meet people; to learn about RP, PVM, and even PVP, to learn about various guilds, etc.

Atlantic needs this, but we will only get it if we work together, and work towards a common goal. But we also need to keep in mind that the goal is not getting the place built, but is building a place that be active and continue to thrive once it is built. That's going to take dedicated people who care about Atlantic that will keep working it - always trying to make it better.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

So, here is what we had:

1. Core Features:
a. Deep water docks for community net tosses and fishing events (the ones Mesanna originally placed were great!).
b. Ankh for tithing/resurrection
c. EM Town Crier
d. Inn Keeper so people can log out safely and quickly.
e. Moongate – to Luna (the four corners and one central as suggested on Stratics) and one to New Haven, with return moongates at those locations as well.
f. Teleporation Hub – To unique, special, and historical sites, as well as to player run towns (this could potentially be huge and perhaps could take the form of an annex – up to Mesanna of course. Allow for the addition of house teleporter tiles for new sites)
**The teleportation hub could really fall under both categories b/c new
locations could be added by event
**Create a spot (perhaps in the teleport hub) where a player can
transport to the red moongate at the Fel Mage Tower memorial.
g. Dungeon Teleportation Hub
**same as above
h. Hitching post
i. Banker
j. Tavern – might put as a stipulation for design contest…
k. Return rune creation bag/box
l. Create a spot on site where saying the proper words will transport a person to the dueling pit on avatar isle, and back to tower from island.
i. This could also fall under the other category. This could be inactive until the first PVP event…then quick quest to “discover” the words and go to the dueling pit.
m. A chest or set of chests that spawn daily “rares” would be fun for rares/semi-rares collectors.
n. (A great idea from Eris) Magic Themed garden w/ wedding chapel. Themed after fairy tales. Magic herbs and regeants, perhaps imbuing ingredients?
i. Add rare harvestable resources to the garden through events.


2. Features revealed by quest or event:
a. Name contest
b. Deco contest
c. Lore contest
d. Dueling Pit – when dueling goes live, have event to open pit at tower.
e. Dolphin – could create an event around freeing/finding this mystical dolphin
f. Hall of Fame/Hall of Heroes – could start with a couple like Memorial to Tiffric Take applications for others.
g. Community Crafting Centers that offer special bonuses – The soul forge, forge, arcance circle, carpentry and tinkering workbenches etc. could be added by lore and event.
**Maybe a couple of these features could be considered core to attract
crafters right away.
h. Event to light the Eternal Flame of Mages on at tower (in my mind, this one could go either way. I’m sure a really cool event/lore could be built around this).
i. Create group similar to baja town guards, name the group after the tower or something similar to keep it themed. (some roleplay for Em Bennu to work with?)

I like all the ideas you have listed there. In fact, I think that is a good summary of mostly everything that has been suggested here (that is within game mechanics). I can't think of much else to add other than we have to assemble a solid list of locations for the teleportation hub. Also, was a final location picked yet? Is it still going somewhere on Verity Isle?

 

[Jandruz]

Thanks for the feedback, Wynn, Taz, Dryzzid.

To answer Dryzzid's question about location, as far as I'm concerned there has been no final location selected. I know some people did not like the original location I picked. I'm game for just about anywhere (this needs to be a group decision), I just want this to work. It would be nice if the location had a special or unique feel, that's part of the reason I originally requested the tower be on the water. Also, with the tower on the water, it makes it easy for Mesanna to add deep water docks.

Does anyone have any ideas? (We can compile a list then vote? I guess, before we do that, we need to make sure everyone is okay with a new tower rather than a freshening up of an old place.)

The two locations I've seen mentioned so far are:
1. The location I originally chose
2. The same location as the original mage tower, but in Tram.

 

[Lady_Rachel]

The spot I have been partial to is New Haven. I think something might be built off the docks there? Out in the water a bit like it was at the other place?

We already have a crowd that meets there alot, and the newer players would have easy access to it.

I am afraid if it is out in the middle of no where it won't get used as much.
This way folks could just wander in. Hook up for a hunt if nothing is going on. Ask for advice on a template, or just get a question answered. Or just sit about and rp a bit.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

I definitely think that the location should be in or near a Trammel town. Moonglow is a good location because it is an island and a site can be built from basically every point on the island's perimeter.

I'd like to see it in either Moonglow or Britain. Britain is the in character hub of the Britannian nation and the headquarters of Queen Dawn. In theory, it would have the most active port out of any city since it is the capital. Somewhere in the bay by Blackthorn's castle, or on the south side of the city by the docks somewhere?

 

[Jandruz]

Rachel, Dryzzid, I think those are both good ideas. One thing to keep in mind regarding placement, and this is a small issue, is that housing only faces one direction, so it limits, to some degree, where the tower might be placed due to the aesthetics factor...

-I'm starting to think that perhaps we should leave it out of Moonglow, so as not to interfere with any group of players who might lay claim to that territory. What do you all think?

-I do like both the Blackthorn's castle idea, and I think New Haven has some positive points. Not being an RPer, I have to ask, would either of these places have either a strong appeal to RPers, or lead to rejection by RPers?

-One other thing I think is important, and this is also a reason the original location was chosen, is that no one should be able to place a house nearby. We don't want an enterprising player to profit off the new tower that will belong to the community.

**Dryzzid, I forgot to mention in my last post - what dungeon locations would you like to see the tele-hub linked to? Also, we should compiled a list of key player run establishments that we want to link to. For example, Goodman's, The original tower location, etc.

 

[Beleth of Atlantic]

Two quick points and I don't mean to be directly negative...

-WBB was redecorated and given a lot of cool features and remains unused.

-Old Haven had a large marble Seer? or EM? House for the community that was unused and removed.

Why repeat mistakes of the past? I am still in favor of the Mage Tower + concept. Before the Fel/Tram split the AMT was extemely active and fell into the same pattern all the other seer blessed Fel locations did when Tram was introduced.

 

[Jandruz]

Good points, Beleth. I think the difference here will be the committee or group of players that develops along side this project. Players who are passionate about it, who then take "ownership" of it and make it succeed. This would essentially be the "council" that was discussed early on in the project's development. The group would host events and market the tower in order to get players to use it. It's working well on LS, their " High Council" has been working on find the best use for their new tower.

Before Eris left, she has said she wanted to sit on the committee. Perhaps we could interest Bennu in this project, and he might want to help develop the committee?

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

**Dryzzid, I forgot to mention in my last post - what dungeon locations would you like to see the tele-hub linked to? Also, we should compiled a list of key player run establishments that we want to link to. For example, Goodman's, The original tower location, etc.

I think the first step is to make a choice whether the hub will cover all dungeon locations or just the most frequented ones. If we include all dungeons with the Trammel ruleset, excluding the Ilsh dungeons, thats possibly 20+ gates we'd need.

List of Tram-rules Dungeons

My suggestions for the hub:

A few significant "blocks" of gates (maybe raised platforms or stages with the gates around the perimeters). Each block is labeled with the theme of that block (ex: "Player Run Establishments" "Dungeons" "Towns" etc.)

NPC Town Block
To and from gates to at LEAST West Britain, Luna, and New Haven.

Depending on the scale of the hub, all Tram-setting non-Ilsh towns could go here. Gates to some towns would be redundant with moongates though. (Do we really need a gate to the Royal City? The moongate takes you right there.) Perhaps the Trammel facet town gates could follow the Virtue color scheme since each town is dedicated to a virtue:

Moonglow - Honesty - Blue
Britain - Compassion - Yellow
Jhelom - Valor - Red
Yew - Justice - Green
Minoc - Sacrifice - Orange
Trinsic - Honor - Purple
Skara Brae - Spirituality - White
Magincia - Humility - Black (Added after Mag is restored?)

Buccaneer's Den
Serpent's Hold
Papua
Delucia
New Haven
Nujelm
Luna
Umbra
Zento
Royal City

That is 17 gates right there, and that is just NPC towns. Personally, I think that gates to other "hubs" such as Luna, WBB (or somewhere between the castle and WBB), and New Haven bank, plus a standard moongate is all we need for NPC towns.

Player Run Establishments Block
Here is where the EM Banner towns can go. I'll see if I can dig up a list of them as I can't think of them all offhand. Maybe applications can be taken over time for new additions to this section. Also, I feel that a gate set away from the others should go to Goodman's (at least Goodman's, maybe some other notable rune libraries as well).

Dungeons

Whatever dungeons are decided on can go here. But again, the dungeon list is pretty long. Maybe an abridged version of the newer/active dungeons would serve best.

Event Gate

I really think that there should be an offset location where Nestor and Bennu can put a gate up to events when they are being ran. That way, if there is a gate up, you know there is an event currently running. Gates to common EM event start locations could go here as well (Castle British as an example.) If the EMs are up for it, they could update these gates to point to current arc event starting points (Example: While the Papua events were being run by Eris, a gate to Papua would be up. When Seth is doing events in Cove, a gate to Cove, etc.)


The hardest part, in my opinion, is deciding how big to make the hub. If we include every dungeon and town, the hub would be massive and confusing, I think. But maybe not. What do others think?

Edit: I think a gate to the former AMT site is still necessary, but it shouldn't be with the hub, it should be with the AMT Memorial or the Eternal Flame Of Mages (or however the tribute is portrayed.)

 

[Jandruz]

You're right, this could get complicated pretty quick.

My first conceptualization of this type of hub was say, several crystal portal type devices, where, for example, a player would say the name of the dungeon they want and be teleported. Since that doesn't already exist in game it may not be feasible - Unless Mesanna wants to create it?!.

In the alternative, if we have to go the moongate approach, I have an idea that might organize it into something, slightly more player friendly. Perhaps we have an annex which will serve as the main hub. It will contain moongates labeled, player towns, fel dungeons, tram dungeons, etc.

Each of those moongates could lead to a platform, located somewhere out of the way (middle of the ocean?) where all the relevant moongates are then arranged and labeled. These could be categorized as sub-hubs. So, if a person steps through the fel dungeon gate, and onto the fel dungeon sub-hub platform, then they know that platform will only contain gates to fel dungeons.

Do you think something like that would help with organization?

I do think you are right, that we will have to prioritize what locations are most important for these hubs. This could get out of hand pretty quickly.

I agree we need:

1. an event gate
2. gates to WBB, Luna, New Haven (and return gates to main tower from those locations)
3. Player run town/bannered town gates
4. gate to original tower site (i like the idea of having by the flame)
5. gates to other important non-bannered establishments (not too many)
6. Dungeons:
a. Fel - Top 10?
b. Tram - Top 10? - 10 leaves a lot out
c. Malas - All 3
d. Ilsh - don't know here...
e. Tok - all 3
f. Don't really know on the dungeons. There are so many. I'd like to have all of them, but it's probably unrealistic.

 

[TullyMars]

That is 17 gates right there, and that is just NPC towns. Personally, I think that gates to other "hubs" such as Luna, WBB (or somewhere between the castle and WBB), and New Haven bank, plus a standard moongate is all we need for NPC towns.

Do you mean actual blue gates or are you thinking more of a series of house teleporter tiles?

::Imagines a field of blue gates and cringes::

Just wondering would a crystal portal set to everyone accomplish much of this?
For decoration and dramatic effect perhaps they could substitute a larger graphic or substitute a spinning globe (like the shadow item add-on thing) but I guess the problem with that is it would be only one way.

Sorry I am no help. Lol just brainstorming.

 

[Jandruz]

Do you mean actual blue gates or are you thinking more of a series of house teleporter tiles?

::Imagines a field of blue gates and cringes::

Just wondering would a crystal portal set to everyone accomplish much of this?
For decoration and dramatic effect perhaps they could substitute a larger graphic or substitute a spinning globe (like the shadow item add-on thing) but I guess the problem with that is it would be only one way.

Sorry I am no help. Lol just brainstorming.[/QUOTE


This crystal portal set is exactly what I was thinking originally. I just don't know if its feasible for the dungeons, player towns, etc. They don't already exist in game for that. Perhaps Bennu or Nestor could comment on this? I can always ask Mesanna, too. I just hate to bother her too much before we have a solid plan.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Do you mean actual blue gates or are you thinking more of a series of house teleporter tiles?

::Imagines a field of blue gates and cringes::

Just wondering would a crystal portal set to everyone accomplish much of this?
For decoration and dramatic effect perhaps they could substitute a larger graphic or substitute a spinning globe (like the shadow item add-on thing) but I guess the problem with that is it would be only one way.

Sorry I am no help. Lol just brainstorming.

Gah! Crystal portal completely slipped my mind. That eliminates town gates completely, though I still feel that Britain, Luna, and New Haven should have gates plus return gates.

 

[Lady_Rachel]

Do you really need a wall of gates?
A few rune books with the locations you want, that are recharged frequently for those without recall or sacred journey would do the same, and take up far less space.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

The only problem I would foresee with using rune books as compared to gates is that runes can be blocked (and as much as I hate to say it here, I suspect that there would be people that block them just to be rude.)

We don't necessarily need a wall of gates. Teleporter tiles or sparkly teleporters could be used instead. I just think that teleporters/gates/whatever to Luna, New Haven, and Britain will help pull people to the community center. With a crystal portal, we won't need any other town gates.

As far as dungeons, I would be content with not even having teleporters to dungeons. I started to think about it a little more and it may take away from the "exploration" aspect.

Only places I say that are really core are Luna, New Haven, Brit (with return gates), banner towns, and player establishments. Add in a crystal portal.

 

[Jandruz]

I think you are both right. We can probably drop the dungeons in the interest of simplicity. So we would have gates for the key towns of luna, new haven, wbb. We should have a crystal portal for the remaining towns, and a crystal portal to player bannered towns. Oh, and I still like the event gate idea.

Also, here are the location spots offered up so far:

1. Original location (of the new tower) - Moonglow Tram
2. Location of the original tower (but in tram) - Moonglow Tram
3. Lake behind Blackthorn's castle - would this bar deep water fishing?
4. New Haven
5. anywhere else?

*Personally, I'm leaning back towards the original location this tower was a couple months ago. Mesanna has left the platform/steps there. Plus, I read on the ARPC forums that they will be getting a mage tower back in fel, so I think this center on Moonglow, in tram, would complement that well.

 

[Jandruz]

So, I'm hoping we will get an influx of posts in this thread from people who read about it on the UO ARPC boards. In order to keep this moving forward, it would be great if those new posters could give their opinion on the compiled list in post 22, i.e. things to be added, removed, changed. It's beginning to look like there will be less EM support than originally hoped(at least at this time) so some of the ideas in the "to be added by event" category should probably be moved to the "core features" category.

Other than that we really need to focus on a place. I have a feeling that will be the most contentious part of the process, but once we get that sorted out we'll be close to a new cool place.

 

[Beleth of Atlantic]

For Tower location, I support either the ORIGINAL location, and in Felucca or...

A location close to it in Tram. Tram has a house in the original location right now so North near the Lycaeum would be the best bet.

If we went with the Felucca location the owner of that house would be willing to collapse it to have the Tower restored there.

Now, for all those against Felucca, a guard zone could be created in the area to protect against rampant pking and it would also help promote some additional use in Felucca.

 

[Beleth of Atlantic]

Oh and before I go to bed, I'd also like to point out post #11 to help give clarification as to the Lycaeum location.

I also still think the Annex should be restored to help compete with the Luna NPC vendors packed tightly together issue. It would provide a convenient location to make NPC purchases and use repair deeds, plus it would support shard history.

 

[Assia Penryn]

I'm completely against Lord Blackthorn's Castle... currently Lord Blackthorn's is in use rply by my guild in the ARPC. Its their secret HQ.

If we have to have a single building, I would like to see the mage tower with some possible upgrades. I have absolutely no desire to see some "Luna Replacement" created (and no, I do not have vendors, nor a home in Luna).

What I would prefer over everything...I would like to see our time better spent improving the cities we already have rather than building yet another building that would collect dust after 6 months. I would rather see the cities we have get improved or give US a chance to improve them through our transactions and time in the city like a weird collections thing. Honestly, as an rper I hate how empty most cities are. I'd rather see all our NPC cities improved so that folks might use them more.

You can see my original post in earlier this thread.
I still stand behind that post and my position.

 

[Jandruz]

So, Blackthorn's is definitely out.

I would be willing to go for this spot, North of the lycaeum, as posted by Beleth in post 11. (May have to be modified slightly to make everything fit/flow but the location seems good )
Imageshack - amt2a.jpg

I, however, am 100% committed to tram. I know fel is a great place, and that guard zones could be created, but placing this location in fel will exclude players who refuse to leave tram - and they are out there. Unfortunately it's more than we care to admit.

Also, the reason why the annex with vendors was not included in the post 22 summary is Eris said if the EMs were involved they could not run a player vendor location. If a player vendor location were to be added, we would have to find a way to make it fair, and give all players the opportunity to place a vendor - perhaps a lottery system? But who would run it? I'd just hate to see a system with a few players profiting, and many feeling left out.

I also want to remind those who are new to the thread that we as players have to come to a decision/consensus. This thread is a good place do do that, so we need active discussion. Mesanna has said she is not reading this thread, and that we should not approach her until we have one project that we all want to do. So, in order to be honest with Mesanna we cannot move forward on this if even one player, says "no way". So I guess that means a lot of compromise. Please note that post 22 is a list of ideas compiled from all posts in this thread. It's a list I can get behind, although it may need a few mods. Does anyone outright reject that list?

 

[Beleth of Atlantic]

If you read my ideas above in #11 regarding the Annex, it was to be used as a location to place NPC vendors of all types to compete with Luna and avoid the drama of player run vendors.

Also, keep in mind while some players refuse to go to Fel for whatever reason, some Fel players CANNOT go to Tram for a very specific reason. =)

 

[Tazar]

Also, keep in mind while some players refuse to go to Fel for whatever reason, some Fel players CANNOT go to Tram for a very specific reason. =)

Yep... if this is to be a community center, then we need community builders... by nature, Reds are not community builders...

 

[Jandruz]

If you read my ideas above in #11 regarding the Annex, it was to be used as a location to place NPC vendors of all types to compete with Luna and avoid the drama of player run vendors.

Also, keep in mind while some players refuse to go to Fel for whatever reason, some Fel players CANNOT go to Tram for a very specific reason. =)

Perhaps I misread your post. I think NPC vendors would be great. Let's add that to the list as we revise it (may not even need an annex for it. if the docks are large enough we could have an open-air-type market?)

Players with only reds on their account should add another account and help with the longevity of UO. Joking...joking.

Anyway, I don't want to get into a Tram/Fel debate regarding which facet is better. I personally like them both.

So how do we resolve the Tram/Fel impasse?

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

I don't think we can really afford to debate about reds. I have no problem with PK characters, but a community center in Fel wouldn't take off. If we're talking a combined project of a Tram Community Center and a Fel Mage Tower.. then I say we just go with it.

I support Beleth's idea for an NPC market. I also think that we should use a Moonglow spot. Moonglow has always been the city of mages and it fits lore wise. However, I like the spot by the Lycaeum better than the original one on the point of the island. Beleth had suggested before about incorporating the NPC buildings north of the Lycaeum into the community center.. I like that as well.

As far as a mage tower in Fel.. I don't have too many thoughts on that, I'm comfortable with letting Halister comment on that (if he wants). I want one, but the details I'll leave up to him. The only thing I will say is that if there is a Fel tower again, I start to feel that the Eternal Flame of Mages should be there. There are some disadvantages to this though: No one will ever see it. No one goes to Fel. Harsh, but true. So as proper as it would be to have it at the original site, I think we should at least consider and discuss putting it at the community center, so it can be properly commemorated and viewed by many.

We've debated the teleporter hub a bit.. I just think we need to make teleporters to player run establishments, banner towns and the core Britain, New Haven, and Luna as we've talked about here. Also with a crystal portal. How we handle which player run establishments are linked is something we need to discuss. An application process overseen by EMs? (I really hate to thrust any more responsibilities to Nestor or Bennu.) We may even have to skip that part because what happens if an establishment goes under? We'd have to request the teleporter hub be updated. Something to think about.

 

[Jandruz]

I don't think we can really afford to debate about reds. I have no problem with PK characters, but a community center in Fel wouldn't take off. If we're talking a combined project of a Tram Community Center and a Fel Mage Tower.. then I say we just go with it.

As far as a mage tower in Fel.. I don't have too many thoughts on that, I'm comfortable with letting Halister comment on that (if he wants). I want one, but the details I'll leave up to him. The only thing I will say is that if there is a Fel tower again, I start to feel that the Eternal Flame of Mages should be there. There are some disadvantages to this though: No one will ever see it. No one goes to Fel. Harsh, but true. So as proper as it would be to have it at the original site, I think we should at least consider and discuss putting it at the community center, so it can be properly commemorated and viewed by many.

While having both is a great thought, I'm sorry to say that Mesanna has repeatedly said we get one project, and she would not do both of these things. While an argument could be made that placing both would be one grand project, it seems that in her mind this would qualify as two.

So, we either get the return of the Fel Mage Tower, if everyone agrees. Or, we get the new cc/Mage Tower combo, if everyone agrees. I personally would like to see the combo because it has a little something for everyone.

Other than that I agree with everything Dryzzid posted (although I'm a little wary of incorporating the npc buildings outside the lycaeum - only b/c it might take away from the centrality a bit. Not against it, just a little wary).

 

[Halister Marner]

I've had some discussions, and the community centre and the Felucca Mage Tower should be two separate things. The Felucca Mage Tower will be a memorial site, commemorating AMT, Tiffric and the eternal flame, while I think the trammel community center should be something entirely different, something new created by the entire community.

As a side note, I don't think the community center should be a mage tower, we were given many options, and the total amount of freedom we have would be best served creating our own area, something uniquely designed to cater to our ideas.

Having the Felucca Tower memorialized is something dear to myself and Atlantic, and while it would be interesting to have the community center in Felucca, I think the fact that they are separate projects should serve as a point to have the community center in Trammel.

Aside from that, north of the Lycaeum is a nice location, and I think we need some substantial area to give us enough room to fit everything.

My idea for a layout would be a primary building, with the bankers, innkeepers, vendors, stables etc... with another building used as a teleporter hub. Then perhaps a specific hall of heroes/event/quest building that could be utilized by the EM's and players. Leaving room for player memorials in general. Add in the garden and chapel into the mix and there's a nice compound where players can congregate.

I'd hate to have everything smashed in and around one building when it can be slightly spaced out and better organized.