NEWS [UO.Com] Turning off Housing Decay for the Month of September

[UO News]

Greetings everyone, We are turning off housing decay for the whole month of September starting today (9/1/2017) to try to help any of our players that are having to go through the disaster occuring in Texas at this time. Our hearts and prayers go out to you and your families. Please be aware that during this time you will not be able to place a house, transfer a house, demolish a house or resize a house. Thank you, UO Team

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[Capt. Lucky]

Speaking of housing... when will we know the new castle designs?

 

[Deaol]

Good job team! Well; hopefully no one transferred to a new shard looking for a new home, will have to get use to living out of your bank box for a month

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Good job @Mesanna @Kyronix @Bleak and the rest of the team...

 

[Bucs Den Inc.]

Great job UOR!


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[Larisa]

Awesome news! Thanks team!

I know of a few UO players that are displaced right now so they will be glad that at least they will have a UO home to come home to

 

[mysty]

nobody did the same after the Tsunami in Japan, are only ppl from the states playing this game ? so many sh.. happenes all over the world and nobody cares.

 

[AtlanticRealtor]

Thanks @Bucs Den Inc. but the original post was not really about me or anything!
It is a sad situation to loose everything you have in life, the last thing these people will even think is their UO game, but, if somehow the Devs could help them to prevent to loose their ingame houses too, would be so appreciated !

and For those that only say BAD things about our Devs, this is the Kind of thing that they do for us, that not so many appreciate them....

It is so Sad that we need this type of Disasters to bring people together!

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

nobody did the same after the Tsunami in Japan, are only ppl from the states playing this game ? so many sh.. happenes all over the world and nobody cares.

Isn't there still a separate 'team' (not devs) that handle stuff for the Asian shards? I do not play any of those shards (language barrier) but they could have easily turned off decay for those shards and I never would have heard a thing....

 

[Dot_Warner]

Speaking of housing... when will we know the new castle designs?

Soon™

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Soon™

I'm holding up my castle redecorating project on this. I assume either I won't like the new designs or won't be able to place it due to terrain. I guess I'll just have to wait. Either way I can always keep mining stone

 

[BeaIank]

Well done for turning off housing in the face of that tragedy, Devs.
It is a class act.

 

[Dot_Warner]

I'm holding up my castle redecorating project on this. I assume either I won't like the new designs or won't be able to place it due to terrain. I guess I'll just have to wait. Either way I can always keep mining stone

Mesanna said that you would be able to update your castle to one of the new designs in situ. Though how that will work for ancient castles with trees and such in the courtyard is a mystery. Spoiler: It likely won't work.

Not holding your breath is probably the best option here though.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Mesanna said that you would be able to update your castle to one of the new designs in situ. Though how that will work for ancient castles with trees and such in the courtyard is a mystery. Spoiler: It likely won't work.

Not holding your breath is probably the best option here though.

Yeah I'm pushing for an ignore the current terrain on an existing castles. I can dream

 

[Scribbles]

This is a great move by the dev team. One suggestion though (ofcourse), You probably should of given people a couple days warning before you shut down the entire housing market.

However, being a texan, Thanks for the well wishes and caring thoughts.

 

[Basara]

Ignore the terrain, but leave it, so that you can be like Odysseus and have a tree growing up through a room in the castle so you can have it as a "bedpost" (play around with the bed position for the illusion). That would be neat.

 

[Cyrah]

Nice to do but a warning would have been logical.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Nice to do but a warning would have been logical.

They probably got an email or something from someone and jumped on it. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Captn Norrington]

It's awesome to see they are doing this!

Especially in the extreme hardship of their real house possibly being destroyed, I'm sure some people will take great comfort in still at least having their UO house and belongings to come back to. I imagine losing their real house, only to find out that they lost their UO house too, would hurt quite a bit. It's good that can be avoided now.

 

[Khaelor]

With it being the 20th Anniversary month and the influx of returning players... turning off placing and trading is very very unfortunate. Having returning players being unable to establish themselves might contribute to them not sticking around.

 

[Captn Norrington]

With it being the 20th Anniversary month and the influx of returning players... turning off placing and trading is very very unfortunate. Having returning players being unable to establish themselves might contribute to them not sticking around.

I don't think it will even make a difference honestly, most new and returning players don't have enough gold to place a house for a few weeks anyway, and by then the housing would be turned back on.

There is really no reason a new/returning player even needs a house right away, they can still live out of their bank box pretty comfortably until they get established into the game again and start collecting more stuff.

 

[Khaelor]

I don't think it will even make a difference honestly, most new and returning players don't have enough gold to place a house for a few weeks anyway, and by then the housing would be turned back on.

There is really no reason a new/returning player even needs a house right away, they can still live out of their bank box pretty comfortably until they get established into the game again and start collecting more stuff.

Actually, of all the people I have seen return lately, placing a home was one of the first things they have done. Maybe not on Atlantic, but on the shards I play on, that is what they have done. They want a home, because it feels like that, home.

 

[AtlanticRealtor]

One suggestion though (ofcourse), You probably should of given people a couple days warning before you shut down the entire housing market.

We finally agree on something

 

[Archnight]

"Please be aware that during this time you will not be able to place a house, transfer a house, demolish a house or resize a house"

I can see some not happy with that part but overall a good decision from the dev's

 

[-Hey Arnold-]

"Please be aware that during this time you will not be able to place a house, transfer a house, demolish a house or resize a house"

Had big big plans to customize my house this weekend and it seems thats down as well...now i gotta wait a month

 

[Rafman]

Why? Isn't that stupid?
Turning off house decay is great. Very good of UO to do this - they've always been good about things like this in the past too. So great move.

But why also turn off house transfer, placement, resizing, etc...? Is there no way to just turn off decay without the rest? They always have in the past - did the housing system change now where they can't separate the house decay from other features? This kind of impacts all of your active players too, who want to change their house, transfer, resize, etc. Just seems pointless.

 

[MalagAste]

Think we are all adult enough to handle a little bit of inconvenience for the well being of our fellow players who are suffering devastating loss don't you?

 

[Archnight]

But why also turn off house transfer, placement, resizing, etc...? Is there no way to just turn off decay without the rest? They always have in the past - did the housing system change now where they can't separate the house decay from other features? This kind of impacts all of your active players too, who want to change their house, transfer, resize, etc. Just seems pointless

 

[Keith of Sonoma]

I know of some GUY who is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY mad right about now! hehe

 

[Rafman]

Think we are all adult enough to handle a little bit of inconvenience for the well being of our fellow players who are suffering devastating loss don't you?

Was that directed at me?

If so - sure. I said it's a great idea and have no issues with it.

But as a long time player - I know they've turned off house decay many times in the past. Never before has it affected house transfer, demolish, customization, etc. Why now?

 

[Captn Norrington]

Was that directed at me?

If so - sure. I said it's a great idea and have no issues with it.

But as a long time player - I know they've turned off house decay many times in the past. Never before has it affected house transfer, demolish, customization, etc. Why now?

I'm guessing it was just faster to pull the plug on everything at once, instead of having to manually dig through it and pick what turns off and what doesn't. The sooner it turns off, the less likely someone's house will slip through the cracks and start decaying a few hours before it activates and end up falling anyway.

 

[James Krieg]

This is a horrible idea. i get the whole trying to help texas thing but you are punishing every person who plays this game by not allowing them to trade, place or customize a home. even a new or returning player wants a home to unpack things, to setup forges, make easy transfers between thier own characters.. what in god's name would make you think that this is a good thing for your current subs? sure turn off decay.. no biggy, but DO NOT PUNISH everyone else. There is no common sense being used in this thought process. cant even customize a house i own? WTF... put the drugs away! you get 90 days before your house goes idoc after the sub expires. yes Texas is in bad shape, you wanna help them, give the Texans a free month of game play... the rest of the world is PAYING to play this.

 

[OREOGL]

This is a horrible idea. i get the whole trying to help texas thing but you are punishing every person who plays this game by not allowing them to trade, place or customize a home. even a new or returning player wants a home to unpack things, to setup forges, make easy transfers between thier own characters.. what in god's name would make you think that this is a good thing for your current subs? sure turn off decay.. no biggy, but DO NOT PUNISH everyone else. There is no common sense being used in this thought process. cant even customize a house i own? WTF... put the drugs away!

 

[Bucs Den Inc.]

The game has been out for 20 years.. Messana turns off housing for one month and everybody loses their minds!


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[Scribbles]

The game has been out for 20 years.. Messana turns off housing for one month and everybody loses their minds!


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I think most people would of been fine had they given us a bit of a warning. But yeah in light of what its for it is the least the game could do to help out.

 

[Tina Small]

I'm guessing that Bleak may still be on vacation (I thought I read that in the last M&G notes), plus everyone else is probably ready to be gone for the long Labor Day weekend. Thus, maybe the only thing the people who were left in the office were able to do was to just completely turn off everything related to housing.

 

[THP]

so we cant place a house for a freaking month... really????

 

[THP]

lets hope all placed house on closed accounts ....get 1 month stay of falling then.... they should do..... if the house servers are'' off'' totally....

idocs are cancelled then for 1 month.... too...nothing will decay or fall....awesome...

 

[Slayvite]

Having lived thru my house being ruined due to flooding in the UK a few years back and having to live out of a hotel room for 3 months.
I feel like i can chime in here and give my opinion.

This IS a good thing, so it is a nuisance to some for a month (me included), BIG DEAL!.
It's nothing to the stress and worry that those involved in a flood will be feeling.
Yes, they probably wont even think about UO for a few weeks but to finally return to some semblance of normality and log into UO only to find your house fell in the virtual world too.
I wouldn't wish that sort of exasperation on anyone.

Well done @Mesanna and the team, a small gesture in trying times to prove they are valued customers, but small things like this do wonders for community morale on the whole.

 

[GarthGrey]

It takes 3 months for housing to go into decay after an account becomes inactive. Are you leaving decay off for 3 months or just the month of September ?

 

[Lady Michelle]

The game has been out for 20 years.. Messana turns off housing for one month and everybody loses their minds!


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I loss my mind years ago, and still havent found it

 

[Gem]

Good decision developers!

 

[Promathia]

Are you leaving decay off for 3 months or just the month of September ?

"We are turning off housing decay for the whole month of September"


I would assume that means just for the month of September.

 

[Slayvite]

It takes 3 months for housing to go into decay after an account becomes inactive. Are you leaving decay off for 3 months or just the month of September ?

There are different reasons your house can fall,
Perhaps you're one of the many that have multiple accounts and do the 3 month "flipping" to keep your houses alive.
Perhaps you were taking a short break from UO with the plan to return for the Anniversary.
Perhaps you had been deployed and didn't set up a direct debit because your bank is not that good but knew you would be home before your house fell.

It's just for 1 month, concentrate on the Event arcs for the month or train up Begging ready for October ect, with the knowledge that "your" house is safe and will be there next month.

 

[Blackie]

I'm all for helping people that need help any way you can, don't read this the wrong way. I have an analytical type mind however and the reasoning used for shutting down housing escapes me a bit. Let me explain...

- It takes 3 months for a house to fall if an account goes unpaid
- Shutting decay off for September will stop houses from falling for people who left 3 months ago, long before the storm
- Texans who suddenly stop paying this week due to the storm will have their houses start to decay in December and it will be back on by then, will decay

So, technically, if you want to help people in Texas who are flood affected by shutting off housing decay for a month you should shut it down for the month of DECEMBER, not September, no? I mean, the non-paying flood victims will hit the 3 month unpaid mark then, not now. Also, if you REALLY want to help them THIS month and stop their accounts from begining the 3 months unpaid time wouldn't the right thing to be to make UO FREE for everyone for September, so that no account can go into and start unpaid status for 30 days? The time left on my account went down a day on the EA Mythic website, so did theirs... ya know? The only Texans this will help is those who stopped paying a couple months ago and they did that before the storm so... yeah.

I can see it now...
Texan: ****, everything's gone and insurance won't cover it all. Need to sell our UO stuff too, every bit helps.
Texan: WTF, I can't sell or transfer the house! Can earn a bit of coin!
Texan: Ah well, need to shut it down for a while anyway, no work = no money for this
Texan in Dec: OK, time for UO again, ahh crap... where'd my house go? I thought they shut off decay? Oh, that was for Sept only... well that's nice.

Anyway, god bless you in Texas right now. Hopefully Americans step up and restore everything quickly, rebuild etc. Don't get scammed by the loads of frauds asking for donations too like they did in previous floods! Stay safe.

 

[THP]

Erm @Mesanna or ANY of the devs can u please send me a new 30 day time code..as i activated one 4-5 days ago purely for placing and transferring housing

 

[Khaelor]

I'm all for helping people that need help any way you can, don't read this the wrong way. I have an analytical type mind however and the reasoning used for shutting down housing escapes me a bit. Let me explain...

- It takes 3 months for a house to fall if an account goes unpaid
- Shutting decay off for September will stop houses from falling for people who left 3 months ago, long before the storm
- Texans who suddenly stop paying this week due to the storm will have their houses start to decay in December and it will be back on by then, will decay.

I am extremely analytical in nature too and all of these were things I thought of when I first read and responded to this thread (with the addition of the returning players being unable to place during the 20th anniversary would could turn into a loss for Broadsword and the game). To me this would only save the people playing the 3 month game right now. Almost feels like its one of those "feels good" things without any actual logic behind it, but it feels good so everyone is going with it. I am all for helping people, but I think this would help 2-3 months down the line rather than now.

 

[Blackie]

To me this would only save the people playing the 3 month game right now.

Guess I didn't think of that, some people intentionally don't pay for 3 month periods to carry extra houses on extra accounts. Now I bet they will have angry customers who just paid for another month on one of those accounts and feel ripped off. I dunno, can't win. Affecting ALL players for the sake of a few doesn't usually work out too well, but I get the gesture.

 

[Lythos-]

It is a nice gesture. But it's also effecting those that can play in 48 other states and an unknown amount of other countries.

Making the month free for everyone would compensate for this inconvience.

 

[Drakelord]

I pay monthly on my account, (game codes) so yes I am glad they are doing this for those folks in TX, God Bless them and sending my prayers to TX as well, Amen!