craftable academic bookcase *pic*

[Wilde1]

Haven't seen anyone post a picture of the new academic bookcase, so here it is:

It doesn't seem the same as the 11th anniversary one, because the shelves are always full (with the 11th anniv one shelves are supposed to look empty when the container is empty, full of books when something is it). Also, if this is better in another forum (eg craftsman), feel free to move it. Thought there was enough general interest to post here.

 

[Dol'Gorath]

Those are cool. A shame the main ingredient is relatively rare. =[

 

[Uvtha]

very irritating that the ingrediant is like a 3 times a month spawn...doubt ill ever get one.

 

[Lady_Calina]

It's pretty, but I'm not wasting months of time to make one. I'll see if I can make an account on the UO Japan store using a translator service and internationally order it if I can.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

Ya it sucks that the academic book is the require item for it and not the Doom books. As it is I not going to see any of those bookcases for a very long time, I will most likely have the 11th yr bookcase long before I see an Academic book.

 

[Saunders]

What do the academic books look like? Are they the same as any of the Doom books?

 

[Pfloyd]

Very nice...Can you use new woods to make it and be able to dye them with Tokuno dyes and or slimes?

 

[Uvtha]

Ya it sucks that the academic book is the require item for it and not the Doom books. As it is I not going to see any of those bookcases for a very long time, I will most likely have the 11th yr bookcase long before I see an Academic book.

I doubt highly I'll ever get one. People are going to charge millions, and I don't have millions.

Pretty annoying.

 

[MalagAste]

Was rather happy to hear we could make them but then when I heard about how we would get the books to craft it .... I just was extremely disappointed..... basicly if you aren't a scripting thief you may as well forget ever having this item. Either that or get ready to pay WAY more than they are worth..... so my guess is I'll not be putting these in my library.....

 

[Spree]

Why did they even wait time making this since only 3 spawn a month. How about making it worth while to play crafter again. Goes to back to look for some more imposable to find ingredients. Maybe I'll find them in the vendor shop that sells all the duped items.

 

[Wilde1]

Very nice...Can you use new woods to make it and be able to dye them with Tokuno dyes and or slimes?

They can be dyed with a furny dye tub, but it turns the books the dye color too. You can use the "set default color" feature of the dye tub to return the bookcase to the plain wood state. I havent tried tok dyes or slimes.

 

[Theo_GL]

Would you expect any less from our dev team?

Chalk it up to a long list of 'good idea - bad implementation'...

Gems...
Recipes....
Heartwood quests...
Library Turn ins..

Etc.

I wish they would *think* first before they deploy this stuff.

They deploy it in a poor fashion and then never come back to fix it.

UO is littered...literally littered with good idea's that got ruined in the implementation.

 

[Uvtha]

What -I- would have done, is have like a librarian npc looking for a rare text, telling you that the guild of evil mages were the only ones known to have these rare texts, but for safty sake they keep they books fragmented. So go find 3 sets of tome fragments, so that I could put them back together.

Them make tome fragments a rare drop on evil mages or something, get three bring them back tothe npc, who thanks you, and in excnage offers you some acedemic books to sate your thirst for knowedlge. Make it repeatable.
Oh and also have them spawn rarly in treasure chests where evil mages spawn, with 100% difficulty and a special trap that if not disarmed will destroy any special contents.

Poof. An easy quest, that takes an investment of time, with a satisfying finish. A quest a crafter could probably do themselves. I for one am VERY against crafting ingrediants a crafter could never attain themselves that are so rare that you have to pay like 100k to craft an item. Thats silly. The investment for ingrediants should be time. Not difficulty.

 

[Fink]

They can be dyed with a furny dye tub, but it turns the books the dye color too. You can use the "set default color" feature of the dye tub to return the bookcase to the plain wood state. I havent tried tok dyes or slimes.

How do you set the furniture dye tub to "default color"? Is that an option now?

PS: Uvtha I like your ideas

 

[Wilde1]

How do you set the furniture dye tub to "default color"? Is that an option now?

Single click it and a menu now comes up giving the "select default color" choice, pretty nifty feature

 

[Kratos Aurion]

the academic bookcase is a developers epic fail of epic proportions. Totally lame it was implemented like this. And to think I was actually looking forward to this.

::sigh::

 

[drinkbeerallday]

Considering the public outrage, I'm sure the developers will do something about this. Probably leaving the current bookcase as is, while creating a new more common one. That way everyone can design a library yet still have the chance of getting something rare-ish to spice it up.

 

[peanutbutter]

Why did they even wait time making this since only 3 spawn a month. How about making it worth while to play crafter again. Goes to back to look for some more imposable to find ingredients. Maybe I'll find them in the vendor shop that sells all the duped items.

if it's easy, how can you place value on it?

i agree that it shouldn't be SO hard, but it can't be too easy either.

 

[Sarsmi]

I'm not sure how this works, but from what little I have read I understand that it takes a doom book spawn to make this bookcase, uhm level 7? They should make it craftable with any of the stealable books, but based off a percentage so if you just use a level 3 stealable book you have a much lower chance of crafting the bookcase. Hrm?

 

[Fink]

Thanks for posting, Wilde1.

A very nicely decorated tower you have, too.

How do you set the furniture dye tub to "default color"? Is that an option now?

Single click it and a menu now comes up giving the "select default color" choice, pretty nifty feature

Excellent, thanks for that.

I can sell off the undyed tub I was using to bleach furniture (mostly empty potion kegs).

 

[Hannes Erich]

Was rather happy to hear we could make them but then when I heard about how we would get the books to craft it .... I just was extremely disappointed..... basicly if you aren't a scripting thief you may as well forget ever having this item. Either that or get ready to pay WAY more than they are worth..... so my guess is I'll not be putting these in my library.....

See the emphasis in the above quote. And you think the problem is the item? Maybe something else is the problem? Scripting thieves, maybe?

I wish I could have an original Gustave Doré engraving. But guess what? I have to settle for a crappy poster from Amazon. As it turns out, relatively few people on Earth get to own a Doré engraving. Doesn't that stink?

I'm just going to play UO instead, where I can have anything I-- Hey! Only a few people in Britannia get to have the Academic Bookshelf! Whose stupid idea was that? This stinks!

I'm just going to play [insert new MMORPG here], where I can have anything I-- Hey! Only a few people get to have the....

Need I go on?

 

[Uvtha]

if it's easy, how can you place value on it?

i agree that it shouldn't be SO hard, but it can't be too easy either.

...why. Its a friggin bookcase. I don't understand the need to make hard to craft. It's decoration. There's no justification though in game content... it's not like its a rare statue or art work or precious gem. Its books...placed on a wooden shelf. If it makes sense that an item should be rare that's one thing, but this isn't high magic at work, it's keeping the clutter low in the family room.

Truth be told you SHOULD get a full bookcase when you *gasp* put books in an empty bookcase.

At very least they should change the spawn to like 2-3 level rarity, or at put the books on some random monsters rare loot tables, or in treasure chests. Although if they put them in chests or something else obvious like that I would be shocked.

 

[Petra Fyde]

I will most likely have the 11th yr bookcase long before I see an Academic book.

And......here's your answer.

How many will think 'I'll never get one that way, I may as well buy it from the 11th collection' Assuming we will eventually get the option to do that, I believe that's intended?

 

[Uvtha]

See the emphasis in the above quote. And you think the problem is the item? Maybe something else is the problem? Scripting thieves, maybe?

I wish I could have an original Gustave Doré engraving. But guess what? I have to settle for a crappy poster from Amazon. As it turns out, relatively few people on Earth get to own a Doré engraving. Doesn't that stink?

I'm just going to play UO instead, where I can have anything I-- Hey! Only a few people in Britannia get to have the Academic Bookshelf! Whose stupid idea was that? This stinks!

I'm just going to play [insert new MMORPG here], where I can have anything I-- Hey! Only a few people get to have the....

Need I go on?

This isn't an issue of having everything to me. This specific thing is very basic, very simple, something that is as mundane as a three legged stool. I have the same feeling about all the mag rubble furny we cant craft, and is now uber rare and costs the average player a billion gold because they want a two tile bench to sit on.

These are basic deco items, they aren't fancy, or special. They should just be available. Ok so they aren't fine, but make it so that only THREE people a month can PUT BOOKS ON A SHELF... it's stupid.

I personally am fine with rares, and the fact that not everyone can have everything, I own plenty of rares myself, but this... this specific issue. Its dumb. They knew damn well (if they ever read these board with any freqency) that many people run libraries, and many people have wanted this item for many years... and to say to them, ok you can PUT BOOKS ON A SHELF...but only 3 per month...per shard! Enjoy!

Please. It was a baaaad idea.

 

[FrejaSP]

Those are cool. A shame the main ingredient is relatively rare. =[

I believe some deco items should be rare,it's not like it's stopping us from playing, that we can't get them right after the patch.
If we get everything easy, we will get bored fast.

An other thing is items needed to complete in PvP, all should be able to get needed items for their template. Rare PvP items should just be items with good mods that look better than the non rare items, they should not be more powerful.

 

[Uvtha]

And......here's your answer.

How many will think 'I'll never get one that way, I may as well buy it from the 11th collection' Assuming we will eventually get the option to do that, I believe that's intended?

I'm sure that's right. I guess that's how things work.

 

[Hannes Erich]

At very least they should change the spawn to like 2-3 level rarity, or at put the books on some random monsters rare loot tables, or in treasure chests. Although if they put them in chests or something else obvious like that I would be shocked.

Because you can't always have the pony. There, I said it.

In the old days, rares were mysterious, believed by many to be accidents. Perhaps they were. Reappearing like ghosts in the code, most were daily. An unlocked fruit bowl that appeared on a table somewhere in Yew, a rock beneath a fern in Buc's Den, an overturned chair in a ruined house. Others were rumored to be monthly, even annually.

No one complained, because this was all part of the fun. No one knew everything for sure. None of these items were ever advertised, none were given "artifact rarity" classifications. You just had to know. It wasn't just about having stuff. You had to talk to people. You had to explore, to find out about things.

Successive dev teams have spoiled ya'll to death. But when UO first came out, the design team predicted a major hurdle (for many players) would be to get over the fact they were no longer the center of the game, as with previous Ultimas. Amazingly, over a decade later, this is still a major hurdle for many players. The average player will never see, do, and own everything there is to see, do, and own in Britannia and all the other facets. The world of UO really is just that big and full of content.

Sorry?

 

[PJay]

imo they should never have added a new item. Should have used whats currently available i.e.

1 damaged books
1 folded book
5 stacked books
More or less of either dosnt matter make it a bit of a quest to obtain the items through shopping or stealing or whatever. All obtainable most people have a stash of these items so it would remove items from the game 6 items into 1. It would also make these items useful for more than just deco.

Seems to me weve just had a massive clean up of items then as soon as thats over tons of new items are added. At this rate are we having a mass cleanup every 6 months??

 

[Wenchkin]

It's a bookshelf container with books in, not the holy grail!

When players see something appearing on craftable menus, the presume they'll be able to craft said item. Not just see the name and picture and dream of the day that greedy players won't keep control of the books. This is what you call rubbing someone's nose in it, and when you're also selling said item for RL$ it's not hard to see what the reasoning is. This isn't about rares, it's generating cash for EA.

There will be plenty of these overpriced pixel-crack shelves in a few weeks time, so there's no rare aspect here. It just encourages players who really want one to get out their credit card - again. If anyone is a spoiled kid in this, it's EA. All they want for Christmas is yet more of your money lol. Shelves won't be rarer than any other anniversary item, the only difference is EA has found a new carrot to dangle to tempt players. Even for EA this is low. When everyone is short of money? We pay enough in overpriced subs thanks all the same EA...

We could at least have had a similar rare drop on a mob like with the hitching posts so players felt they actually had a chance to get lucky. With this, you know what your odds are and hey, I've lived without this item for nearly 10 years, I can live without it entirely. Rares collectors can enjoy handing over cash to scripters or EA if they wish, but I can't see this item in the light that I see normal rares in. Those items aren't used by EA to extract cash from customers. The craftable items will be rarer than the bought ones - that's just silly lol.

The real pity is customers are going to pay for this even when they hate doing it. So it'll work for EA. And the scripters. What amazes me is the level of disgust from players yet they'll still hand over cash... This is what gives EA the incentive to rinse and repeat these tactics. We do really make our own bed with EA a lot of the time.

I'm going to tart up my library with my own homemade decorations instead. I don't need the shelves to make it look good. Screw you EA, you aint getting my money

Wenchy

 

[Wilde1]

I agree with posters that the system for making a bookcase should be different somehow (despite having lucked out and gotten one). I checked the evil mage towers in the anti-virtue dungeons, the deamon temple, etc, hoping that a stack of books would be there too. I don't have a problem with the ingredient being a level 8 stealable (sort of like the bone toss to thieves), but it seems to me there are many dangerous places where npc mages (or liches even) hang out that a stack of academic books could have been placed in order to give more opportunity to steal them and craft the bookcases.



**oh, and thanks Fink, for the compliment!

 

[Fink]

I think they wanted to make the craftable bookshelf significantly different to the 11th anniversary item so the crafted one didn't defeat the anniversary gift. I don't like the way they've done it. The idea of rares & craft together has never sat well with me.

A simple compromise could have been making the crafted bookshelf not a container. If it were a deco-only item it wouldn't have the functionality of the gift, a significant difference preserving the value of the rare version. Actually, when you think about it, a full bookcase can't hold any more items but an empty shelf can. Sort of makes sense to me.

 

[Spree]

The ingredients for craftables should be on treasure chests and SOSs, ever since AOS both of those skills are worthless. I know a lot of crafters have fishing on their templates too.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

I'm not sure how this works, but from what little I have read I understand that it takes a doom book spawn to make this bookcase, uhm level 7? They should make it craftable with any of the stealable books, but based off a percentage so if you just use a level 3 stealable book you have a much lower chance of crafting the bookcase. Hrm?

There are four Doom books that spawn, three are at the Bone Deamon summoning room, the last is in the resing room in the gauntlet, they could have made it a requirement to use all four books to do this bookcase instead of making a new book. At least then there would be a market for those books!

 

[Uvtha]

Because you can't always have the pony. There, I said it.

In the old days, rares were mysterious, believed by many to be accidents. Perhaps they were. Reappearing like ghosts in the code, most were daily. An unlocked fruit bowl that appeared on a table somewhere in Yew, a rock beneath a fern in Buc's Den, an overturned chair in a ruined house. Others were rumored to be monthly, even annually.

No one complained, because this was all part of the fun. No one knew everything for sure. None of these items were ever advertised, none were given "artifact rarity" classifications. You just had to know. It wasn't just about having stuff. You had to talk to people. You had to explore, to find out about things.

Successive dev teams have spoiled ya'll to death. But when UO first came out, the design team predicted a major hurdle (for many players) would be to get over the fact they were no longer the center of the game, as with previous Ultimas. Amazingly, over a decade later, this is still a major hurdle for many players. The average player will never see, do, and own everything there is to see, do, and own in Britannia and all the other facets. The world of UO really is just that big and full of content.

Sorry?

It was said best by another poster here:

It's a bookshelf container with books in, not the holy grail!

THAT is the issue. I have zero problem with rares, and infact I would be happy if there were MORE and RARER items... but this... its just books on a shelf. This is one of the most mundane decorations imaginable. We have book shelves. We have books. We should be able to put the two together.

 

[Cyrah]

Very nice!

Just curious, there is an 11th anniversary one which will be for sale?

If I so, I totally get why this dev announced that they would be craftable, not bothering to mention by very, very few players.

Just another way to make EA some money is all.

I was silly enough to think it was a long time wish being fulfilled. Ha!

Deception sometimes backfires.

 

[Hinotori]

I went on my rounds this morning and there are TWO spots in Bedlam that the academic books spawn. One is down in the crypts and the other is in the building across from the Red Deaths stable.

So that's double the odds of getting it. I looked around but didn't see any others this morning. Hopefully they spawn more as well.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Anyone who is wondering how the books look like:

I couldn't loot it though, due to a lack of stealing skill.

 

[Petra Fyde]

I'm not sure I'm understanding where this second spawn is. If I was in the right building, all I could see in there was rooms with beds?

 

[Shelleybean]

I went on my rounds this morning and there are TWO spots in Bedlam that the academic books spawn. One is down in the crypts and the other is in the building across from the Red Deaths stable.

So that's double the odds of getting it. I looked around but didn't see any others this morning. Hopefully they spawn more as well.

Well that's some good news at least. I've had a dungeon thief for years, and I know how difficult it is to steal the higher level artifacts.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

I went on my rounds this morning and there are TWO spots in Bedlam that the academic books spawn. One is down in the crypts and the other is in the building across from the Red Deaths stable.

So that's double the odds of getting it. I looked around but didn't see any others this morning. Hopefully they spawn more as well.

Well that's some good news at least. I've had a dungeon thief for years, and I know how difficult it is to steal the higher level artifacts.

what would be even better is if they updated the Doom books to Academic books also

 

[Wenchkin]

I went on my rounds this morning and there are TWO spots in Bedlam that the academic books spawn. One is down in the crypts and the other is in the building across from the Red Deaths stable.

So that's double the odds of getting it. I looked around but didn't see any others this morning. Hopefully they spawn more as well.

Well good that there are 2 of them... Though the skeptic in me says "that's 2 happy bots"

Pity they don't spawn on a monster somewhere for that second spot, or third I guess if you count the rare spawn in Tokuno(?). Why do I get the feeling that the players who know the locations and timers on these items will run rings round others on these books for quite a while as long as they can script?

I'd suggest that if this farce is going to continue, the devs pop an area affect mob at both locations, require thieves to be in the thieves guild to steal them, and if the mobs can loot the books after a bot dies, that *might* just introduce some risk for a scripter. Especially the thieves guild thing while you can still be looted in Tram *evil grin*

Wenchy

 

[Gheed]

This isn't an issue of having everything to me. This specific thing is very basic, very simple, something that is as mundane as a three legged stool. I have the same feeling about all the mag rubble furny we cant craft, and is now uber rare and costs the average player a billion gold because they want a two tile bench to sit on.

These are basic deco items, they aren't fancy, or special. They should just be available. Ok so they aren't fine, but make it so that only THREE people a month can PUT BOOKS ON A SHELF... it's stupid.

I personally am fine with rares, and the fact that not everyone can have everything, I own plenty of rares myself, but this... this specific issue. Its dumb. They knew damn well (if they ever read these board with any freqency) that many people run libraries, and many people have wanted this item for many years... and to say to them, ok you can PUT BOOKS ON A SHELF...but only 3 per month...per shard! Enjoy!

Please. It was a baaaad idea.

This really isn't a valid argument for this game. Do you remember when owning a rock was considered a rare thing? There are tons of stuff like that in the game: Horse dung, spilled flower, wood shavings, hanging ringmail.. this list is long of real world common items that are considered rare in UO.

I can't believe they even released the ability to craft these things at all since they are going to be for sale via an 11th anny token. And they really have no use to me other than decoration. You probably get a single shelf gump when you double click on it and that is pretty useless for storing runebooks for a library. I'd love to have a bookcase filled like that for my t-map library. But there are way too many books to fit in the container.

I agree though that they should not have done this. If they were going to sell them then they should have just stuck to their guns and sold them. Then make up for it later with something different. Something like cases with a different look allowed you to sort your books or gave you a customizable menu that you could use to categorize and sort 500 runes. Display cases for statues, snowglobes, cards or a combination of any of these things. Weapon racks that you could actually store weapons in. Lots of possibilities. They are just touching the surface of what can be done.

I think Theo_GL said it best:

"Chalk it up to a long list of 'good idea - bad implementation'...

Gems...
Recipes....
Heartwood quests...
Library Turn ins.."

However the devs have recently made new use of old items. I really like that. We have so many things in this game that do not have much purpose. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see them add new content that builds off old content. It adds depth to the game and makes it so much more robust.

 

[Uvtha]

its just that its a putting together of two things we already have you know? Carpenters can make book shelves with wood... but they need a special super rare ingrediant to make one that...will hold books.

Its just silly. Sillier than rare rock or horse crap if you ask me.

 

[Wenchkin]

its just that its a putting together of two things we already have you know? Carpenters can make book shelves with wood... but they need a special super rare ingrediant to make one that...will hold books.

Its just silly. Sillier than rare rock or horse crap if you ask me.

QFT

Normally if someone wants a full bookshelf they just use normal books and put them on the shelf. This is the first time I've encountered a bookshelf which has its' own ideas about what sort of books are suitable...

"Thou present me with romantic light fantasy novels? Begone! Stack them in the corner, wretch!"

Most troublesome furniture....ever!

Wenchy

 

[Elthairen]

Heya folks. Thought I'd put my two cents in here on this conversation as it piqued my interest.

I agree with folks that it's a crappy way to implement an item as mundane as full bookshelves. It sucks. It's annoying, and it is almost certainly a rather underhanded marketing strategy. But I don't fault EA for doing, it and I will be buying the items when they come out. Likely multiple items.

Reason being this. UO doesn't have the player base to support itself on subscription revenue alone anymore. Hasn't for a long time. It's marketing strategies like this that have kept this game afloat for years after it should have died. Even with these marketing strategies, this game is on the verge of being written off. If you have any doubts of this, read the second paragraph of this post.

http://www.uoherald.com/news/news.php?newsid=476

The game is doing poorly enough, financially, that the dev's feel the need to let us know that EA approved them moving forward with their plans. That's saying something.

You will most likely say that they could have used some other item, or something cooler, or more useful and you are 100% correct. They could have. But what they do, on that end, is look at our feedback. They look at what we scream and yell and cry for the most and they really do base many of their ideas off of that. It may not always seem that way, but they're not stupid either. They don't ignore us.

So, as much as it sucks, as annoying as it is, as much as we hate paying out cash for these things... If you like playing this game, and want to be able to keep playing this game.... I suggest you suck it up and buy the items. I know I will be.

 

[Crysta]

The game is doing poorly enough, financially, that the dev's feel the need to let us know that EA approved them moving forward with their plans. That's saying something.

Actually that letter was written a day or so after EA made an announcement of major project and jobs cuts due to lower than expected earnings. It was made to inform the players UO wasn't one of those being cut.

 

[Fink]

I'm not sure I'm understanding where this second spawn is. If I was in the right building, all I could see in there was rooms with beds?

That's the one. They should be visible and look like a bronze stack of Doom books. Bronze seems to be the replica colour du jour.

 

[Flora Green]

if it's easy, how can you place value on it?

i agree that it shouldn't be SO hard, but it can't be too easy either.

It's a BOOKCASE. It's not hard for me to go to Lowes, buy lumber and paint and make one. WTH is it so hard to have one, especially after literally YEARS of requesting them, in UO?

Not everything in this game is about making a ton of gold. Not every new thing that comes along should require a crafter to rely on a fighter to get the ingredients.

 

[Katlene]

damned scary place to wander in to just to steal a book pile

 

[Wenchkin]

So, as much as it sucks, as annoying as it is, as much as we hate paying out cash for these things... If you like playing this game, and want to be able to keep playing this game.... I suggest you suck it up and buy the items. I know I will be.

Thing is though, EA are running UO. If they're not making enough money from normal subs, it's down to EA alone to figure out why and correct it. We give feedback daily, we report bugs, cheats and the like. EA have to do the work. Or make it open source so we can get into the code lol. But while they're the developers and they pay the staff, EA have to come up with the goods or lose revenue when they suck. That's how you learn to do better.

It's not up to players to treat UO/EA like a charity case. If I screw up with my business, I don't get handouts - I get my arse in gear and work harder till I'm sorted out again. I'd suggest EA do the same before they charge RL $ for a book with shelves in. And right now I'd suggest players save their RL cash for more important things with our fragile economies, and not flush more into UO pixels.

Wenchy