UOHerald Stygian Abyss page : No info about new craftables ?

[popps]

I looked at the Stygian Abyss launch page on UOHerald at http://www.uoherald.com/stygianabyss/launch/index.php

and I was surprised to see no reference whatsoever about any new craftable.

What I can read lists :

- Three Alteration Tokens to transform current characters into Gargoyles
- Three Tokens to unlock one of five decorative
- Stygian Abyss mob boss statues
- Massive new Dungeon - The Stygian Abyss Features Include: Chamber of Virtue, Silver Sapling, Mad Magician Sutek, Cavern of Discarded
- 4 New Systems Mysticism, Throwing, Imbuing, Flight
- Additional systems include: Expansive Staining system, Battle Chicken breading
- 3 New Housing Wallsets
- 5 New Boss-Level Encounters
- New Race - Gargoyles
- New Massive land built for expanding content - Ter Mur
- Additional Encounter areas: Void Plague, City of Kings, Tomb of Kings, Human Underworld Dungeon
- 41 New Creature Types
- 35 New Armor Sets
- 37 Weapon Classes
- Music Soundtrack for Stygian Abyss
- 14 individual music tracks

I can't seem to find any reference to new craftables.
I then checked the "Find Out More" button which sends to the Stygian Abyss page and I looked for a "New craftables" link or anything which may hint to new craftables but found nothing. I found the following links "The Gargoyle Race", "Skills:, "The Lands", "Weapons", "Mobs", "FAQ".

As I said, no refecence to any new craftables.

I checked the FAQ hoping that some indication was in there and only there, aside from a note about "Exclusive Gargoyle craftable pet" I could find the following :

Will there be new crafting additions in the Stygian Abyss expansion other than Imbuing?

Yes. We have added new craftable furniture, house addons (such as a soulforge for Imbuing), weapons, armor, and other miscellaneous items (such as a musical instrument, a container, a painting, a sculpture, two different types of mirrors, etc.)

We've also extended the crafting system functionality for Masonry to allow for creating exceptional weapons and armor as well as enhancing or repairing them. We have created runic mallet and chisels, same colors and properties as their Blacksmithing counterparts. How players can acquire these new runic tools is still to be determined.

Glassblowing will have a couple weapons that can be crafted by players. They can also be exceptionally crafted and repaired

We are also currently working on an item alteration feature for some of the crafting menus that will allow a player to take Human or Elf weapons and armor and alter them into their Gargoyle equivalents.

No reference whatsoever about either Scroll Binders nor Soulstone Fragments.

Anything to worry about ?

 

[Petra Fyde]

no.
check under the playguide, Stygian Abyss heading.

Documenting everything takes time, and there are other calls on people's time. Chrissay is doing the playguide info as fast as she can, just as I'm doing my best to get stuff documented for Stratics, but there's an awful lot of it.
I've been concentrating on the Hunter's guide this past couple of weeks, you can see the results if you look at the menus.
I'll do the rest as fast as I can, but unless/until someone pays me to work on it 8 hours per day you'll have to put up with me doing other things in between and working on it when I'm in the mood - that's what 'volunteers' do.

 

[popps]

no.
check under the playguide, Stygian Abyss heading.

Documenting everything takes time, and there are other calls on people's time. Chrissay is doing the playguide info as fast as she can, just as I'm doing my best to get stuff documented for Stratics, but there's an awful lot of it.
I've been concentrating on the Hunter's guide this past couple of weeks, you can see the results if you look at the menus.
I'll do the rest as fast as I can, but unless/until someone pays me to work on it 8 hours per day you'll have to put up with me doing other things in between and working on it when I'm in the mood - that's what 'volunteers' do.

I was not referring to Stratics' pages that are maintained by volunteers, I was referring to the UOHerald official pages.

I just was thinking that perhaps on the official game owners pages the informations about new craftables in an expansion being promoted should be more visible and readily viewable by perspective buyers.

They shouldn't ?

I mean, a lot of other things are listed like new MOBs, skills etc, but new craftables are only (and just partially) listed in the FAQ.

Perhaps some more visibility about the new craftables "could" help promote the new expansion sales ?

Just wondering........

 

[Tina Small]

You had a wonderful chance to find out about most of the new craftables during the open beta, popps. All you had to do was log on to Retribution, make a new character of any race, say "Give resources," walk up to a bank, open your bankbox, take out a few tools, click on them and go through the crafting gumps. Would have taken you all of about three minutes to start satisfying your curiosity.

 

[kalzaketh]

petra, there is an older saying for volunteers to live by no hurry, no worry, life goes onuntil the end.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Look around at other games, the bits they promote are the bits the marketing guys feel are most 'exciting'. I guess EA's marketing folk don't consider crafting 'exciting'
There is something for every crafting skill. I'll update our skill pages as fast as I'm able after NDA lifts.

 

[popps]

You had a wonderful chance to find out about most of the new craftables during the open beta, popps. All you had to do was log on to Retribution, make a new character of any race, say "Give resources," walk up to a bank, open your bankbox, take out a few tools, click on them and go through the crafting gumps. Would have taken you all of about three minutes to start satisfying your curiosity.

Uhu ?

I was NOT asking about it for my personal convenience, but because I happen to think that making that information more readily visible, particularly on the LAUNCH page, "might" get more perspective buyers interested in the expansion and so gain more new players to Ultima Online.

CAN'T IT BE POSSIBLE THAT IF I BRING UP AN ISSUE IT MIGHT NOT BE FOR NECESSARILY MY PERSONAL CONVENIENCY??

I am really having enough of this that whatever I may bring up is looked at as if wanted who knows what advantage in the game......

Can I also happen to think issues for the better sake of the game, perhaps????

 

[Saunders]

Most exciting possibility is this: Battle Chicken breading.
I wonder if it is a new cooking craftable...
Mmm... Kentucky fried battle chicken!

 

[popps]

Look around at other games, the bits they promote are the bits the marketing guys feel are most 'exciting'. I guess EA's marketing folk don't consider crafting 'exciting'
There is something for every crafting skill. I'll update our skill pages as fast as I'm able after NDA lifts.

Nonetheless, even if the marketing guys feel that crafting is not exciting I find it very strange that the official LAUNCH page makes no reference WHATSOEVER to any new craftabilities in the game.

Adding a few lines to list them would have hurt the launch of the expansion or perhaps helped sell a few more copies ?

 

[Petra Fyde]

I suppose they could have included a mention of Staining and Basket Weaving, two complete additions to cooking/alchemy and tinkering, but they couldn't list every new craftable. Here's the list just for Alchemy and Glass blowing:

Skill    Heading        Item    Skill level    Resource
Alchemy    Heal        Elixir of rebirth        65    Medusa Blood, spider silk
               Poison        Scouring Toxin        75    Toxic Venom Sac
               Earthen Mixtures    Plant Pigment    75    Plant clippings
                              Natural Dye    75    Plant Pigment, Color Fixative
                              Color Fixative    75    Silver Serpent Venom, Wine
                              Crystal granules    75    Shimmering Crystals
                              Crystal Dust    75    Broken Crystals
                              Softened Reeds    75    Dry reeds, scouring toxin
Glass BlowingMiscellaneous    Ter Mur style floor mirror    75    20 sand
                                        Ter Mur style wall mirror    70    10 sand
                                        Soulstone fragment        70    2 Crystal Granules, 2 void essence
                                        Empty venom vial    52.5    1 sand
    Glass Weapons                Glass Sword    55    14 sand
                                        Glass Staff    53.6    10 sand

sorry, vb boards simply don't do tables.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Is UOStratics UO.com? NO! Send in a feedback to UO.com on thier web site. If you want to inform people of the crafting abiltiy of the new race then write a post on the new ability and stop bashing UO.Com every little chance you get. If I had as many complaints about a game as you do, the first thing I would do is log onto the Acc. page and cancel all my accounts. 11+ years and going.

 

[popps]

Is UOStratics UO.com? NO! Send in a feedback to UO.com on thier web site.

Why ?

http://www.uo.com/newplayer/newplayer03.html

1. Read the forums and ask questions there. Experienced players enjoy sharing their knowledge. (note: The official UO forums are located at uo.stratics.com.)

 

[Lord Frodo]

Is UOStratics UO.com? NO! Send in a feedback to UO.com on thier web site.

Why ?

http://www.uo.com/newplayer/newplayer03.html

1. Read the forums and ask questions there. Experienced players enjoy sharing their knowledge. (note: The official UO forums are located at uo.stratics.com.)

It says ask questions, not whine. It says experienced players enjoy sharing their knowledge, so share and stop picking everything apart or do you have any to share.

 

[Wenchkin]

Popps, if you have some feedback to give EA about a deficiency you find in their website, their feedback form is the best place to go. It's there specifically for that purpose. The same as if you want to ask a question or report bugs.

This is also the weekend, so if it were me, I'd have gone straight to uo.com and filled in the form rather than post on a fan site and hope someone from EA was spending their weekend on UHall.

Wenchy

 

[popps]

Popps, if you have some feedback to give EA about a deficiency you find in their website, their feedback form is the best place to go. It's there specifically for that purpose. The same as if you want to ask a question or report bugs.

This is also the weekend, so if it were me, I'd have gone straight to uo.com and filled in the form rather than post on a fan site and hope someone from EA was spending their weekend on UHall.

Wenchy

May I then ask what is the intended purpose of any official game Forum if not providing a direct link between players and the official representatives of the game ?

 

[Tina Small]

I believe Jeremy made it somewhat clear here (http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=844129&postcount=9) last year that Stratics at some point lost its status as the official forum for UO. I'm afraid you'll have to do your own digging if you want to discover when and why it happened.

If you want to complain about information in the official Playguide being outdated or incorrect, use the feedback form to let Chrissay know.

 

[popps]

I believe Jeremy made it somewhat clear here (http://vboards.stratics.com/showpost.php?p=844129&postcount=9) last year that Stratics at some point lost its status as the official forum for UO. I'm afraid you'll have to do your own digging if you want to discover when and why it happened.

If you want to complain about information in the official Playguide being outdated or incorrect, use the feedback form to let Chrissay know.

Hmmm... then why this information is not clearly visible at the top of the Stratics Forums ?

I mean, the game has returning players who not necessarily may know what happened in between they were away from the game and when they resumed their playing, and they might still remember that after the closing of the official UO.COM Forums the Stratics' Forums became the official Forums for the game.

If this is no longer the case, then where are the official game Forums ?

I mean, most if not all of the major games out there have official Forums. I would imagine that also Ultima Online had them. This, especially since for most of its 12 years life it had them....

Before it was UO.COM Forums, then Stratics' Forums and now ??

 

[Wenchkin]

Popps, surely you understand that sending in feedback directly to the relevant parties is going to work better than hoping they log on at a weekend and check the forums?

The forums suit discussions between other players where the devs may see them and join in. But if your purpose is to say "you need to add this to your website" then why put it on a busy forum where you risk the devs missing it entirely? I'd say you're better off landing a message in the relevant email box where it will be read. Or cover both *shrug*

It's basically a case of using the most appropriate means of communication based on what you want to say and understanding the limitations of each method.

Wenchy

 

[Petra Fyde]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we lost the 'official' status soon after Mythic took control of UO. Someone at Mythic decided there was no need for an 'official' forum board. More recently a 'fan site' program was introduced. Stratics duly applied for, and was awarded, fan site status, along with several other sites.

If my predecessors have inadvertantly left in place any claim to being the 'official board' for UO please point it out to me and I will rectify the situation.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Documenting everything takes time, and there are other calls on people's time. Chrissay is doing the playguide info as fast as she can, just as I'm doing my best to get stuff documented for Stratics, but there's an awful lot of it.

Popps, you were answered 100% with Petra's statement.

What it all boils down to...

SA is a new expansion with new ideas and concepts, which are just that until the game is finalized AND out of beta. With respect to that idea, it is difficult to document the unknown. Chrissay has to juggle a lot of information and if she isnt careful...misinformation could be passed on.

 

[popps]

SA is a new expansion with new ideas and concepts, which are just that until the game is finalized AND out of beta. With respect to that idea, it is difficult to document the unknown. Chrissay has to juggle a lot of information and if she isnt careful...misinformation could be passed on.

Perhaps I was not clear enough in my previous post where I answered to Petra.

I was NOT referring to Stratics description pages about Stygian Abyss, I was referring to the UOHerald pages which, suppesedly, contain informations to promote the sales of the new expansion.

I found it odd that they contained nothing about New craftables in the LAUNCH page and only a little generic informations (no mention of scroll binders nor soulstone fragments, for example) in the FAQ.

I imagined that more visible information about the new craftables "could" possibly be of help to conquer to the game more players interested in THAT sector of game play....

 

[popps]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we lost the 'official' status soon after Mythic took control of UO. Someone at Mythic decided there was no need for an 'official' forum board. More recently a 'fan site' program was introduced. Stratics duly applied for, and was awarded, fan site status, along with several other sites.

If my predecessors have inadvertantly left in place any claim to being the 'official board' for UO please point it out to me and I will rectify the situation.

A returning player, having been away for a while and out of touch of what happened in the meantime, might possibly have memories of Stratics being the official game Forums since when the UO.COM Forums were closed, and depending on when the player stopped playing.

If this status at some point was discontinued and it happened while the player was away, upon returning to playing Ultima Online the returning player might not necessarily know that the Stratics Forums no longer have the Status of Official Game Forums.

So, I would imagine, rather then looking for where it may be still indicated that the Forums are the game official forums, I would imagine that it could be more helpfull to a returning player remembering that status, an indication visible on Statics Forums, perhaps, that this is no longer the case .

At least, that is my opnion about it.

By the way, the Official Game Forums have been moved elsewhere or the game no longer has any Official Forums ?

If the latter is the case it surprises me a whole lot since several similar games out there do have official forums connecting players and game officials and Ultima Online had them for many years. It would surprise me a lot to learn that this game no longer has any official forums anywhere.

Doesn't Warhammer Online, a Mythic Entertainment game, have official Forums for example ?

 

[Connor_Graham]

Most exciting possibility is this: Battle Chicken breading.
I wonder if it is a new cooking craftable...
Mmm... Kentucky fried battle chicken!

Nah, that's KFC trying to combine WWF and Nascar together in UO. We're going to have racing fried battle chicken chariot races now!

 

[Shelleybean]

Things change a lot during beta and it would probably be very time consuming for them to list all the new craftables and then constantly revise the information until they get the finished product. I think they also want players to discover some things on their own have a bit of mystery. I'm sure that the player guide will be updated in time with more information about Stygian Abyss.

 

[Uvtha]

- 35 New Armor Sets
- 37 Weapon Classes

I think that qualifies.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Perhaps I was not clear enough in my previous post where I answered to Petra.

I was NOT referring to Stratics description pages about Stygian Abyss, I was referring to the UOHerald pages which, suppesedly, contain informations to promote the sales of the new expansion.

I found it odd that they contained nothing about New craftables in the LAUNCH page and only a little generic informations (no mention of scroll binders nor soulstone fragments, for example) in the FAQ.

I imagined that more visible information about the new craftables "could" possibly be of help to conquer to the game more players interested in THAT sector of game play....

The point was clearly stated by her and indeed pertained to the information found on the UO Harold. Crissay works for EA, no UOstratics.

Again, point is still the same. Reread for clarity Mr. Obvious.

Edit: One more thing...

THE DAMN GAME HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED YET!

 

[popps]

I think that qualifies.

How so ?

They could be loot drops, nowhere it says they will be from craftables and not loot drops.

There is plenty items in the game which exist and yet, they are not craftables and come as loot drops.

At least, that is how I see it.

 

[popps]

THE DAMN GAME HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED YET!

Indeed......

But to that purpose, ain't the LAUNCH official page intended to provide informations to perspective buyers who, READING its content, "might" develop an interest in buying the expansion ?

Now, if the list does not consider new craftables, couldn't possibly perspective buyers interested in THAT aspect of the game (crafting, that is) loose interest in the new expansion not reading anything that pertains to their interest in how to spend their time in the game ?

Since the LAUNCH list supposedly is intended at promoting interest I found it ODD that reference in regards to new craftables might not be clearly visible there.

Is that so strange ?

 

[Tina Small]

Indeed......

But to that purpose, ain't the LAUNCH official page intended to provide informations to perspective buyers who, READING its content, "might" develop an interest in buying the expansion ?

Now, if the list does not consider new craftables, couldn't possibly perspective buyers interested in THAT aspect of the game (crafting, that is) loose interest in the new expansion not reading anything that pertains to their interest in how to spend their time in the game ?

Since the LAUNCH list supposedly is intended at promoting interest I found it ODD that reference in regards to new craftables might not be clearly visible there.

Is that so strange ?

I believe the launch page also mentioned the open beta period, which allowed prospective buyers to actually log on, peruse the crafting gumps, and actually try their hand at making the new craftables. Can't beat that.

And if you had bothered to look, several new craftables, ones likely to be of interest to many players, were described in detail in the official Playguide on the www.uo.com website under the Stygian Abyss heading DURING the open beta so people had a great chance to read sufficient information to go try them out. They included Basket Weaving, Scroll Binders, and Staining. Also described were Custom Carpets (quest-based system to obtain custom carpeting) and Imbuing (skill-based system to create customized gear.)

The information is still there, popps. Anyone who is thinking about purchasing the SA expansion only has to meander through four lines of the Playguide to find the Stygian Abyss heading and then use the drop down list to read more about these things.

 

[Tina Small]

Something else for you to read, popps:

http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=103142.

 

[popps]

I had no knowledge of that article.

Though, I get even more confused after reading it because then I do not understand these http://warhammervault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=50143

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/index.php?

Official Forums no, or official forums yes ?

My head spins from the confusion of this all as well as I cannot understand, as a Ultima Online player, the lack of Official game Forums ...........

 

[Viper09]

Popps, surely you understand that sending in feedback directly to the relevant parties is going to work better than hoping they log on at a weekend and check the forums?

The forums suit discussions between other players where the devs may see them and join in. But if your purpose is to say "you need to add this to your website" then why put it on a busy forum where you risk the devs missing it entirely? I'd say you're better off landing a message in the relevant email box where it will be read. Or cover both *shrug*

It's basically a case of using the most appropriate means of communication based on what you want to say and understanding the limitations of each method.

Wenchy

The day he understands this is hopefully the day he stops posting his complaints here. Let's pray.

 

[Tina Small]

The interview with Mark Jacobs I linked to is dated in September 2008. The official Mythic Warhammer forum opened in February 2009. Was it created as a trial or in reaction to angry backlash from the interview? Who knows.

By the way, I believe Mark Jacobs left Mythic in June when they went through yet another merger. Does that mean UO will ever get an official forum? Who knows. I'm sure it's something that the UO team probably didn't want to spend a lot of time thinking about as they worked to finish up the SA expansion. I guess time will tell if official communication efforts on UO will see any change in the near future. Finance/budget issues may be such that they can't really afford to launch an official forum until/if they see that the expansion is a hit.

 

[Lord Frodo]

I had no knowledge of that article.

Though, I get even more confused after reading it because then I do not understand these http://warhammervault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=50143

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/index.php?

Official Forums no, or official forums yes ?

My head spins from the confusion of this all as well as I cannot understand, as a Ultima Online player, the lack of Official game Forums ...........

So Mythic owns Daoc and Warhammer. There were forums supporting Daoc that their people posted on them regulary but was probley never an offical forum. I guess that Mythic decided to go with an offical forum with Warhammer. That was made by them, Mythic.
1 The decision to develop Dark Age of Camelot was made in late 1999
2 The Warhammer Online license was acquired by Mythic on May 18, 2005
This was all done before UO acquired Mythic and the forums were already in place.

Not sure what time frame but the official UOForum was closed or why, so people started using UOStratics more and more. UOStratics became UO’s unofficial official forum and UO staff posted on UOStratics.

Redwood City, CA, June 20, 2006 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Virginia-based Mythic Entertainment®.

EA allows Mythic to keep DAoC and Warhammer running like it always has. Mythic takes over UO and Mythic left UOStratics as the official/unofficial forum for UO. Just like DAoC they post on UOStratics too, but I don’t think UOStatics was ever named by EA as being the official forum for UO. So the link you provided is worthless because that was done before EA acquired Mythic.

 

[Uvtha]

How so ?

They could be loot drops, nowhere it says they will be from craftables and not loot drops.

There is plenty items in the game which exist and yet, they are not craftables and come as loot drops.

At least, that is how I see it.

There are very few items types that cant be crafted.

 

[popps]

The interview with Mark Jacobs I linked to is dated in September 2008. The official Mythic Warhammer forum opened in February 2009. Was it created as a trial or in reaction to angry backlash from the interview? Who knows.

By the way, I believe Mark Jacobs left Mythic in June when they went through yet another merger. Does that mean UO will ever get an official forum? Who knows. I'm sure it's something that the UO team probably didn't want to spend a lot of time thinking about as they worked to finish up the SA expansion. I guess time will tell if official communication efforts on UO will see any change in the near future. Finance/budget issues may be such that they can't really afford to launch an official forum until/if they see that the expansion is a hit.

Well, thing is, that as an Ultima Online player and paying customer it does not reassure me to see Warhammer Online have its official Forums and Ultima Online not.

It gets me wonder why of the difference.......

It certainly does not please me nor reassure me about the game I am playing...

 

[Wenchkin]

If it's that important to you Popps, go play Warhammer instead. It's not as if anyone is forcing you to play UO. Given your constant complaints about the least little thing, perhaps it would suit you better to find something more satisfying.

Wenchy

 

[MalagAste]

You know the reason why?

It took them 2 years to get this far.... Doing what???

Well they are still all scratching their heads for over a year trying to figure out why NO ONE liked the art in KR... And scrapping all the ugly art they did for SA because it looked every bit as bad as KR...

 

[canary]

I will say in 2 years development time (which actually was longer, as SA was supposed to be released shortly after KR) there isn't a lot in SA to really make me want to purchase. In fact, I won't be purchasing it, and judging from reactions on here and elsewhere, I am not the only one.

Insult to injury for the lack of a polished, ready client to be added to the mix, as well. SA is very much a lateral move for the client, not a full on step forward.

 

[Borric]

I am still looking for the the new systems in SA that required ore/wood to be randomized.