Treasures of Ricardo, Day 8 {Spoiler}

[RaDian FlGith]

Head to Honor... head southwestish to the Ratman Fort there... it's in the northeast corner, outside of the fort, but within the boundary of the walls.

Thanks to Martyna for finding it... I'd been there but apparently ran all over the place. hehe

At any rate, easiest way there is any moongate to Ilshenar: Honor.

Enjoy!


Clue for today...
I thought about fixing up this big old keep in Ilshenar, but I figured my x-wife would just take it.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Day 8 Tome Text...



Me Research, Volume 8
by Ricardo

I, Ricardo, discoverer of secrets, finder of lost things, master thief extraordinaire, have discovered a most rare and disturbing tale about the crystal.

It seems that it won't be letting me be in two places at once in Trammel, which is disappointing.

However, it is a bridge between any two shards.

Here be where it gets interesting... it can duplicate anything from any shard to another shard with the right words o'power.

It seems that the great Nystul, royal mage to Lord British, used it to copy the land in the shard that we now call Felucca onto the shard that we now call Trammel.

I find meself considerin' what might have been in that shard before Trammel.

I could not discover this secret, and it is but trivia to one who only seeks to steal it, but I can't help but wonder if Nystul knew what he destroyed to build his haven.

 

[Gelf]

lol that was the second place i checked, musta went over that area 3-4 times and didn't see it(probally movin to fast or underneath a corpse).

 

[Petra Fyde]

That seems to be misuse of what we understand by 'shard'. Trammel and Felucca are 'facets'.

 

[Bazer]

wow again, ty vm

 

[RaDian FlGith]

That seems to be misuse of what we understand by 'shard'. Trammel and Felucca are 'facets'.

Actually, if I'm reading correctly... the implication is that Trammel was "created" by duplicating it from another shard.

The further implication in Ricardo's notes is that perhaps the copy overwrote something else.

In fact... the implication is rather dire.


Actually, sorry... I just saw what you were referring to.

Ricardo: I thought about fixing up this big old keep in Ilshenar, but I figured my x-wife would just take it.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say... "Bad writing."

 

[Lord Chaos]

The rest of the text could be saved by some explaination, but this can't:

the shard that we now call Felucca onto the shard that we now call Trammel.

Thats one major mess-up. But you know, he could just have had a brain fart when writing it and mixed up facet and shard, it happens. Its not the end of the world.

It could also be that Ricardo, being insane, mixed up the two terms himself.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Thats one major mess-up. But you know, he could just have had a brain fart when writing it and mixed up facet and shard, it happens. Its not the end of the world.

It could also be that Ricardo, being insane, mixed up the two terms himself.

It could explained away any number of ways, but frankly, it doesn't need to be explained away.

In truth, the issue is that this stuff is being put together by one person and not being proofread, checked, verified, or anything else before it goes out the door.

Someone should be checking for accuracy. I'm not saying this to be mean, but simply to say that the game deserves better quality than this.

 

[Anrymeel]

Head to Honor... head southwestish to the Ratman Fort there... it's in the northeast corner, outside of the fort, but within the boundary of the walls.

Thanks to Martyna for finding it... I'd been there but apparently ran all over the place. hehe

At any rate, easiest way there is any moongate to Ilshenar: Honor.

Enjoy!


Clue for today...
I thought about fixing up this big old keep in Ilshenar, but I figured my x-wife would just take it.

for some reason it wont show up for me in Ilshenar/honor???? very long wait and then someone else got it :{

 

[Jasonleebeck]

And my red is supposed to get there how?

 

[RaDian FlGith]

for some reason it wont show up for me in Ilshenar/honor???? very long wait and then someone else got it :{

If you can't see it, run away and run back... the books -- all of them -- can be very in and out at times.

On top of that, make sure your lantern is both equipped, AND lit. If it won't light, fill it with a flask of oil from any provisioner.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

And my red is supposed to get there how?

Apparently, just like yesterday, he's not.

 

[Vertigo]

And my red is supposed to get there how?

 

[Basara]

there's no "someone else got it"; it's always there. Just go back and forth with the lit lamp in hand and eventually it will become visible. You may have to go outside the normal lit range and back in to get it to show.

The Lost Lands book had the same issue of disappearing and reappearing.


As for the Shard/facet mix-up, do the average non-omniscient character in the game (NPCs) really know the difference? For example, without context, does a typical Pacific Islander not in the Marianas, Guam or Hawaii (where they are likely to have US history & geography classes) know the difference between Georgia the US state & Georgia the nation?

Truthfully, considering just HOW different the other facets are from Tram/Fel, Ricardo brings up an interesting potential blockbuster. What IF Trammel wasn't originally a facet, but ANOTHER (NPC-only) SHARD, that the magic of the Crystal of Duplicity ALTERED INTO A FACET - and what happened to the original occupants? And, if so, what evils would those who did it unwittingly be responsible for, if Trammel was born by effectively overwriting another Felucca-only shard? After all, the crystal was Minax's, and she was hardly all sweetness & light.

Don't be so quick to dismiss what might seem as an obvious error. There could be much more sinister truths yet revealed. And, frankly, the tpye of incident would fall in quite well with Ultima (non-UO) lore, and explain in-game why Lord British chose exile, rather than resuming the throne, because in gathering the shards of the gem of immortality, he found out the horrible truth of what he'd done in creating Trammel. And, that itself, might explain why the TB faction will disintegrate in the new system, once they realize what LB & his mages really did...

 

[Bazer]

with the mentioning of Tramell, makes me wonder how Siege Perilous will turn out

 

[Basara]

Exactly. IF the Crystal of Duplicity manipulates SHARDS, then you'll get a restored Magincia sucked in from some other (possibly dead at the hands of Minax or the SL) NPC shard, on Siege.

And, that makes the fiction work better, than simply saying "facet".

 

[Bullseye_of_Atl]

My first trip to the ratman holiday inn, I see something I found quite odd............Someone, a female, forget her name.....gated in to ratman area. I know we can't mark in Ilish, so, anyone know what gives??...a bug maybe or exploit? Or a pre AoS rune??

 

[Petra Fyde]

no idea, not pre AoS, you've never been able to gate into that area to the best of my knowledge. I don't suppose your journal still shows the name?

 

[Bullseye_of_Atl]

no idea, not pre AoS, you've never been able to gate into that area to the best of my knowledge. I don't suppose your journal still shows the name?

I logged off already, and went through 11 characters after I saw that, ...unless there's a journal stashed in the program files, I really can't say.

I never did know how to save a journal.

 

[Petra Fyde]

That's a 'no' then.
While my knowledge of the game isn't total, it's not insubstantial either. I know of no legal way that gating into anywhere in Ilshenar can be done.

 

[Trevelyan]

So Siege is getting Tram now?

Woo!

 

[Czernobog]

So Siege is getting Tram now?

Woo!

Boo!

:gun:

Never trust the ramblings of a drunken thief!! They lie constantly

 

[RaDian FlGith]

As for the Shard/facet mix-up, do the average non-omniscient character in the game (NPCs) really know the difference? For example, without context, does a typical Pacific Islander not in the Marianas, Guam or Hawaii (where they are likely to have US history & geography classes) know the difference between Georgia the US state & Georgia the nation?

Excepting, of course, that there's in-game fiction and have been in-game events surrounding these very definitions.

Does the "average NPC" know these things? Perhaps not.

Are we now reducing Ricardo to "average NPC" status?

Truthfully, considering just HOW different the other facets are from Tram/Fel, Ricardo brings up an interesting potential blockbuster. What IF Trammel wasn't originally a facet, but ANOTHER (NPC-only) SHARD, that the magic of the Crystal of Duplicity ALTERED INTO A FACET - and what happened to the original occupants? And, if so, what evils would those who did it unwittingly be responsible for, if Trammel was born by effectively overwriting another Felucca-only shard? After all, the crystal was Minax's, and she was hardly all sweetness & light.

No offense, but that doesn't make any sense. What you're saying might have happened is that the Crystal of Duplicity did was take another shard of the Gem of Immortality and magically superglued it onto our shard. If that's what the fiction turns out to be... I'll be extremely disappointed.

I get that the idea is Trammel may have overwritten something on a different "facet" that was already there. That Nystul took our Felucca and said "whamo" and there was Trammel. That makes sense to me because it's in the confines of our shard of the gem of immortality. Even if we expand that definition to Nystul used one of the shards of the gem of immortality that recursively existed within our own shard of the gem of immortality, and extracted a Felucca from that and placed it into the facet that became Trammel, it is all still within our shard.

To take it to the level of two shards merging... well... unless they need a fictional (and poorly conceived) reason for closing down some of the less populated shards, it doesn't make any sense in the context in which it's written.

Don't be so quick to dismiss what might seem as an obvious error. There could be much more sinister truths yet revealed. And, frankly, the tpye of incident would fall in quite well with Ultima (non-UO) lore, and explain in-game why Lord British chose exile, rather than resuming the throne, because in gathering the shards of the gem of immortality, he found out the horrible truth of what he'd done in creating Trammel. And, that itself, might explain why the TB faction will disintegrate in the new system, once they realize what LB & his mages really did...

Could be... but it's still an obvious error. I'm not dismissing the potential plotlines that could come of this... they are actually rather intriguing.

What I am dismissing is the confusion of the term "shard" and "facet."

 

[RaDian FlGith]

So Siege is getting Tram now?

Woo!

As usual, fiction written for the rest of the game falls short on Siege. Ya'all must be standing around, in-character (*snickers*), thinking, "What is this Trammel that thou speaketh of? Didst something happeneth toist our moonth?"

 

[AirmidCecht]

Once again we are talking about writing the history of Ultima Online with each event that happens in game. This means giving due respect to the history already in place as we move forward.

Can't the EMs take a pass at these events before released to the public? I would think there is enough knowledge there to pull from who can act as editors of content with feedback and corrections.

Perty please?
With sugga?

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Cant you all see were this is going...

In an attempt to merge the shards/facets of T and F back together...

A third facet is created. A classic facet on every server. No insurance, PvP, Stat Loss, Stealing... the glory days.

Sadly, no one will show up like the glory days because there is to much damn land mass everywhere.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Head to Honor... head southwestish to the Ratman Fort there... it's in the northeast corner, outside of the fort, but within the boundary of the walls.

Thanks to Martyna for finding it... I'd been there but apparently ran all over the place. hehe

At any rate, easiest way there is any moongate to Ilshenar: Honor.

Enjoy!


Clue for today...
I thought about fixing up this big old keep in Ilshenar, but I figured my x-wife would just take it.

Out of curiosity, how long after I gave up and went to bed did you all find it?

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I will raise the following hope.....

That Ricardo is wrong, that Nystul didn't destroy anything to build Trammel, and that the mixing up of the term "shard" and "facet" is a clue that Ricardo doesn't quite know what he's talking about.

Remember, this is the same guy who, when we managed to release him from the Terathans, decide he had to steal a sacred object from the Ophidians on his way out, thus causing the War of the Artificed Scion (the Ophidian Invasion) which caused hundreds or thousands of deaths. Now there's intelligence and gratitude.

Frankly, Casca's prosecution had a point. However, it was later shown that Casca's motives were less than pure, thus making Ricardo's prosecution the fruit of the poison tree, and necessitating its reversal.

The fact that Ricardo managed to wind up in jail again, so soon afterwards, speaks volumes about him.

Also remember that the established fiction now is that Ricardo, at some point along the way, lost his mind.

-Galen's player

Day 8 Tome Text...



Me Research, Volume 8
by Ricardo

I, Ricardo, discoverer of secrets, finder of lost things, master thief extraordinaire, have discovered a most rare and disturbing tale about the crystal.

It seems that it won't be letting me be in two places at once in Trammel, which is disappointing.

However, it is a bridge between any two shards.

Here be where it gets interesting... it can duplicate anything from any shard to another shard with the right words o'power.

It seems that the great Nystul, royal mage to Lord British, used it to copy the land in the shard that we now call Felucca onto the shard that we now call Trammel.

I find meself considerin' what might have been in that shard before Trammel.

I could not discover this secret, and it is but trivia to one who only seeks to steal it, but I can't help but wonder if Nystul knew what he destroyed to build his haven.

 

[Tina Small]

Also remember that the established fiction now is that Ricardo, at some point along the way, lost his mind.

Speaking of someone who lost their mind....

I wonder what will ever become of Inu? I believe she's still wandering around in Moonglow.

At one point, I could swear I read a story about her doing some translation work for Clainin before she went bonkers. However, when I tried to find that article later (I think it was a BNN news report), I could never find it. Does anyone else remember that, and if so, what happened to the document she was translating for Clainin? Also, did we ever learn what prompted Inu to start behaving so erraticly? Was it something she learned while doing the translation work for Clainin or perhaps someone who wanted to get their hands on that document?

And speaking of Clainin, I wonder when he's ever going to get up from the bed in Haven where he's been sprawled for oh so many months on Formosa, Balhae, and Arirang?

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Speaking of someone who lost their mind....

I wonder what will ever become of Inu? I believe she's still wandering around in Moonglow.

At one point, I could swear I read a story about her doing some translation work for Clainin before she went bonkers. However, when I tried to find that article later (I think it was a BNN news report), I could never find it. Does anyone else remember that, and if so, what happened to the document she was translating for Clainin? Also, did we ever learn what prompted Inu to start behaving so erraticly? Was it something she learned while doing the translation work for Clainin or perhaps someone who wanted to get their hands on that document?

And speaking of Clainin, I wonder when he's ever going to get up from the bed in Haven where he's been sprawled for oh so many months on Formosa, Balhae, and Arirang?

Here's the post you remember:

http://town.uo.com/bnn/article_521.html

It was awhile ago, Inu wasn't quite crazy yet, just mildly mad in the way that many such characters are.

I think the implication is that Inu went mad by "seeing" and "feeling" the ever-present attempts of the Shadowlords to enter the world, finally losing it completely some time ago, and now wandering Moonglow in a sorry, sorry state indeed.

But the similarities between Inu and Ricardo had occurred to me as well. So who knows.

-Galen's player

 

[AirmidCecht]

Is it just me who's wondering if these characters have a lil bit too much black"rock" in their possession? Perhaps the Skare Brae CC could host an AA night?

 

[Vercingitorix]

Cant you all see were this is going...

In an attempt to merge the shards/facets of T and F back together...

A third facet is created. A classic facet on every server. No insurance, PvP, Stat Loss, Stealing... the glory days.

Sadly, no one will show up like the glory days because there is to much damn land mass everywhere.

Now that would be interesting!

 

[LordDrago]

My first trip to the ratman holiday inn, I see something I found quite odd............Someone, a female, forget her name.....gated in to ratman area. I know we can't mark in Ilish, so, anyone know what gives??...a bug maybe or exploit? Or a pre AoS rune??

might it possibly have been either a GM, or mesanna gating in? Maybe they have superpowers.....

 

[LordDrago]

Wow, all this talk of facets and shards and such clicked onto some song lyrics in my head:

Two worlds collide
Rival nations
It's a primitive clash
Venting years of frustrations
Bravely we hope
Against all hope
There is so much at stake
Seems our freedom's up
Against the ropes
Does the crowd understand?
Is it East versus West
Or man against man
Can any nation stand alone

 

[Llewen]

So Siege is getting Tram now?

Woo!

Holy crap! What if they are making Siege into a regular shard, and then creating a classic shard?

(Note this is pure speculation and not meant to inflame the various parties of various belief systems, elven, dwarven (ya, I know, no dwarves), stygian, or otherwise. Nor is it meant to offend the purveyors of various occult practices such as chicken herding...).

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

My first trip to the ratman holiday inn, I see something I found quite odd............Someone, a female, forget her name.....gated in to ratman area. I know we can't mark in Ilish, so, anyone know what gives??...a bug maybe or exploit? Or a pre AoS rune??

EMs can open gates to Ilshenar now, so perhaps you saw someone exiting a gate they created. Which, if true, sets a bad precedent…

Out of curiosity, how long after I gave up and went to bed did you all find it?

About 5-10 mins. I started looking outside the structures any sane person wouldn't consider a ‘keep,’ and found it. And by ‘sane’ I don’t refer to Ricardo, but to the event’s author…

The fact that Ricardo managed to wind up in jail again, so soon afterwards, speaks volumes about him.

Uhm, sorry Galen, but no.. It speaks volumes about the event’s author not bothering to pay attention to prior fiction, and then blaming it on the event bible. Not bothering to actually READ the fiction released last year is unadulterated LAZINESS and nothing more.
I’m not willing to assign RP meaning to poor unresearched writing.

Also remember that the established fiction now is that Ricardo, at some point along the way, lost his mind.

*sigh* The fiction sucks all the more because of this. Without explanation, Ricardo’s random ‘madness’ is just more laziness on the part of the author. Why make the story complex, just make him ‘mad’!

Hell, Inu still wanders Moonglow spouting the same drivel she started THREE YEARS AGO.

These events, and the story arc in general, shows that UO needs a loremaster – someone who knows and respects UO history, Ultima history, and wants it to progress in interesting ways.

This piecemeal writer-of-the-month approach is how we’ve gotten to the sorry state of Official Fiction we see now. So many plots left unfinished, history forgotten, etc. It’s disgraceful.

This event, while giving us something to do, is shoddy at best. Poorly thought out, rife with errors and inconsistencies, obviously untested, and now two of the books are places parts of the playerbase cannot go…

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

now two of the books are places parts of the playerbase cannot go…

The portions you're talking about have not been subtle that they don't care that much about events, and in fact have openly harassed and ridiculed the players that do.

By itself, this issue alone wouldn't be an issue at all.

For the rest of your post, I'd agree that much of what I wrote was more hope than anything.

*sighs*

-Galen's player

 

[Bullseye_of_Atl]

EMs can open gates to Ilshenar now, so perhaps you saw someone exiting a gate they created. Which, if true, sets a bad precedent…



About 5-10 mins. I started looking outside the structures any sane person wouldn't consider a ‘keep,’ and found it. And by ‘sane’ I don’t refer to Ricardo, but to the event’s author…


Uhm, sorry Galen, but no.. It speaks volumes about the event’s author not bothering to pay attention to prior fiction, and then blaming it on the event bible. Not bothering to actually READ the fiction released last year is unadulterated LAZINESS and nothing more.
I’m not willing to assign RP meaning to poor unresearched writing.


*sigh* The fiction sucks all the more because of this. Without explanation, Ricardo’s random ‘madness’ is just more laziness on the part of the author. Why make the story complex, just make him ‘mad’!

Hell, Inu still wanders Moonglow spouting the same drivel she started THREE YEARS AGO.

These events, and the story arc in general, shows that UO needs a loremaster – someone who knows and respects UO history, Ultima history, and wants it to progress in interesting ways.

This piecemeal writer-of-the-month approach is how we’ve gotten to the sorry state of Official Fiction we see now. So many plots left unfinished, history forgotten, etc. It’s disgraceful.

This event, while giving us something to do, is shoddy at best. Poorly thought out, rife with errors and inconsistencies, obviously untested, and now two of the books are places parts of the playerbase cannot go…

You know what I was thinking, I probably saw someone that had gated out, and someone used it to come in. I don't remember if it was there when I showed up or not, but, it's the only thing that makes sense.

Though, I have seen stranger things in UO. That purple llama's still a headscratcher.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

You can't mark or recall into Ilshenar, nor can you cast a gate into or out of the facet. Only ones who can are the EMs...

 

[Trevelyan]

To be honest, it does actually sound something like a pre-tram classic shard

This talk of transfers with a spell, the wondering what was before Trammel, etc.. seems clear to me!

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Wow. The classic shard lovers will grasp at any straw, no matter how pathetic…

 

[sablestorm]

You can't mark or recall into Ilshenar, nor can you cast a gate into or out of the facet. Only ones who can are the EMs...

You can't, but I heard rumors about some people who figured out how to mark in Ilshenar. This was a year or two ago and they never elaborated when pressed, so I'm not sure it was valid or they merely wanted to keep the secret to themselves to prevent it from being coded out of existence.

 

[Llewen]

Wow. The classic shard lovers will grasp at any straw, no matter how pathetic…

Hey, I was the one that saw that in the message, and most of the "classic shard lovers" don't like me much...

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

You can gate FROM Ilshenar, not to it... might be what happened.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I see three possibilities in the book writing:

1. Connecting the shards together (i.e. like the RvR ideas). Probability: Doubtful given the issues of shard xfers and the fact that you have to pay for them.

2. Classic Shard with character transfer. Probability: Again doubtful unless they somehow COMPLETELY CHANGE how the items people wear when they make the jump work.

3. Restoring Magincia. Probability: Likely, although kind of a let down as I was expecting a more Humility-based New Magincia as was hinted at... nbut then again, that was the PRIOR dev team and this is the current tean trying to tie together God only knows how many dangling plotlines.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

...

You can gate FROM Ilshenar, not to it... might be what happened.

Please tell me where in Ilshenar you can cast a gate from?

If you try to cast Gate Travel you will always get the "You cannot teleport into that area." message.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Really? Then I'm probably mistaken. I knew TO Ilsh was a no-no... but thought that worked the same as Recall/SJ out of Ilsh... my mistake then.

 

[Anrymeel]

If you can't see it, run away and run back... the books -- all of them -- can be very in and out at times.

On top of that, make sure your lantern is both equipped, AND lit. If it won't light, fill it with a flask of oil from any provisioner.

lost a lamp on first quest - can still do the quest but dont have lamp on one char - and a robe and talisman are bugged still? with odd inscriptions on them????