[UO Herald] Producer's Update - May 2010

[UO News]

Hey all,


This is a prelude to topics that I’d like to cover in a more expansive letter this week:

• We’ll discuss house design and gozamats: History and future
• Current Status of Pub 66
• Event story arc and loopholes in the fiction – Giving EMs a chance to catch up before major Live Event
• Status of the 3rd party program detection – We are ready to implement and will let you know our plan of action for repeat offenders

Also, right now we are doing our best to get Pub 66 to Test Center .. hope to get you an update in the next 36 hours.


After Pub 66 initial we will have a follow up publish several weeks after as we couldn’t fit all of pub 66 in one palpable serving.

See you on the boards,
Calvin





More...

 

[Storm]

"Status of the 3rd party program detection – We are ready to implement and will let you know our plan of action for repeat offenders"

If this works there are going to be a lot of happy people and a lot of unhappy people!

personally glad to see it !

 

[Viper09]

"Status of the 3rd party program detection – We are ready to implement and will let you know our plan of action for repeat offenders"

yay!

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Any idea what's in Pub 66? It's been six weeks since Publish 65... Is it going to be another six weeks before Publish 67?

I wish there wasn't such fear of communicating -- on say, an "In Development" page -- what we could look forward to. I get that there's a fear of commitment because something might not make the cut or something might not get in before Publish 67 that was intended for Publish 66, but honestly, there must be a master plan of stuff going into each publish, and I hope it's being built more than one publish at a time.

Communication is a good thing. No one at Blizzard is looking to steal your ideas... and even if they do steal your ideas, it wouldn't be the first time in the industry that someone took an idea from someone else. Thing is, UO's pretty unique among the MMOs out there. Your biggest competition, really, is Star Wars Galaxies, and you get a lot more press than they do these days.

So share. Give us something to look forward to more than three days before it hits test center. I understand that you'll do some things with or without our opinion (gods, yes, do I know that after twelve and a half years)... but I liked the good old days of seeing what was coming down the pipeline.

People will grip if you're not working on what they want... they'll gripe before you post the list, after you post the list, before you publish, after you publish, and at all times anyway. That doesn't make communication with us bad.

So... throw caution to the wind. Bring us in the loop.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Dear Cal,

I don't want to be mean, as your update is an attempt at communication.. However, it does look very bad when you post this one day after a thread like this: http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=209383

We want more communication from the Dev Team, even it its just a small note every other day or so. Reactionary communication is never going to be taken well. If the p(l)ayers have to complain that you aren't communicating enough, please step up communication as a whole.

The 'Ask the Dev' forum is seen as a joke, and a bad one at that. Its barely utilized, and when it is the information given is usually either a non answer or addresses something extremely trivial (i.e. ink bottle question, sorry Mapper) Please, have someone spend an hour a week answering several questions - not the five minutes that has been expended in the last three weeks (thats unacceptable).

Since the death of FoF, and the layoffs last year, your subscribers have been starving for information about their game and its future.

 

[Viper09]

Any idea what's in Pub 66? It's been six weeks since Publish 65... Is it going to be another six weeks before Publish 67?

I wish there wasn't such fear of communicating -- on say, an "In Development" page -- what we could look forward to. I get that there's a fear of commitment because something might not make the cut or something might not get in before Publish 67 that was intended for Publish 66, but honestly, there must be a master plan of stuff going into each publish, and I hope it's being built more than one publish at a time.

Communication is a good thing. No one at Blizzard is looking to steal your ideas... and even if they do steal your ideas, it wouldn't be the first time in the industry that someone took an idea from someone else. Thing is, UO's pretty unique among the MMOs out there. Your biggest competition, really, is Star Wars Galaxies, and you get a lot more press than they do these days.

So share. Give us something to look forward to more than three days before it hits test center. I understand that you'll do some things with or without our opinion (gods, yes, do I know that after twelve and a half years)... but I liked the good old days of seeing what was coming down the pipeline.

People will grip if you're not working on what they want... they'll gripe before you post the list, after you post the list, before you publish, after you publish, and at all times anyway. That doesn't make communication with us bad.

So... throw caution to the wind. Bring us in the loop.

*rolls eyes*

This is a prelude to topics that I’d like to cover in a more expansive letter this week:

Maybe they'll go into more detail later this week? lol

And jeeze man, 6 weeks isn't that long.

 

[kentuckyjoe]

Dear Cal,

I don't want to be mean, as your update is an attempt at communication.. However, it does look very bad when you post this one day after a thread like this: http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=209383

We want more communication from the Dev Team, even it its just a small note every other day or so. Reactionary communication is never going to be taken well. If the p(l)ayers have to complain that you aren't communicating enough, please step up communication as a whole.

The 'Ask the Dev' forum is seen as a joke, and a bad one at that. Its barely utilized, and when it is the information given is usually either a non answer or addresses something extremely trivial (i.e. ink bottle question, sorry Mapper) Please, have someone spend an hour a week answering several questions - not the five minutes that has been expended in the last three weeks (thats unacceptable).

Since the death of FoF, and the layoffs last year, your subscribers have been starving for information about their game and its future.

Well said....I couldn't have said it any better

 

[RaDian FlGith]

*rolls eyes*

*picks up eyes, runs them under some water, and then hands them back*

Maybe they'll go into more detail later this week? lol

And jeeze man, 6 weeks isn't that long.

Okay... first, I was encouraging them to share information more than three days in advance. Or did your eyes roll right past that part of the request.

Second... six weeks might not be long for a development cycle, but that all depends on what's in it, really. Sounds like there's a lot of stuff, and they had to shove some of it to Publish 67.

What are those things?

You don't know.

I don't know.

This is my point. COMMUNICATE.

Now put those eyes back in your head and stop rolling them around willy-nilly. Someone might step on them next time.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

This is a prelude to topics that I’d like to cover in a more expansive letter this week:

Maybe they'll go into more detail later this week? lol

This is whats called a carrot in a stick. Cal loves to use this tactic to keep us wanting more without giving us any information.

And jeeze man, 6 weeks isn't that long.

Since there has been little meaningful communication, and this is the computer industry we're talking about, 6 weeks is an eternity. No other MMO publisher would dream of stringing people along this much because it would cost them subscribers.

UO players are masochists.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

UO players are masochists.

Explains the whip on the bed...

 

[Evlar]

This is where I keep mine. I don't want anyone rolling them or stepping on them, thank you very much!

 

[MalagAste]

UO players are masochists.

Explains the whip on the bed...

HEY! What are you doing in my room!?!

 

[RaDian FlGith]

HEY! What are you doing in my room!?!

No... there wasn't any pink bed in the room I was in...

Think it must have been Galen's room.

And I'm not answering that question.

 

[Viper09]

This is whats called a carrot in a stick. Cal loves to use this tactic to keep us wanting more without giving us any information.



Since there has been little meaningful communication, and this is the computer industry we're talking about, 6 weeks is an eternity. No other MMO publisher would dream of stringing people along this much because it would cost them subscribers.

UO players are masochists.

You may see it that way, but I see it as him telling us what he plans to discuss in the upcoming letter which I consider as a nice little preview and what to look forward to.

And 6 weeks is not long at all for a new publish. I don't mean 6 weeks of 0 communication.

 

[AesSedai]

- Looks like this was just posted at 6:10 pm UOHQ time...

I look forward to hearing more about points 1, 2, 3 and especially 4 (as that one has been on the radar for a bit more than 6 weeks; or even 6 years. Yay for potential progress whether baby steps, giant leaps, or even the occasional moonwalking.. I appreciate any potential progress along these lines. So thx in advance).

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

No... there wasn't any pink bed in the room I was in...

Think it must have been Galen's room.

And I'm not answering that question.

*sighs*

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I love the GL RP community, I'm glad I came over, but.....

You all are simply not going to find out any more of what goes on with Galen behind closed doors than you already know.

Sorry!

-Galen's player

 

[Cal_Mythic]

Dear Cal,

I don't want to be mean, as your update is an attempt at communication.. However, it does look very bad when you post this one day after a thread like this: http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=209383

We want more communication from the Dev Team, even it its just a small note every other day or so. Reactionary communication is never going to be taken well. If the p(l)ayers have to complain that you aren't communicating enough, please step up communication as a whole.

The 'Ask the Dev' forum is seen as a joke, and a bad one at that. Its barely utilized, and when it is the information given is usually either a non answer or addresses something extremely trivial (i.e. ink bottle question, sorry Mapper) Please, have someone spend an hour a week answering several questions - not the five minutes that has been expended in the last three weeks (thats unacceptable).

Since the death of FoF, and the layoffs last year, your subscribers have been starving for information about their game and its future.

What this really is is a stall tactic because I am in the middle of three other things tonight, and don't have time to write a full letter until tomorrow.

Which means there's no way it can run the gauntlet of marketing and community until Thurdsay ... BUT! I wanted to let you know what's on my mind. (Also, I have to send it in time to get translated in Japanese)... No .. nothing is ever simple.

66 is on the verge of coming to test center, and therein you will see a lot of the Pub Notes, also I'll give more info as I have time to give my full attention to a proper update.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mapper]

Looking forward to publish 66 and what it entails!

Better enjoy the Luna search sites whilst they still work, I guess this script detection thing will totally stop them from working. Shame, Been very very handy.

*bulk buys wood whilst it's cheap*

 

[Arcus]

Repeat offenders??? You mean you know who is doing this and yet you continue to allow them to do so? Lame, very lame.

 

[Viper09]

Repeat offenders??? You mean you know who is doing this and yet you continue to allow them to do so? Lame, very lame.

I think they mean the repeat offenders that will get caught with the new detect program. Such as the up-and-coming repeat offenders for the future.

 

[Stupid Miner]

we couldn’t fit all of pub 66 in one palpable serving.

... is "palpable" the right word? Doesn't seem to fit, it's a synonym for 'tangible' or 'able to be touched.' Well, it sort of makes sense I suppose, still a bit awkward.

 

[Storm]

I think they mean the repeat offenders that will get caught with the new detect program. Such as the up-and-coming repeat offenders for the future.

Thats my take on it also, everyone needs to just wait till we get details before start getting worked up!

 

[jack flash uk]

i would love to hear that the program has already been running and tested! all the cheats out there getting ready to "stop" when its too late


i look forward to the "its not fair, poor me" threads

oh and empty luna shops! no more crystaline blackrock and mining gems...........
an end to the ill gotten items HONEST players buy without knowledge

the players that buy scripted regs cos they are cheap and easier will have to get out there and get it themselves...

how exciting

*grabs popcorn*


breathe...........focus............wait...........calm

 

[Mapper]

i would love to hear that the program has already been running and tested! all the cheats out there getting ready to "stop" when its too late


i look forward to the "its not fair, poor me" threads

oh and empty luna shops! no more crystaline blackrock and mining gems...........
an end to the ill gotten items HONEST players buy without knowledge

the players that buy scripted regs cos they are cheap and easier will have to get out there and get it themselves...

how exciting

*grabs popcorn*

I can sell you some reagents at my shop that are gotten manually using a mouse and my right hand, If interested let me know!

 

[Derium of ls]

just hope it doesn't collapse UO when 99% of the accounts get banned

 

[phantus]

I was gonna post a criticism and rant about your plans but I'm really busy with some things. I'll put something together tomorrow and send it off to be translated. This post was merely something to keep me occupied while I wait for my Wo....errr.....other program to patch.

 

[maroite]

just hope it doesn't collapse UO when 99% of the accounts get banned

99% is a bit high... maybe 50% ;p and that wont collapse it too much.

It will be funny to see how many players "no longer are around" afterward though. hahaha

Honestly, its sad that people have to use cheat programs in order to feel good about being "good" at a game. lol

Also, was I the only one that noticed the tidbit about goza mats and house design? Is it possible that using Goza mats to help design your house will become illegal BUT that we are seeing the start of a change to house design all together??

 

[Viper09]

As long as the 3rd party program detection doesn't malfunction starts banning every account

 

[AirmidCecht]

Thank you for the pre-letter Cal! It's sort of like a post-it note...cute

 

[UOKaiser]

Like I posted before on the other thread. I'll be watching from the sidelines. I'm consolidating my items and characters. If UO stay afloat and is fine from the massive loss of accounts and some miracle brings players back I'll come back in.
I don't want to stay on the titanic If we get the first message: Due to quarterly profits we will need to close down several shards.
Then the next message due to continual quartery losses UO will finaly be going offline. We apologize for the inconvenience this caused you. We had a long run and Ultima online was one of the first mmorpg in the market that revolutionized the online world. Thank you for your contributed patronage and community. We had many memories blah blah blah some more stuff. At the end goodbye from your fellow DEV and EA please continue to play some of other games like Warhammer Online. We will also offer a free month for all previous Ultima Online players and a 10% discount on your next order.
Heh this is exciting we wiil finaly find out which side is right.

 

[Lord Chaos]

Seems like the rabid myopic selfish people get to ruin the game yet again. There are no worse players in UO.

Its the same ol same ol.

And people honestly believe that the people who brought us silence by the loads, bugs and CLILOC errors, faulty quests, can actually successfully manage to flawlessly implement such measures that other games larger than UO have failed in doing?

Just LOL and sad.

 

[DHMagicMan_1]

just hope it doesn't collapse UO when 99% of the accounts get banned

I doubt the majority of UO Players use illegal programs. More likely it's the same 10% that play in FEL and gank crafters. (Not everyone who plays in FEL uses them either)

 

[Beer_Cayse]

...We’ll discuss house design and gozamats: History and future ...

Considering the tale of goza's and GMs recently ... this should be interesting.

Also the 3rd-party appbuster stuff. Uh huh! No biggie for me ... I use a legal item: UOA. However, mistakes will happen so first time I'm told "bad boy!" no problem ... 2nd time they have an issue, I'll be here. So it will be interesting how they'll deal with these.

 

[Evlar]

• We’ll discuss ... History and future

*edited to suit preference*

Classic and shard

WOOHOO

 

[wanderer1origin]

just hope it doesn't collapse UO when 99% of the accounts get banned

least will be a honorable way to go out!!!!!!!

with the players choosing!!!!!

cheat get banned, dont cheat keep playing bet with knowledge of a system in play, 90 percent will play legit after a batch of crying,and well chosen, token bans!
rest will be children who will whine to parents and get another account and try again

 

[kelmo]

Thank you for the pre-letter Cal! It's sort of like a post-it note...cute

*snickers*

 

[AesSedai]

Like I posted before on the other thread. I'll be watching from the sidelines. I'm consolidating my items and characters. If UO stay afloat and is fine from the massive loss of accounts and some miracle brings players back I'll come back in.
I don't want to stay on the titanic If we get the first message: Due to quarterly profits we will need to close down several shards.
Then the next message due to continual quartery losses UO will finaly be going offline. We apologize for the inconvenience this caused you. We had a long run and Ultima online was one of the first mmorpg in the market that revolutionized the online world. Thank you for your contributed patronage and community. We had many memories blah blah blah some more stuff. At the end goodbye from your fellow DEV and EA please continue to play some of other games like Warhammer Online. We will also offer a free month for all previous Ultima Online players and a 10% discount on your next order.
Heh this is exciting we wiil finaly find out which side is right.

- Okay I'll say it: I hope you are just making a premature evacuation due to what you yourself have forecast ~ what you have personally premeditated; and not simply a fearing of a major decrease in your revenue stream due to the potential blocking of illegal 3rd party programs. Whatever the reason and whatever your result, I wish you well in life (of which playing UO is a part of, for most of us here) with whatever you ultimately decide you ought to do.

 

[Goodmann]

least will be a honorable way to go out!!!!!!!

with the players choosing!!!!!

cheat get banned, dont cheat keep playing bet with knowledge of a system in play, 90 percent will play legit after a batch of crying,and well chosen, token bans!
rest will be children who will whine to parents and get another account and try again

I don't think they will try again just quit for good...... Let's hope the third party detection is not snooping through our pc's thats a potential huge loss of players.

 

[kelmo]

*shrugs* Does not a virus protection system snoop through your computer?

 

[Flutter]

*shrugs* Does not a virus protection system snoop through your computer?

Nobody actually sees anything the virus protection program finds though.

Really I don't think the devs are stupid enough to ban everyone running third party programs. They would have too few players left to make UO viable.
The person who thinks only evil pvpers run scripts is sadly misinformed. I think that's why it appears they are giving a two strikes and you're out type of warning. I think they want to see the numbers before they start banning people.

 

[AesSedai]

- Hey now. I work for top sekret super co and I don't want those guys snooping around me stuffs... Virus protection?? Who uses those intrusive detection devices?!? Methinks only Newbs, pfft !1!

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

*Waits for EC patch notes*

 

[AesSedai]

The person who thinks only evil pvpers run scripts is sadly misinformed.

- Aye.

...

*Waits for EC patch notes*

- Aye.

Seems like I read some suggesting that this may be a light publish; however, I'm thinking it reads to be pretty significant.
**awaits with a **

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

Cal reminds me of a badass.

One question i have tho, is both client and art mods. Are they going to be included in this? People have modded art for ages, tree stumps, glacial bolas, fields. This seemed easy to prevent to me but it might not be. And if its not illegal, or enforceable, should fans start issuing art mods for 2d?

 

[Snakeman]

*shrugs* Does not a virus protection system snoop through your computer?

Yes it looks / compares at your computer with what virus database is loaded up on your computer. It looks for particular known virus strings in a virus database, If the database list is not updated any new virus won't be found. It doesn't search your computer, collect info send that info to another main computer in "X" ville land then back to your computer. It's all done by the database that's on your computer & that is updated regularly. (Or one can download just virus definition files only, it doesn't even have to be done by that computer...) Can you not run a virus scan on a computer NOT plugged into the net... Yup ya sure can.

 

[HD2300]

The good news is that the RMT Markey Dragon fanbios will stop spamming "I wantz a Classic shard [so I can sellz gold for $100 per million again]".

 

[Tina Small]

The good news is that the RMT Markey Dragon fanbios will stop spamming "I wantz a Classic shard [so I can sellz gold for $100 per million again]".

Wow. Do I feel naive. Never gave any thought to this being motivation for some people crying so much for a classic shard. Puts an entirely different spin on some of the arguments. I hope you're wrong, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

Repeat offenders??? You mean you know who is doing this and yet you continue to allow them to do so? Lame, very lame.

Speculative. Wouldn't hold a candle in court.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Ya know as a bit tiresome as the classic shard spams are, I'm not sure I have seen either Markee Dragon or RMT as a pressing reason for wanting one.

 

[It Lives]

Looking forward to publish 66 and what it entails!

Better enjoy the Luna search sites whilst they still work, I guess this script detection thing will totally stop them from working. Shame, Been very very handy.

*bulk buys wood whilst it's cheap*

Not to worry. I'll sell ya some for....oh ya a reasonable price. God forbid you have to communicate with the players in game..