Virtuebane Invasion on Origin (Spoilers)

[GalenKnighthawke]

The subject line is your spoiler warning. If you clicked here despite that subject line, and still don't want spoilers, click away now.

This post is based on a grand total of 10 minutes of research time.

What I saw personally:

• Towne Cryers advertising that Vesper had "fallen" to Virtuebane. (From this and things I was told in Global Chat which I'll get to in a moment, I concluded that there had been a larger battle, which the good guys had lost.)

• Red Virtuebane "guards," with demon names (as in something like "GrimmOmen the Virtue Bane Guard") wandering around Vesper. They physically resembled Bone Demons or Skeletal Liches. (This suggests their slayer type will likely either be demon or undead. Bone Demons from Doom and Skeletal Liches from the Abyss are demon slayer; Skeletal Liches from the "Khaldun Invasion" Halloween event of a few years back were undead slayer.)

• These guards were attackable. I saw a Samurai fighting one, and I saw their corpses.

• However, the guards were non-aggressive to a character with neutral loyalty. (Maybe they just thought my noob Paladin helmet and blue cloak were cute?)

• The guards are capable of hitting a character with not-quite-20 resists for about 116 points of damage. They also appeared to dismount. (Either that or the Samurai I saw fighting one was repeatedly dismounting and remounting his swamp dragon for added challenge.)

What I heard about, but did not see:

• Asking in Global Chat, I was told that there had been a bigger battle at some point.

• This battle involved Bane Chosen, Bane Dragons, those demon guard thingies I had already seen, and also various forces on the Good side.

• The Good guy NPC armies would attack characters with Bane loyalty. (As well they should, so if your character is a good guy and has Bane loyalty from their war with the Ophidians? I'd go kill some Bane Chosen now and at least get to neutral. The Bane Chosen have not been subtle about what side they are on.)

• The town rules about area effect spells (I wasn't told about summons) are still in-effect. (This limits the effectiveness of mages in the battle; EA, I'd recommend turning off those rules during a battle, and maybe even after that battle, when we can attack the Virtuebane guards and, presumably, try to retake the city.)

• I heard nothing about rewards either way. Then again, I didn't specifically ask. (I should hope, EA, that you will make rewards for being on the good side that make it worth it in more than simply the ideological sense.)

What I conclude:

Virtuebane is attempting to actually take over and rule the realm in a political sense. Meaning he's going city-by-city. He will allow "normal life" to go on if you have Bane loyalty or neutral loyalty. It isn't quite like the Juka Invasion or the Shadowlord Invasion ("kill all in our path!!!"). It's more insidious than that.

To Virtuebane, neutrality implies you're willing to accept the rule of his empire of evil.

However, I have a strong feeling that the ultimate fate of Virtuebane's Chosen will not be to their liking, even if their master wins. Such is the nature of evil. (Remember, this isn't some conflict among medieval lords of the manor here, where to choose sides was often to pick between different styles of oppression. In UO we have the luxury of absolute good and absolute evil. Even though there's of course substantial gray areas between the extremes, the extremes still exist, and Virtuebane hasn't been subtle.)

Now keep in mind, of course, that all I observed could change and all I was told could be wrong.

-Galen's player

 

[Barry Manilow]

The subject line is your spoiler warning. If you clicked here despite that subject line, and still don't want spoilers, click away now.

This post is based on a grand total of 10 minutes of research time.

What I saw personally:

• Towne Cryers advertising that Vesper had "fallen" to Virtuebane. (From this and things I was told in Global Chat which I'll get to in a moment, I concluded that there had been a larger battle, which the good guys had lost.)

• Red Virtuebane "guards," with demon names (as in something like "GrimmOmen the Virtue Bane Guard") wandering around Vesper. They physically resembled Bone Demons or Skeletal Liches. (This suggests their slayer type will likely either be demon or undead. Bone Demons from Doom and Skeletal Liches from the Abyss are demon slayer; Skeletal Liches from the "Khaldun Invasion" Halloween event of a few years back were undead slayer.)

• These guards were attackable. I saw a Samurai fighting one, and I saw their corpses.

• However, the guards were non-aggressive to a character with neutral loyalty. (Maybe they just thought my noob Paladin helmet and blue cloak were cute?)

• The guards are capable of hitting a character with not-quite-20 resists for about 116 points of damage. They also appeared to dismount. (Either that or the Samurai I saw fighting one was repeatedly dismounting and remounting his swamp dragon for added challenge.)

What I heard about, but did not see:

• Asking in Global Chat, I was told that there had been a bigger battle at some point.

• This battle involved Bane Chosen, Bane Dragons, those demon guard thingies I had already seen, and also various forces on the Good side.

• The Good guy NPC armies would attack characters with Bane loyalty. (As well they should, so if your character is a good guy and has Bane loyalty from their war with the Ophidians? I'd go kill some Bane Chosen now and at least get to neutral. The Bane Chosen have not been subtle about what side they are on.)

• The town rules about area effect spells (I wasn't told about summons) are still in-effect. (This limits the effectiveness of mages in the battle; EA, I'd recommend turning off those rules during a battle, and maybe even after that battle, when we can attack the Virtuebane guards and, presumably, try to retake the city.)

• I heard nothing about rewards either way. Then again, I didn't specifically ask. (I should hope, EA, that you will make rewards for being on the good side that make it worth it in more than simply the ideological sense.)

What I conclude:

Virtuebane is attempting to actually take over and rule the realm in a political sense. Meaning he's going city-by-city. He will allow "normal life" to go on if you have Bane loyalty or neutral loyalty. It isn't quite like the Juka Invasion or the Shadowlord Invasion ("kill all in our path!!!"). It's more insidious than that.

To Virtuebane, neutrality implies you're willing to accept the rule of his empire of evil.

However, I have a strong feeling that the ultimate fate of Virtuebane's Chosen will not be to their liking, even if their master wins. Such is the nature of evil. (Remember, this isn't some conflict among medieval lords of the manor here, where to choose sides was often to pick between different styles of oppression. In UO we have the luxury of absolute good and absolute evil. Even though there's of course substantial gray areas between the extremes, the extremes still exist, and Virtuebane hasn't been subtle.)

Now keep in mind, of course, that all I observed could change and all I was told could be wrong.

-Galen's player

That sounds really cool thanks for the info. I am bane negative faction with them. Hearing this I want to be neutral to bane but don't know how do it hehe. As I came back to the game when this storyline started. So I am actually lost to this.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

That sounds really cool thanks for the info. I am bane negative faction with them. Hearing this I want to be neutral to bane but don't know how do it hehe. As I came back to the game when this storyline started. So I am actually lost to this.

Out of curiosity, why do you want to be neutral? So you can avoid being attacked by Virtuebane's guards once they take over a city?

Why not fight them instead, and prevent them from taking over a city to begin with?



I had hoped my post would encourage people to fight against the Bane Chosen, or at least to not fight for them.

However if you want to be neutral, kill Meer until your Bane Chosen points go to zero. Be aware, however, that you will lose Meer points, which means the Meer will attack you even if you have positive Karma.

The story in brief is that humans named the Bane Chosen appeared and attacked the Ophidians. They spouted highly racialized beliefs, saying they wanted to kill "uncivilized" races. ("Uncivilized," not aggressive or evil.)

The Bane Chosen got Blackrock from us in order to make a stew to feed Bane Dragons, a new tameable which had appeared in the Abyss and which the Bane Chosen themselves rode.

Later, the bane Chosen moved to Ilshenar and encouraged us to attack the Meer (known allies of Britannia and good-aligned, blue, positive-karma creatures) on their behalf. They now wanted Power Crystals.

At around the same time, Queen Dawn wanted to rebuild in Magincia, and first had to remove the demonic magics that prevented rebuilding. She thought she could remove such magics with the Crystal of Duplicity, an item in Lord British's vault. Lacking a way to get into the vault she had it physically broken into (after all, she's Queen now, so it's her vault), and had the Crystal removed.

Britain was attacked by demons and Blackrock Elementals. (Gee, what would make a Blackrock Elemental. Maybe Blackrock and Power Crystals? The things the Bane Chosen wanted?)

The Crystal vanished in the attack. The demons don't appear to have it, but clearly want it.

The Bane Chosen, Bane Dragons, and demons then suddenly invaded Magincia island, and occupy it to this day.

Queen Dawn's hapless husband, Ors, has been lured into the Bane Chosen and is now being held hostage by them.

We have since learned that the power behind the demon attacks in Brit and behind the Bane Chosen is a demon lord named Virtuebane.

And, predictably, he isn't stopping with Magincia.

And if you play on Great Lakes, our event moderators have done a great job fleshing out the story and making it even more complicated, interesting, and immediate.

-Galen's player

 

[Otis Firefly]

actually the Meer wont attack you based on your loyalty to them, they do attack if you have negative karma! but thats about it.

 

[gortman]

I think killing the Meer in Ilshenar will increase your Bane loyalty rating.

Hearing this I want to be neutral to bane but don't know how do it hehe.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

actually the Meer wont attack you based on your loyalty to them, they do attack if you have negative karma! but thats about it.

Hmm.

Does that make them stupid, or just overly-forgiving?

-Galen's player

 

[Otis Firefly]

Hmm.

Does that make them stupid, or just overly-forgiving?

-Galen's player

little bit of both i guess

 

[covert]

This raises a question to something I thought was a bug.

Why are skeletal liches not affected by Undead Slayer but instead Demon Slayer? Skeletal, check. Lich, check.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

This raises a question to something I thought was a bug.

Why are skeletal liches not affected by Undead Slayer but instead Demon Slayer? Skeletal, check. Lich, check.

Skeletal Liches are based on Bone Demons from Doom, which are Demon slayer.

When Skeletal Liches first appeared, as part of an invasion of sorts (I guess an infestation is more like it) by the creatures of the Dungeon Khaldun for a Halloween event, they were vulnerable to Undead slayers. (As well they should be.)

When a lesser form of the creature appeared in the Stygian Abyss, however, it was Demon slayer again even though it was part of the "Lands of the Lich" mini-champ spawn.

As to how or why that happened?

Total guess here: Someone at EA screwed up, forgot to change the slayer property when copying, pasting, and modifying the Bone Demon's info into the Skeletal Lich's info, and it seemed too comparatively minor an issue to fix.

I'd like to see it fixed because it would lessen the frustration factor of working that particular spawn.

But that's just me. And I'd agree it's a minor issue and other things are more important.

-Galen's player

 

[Skrag]

I, for one, welcome our new demonic overlords and an end to the reign of Queen Dawn the Incompetent. I'll be out there on the front lines, slaughtering the forces which oppose them and reanimating their tragic remains into undead abominations.

Don't the rest of you ever get tired of being flaccid do-gooders, mindless enemies of every interesting development to ever happen to this sorry kingdom? You've been living under the uncaring hand of an unseen but supposedly "good" monarch forever, and what do you really have to show for it?

There will still be banks to sit in front of, under our new master. There will still be loot to get. Life will go on. Life will be better. Life will be wild and free and simple without anyone constantly telling you what you cannot do because of precious virtuuue.

Sure, there will still be things you can't do. But those things will be fewer, and they will be forbidden by simple strength, rather than by inane flowery appeals to some made-up code of what you "should" want to do.

Did you catch that last part? Let me say it again. No regime ever lets it's citizens do anything they want, that way lies mere anarchy. But at least the regime of Virtuebane won't try to tell you what you should want.

That's the true insidious nature of the so-called virtues. Not that they tell you what you cannot do, but that they see fit to dictate what your very thoughts and feelings should be.

But there's no need. Don't listen to the alarmists who will try to pretend that "everything" is on the line. Nothing is on the line except their feeble grasp on power and a sense of superiority. That and your freedom.

There will still be banks to sit in front of, under our new master. There will still be loot to get. I've seen you people, and that is what matters to you. Not whether the Town Guards are made of bones or not. Not whether Reebdoog the Weaver is satisfied with his political situation.

You know what to do.

 

[A Rev]

Out of interest has anyone been to T2A and found out what the ophidians want??

 

[Felonious Monk]

I'm out of the loop on this story arc
Is Reebdoog married to Booddoog the farmer?

 

[Doubleplay]

Sheesh, if magery area spells and I assume summons cannot be used, then mages will have to sit this one out. Go figgure. What a waste.

 

[Skrag]

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Personally, I'd think that being actually run by Evil is a risk most characters, even morally questionable ones, aren't really prepared to take.

Even the most cynical person should, I suggest, consider the fact that evil is rarely as stable or as efficient as one would think it should. (We're leaving aside the moral questions for the moment and focusing only on the practical ones.)

RL examples abound but they all make me a tad uncomfortable, so I shall pick a fictional one: The Empire from the Star Wars universe. They clearly have no idea what they are doing when it comes to running a government on a day-to-day basis. Anyone remember the conversation from the original film about how things are going to be run? Give all power to appointed planetary governors, and if any given planet doesn't perform to expectations, blow it up with the Death Star.

Not a terribly efficient government. Or a terribly effective one; all it really did was ferment a rebellion that brought it down.

And if you've played Star Wars: Galaxies, you may remember even more inefficiencies. Basically they would bypass their own appointed rulers and go right to criminal organizations to get stuff done.

The Alliance from the Firefly universe is another, deliberately similar example.

(Queen Dawn seems to somewhat slightly shard-to-shard. My strong feeling is that, if she survives coming events, she will grow into her role.)

Flat-out-evil characters, as opposed to merely cynical ones, are more of a mixed bag. Some will go along with whatever, as long as folks suffer. Some want to rule the world themselves and will strike out against other evils with similar ambitions (competition!). So some evil characters can be appealed to on a practical level, and some can't.

And a final, very practical risk of being run by Evil: It changes its mind too easily. Could be illegal to kill orcs one day, required to kill orcs the next. We could easily find ourselves, for example, legally forbidden from killing the succubus queen in Sanctuary dungeon. And that quest gives some really good loot.

Cal's been very clear here that we will have to choose. And if you look at how the mechanics have worked thus far, once you participate at all by killing one or more of the relevant creatures, it's really hard to go back. It's actually easier to change sides than it is to go back to neutral!

All I can really hope is that the rewards for choosing Good are worth the time of day. That is very likely to be the determining factor, unfortunately.

The Publish will be world-wide soon I should think.

And, then, we shall see!

-Galen's player

I, for one, welcome our new demonic overlords and an end to the reign of Queen Dawn the Incompetent. I'll be out there on the front lines, slaughtering the forces which oppose them and reanimating their tragic remains into undead abominations.

Don't the rest of you ever get tired of being flaccid do-gooders, mindless enemies of every interesting development to ever happen to this sorry kingdom? You've been living under the uncaring hand of an unseen but supposedly "good" monarch forever, and what do you really have to show for it?

There will still be banks to sit in front of, under our new master. There will still be loot to get. Life will go on. Life will be better. Life will be wild and free and simple without anyone constantly telling you what you cannot do because of precious virtuuue.

Sure, there will still be things you can't do. But those things will be fewer, and they will be forbidden by simple strength, rather than by inane flowery appeals to some made-up code of what you "should" want to do.

Did you catch that last part? Let me say it again. No regime ever lets it's citizens do anything they want, that way lies mere anarchy. But at least the regime of Virtuebane won't try to tell you what you should want.

That's the true insidious nature of the so-called virtues. Not that they tell you what you cannot do, but that they see fit to dictate what your very thoughts and feelings should be.

But there's no need. Don't listen to the alarmists who will try to pretend that "everything" is on the line. Nothing is on the line except their feeble grasp on power and a sense of superiority. That and your freedom.

There will still be banks to sit in front of, under our new master. There will still be loot to get. I've seen you people, and that is what matters to you. Not whether the Town Guards are made of bones or not. Not whether Reebdoog the Weaver is satisfied with his political situation.

You know what to do.

 

[Elden of Baja]

Skrag, you crack me up.

Personally I like my pvp rules.

If its Blue and not in guard zone its fair game, if its red its fair game anywhere, and if its Orange it should already be a ghost.

In other words, KILL EVERYONE

 

[Babble]

I hope they destroy a few towns then

 

[ikaikaman]

• I heard nothing about rewards either way. Then again, I didn't specifically ask. (I should hope, EA, that you will make rewards for being on the good side that make it worth it in more than simply the ideological sense.)

I'm disappointed.past invasion,We could get something more valuable than Arties(SDI30%spellbooks,SSI50%HXB) from their corpse....

Banes,Ophdians,Meers,Humans.......
I do not want to help you without rewards lol

 

[Sevin0oo0]

then mages will have to sit this one out. What a waste.

Hopefully They don't can't have mages either.Why do they do this, did it w/ turkeys too

 

[Lady Tia]

So archers and/or fencers/swords for this invasion? Wonder if Bards will be any good?

 

[Felonious Monk]

They make me very comfortable. Let's take some Indian who was just smallpoxed and bayoneted to death by the US Army in like the 1850's and show his ghost the economic and military supremacy the US would go on to claim in the following century, then ask him if evil societies can't function and good always wins.

No fair using real life history to make a point!
Hmmmm,,,
Let me add to that.
Burning the crops and food supplies just before winter. Slaughter the buffalo.
Place tribes that hated each other in the same reservations.
Hitler wrote he got his ideals on genocide from the US's culling of it's aborigines in the name developing the new land.
Your comments and mine could easily derail the thread. Ooooh. How Evil!

 

[ikaikaman]

now,I got special.from Daemon.


Katana:
slayer:Fairy
Hit-Lightning 50%
Defence-chance-decrease 30%
Stamina-re:2
Fast-cast:1
SSI:25%
DI:60%

attribution
poison80%
chaos20%

 

[G.v.P]

now,I got special.from Daemon.


Katana:
slayer:Fairy
Hit-Lightning 50%
Defence-chance-decrease 30%
Stamina-re:2
Fast-cast:1
SSI:25%
DI:60%

attribution
poison80%
chaos20%

**** no HML though ... this is off an Evil demon, eh? so I guess it pays off to be good ... sigh, guess I'll have to get a char to neutral, that's a nice blade

 

[ikaikaman]

guess I'll have to get a char to neutral, that's a nice blade

have only to defeat them.there is a few recruits and evil daemons.and they do not use magery.of course,we will lose loyalty of Banes,-15.

 

[Skrag]

Wish I was a swordsman. Wonder what else there is.

 

[G.v.P]

have only to defeat them.there is a few recruits and evil daemons.and they do not use magery.of course,we will lose loyalty of Banes,-15.

thanks for the reply -- and the comprehensive picture. i'll have to check that out on origin .

 

[Goodmann]

***SPOILER****


The bane will drop focus crystals which (add a random property to a weapon so far i have used three on different weapons which added 30 velocity,-29 mage skill and 50 lighting. SO weapons now have a cap of 650? This also makes the item (brittle). I assume it's a random property but if you can get the right one could be a nice weapon

 

[G.v.P]

I solo'd a demon on necro mage, but i didnt have a slayer so it took forever. hits pretty damn hard, reminds me of why i stopped doing victoria quests on mage and switched to bard or tamer. but a few mages w/ slayer wouldnt be bad.

saw a guy taking one on w/ greater dragon but i didnt see whether or not the guy finished it, seemed to be tanking well enough. I died twice myself, lol. no drop on the one I killed .

it bleeds, concussions, and i guess does every special move there is...was in wraith .... does the teleport to you thing, so if you get caught casting another FS then youre dead if first hit lands lol.

should be fun for a group, but i think theyll pretty much just be killed by tamers ... or maybe bards, i dont have a bard on origin to test out though.

 

[G.v.P]

***SPOILER****


The bane will drop focus crystals which (add a random property to a weapon so far i have used three on different weapons which added 30 velocity,-29 mage skill and 50 lighting. SO weapons now have a cap of 650? This also makes the item (brittle). I assume it's a random property but if you can get the right one could be a nice weapon

that's sorta lame ... people can just powder then use the gem :/ did velocity work on non bow? sigh ... so much for PvP fixes!

 

[Goodmann]

Velocity was bow i tried! I think it's all random bc I had a nice kryss it put -29 mage weap on. yes you can powder then up priot to using the crystal.

 

[Skrag]

Oh, so this is a bunch of crap that two-shots people in 70's suits and will be farmed by tamers. Joy. Between that and the inability to use summons or area attacks, this is ARCHERS AND TAMERS ONLY. Again.

 

[Victoria Navarre]

Sheesh, if magery area spells and I assume summons cannot be used, then mages will have to sit this one out. Go figgure. What a waste.

Just like the turkeys. Seems the Devs have been on an anti-mage kick lately.

 

[G.v.P]

Velocity was bow i tried! I think it's all random bc I had a nice kryss it put -29 mage weap on. yes you can powder then up priot to using the crystal.

oh my bad -- ok, I got ya now, it's random when you apply. still ... i dont know. seems like itll be bad for pvp.

this is ARCHERS AND TAMERS ONLY. Again.

Just like the turkeys. Seems the Devs have been on an anti-mage kick lately.

Well ... I did solo one on a mage. It's not impossible for any template cept hard for a dexxer, and would be just as annoying on an archer as on a mage -- if not worse cause youd have to tab out to heal. Just hard to do on a dexxer less you feint and have a little dci luck. But since tamer is going to be the most efficient tank (and the best way to avoid teleport AI) I just assume people will end up using tamers or bards. But like I said, I didn't have a slayer spellbook.

 

[Victoria Navarre]

Well ... I did solo one on a mage. It's not impossible for any template cept hard for a dexxer, and would be just as annoying on an archer as on a mage -- if not worse cause youd have to tab out to heal. Just hard to do on a dexxer less you feint and have a little dci luck. But since tamer is going to be the most efficient tank (and the best way to avoid teleport AI) I just assume people will end up using tamers or bards. But like I said, I didn't have a slayer spellbook.

How I play my mage,I depend heavily on summon spells to win battles. The Dev's made sure that this tactic gets blown up by an event spawn. Caccophonic,dismount,huge damage even with all 70's resists,summons/fields pull you in every time.All I can say for this thanksgiving turkey is "Tamer-rific!"

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

***SPOILER****


The bane will drop focus crystals which (add a random property to a weapon so far i have used three on different weapons which added 30 velocity,-29 mage skill and 50 lighting. SO weapons now have a cap of 650? This also makes the item (brittle). I assume it's a random property but if you can get the right one could be a nice weapon

Oh my.

Nice reward for being good, which is neat, but......Well, like you said, a tad unbalancing and will a crystal put an item over the cap? Did the items you tested them on go over the cap? From your post, seems yes, but I wanted to specifically confirm.

"Brittle" means non-PoF-able, but I remember some time ago there was a text string saying "if you do this the item will be brittle and non-repairable." So maybe that text string referred to these crystals and the item will also be non-repairable? Have you tried repairing?

Now, if these crystals will only work in bringing an item to the cap, i.e., an entirely random form of Imbuing? I for one would consider that way less unbalancing. But if they can go over the cap it'd give me pause. A lot of pause.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

How I play my mage,I depend heavily on summon spells to win battles. The Dev's made sure that this tactic gets blown up by an event spawn. Caccophonic,dismount,huge damage even with all 70's resists,summons/fields pull you in every time.All I can say for this thanksgiving turkey is "Tamer-rific!"

I associate large-scale battles with summons and area effect spells. I just don't think it'd be as epic without those. Also sometimes summons and area effects have substantial disadvantages (in this case, would they also get the side you're fighting for as well as against?), so it's not like it's always a free-ride.

I appreciate the attempt to make people use different tactics. But I, for one, as a non-mage, think I could get behind a removal, for purposes of the invasion, of the restrictions on summons/area effects in towns.

-Galen's player

 

[Victoria Navarre]

I appreciate the attempt to make people use different tactics. But I, for one, as a non-mage, think I could get behind a removal, for purposes of the invasion, of the restrictions on summons/area effects in towns.

-Galen's player

I would like to see it as well. I remember the Ophidian Invasions and where my mage couldn't use her best spells because they were aoe and summons. No other class/template is as limited as a mage is with city invasions.We can only defend the city outside of the city limits.

 

[Cetric]

those crystals sound like a fricken HORRIBLE idea. It adds an extra property to weapons.. i dont care if its random, because you can just keep doing it until you get the weapon you really want. Talk about some rediculous weapons you could make.... my fricken god. They should make them "Cursed" too so you cant insure it.

 

[Gunga_Din]

I have no interest at all in this. I'd rather have the lizardmen invade towns again.

 

[Trebr Drab]

those crystals sound like a fricken HORRIBLE idea. It adds an extra property to weapons.. i dont care if its random, because you can just keep doing it until you get the weapon you really want. Talk about some rediculous weapons you could make.... my fricken god. They should make them "Cursed" too so you cant insure it.

I agree.

I fear that the Devs think that they have to keep adding more and more inflationary power to the game to keep players happy.
Yet they recognized the problems with it before and added Caps and did other things to reduce the effects of what they did.

So, obviously, the Devs think they should repeat the same mistakes of the past...yet again.

Of course, some players will be deliriously happy with their new PixelCrack, until the newness wears off and saturation takes affect. Then they'll want more PixelCrack of that adds even more power.

I don't even know what those players are doing here. They can play a much, much better game for that with WoW.

Meanwhile, those of us who are here because we want something different than that, we just have to watch as UO goes that way. Or quit. Our choice.

I wonder, even if they do a "Classic Shard", will this same thing creep into that shard too?

 

[G.v.P]

How I play my mage,I depend heavily on summon spells to win battles. The Dev's made sure that this tactic gets blown up by an event spawn. Caccophonic,dismount,huge damage even with all 70's resists,summons/fields pull you in every time.All I can say for this thanksgiving turkey is "Tamer-rific!"

Well, what I did was corpse skin FS in wraith form, and you just have to start running if you get tele'd in so I was doing about 44 damage a FS ... I guess it would be 88 w/ demon slayer? I'm not sure. But w/ slayer, and direct spells, won't take too long. More fun with a friend though, it's a long run to healer, haha. Think of it like a much easier Paroxysmus?

By the way, normal loot is about 4k gold if anyone was wondering.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Sheesh, if magery area spells and I assume summons cannot be used, then mages will have to sit this one out. Go figgure. What a waste.

Just like the turkeys. Seems the Devs have been on an anti-mage kick lately.

Lately? Try the last 6+ years!

So tired of doing horrible damage with a slayer since magery spells are pretty much only fire and energy... We have no direct physical damage spells (not counting summons since they are prectically useless anyway as nearly everything "big" has the ability to autodispell) and the only two cold spells we have SUCK beyond all comprehension.

*sigh*

Edit:
I really hope this invasion comes with a decent fiction post (posted the same day, btw)

 

[Otis Firefly]

curious, has anyone fought with the bane against good in this invasion?..are there bane points rewarded for fighting the good side?

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

curious, has anyone fought with the bane against good in this invasion?..are there bane points rewarded for fighting the good side?

You know it occurs to me....

Maybe the point is that the evil side had a reward in the last phase (the personalized, corrupt Book of Truth, all the good side had was a "Book of Truth?" like from the old Moonglow quest but with no question mark), but now it'll be harder (I doubt impossible) for them to get the reward for this phase?

This is just speculation. We'll find out for sure soon enough.

Many thanks to all who have posted information.

-Galen's player

 

[Skrag]

If the "evil" reward is some worthless book that nobody bothered killing the thousands of Meer to even get while the "good" reward is uber items all over the place, I'm not gonna be happy.

Also, enough baww from mages. At least you can inflict damage without getting two or three-shotted in return. I'm sorry you have to actually cast spells constantly and not just EVx2 and invis.

 

[Thunderz]

If the void bane are in Vesper and there the good side, where are the bane that drop the crystals? are they just the normal banes in ilsh?

Thanks

Thunderz

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Lately? Try the last 6+ years!

So tired of doing horrible damage with a slayer since magery spells are pretty much only fire and energy... We have no direct physical damage spells (not counting summons since they are prectically useless anyway as nearly everything "big" has the ability to autodispell) and the only two cold spells we have SUCK beyond all comprehension.

*sigh*

Edit:
I really hope this invasion comes with a decent fiction post (posted the same day, btw)

In case they don't:

----------------------------------------
"They tried to block me."

"But they failed, Lord Virtuebane."

"They will try to fight me."

"Some will, Lord Virtuebane. But they will fail. And some will help us."

Virtuebane laughed. His laugh always echoed. Always. "Foolish indeed. Pride is my strength, and their weakness. It is Pride to help me, and Pride to fight me, and Pride to think they can not do either. They will suffer either way."

"Yes they will, my Lord."

"Let it begin, then,"

"Yes, my Lord."

[[Section Break]]

It was cold. There was a fireplace in the room, but why waste the firewood when the fire never warmed the room up anyway?

This was a private room, few knew how to access it. It had been Lord British's room to pray and meditate. And now it was Queen Dawn's. She sometimes wondered if Casca ever came down here.

It was....humble. Two benches facing each other, a fireplace, a cleverly disguised door, and an ankh with a padded kneeler in front of it. The floor was stone; no rug. It made Queen Dawn chuckle sometimes, to think of how even Lord British couldn't kneel on this floor for very long, hence the padded kneeler.

Sometimes, but not today. Today, the Lioness of Britannia (as some insisted on calling her) knelt at the ankh and quietly cried. The Virtues did not speak to her. Or, if they did, she hadn't figured out how to hear them.

She didn't hear her aide, one of the few who knew how to find this chamber, enter. "My Queen?"

"Yes?" She wiped her tears, and stood up, and turned around. Her armor was already on, her sword already at her side.

"It has begun, My Queen."

She nodded. The two of them left the chamber. The castle, though far from empty, seemed so today, until they got to the Throne Room. There stood her elite guard, replacements for the ones who had died the night the Crystal was taken. They were less trained and less experienced than the dead ones were.

Dawn looked them over, trying to portray a warrior's confidence that she no longer felt. They need this, need me to be strong, she thought. All they really have is training and strength. They are untested.

"It has begun," she told them. "And we go to fight. For some of you, this is the first fight, the first real fight, you're ever been in. Stick together, stay together. Keep an eye on each other, cross-heal when you have to, don't be afraid to retreat if you have to." They didn't like that. Battle for them was just a theory so far, and that theory included neither loss nor retreat. They will, the Queen reflected, learn the reality soon enough.

"It will be the people who will win this," the Queen continued. "We are but their assistants, and their example."

"But my Queen," one of them said, breaking protocol and earning angry glances from the others. "Some of them....Fight for him." For Virtuebane.

"I know." How could I not know, fool. My husband might be among them. Or might be used as their shield. "But some fight with us. We will deal with the others after we win." Ors will not survive this. She drew her sword, held it high, like she'd been taught when she was just a girl.

"For Virtue," she said.

"For Virtue, and Queen Dawn," they replied in unison.

"Let's go."

------------------------------------------------------------

EA, consider yourself allowed to use this fiction in whole or in part.

Either way you simply must put Dawn in the fight, or allow/require the Event Moderators to do so. She can't remain on the sidelines forever; it's not her character.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

If the void bane are in Vesper and there the good side, where are the bane that drop the crystals? are they just the normal banes in ilsh?

Thanks

Thunderz

Not sure what you mean by the "void bane." If it's the Bane I'm thinking of, the ones from the Lost Lands and Ilshenar, those are the bad guys.

-Galen's player

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Also, enough baww from mages. At least you can inflict damage without getting two or three-shotted in return. I'm sorry you have to actually cast spells constantly and not just EVx2 and invis.

Mages routinely do damage under 30 to "big" mobs while melee templates can plink away using TWO slayers (weapon and talisman), plus things like EoO, Lightning Strike, Armor Ignore and other special moves.

Mages get a slayer book, or a slayer scrappers if they're lucky. That’s it. SDI doesn't come close to what a melee player can tweak their damage up to. The only "special move" a mage might have is if they also have Spellweaving for WoD - and even then they can only use that once a mob is below 30% health. (So in a large group, they have maybe 15 seconds to cast a few.)

So yeah, mages will whine till the disparity is fixed.

 

[Cal_Mythic]

In case they don't:

----------------------------------------
"They tried to block me."

"But they failed, Lord Virtuebane."

"They will try to fight me."

"Some will, Lord Virtuebane. But they will fail. And some will help us."

Virtuebane laughed. His laugh always echoed. Always. "Foolish indeed. Pride is my strength, and their weakness. It is Pride to help me, and Pride to fight me, and Pride to think they can not do either. They will suffer either way."

"Yes they will, my Lord."

"Let it begin, then,"

"Yes, my Lord."

[[Section Break]]

It was cold. There was a fireplace in the room, but why waste the firewood when the fire never warmed the room up anyway?

This was a private room, few knew how to access it. It had been Lord British's room to pray and meditate. And now it was Queen Dawn's. She sometimes wondered if Casca ever came down here.

It was....humble. Two benches facing each other, a fireplace, a cleverly disguised door, and an ankh with a padded kneeler in front of it. The floor was stone; no rug. It made Queen Dawn chuckle sometimes, to think of how even Lord British couldn't kneel on this floor for very long, hence the padded kneeler.

Sometimes, but not today. Today, the Lioness of Britannia (as some insisted on calling her) knelt at the ankh and quietly cried. The Virtues did not speak to her. Or, if they did, she hadn't figured out how to hear them.

She didn't hear her aide, one of the few who knew how to find this chamber, enter. "My Queen?"

"Yes?" She wiped her tears, and stood up, and turned around. Her armor was already on, her sword already at her side.

"It has begun, My Queen."

She nodded. The two of them left the chamber. The castle, though far from empty, seemed so today, until they got to the Throne Room. There stood her elite guard, replacements for the ones who had died the night the Crystal was taken. They were less trained and less experienced than the dead ones were.

Dawn looked them over, trying to portray a warrior's confidence that she no longer felt. They need this, need me to be strong, she thought. All they really have is training and strength. They are untested.

"It has begun," she told them. "And we go to fight. For some of you, this is the first fight, the first real fight, you're ever been in. Stick together, stay together. Keep an eye on each other, cross-heal when you have to, don't be afraid to retreat if you have to." They didn't like that. Battle for them was just a theory so far, and that theory included neither loss nor retreat. They will, the Queen reflected, learn the reality soon enough.

"It will be the people who will win this," the Queen continued. "We are but their assistants, and their example."

"But my Queen," one of them said, breaking protocol and earning angry glances from the others. "Some of them....Fight for him." For Virtuebane.

"I know." How could I not know, fool. My husband might be among them. Or might be used as their shield. "But some fight with us. We will deal with the others after we win." Ors will not survive this. She drew her sword, held it high, like she'd been taught when she was just a girl.

"For Virtue," she said.

"For Virtue, and Queen Dawn," they replied in unison.

"Let's go."

------------------------------------------------------------

EA, consider yourself allowed to use this fiction in whole or in part.

Either way you simply must put Dawn in the fight, or allow/require the Event Moderators to do so. She can't remain on the sidelines forever; it's not her character.

-Galen's player

Thanks, Galen ... there's a bit more to it but as always appreciate your posts!

- C