Interesting Tweet By Jeff Re Ownerless Houses

[Tina Small]

On May 3rd, Jeff gave an interesting reply to someone's tweet that said, "how about reviewing ownerless homes again or running a program to check for them and decay them?"

Jeff's reply: "Slowly, but surely we are chewing through them. Takes time because we need to make sure they don't contain duped items."

 

[Mirt]

Heres hoping these end up all falling.

 

[Ludes]

Seen several lately on Cats..

 

[Uriah Heep]

I guess I'm really dense. If the house is ownerless, and there's no player to ban, why does it matter if it has duped items in it??
Unless they're idoc'ing them, instead of deleting like Mesanna was doing?

 

[Lady Storm]

Uriah it maters big time. If the owner was in that group of dupers and say they duped high end items the market could be flooded with banable items... remember duped items have the same code #. I was under the asumption they were idoc'ing them. Mesanna who was poofing them I thought was just poofing the house not the contents.
Now to think of it... well if the house contains duped items ... It could lead to the duper as the friends list/co owner list would give the code of the account allowed in. There by leading them to the possible duper. In a way its good thinking on their part.

 

[Uriah Heep]

I missed the events, but what I was told by friends on Legends was that she deleted it all, contents, house, all of it. So that's what made me wonder why the research for dupes, if they were gonna just toss em anyway. *shrugs*

Didnt think they could track em back, so i always been told, anyway. Only people I personally know to have beenb anned for duping was banned for the large quantity of dupes the possessed...not the duping itself, they said they couldnt prove that LOL

Time will surely tell tho

 

[claudia-fjp]

Now to think of it... well if the house contains duped items ... It could lead to the duper as the friends list/co owner list would give the code of the account allowed in. There by leading them to the possible duper. In a way its good thinking on their part.

ALL of the ownerless houses are over a decade old. A DECADE. So no they aren't thinking of playing CSI: EA and wasting time trying to catch people who don't play anymore and MAY have duped or been friends with someone who duped over 10 years ago.

Some of these houses do contain illegal items which is what the accounts got banned for in the first place. One on my server has the game cursor locked down in it. THAT is why it takes time, they don't want items like that or other dupes back in circulation.

Something like 95+% of the ownerless houses are in FEL because most predate the Fel/Tram split and if you added up all the ownerless houses on every server it would still be a drop in the bucket compared to Return to Brit bugged housing.

 

[Lady Silverbrook]

Without trying to sound overly negative, this is the same team that has also been, for literal years, swearing they are diligently working on busting rampant cheating.

Yet here we are, and we are still waiting. There have been a smattering of times people here ad there have been discovered, but no plan, no real dedication to actually putting an end to it has occurred. I am sure most of us are aware of the infamous 'spreadsheet' Cal, the former producer, discussed.

And we see what happened with all that... nothing.

It is good he brought it up, but again... I would not hold your breath that this will be resolved any time soon. UO history tends to speak for itself.

 

[EricVT]

Exactly, I seriously doubt this is actually being worked on.

Two years from now, assuming the game is still around, there will still be threads asking "What can be done about these ownerless houses?"

 

[claudia-fjp]

Exactly, I seriously doubt this is actually being worked on.

Two years from now, assuming the game is still around, there will still be threads asking "What can be done about these ownerless houses?"

QFT because is was 11/13/2010 when I reported the location of every single one on Pacific( I thought instead of being reported in 1s and 2s that reporting all of them might get results). Not a one has been touched in 1.5 years.

I bet they love the fact there is no outward sign of Return to Brit houses. Lets them give the illusion that the servers aren't complete ghost towns and keeps people from complaining about the guys who put little plots next to their houses to block them from upgrading and don't pay for them.

 

[Kojak]

yeah, the shards really would look like ghost towns without the return to brit houses but I hope they don't get rid of mine (I need the extra storage - hehe)

 

[Lady Storm]

Now you got me confused... are you talking of the RtB houses or the abandoned house's or both?

 

[Phangs_of_Phage]

They really should wipe the RtB houses with little to no notice. Maybe like a 4 hour decay then collapse or something

 

[THP]

Heres hoping these end up all falling.

dont wish what u want.. uo lands would be desolate

 

[THP]

They really should wipe the RtB houses with little to no notice. Maybe like a 4 hour decay then collapse or something

and uo will be 50% more empty...pat u on the back..the game would look sooo full...yes rightio

 

[Phangs_of_Phage]

RtB houses need to go, they are stopping people from placing keeps/castles and keeping real estate values inflated on the larger shards.

 

[THP]

i peronally like the idea of a house on every shard..,,,on 1 account...mybe im greedy......but whatever rocks and floats ya boat...to be fair i can place a big tower or bigger on any shard within 15 minutes...so really housing is no longer any problem on any shard....

 

[Woodsman]

dont wish what u want.. uo lands would be desolate

and uo will be 50% more empty...pat u on the back..the game would look sooo full...yes rightio

UO looks desolate/empty because of the lack of players.

 

[THP]

kinda guess its the flip side....50/50 debate...
the people who have got a rtb house or 4 so i will keep quiet..... against the iam jelous of others because i havent got one brigade

 

[THP]

UO looks desolate/empty because of the lack of players.

Thats right...lack of players on 19 shards different ....
hey dingdong idea..LOL.....try merging a few and you will get 4-5 fullish shards..its not bloody rocket science is it...

 

[Old Man of UO]

Thats right...lack of players on 19 shards different ....
hey dingdong idea..LOL.....try merging a few and you will get 4-5 fullish shards..its not bloody rocket science is it...

Careful... you will get this thread locked posting ideas like that!

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Thats right...lack of players on 19 shards different ....
hey dingdong idea..LOL.....try merging a few and you will get 4-5 fullish shards..its not bloody rocket science is it...

It has been explained repeatedly, in other threads which I know you have read and participated in and by myself and others, why this is a bad idea. You in essence wish to inconvenience other players as an alternative to your lack of willingness to purchase a transfer token or start again on another shard. The ultimate form of "ownage" I suppose.

-Galen's player

 

[Old Man of UO]

It has been explained repeatedly, in other threads which I know you have read and participated in and by myself and others, why this is a bad idea. You in essence wish to inconvenience other players as an alternative to your lack of willingness to purchase a transfer token or start again on another shard. The ultimate form of "ownage" I suppose.

-Galen's player

I disagree that it would have to inconvenience other players. It all depends on how you would do that, and it does not mean a reduction in housing spots... or even having to replace your own house. By the way, if there was a merger, you could always purchase a transfer token yourself and start over again on another lesser populated shard.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I disagree that it would have to inconvenience other players. It all depends on how you would do that, and it does not mean a reduction in housing spots... or even having to replace your own house. By the way, if there was a merger, you could always purchase a transfer token yourself and start over again on another lesser populated shard.

Yes but that still by definition means that you, happy where you were, were moved, rather than the person who's unhappy with where he is moving.

It's still, by definition, inconveniencing the one who was happy for the sake of the one who was not. And, moreover, the one who was not happy had mechanisms in place to make himself more happy. It is not the fault of the rest of us that so and so refuses to use those mechanisms.

It is, further, about more than housing, as has been explained repeatedly. It is a great worry to me that Jeff seems to think it's only about housing. And, further, even if were only about housing? How often have we all cited housing as a major draw of this game?

-Galen's player

 

[Petra Fyde]

THP apparently feels obliged to post this idea on any thread that gives him half an excuse.
Can we get this thread back on track please and not allow it to be hijacked further?
It is my theory (unproven) that houses containing dupes are being deleted in entirety whereas houses that do not may be allowed to decay into IDOC status for players to loot.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

I think any house that doesn't belong needs to go, and like Petra said, One evidence of a cheater, poof it all. The US does similar where drugs are involved, taking car, house, belongings, etc - say goodbye to it all. I'm thinking the "hooks" were never in the game concerning many areas of housing, I wish they'd get them. If removing unused vacant houses on shards make it look desolate, then so be it, clean the place up! Let them reflect what they truly are. I see it as just another step in getting the game back on track and moving.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Either type of houses need to be gone in a clean matter. That way they can put in the 7x7 housing plot deed for the tent or gypsy wagon. Or 1-10 chance you get a fishing shack with pier deed that reaches out in the water for fishing or docking boats. Not limited to account age but 13+ year account picks. Not part of housing placement limit with a slow decay timer. Could be even limited by not being able to place on a shard you have already any type of deeded house placed.

And as mentioned any theese improperly placed homes with no account or RTB still being used need to be watched. Most times those that like to bend the rules a bit and think it is OK is up to something else. Hang the account that is using the the house to protect their real account house. I don't care if it is only a glacial spellbook used to prop open a door. Get rid of an active account doing wrong and even more housing will open up. Don't care how dead a shard looks. It has been the cheating that has thinned UOs ranks and not game content.

 

[Old Man of UO]

And as mentioned any theese improperly placed homes with no account or RTB still being used need to be watched. Most times those that like to bend the rules a bit and think it is OK is up to something else. Hang the account that is using the the house to protect their real account house. I don't care if it is only a glacial spellbook used to prop open a door. Get rid of an active account doing wrong and even more housing will open up. Don't care how dead a shard looks. It has been the cheating that has thinned UOs ranks and not game content.

I have an RTB house that I've pretty much stripped clean, and it is still standing. I've even reported it months and months ago with Help Command (no GM response, btw). I check about once a week just to see if it is still there. Are you saying then, that it is my fault, and my account should be locked?

 

[MalagAste]

I wish they would get rid of all the houses that don't belong... And I agree they need to be checked to be sure there aren't duped items in them... We all know there are far too many such items around to begin with. But there seriously needs to be a better way of finding out if a house has an active owner or not.

 

[Woodsman]

If it's going to take them like another 6 months or more to check for duped items, I'd rather they just delete all of the bugged and RtB houses rather than check them and let them IDOC. There comes a point at which you just need to move on.

 

[Warpig Inc]

I have an RTB house that I've pretty much stripped clean, and it is still standing. I've even reported it months and months ago with Help Command (no GM response, btw). I check about once a week just to see if it is still there. Are you saying then, that it is my fault, and my account should be locked?

"still being used" next time I'll bold and colorize for those with selective reading.

 

[Driven Insane]

It has been the cheating that has thinned UOs ranks and not game content.

 

[Woodsman]

Don't care how dead a shard looks. It has been the cheating that has thinned UOs ranks and not game content.

UO had the MMORPG market to itself for a brief time, but that was over 10 years ago. Too many things have happened since then, and cheating is a much smaller part when you factor in players aging, UO's aging, other games that have come along since 1997, illness, financial issues, time issues (family/jobs), and the list goes on and on. Somebody who was old enough to have earned the money to have bought an Apple II and then Ultima I and II when they came out would be in their mid 50s by now. Somebody who got hooked into Ultima by Ultima VII when it came out would probably be in their 40s, or near it.

Cheating is a problem - I hate the scripting and other stuff as much as you, but UO's problems are deeper than that.

 

[Old Man of UO]

"still being used" next time I'll bold and colorize for those with selective reading.

Sorry, we're just going to have to disagree with you on this.

EA didn't correctly code the decay on the RTB housing - it's not the fault of the people using the houses. I don't care if they make these houses fall instantly, but don't blame the squatters.