[UO Herald] Sneak Peek III

[UO News]

Here is another Sneak Peek, as promised in the Producer's letter:

• If all goes well we will have UO.com up and running by the end of September.
• 'Return to Britannia' starts tomorrow at 9am EDT, sorry for the confusion on this date. It will run from September 5th to October 5th.
• After tomorrow morning's maintenance:
  • Despise healing mobs healing Andros or Adrian will be fixed.
  • You and your pet should no longer be teleported to a location that you cannot get out of.
  • Gargoyle Faction armor will no longer immediately disappear when fighting a monster in Trammel.

And we have two more pieces for you to enjoy.

Continue reading...

 

[Basara]

Another thing that really needs fixed is that you HURT YOUR OWN PET with area-effect attacks like the Whirlwind special move (and probably spells as well). That's more annoying to me than accidental or deliberate pet-on-pet fighting (or pets attacking players) when the pets aren't trained up enough to change alignment.

 

[Rupert Avery]

I have taken the 4 released pieces together The Sneak Peak Puzzle brought together.... - Ultima Online Forums two of them actually go together!

 

[Basara]

I have taken the 4 released pieces together The Sneak Peak Puzzle brought together.... - Ultima Online Forums two of them actually go together!

The unlinked middle piece should be over one to the left, and down two spots, from the two joined pieces.

It appears the UO symbol is split over 6 pieces, and we see the top right of the "U" on the two joined pieces, on the left one. The one floating non-corner piece is the bottom left of the UO symbol, Like this...
0XX
000
X00

Where the corner piece is in relation to the other 3, is still uncertain, other than it appears that if the puzzle has the symbol centered, it's at least 6 wide by at least 4 tall. You need to play with the display box to reflect that, and be ready to make it bigger if it turns out there are more parts than one between the corner and the two joined top pieces.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Holly Cow - i think this will be a new game: UO:Worlds - and we can just migrate there with all our stuff!
3D Engine, First Person Ego-Shooter QUAKE-Style playable if wanted - or just play 2D with high rez graphics!
! I can see it! I can see it!
GOOD NIGHT!

 

[Crysta]

shift the top middle two left one.. the bottom section of the tip of the U is in it. Or shift the one with the letter piece in it right one.

 

[cazador]

Wishful thinking...box art

 

[Basara]

Why, Crysta? I'm not seeing what you seem to think you see. Tina, myself and others see the bottom left part of the O and the very top right part of the U, with the

U
O

Being spread over 2 wide by 3 tall

In fact, the centering seems to make me think that the puzzle is either 6 or 8 wide (and 8 would make the numbering off), not 7, unless there is a column outside the frame of the pic on the right side.

 

[Tjalle]

A new wallpaper coming?

 

[Merus]

Wishful thinking...box art

I with you... Wishful thinking, but one can hope... Prolly will turn out to be a new wallpaper though.

 

[LordDrago]

Is that the left ear of a panda I see?

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Is that the left ear of a panda I see?

Ughhh, I hope not!

 

[Woodsman]

I with you... Wishful thinking, but one can hope... Prolly will turn out to be a new wallpaper though.

I think Jeff said it would be poster art that you can buy, just like they did with Dark Age of Camelot.

The BioWare Store - Dark Age of Camelot 10th Anniversary Lithograph

 

[Reth]

A new wallpaper coming?

If this is a month or so long sneak peek for wallpaper....:gun:

 

[Woodsman]

Spoiler

Is that a moongate in the "O" of the UO logo?

 

[Poo]

Spoiler

Is that a moongate in the "O" of the UO logo?

Spoiler

its a rent or wormhole in the space time continuum that will allow travel between the shards / facets.... eh?

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I think it's going to be 6x5... that would center the UO symbol better IMO. What gave the idea it would be 7x5?

 

[Woodsman]

Spoiler

its a rent or wormhole in the space time continuum that will allow travel between the shards / facets.... eh?

Spoiler

That's what I was wondering....but EA would be giving up transfer token money if they did that, and UO is probably already hurting if they have such a small team....still the live arc kind of lends itself to something like that

 

[Poo]

Spoiler

That's what I was wondering....but EA would be giving up transfer token money if they did that, and UO is probably already hurting if they have such a small team....still the live arc kind of lends itself to something like that

Spoiler

dosnt mean they have to loose money, they'd make it a chargeable thing, like 10 mill a pop or something, enough that it would hurt to do it, like a hella long chain quest that would take a couple days to do.
that way having the shields would still be worth while.
would match with the comment on the producers letter "would like to get rid of checks and make money account bound"

 

[DanteSignas]

If this is just wallpaper then they can stop with the "sneak peaks". That crap is lame. I wish it would be a new xpac or booster, that would be awesome.

 

[Woodsman]

Spoiler

dosnt mean they have to loose money, they'd make it a chargeable thing, like 10 mill a pop or something, enough that it would hurt to do it, like a hella long chain quest that would take a couple days to do.
that way having the shields would still be worth while.
would match with the comment on the producers letter "would like to get rid of checks and make money account bound"

Spoiler

What would be the point of putting in all of that engineer working on something very few people would utilize? 10 mil a pop is $4 through RMT, which many people would utilize, which would encourage more scripting. Making things really tedious in UO to the point where few use them is not wise when the UO team is as small as it is. It would just piss off a lot of people over things that could have been added or fixed instead.

 

[Woodsman]

If this is just wallpaper then they can stop with the "sneak peaks". That crap is lame. I wish it would be a new xpac or booster, that would be awesome.

Like I said, a lithograph, similar to what they did with DAOC:

The BioWare Store - Dark Age of Camelot 10th Anniversary Lithograph

Anniversary Art Work - Celt and Firbolg | Dark Age of Camelot
Anniversary Art Work - Highlander vs Dwarf | Dark Age of Camelot
Anniversary Art Work | Dark Age of Camelot

Here's their making of video

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I want cloth maps!

 

[G.v.P]

This is my guess at where the puzzle pieces go.

Spoiler

wow Tina if you're right that's a lot of pieces.

 

[Viper09]

If this is a month or so long sneak peek for wallpaper....:gun:

Seriously. That's why I am imaging it to be something more to the extent of an expansion.

 

[Rupert Avery]

The unlinked middle piece should be over one to the left, and down two spots, from the two joined pieces.

It appears the UO symbol is split over 6 pieces, and we see the top right of the "U" on the two joined pieces, on the left one. The one floating non-corner piece is the bottom left of the UO symbol, Like this...
0XX
000
X00

Where the corner piece is in relation to the other 3, is still uncertain, other than it appears that if the puzzle has the symbol centered, it's at least 6 wide by at least 4 tall. You need to play with the display box to reflect that, and be ready to make it bigger if it turns out there are more parts than one between the corner and the two joined top pieces.

Yea Adam pointed that Out I didn't know exactly how they went together I just brought them closer and on to one page so we could see them altogether...

I am curious How did you know the size Tina?

 

[Basara]

Petra has the equivalent of this as 7 wide, but that might not be correct (but she might be in a position to hear more how the puzzle was made). Centering the UO would make it more likely to be 6 pieces wide.

As for the height - the missing symbol pieces, plus the fact that the bottom one has room for a piece to attach from below, means that it's at least 4 pieces high.

Personally, I think it will be 6x4, not 7x5.

 

[Petra Fyde]

I agree with Tina, I started our page last week
UO Stratics *New* | Jigsaw Puzzle
and we're getting our info from the file names

As for guessing what it is - well my guess (and for the cynical yes it is only a guess, I have no prior knowledge), I think it's the header for the new uo.com.

 

[Rupert Avery]

Ah I didn't look at the file names just a quick cut and pate

 

[Basara]

Petra, I'm seeing two "A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2" lines on the jigsaw page

 

[Rupert Avery]

I'm guessing, just like everyone else. I don't know for sure. 7 wide x 5 high seems to me to be the most aesthetically pleasing, but 6 wide x 4 high is my second choice. Plus, if it ends up only being 6x4, it's quite a bit easier to make my picture smaller by eliminating a column of pieces than adding on another column! I can't quite picture it being 7 tiles wide by 4 tiles high either, unless it is going to be a lithograph like the one for Bioware is selling for DAOC's 10th anniversary. Or, as Petra suggested, maybe if it is the new header for the UO.com website.

Also, as far as making it 7 tiles wide, if you look at tile E1, something with a fairly wide wing span is going to end up in F1, and I just can't quite picture it going in there very well along with a corner of the border. Seems like whatever it is would end up being pretty squished in there if it's a corner piece.

Until they release more pieces, I think it's pretty much anyone's guess.

When I am finished work I will edit my picture a bit and maybe make 2 versions

 

[Basara]

The stuff at the edges seems to extend past the border (look at the horns in A1), so assuming that the entire wingspan of what appears to be an ethereal warrior will be shown is at best just an assumption. The wing appears that it might even be tipped up in the fragment we see, so that the entire span might reach down toward the bottom of F1, if not into F2.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Petra, I'm seeing two "A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2" lines on the jigsaw page

heheh thanks. I guess I got a bit carried away copying the line to add 3 & 4. Fixed now.

 

[Goodmann]

Why is everything sneak peeks and we cant comment on that. We would like to know the upcoming content for this 15 year old game. That would be nice to give us something to look forward to

 

[Petra Fyde]

Isn't that what we got in Mesanna's last letter?

 

[Cogniac]

Here's my issue: We keep getting these puzzle pieces and the phrase "Sneak Peek." Sneak Peek of what? They've never said.

 

[legendsguy]

It will be a new booster.

 

[Viper09]

Here's my issue: We keep getting these puzzle pieces and the phrase "Sneak Peek." Sneak Peek of what? They've never said.

If they were to tell us what it is I think that would ruin the whole idea of a surprise. I wouldn't think it would be anything as cheap as a new poster as it seems like it is creating too much hype over something that would be so small. So I would assume they are giving us a sneak peak at some sort of upcoming content.

 

[Spoontoes]

Let's hope it isn't as 'successful' as the new Despise. In which case I'd rather it be a crappy poster that I didn't have to buy, at least then my hopes for something good wouldn't be stamped down yet again.

 

[NBG]

Unless they somehow hired Devs on the side or they somehow got contents from the supposed Chinese version of UO, I really do not see how they have the time or resources to implement a playable booster or expansion in time.

However, I am still hold out hopes out for an updated UO with new features converted from the Chinese version of UO that was rumored to be released next year maybe? (Maybe that is where they are getting the high res art which was part of the UO producer list?)

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Soon (tm)

 

[Ashlynn_L]

You should make a 250 piece puzzle with the co-ordinates and shard of a box with a present in it for whoever solves it. Hmm...

 

[Woodsman]

Here's my issue: We keep getting these puzzle pieces and the phrase "Sneak Peek." Sneak Peek of what? They've never said.

If it's like DAOC's anniversary, it'll be a sneak peak of artwork we can buy in the BioWare store. Jeff said he'd like there to be more stuff for us to buy. The DAOC painting was like $60 at BioWare.com, but now it's almost a third of that.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Have to wonder how many they sold at $60 a pop. Judging by the fact that only 300 were made and nearly nine months later they are still for sale ($47.99), I'm guessing not many.

If they sell one for UO, the price point needs to me far more realistic than $60. $29.99 would be the best they could expect.

Looking at the rest of the BioWare store makes me sad. The plethora of crappy ME items (Yes, most of them are tacky), some Dragon Age items, a few DAoC items, and one lone UO item. The UO t-shirt uses a fugly version of the logo. Players have designed better UO tees.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I've been thinking about a real goods store myself... I remember back a few years ago they STARTED to do a few things... I think they had a keychain and a mug for a while. I've been in a bit of a cloth map phase (attempting to snag some off of ebay... some success, some got too expensive for me), and I would pay for a set of cloth maps (one map per facet/area) of UO. They just made one for U4E which pop up from time to time for $100+ at the moment.

I'd even go for a decent Tshirt... say black T-shirt with a semi-faded gold/stone UO logo in the upper left portion of the shirt (not a huge logo, but a bit bigger than Polo shirt logos), or something like that. The one gaming tshirt I wear oddly enough is a Tabula Rasa shirt a friend that worked at a local Gamestop brought to me because it was Richard Garriott. Even wore it today for my Friday Tshirt at work... never played the game, but I like the shirt.

A gamer co-worker and I have been reminiscing about the old days of video and computer games when you used to get so much more in the package than a DVD and a 4 page pamphlet. I just got a copy of Ultima 4 from ebay delivered today, had everything but the metal ankh... map, books and disks were in perfect shape, but the point beyond that is that the books weren't just simply a brief Player Reference Card a website listing and Warranty/Disclaimer small print, they were fleshed out books describing the world contained within the game. They're worth reading on their own. You don't get that off the shelf anymore and DEFINITELY don't when you download. Oh you MIGHT find a "Collector's Version" that has the books and trinkets, but not the standard retail version anymore... sad really.

Yeah, a but off track, and yes I know a virtual item store will always net more profit than physical goods... but yes, the current physical goods store is pretty weak... and the puzzle image may be ok for a website backdrop or new game splash screen for the next phase of UO... but I'm not sure it's good for a physical lithograph, and the sound of the track record for the DAOC one isn't promising either.

 

[Woodsman]

Have to wonder how many they sold at $60 a pop. Judging by the fact that only 300 were made and nearly nine months later they are still for sale ($47.99), I'm guessing not many.

If they sell one for UO, the price point needs to me far more realistic than $60. $29.99 would be the best they could expect.

It was on sale for under $30 the other day, so I wonder what's up with that. Maybe they have variable pricing - keep dropping the price every so often until some people buy, and then raise it back up, because I've seen probably 4 different prices for that thing.

Yeah $60 is too much. At that point, sell me a digital copy and let me go get one printed myself.

 

[Woodsman]

The latest puzzle pieces are simply amazing! But rather than dumping so many on us all at one time, how about a regular schedule?

Spoiler

Yes, that was sarcasm, it's been 10 days since we last had any puzzle pieces.

 

[Woodsman]

I may have to resort to making up my own UO-themed puzzles if I have to wait the whole weekend for more pieces....

Weekend?

Try 17 days.

I was kidding when I told somebody that they were just going to give us the completed puzzle on the anniversary. I didn't think that would actually happen.

Update: Only took an hour, you can thank me