[UO Herald] Ask & Answer No. 6

[UO News]

Game
2012 Oct 15 14:45 GMT
Its Monday again and we have another set of questions that were answered by the development team. There were even a couple questions answered by one of our GMs.

Can we get an option added to crystal portals to hop over to the Heartwood Gate in Yew? It would making visiting Heartwood that much more convenient! (sablestorm)
Mesanna: Sorry this is not possible to do the fact that Heartwood is on a Dungeon Server

UOForums - There's several different types of chats so Im wondering if there is a personal message system in the works? Though I kinda enjoy the classic UO "drop me a little book in my mailbox" thing, I think we've evolved past that now. Thanks! (Quintus Batiatus)
Mesanna: The team has talked about different ways to improve on the existing mailing system but nothing concrete as of yet.

UOForums - I am looking forward to the Vendor Search option. Is there any details that can be given on this yet? Will you get coordinates to the vendors location, or be teleported to the vendors location, or be shown a map of where the vendor is? Thanks!(Quintus Batiatus)
Mesanna: How about all of the above? We want to give you options and make it useable by all.

UOForums - Im a veteran player since 1997. Ive come and gone a few times now. Though I enjoy the game as it is currently and find it fun to discover new things thats been added in recent years, I sometimes long for the days of the original release. Or maybe, the post Trammel release. The days when GM smiths sat outside the Brit Blacksmith shops, selling their wares. You know, the "stand outside the bank repeating the same items your trying to sell" days. My question is this, would it be possible or have a shard just for classic game play? Thanks! (Quintus Batiatus)
Mesanna: Not to give you a short answer on this one but it’s been hashed many times and the answer is still no.

‘Ello all! We have this fisherman in the SRC who is constantly frustrated by using his bait. He moans, that having to attach them individually everytime you cast is so fiddely for his clumsy hands, he doesn’t even bother with it anymore. Is there a way you can make it more manageable even for slightly inapt fisherman? Maybe create a hook which can be charged with bait and then work like the lava ones? I am sure fishermen (and women of course) around the realms would be glad for it …. and stop prodding me Vaughan, I did ask them now …. so stop it! (John II, A&A4 Comments)(also asked by Frarc, Ask the Devs)
Mesanna: Our stealing skill has just increased by .05 cause we are going to steal this awesome idea =)

If a house falls next to you and you resize a house next to it. Will you be able to place on the idoc spot? Or will you not be able to place because of the Idoc placement timer?(Lord Gareth)
Mesanna: Gareth *shakes head* you should know this! There is a delay and the time delays is from 30 minutes to 2 hours it’s totally random.

UOMania clorenz - after paging a GM with one character, if I log off and switch to another character on the same account will I stay in queue and still receive an answer?
GM Inarea: Yes as long as they are on the same account.

UOMania clorenz - could we get also GM support via e-mail? It would be easier to explain the problem (especially for non native English speakers!)
GM Inarea: So if English is not your native language, when you page state in the beginning that you would like to be contacted via email instead and give a brief description of the issue.

UOMania clorenz - I left my Personal Bless Deed on Europa when I transferred my character to another shard. When I transferred the character back to Europa, the Personal Bless Deed was not working for him anymore. How do I get it fixed?
Mesanna: Short answer a GM can fix it for you, long answer is we have this on our list to fix in the big bug push next publish.

UOMania Sir Bolo - I've heard that under Lord Blackthorn's rule the players will be able to run for office in the cities of Britannia. Is this just for roleplaying or will the player-run city councils also gain in-game powers? Can we have an example of the things they could do?
Kyronix: If you mean in terms of having the ability to add or change your city? To give your city random buffs or a facelift or add a soda jerk or additions like this? Maybe. All I can say right now is that it is roleplaying with a twist. All the details are not worked out, nothing is in stone . As soon as we have more details we will be happy to share them with you.​

Continue reading...

 

[The Predator]

​

UOMania clorenz - I left my Personal Bless Deed on Europa when I transferred my character to another shard. When I transferred the character back to Europa, the Personal Bless Deed was not working for him anymore. How do I get it fixed?

Mesanna: Short answer a GM can fix it for you, long answer is we have this on our list to fix in the big bug push next publish.​

​

Were you able to only redeem Personal Bless Deeds at a specific point in time? Can you still do it? If not, can we?

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Game
2012 Oct 15 14:45 GMT
Its Monday again and we have another set of questions that were answered by the development team. There were even a couple questions answered by one of our GMs.

​

UOForums - I am looking forward to the Vendor Search option. Is there any details that can be given on this yet? Will you get coordinates to the vendors location, or be teleported to the vendors location, or be shown a map of where the vendor is? Thanks!(Quintus Batiatus)​

Mesanna: How about all of the above? We want to give you options and make it useable by all.​

​

Continue reading...

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Kyronix: If you mean in terms of having the ability to add or change your city? To give your city random buffs or a facelift or add a soda jerk or additions like this? Maybe. All I can say right now is that it is roleplaying with a twist. All the details are not worked out, nothing is in stone . As soon as we have more details we will be happy to share them with you.

Though probably meant as a joke, the citing of a soda jerk causes some concern in me because it reminds me of the McDonald's house that Cal used to show as an example of UO Players' creativity. There were many, many, more appropriate, more thematic, more interesting examples of housing creativity he could have cited. The use of the McDonald's house example showed to me a central disregard of RP and immersion, which are key to UO's longevity and continued (we presume) profitability. (It's staggering to me that folks will use immersion as an excuse to argue against things like a vendor search but not use it to argue against McDonald's houses or soda jerks!)

Any ability we as players will have to make major changes to a city should be subject to strict limits and should be appropriate to the city and to the environment. Appropriateness already gives you a very, very wide range of activity, without pushing immersion-breaking boundaries. (Live) theatres, artists' studios, re-coloured buildings (tasteful and muted), additional NPC guards, etc....Many things can be done without breaking immersion. But I could easily see some seriously proposing soda jerks or movie theatres or television studios, or McDonald's locations....Other things that would pretty much kill the in-game experience for the rest of us.

The most-outrageous changes, if history is any guide, will be proposed by those who will lose interest sooner rather than later, and then the rest of us will be stuck with results we did not want. "Roleplaying with a twist," depending on what that twist is, is probably the way to go. That will maintain the interest of those whose interest is most-likely to be maintained.

So, yes, Kyronix, I recognize that the soda jerk reference was probably a joke....But, please, please proceed on this stuff with some care.

-Galen's player

 

[Kyronix]

Though probably meant as a joke, the citing of a soda jerk causes some concern in me because it reminds me of the McDonald's house that Cal used to show as an example of UO Players' creativity. There were many, many, more appropriate, more thematic, more interesting examples of housing creativity he could have cited. The use of the McDonald's house example showed to me a central disregard of RP and immersion, which are key to UO's longevity and continued (we presume) profitability. (It's staggering to me that folks will use immersion as an excuse to argue against things like a vendor search but not use it to argue against McDonald's houses or soda jerks!)

Any ability we as players will have to make major changes to a city should be subject to strict limits and should be appropriate to the city and to the environment. Appropriateness already gives you a very, very wide range of activity, without pushing immersion-breaking boundaries. (Live) theatres, artists' studios, re-coloured buildings (tasteful and muted), additional NPC guards, etc....Many things can be done without breaking immersion. But I could easily see some seriously proposing soda jerks or movie theatres or television studios, or McDonald's locations....Other things that would pretty much kill the in-game experience for the rest of us.

The most-outrageous changes, if history is any guide, will be proposed by those who will lose interest sooner rather than later, and then the rest of us will be stuck with results we did not want. "Roleplaying with a twist," depending on what that twist is, is probably the way to go. That will maintain the interest of those whose interest is most-likely to be maintained.

So, yes, Kyronix, I recognize that the soda jerk reference was probably a joke....But, please, please proceed on this stuff with some care.

-Galen's player

The reference is to a currently existing addition to Luna Bank on Chesapeake run by the Goblins there. I don't see it completely "immersion-breaking" as the proposal of having soda in UO isn't entirely out of the question. Being that carbonated alcoholic beverages do exist, and tinkers have created a far greater level of complexity with their designs, infusing carbon dioxide into a liquid and then flavoring it with vanilla, cocoa, apple, peach, grape etc etc isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. The same thing goes with their ice cream cones, if you haven't seen the cave where they make the ice cream, I suggest you visit -- it's pretty sweet (Yes the pun was intended ).

I completely agree with you however, and would not proceed with adding anything that would be completely OOC.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I can see Club's of all kinds to apear in Moonglow - yes, yes...
As my all time hero said, a club like this: Where you see a thigh and blackend an eye, at the nudie bar!
Why not have some in game?

 

[startle]

.....

UOForums - I am looking forward to the Vendor Search option. Is there any details that can be given on this yet? Will you get coordinates to the vendors location, or be teleported to the vendors location, or be shown a map of where the vendor is? Thanks!(Quintus Batiatus)​

Mesanna: How about all of the above? We want to give you options and make it useable by all....​

​

​

This is WONDERFUL! Of ALL the great things you guys/gals are working on, IMHO this is the one that will make this game vibrant again! Can't wait!​

​

 

[BeaIank]

I can see Club's of all kinds to apear in Moonglow - yes, yes...
As my all time hero said, a club like this: Where you see a thigh and blackend an eye, at the nudie bar!
Why not have some in game?

If Ultima VII is any indication, Buc's bath house was supposed to be a "club" like that.

 

[R Traveler]

Can we get an option added to crystal portals to hop over to the Heartwood Gate in Yew? It would making visiting Heartwood that much more convenient! (sablestorm)​

Mesanna: Sorry this is not possible to do the fact that Heartwood is on a Dungeon Server​

​

Uhh... LOL ?

Dungeon crystal ball does teleport to entrance, not to dungeon. Same could be done for Heartwood gate - teleport to Yew somewhere near gate.

 

[Vor]

​

Uhh... LOL ?


Dungeon crystal ball does teleport to entrance, not to dungeon. Same could be done for Heartwood gate - teleport to Yew somewhere near gate.

Was about to say that.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I am somehow confused here - you can mark at Yew, next to the Heartwood gate or a few tiles away?
And its also not soooooo far away from the gate....
Why would you have to use a portal...
Gimme insight please

 

[Viper09]

Why would you have to use a portal...
Gimme insight please

Convenience,

 

[Vor]

I am somehow confused here - you can mark at Yew, next to the Heartwood gate or a few tiles away?
And its also not soooooo far away from the gate....
Why would you have to use a portal...
Gimme insight please

By the same logic, you don't need portals at all

 

[Mapper]

Convenience,

You spelled laziness wrong.

 

[Viper09]

You spelled laziness wrong.

To me convenience = laziness

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Convenience,

You mean.......this?

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

By the same logic, you don't need portals at all

I dont, i am scared of portals!

 

[Basara]

There are several reasons to want the ability to go to Heartwood with a portal. The logical method would be with the corrupted portal, as others have pointed out.

1. Allows easier access for crafters going there (and allows a crafter to go totally without a transport skill, should they wish, relying only on runebooks. After all, empty pets will log out with them, and log back in at the player location, so you don't have to take them back home with a gate).

2. Too many "Yew" things go to well OUTSIDE Yew. The moongate, for example (via other gate or portal), and the "bank" is Empath Abbey, which is still technically NOT Yew by Ultima lore, by any stretch of means. Having Yew bank there is still as ludicrous today as it was 15 years ago. To deliver an escort (and portals DO allow you to deliver escorts, unbonded pets, hirelings, etc. without a gate spell), you have to go further from the gate to the city boundary than with any other city with the possible exception of Britain, and further than most if one uses a normal portal to say "Yew Mint".

3. Fel Yew Gate is a deathtrap for any non-PvPer that has to get to Fel Yew for any reason other than PvP. Sure, you can use a rune marked in town, but GETTING a rune there requires taking someone's word that you aren't recalling off a bought rune into an ambush, running the PvP gauntlet, or sneaking into town with a boat, or overland from the Skara & Brit roads through multiple housing areas (and the occasional swarm of Liches). And, before the PvPers complain too much, note that having the portal go there would allow another easily accessible rally point if you're going to have multiple-guild conflict outside Yew (other than using a normal portal or gate to go to the gate, or portal to the bank). If the corrupted portal can drop you outside Sanctuary, it should do the same for Heartwood.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

To be honest, i dont know any crafter without travelling skills of any kind and who would prefer heartwood at Fel
But than, i am happy i got "lighted" now and thank you very much for this great anwer Basar!!
Yours

 

[startle]

Yea Basara, you sure got me thinking more about those things now.... I see I hadn't spent enough time "thinking them thru"...

 

[The Craftsman]

​

UOForums - I am looking forward to the Vendor Search option. Is there any details that can be given on this yet? Will you get coordinates to the vendors location, or be teleported to the vendors location, or be shown a map of where the vendor is? Thanks!(Quintus Batiatus)​

Mesanna: How about all of the above? We want to give you options and make it useable by all.​

​

​

​

Why stop at giving location co-ords, teleporting option or maps? You may as well go the whole hog and add the option to just buy from the comfort of your own home saying as youre trying to make the game as simple and lazy as possible whilst removing immersion and interaction.

 

[Tanivar]

​

Why stop at giving location co-ords, teleporting option or maps? You may as well go the whole hog and add the option to just buy from the comfort of your own home saying as youre trying to make the game as simple and lazy as possible whilst removing immersion and interaction.

Own a shop in Luna?

 

[Eärendil]

You mean.......this?

LOOOOOL!

 

[Tjalle]

Why stop at giving location co-ords, teleporting option or maps? You may as well go the whole hog and add the option to just buy from the comfort of your own home saying as youre trying to make the game as simple and lazy as possible whilst removing immersion and interaction.

I agree.

Don´t teleport us to the locations. Co-ords and/or a map is enough.

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Don´t teleport us to the locations. Co-ords and/or a map is enough.

I am against the in game vendor search 100% .... however if they are set on doing it then they should include more than Co-ords and map or we will once again be inundated with those "It's not fair, I live in the sticks and nobody will try to find my vendor out here and will just go to Luna and keep those folks rich and me poor" yappers shortly after it's launched. Sad... yeah I agree ... but ya know it's the truth

 

[Tjalle]

I see no issue with that. Just leaves the bargain to those who are willing to "put in a little work" and I´m sure there are enough out there to keep the forrest shops visited.
It´s just that the picture posted in this thread kinda shows where the game is heading towards because of players seeming lazier and lazier by the day...

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

It´s just that the picture posted in this thread kinda shows where the game is heading towards because of players seeming lazier and lazier by the day...

I agree. It seems these days folks want one of those Staples easy buttons AND wants someone else to push it for them too.

To your first point though.... Not sure if there will still be that many bargains honestly. I think the main reason the folks who are hollering about wanting an in game vendor search is so they can charge Luna prices on vendors in their own house to avoid having to pay rental fees to those nasty Luna land baron's lol Time will tell.....

 

[R Traveler]

They could use pirate location speech as template for vendor search. Like "Someone told me about vendor named ZZZ who was last seen at XX YY near city CC who had item you searched for... anyway its dull story Arr!"

 

[John II SRC]

Game
2012 Oct 15 14:45 GMT
Its Monday again and we have another set of questions that were answered by the development team. There were even a couple questions answered by one of our GMs.

​

‘Ello all! We have this fisherman in the SRC who is constantly frustrated by using his bait. He moans, that having to attach them individually everytime you cast is so fiddely for his clumsy hands, he doesn’t even bother with it anymore. Is there a way you can make it more manageable even for slightly inapt fisherman? Maybe create a hook which can be charged with bait and then work like the lava ones? I am sure fishermen (and women of course) around the realms would be glad for it …. and stop prodding me Vaughan, I did ask them now …. so stop it! (John II, A&A4 Comments)(also asked by Frarc, Ask the Devs)​

Mesanna: Our stealing skill has just increased by .05 cause we are going to steal this awesome idea =)​

​

Oh, now that's exciting! I am sure a lot of fisherpeople would be very, very happy!

 

[swroberts]

Here is what I envision...
Vender
*YES*
Search Conjurers Garb with luck, less than 45 million
*SEARCHING.......*
*SEARCH COMPLETE*
*FOUND A MATCH*
*LOCATION MINOC REGION*
*PRICE 15 MILLION*
*WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE TRANSPORTED?*
Yes, immediately
(Strange teleportation sound)
Hmmm....there is nothing on the vender
You are being attacked by ...well, just too many PK's to list
You are dead.
Would you like to report them as murders?
Yes
(return home eventually)
Vender
*YES*
I hate you
*HAVE A NICE DAY*

 

[John II SRC]

They could use pirate location speech as template for vendor search. Like "Someone told me about vendor named ZZZ who was last seen at XX YY near city CC who had item you searched for... anyway its dull story Arr!"

Love that idea! Can't see how it could work, but it's a great idea! *g*

 

[John II SRC]

Here is what I envision...
Vender
*YES*
Search Conjurers Garb with luck, less than 45 million
*SEARCHING.......*
*SEARCH COMPLETE*
*FOUND A MATCH*
*LOCATION MINOC REGION*
*PRICE 15 MILLION*
*WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE TRANSPORTED?*
Yes, immediately
(Strange teleportation sound)
Hmmm....there is nothing on the vender
You are being attacked by ...well, just too many PK's to list
You are dead.
Would you like to report them as murders?
Yes
(return home eventually)
Vender
*YES*
I hate you
*HAVE A NICE DAY*

In the olde days, gate hopping was known as the Game For Kings ... in the future it would be shopping it seems *g*

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

="Tjalle, post: 2190476, member: 127"]I see no issue with that. Just leaves the bargain to those who are willing to "put in a little work" and I´m sure there are enough out there to keep the forrest shops visited.
It´s just that the picture posted in this thread kinda shows where the game is heading towards because of players seeming lazier and lazier by the day...

Umm...i am lazy because i want an ingame search instead of running helpless around in the worlds trying to find something and clicking me through hundrets of backpacks not finding what i want, ending on a third party internet page haveing great search possibilities but only to vendors the owner of the pages chose (and offerning me to buy it with REAL MONEY arglll...) ? hmmmmm

All i want is that search in game and the possibility to know how to reach my item (recall/gate/RUN there) - its like you drop a rune at Luna Mint with a short desription - but we are starting that discussion again and so i stop now - its on several other threads hehe

Dont get me wrong i 100% understand your fears...this is a perfect example for change management...and thats why i think the dev's will keep us informed the best they can what they will implement as a kind of ingame search - and believe me, they KNOW what they should NOT do....yeah...i believe in them

Post Sciptum: The guy on the pic who tries to use the portal, just wants an easier way to do heartwood quest not have to move etc... so nothing about portals to vendors

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Umm...i am lazy because i want an ingame search

See, I look at the laziness from a totally different standpoint. I look at it as the merchants are lazy, not the shopper. I liked the days of vendor malls, owner of the establishment spamming at WBB or Luna trying to get folks to visit the shop. The merchant doing their best to keep good, fair and freshly stocked vendors at his/her mall. Building a positive reputation and clientele. The advent of that site, and in game searches all but kill that off. To me, that was one of the things that built the "community" feel to UO, and I for one hate to see it go.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

And i say nothing will change Kylie and nobody has to be afraid - trust me i am alien

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

And i say nothing will change Kylie and nobody has to be afraid

Hmmm... to take a slight liberty with your sig.....

Not sure how to take lol

Nothing will change Kylie - as nothing will change and tossing my name in there so I pay attention..

or

Nothing will change Kylie -cause he is old and stuck in his outdated ways..



Probably both tho, as they both fit rather well

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

The more arguments against a vendor search I read, he less-convincing they become.

Here, I copy/paste the semi-extensive post I did on this topic some weeks back.

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

Basically every significant con to this I can think of has a workaround.

Con: Hurts immersion.
Workaround: Firstly, walking around and window shopping at random vendors will still have its place. You don't always know what you're looking for until you see it, but when youdo know what you're looking for you don't want to waste the time wandering around hoping to run into it. That is annoying, not immersive.

Secondly, the official vendor database can be effectively RPed as word of mouth. If peasants in 1381 England could somehow mobilize for a massive revolt that very nearly established a prototypical Communist state in medieval England through word of mouth and messengers alone? Then surely the more-modern UO world can effectively communicate something as simple as "I saw what you were looking for at ______."

Thirdly, this functionality already exists and is in wide use, it's just only selected places rather than shard-wide, and comes from a non-official source.

Con: The reselling issue.
Workaround: Firstly, perhaps either the vendor or the house owner can opt out of the vendor search. (RP-wise this is a localized vendor that simply doesn't want much traffic.)

Secondly, reselling happens even now, so to some degree it's a zero effect.

Thirdly, is reselling such a bad thing? As others have pointed out, sooner or later if it isn't worth it for the gatherer, the reseller will be out of business as well. That is how economies work, for good or ill. (It doesn't take someone who supports capitalism to recognize this btw; just someone who notices how things work.)

Fourthly, selling through global chat or direct player interactions can bypass the vendor system, and hence the vendor search, entirely.

Con: Will hurt the current vendor search sites. (I consider this a con because they have provided a necessary service, even if we don't all approve of how they have provided it, for some years now.)
Workaround: Firstly, those sites will still have a niche in terms of searches, because they offer a more-focused search of specific high-vendor traffic areas.

Secondly, those sites also tend to offer other services beyond the vendor search. They will, I think, survive an official, shard-wide vendor search.

Con: Will hurt Luna, Zento area, and New Magincia. (I consider this a con because people have fought hard and spent a lot of money to have shops in those areas, and it's only fair to consider their feelings, and their pocketbooks.)
Workaround: Those places will still have their place and still do well. They will still be the best place by for for any kind of selling wherein customers don't know what they are looking for until they see it. Those places also have the vendors that are most-convenient to get to. And where you're most-likely to run into a fellow shopper for additional commerce or socialization.

My conclusion is....Many pros, and every significant con I can think of has a workaround.

If it's doable, do it.

-Galen's player

 

[Kojak]

I don't think bringing the player to the vendor is such a great idea - they should bring the vendor to the player instead like you can already do if you shop off the house sign - maybe you can only summon it to you once a minute to prevent abuse like someone trying to keep someone's vendor unavailable by always summoning it away from the house

or maybe they could just make it so the vendor's pack opens up on your screen without actually moving the vendor at all - probably the best solution

 

[startle]

While I LOVE that we are getting a Sosaria-wide Vendor search system, IMO it should only show where the vendor is on a map with coords. Once you find vendors that are consistantly selling items you need, you can always mark a rune there for future purchases - which is exactly what we all did before Luna/Zento killed the rest of the vendors in the land (practically speaking)... I know that while the last sentence will have several people chime in that their vendors out in the boonies have great traffic, I submit that if anyone runs around Sosaria today, the number of vendors actively stocking wares is 3% of what it was before Luna/Zento... And I, for one, want to see chars out and about in the lands again. Having a Vendor Search system that brings the vendor to you or allows you to purchase the item without actually GOING to the vendor will defeat the main reason for the search for me. I want it to be the engine that get's people out in the hinterlands again, with a much greater chance to meet new people...

 

[Olahorand]

startle: I do not agree.
Even if something I want to buy is some 1000 gold pieces cheaper - where would I buy it? In Luna, were I have reached the vendor location in about 1 minute or in a far valley somewhere in Malas, from which I don't even know how to get there by walking? Don't underestimate the fact, that time is money.

 

[Padre Dante]

Another great thing the new in-game vendor search could provide is MORE vendors than are currently in the game. I, for one, have a house out in the "hinterlands" and don't play UO often enough to spam the ground with runes and gates. Since no one is going to be visiting my house, I have placed 0 vendors. However, open up an in-game search and suddenly it makes more sense for me to place vendors in the hinterlands.

I can see how a small populace would be against the proposed new feature (namely those that have houses in Luna/Zento, and possibly some who think it is an out-of-character type system), but I would imagine a majority of active UO players would greatly appreciate such a system. The online searches have somewhat forced EA's hands here. Does anyone want to see the online searches disabled and NO vendor search instead? Not I.

 

[whiterabbit]

ice creams beees goos fer yoos. soda jerkkin serve when goblin not around

 

[Siabra]

I think the reason that there are less vendors is not luna.. its less players.
As each new land has opened its spread players out farther and farther.
There's not a lot that requires effort- i mean really if you can't find a vendor
with the co-ords do you need to shop there?OR better yet should you be shopping at all?
Wouldn't it be just tooo hard to actually click something to buy it?
Heaven forbid it take a little bit of effort to accomplish something

 

[Tanivar]

Does anyone want to see the online searches disabled and NO vendor search instead? Not I.

Having a way to avoid wasting your couple hours playtime walking through Luna looking through badly labeled vendors and containers would be nice.

"Yeah George! UO is a really fun and addictive game! I spent the half of Tuesday evening I had free walking around the game trying to find what I needed to make a Sword of Destruction. Three hours of clicking on player vendors labeled 'Buy This!!!' and containers on them labeled 'Great Stuff!!!'. Never found what I needed, but damn it was fun! Must have looked at 10,000 bagged items. You ought to download the game and play it!"

"Why the 'Oh yeah, Riigght...' look George? You act like it sounds boring and unfun. It was only three hours spent clicking and clicking and clicking. I'll have another couple hours to do some more of it in a few days, Saturday late afternoon is free and I can look through some more vendors. "

I'll be happy if the new system just tells me what coordinates to travel to. If the search system has a NPC involved, have him say the vendor is at 143 East by 119 South near the mountains southwest of Trinsic. A Recall to the Trinsic moongate and i'm quickly in the ballpark and can pull out a sextant to finish the trip.

 

[Woodsman]

Vendor search is not a hypothetical exercise or discussion. It exists, has existed for years, and is only expanding its reach these days, but it still only benefits a select few.

If EA is not able or willing to remove the bots that illegally feed the data into the various vendor search sites, then they are doing the next best thing: Making sure that traffic to those sites drops, helping to hopefully put some of them out of business, or reducing the exposure of their illegal operations.

In the process, the pre-existing vendor search system that benefits a select few will be replaced by a better system that benefits all players.

 

[Woodsman]

The online searches have somewhat forced EA's hands here. Does anyone want to see the online searches disabled and NO vendor search instead? Not I.

I would like to see the online searches disabled and their accounts banned. I would also like to see more players, which would reduce the need for a vendor search. So many of UO's problems would be alleviated with more players. More players = better for vendors, better for buyers.

An official in-game vendor search is the best option at this point though. It's especially crucial given a smaller population and how much importance is placed on certain items these days.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Another great thing the new in-game vendor search could provide is MORE vendors than are currently in the game. I, for one, have a house out in the "hinterlands" and don't play UO often enough to spam the ground with runes and gates. Since no one is going to be visiting my house, I have placed 0 vendors. However, open up an in-game search and suddenly it makes more sense for me to place vendors in the hinterlands.

I can see how a small populace would be against the proposed new feature (namely those that have houses in Luna/Zento, and possibly some who think it is an out-of-character type system), but I would imagine a majority of active UO players would greatly appreciate such a system. The online searches have somewhat forced EA's hands here. Does anyone want to see the online searches disabled and NO vendor search instead? Not I.

Even those 2 negatives you cite have workarounds; see my earlier post.

Agreed that this may well make hinterlands shops viable again. It potentially could make "small business owner" a viable profession again. Stock when you have something, re-stock when you have something.

Placing runes is problematic unless you have regular stock which I, for one, will not.

Currently I can only sell through an auction house, or in Global Chat.

-Galen's player

 

[startle]

I would like to see the online searches disabled and their accounts banned. I would also like to see more players, which would reduce the need for a vendor search. So many of UO's problems would be alleviated with more players. More players = better for vendors, better for buyers.

An official in-game vendor search is the best option at this point though. It's especially crucial given a smaller population and how much importance is placed on certain items these days.

Agreed.... I feel the need to provide full disclosure here. I must admit that I have used a couple of these 3rd party sites from time to time (when I needed something that would otherwise take hours and hours of clicking blindly on Luna vendors like Tanivar so aptly put in post 44 above) , and even found the people who run them prompt and courteous (well, of course they are, they're selling a product)... But, having said that, these sites and the Luna/Zento vendors who undoubtedly run them have a very tiresome monopoly on items for sale in this game. But even those people who currently profit from them must admit that - given the current decay of the player base - their time is coming to a close.

So let's get this Sosaria Vendor system up and running as quickly as possible... If anything will generate new players and keep old ones aboard, it will be the implementation of vendor searching in-game.