I am the first to admit that the freedom to play how you want in UO is what makes it such a great game. I also love running the numbers and making spreadsheets; my wife teases me because I use Excel for EVERYTHING.
However, these new armor changes are going a bit too far. There are so many intricacies that at this point I am literally going to have to spend more time using a spreadsheet than playing UO. Not cool.
This also emphasizes my main concern: we, as players, do not have access to enough clearly displayed data to effectively play the game. We have no tool that effectively and ACCURATELY displays things like total LMC, HCI, DCI, SSI, LRC, HPR, SR, MR, etc.
I understand that Pinco's may have the ability to display some of this information, but please read my explanation before flaming that I need to use the EC: Even with Pinco's info in the EC, you only get some of that info according to what the system can see on your armor pieces. This does not take into effect the intricacies that will be added with refinements, and it does not account for things like how Med + Focus affect MR.
Lets take MR as an example. It can be affected by MR on items, focus, Med (whether or not you are using med able armor), a blessing from a Sphinx, bard masteries, and different forms. In addition to all this, MR is also subject to "diminishing returns", and we have never been given clear formulas for how that is calculated. We need to be able to see what our actual/effective MR is given all the variables. We would be able to make much better decisions about our skills/armor if we could see that spending the money to add another +15 points of mana-regen would only actually result in .02 Mana Regen every 10 seconds.
What is needed
We need a display that gives us an accurate readout of as much cumulative data as possible. Obviously this data is out there because the game runs all these numbers. We just need to be able to see it. I should be able to see my Luck increase as my character with Bushido achieves perfection, and I should see it drop when he misses a hit. I should be able to see what my real mana-regen is if I have 120 Med, 100 Focus, 32 MR on items, a party member who is using the Bard Mastery, and I am in Lich form. I should be able to see what my total LMC and LRC by looking at a display, not by going through each piece of armor/clothing/ring/bracelet/weapon/shield/totem and adding things up by hand, then having to repeat the process over every time I swap something out. I should be able to see what my total casting speed and recover without adding all the +'s and -'s from items and curses, and then having to look up what the caps are on an external site. I should be able to see what my Damage Increase is without having to try to figure out if I am over capped when using 75 DI from items, Enemy of One, and a Super Slayer v.s a Generic Slayer. If a certain stat has reached a "cap", then perhaps it could be highlighted in green so we can see at a glance that we are where we need to be.
Now I understand that some of this may be situational. For example, maybe my Damage Increase is different for one monster if I am using Enemy of One than it will be for a monster of a different class. That Can also be affected by whether or not I am using a Slayer. So, there are a few options: A) We could have a display that just lists our stats according to our current target/situation (probably the best option). B) Or you could give us a more detailed display with "Primary Target" being what I have honored or used Enemy of One on, and so on. Again, I think that option A would be better.
Purpose
Not only would access to this kind of information make it easier and more enjoyable to play the game and explore things like crafting, imbuing, and refinements, but it would also help us as a player base troubleshoot for the devs. Right now we have to try to guess what is going on, and its easy to forget a step/cause/effect. We also simply don't have access to all the information and calculations. If we could get a display that lists exactly what the game is calculating for this information, we would be able to make much better in-game decisions without needing to spend hours running spreadsheets and comparing notes between multiple websites trying to figure out what is accurate and what is outdated. We could also immediately see if something is working without spending hours/days/weeks of play on the test center.
In addition, this would help to even the playing field. Access to a clear display of accurate cumulative data would allow new players to better understand how their gear and skills interact. It would also make it easier for those who are not Grand Masters in Excel to compete with those who are.
If the display is pulling the data from the same place a monster is when we are fighting, then there is no room for confusion, miscalculation, or misunderstanding.
Now, the truth about UO and modern systems is that we have plenty of realestate on our screens. A display like this could be comprehensive without taking up any of our game-play window. If you wanted to condense things you could give us drop-down or check box menus to determine what is displayed. Imagine a window with two tabs: a control tab and a display tab. You could click on the "control" tab to either "select all" or specify exactly what data you want to have displayed, then move over to the Display tab to actually view the information. This could be display that you drag off to the side of your game display and keep up as you play, or you could close it and only use it when testing out new armor, skills, etc.
I know this was a long post, but PLEASE devs; please give us more detailed and accurate information so that we can actually utilize and enjoy the systems like refinements that you are adding to the game.
However, these new armor changes are going a bit too far. There are so many intricacies that at this point I am literally going to have to spend more time using a spreadsheet than playing UO. Not cool.
This also emphasizes my main concern: we, as players, do not have access to enough clearly displayed data to effectively play the game. We have no tool that effectively and ACCURATELY displays things like total LMC, HCI, DCI, SSI, LRC, HPR, SR, MR, etc.
I understand that Pinco's may have the ability to display some of this information, but please read my explanation before flaming that I need to use the EC: Even with Pinco's info in the EC, you only get some of that info according to what the system can see on your armor pieces. This does not take into effect the intricacies that will be added with refinements, and it does not account for things like how Med + Focus affect MR.
Lets take MR as an example. It can be affected by MR on items, focus, Med (whether or not you are using med able armor), a blessing from a Sphinx, bard masteries, and different forms. In addition to all this, MR is also subject to "diminishing returns", and we have never been given clear formulas for how that is calculated. We need to be able to see what our actual/effective MR is given all the variables. We would be able to make much better decisions about our skills/armor if we could see that spending the money to add another +15 points of mana-regen would only actually result in .02 Mana Regen every 10 seconds.
What is needed
We need a display that gives us an accurate readout of as much cumulative data as possible. Obviously this data is out there because the game runs all these numbers. We just need to be able to see it. I should be able to see my Luck increase as my character with Bushido achieves perfection, and I should see it drop when he misses a hit. I should be able to see what my real mana-regen is if I have 120 Med, 100 Focus, 32 MR on items, a party member who is using the Bard Mastery, and I am in Lich form. I should be able to see what my total LMC and LRC by looking at a display, not by going through each piece of armor/clothing/ring/bracelet/weapon/shield/totem and adding things up by hand, then having to repeat the process over every time I swap something out. I should be able to see what my total casting speed and recover without adding all the +'s and -'s from items and curses, and then having to look up what the caps are on an external site. I should be able to see what my Damage Increase is without having to try to figure out if I am over capped when using 75 DI from items, Enemy of One, and a Super Slayer v.s a Generic Slayer. If a certain stat has reached a "cap", then perhaps it could be highlighted in green so we can see at a glance that we are where we need to be.
Now I understand that some of this may be situational. For example, maybe my Damage Increase is different for one monster if I am using Enemy of One than it will be for a monster of a different class. That Can also be affected by whether or not I am using a Slayer. So, there are a few options: A) We could have a display that just lists our stats according to our current target/situation (probably the best option). B) Or you could give us a more detailed display with "Primary Target" being what I have honored or used Enemy of One on, and so on. Again, I think that option A would be better.
Purpose
Not only would access to this kind of information make it easier and more enjoyable to play the game and explore things like crafting, imbuing, and refinements, but it would also help us as a player base troubleshoot for the devs. Right now we have to try to guess what is going on, and its easy to forget a step/cause/effect. We also simply don't have access to all the information and calculations. If we could get a display that lists exactly what the game is calculating for this information, we would be able to make much better in-game decisions without needing to spend hours running spreadsheets and comparing notes between multiple websites trying to figure out what is accurate and what is outdated. We could also immediately see if something is working without spending hours/days/weeks of play on the test center.
In addition, this would help to even the playing field. Access to a clear display of accurate cumulative data would allow new players to better understand how their gear and skills interact. It would also make it easier for those who are not Grand Masters in Excel to compete with those who are.
If the display is pulling the data from the same place a monster is when we are fighting, then there is no room for confusion, miscalculation, or misunderstanding.
Now, the truth about UO and modern systems is that we have plenty of realestate on our screens. A display like this could be comprehensive without taking up any of our game-play window. If you wanted to condense things you could give us drop-down or check box menus to determine what is displayed. Imagine a window with two tabs: a control tab and a display tab. You could click on the "control" tab to either "select all" or specify exactly what data you want to have displayed, then move over to the Display tab to actually view the information. This could be display that you drag off to the side of your game display and keep up as you play, or you could close it and only use it when testing out new armor, skills, etc.
I know this was a long post, but PLEASE devs; please give us more detailed and accurate information so that we can actually utilize and enjoy the systems like refinements that you are adding to the game.
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towards the lump) disagree & this forum allows me the right to do so. I very well understood how much you loved the new "Lump" (I'm calling it a Lump as an amalgamation of LARGE and Gump) and just wanted MORE... More information, more buttons, switches, and toggles.
