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NEWS [UO.Com] Publish and Patch today (Read post #292 before posting))

Promathia

Social Distancing Since '97
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I blame the faulty coding not our fellow players.

Yea, I mean lets not blame the guys who figured out the exploit, and then began SELLING it for RL $$.

I mean, they are totally not at fault.


(Every game has bugs, but sometimes players actually report them to be fixed)
 

The Zog historian

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Riiiight

Makes perfect business sense!

Have an MMO that needs financial aid? Lets give one of your biggest store commodities to the people most likely to buy them in the first place for free!
Actually, it does. That you don't understand it does not change that fact.

It's a flawed assumption that anyone using a transfer token would have purchased a shield in the first place.
 

Riply

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If there is an exploit concerning the shard shield tokens and this is a temp fix then at least indicate that the tokens will be back to normal once the fix is applied. I'm happy to hear that the tokens are character sensitive rather then account sensitive, We just need to have some one who knows UO very well edit the text before they make such an announcement to reduce all this confusion. They should be creating more reasons for new players to join the game rather then giving old vets reasons to leave the game.
 

The Zog historian

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Yea, I mean lets not blame the guys who figured out the exploit, and then began SELLING it for RL $$.

I mean, they are totally not at fault.


(Every game has bugs, but sometimes players actually report them to be fixed)
Microsoft should not be blamed when it should have known better than to allow security holes?

It's silly that you want to blame only one side.
 

Promathia

Social Distancing Since '97
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Microsoft should not be blamed when it should have known better than to allow security holes?

It's silly that you want to blame only one side.

You are comparing apples to oranges.

Bugs in MMOs exist in every game. They are trivial compared to security flaws.

But yes, UO needs more QA, but considering how trash EA was, and how small the team at Broadsword is now, what do you expect?
 

Longtooths

Supreme Commander
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Yea, I mean lets not blame the guys who figured out the exploit, and then began SELLING it for RL $$.

I mean, they are totally not at fault.


(Every game has bugs, but sometimes players actually report them to be fixed)

And did you report it?
 

Promathia

Social Distancing Since '97
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Actually, it does. That you don't understand it does not change that fact.

It's a flawed assumption that anyone using a transfer token would have purchased a shield in the first place.
Yep, Broadsword is running UO out of the goodness of their hearts. No need for silly things like revenue and profit.

So what if other MMOs charge 20-25 bucks for a xfer. UO is in a much better spot financially to just give them away for free.

/s
 

Aurelius

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I mean, they are totally not at fault.
I do not doubt some people were very much at fault for abusing an exploit they found - but the 'solution' that is sprung on everyone, adversely affects the huge majority of people who have the shard shields and use them properly, and is handled so badly, is not a solution any decent company should come up with ...
 

Thrakkar

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
This reminds me of the thread http://stratics.com/community/threa...he-meaning-of-being-an-ultima-veteran.319156/
Now we found a new meaning of being an ultima veteran:

A ultima veteran, especially a 14 years vet, is someone who cries/whines/flames/waffles about a reward, which spawns a transfer token 100% free of any cost every month, which can only be used every 2 weeks.

At least this proves, that the UO community not really different than any other community of the average MMO out there...
 

The Zog historian

Babbling Loonie
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UNLEASHED
You are comparing apples to oranges.

Bugs in MMOs exist in every game. They are trivial compared to security flaws.

But yes, UO needs more QA, but considering how trash EA was, and how small the team at Broadsword is now, what do you expect?
It is in fact an apt comparison. Both are the general result of shoddy programming, which unscrupulous people can take advantage of.

If you don't think QA is very good, then go tell EA's management, and see how far that gets you. It still does not excuse bad programming in the first place, but never mind that I've been one of those who puts on his black hat to see what I can do.

And if you want to call this latest exploit "trival," well, that speaks volumes, now doesn't it?

Yep, Broadsword is running UO out of the goodness of their hearts. No need for silly things like revenue and profit.

So what if other MMOs charge 20-25 bucks for a xfer. UO is in a much better spot financially to just give them away for free.

/s
So you're saying EA was and still is illogical, that it's losing money. Go tell that to their management, then; see how far that gets you. Why don't you just admit your anti-shield bias?

If shard shields weren't believed to impact revenue meaningfully, they wouldn't have been offered. My point about your flawed assumption stands, but after all, I'm one of those who rarely bought transfers but now transfers often.
 

CovenantX

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Sorry, but this change couldn't have been to "fix/reduce frequency" of an exploit.
How would limiting a single character from transferring from every 24 hours to once every two weeks change anything?

It's character based, not an account wide two week cool-down, I'm pretty sure if it were an exploit this change wouldn't have done anything.
 

Maximus Neximus

Certifiable
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Stratics Legend
If they're going to have this dumb 2 week rule. Make it so it's where you can't go to the destination shard more than once in a two week period. Let us have that return trip at least!

And I don't have any shard shields. But I'm someone who has been saving my reward choices ever since for when I finally can select them. And also no, I will not purchase normal transfer tokens from the website.
 

Promathia

Social Distancing Since '97
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Sorry, but this change couldn't have been to "fix/reduce frequency" of an exploit.
How would limiting a single character from transferring from every 24 hours to once every two weeks change anything?

It's character based, not an account wide two week cool-down, I'm pretty sure if it were an exploit this change wouldn't have done anything.
You are right.

I truly believe this change is in response to the exploit (Not a Fix, I think that also happened). But it wont stop anything. The people who abused it will have the character slots to keep transferring every day into infinity.

Now I don't mind personally the change as just a regular nerf to Shard Shields......But still
 

Landicine

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Over the years, such emergency patches usually meant an exploit, dupe, or other game-breaking bug. Given that shard transfers have resulted in dupes before, I'm going to assume we have our friendly neighborhood cheaters to blame for this.

I think enough flak has been given to the virtual firefighters who put out the fire before it became a blaze and not enough flak has been directed as the miscreants who created the problem. So here is my open letter to those responsible:

Dear scum,

I don't know what sort of mental gymnastics you perform to justify cheating in a video game. Maybe you toss the blame on the team struggling to wrangle UO's antique code base. Maybe you blame the collective greed of society. Maybe the untaxed supplemental income from the sale of imaginary items soothes your soul. I don't actually care.

I do care about the results of your actions: You are why we can't have nice things. Please stop. Your fellow players would appreciate it.

Much frustration and loathing,

Landicine Pumpkin
 

The Zog historian

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
If they're going to have this dumb 2 week rule. Make it so it's where you can't go to the destination shard more than once in a two week period. Let us have that return trip at least!
That's an exceedingly good idea: exempt the previous shard from the two-week timer (but not from the old 24-hour timer), and in the event of that return trip, then the two weeks begin with no exemptions. The logic would not be difficult to code.

And I don't have any shard shields. But I'm someone who has been saving my reward choices ever since for when I finally can select them. And also no, I will not purchase normal transfer tokens from the website.
But...but...EA is losing money on you, didn't you know?!
 

Pandora_CoD

Certifiable
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Stratics Legend
@Bleak @Kyronix --- could you please clarify a bit further?

Every character in your account can use a shard shield to receive a token 1x every two weeks? [Y] or [N]
If yes... does that means that my 7 characters can each transfer in a rotation of two weeks? [Y] or [N]
If no... does that mean that my entire account only gets 1x token every two weeks? [Y] or [N]


Thank you so much! :)
 

S_S

Babbling Loonie
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UNLEASHED
C'mom people! This is really NOT that hard to figure out HOW it works. I do not know WHY they changed it, only HOW they changed it.
We still only receive ONE token every 30 days per shard shield.
If you transfer a CHARACTER, that char is stuck there for 2 weeks.
Another char on that same acct can transfer 24 hours later, again it's stuck there for 2 weeks
Get where I am going with this now? :)
 

Pandora_CoD

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Guys they are not like always browsing the forums... they do a lot, but that's not their primary job. So how about a bit o' patience?
 

Jerec KTM

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Guys they are not like always browsing the forums... they do a lot, but that's not their primary job. So how about a bit o' patience?
Must be a busy busy busy day... by my watch they should have arrived at work 7 to 8 hours ago depending on their shift.. ....with them about to leave for the day in 30 minutes to an hour.
 

Assia Penryn

The Sleeping Dragon
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Guys they are not like always browsing the forums... they do a lot, but that's not their primary job. So how about a bit o' patience?
It's been almost 24 hours since the published news by my clock. That IS being patient.

Broadsword should hire someone to be a community liaison as the concerns and feedback of the community are important to the evolution of any game.
 

Uriah Heep

Grand Poobah
Alumni
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Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Yea, I mean lets not blame the guys who figured out the exploit, and then began SELLING it for RL $$.

I mean, they are totally not at fault.


(Every game has bugs, but sometimes players actually report them to be fixed)
I didnt exploit shields (no idea how). But yeah, I blame EA/Mythic/ Origin/Broadsword/<insert name of the month here>.
They write the code, we play it. If it's f@#$#d up, we didnt do it, they did. Seriously,. put the blame where it belongs.
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
just saying .....its obvious this as been done to stop 24/7 365 days a year folk transfering there high end sampire/ thrower with fully loaded suit to every xshard EM event...to try get the pixel pay day rewards every event....... and i will congratulate the EM for implementing this......kinda messes my on little xshard market trawl of my 5 shards ...but hey shard shileds were so over powered,,,,maybe they needed tone down

puts on the olde tin hat..........[whatever]....shard shield are and still are the best ever vet reward on the market full stop
 
Last edited:

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
While the Dev take their sweet time in composing a answer to our querry...
We sit here and speculate on the root of it all.
We dont have all the facts.
Yes Bleak did make a mess of his clairification.
This all boils down to how it effects the game we all play.
The vendors who depend on shipments will have to invest in full token moves and quite possibly stop all friendship moves.
The shopper who goes to a shard to promote the ecconomy will have to plan a longer stay... perhaps bring a few more funds to do time eating shopping.
The bored out of their skull player who hops all around to find some action will need to find a spot and create his own action.
Ok we can live with this change... dont mean we have to like it.
The dev has just taken a hit to their popularity.
To all you who degrade the "VET" who owns a shield.
As a vet they paid for month after month of game time.... this is not as cheap as it sounds.
They played yes, and even gained ground on those who came after them...
They kept a game that by most who have left thought should have died long ago...
Remember they been giving EA every month money to keep the doors open.
To top that off they have bought nearly every expantion and xpac they dangled under their nose.
Many who have walked away for months on end but still paid to keep their favorite play ground open so when they did come back it was still there.
For those who pancake about them leaving but not dropping the house they see empty, or unloved remember that house is not gliched just waiting for its owner to come back from walkabout.
The Vet who pays for this game has been offered by the owner a gift each year of rewards for being that loyal and paying the bills.
Its not much but the dev try to make things we can have pride in owning.
Think of it like a super bowl ring or the nba rings for the winner of the year.. They played and won to get that...
The vet paid and played, earned by doing what you have yet to do...
Cheating and scammers have come and gone... the people who make the game a job to make money off have been here for ages.
We the players have a job to report these and not use their services.
I am a vet of this game.
I can survive this. dont mean I dont want to know why I am being punished for it.
I am not alone ether.
Time to chirp up DEV.
 

Jordan Thyme

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
just saying .....its obvious this as been done to stop 24/7 365 days a year folk transfering there high end sampire with fully loaded suit to every xshard EM event...to try get the pixel pay day rewards every event....... and i will congratulate the EM for implementing this......kinda messes my on little xshard market trawl of my 5 shards ...but hey shard shileds were so over powered,,,,maybe they needed tonoing down

putsw on the olde tin hat..........[whatever]

That makes no sense. Do you have any idea how many pvp'ers/pvm'ers keep fully stocked high end characters on each shard just for this purpose with no need to transfer squat. Not to mention that almost of all them who get the loot, sell it to someone else within 48 hours for them to transfer. Pixel payday will happen for those people regardless of this mess.
 

Jerec KTM

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
While the Dev take their sweet time in composing a answer to our querry...
We sit here and speculate on the root of it all.
We dont have all the facts.
Yes Bleak did make a mess of his clairification.
This all boils down to how it effects the game we all play.
The vendors who depend on shipments will have to invest in full token moves and quite possibly stop all friendship moves.
The shopper who goes to a shard to promote the ecconomy will have to plan a longer stay... perhaps bring a few more funds to do time eating shopping.
The bored out of their skull player who hops all around to find some action will need to find a spot and create his own action.
Ok we can live with this change... dont mean we have to like it.
The dev has just taken a hit to their popularity.
To all you who degrade the "VET" who owns a shield.
As a vet they paid for month after month of game time.... this is not as cheap as it sounds.
They played yes, and even gained ground on those who came after them...
They kept a game that by most who have left thought should have died long ago...
Remember they been giving EA every month money to keep the doors open.
To top that off they have bought nearly every expantion and xpac they dangled under their nose.
Many who have walked away for months on end but still paid to keep their favorite play ground open so when they did come back it was still there.
For those who pancake about them leaving but not dropping the house they see empty, or unloved remember that house is not gliched just waiting for its owner to come back from walkabout.
The Vet who pays for this game has been offered by the owner a gift each year of rewards for being that loyal and paying the bills.
Its not much but the dev try to make things we can have pride in owning.
Think of it like a super bowl ring or the nba rings for the winner of the year.. They played and won to get that...
The vet paid and played, earned by doing what you have yet to do...
Cheating and scammers have come and gone... the people who make the game a job to make money off have been here for ages.
We the players have a job to report these and not use their services.
I am a vet of this game.
I can survive this. dont mean I dont want to know why I am being punished for it.
I am not alone ether.
Time to chirp up DEV.
Lady Storm, I don't usually hit like on your posts because you are just way too nice for me (tho that is not a bad thing), but this was probably one of the best balanced posts on this topic.
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Have the Devs commented on whats actaully happening and not what folks assume will happen this yet.....its gonna get bloody hot for sure

I assume..... that i have 5 different shields.... so i can claim 5 tokens [one form each shield] and use them one after the other every 24 hours like its always been!!!!! ...but i can only do this once every 2 weeks with any account bound char....if i want to do it again.....i simply have to wait 2 weeks.......seems ok to me if this is the case .....its only a small penalty if so for a highly powered reward that i still myself would like to see dropped down to miniumn 10 years play and not 14
i can live with this..............would make 100 percent sense
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If u r sugessting i claim 5 tokens from 5 different sheilds... transfer to place 1..with all 5 tokens in my pack //// then have to wait for 2 weeks..... b4 i transfer to place 2 then iam outta here....that would suck....and...yes ****...overpowered as they are....
 

Jerec KTM

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
just saying .....its obvious this as been done to stop 24/7 365 days a year folk transfering there high end sampire/ thrower with fully loaded suit to every xshard EM event...to try get the pixel pay day rewards every event....... and i will congratulate the EM for implementing this......kinda messes my on little xshard market trawl of my 5 shards ...but hey shard shileds were so over powered,,,,maybe they needed tone down

puts on the olde tin hat..........[whatever]....shard shield are and still are the best ever vet reward on the market full stop
Just to reiterate what Gillian said... most of the high end vets who participate at the EM events across the shards have so much gold they've fully fitted an awesome PvE charcacter on every shard. This won't affect many of them.
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
whats pve .. pvp and pvm i know....player v player and player v monster....so p v e <<<
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
no matter will be a player v em event ....silly me
 

Assia Penryn

The Sleeping Dragon
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If u r sugessting i claim 5 tokens from 5 different sheilds... transfer to place 1..with all 5 tokens in my pack //// then have to wait for 2 weeks..... b4 i transfer to place 2 then iam outta here....that would suck....and...yes ****...overpowered as they are....
Example:
Character 1 grabs tokens from shard shields (The number of tokens or shields doesn't matter. ) They use a shield token to transfer from Atlantic to Baja with character 1. Character 1 can not transfer again with a shield token for 2 weeks. If you want to hop to Europa with a shield token, you must transfer everything from character 1 to character 2. You may then do so with character 2 after the standard 24 hour wait. Then Character 2 will have to wait 2 weeks... and repeat.

Hope that makes it easier for you to understand.
 

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
JerecKTM is quite correct.
Most who do the EM Events have premade charaters on shard just for the hunts.
Many who I have seen their doubles on Atlantic...
I do not beleave this is about EM junk being moved.. but something much worse I fear.
My going for feeding the fish across UO I have read the Shards chats filled with players not happy over this change.
Many want to know exactly why.
Others want to know why so long a wait between transfers.
Round trips then the 2 weeks was most of the suguestions for the dev team by players on many shards.
We speculate the reason but we do need a clear answer from the Dev.
Can this be negotiated down a peg or two?
 

Mesanna

UO Producer | Dark OverLady
VIP
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
After this publish, we investigated further and discovered that only a small group of players exploited the dupe of the shield tokens. We are deleting those tokens and reverting the fix back by Monday at the latest.

It was not our intention to punish any innocent players, but to remove the 18,000 tokens that where duped. We have seized the houses and actioned the accounts of those responsible.

We appreciate your patience while we resolve this matter.
 

Queen Mum

Crazed Zealot
Governor
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Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Thank you Mesanna and all the UO devs :)

*cookie thumbs up*
 

PopL

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
After this publish, we investigated further and discovered that only a small group of players exploited the dupe of the shield tokens. We are deleting those tokens and reverting the fix back by Monday at the latest.

It was not our intention to punish any innocent players, but to remove the 18,000 tokens that where duped. We have seized the houses and actioned the accounts of those responsible.

We appreciate your patience while we resolve this matter.
Mesanna TY very much for the explanation :)
 

Vexxed

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
After this publish, we investigated further and discovered that only a small group of players exploited the dupe of the shield tokens. We are deleting those tokens and reverting the fix back by Monday at the latest.

It was not our intention to punish any innocent players, but to remove the 18,000 tokens that where duped. We have seized the houses and actioned the accounts of those responsible.

We appreciate your patience while we resolve this matter.
AWESOME ! I kinda hope that your able to track down the multiple accounts that the people in question probably have... Just saying....

Again... if tokens are going back to normal Woot!
 

Jirel of Joiry

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Okay first let me say I don't have a 14 yr. vet char or a shard shield so I have no horse in this race. I'm going to bet this was a temp fix to stop an exploit while they find a permanent fix.
Thing is if it has to do with a exploit then by posting an explanation, is giving the exploiters a heads up. It'd be like the cops sending a memo to the meth dealers "hi guys we know you're dealing, our UCs have bought drugs off you, we know you got a meth lab some where and we're gathering enough to get an arrest warrant for you." Seriously how long you think the dealer gonna stick around? Same thing with the exploiters....just another flavor of criminal. One breaks the law......the other breaks rules. This is just my 2 cents.
*UPDATE*
I LOVE BEING RIGHT!!!!!
 

Assia Penryn

The Sleeping Dragon
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
After this publish, we investigated further and discovered that only a small group of players exploited the dupe of the shield tokens. We are deleting those tokens and reverting the fix back by Monday at the latest.

It was not our intention to punish any innocent players, but to remove the 18,000 tokens that where duped. We have seized the houses and actioned the accounts of those responsible.

We appreciate your patience while we resolve this matter.
FANTASTIC Solution.
 

Veldrane

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Okay first let me say I don't have a 14 yr. vet char or a shard shield so I have no horse in this race. I'm going to bet this was a temp fix to stop an exploit while they find a permanent fix.
Thing is if it has to do with a exploit then by posting an explanation, is giving the exploiters a heads up. It'd be like the cops sending a memo to the meth dealers "hi guys we know you're dealing, our UCs have bought drugs off you, we know you got a meth lab some where and we're gathering enough to get an arrest warrant for you." Seriously how long you think the dealer gonna stick around? Same thing with the exploiters....just another flavor of criminal. One breaks the law......the other breaks rules. This is just my 2 cents.
I'm going to bet that this isn't a temp fix, but I hope you're correct and it is.

While you're correct that the police don't say hey we're going to get a warrant and come back, they do make a public statement stating that they did make a raid and for what reasons. The raid has taken place (the fix), now it's time to explain to the public what steps they took and for what reasons. They don't have to be specific, a simple "there was a major exploit regarding Shard Shields that required an immediate fix. This is perm / temp fix and moving forward Shard transfers will now work specifically such as this <detailed explanation of the new rules>"

*UPDATE* Awesome, glad to see they finally responded with some information. My above post was made before I saw the Dev reply. Disregard as a topic of further discussion.
 

Podolak

Crazed Zealot
Professional
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
After this publish, we investigated further and discovered that only a small group of players exploited the dupe of the shield tokens. We are deleting those tokens and reverting the fix back by Monday at the latest.

It was not our intention to punish any innocent players, but to remove the 18,000 tokens that where duped. We have seized the houses and actioned the accounts of those responsible.

We appreciate your patience while we resolve this matter.
Much appreciation for the communication and clarification.
 
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