Latest Patch - House Decay Update

[THP]

House Decay Update

• Condemned Houses will fall after five days unless prevented by vendors. On the fifth day the house will fall between 5-20 hours after the house enters the “In Danger Of Collapsing” state.

LOLZ u doo-gooders are gonna have to sit there over 5 hours and upto 20 hours now!!!!!....well done......awesome stuff for your medling!!!......slap ya selves on the back for the great change u brought to Idocs....well done .....u know who u are...lolz....theres only one winner now and thats the afk scripters.....nice work guys/gals [not]

 

[S_S]

House Decay Update

• 
  Condemned Houses will fall after five days unless prevented by vendors. On the fifth day the house will fall between 5-20 hours after the house enters the “In Danger Of Collapsing” state.

WHY are you doing this?!? Like it's not already hard enough to compete with AFK scriptors at IDOCS? NOW you want the honest idoc player to have to sit and watch an idoc for up to 20 hours, while the AFK script looter just has to set the script up to run and leave their keyboard for up to 20 hours. Again, WHY are you doing this?!? Sometimes I really feel like you are trying to chase the honest players from this game.

 

[THP]

House Decay Update

• Condemned Houses will fall after five days unless prevented by vendors. On the fifth day the house will fall between 5-20 hours after the house enters the “In Danger Of Collapsing” state.

LOLZ u doo-gooders are gonna have to sit there over 5 hours and upto 20 hours now!!!!!....well done......awesome stuff for your medling!!!......slap ya selves on the back for the great change u brought to Idocs....well done .....u know who u are...lolz....theres only one winner now and thats the afk scripters.....nice work guys/gals ......well done to the people that asked for the change to Idocs in the first place....im guessing they are the scripters anyways.....only one winner now......script away to ya hearts content....David wont be sitting upto 15 hours for sure...lolzzzzzz

 

[Captn Norrington]

Um....I could be mistaken but weren't you the one who complained the most about the previous IDOC system...? I truly don't understand, you didn't like the old system, and now you don't like the new system you asked for in the first place by saying the developers should change the old system?

 

[THP]

erm if your new to UO ....JUST SAY.....There as been 3 main systems for idocs of late....the original system- the system used for about 10 years !!! worked fine as it was......there was never need to change it.... the medalling new system sucked and needed scrapping back to the old original ...u know the system that had worked fine for over 10 years....ALAS....this latest new system is a total ****ing fail....the scripter win hands down u fool....iam taking the piss above OP...jesus!!!!!!!!

 

[chargar42]

Yep, this wont mean anything whatsoever to the afk script looters. Only affects the real live people. smh

 

[Poo]

meh, i like it.
knowing when something is gonna fall right down to the second is lamesauce.
nothing at all wrong with randomness.

 

[chargar42]

I think Mesanna and the devs should listen to all the people instead of the one or two thats in their ear. Look at all the complaints here and just change it back to the original way for crying out loud. I have never ever complained once about the devs till this change. Listen to the people that are paying the accounts, not the people with 20 trial accts with scripting going on.

 

[Captn Norrington]

I think Mesanna and the devs should listen to all the people instead of the one or two thats in their ear. Look at all the complaints here and just change it back to the original way for crying out loud. I have never ever complained once about the devs till this change. Listen to the people that are paying the accounts, not the people with 20 trial accts with scripting going on.

That's the whole problem....how are they supposed to listen to all the people, when "all the people" don't post here....you said yourself that you don't complain about things, but how are they supposed to fix things if people don't complain about them and stay silent like you did.

 

[Dixie chessy/legends]

this is a serious question, have the Devs ever even played this game? i mean seriously.... the longer something takes to do in game the more likely the chances that the only people to benefit from that are people who can leave a script running. u guys have ur heads screwed on wrong. i love the random drop time but the max drop time needs to be taken way down.............5-7 hrs max falling anytime after an hr idoc would be great

 

[Scribbles]

1. Nothing in UO is random. If you watch enough houses im sure you will be able to tell when its going to fall between 5-20 hours.

2. Page on the afk scripters, Advisors have been Jailing anyone caught AFK.

3. Nothing in UO will ever be perfect. They made a change so learn and adapt to it. We never agree on any point in these forums, so how can you expect the devs to get it "perfect"

In the end instead of whining in this forum, do something positive or at least constructive. Write an email to @Mesanna explaining your points, plans, and experiences in a way that doesnt make her want to reach through the screen and strangle you.

 

[kelmo]

I think idocs should be as random as possible.

 

[old gypsy]

3. Nothing in UO will ever be perfect.

True (your #3 should be #1)
#2 should be "It's a game. Relax a bit and just have fun."
#3 should be "If you aren't having fun, maybe it's time to explore something you haven't tried yet."
#4 should be "When all else fails, there's always role play."

 

[Arroth Thaiel]

I think idocs should be as random as possible.

I love the RNG. It's one of the things that sets UO apart.

The absolute solution to the scripters at IDOC's is simple. Remove the entire system. When an account with a house is no longer paid, delete the house and all contents from the server. No more scripters, and no more whiners.

Far less "game" that way though isn't there? And we would lose another piece of what makes UO....UO.

However, with all the whining going on, you have to wonder where the dev team puts the cost/return for the whole IDOC system. How much crap do they have to hear before they are willing to just scrap the entire thing and spend money and dev time on something else.

Also, weren't the original post along with the following two posts copied and pasted from the Patch thread itself? What exactly is the point in copying and pasting posts from one thread to another? Not getting enough attention in the first thread?

And yes, for some reason I'm feeling a bit snippy tonight. Perhaps I shall go and pour myself a glass of Bourbon.

 

[MalagAste]

The problem isn't the random nature of the house falling... the problem isn't that it falls predictably after 5 hours or anything like that.

Changing this to random 5-20 hours does NOTHING to solve the worst of the problems which is the scripter bot controlling 10 accounts all "young" and looting an entire house so fast stuff in it NEVER touches the ground. Every chest is looted so fast it makes your head spin. And done by BOTS. THAT is the problem.

 

[Alexander of ATL.]

Then there must be a fix on scripters.... not the idoc system...

 

[Apetul]

Young chars should be teleported to Haven if they step on a zone where a house just fell. It's easy to know such zones, because they have a timer that doesnt allow to place a house.
That stupid and easy-to-code change, will stop some or most idoc scripters. Then, a few others that already used 10+ accounts to loot idocs before this change will continue doing it but they will use regular accounts and chars with hiding, stealth and ninjitsu for the rat/cat/etc form but at least, there is a chance to page on them and maybe get some of their accounts banned.

Devs did randomized ore veins, wood, many other things, and recently idocs. They didnt learned about their past mistakes, it is sad.

 

[Nails Warstein]

Not sure they would ever do something like this, but a modified STORAGE WAR SYSTEM would be kinda cool.

All you have to do is buy as many tickets as you want from a house that is in decay, buy the tickets through the house sign.
Each ticket gives you a random chance to win a 1 - 5 minute SNEAK PEAK that gives you ownership over the house, like a shopping spree.
During this 1 - 5 minute warning, the house sign changes RED so the attending players can prepare to loot and report on the afk scripters.
The ticket prices would be determined by house size and by the amount of used lock-downs.
I would set requirements to make it difficult for the same accounts to win these houses over and over
Perhaps a 1 month cool down period per winning (not losing) participating active paying account.

This could prove to be a great gold sink. They can even modify add this feature to houses that aren't in decay for players who want to sell their own home. Perhaps with the new upcoming monetary system change this could be made possible. Even if this is not possible, perhaps a new warning alert system with a shorter window of just 5 - 20 hours to alert attending players would be greatly appreciated. I think 5 minutes would be fair.

 

[MalagAste]

Not sure they would ever do something like this, but a modified STORAGE WAR SYSTEM would be kinda cool.

All you have to do is buy as many tickets as you want from a house that is in decay, buy the tickets through the house sign.
Each ticket gives you a random chance to win a 1 - 5 minute SNEAK PEAK that gives you ownership over the house, like a shopping spree.
During this 1 - 5 minute warning, the house sign changes RED so the attending players can prepare to loot and report on the afk scripters.
The ticket prices would be determined by house size and by the amount of used lock-downs.
I would set requirements to make it difficult for the same accounts to win these houses over and over
Perhaps a 1 month cool down period per winning (not losing) participating active paying account.

This could prove to be a great gold sink. They can even modify add this feature to houses that aren't in decay for players who want to sell their own home. Perhaps with the new upcoming monetary system change this could be made possible. Even if this is not possible, perhaps a new warning alert system with a shorter window of just 5 - 20 hours to alert attending players would be greatly appreciated. I think 5 minutes would be fair.

Spoken like yet another person who has. Many average Joes who go to IDOC's hoping to find something awesome don't have billions in gold. They are hoping to get something that will give them a "boost".... something to "make" the gold they so desperately desire or need... your idea as well as those of many others while yes it would be a gold sink for some.... it would exclude many others. Many of those like myself don't have billions in gold..... Infact I doubt I even have 100Million in gold. So when things like the New Magincia thing came about I bought ONE ticket and only one. That was not only all I could afford but it was all I could "throw away" on something I figured I wouldn't win.. which like many others I didn't.

This should not become the battle of the haves vs the have nots. There is more than enough of that in-game already.

One thing I will agree with others on is 20 hours is EXTREMELY excessive. Scripters aren't going to be hurt once again it'll be the little guy who gets hurt.

 

[DJAd]

I don't really do IDOC's. I just don't have the patience to hang around. After 30 minutes I start to get itchy feet. I got to say I don't even understand this change. 5 - 20 hours is a bit of a joke.

The only logic I could come up with is they made the random timer so long that most "normal" players will just give up on IDOC's. This means they will only be attended by scripters etc. This mean no normal players at IDOC's so that mean less complaints about the scripters!

On a side note. If anyone finds it fun or enjoyable to camp and and IDOC for 5+ hours you really should get a new hobby or seek medical advice.

 

[THP]

and then theres the corruption side of UO.....[another story for another day??? u lot decide???]

 

[The Craftsman]

The absolute solution to the scripters at IDOC's is simple. Remove the entire system. When an account with a house is no longer paid, delete the house and all contents from the server. No more scripters, and no more whiners.

This. Every idoc issue solved in one fell swoop and a massive gold sink to boot.

 

[Dixie chessy/legends]

if they would just quit tip toeing around the real problem they could clear all this fuss up in about 5 minutes......RESTRICT TRIAL ACCTS TO NEW HAVEN AND ISH!!!!!!!!!!!! theres a whole darn town to play around in and a whole darn facet, plenty of stuff for people to do to try out the game.......SHEEEEW! a trial account dont need full run of a game to start with.....yall city folks way over think things......IDOCS are not the problem here, trial accounts are..........messing with the timers every few publishes dosent do anything but annoy people who actually enjoy them.

 

[James Moriarty]

Yes the worst dev team in UO history strike again. More changes that piss more people off than they please. I think this lot are now being paid to get as many people to leave as they can.

 

[Flagg]

meh, i like it.
knowing when something is gonna fall right down to the second is lamesauce.
nothing at all wrong with randomness.

This is very true..
...in perfect world where UO has no exploits and scripters. This is not a perfect world.

 

[4runnersport]

Um....I could be mistaken but weren't you the one who complained the most about the previous IDOC system...? I truly don't understand, you didn't like the old system, and now you don't like the new system you asked for in the first place by saying the developers should change the old system?

If there was nothing to complain about he would complain that there was nothing to complain about :/

 

[old gypsy]

I don't really do IDOC's. I just don't have the patience to hang around...

On a side note. If anyone finds it fun or enjoyable to camp and and IDOC for 5+ hours you really should get a new hobby or seek medical advice.

 

[THP]

upto 15 hours.....rofl....and to be fair there are folks that WILL sit there the whole 15 and be happy doing soooo....crazy...

 

[Keith of Sonoma]

Rather than rehash the recent changes and comments that give the perception of being in the interests of NO ONE other than scripters and 'botters, how about an explanation of the reasoning behind them. Because (IN MY OPINION) the evidence seems to be that UO is only interested in catering to a select group of players, the ones who don't follow the ToS!!! Again, just my opinion, I would love to see where my thought process is wrong, and some VALID reasons would go a long way to easing my, (and apparently) many others suspicions.

 

[Uriah Heep]

Random ore...I quit mining and buy it from the script miners.

Randon woods...I quit chopping and buy it from the script lumberjacks

Extend the IDOC times, I quit IDOC'ing, and just buy the loot from the script looters who can stay there all day and night.

Yup, nothing wrong here!! Move along now

 

[The Zog historian]

Random ore...I quit mining and buy it from the script miners.

Randon woods...I quit chopping and buy it from the script lumberjacks

Extend the IDOC times, I quit IDOC'ing, and just buy the loot from the script looters who can stay there all day and night.

Yup, nothing wrong here!! Move along now

Exactly as you pointed out: what was supposed to deter scripting actually gave all the powers to scripters. At least anyone could know what vein gave valorite, what grove gave frostwood. And don't forget the completely and utterly useless delay on turning in BODs!

 

[Blood Ghoul]

The only logic I could come up with is they made the random timer so long that most "normal" players will just give up on IDOC's. This means they will only be attended by scripters etc. This mean no normal players at IDOC's so that mean less complaints about the scripters!

You very well may have hit the nail on the head with that one!

I quit IDOC'n about 1 month ago mainly due to the decay rate of less than 48 hours (it was taking me about 2 days of game time to check Atlantic so I was basically doing it the entire time I have to play). As soon as I read it will take 5 days to do the total decay I was like "Hell Ya!!" then I saw the up to 20 hours in IDOC. Forget it!! I have only been attending the Thursday night EM event on Atlantic and with all the complaining lately maybe they will stop that and I can find another hobby to waste my time.

Blood Ghoul

 

[GarthGrey]

I love these threads, it brings out the script users claiming to be non script users to help enforce their argument against script users.

 

[Larisa]

This is the information on housing that we have currently on Stratics

http://uo2.stratics.com/homes-and-decorations/the-homeowners-guide/housing-rules

According to this, which was updated a year ago, houses fell in 5 days...so that hasn't changed.

Also according to this, the IDOC stage was from 12-24 hours...which is, in my opinion, a lot worse then it is now.

Just for clarification...the only thing that's changed with this new publish is the IDOC stage is now between 5 and 20 hours, correct?

 

[4gregu]

Also according to this, the IDOC stage was from 12-24 hours...which is, in my opinion, a lot worse then it is now.

Just for clarification...the only thing that's changed with this new publish is the IDOC stage is now between 5 and 20 hours, correct?

Except that information was incorrect. IDOC time WAS something like 6:48 minutes (or something like that, my memory is horrible and its been about a year since I did IDOCs.)

 

[Jade of Sonoma]

this is a serious question, have the Devs ever even played this game? i mean seriously.... the longer something takes to do in game the more likely the chances that the only people to benefit from that are people who can leave a script running. u guys have ur heads screwed on wrong. i love the random drop time but the max drop time needs to be taken way down.............5-7 hrs max falling anytime after an hr idoc would be great

Exactly! That random drop is a good idea but hey .. the scripters have the advantage when it comes to 20 hours of possible wait for an IDOC.

I seldom attend IDOC's but understand how scripters take over many things. I used to watch some IDOCS before I learned to play this game (1997) and usually saw clever little groups of players waiting to clear the area after a house dropped then quickly clearing the area and placing another house or two to stop others from placing a big house.

Years later after I learned how to place buildings, I logged off a newbie character on the door step of an IDOC Castle. Later when I logged in, the castle was gone, and many people were collecting items on the ground. My first attempt to place a castle was successful immediately. Weird. That is the way it should be. Anyone's game!

 

[claudia-fjp]

First person to drop dead from Deep Vein Thrombosis from sitting at IDOCs for 5-20 hours since that's the only option they are giving people who want to do IDOCs wins! Er, well their next of kin wins I guess...

 

[Lore Denin (GL)]

Just use the flagging system, you pick something up from an IDOC within the first 15 minutes of a house falling you turn grey/orange and are heat of battle/ flagged crim so you can't recall out. After 15 mins, the items are fair game for everyone to grab without consequence.

And before everyone starts posting about you can't attack players in tram, and this shouldn't be allowed - remember that consensual combat has always existed in tram; sparring with guildmates, Order/Chaos and guild wars, etc.

By taking items from an IDOC you are agreeing to participate in an IDOC battle that last 15 mins from the time home drops. Create a gump "By take this item you will be attackable for the next 15 minutes and your corpse will be lootable, you will be unable to use magic to flee and you will be unable to enter a house."

Likewise those attempting to help a flagged character will get a warning message much like the crim warning so that they are aware that Attacking, accepting trades, or healing a flagged character will enter you in the fray and will likewise make you attackable. After the 15 minute timer the war is over. Anyone and everyone can loot the items on the ground.

 

[MalagAste]

Just use the flagging system, you pick something up from an IDOC within the first 15 minutes of a house falling you turn grey/orange and are heat of battle/ flagged crim so you can't recall out. After 15 mins, the items are fair game for everyone to grab without consequence.

And before everyone starts posting about you can't attack players in tram, and this shouldn't be allowed - remember that consensual combat has always existed in tram; sparring with guildmates, Order/Chaos and guild wars, etc.

By taking items from an IDOC you are agreeing to participate in an IDOC battle that last 15 mins from the time home drops. Create a gump "By take this item you will be attackable for the next 15 minutes and your corpse will be lootable, you will be unable to use magic to flee and you will be unable to enter a house."

Likewise those attempting to help a flagged character will get a warning message much like the crim warning so that they are aware that Attacking, accepting trades, or healing a flagged character will enter you in the fray and will likewise make you attackable. After the 15 minute timer the war is over. Anyone and everyone can loot the items on the ground.

So again.... this would only benefit the haves... and would penalize the have nots. So now my warriors would have to loot rather than my crafter who often loots now..... seeing as he's the one who often has a beetle and two bonded packies. So now I would have to build a special PvP capable character or just stealth 24/7 even in Tram? No. Not the answer.

 

[Lore Denin (GL)]

.So now I would have to build a special PvP capable character or just stealth 24/7 even in Tram?

24/7 that is a long 15 mins .

No need to PVP just grab browse and if you see something worth the risk, grab it and make a run for it. Or just wait out the 15 min battle timer... There will be a ton left because dry looting and fighting are not easy esp when weight becomes a factor.

 

[Xelious Norwood]

you know what will shut everyone up and keep scripters away at the same time. When a house falls make it a certain surface area around the house that will insta kill anyone and anything.
That right there is what I call a "Mesanna fix".

 

[THP]

First person to drop dead from Deep Vein Thrombosis from sitting at IDOCs for 5-20 hours since that's the only option they are giving people who want to do IDOCs wins! Er, well their next of kin wins I guess...

well the 24/7 scripter will win win win... simply set there placement/looting scripts running at the start of the day.... when they return home they simply check what the bots have gathered or placed for them.....and all above board and allowed by the devs as they simply cant do anything to stop it??? well i can....make the idocs rules back as they were in the first place....the system that worked fine for over 10 years were people can actually time falls and be there when it doess fall and beat the bloody scripters to the loot and plots....crazy crazy crazy devs....

 

[Goodmann]

First person to drop dead from Deep Vein Thrombosis from sitting at IDOCs for 5-20 hours since that's the only option they are giving people who want to do IDOCs wins! Er, well their next of kin wins I guess...

I can see the lawsuits piling up now lol

 

[Olahorand]

I enjoyed IDOC camping and it was one of the activities I tried to perform somewhat regularly, even if the shard specific time frame was sometimes off from what I could cover. But trigger a wake at 3 AM to be present would have been possible with a predictable timer.
Up to 20 hours is simply ridiculous, already up to 11 hours was almost uncoverable for people with a normal job and family life.
Seems it is time for me as well to accept, that players abusing and scripting unpaid trial accounts are preferred against paying players. (As has already been said correctly for other changes of the past like random resource spawns etc.)
So if this goes through, I finally will start reducing my payments towards this game. This will mean I will move 3 or 4 of my 5 permanent accounts into the 90 days off cycle and get rid of a few more houses I hold mainly for nostalgic and historical purposes.
Enough is enough.

 

[Bobar]

Everyone who was concerned about the new times read the new post regarding changes to the Publish - I think you will like what you see.

 

[Alex"Drake Iron Heart"CS]

I just read the last fix and IMO, I think its close to perfect or even perfect. For one time they have taken into account all the points the valid ones and the negative ones and come with a great solution. I love the idea of the Grubbers, That will stop all them un-attaneded clients from grabbing it all first (Obv the ones playing with some scripts will grab a thing or two more but not all) and make them have to move to chase down the grubber which in sense makes it fair to all, as it becomes dynamic event, not just sit there and grab whatever, but actually chase down something, kill it and get some nice loot at the time. And the set times even better, everyone knows exactly when it falls, so no need to sit by the house for hours, you can actually play the game and plan accordantly around it, and have fair chance to everyone else that attends the IDOC.

 

[Rieley]

Thank you broadsword. Not only is communication at it's best, especially the notes on the log in page. But you really did a great fix with the IDOCs. I love the idea of everyone having an equal chance, and gives us another great event during the IDOCs. The Grubbers are a great idea. You really do listen to your player base! Long live UO!

 

[THP]

im a lot happier...at the newbie rat forms are now screwed....and the the grubbers may help combat the afk scripter....a very positve response from the devs indeed.....big up the people power...xx