Seattle Town Hall (The quick-points version)...

[K'torr]

"- When is beta: Not currently taking signups for beta. To be determined when shipping date is determined"

As I read this, basically, they are going to determine when SA is to be released, and THEN think about finding bugs. Interesting.

 

[Deb]

I really hope it ships in a Box, otherwise I foresee disaster on the
horizon...ML anyone?

 

[Ailish]

"- When is beta: Not currently taking signups for beta. To be determined when shipping date is determined"

As I read this, basically, they are going to determine when SA is to be released, and THEN think about finding bugs. Interesting.

They later addressed that they are hoping that Beta will be more along the lines of balancing and minor bugs, not broken systems.

 

[Chad Sexington]

Well... they answered my player town question. They said it always comes up in their meetings and they have a lot of ideas.

 

[phantus]

I really hope it ships in a Box, otherwise I foresee disaster on the
horizon...ML anyone?

You think ML was a disaster? Were you there for UOR and UOSA? SA was a box and it was less than a week before everyone was bored with it and had done everything. People still use the ML parts of the game...

 

[Farscape]

I still does not address current bug issues ?suppose they will now become features

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

SA was a box and it was less than a week before everyone was bored with it and had done everything

That's because the only REAL SA content was a limited time event. Beyond that, they've never given a real reason to go to Tokuno unless you have a house there or happen to like the scenery.

 

[Dol'Gorath]

Embuing intrigues me...
Sounds like it may work like enchanting in WoW, destroy crappy magic items no one wants into materials and you can place stat enhancement on items...should be interesting.

 

[Maplestone]

People still use the ML parts of the game...

*nods* The heartwood quests may be tedious, low-reward and vulnerable to scripting, but they do actually fulfill a niche of playstyle that keeps them interesting for a very, very long time for casual players.

 

[Frarc]

When are we getting the official UO:SA webside?

 

[DevilsOwn]

Dermott, thanks for the post, helps a lot to keep things in one place.... good job

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Thanks. People seemed to like it last time. If people want and I'm available to do so, I'll keep doing it.

 

[Jackson]

Just wanted to say thanks to Dermott for spending his time updating everyone with what was being discussed.

I just dont understand why they werent more prepared to answer questions regarding SA.
If its been in development for 9 months (think thats what they said Cal was doing) why dont they at least have some answers instead of none.

 

[Chad Sexington]

So... we're supposed to be paging on all the houses that are Owned by OSI?

 

[Ailish]

Not paging - sending it in to QA via the bugs report, if I recall correctly.

 

[athos_uo]

When are we getting the official UO:SA webside?

EA Japan has made a SA teaser site soon after the Townhallmeeting in Seattle has begun, but it has only a cover page.

 

[JC the Builder]

I thought I remember reading in the notes that 2D was in for some massive upgrades, but on review that isn't there. Did I misunderstand the whole thing and the only thing that is happening is KR is getting big upgrades? That would suck if they aren't bringing the KR features to 2D and fixing all the issues they created when making KR.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I remember them saying something about improvements, but then later on they also stated that the 2d UI wasn't being improved. The only changes to previous comments that I made was to take out some names because I didn't think it was fair to call out some and not everyone. I don't remember taking anything specifically out of the listing.

I do know that the later statement of 2d's UI not being updated being kind of odd.

Oh I think I know. I think it was due to their stating earlier that they were looking to incorporate UOA into the UO client itself, THEN the statement that 2d's UI wasn't being updated that caused my confusion.

 

[Ozymandies]

They said the humey crafters could make the garg stone armor and weps (elves, too).

Sounds like EA/Mythic came to their senses. Giving up on UO would be like Parker Bros. giving up on Monopoly.

OZ

 

[RoseBlue]

WOOOOOOOT Pirate expansion PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE

Well, I think a Pirate expansion would be really, really interesting (much better than the gargoyle thing) but this is just my opinion of course...

 

[Flora Green]

Thanks for the info, Dermott. Really appreciate it.

 

[Deb]

You think ML was a disaster? Were you there for UOR and UOSA? SA was a box and it was less than a week before everyone was bored with it and had done everything. People still use the ML parts of the game...

Been here since Beta...so yeppers I remember previous expansions. I
also remember telestorming all over. I still use the SA portion quite a bit.
I was pointing out the download problems and the fact that a non UO player
would have no clue unless he saw a Box on the Shelf.

 

[Zynia]

Dye Tubs for pets: NO!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

Commodity deeds, redeem at house: YES!

OMG about time! lol I've been waiting for this since uh, AOS was it when it was mentioned? Wow.

Stackables in 56

*Great news for her 10x10*

If you have 10 - 20 Val hammers you're doing something wrong

Duhhhhh.

Bags of Sending: An attempt at reducing inflation. 2 major gold sellers went out of business in 48 hours, some people were massively abusing it.

That's really great and all, but what about the larger portion of honest players who it effected. I don't even want to go hunt for gold anymore. Making numerous trips is sooo pre-target peacemaking.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the results, and look forward to seeing hopefully at least some of this implimented.

 

[Velvathos]

You think ML was a disaster? Were you there for UOR and UOSA? SA was a box and it was less than a week before everyone was bored with it and had done everything. People still use the ML parts of the game...

You mean UOSE, Samurai Empire.... Wasn't all that great..

 

[Velvathos]

EA Japan has made a SA teaser site soon after the Townhallmeeting in Seattle has begun, but it has only a cover page.

Jesus.... Why doesn't our site look THAT GOOD? HEY DEVS! Get to work!

That should have been one of their questions.. When is www.uo.com going to get a face lift?

 

[AesSedai]

- Thanks Dermott & all for keeping me in-the-loop

Btw fellows, it was not called SA; SE (Samurai Empire) was what brought us the Tokuno Islands
I know, I know, SA is on a lot of our minds at this moment...

Hmm...
Time to digest (lots of good eats n drinks today, heh), and think about these SEAttle (see even Seattle has SE and SA and, um, EA in it) happenings over the rest of the US holiday weekend.
Some stuff sounds good; initially: I anticipate hearing more and seeing some information appear on some sort of UO website.
Did I win a quatloo for guessing it was SA and not just p55?

(oops Velvathos beat me to the SE clarification... by quite a few minutes too)

 

[jelinidas]

Just a couple of thoughts here from a old timer.

I thought I herd it said that this has been worked on for the last 9 months. Then why is it going to take another year?

With Dracs recent trips over seas, perhaps EA is recruiting help?? They sure have some cool stuff going on.

And finally...remember Im old! Why does everything UO have to be so greatly improved? I for one like the old style graphics. I have played EQ, DAoC and a couple others. I hated the graphics. Remember, im old. UO does not need all the flash and dash. Just improve what we have. Crisper, cleaner and perhaps faster. If UO was playable 10 years ago on what we had for computers, then today should be better. I do not want to hear old code stuff, clean it up. There is nothing wrong (imho) with UO 2d. It feels like home.

Thanks Dermott and WRR for your donated time! Well done!

 

[Basara]

LOL they dont even respond when the owner mails em..... and lol at the buying duped items questions......... they sure sound like they are on top of it..

Kith, then how come Jeremy replied to a question I sent her via feedback concerning a BOD bug, and I've now exchanged 3 mails each way, concerning that issue, in the last 4 days?

Perhaps you aren't asking the right questions.

 

[sablestorm]

Exactly...way to drop the ball WRR. Biggest announcement in 3 years, and the feed is CRAP

The more I read stratics posts like this, more more down on humanity I get. These people actually think everyone owes them something....

 

[Amathist of PoC]

Exactly...way to drop the ball WRR. Biggest announcement in 3 years, and the feed is CRAP

The more I read stratics posts like this, more more down on humanity I get. These people actually think everyone owes them something....

I agree "Tall Poppy Syndrome" has to be the ugliest and most petty thing ever. because you just know they could do a better job right....you can tell that by the way they have given up there own time for the community.

 

[NewThunder]

Well... they answered my player town question. They said it always comes up in their meetings and they have a lot of ideas.

That doesn't sound like much of an answer to your question.

 

[Connor_Graham]

I'm not liking the redeeming of commodity deeds in your house as a vet reward. I have a feeling that it's going to be one of the 10 yr rewards, which means that most of the playerbase won't be able to use it. It's too big of an item to be out of reach for the majority of the players.

I'm also disappointed that someone felt the need to get into other people's PvM playstyles and are so worried about someone else doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with them, and does nothing to affect their own, that they felt the need to bring it up in a Town Hall. I'm even more disappointed that the Devs actually listened to them. I guess some people have nothing better to do than to be jealous that some people can do things they can't, or feel that their opinion should hold more weight than anyone else's for no reason other than they feel something should be a certain way. Forced grouping is bad for the game. Not even WoW, with all of it's popularity, can overcome the reaction that forced grouping causes, which is people quitting for being forced to do something. UO can't handle people quitting like WoW can.

 

[DevilsOwn]

about the only thing I heard that really made me think "whoa, wait a minute" was the bit about 'instanced houses'....?? I'm not a fan of instanced dungeons, and instanced housing, well, can't even wrap my mind around that one.... no neighborhoods? nah, hope they take a pass on that concept

 

[canary]

Wow... ppl should consider themselves grateful WRR even _did_ a feed.

I complain about the state of UO a lot, but I PAY for the service... I'm a customer.

WRR did this as a benefit for the community. Don't hate for that.

 

[Kaleb]

Ior feel that their opinion should hold more weight than anyone else's for no reason other than they feel something should be a certain way.

Pot calling the kettle black?

 

[Shelleybean]

Thanks Dermott for the updates. I listened to the meeting online and it was obvious that the devs are really excited about SA. I hate to be a wet blanket, but I could not share that same level of enthusiasm. Virtually no questions could be answered with any certainty. That lets us know that it's a very long way off and a lot can happen in that time frame. The fact that box vs online download purchase was still up for discussion has me concerned. UO needs a shelf presence and has needed it for years. How can this even be up for debate???? On a positive note, the new SA client sounds neat. If this is done right, it could draw in lots of new players. Jeremy stressed the need for feedback from players. This is both encouraging and scary at the same time. I had hoped to hear more about publish 55. The fact that it wasn't discussed in any depth has me worried. One final note - I have a suggestion regarding the feedback page. The fact that it asks for user name, e-mail and account name on a site that is not secure does not bode well with me. We need another (safer?) way to submit feedback.

 

[Nosuperiors_Damnfewequals]

So, to summarize:

There will be an expansion named SA, sometime.

It will have gargoyles.
It may have housing, or not.
Gargoyles can fly.
And wear armor.
There is no date for SA.
They are still discussing what its going to consist of, fer cryin out loud.

I miss the Thunder in this, We were told this a year ago? And now, they re-announce it, and it's supposed to be big news?

bah!

 

[nateee]

Dermott, Is there a place to download the KR UI upgrades you guys have been working on?

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Natee

You can find "officially released" UO Mods at http://www.uoskins.com

For "beta" versions of UI Mods and other works in progress, you can click on the image in my sig to go to the Modder's Exchange. There you can go to the Packages sections and download zipped versions of the latest packages.

Be advised that the packages on the Exchange tend to be "unfinished" and while they function, finding incomplete sections or bugs will not be uncommon (in fact if you do find one, let us know!).

 

[dielock]

Thank you for the update. I know it took a lot of your time and sore fingers from typing.

 

[FrejaSP]

Commodity deeds, redeem at house: YES!

OMG about time! lol I've been waiting for this since uh, AOS was it when it was mentioned? Wow.

So cool, will make it so much easier to move from one house to an other. Also, moving boards from from the lumber house to my shop is a pain. It will be so much easier.

Stackables in 56

*Great news for her 10x10*

Great, look forward to have a stock of granit and sand when I get an order from a customer

If you have 10 - 20 Val hammers you're doing something wrong

Duhhhhh.

Glad we got the some dupers and resellers of duped items banned, hope more will follow so we can get a more healty game

Bags of Sending: An attempt at reducing inflation. 2 major gold sellers went out of business in 48 hours, some people were massively abusing it.

That's really great and all, but what about the larger portion of honest players who it effected. I don't even want to go hunt for gold anymore. Making numerous trips is sooo pre-target peacemaking.

It will make a much more healty economy in UO. But with that said, maybe gold should be a little less heavy, maybe half the stones of what it is now

 

[AdamD]

Adam, I know the question... feel free (same with any other forum peeps)

Thanks muchly

 

[Maplestone]

If you have 10 - 20 Val hammers you're doing something wrong

Duhhhhh.

I was completely floored that someone would have the audacity to stand up and say that spending 300 million gp should be considered "casual play". Are perceptions really so skewed? (politely assuming that I'm not the one with skewed perception)

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

300 Million one time is feasible for a casual player (i.e. I consider myself a casual player, I only have a couple million in gold, but if I ABSOLUTELY needed to, I could probably get up to 3 or 4 hundred mill by selling some of the true rares I've accumulated over the years (my boulder, ranger armor set, singing ball, coal armor pieces, etc). But I could only do it once.

If it's 300 mill a month being spent on things like high end runics and other generally known to be duped items (or at least items that the numbers being offered defy legitimate gaming), then yeah... there's no way.

 

[galefan2004]

Embuing...

COME ON. Call it enchanting seeing its obvious you are attempting to steal that system from WoW anyways.

Other than that, the stuff they did comment on had a lot more to do with how they were going to make the game even more similar to WoW.

Can't solo peerless because of a PvE rebalance. Stupid idea. This game is about soloing. If I want to do group content I'll play WoW. Oh wait I do.

Lots of stuff they couldn't comment on?

Sounds like typical EA. What is even more funny is they think these changes will bring veterans back. They obviously don't realise that the majority of veterans bailed on this game because they figured if it was going to be nothing more than yet another WoW clone they might as well go play WoW.

I really wish developers would realise that WoW has numbers because for what it does WoW is simply the best at providing that kind of content. Cloning WoW is just a way to make people take a second look at WoW. To actually go head to head with the giant you need to ask yourself how you can live up your strengths that the giant doesn't have instead of asking yourself how you can make yourself look more like the giant.

 

[galefan2004]

One day we have been waiting for a long time , and WRR is a mess...

Seeing WRR doesn't get paid for what they do...

EA could always stop being cheap lazy bastages and actually start doing the recording of their town hall meetings on their own and hosting them on their own. If Blizzard can podcast every single meeting they ever have with the players of the game then there is absolutely no reason why EA should have to rely on WRR. They do so because they are cheap.

People should stop complaining about WRR and start complaining about the fact that EA doesn't release its own transcripts and broadcasts of these town halls.

 

[Sebrina]

...


- New Skill: Embueing!

- Mysticism is a new skill... going into QA. haven't yet heard what's involved yet at this point.

Were there any more details given about these skills? I'm particularly interested in Mysticism as a skill for roleplay.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

The start of the event wasn't exactly smooth, but after they got things running, the sound quality was VERY good.

However there IS something to be said that WRR has done several Town Hall broadcasts and we should be getting fewer and fewer problems. Secondly, they should be giving themselves time get do sound checks, broadcast checks and so on BEFORE the event. Jeremy saying "hello" should NOT be the sound check.

I do thank the WRR staff for taking their time and expense to provide the rest of us with the audio of the events.

I just wish we could do it without the (temporary) bad audio connection and the occasional blip out to music.

I have noticed though that the audio quality DOES get better each time. One of the earlier ones was rather painful because they kept trying to tweak it on the fly and ruining it after they had a good sound. This one, once they got it figured out, they kept it pretty well where it needed to stay.

 

[galefan2004]

We have more than enough housing space on most shards... just look at Malas, even on Europa... :/

That space would disapear if they got rid of the stupid 18x18 maximum in Malas and allowed people to place castles and keeps there. Also, I think they actually believe this new expansion is going to bring back veterans. Because we all know veterans left this game because they wanted to play WoW, so they are trying to turn UO into WoW.

But WHOOT for Gargoyles not being able to wear human/elven armour!

Stupidest idea EVER. Now, I don't only have to farm for my human armor seperately, but I have to farm for my gargoyle armor seperately. Not to mention, this means every item that is currently in game is pointless unless you are playing a human or an elf. You want to put that AoS on your garg? Tough. You want to put that RBC on your garg? Tough. Tell me why you would bother to make a garg again?

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

From what I heard, embueing will be kind of like Enchanting in WoW. Take properties from "junk" items and enhance them on to other items.

Since it will now be more separate skill based, hopefully that will make the success rate less atrocious.

I kind of look forward to Embueing in terms of crafter development. More "specialization" skills in a cramped template I think is good for the game. The less people who can "be everything" the better.

Mysticism... I don't think I heard any real detail on that one other than the name and that the system was going into QC soon.