Artifacts, easy PR, and giving us stuff to do.

[imported_Skrag]

Here in UO, I think it's a given that we could use some more stuff to do. The playerbase is grouchy and could stand to be tided over with some goodies. But coding new stuff is hard and takes a long time. So here are my suggestions on how to give the players a big helping of "stuff to do" without having to actually invent any totally new systems.

A) Retire the existing Ilshenar artifacts. Most of them are worth almost nothing now. Replace them with brand new minor artifacts. Nothing crazy, just some nice stuff to collect. Make sure to include a nice tunic and shield so that people don't miss Heart of the Lion and Shield of Invulnerability too much. Add a new fey slayer to replace the Pixie Swatter.

B) Give the boss of the Tokuno champion spawn a chance to drop Treasures of Tokuno minor artifacts. The dyes alone, even the new "ugly" ones, will keep people doing this spawn forever. And since it's not like they're dropping everywhere, the economy won't instantly flood with them.

C) Have the bosses of the Ilshenar champion spawn drop alacrity scrolls. This is, frankly, a no brainer. This and B give your average Trammel guild a reason to go do the horribly under-used Tok/Ish champ spawns.

Come on devs, we need a patch/publish that's something besides esoteric PVP nerfs and some obscure tweak to the Kingdom Rejected client. We need STUFF TO DO.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Wow. I haven't had a lack of stuff to do and keep me entertained since Magincia ended.

Normally, the saying goes "don't blame the player, blame the game", but in this case, maybe that should be the other way around.

 

[imported_Skrag]

You've missed all the "zomg content plz" screaming? When's the last time we got anything that wasn't just "farm monsters in town for a month"?

 

[Lord Kotan]

Besides BODs... I haven't done too much

 

[Connor_Graham]

I haven't missed anything. With all the content this game already has, there's more than enough to do to keep anyone busy and entertained, even if they sat in front of the comp 12 hours a day. Even spending that amount of time there's no way someone could do everything there is to do. I spend a fair amount of time playing, yet I still don't have enough time to do everything I'd like to.

 

[imported_GalenKnighthawke]

While I haven't been bored, exactly, I agree on the merits with Skrag.

Content is good. It doesn't always have to be a new event. (Though I like events too!! And adored the Magincia event save for the actions of some of the players.)

Single-use Tokuno dyes, of ANY type, that cannot be traded in, will keep the multi-use ones relatively valuable, AND will keep the Tokuno champion spawn being done forever.

Alacrity Scrolls at Ilsh is perfect, because there's a perpetual need for skill-gaining. A normal power scroll you use one per skill, per character, and you're done. Not so with alacrity scrolls.

Replacing the Ilsh martis seems a good idea too. Though some still sell well (Heart of the Lion, Pixie Swatter, Candlabra of Souls, yes I know I spelled candleabra incorrectly, sorry don't feel like looking it up), most don't.

A decent kryss would be good....Just something basic, like 10 HCI, 45 DI, and an intelligence bonus or something just to remind us that it's an artifact and not normal loot.

-Galen's player

 

[Guest]

I like some of the ideas.... If you ask me they never finished Tokuno.... nor did they ever finish Illshnar......
You know how many chests are in Illshnar that have NOTHING in them?? hundreds.... why do they even bother spawning there??? Good way to promote lockpicking would be to put something in them.... Random chance of finding something neat..... Or spawning something BAD..... I like the idea of alacrity scrolls on Illsh champs.... gives more of a reason to risk doing them.... And right now there is almost NO reason to hunt in Tokuno....

But I am FAR from bored.... I have tons to do .... but I will say this when it comes to determining where I hunt to gain fame, karma or skill.... lately it's.... hum...... I can perhaps get a 10th anny item..... Or chocolateering goods..... lets see..... 10 anny items = useful...... chocolate....... good for looks..... Illshnar..... fun and get mini artis and chocolate stuff.... Legacy dungeons.... same old.... but 10th anny items....... tokuno..... NOTHING...... hum.... doom.... ah!.... certain death not good for fame... ok.... So you know... often I hunt either in Illsh or in the legacy dungeons..... Doom was fun for awhile.. but sometimes not worth all the money... seeing as money is tight and hard to come by now that I can't send it in my bag anymore actually have to stop (and in Illshnar that's just not gonna happen)... and go to a bank with it every 10 or 15 min... what a pain.... So more often than not I just don't much bother to pick up gold anymore... which means I don't spend much gold anymore.... which means I don't shop much anymore.... which means I rely on my own ability to get what I want myself anymore..... which means more and more often.... I'm turning what should be a MMO into a solo game..... Kinda sad when you think about it.... More and more often I find less and less reason to do things as a group.... with a guild... as it stands right now unless we're doing a peerless... there just isn't much to do as a guild... or group..... taking a guild to hunt now is tough... you want to do a spawn well chances are you're not doing it in fel.... truth is unless that's where you mostly play and your into PvP.....(not that I am not).. and you don't have 10million in gold for the insurance and replacing things that get lost in fel..... and you don't script, or use cheats and 3rd party programs.... your not gonna do a fel spawn...... and to do an Illsh spawn???? why bother... and the tokuno one????? what a joke... NO one is gonna want to do that just for the bit of gold that drops that you can't carry much of that you can no longer use a bag for..... so... what's a guild to do?

Used to be we would hunt paragons in Illsh.... but now that's kinda dull... the incentive and reward just isn't there. So I'm solo now...

 

[Connor_Graham]

seeing as money is tight and hard to come by now that I can't send it in my bag anymore actually have to stop (and in Illshnar that's just not gonna happen)


Here's a tip for ya. There are 2 Efreets that spawn just outside the Gargoyle city in the central Ilsh desert. You can kill earth eles, sand vortexes, and whatever else is around while you wait for them to respawn, and it's less than a minute to run to the bank and back. Efreets drop a decent amount of gold and some pretty decent loot.

 

[Guest]

There are 2 or 3 good hunting spots like that Connor.... but unfortunatly I play on a rather populated shard and you and I aren't the only ones that know about good hunting spots like that...

 

[imported_Skrag]

<blockquote><hr>

Replacing the Ilsh martis seems a good idea too. Though some still sell well (Heart of the Lion, Pixie Swatter, Candlabra of Souls, yes I know I spelled candleabra incorrectly, sorry don't feel like looking it up), most don't.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I honestly wouldn't mind if they kept the 2 or 3 good ones in circulation and just replaced the rest. A cavorting club is like 500gp on some vendors. It needs to quit spawning.

<blockquote><hr>

A decent kryss would be good...<blockquote><hr>



I want some artifact plate arms. If I could get some arti plate arms with like at least 15 cold resist, I'd be walking around in a 100% artifact suit. :-D

 

[imported_GalenKnighthawke]

<blockquote><hr>

Yeah, I honestly wouldn't mind if they kept the 2 or 3 good ones in circulation and just replaced the rest. A cavorting club is like 500gp on some vendors. It needs to quit spawning.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought of that.....

And the conclusion I came to was that they either need to replace the Ilshenar artifacts wholesale, or not at all.

And this is why.

Going back to Doom, artifacts seem to come in 4 Tier, more or less. (And this excludes decorative artis.)

Tier 1. Artifacts that are clearly of use. (Examples: Hat of the Magi, Heart of the Lion, Ornament of the Magician, Rune Beetle Carapace)

Tier 2. Artifacts that are potentially of use, in the right hands. (Examples: Blade of Insanity, Berserker's Maul, Night's Kiss [PvM only], Dragon's End [PvM only], Exiler [PvM only])

Tier 3. Artifacts that are of moderate use, and are used in place of having something better (until something better comes along), or of use only in very particular situations. (Examples: Enchanted Titan Leg Bone, Staff of Pyros [used in place of the Staff of the Magi])

Tier 4. Artifacts that are of no obvious special use, and are used as "show pieces" mostly, or used the same way category 3 artis are. (Examples: Tunic of Fire [this used to be in category 3]; Holy Knight's Breastplate; Frostbringer [this used to be in category 3]; Bonecrusher [the CLASSIC example of a mostly useless artifact)

You can argue with which artis belong in which Tier.

The point ain't to argue over what artis belong where, the point is to show that there is definitely a kind of "tier system" with artifacts.

Part of the balance system of artifacts is that if/when you get one you don't know which tier you're gonna get.

If you left in the "Tier 1" Ilshenar artifacts, but took out the other Tiers, and substituted new Tier 2 and lower artifacts, almost zero long-run effect.

If you took all but the Tier 1s, and threw in MORE Tier 1s, while this'd be fun it's also potentially unbalancing. Not in a game-wide sense, but internally to the artifact system.

If you substituted everything, and kept the ratios the same?

Now you've got me.

-Galen's player

ps: Let me add that they need to increase the Trammel-side spawn rate of the Virtue Artifacts, if they really want them to be aimed at the post-New Haven crowd.

 

[Guest]

All suggestions I and many many others have made over and over. With the exception of the ilsh minor artifacts.

I think what we need are rotating selections of minor artifacts on both ml named and ilsh paragon creatures where every 4 months a new list of artifacts goes into play. This would cause people to hunt paragons at specific times to get specific minors where 1/3 of the year you cannot get that specific thing.

It would slow the introduction of minor of the current type down and make all minor artifacts more valuable and worth gathering.

 

[mmmbeer05]

i definitely like the ideas concerning the champs!! and easy to do ..

 

[Guest]

I like B and C, but not A. I don't mind the idea of adding new arties, but let's not just eliminate the old ones. Except for those damn horses. They can go.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Frostbringer [this used to be in category 3]

For a Doom archer, Frostbringer is a must have unless you have another, faster, 50% Hit Dispel bow. It's the best one, I for one, have in my posession, and carry one with me every single time my archer goes to Doom.

Far from useless.

 

[Guest]

I agree with B and C, but I think the art and programming for new artys could be a big endeaver.

 

[Guest]

I like the ideas you guys are giving! I agree, while there are plenty, plenty, plenty things to do as things are.... there's something missing. Something to get me excited again.
Don't get me wrong, there's stuff to do, but I'd like to see that things are actively being added and tweaked. I wanna see my money in action.
I wanna see progress.
I wanna see stories unfold.
I want to see quests that make sense and give me a feeling of accomplishment.
But I don't want to be rushed with the stories or the quests. Like many, my gametime is limited to weekends and I don't like events that have a short timespan. Treasures of Tokuno were awesome, the Books of Truth were great. They were easy enough for us newer guys yet more in-depth than your average "insta-gratification" quests.
But I give credit to the Devs for fixing the old bugs. It's gotta be a lot of work indeed.

 

[imported_Skrag]

RTLFC

<blockquote><hr>

Croaker: I like B and C, but not A. I don't mind the idea of adding new arties, but let's not just eliminate the old ones.

[/ QUOTE ]Why? Worried you won't be able to get another Arctic Death Dealer without going to a player vendor and paying 1k first? Yes, eliminate the old ones. Most of them are trash nowadays, and if I'm farming for some new artifact, I'm gonna be ticked off when I get some crappy staff of power that nobody ever wanted, or will ever want.

<blockquote><hr>

Galen: Let me add that they need to increase the Trammel-side spawn rate of the Virtue Artifacts, if they really want them to be aimed at the post-New Haven crowd.

[/ QUOTE ]Good point. The "these don't need to be good, they're for newbies" argument and the "fel has greater rewards, go there to get these" routine aren't really compatible. I suspect this has more to do with the "fame = drop rate" thing being easy to code, and fame just happening to be higher in Felucca, than with any conscious "risk vs reward" mentality on the part of the devs.

<blockquote><hr>

loqucious: I agree with B and C, but I think the art and programming for new artys could be a big endeaver.

[/ QUOTE ]What art? Artifacts are all existing weapons with a new color and properties. I mean look...

The Angel Crusher (Warhammer, hued red)
Fey Slayer
30% swing speed increase
40% damage increase
50% physical damage
50% fire damage

Bam, I've just invented an artifact.

 

[Guest]

You know they can skip the arties and just do decos.

Belt pouch from an cyclopidian.
Robe from and evil mage. Comes in 10 colors.
Robe from a lich.
Head of harpy.

There are about a bizzillion things they can do that many people have posted about.

I wrote about a way to add to stealing. Similiar idea above. I think its just about their time table.

GOLD SINK: Drop a million in a bucket and get a gift.
Doesnt have to be more complicated then that.

My point. Lots of good, creative and simple ideas.... Not enough time to program them till other stuff is done I guess.

 

[imported_Skrag]

Yeah, let's have them go through the trouble of drawing new art so we can have some freakin' lich robe that 2 people in the entire game are gonna lock down in their house. The stuff I'm talking about involves zero art work.

 

[BadManiac]

One thing they definitely need to tweak is the 10th anniversary artifact drop rates. They are totally out of proportion, as made evident by the total lack of people hunting in legacy dungeons, again...

 

[imported_Skrag]

But some newb fresh out of Haven can go to Despise and get a nice suit of virtue armor after only six months of farming!

 

[Guest]

I vote for turning on the blackrock trade in again to get rid of the rocks collected since the last time it was on and also to give out some now less worthless items in light of the recent changes to doom artifact drops and ability to get runic hammers easier.

With the moonglow clock ticking away it would make sense and would bring many of us some fun while waiting.

I wouldn't even mind seeing different items handed out stuff that is consumable so as not to flood the market with things that will remain long term.

 

[J0KING]

B and C are both really good ideas... What about expanding on this an adding another champ spawn else where that has the same drops?

I am not to fond of A... maybe instead of getting rid of them completely, how about just add a few more? This way there is a chance of getting an old one, but with added marties you would have to hunt to collect the new ones.

Just a thought

Have Fun!!!

 

[imported_Skrag]

So you can spend a month throwing Cavorting Clubs and Wooden Steeds on the ground while trying to farm an Angel Crusher or whatever?

Seriously, most of the existing minor artifacts sell for a few K. Why on earth would you ever be anything but annoyed to have... say... a Luna Lance drop in your pack?

 

[eolsunder1]

They either need to redo a few minors so they are actually worth using, or have a turn in system which will gradually "Upgrade" the weapons. Such as turning in 10 minors and being able to uprade it a little. So over time, all those windsong bows sitting in the box, along with alot of other items will be useful. I used to have a list of what you could upgrade and the final product, but i dont remember where it is, ill have to see if i can find it since i posted it in ideas den like a zillion years ago.

 

[the 4th man]

Totally sidestepping the context of your post, and getting to the real issue at hand. If you're bored with UO, get a hobby that pulls you away from a computer.
"UO is my hobby...."..........not anymore.
or
"gaming is my hobby"....no, pc sitting is like watching tv.

sorry, but when you add in your title, "give us stuff to do" you opened the door for comments, and by the way, it's not US.
Like Conner, I have tons to do, on game and in real life.

 

[imported_Warpig Inc]

I vote for turning on the blackrock trade in again to get rid of the rocks collected since the last time it was on and also to give out some now less worthless items in light of the recent changes to doom artifact drops and ability to get runic hammers easier.

With the moonglow clock ticking away it would make sense and would bring many of us some fun while waiting.

I wouldn't even mind seeing different items handed out stuff that is consumable so as not to flood the market with things that will remain long term.

____________________________________________________________________

No need to turn the blackrock turn-in back on. Scripters got rewarded enough the first time around. And with the burning being a farce the junk account scripting ****roaches are back at it. GMs as usefull as bulls nuts on a field mouse makes them worriless.

We need a Dumpster Quester turn-in at the library for all that useless high effort items. Low point gain like the Tmap guy. And Dumpster Glasses with great balanced mods reflecting time to reward base. Besides the Marty and Arty could add the peerless loot and stealables to the turn-in Dumpster Guy.

 

[BadManiac]

<blockquote><hr>

But some newb fresh out of Haven can go to Despise and get a nice suit of virtue armor after only six months of farming 24/7!

[/ QUOTE ]fixed