• Hail Guest!
    We're looking for Community Content Contribuitors to Stratics. If you would like to write articles, fan fiction, do guild or shard event recaps, it's simple. Find out how in this thread: Community Contributions
  • Greetings Guest, Having Login Issues? Check this thread!
  • Hail Guest!,
    Please take a moment to read this post reminding you all of the importance of Account Security.
  • Hail Guest!
    Please read the new announcement concerning the upcoming addition to Stratics. You can find the announcement Here!

Castle winners

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Awards
5
The one with the cross is a nice design, but it's not really what you would call a castle, where is the living space? Reminds me of the time my husband decided to make a house shaped like a boat....:D
 

MissEcho

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I am at the point where I doubt I will be entering again.

There is something seriously 'off' with the voting. When there are more votes by a LONG way than the total number of people that have actually looked at a house over two whole rounds and way more than the 150 entries then as I said, something seems 'off'.

I do not believe 655 (the number of votes cast in round 2) are from people who have castle/keeps and from those I speak to who don't have castles the majority by a long way don't care and don't bother to vote at all as they have no dog in the fight. Even if every builder who entered had 3 accounts that would still only equate to 450 total votes from those participating.

It seems very obvious that there is a huge amount of vote stacking going on so it does seem rather pointless to continue. After the top 20 was announced I think only about 150 ppl entered my place out of those 655. I know I went around and entered every single top 20 place for the second time to review them once the list was narrowed, and then again to relook at the 2-3 I liked, and I expect other people who entered would of done the same.
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I am at the point where I doubt I will be entering again.

There is something seriously 'off' with the voting. When there are more votes by a LONG way than the total number of people that have actually looked at a house over two whole rounds and way more than the 150 entries then as I said, something seems 'off'.

I do not believe 655 (the number of votes cast in round 2) are from people who have castle/keeps and from those I speak to who don't have castles the majority by a long way don't care and don't bother to vote at all as they have no dog in the fight. Even if every builder who entered had 3 accounts that would still only equate to 450 total votes from those participating.

It seems very obvious that there is a huge amount of vote stacking going on so it does seem rather pointless to continue. After the top 20 was announced I think only about 150 ppl entered my place out of those 655. I know I went around and entered every single top 20 place for the second time to review them once the list was narrowed, and then again to relook at the 2-3 I liked, and I expect other people who entered would of done the same.
If you have multiple accounts you don't have to take each toon to the castle. If I do not like the outside, I will not go in.
Sometimes I will be there doing things with pets and notice a bunch of toons with the same shard tags coming up to the stone and leaving quick within a few minutes. Ya, players use extra accounts to vote for the same design.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
I am at the point where I doubt I will be entering again.

There is something seriously 'off' with the voting. When there are more votes by a LONG way than the total number of people that have actually looked at a house over two whole rounds and way more than the 150 entries then as I said, something seems 'off'.

I do not believe 655 (the number of votes cast in round 2) are from people who have castle/keeps and from those I speak to who don't have castles the majority by a long way don't care and don't bother to vote at all as they have no dog in the fight. Even if every builder who entered had 3 accounts that would still only equate to 450 total votes from those participating.

It seems very obvious that there is a huge amount of vote stacking going on so it does seem rather pointless to continue. After the top 20 was announced I think only about 150 ppl entered my place out of those 655. I know I went around and entered every single top 20 place for the second time to review them once the list was narrowed, and then again to relook at the 2-3 I liked, and I expect other people who entered would of done the same.

Well I know how many accounts I have and how many votes I cast for my design... also know who said they voted for me... yet my castle didn't get that many votes... so I know for a FACT that I put my votes on my castle... so either the people were lying to me or the votes aren't right. Don't know and at this point I don't care anymore because none of the votes matter in the least unless you got the top votes. So like everything else in UO it's a popularity contest. Kinda like all those stupid facebook contests... it has nothing at all to do with skill or how it looks ... no one cares you could build something that doesn't even function properly ... and if you have enough people to vote you in .... you get it.

At any rate it just comes down to who gets votes and who doesn't ... it isn't about design and it certainly isn't about function. And I own 2 keeps and 2 castles. So yeah I do care.
 

Cyrah

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Not a fan of any of the team anymore but I have to say my votes for the Sandalwood castle were spot on. We knew that it had one shot of winning and one only. Being in the final top 3. It had no chance of a dev pick, nada, zip, zero. As beautiful and well made as it is. Or was. No chance. And you guys thought we did not know that. Aw...

My issue with this team, and I will never forget it, is how they chose the picks. They had a way to sooth and they chose to hurt. Yes, you did. There were many to choose from, then add the cross for a sooper dooper surprise! Not mine I know but many.
Major, major pain.
 

GarthGrey

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I can only speak for myself, and I'm no castle designer, but I can honestly say that had I entered the contest, I'm fairly confident I wouldn't have then voted for myself, in fact I wouldn't have voted at all.
 

MissEcho

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
If you have multiple accounts you don't have to take each toon to the castle. If I do not like the outside, I will not go in.
Sometimes I will be there doing things with pets and notice a bunch of toons with the same shard tags coming up to the stone and leaving quick within a few minutes. Ya, players use extra accounts to vote for the same design.
Well of course I know that. I have three accounts so of course will vote for mine with those three. They are the only votes I know are guaranteed. But the amount of vote stacking (either by people with a super amount of accounts, or by just getting friends/guildies to vote) is huge. Thing is, just as an example on the first round where there are 150 entries, my place got from memory 80 'views', so basically not even everyone who built and entered even bothered to look. Now it is not like my places are borg cube or whatever, from what I saw every single person who came actually entered. I didn't see a single person arrive that didn't actually step on the foundation to load it. Not saying there weren't any but certainly none that I saw. After the 'second round' where there were an additional 130-150 'views' once it was in top 20 it took the count of total view to 220, I would imagine that a lot of those were multiple visits. Yet in the second round of voting 655 votes were cast. So on that basis less than a 1/4 viewed it.

My point is unless you have a huge amount of accounts or friends who you can get to log in and vote, you stand very little chance of getting anything up, irrespective of the design.

Anyways it is what it is, until they change the way this voting is done I doubt I will continue to enter. I guess If I am in the mood to muck around doing a design I may, but not with any hope or intention of winning as I said with this last design, it won't get up unless there is a concerted effort by myself or someone else to actively work to stack the vote, which basically I am not in any way inclined to do. I just found it really odd that the 'winner' always seems to get between 71-74 votes. At least the last 3-4 winners have. Just seems 'iffy' to me.
 

MissEcho

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED

Promathia

Social Distancing Since '97
Premium
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Actually in the first round they didn't do top 20 they did top 40 and the winners were picked from that. They changed it to the top 20 the round after that. This is the first time they have gone out of the top player voted picks.
But it clearly says 3 Dev choices. It doesn't say those 3 had to be in the top whatever.
 

Cyrah

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Oh you are so busted. Someplace in this messy thread is a post by a trustworthy player who asked K if rules are the same. Find it... Hey no one knows this, the new jars of seasoning are they one use? For like 4.5 million I hope not.
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Hey no one knows this, the new jars of seasoning are they one use? For like 4.5 million I hope not.
Of course 1 use...
Use your little cat burgler and steal them. I got the quantity reduced. It started as 3 herbs for 1 seasoning.
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
@Cyrah

I made a new small aquarium and got a Fench Angelfish, Spotted Parrotfish, and a Scorpionfish.
What do I do to keep them alive?
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Awards
5
But it clearly says 3 Dev choices. It doesn't say those 3 had to be in the top whatever.
Minerva Foxglove asked Kyronix before voting started if the Dev picks were from the whole 150 or the top 20, he said they were from the top 20, yet twice they have picked an entry from the whole 150+ original entries. Maybe they should give out the contest rules in full, or at least state why they changed the rules part way through.
 

MissEcho

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
But it clearly says 3 Dev choices. It doesn't say those 3 had to be in the top whatever.
I never said they had to be, was just correcting you when you said "This is not the first time that some of the winners are Dev selected and not the top player vote earners." as if they didn't pick from the top player vote earners. They did, only the first round was top 40 not top 20. The link you showed was a different competition and it was stated then that the devs would pick from the top 40 that they listed. Don't really care as they will do whatever they like as they always do.
 

Cyrah

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
There is nothing you can do to keep the fish alive. Hope you didn't spend 174m per on them. No matter how well you follow what maintain says, the sea creatures will die .Its that old wonderful random thing working as intended. Feature! You do get cool bones.
I applaud you getting anything changed. When I tried to champion the fishys I thought his head was going to explode from anger at me.

Back to thread. Um... I have seen the glory days of this game and now the shameful. the greedy, the cheating, corruption, apathy. Oh, and I saw ebay ( that was protected until it wasn't. The sales of em toys for real gold in its heyday, now not so much real gold flows. I wonder what Broadsword really is and is not.

Good news is we have some wonderful new keeps and castles. And do not forget that rowboat... Guys I am whimpering my way out of UO. It is hard to go. Two now, one keep (TrinsicKkeep est!) one castle, normal. What matters most here and always will, is the players and I will indeed miss most of you.

Cheer up Allen, you bought your doomed a fish a fantastic coffin!
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Awards
5
So now we have a pretty fish coffin instead of an ugly one...great! :rolleyes:
 

Cinderella

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Awards
6
@Cyrah

I made a new small aquarium and got a Fench Angelfish, Spotted Parrotfish, and a Scorpionfish.
What do I do to keep them alive?
on TC, I kept real good care of them, but when the patches came in, they messed up.

when the water is healthy,
just add water and food, where its recommended for Needed
it takes two days til you need to add more food or water (unless there is a patch)
it its still healthy, just add the needed...
if its unhealthy, just add one more food and water (Improve)
don't add the total number of Improve or it will over feed.

if you do overfeed your fish, put them in fishbowls until your water becomes healthy again.
then re-add your fish... I'd rather save the fish and retry when the water is healthy.
cause on TC, once the water got unhealthy & then there was a patch... they would die
 

Cyrah

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
@Cinderella you are truly one of the nicest people I have ever met in UO. I honor thee. Thank you for your winning Sally Trees Keep and your kindness.
 

MissEcho

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
The day they make the aquariums like garden beds, ie maintenance free, will be the day I actually put fish in em. Until then, nope, I am not mucking about keeping digital fish alive lol, I have so many minutes on this earth, enough already spent wasted on UO, but I get away with that as it is 'entertainment'. However checking digital fish, even complying 100% with the care requirements to have em drop dead is not what I class as 'entertainment'. More an exercise in futility and frustration lol.

Kudos to any that have the patience and fortitude to stick with it.
 

Cinderella

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Awards
6
@Cinderella you are truly one of the nicest people I have ever met in UO. I honor thee. Thank you for your winning Sally Trees Keep and your kindness.
thank you
I enjoyed visiting with you on test center.
And loved going on tours of the castle and keeps in the first contest.
I hope you decide not to go.
 

Cyrah

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
oh noesssss lol Are u happy now Kyronix? Are ya? I am so sorry @Pawain for your poor liitle fishies. Thing is players are charging fortunes for maybe rare ones, like 174m. Maybe K gets a bonus for every death.
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Awards
5
I had one years ago, I mean it was maybe 2006 or 2007 and every day dead fish, I thought it was just me, but now I see it's meant to be an exercise in futility...but now the tank is pretty you can leave it empty and still have fishes! The old tanks were so ugly I just made cloth ones.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
Didn't take long to figure out that you can do everything right and still your fish die for me to say NOPE not gonna do this. Besides having something like that is a PITA... I don't get in game every single day and don't plan to .
 

Cinderella

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Awards
6
@Cyrah @MissEcho

I put 2 fish in last night and gave the tank water and food.

I come in today and find this:
View attachment 102195

:(

View attachment 102196

Did i do something wrong? It did not cycle the things I added yesterday.

View attachment 102197
when the food is healthy, only add the feed
when Water is healthy, add the maintain.

only add the improve, when its unhealthy
========================================

it takes two days before the tank will go through a cycle.

looks like your fish died, from being overfed.
then you overfed and overwatered...
just chop it and replace.
It will empty the water and food added.
Also if you accidently add an aquarium flake, it will remove that.
This helps if you accidently give it too much.

but know, that if there is fish in the tank and you lock it down (instead of secure)
that the fish will fall to the floor (did this on TC)

As long as its healthy, your fish will be ok
unless there is a patch, then you need to keep a close eye on it.
if it becomes unhealthy, remove the fish until its healthy again.
cause then the fish will start to die.

Every time there is a cycle (every two days), you will get a reward.
As long as there is fish in there
 

popps

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Every time there is a cycle (every two days), you will get a reward.
As long as there is fish in there
@Cinderella

I did not know that the Aquarium produces Rewards for maintaining it in good conditions....

Do you know what the available Rewards are ?
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED

Nereus

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
There is something seriously 'off' with the voting. When there are more votes by a LONG way than the total number of people that have actually looked at a house over two whole rounds and way more than the 150 entries then as I said, something seems 'off'...It seems very obvious that there is a huge amount of vote stacking going on so it does seem rather pointless to continue.
Yea saw that as well. My entry only had about 75 visits during Round 1. Substantially more in previous contests.
Several contests ago there was an entry which made it past Round 1, and then only received 1 vote in Round 2.
I am at the point where I doubt I will be entering again.
Please do not stop, you are one of the entrants continuing to push design innovation.
 
Top