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NEWS Developer Meet and Greet Transcript ~ Origin Shard 1/11/16

Larisa

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Kyronix - We are all so pleased to be on Origin tonight. Thanks everyone for coming out.
We'll be getting started in just a moment.
William Smithy: Lady Clementine and Intimanator both passed away last month. I have a question please. We (OKOJ & XMG) were wondering about memorials for Lady Hope and Wayne.
Kyronix - That is most unfortunate news, we are really sad to hear that. Our condolences are with their family and friends.
William Smithy: Thank you
EM Aumakua - Wayne's has been submitted, please send me Lady Hopes.
Kyronix - For memorials you can go ahead and work with your EM.
William Smithy: *bows* thank you again
Kyronix - Thanks
Kyronix - Hello Lord Thor
Thor: Hello
Kyronix - What can we do for you Thor?
Thor: Was wanting to ask about the copper shillings I lost in the bank and my new rune books don't work. Old books work fine.
Bleak - The Runic Atlas?
Thor: Yes
Bleak - We are aware of this issue that charges are not being used and it will be resolved next publish.
Thor: Thank you
Mesanna - Hi Thor, those items are lost, there is no way to confirm them in your bank. I am sorry.
Thor: Ok thanks anyway
Mesanna - Thanks for understanding.
Thor: That's it for me
Soldevi Extreme: HELLO
Mesanna - Hello
Kyronix - Hello
Soldevi Extreme: Hi there really is no player base left in Ultima Online, when are you going to address this? Like a standalone f2p server to bring new players in or anything? This game is better then the state it's in. Like any effort in increasing the population.
Mesanna - We strive to improve UO every time we publish
Soldevi Extreme: Would be great. That doesn't bring in any new players though, we need something major.
Mesanna - Besides free 2 play what would you suggest, keep in mind we are still under EA.
Soldevi Extreme: just a standalone f2p shard, we need something mesanna
Mesanna - I understand what you are saying.
Soldevi Extreme: Like give us something,this game is depressing to log into these days.
Sir LD: Hello
Mesanna - How can we help you?
Sir LD: Can you enchanted apple timers?
Mesanna - Do you mean change them? What is your issue with the timers?
Sir LD: Too long or they don't go off or work.
Mesanna - We will look into this, anything else?
Sir LD: I would like ten minutes for fighting in god mode for pvp
Mesanna - Dream on, have a good evening.
Toi Masheen: Hello!
Mesanna - Hi Toi
Toi Masheen: So, I guess I'll kinda part two on Soldevi's question. What if any effort is being made to repair the felucca community? Because people are leaving daily. I feel like back in the late 90's, this game flourished with pvp and now...it's just sad.
Mesanna - Let me turn this around, today do you have any suggestion besides f2p? We have dont content, VvV
Toi Masheen: Well, one thing that has been begged for over 5-8 years, is a legacy server.
Mesanna - Bleak is probably shaking his head right now so I will let him answer this one.
Toi Masheen: I mean in honesty, UO isn't getting NEW customers, it could get old ones back, that's the thing people could come back and would for a good reason.
Mesanna - we understand but you have to understand this. That's a big time consuming task. It would mean no new content to do this.
Toi Masheen: so you're telling me average joes can set up old legacy servers for player run servers but you as a large company running the game can't handle that?
Mesanna - You have to also understand in the 90's, there were 20 people on the UO team. We have 5 people on the UO team!
Toi Masheen: I understand that, but it's not new content you'd add, it's already been made it's not a new design.
Mesanna - but pulling out code is a huge task, seperating everything.
Toi Masheen: Do you feel the new expansion was succesful in bringing new players to Sosaria? Because I guarantee bringing back old ones would be a better usage of time. Thanks for the time.
Irenicus: Hail
Mesanna - Good evening
Irenicus: I have a complaint about abyss harpsicord deeds.
Mesanna - ok
Irenicus: everytime I try to do anything in the abyss, I end up with a pack of 80 harpsicord deeds in my pack and have to spend most of my time emptying my pack of those unwanted things that are being forced in my pack.
Mesanna - You would like them turned down? We will look at the spawning rate of them.
Irenicus: Turn them off. If you want to put them on corpses so if people want them they can get them.
Mesanna - ok, thank you for your suggestion.
Irenicus: having something auto-drop in your pack is very invasive uness it's a nice item of course lol.
Mesanna - Of course, we will look into that change.
Hydro Guardian: Hello
Mesanna - Greetings
Hydro Gardian: I was wondering if you could take out the cohesion on pets at the vet, waiting 3-4 minutes or for a tamer to show up is a pain, or at least have the time down some on dead pets.
Mesanna - we might look into shortening and will talk about removal as a team.
Hydro Guardian: ty, gnight
Mesanna - welcome, night
Whisper: Hail
Mesanna - Greetings
Kyronix - Hello
Whisper: Few questions for you. Some questions go with Sir's apple question. Is there a way to make the apple only remove 1 curse at a time, or raise it's timer? My second question, Chivalry Masteries. 4/6 casting and the Holy Fist spell is that going to be changed or nerfed? My third question, Mortal Strike with archery.
Bleak - There is a bug currently with Holy Fist
Whisper: What is the bug? If I may ask
Bleak - It can't be interrupted and that will be resolved next publish.
Whisper: so it will be able to be interrupted
Bleak - yes
Mesanna - We do not have an answer for the enchanted apple yet. We will discuss it.
Whisper: alright I have more question
Mesanna - wait, I am a little confused. Can you answer this for me? Enchanted apples have been out for awhile now, you are just now saying you want it nerfed? Is that correct?
Whisper: have you ever pvp'd as a necro mage? And someone eats one apple and all your curses are gone?
Mesanna - I get that, but this is the first time anyone has asked this. I am just a little confused as to why it has taken so long, that is all. We will discuss it.
Bleak - Currently have no plans to add Mortal Strike to any archery weapon, anymore :)
Whisper: That's not my question sir. Mortal Strike with archery there is no cooldown, but there is a cooldown on apples. So an archer can spam mortal strike and you can't do anything about it but die.
Bleak - Mortal Strike has diminishing returns on duration
Whisper: It doesn't matter if you can spam it you do not become immune.
Bleak - We can take another look at the effectiveness of the DR
Whisper: Or you can take timers off apples :) Have a good night
Bleak - Thank you
Mesanna - You also
Sho-Rimbo: Hi
Mesanna - Greetings
Kyronix - Hello!
Sho-Rimbo: I have a statement rather then a question. It relates entirely to the state of the game and my opinion of how it was and also how it is. I recently visited an old rares collector. He was collecting some very old clothing and it was a nice collection. We got to talking about mesanna items and how they have affected the game. I believe it has impacted UO in a negative manner as more people spend their time chasing you around from one shard to another it leaves massive holes in the rest of the game. I ask you to stop making the pretty hued crap and let the game produce it's own items and perhaps some reds will feel like they should go back to fel instead of chasing 500m items. The items may be one of a kind but the only reason people hunt them is they no longer have to find a living in game. Use the older methods like the double clicky statues.
Mesanna - That's not happening
Sho-Rimbo: and try not to harm the economy in favor of popularity
Mesanna - and you are talking about EM items. Every item with my name also has the same items with the dev team.
Sho-Rimbo: no, I am talking about all the crap that is deemed a rare because you only put 10 in that day.
Mesanna - That's an EM item, I have never given out 10 of any items.
Sho-Rimbo: Think about it. 500m items make this an Obama administration...
Mesanna - I am not going to sit here and argue with you
Sho-Rimbo: Neither am I, at least you are getting paid :) you are welcome.
Mesanna - to be honest I could care less if anything ever drops with my name on it.
Melody: Hello All
Mesanna - Hello Melody
Melody: I have two quick questions. One can there be castles ever in Luna?
Mesanna - No, the server cannot handle the load
Melody: and two, are you aware that in plant beds the plants never have the rare black or white adaption.
Mesanna - In garden beds?
Melody: From if you like you plant locked down.
Mesanna - I did not know that
Melody: Yes you get rare black or white sometimes but not in the beds.
Mesanna - Interesting, I will have to check that out.
Melody: I have been planting plants a long time and never black or white in beds.
Kyronix - I'd have to check to be 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure that is working as intended.
Melody: why make it not able to do in plant beds, that is the whole point of having them, we pay for them.
Kyronix - Understand this was done awhile ago, but likely because they don't require any upkeep. We'll discuss it and have a look to be certain.
Melody: hmm well can that be changed? I hope so, would be awesome, ty so much, have a great night.
Mesanna - You also. Hello again Thor
Thor: Will we ever be able to place homes in eodon area i see lotsa green behind the trees that is blocked.
Kyronix - The Native Eodonians would likely burn your home to the ground for invading their soverign lands.
Thor: Thank you lol
Mesanna - lol...hello DarkLotus
DarkLotus: hi, ok just one thing as a necro mage pvper I agree with the apples needing to only take one debuff at a time it ruins half my temp. DOOOOOMM!!!!! DOOMM!!! great content, update the arties for it!
Mesanna - lol we will have a discussion tomorrow about it
DarkLotus: oh and mesanna items pfft that guy is whack we love em! That's all, have a great night!
Mesanna - *smiles* night, but he is entitled to his opinion
Soldevi Extreme: Hail again, I just had a few questions about skills. Can tactics requirement for mages using specials be removed or at least linked to a useful skill like eval int? Mage temps are so restrictive, and necromancy forms and strangle need buffs our top end spell is vampirec embrace and the thing is only good on a pvm dexxer. Strangle is a dot that needs to be on for a full duration to do any good. A necro dexxer in pvp is not viable, there are like 30 ways to remove curses, strangle should not be classified as a curse :( and Vampiric embrace should be on par with stone form for effectiveness.
Mesanna - Bleak has this, give him a sec
Bleak - No plans to change tactics requirements at the moment. This would need to be discussed with the community more on an open platform.
Soldevi Extreme: Ok buff necro forms tho
Bleak - We will take a look at more templates
Sir Wayne: Greetings Mesanna, Misk and Team
Mesanna - Greetings
Sir Wayne: I recently returned to UO a few days ago
Mesanna - Welcome back
Sir Wayne: and played since 1997 until a few years ago when the economy took a turn for the worse and I had to leave, loosinga luna house and castle. Now that I am back, my question is, to make it easier with a smaller population is it possible to link bank accounts wide into 1 account? Would make it more appeasing on lower populated shards.
Mesanna - Currency Conversion...you mean cross shards?
Sir Wayne: yes Ma'am
Mesanna - We recently put in currency conversion doing that is a lot more detailed
Sir Wayne: Getting started again, would make it easier to get involoved a bit more. I mean more for armor, weapons, items and resources to rebuild, and would give us returning players more of a variety of things to do, events, and people to play with.
Mesanna - do you mean just money or your whole bank?
Sir Wayne: Entire bank, but just 1 bank shared between your account only regardless of shard, just a thought.
Mesanna - we can look into it but I highly doubt it will happen anytime soon so no promises.
Mesanna - Greetings Running Bear
Running Bear: Hi, I was wondering if you have figured out why the look in shame dungeon, epecially for the unbound was nerfed so badly following the global loot changes is publish 86.3. Used to give the best loot.
Kyronix - What do you consider *best*?
Running Bear: Legendary drops
Kyronix - So you're saying you don't get any legendary drops now?
Running Bear: I get one every 6 hours as opposed to 4-5 an hour b4, loot is less then a balron now.
Kyronix - Are we talking about specific items, like weapons? Jewelry? Armor?
Running Bear: yes the random loot drop, all of it.
Bleak - more jewelry?
Running Bear: it's like a air elemental now in terms of loot table.
Kyronix - We can take another look at it, but you also have to understand that one area isn't going to deliver the best loot forever.
Running Bear: Did you intent to change it? Or did the change in 86.3 cause it unintended.
Kyronix - The game is constantly evolving, and we adjust the loot accordingly to entice exploration of new content, we did not deliberatly change anything. What you can do though, is send us all your template info including stats, skills, luck, what suit you've got on
Running Bear: then I asking you to look at shame because it changed, same toons before and now, just want you to check to see if it working as you intend is all cus I think it's broken.
Kyronix - in order to try to reproduce it we need an accurate test case of what you're experiencing, which includes all your stats, luck, skills etc. Like I said we need to be able to replicate your situation to determine whether that is the case or not.
Running Bear: on the boards it not just me noone hunts there anymore
Kyronix - Send us that information and we can begin to look at it.
Running Bear: ok ty
Mesanna - Greetings Bishop
Bishop: hiya
Kyronix - Hello!
Bishop: I have many jewelry pcs that are prized or completely clean, but cannot be powdered of fortification. Is there a fix your working on for this issue?
Mesanna - Never could be
Bishop: never what could be
Mesanna - at this time we are not planning on changing that. Jewelry.
Bishop: whats the value of having it clean then? if it can't be powdered? Its just like imbued.
Mesanna - no neg properties
Kyronix - The budgets are way above what you can get with imbuing
Bishop: so is armor and everything else but you can powder them
Mesanna - there is a big difference. most jewelry start with 255 dur, armor doesn't. That chest is 43 dur.
Bishop: you should tell you gms and others they said it was bugged
Mesanna - what GM said that, and I will make sure they have the correct info
Bishop: i didnt write the name sorry, and the helper you can page no info
Mesanna - Advisors?
Bishop: said that jewelry was different..yes advisor also
Mesanna - I will take care of the advisors and make sure they know the difference
Bishop: so it the way you want it to be now? That's troubling.
Omegaman: Hi
Mesanna - Greetings...no more in line guys. How can we help you Omegaman
Omegaman: My antique jewelry loses durability when be affected by bard mastery songs even when I'm not taking damage the items will go all the way to 0/255 but will not lose durability after reaching 0 IE 0/254. Is this durability lose supposed to happen from bard songs?
Bleak - Yes
Omegaman: oh and can you use powder of fort on antique jewels or are they different too?
Bleak - You cannot powder jewelry period
Omegaman: so antique is like seriously bad. Do you have that information somewhere on a website?
Bleak - You get higher intensity items, it's a trade-off.
Kyronix - There is a page you can check
Omegaman: Im sorry I was told jewelry was no different than anything else so it's just a new is all.
Kyronix - It's on UO.com in the Wiki search for "Random Loot Generator" At the bottom of the page there is an explanation of how it works. Random Loot Generator – Ultima Online
Omegaman: But antique armor is different, and weaps. Jewelry has no powder, that's a discription for antique in your guides. 3 powders. Is there a place that so monster loot tables?
Kyronix - No, that information isn't available
Omegaman: anyhow why does my antique jewelry lose durability to a bard song? Is that intended? A trade off?
Mesanna - yes as intended. it's good to not have a song running when it's not needed. Anything else?
Omegaman: why antique and nothing else what's the special reason?
Mesanna - I thought Bleak answered that question, you get higher intensity items.
Erasmus: Hello
Mesanna - Hi Erasmus
Erasmus: one small question, when will gargoyles be given the opportunity to achieve the 5% mining bonus?
Mesanna - because you need the gloves?
Erasmus: indeed, gloves cannot be altared.
Mesanna - we will look at the conversion for gargoyles
Erasmus: thank you
Mesanna - welcome...and hi Whisper
Whisper: Hail again, my question has to do with Shadowguard. With some people i have ran with they have been down there 10-15 times and only got 1 arty. is the drop rate just that low?
Kyronix - Part of it is random, part of it is based on your luck
Whisper: i understand that but even with 2480 luck no including statue
Kyronix - On the other hand I've seen reports of people getting many in a row, so like I said, part of it is random, part is related to the luck stat.
Whisper: that is true I know it's random
Kyronix - All depends on how your rolls play out
Whisper: Okay thank you
Brian DeSpell: Greetings, and well met, gentle dev folks. :eek:
Mesanna - hi Brian
Brian DeSpell: I have two easy questions, if I man. I know Eodon is the new hotness, but I have a question about Ter Mur. There still is one large inaccessible area generally called "void island" which is blocked by a temporary wall at 472x3724. Any plans to make that area accessible, to finish out Ter Mur? Second, there was a patch last year or so which made *all* static containers locked. This included Luna bank's chests, the malas hidden pouches/bones, the barrels in Shame, etc. And the mage "unlock" spell does not work on these, either. Lockpicking a bones pile or a barrel just doesn't make a ton of sense, and the Luna chests were useful. Is there any chance that the change can be re-examined?
Mesanna - We will look at the chests. As for Ter Mur I do not have an answer for you right now.
Brian DeSpell: ok, fair enough...just didn't want it to be forgotten lol. Thank you for your time tonight :)
Mesanna - We have not forgotten
Hong Kong Phooey: Hi, will we ever be able to alter garg jewels to say, human jewels? Not ones that are altered from human to garg. but ones that drop as garg.
Mesanna - I highly doubt it
Hong Kong Phooey: because I am understand not reversing an alteration. But it is a little silly...you can alter a small ring into a larger ring, but not a large ring into a small ring.
Mesanna - you can not alter jewelry at all at this time
Hong Kong Phooey: yes you can. can be changed to gargoyle. Human Jewelry can be changed to gargoyle. Please, attempt it. Craft ring or brac (human) alter to gargoyle.
Mesanna - ok we will talk about it
Hong Kong Phooey: Thank you...also people here say Im hack, cheater. I am attempt to be very much honorable and very prominent, can you scan me to show that I am not hacker but am very honorable?
Mesanna - You don't want to do this now...trust me
Hong Kong Phooey: O well okay
Mesanna - smart choice :)
Hydro Guardian: Quick question, spellweaving doesn't require sc right, why does casting reaper throw shield that isn't but other spells don't
Mesanna - sc?
Hydro Guardian: spell channeling
Mesanna - ok that's a bug that is written up
Hydro Guardian: ok that's all thx, have a gnight
Mesanna - have a good evening...Good Night Origin
Kyronix - Good Night Everyone!
Bleak - Good Night
EM Aumakua - Thank you for coming Mesanna and Developers, have a great night everyone! :)
 

Victim of Siege

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Melody: and two, are you aware that in plant beds the plants never have the rare black or white adaption.
Mesanna - In garden beds?
Melody: From if you like you plant locked down.
Mesanna - I did not know that
Melody: Yes you get rare black or white sometimes but not in the beds.
Mesanna - Interesting, I will have to check that out.
Melody: I have been planting plants a long time and never black or white in beds.
Kyronix - I'd have to check to be 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure that is working as intended.
Melody: why make it not able to do in plant beds, that is the whole point of having them, we pay for them.
Kyronix - Understand this was done awhile ago, but likely because they don't require any upkeep. We'll discuss it and have a look to be certain.
Melody: hmm well can that be changed? I hope so, would be awesome, ty so much, have a great night.



this part right here is working right. if you let the plants auto-pollinate in the beds, they will not give you a chance to get white or black mutations. you have to manually pollinate the plants in the bed to get that. I have gotten multiple Black/White mutations by manual pollination. It would be nice to get the mutation without manual pollination (is it me, or does that just sound wrong)

Oh, and thank you for posting this @Larisa
 

kelmo

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I will confirm what Vic says about the pollination thing. I got a few mutant plants just by randomly crossing plants. But never when I am just growing for resources and let them self pollinate.
 

Captn Norrington

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lol I wonder what would have happened if the guy was scanned.

That part was kinda weird
I got the impression that she actually did scan him and found some illegal programs, so her saying you don't want to do this now was pretty much telling him to go away or she would have to say he was using illegal programs which would be on the record forever.
 

virem11

Adventurer
"I ask you to stop making the pretty hued crap and let the game produce it's own items and perhaps some reds will feel like they should go back to fel instead of chasing 500m items. The items may be one of a kind but the only reason people hunt them is they no longer have to find a living in game. Use the older methods like the double clicky statues."
"Mesanna - That's not happening"


why?
 

MalagAste

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"I ask you to stop making the pretty hued crap and let the game produce it's own items and perhaps some reds will feel like they should go back to fel instead of chasing 500m items. The items may be one of a kind but the only reason people hunt them is they no longer have to find a living in game. Use the older methods like the double clicky statues."
"Mesanna - That's not happening"


why?
She is 100% against clickies. I can tell you that right now. I think the rares collectors have paid her off. Honestly I don't see any other reason why she's so against something that is far more fair than the current system... well all know that when there is an "everyone" drop as in they say that they asked for a mob to drop 100 to 200 of an item that no where NEAR everyone gets a drop... more often than not "everyone" still means 20 or at the most 25.... dozens still get NOTHING.

So what if people send alts there to get another item? Who the hell does that hurt? ..... Doesn't hurt anyone and if they want to take up a dozen lockdowns on stuff that isn't worth much because it was a clicky then so what? How much is a broadsword plaque worth? Diddly squat... so who cares if folk get more than one?

Well the Rares crowd does and it's obvious that Mesanna coddles them...
 

Spock's Beard

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She is 100% against clickies. I can tell you that right now. I think the rares collectors have paid her off. Honestly I don't see any other reason why she's so against something that is far more fair than the current system... well all know that when there is an "everyone" drop as in they say that they asked for a mob to drop 100 to 200 of an item that no where NEAR everyone gets a drop... more often than not "everyone" still means 20 or at the most 25.... dozens still get NOTHING.

So what if people send alts there to get another item? Who the hell does that hurt? ..... Doesn't hurt anyone and if they want to take up a dozen lockdowns on stuff that isn't worth much because it was a clicky then so what? How much is a broadsword plaque worth? Diddly squat... so who cares if folk get more than one?

Well the Rares crowd does and it's obvious that Mesanna coddles them...
As someone who doesn't collect rares, doesn't multi-box, doesn't go to every event, and doesn't even run a particularly optimized template, I'd just like to say that I've made tons of money over the years selling event drops to what I can only assume are rares collectors. I've seen friends of mine make tons of money.

I've seen those friends take that money (which was previously just gathering dust in some super-rich weirdo's pocket) and spend it on houses, and new gear, and power scrolls, and everything else that makes the economy go around. Rare event drops are an extraordinarily good way to free up hoarded gold and give regular people a shot at making enough money to actually matter.

I know you wish the EM program was just an excuse for you and the three other roleplayers who still exist to be stars of your own little show, and not something that us hordes of gold-hungry untermenschen paid any attention to, but maybe get a little perspective. The economic activity spurred by the EM program outweighs a thousand times over your desire for a little box of worthless participation trophies to add to your pile of hoarded crap.
 

Captn Norrington

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perhaps mesanna is secretly a rares collector. :devil:
I have no doubts about this actually, if I were the one in charge of the entire EM program (assuming I still had a normal account too) I'd be extremely tempted to start getting into rares collecting stuff simply because after seeing cool new items every week I'd want some lol.
 

Uriah Heep

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Running Bear: it's like a air elemental now in terms of loot table.
Kyronix - We can take another look at it, but you also have to understand that one area isn't going to deliver the best loot forever.
Running Bear: Did you intent to change it? Or did the change in 86.3 cause it unintended.
Kyronix - The game is constantly evolving, and we adjust the loot accordingly to entice exploration of new content, we did not deliberatly change anything.
I am a simple man, but this doublespeak sounds like a presidential press conference... We adjust loot to entice exploration of new content, immediately followed with we did not deliberately change anything. Huh?
 

Tomarke

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I can confirm too. You get black and white seeds from the raised garden beds, but you have to manually cross pollinate.
+1, I get black and white seeds every planting cycle. I grow only in beds and cross pollinate all the plants even if they are just for resources (just for the chance to get mutations).
 

TimberWolf

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I have no doubts about this actually, if I were the one in charge of the entire EM program (assuming I still had a normal account too) I'd be extremely tempted to start getting into rares collecting stuff simply because after seeing cool new items every week I'd want some lol.
And that is exactly what happened to the program over the last few years....EM's got tired watching ***** and dickets become billionaires over night. So they started attending events on other shards. Helping each other with info,and transportation of drops....etc etc etc A few months later some were removed, others resigned after rules tightened up, it is hard to put up with that much BS when all you get is 3 hrs or near minimum wage pay.
As the Capt says....Who wouldnt want a little something.....
 

Riyana

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I need to go buy some enchanted apples!

I agree with the player asking for a reduction in the pet spirit cooldown timer. That is really frustrating when you can't find a tamer to rez your pet.
 

WootSauce

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Regarding Mesanna "named" items, I have a bad taste in my mouth for these as well (for no real good reason, other than there seem to be a lot being sold and traded). However, I ran back through the last 6 seasons of items and compiled the following info from Manti's list. To be clear, we just started season 14 on 1/1/16, and when I refer to "items" in this exercise, I am talking about uniquely named drops (not total quantity of drops or relative rarity).

Many of these are from Mesanna shard specific events from years past and as you can see they have gone down over time. In the bigger picture, this should put the number of "Mesanna" named items into perspective, and its not too overwhelming in my opinion. I am guessing it's more about collectors trying to grab up the older, rarer Mesanna items to have a bit of a niche collection, rather than a total glut of Mesanna named items flowing into the game.

season 13 (2015) - 301 items, 2 Mesanna named
season 12 (2014) - 319 items, 6 Mesanna named
season 11 -(2013) - 308 items, 5 Mesanna named
season 10 - (2012) - 448 items, 22 Mesanna named
season 09 - (2011) - 430 items, 25 Mesanna named
season 08 - (2010) - 1016 items, 29 Mesanna named
 

CovenantX

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Hrmm, well I'm not going to lie, I'm very disappointed that "Clean" or "Prized" jewelry will not become Powder-able... even antique for the 3x powder applications. It's very inconsistent with the rest of the game (thus warrants the need for a change IMO), things like this shouldn't even happen. Powder-able, Repairable, Alterable, & Enhance-able all of these things should be universal across the board. inconsistencies adds unnecessary complexity.

Also, the only changes to Enchanted Apples that should happen is to set the success chance of the apple to 100%, so the apple goes off the first time you use it...Also, bugs that were posted who knows how long ago that are still currently active *sighs* some of these bugs really need to be addressed much faster.

Skill-based pvp is what set UO aside from other games (pvp-wise) UO has been straying away from this for quite sometime, with things like Casting Focus, Poison Immunity, Enchanted apples failing, & *Spell consumption. These are some things that flaw pvp that cause it to become more "Item-Based" which is a bad thing for UO.

*currently only one item has this property at 1% (do not make Spell-consumption commonly available on items please).

Please note when I use the term "Skill-based" I mean something the player can control or avoid with good timing and good decisions.

Bring it back... just do it.
\/
 

WootSauce

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The whole - "it's working as intended" on the jewelry issue absolutely rubs me the wrong way. When you make a suit, ring and brace are an integral part, and what they are basically saying is "yep, those items will wear at a much higher rate and will need to be replaced sooner than all of your other gear".

Just like all "Legendary" armor and weapon drops are always, 100% "Brittle" and 255 durability, all "Legendary" jewel drops are always 100% Antique. (with the exception of "clean" legendary drops - which in several years of way too much playing, I have seen maybe 3 or 4 personally). At the least, make them drop as brittle as opposed to antique so that the wear is comparable.

These things said - after reading the transcript - I am not even sure that the dev team even knows that all "Legendary" armor and weapon drops are always, 100% "Brittle" and 255 durability, all "Legendary" jewel drops are always 100% Antique.
 

Lady Storm

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I got a kick out of the *Pollination Room* lable.

Yes you can get black an white seeds off the bed plants but ONLY if you hand pollinate.

I wish those who were rude and mean in their meeting with the Dev would see what the rest of us saw.... pure vile antagonistic prattle...
To claim your for all the games good is highly suspect... and acting like that brat who throws a tantrum till you get what you want.. well it don't fly.
In my opinion your after your cake being free and to eat it for free as well. Well JR...not on my dime... and I pay a good deal to keep this game open as do all the rest of the players of UO.
This has been addressed so many times an the answer is still the same.
F2P is not in the cards.
Demeaning, arguing, and screaming at Mesanna is not going to change the way things are.
EA is the last word on this. Period.

As the Dev pointed out there is only 5 of them... to create a new shard of any kind using the old code stripped down cant be done.. that was lost along time ago.. its the reason we cant have a classic shard.
The closest they can get is the same template as was used for Origin and Lake A.
You by pointing out the *free* as a shining example of how it can be done have a lot of delusions of how its done on the real thing.

I don't need to dare you to try for real as Mesanna invited any who thought you could code and engineer this to drop on by Broadsword's office for a job. So far only 1 bit the bait and did come in only to quit as it was not that easy as she thought 3 weeks later.
If you got the guts to put your skill where your mouth is I double dog dare you to follow suit and go try.
 

WootSauce

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Lady Storm, I will agree to almost all of your points, but am going to go out on a limb here and say that if the CC users could utilize more of their monitor for an in game experience, there would be an overwhelming flood of praise for the team. This can be done with more than one 3rd party program, so to say that is is not a possibility is a bit insulting. It offers no advantage, it simply brings UO from 1997 to 2004, a full decade away from where it should be.
 

Lady Storm

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WootSauce I do understand your point and I too would like the use of my big screen for the UO play but I can understand their hesitance in its use. EA still owns UO. The no reply is older then Mesanna's tenure as Lead Producer.. so I have come to the conclusion its not Broadswords unwillingness but rather something not permitted under something EA might have in agreement....
It might be a legal issue.
 

WootSauce

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After re-reading the transcript, I am really thinking that there is no reason for the devs to continue doing meet and greets. Questions are generally met with dismissal, and suggestions are summarily tossed out. It is nice to interact with them, but maybe in the future, they can come to the populous with their agenda and topics, and let US inquire on those - as opposed to some kind of supposed open forum. They are clearly not open for serious discussion on topics that they are not willing to embrace.
 

WootSauce

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WootSauce I do understand your point and I too would like the use of my big screen for the UO play but I can understand their hesitance in its use. EA still owns UO. The no reply is older then Mesanna's tenure as Lead Producer.. so I have come to the conclusion its not Broadswords unwillingness but rather something not permitted under something EA might have in agreement....
It might be a legal issue.
If there was any hint or thought of a "legal issue", EA would have owned and destroyed all of the 3rd party sites years ago. In fact, the simple fact that they have taken no action against them has actually strengthened the case of the 3rd party seller and macroing sites in the sense that there has been "no contest" from the IP holder for so many years.
 
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Lady Storm

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You would be surprised the ideas and help the meet and greets do for the game
As one who has been to many, I have seen quite a few good ideas the dev took to heart.
I am sorry that you think EA gives a rats behind for UO... I can tell you the only thing they care for is the $ the game drops in their piggy bank.
hmmmm as for the legal issue of 3rd party programs.. its one thing for a player to use freely but a large company to take it and incorporate the program in total is quite another.. A player using a 3rd party program is taking the risk on not EA... but for EA to do so is a whole other ball game.
the legal implacations abound along with the $ they can claim for its piracy.
 

MalagAste

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If there was any hint or thought of a "legal issue", EA would have owned and destroyed all of the 3rd party sites years ago. In fact, the simple fact that they have taken no action against them has actually strengthened the case of the 3rd party seller and macroing sites in the sense that there has been "no contest" from the IP holder for so many years.
EA is clueless... seriously. They probably wouldn't even register UO on their radar... I'll say that when I wrote a heartfelt letter to the CEOs about concerns with the Account MisManagement and how many posts talk about "Help! I can't get my account back!".... etc... and how many people wanted to give them money but couldn't and how many people who play UO are incredibly frustrated with Origin and how it isn't being managed well and how many folk in other Countries can't even buy some of the expansions etc... They wanted me to send them names, dates, etc....

I sent them 100's of links to Stratics posts from the 6 months prior to writing them(this was when the "new" account management system was young) but again he wanted names, phone numbers, not posts..... he didn't care to read the 100's upon 100's of cries for help and desperate pleas to get back in game.... or to be able to purchase expansions....

Wasn't long after that letter that Broadsword took over UO. Now whether I was influential in that or not I don't know... but my guess is they wrote us off to Broadsword so they could point the finger elsewhere and continue to ignore UO their redheadded step child.

Now we all have heard the DEVs tell us that the move to go to Steam is squarely in the hands of EA right now..... we have gotten approved (My guess is that corporate EA NEVER thought that would happen in a billion years)... now EA has to draw up a contract or whatever with Steam and get it going...

However they haven't done crap.... they also haven't improved the Origin store either... Now I've heard that Mesanna and company are working to get us an IN-Game store.... now if you ask me that would be awesome. Sony has one for their stuff and you can buy Sony cards and use them etc.....I'd like to see UO have such wonderful things. Anyway I'm hoping that is our announcement that or that Steam is a go... and approved, but I'm NOT holding my breath.

As for them not taking action against third party sites and free shards etc... Not many game companies do. I hear there is a Final Fantasy Emulator... etc... even WoW.... but I wouldn't really know since I don't play those games or care.

I highly doubt 16-18 years later they are going to finally start doing something about the issue. I think it would be great if they did start doing some of the things that Free Shards do... there are many wonderful idea's out there. But honestly the DEVs do a pretty good job of many things. I'm still pleasantly surprised that after ages we got a real expansion.... granted it's not Styngian Abyss level of expansion but it's a start.

I'd like to see some of the other DEVs do events like Mesanna does. Kyronix used to be an EM I'm sure he'd be great at them... Bleak might be good too... but I don't know if they want to put that much pressure on themselves. It's one thing to run an EM event on ONE shard.... it's a whole other can of worms to do them on EVERYSHARD... especially knowing how greedy the players are.
 

Kirthag

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Now we all have heard the DEVs tell us that the move to go to Steam is squarely in the hands of EA right now..... we have gotten approved (My guess is that corporate EA NEVER thought that would happen in a billion years)... now EA has to draw up a contract or whatever with Steam and get it going...
The Steam integration has to do with account management.
Considering our account management is still branded "Mythic" - for legal reasons, as a potential vendor I wouldn't touch it either. I'm sure there are a whole bunch of tech issues involved as well - for the "Account Limbo" we have to do (if you don't use a CC subscription) is really convoluted.

Once the devs get the new account management system under their control, I'm pretty sure the Steam integration will move pretty fast - as will other wishes and wants expressed on these (and other) boards.
 
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MalagAste

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Hate to tell you this but Mesanna has said at least 2x in different Meet and Greets and such that they did all they could with getting Steam going between Broadsword and Steam and that it is now in EA's hands. She's been called out on delays and such many a time and in her defense it is EA that is holding it up not her. And while yes the system would be a hot mess as far as some of it goes far as I'm aware the steam interface would be different and we (existing players using the current system) would continue to use the same system we have now... From what I'm given to understand now you could ask @Mesanna about it but I am fairly sure I recall right what she said. Though I admit it was a LONG time ago that things were discussed in regards to Steam. I think we are all hoping it brings new players... but honestly .... NOT holding my breath. IMO UO is FAR too complicated and confusing for the average joe player who wants to dominate and "beat" a game in a short amount of time and move on to the next "new" thing.
 

Capt. Lucky

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EA (Origin) is a competitor of Steam. In some ways it's superior. Being able to return digital products and such. I'm sure part of EA stands for ego. I don't believe EA will ever do it. They will never admit they need Steam for anything. They'd rather see UO in a burning pile on the ground than give Steam the satisfaction of being able to say they are hosting EA games. I don't really know anything about Steam. I'm not a "gamer", I'm an MMO player ;) I'm sure it's cool and all. But EA and Steam take little shots at each other all the time. Each thinks their service is superior and honestly EA doesn't play well with others. I can see the eyes roll at an EA board meeting from any suggestion that concerns working with Steam. Buy Steam, ruin it, and eventually close it? That they would do, that's about it. Broadsword was naive to waste time on this project. Now Origin is doing the play all you want for $4.99 a month thing. They are ramping up to compete with Steam, not surrender games to them.
 
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Capt. Lucky

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And that is exactly what happened to the program over the last few years....EM's got tired watching ***** and dickets become billionaires over night. So they started attending events on other shards. Helping each other with info,and transportation of drops....etc etc etc A few months later some were removed, others resigned after rules tightened up, it is hard to put up with that much BS when all you get is 3 hrs or near minimum wage pay.
As the Capt says....Who wouldnt want a little something.....
Nobody loves a conspiracy theory better than me. But show me one ounce of proof. That is pretty insulting. Just because a lot of people might try something like that doesn't mean everyone is a scum bag. Although maybe that's why we're getting a new batch of EMs? Busted? It would be such an easy thing to check. Love to see some burning EM robes if that was the case ;)
 
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MalagAste

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EA (Origin) is a competitor of Steam. In some ways it's superior. Being able to return digital products and such. I'm sure part of EA stands for ego. I don't believe EA will ever do it. They will never admit they need Steam for anything. They'd rather see UO in a burning pile on the ground than give Steam the satisfaction of being able to say they are hosting EA games. I don't really know anything about Steam. I'm not a "gamer", I'm an MMO player ;) I'm sure it's cool and all. But EA and Steam take little shots at each other all the time. Each thinks their service is superior and honestly EA doesn't play well with others. I can see the eyes roll at an EA board meeting from any suggestion that concerns working with Steam. Buy Steam, ruin it, and eventually close it? That they would do, that's about it. Broadsword was naive to waste time on this project. Now Origin is doing the play all you want for $4.99 a month thing. They are ramping up to compete with Steam, not surrender games to them.
Pretty sure I have a bunch of the Sims games on Steam...
 

Capt. Lucky

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Pretty sure I have a bunch of the Sims games on Steam...
Yes I'm sure you probably do. But them working together in reality is unlikely. Last I heard EA was pulling their games off Steam. I read a lot about it on the web. Does anyone say web any more? But you would know better than I. A google search would indicate EA is dumping Steam over their own Origin.
 

TimberWolf

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Nobody loves a conspiracy theory better than me. But show me one ounce of proof. That is pretty insulting. Just because a lot of people might try something like that doesn't mean everyone is a scum bag. Although maybe that's why we're getting a new batch of EMs? Busted? It would be such an easy thing to check. Love to see some burning EM robes if that was the case ;)
You are about 8-9 months late to the dance dude.....I have no desire to rehash this again.....News broke here with lots of debate and speculation....the information was sent to Mes.....and now we have 6 vacant EM positions.
Draw what ever conclusions you want to......Or bury you head and believe none of it... matters notto me as long as changes are made....and history doesnt repeat.
 

Capt. Lucky

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You are about 8-9 months late to the dance dude.....I have no desire to rehash this again.....News broke here with lots of debate and speculation....the information was sent to Mes.....and now we have 6 vacant EM positions.
Draw what ever conclusions you want to......Or bury you head and believe none of it... matters notto me as long as changes are made....and history doesnt repeat.
The news that "broke" was conspiracy and unproven. But hey! Nonsense is common on these boards, why should I interfere? Instead of being thrilled about 6 new EMs, people sit here and trash the game with lies. Unproven lies. And we wonder what it is really hurting the game? Maybe it's a lack of community support? How about going to work and every positive thing you do just gets hammered on by the community? Man I know that would inspire me! *cough* So even if there was a problem (which I don't believe) it was handled? Wow, isn't that horrible?
 

Uriah Heep

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Not all of the vacancies are for bad reasons. Some of them had RL things to tend to. And besides, I imagine after a fairly short period of time most of em are burnt out from dealing with the ass hats they have to listen to. I suspect I would last about 2 events before getting fired for spawning 12 crimson dragons on top of all the mouthy brats...
 

TimberWolf

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Not all of the vacancies are for bad reasons. Some of them had RL things to tend to. And besides, I imagine after a fairly short period of time most of em are burnt out from dealing with the ass hats they have to listen to. I suspect I would last about 2 events before getting fired for spawning 12 crimson dragons on top of all the mouthy brats...
LOL that wouldnt get ya fired....
 

It Lives

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The one that irked me was the castle question, if castles could be placed in the surrounding lands around luna and umbra( can't handle the load).

I call B.S. on this one, there is virtually no houses left in these areas on a lot of shards also there are reward castles out there already so we know for a fact it can be done.

For #%$#$ sake think about how many accounts would be opened/ reopened if you allowed keeps and castles to these areas. It was a dumb call from the time aos was introduced not to allow it.

Especially now that keeps and castles have a decent degree of being customized.
 

TimberWolf

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The one that irked me was the castle question, if castles could be placed in the surrounding lands around luna and umbra( can't handle the load).

I call B.S. on this one, there is virtually no houses left in these areas on a lot of shards also there are reward castles out there already so we know for a fact it can be done.

For #%$#$ sake think about how many accounts would be opened/ reopened if you allowed keeps and castles to these areas. It was a dumb call from the time aos was introduced not to allow it.

Especially now that keeps and castles have a decent degree of being customized.
I am sorry if they allowed that now there would be no increase in returning players.....just more existing players would have castles or multiple castles on more accounts. There are still a lot of existing players that dont have castles on most shards...... on other shards ( origin for example) you can walk around and place castles on spots.....so how would that increase players returning?
 

It Lives

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I am sorry if they allowed that now there would be no increase in returning players.....just more existing players would have castles or multiple castles on more accounts. There are still a lot of existing players that dont have castles on most shards...... on other shards ( origin for example) you can walk around and place castles on spots.....so how would that increase players returning?
Well +1 account would be a start on my part, I would like another castle. You said it your self, a lot of existing players still don't have castles. It really does not matter if its returning players or existing ones/ more accounts mean more income. Like I said, now that castles and keeps have a higher degree of being customized it has generated more interest. Also this is UO, one is never enough ( you know its true) *smirks*
 

TimberWolf

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Well +1 account would be a start on my part, I would like another castle. You said it your self, a lot of existing players still don't have castles. It really does not matter if its returning players or existing ones/ more accounts mean more income. Like I said, now that castles and keeps have a higher degree of being customized it has generated more interest. Also this is UO, one is never enough ( you know its true) *smirks*
Ya unfortunately it makes a huge difference.....because an existing player will create an account,,,,,place a castle. deactivate account for 88 days....reactivate acount for 1 month...rinse and repeat. there is no benefit to the game....no increase in traffic, no new players....

$14.99 every 90 days isnt an incentive I am sorry. Hey dont get me wrong I agree many players would love to see more castles allowed....but it isnt gonna happen.

Reminds me of a funny story of someone who joined UO and really wanted a castle.....so they training up lumberjacking so they could harvest trees and clear land to place a castle.....they spent over a week trying to figure out why their plan wasnt working....

Imagine that if you and a few friends could go clear a spot in a forest...level the land and place a castle.....:)
 

It Lives

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There was no doubt that it will not happen, hence the *irked*

But there are people out there playing Ultima Online who actually pay for their subs/payed for their subs and would return or pay for another account for the opportunity to place a castle or keep. Not everyone has the time or patients/need to play housing roulette. From a business stand point any amount of income at this point in UO's history should be welcomed with open arms.
 
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