'Elder Scrolls' ideas to improve/change UO

[Sadrith Mora]

For any Elder Scrolls fans out there, one great idea i would use to improve UO would be to copy the way armor works. In UO armor doesn't make sense. No difference between leather, studded, chain, or plate. If a piece has the right mods and enough resists, then it's all good, right?

How can we make all of the armor in UO viable? It's not rocket science.

ARMOR DURABILITY: The 'key' to change. There MUST be a 'cap' on armor types to make the difference.

- Leather Armor: Should spawn or be crafted between a minimum of 5 durability up to a cap of 55. (Use powder of fortification to reach it's cap if necessary) The downside to using regular armor should be that it's the weakest of the armor types, and it should also lose it's durability quicker than the others.

- Studded Leather Armor: Cap at 75 durability since it is stronger than regular leather. It should also lose it's durability slower than regular leather due to the extra protection of the studs. (Mage armor now becomes more interesting)

- Chainmail Armor: Need someone with a skilled hammer to craft a quality piece. Chances of crafting 'mage armor' can only be found in those 'special' hammers. A rare mage armor piece may be crafted or found on loot. (if lucky, but rare) The max durability of chainmail should be capped around 150. Durability loss during battle should be a lower % than studded leather.

- Platemail Armor: The supreme armor type. The durability cap is 255. The minimum durability is 155 whether crafted or looted. Durability loss during battle is low. You can fight 'til the cows come home (so to speak)
* Platemail issues:
- Weight issues (obvious)
- No blacksmith can craft a 'mage armor' platemail piece with any type of hammer, whatever the skill. Can only be found on loot if extremely lucky.
- All platemail armor pieces should have high physical resists whether crafted or looted. The other resists depend on other factors.

General Armor Issues:

- The potential loss of durability while repairing remains in effect for all armor types.
- If any armor piece becomes 0 durability during battle, there is a 25% chance the piece will be destroyed on the spot.
- Any armor piece that becomes 0 durability will subtract it's resistances from your total resists making you more vulnerable during battle.

CONCLUSION:
What this does is add a logical way to make all armor types viable instead of having resists alone determine what armor piece is best. Durability is the key to that change. Having a cap on armor types not only makes sense, but can help make all armor types have value again in different ways.
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NECROMANCY:

The horrific practice of Necromancy should be banned from Trammel. If anyone wishes to practice this evil magic, they will be sent straight to Felucca if they exceed the warning.

- If your 'real skill' of Necromancy exceeds 50.0 while in Trammel, you will be teleported to Britain bank in Felucca. If the skill remains, you will not be able to return to Trammel on that character.

- If your 'real skill' of Necromancy exceeds 100.0 while in Felucca, you will be flagged 'red' due to your continued practice of this evil.

- New books about the practice of Necromancy will be added to the libraries of Trammel and Felucca for those interested in this dark magic.

CONCLUSION:
Good vs. Evil is what this game is about anyway. Characters that pursue this dark art should be sent to the appropriate place to practice it. (Felucca) Might also give more reason for people to play on the Felucca side as well...
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HISTORY BOOKS:

- The libraries need more books about the history of Ultima. So much could be written for new players to help them with what has happened, and what is currently going on. (Nothing better than in-game material to browse while playing)

- Add appropriate books to the libraries. The Elder Scrolls series does a fantastic job creating interesting lore for their games. It can be very engrossing and helpful for new players and vets as well.
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Make these changes and UO becomes a better and more interesting game.

Thoughts?

 

[AaronTheAssassin]

I oppose your idea for Necros are sent to fel, that punishment is too severe for a small problem, they lose karma and that makes travel in Ish a problem in some areas.

I believe we should go back to the days of old where leather provided the least amount of protection, but was medable, Studded provided slightly more but was half-med and any metal provided even more protection at the cost of dexterity. But a modification to this rule should be a resistance cap and dexterity loss. if anyone has ever felt how heavy chainmail is, then you would know that you would not be as dextrous as normal, and platemail...well, Good luck.

All in all, Make leather low durb, low resist, and medable, make metal high durb, high resist, and kill dex

 

[ProZac]

This would change little to nothing.

I like the "real" approach, but UO gave up on that a long time ago.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Uh.......no. Especially the Necro garbage. Tram & Fel aren't "Good vs Evil", they're non-PvP and PvP.

I'd like to know how you'd justify the no mage armor property to those of us that have literally spent hundreds of millions of gold to build the suits for all of our characters. A "tough luck you have to start all over again" approach would have people quitting in large numbers.

Sorry, for the most part your ideas bite. Logic has no part in a world that we can hold 600 stone worth of weight in a backpack, have pet dragons, and can conjure fireballs.

 

[GhostGL]

I'd never use my necro skill again.

"NECROMANCY:

The horrific practice of Necromancy should be banned from Trammel. If anyone wishes to practice this evil magic, they will be sent straight to Felucca if they exceed the warning.

- If your 'real skill' of Necromancy exceeds 50.0 while in Trammel, you will be teleported to Britain bank in Felucca. If the skill remains, you will not be able to return to Trammel on that character.

- If your 'real skill' of Necromancy exceeds 100.0 while in Felucca, you will be flagged 'red' due to your continued practice of this evil.

- New books about the practice of Necromancy will be added to the libraries of Trammel and Felucca for those interested in this dark magic.

CONCLUSION:
Good vs. Evil is what this game is about anyway. Characters that pursue this dark art should be sent to the appropriate place to practice it. (Felucca) Might also give more reason for people to play on the Felucca side as well...
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[Crysta]

Howsabout we let the devs come up with some ORIGINAL ideas rather than shoehorn in even MORE misplaced content from other games?

 

[Beer_Cayse]

Armor, sure ... but I'd adjust the caps just a bit. However Plate > Chain > Ring/Studded > Leather is definitely needing to be returned.

Necros to Fel .... booo! <hissssssssss> Boo! One can easily go over 50 in New Haven in training up. Also, barred from Trammel (and assuming the Tram ruleset) may prevent them getting to a house on that account that they live in. Bad idea, this one.

 

[Viquire]

Now this is just me, so feel free to flame away...

I always liked the dex loss system, it made sense, but even back in the day folks would wear a total hodgepodge of pieces to minimize this loss and cover it with a robe.

Ive always thought max resists should only be allowed on "fitted" suits of armor. Armor that matches in type and then maybe gets certified, checked out or sinched by an armorer in order to assure that there are no gaps in coverage.
*shrugs*

Of course, I also think we dont have a fair enough breakdown on damage by type between a slicing, piercing or concussive blow. Something like that could go a long ways towards making macers and platemail a lot of potent in the game.

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

It's too late for the armor thing.

They completely gave up on plate vs. leather mattering at all when AoS launched.

Heck, I have floppy hats that offer better protection than some plate helms I have.

Silliness.

As for the Necro thing...I like the idea from an RP stand point.

But it would pretty much be the end of Necros. So I really can't see the point.

 

[Duskofdead]

It's too late for the armor thing.

They completely gave up on plate vs. leather mattering at all when AoS launched.

Heck, I have floppy hats that offer better protection than some plate helms I have.

Silliness.

As for the Necro thing...I like the idea from an RP stand point.

But it would pretty much be the end of Necros. So I really can't see the point.

Agreed. AoS, no matter how we plot and scheme to try to improve UO, is the monkeywrench thrown into the machine. As long as the AoS changes exist, we can't deviate from UO being very much like EQ/WOW/D2 and every other big-title online RPG out there in terms of how the gear and gear matching works. It's all about the stats, modifiers and resists.

I wish they'd more seriously examine the concept of a classic shard. Failing that, I wish post-Stygian Abyss they'd basically restart the armor system from scratch by leaving everything as-is, except adding upgraded versions of the old armor. Let's say Gargoyle Leather, Gargoyle Chain and Gargoyle Plate, which are "on top" of all current gear, and re-establish the armor type balance.

Of course, neither possibility is likely to come to pass. Oh well.

 

[Nalif]

The necromancy idea is terrible, but I can see where you were going. Necromancy is a dark art, and likely illegal. Still, necromancers being banned to Fel just wouldn't work.

I couldn't agree more that an armor change is called for. However, I don't think changing the durability is the way to go - at most, it would just be an inconvenience, and wouldn't balance armor types out at all. I think if they were to change armor, they should just change the intensity of the stats. Leather armor is "squishy" and plate armor is not. Change it to where leather armor has something like 75% of the mods and resists on it. Plate should get the full 100% intensity, but have the drawback of not being medable, and not being able to stealth. Doing something like this would actually give a reason to wear plate over leather.

 

[Sadrith Mora]

Thanks for the replies...

I've played the heck out of both Morrowind & Oblivion, and during that time wished some of the game mechanics could be applied to UO somehow. They are 2 of the best RPG's ever created.

ARMOR:
While the armor ideas could be tweaked, the only real way to make all armor useful is to add a durability cap. From there, scale armor's durability loss during battle appropriately to make platemail more appealing and useful. Leather armor should be shredded much quicker in battle than say bone, chain, or especially platemail. Add the risk of having an armor piece potentially destroyed if it hit's 0 durability, and there you have new appeal for the different armor types. I think it can and should be done.

NECROMANCY:
The idea with necromancy would be hard for some to accept, i know. It would cause me to change a couple of my own characters. With the coming addition of 'Mysticism', the thinking is that there would be more play room for potential changes like this that could add new intrigue to the game.

What could be done is maybe add new perks for the necromancer who pursue 'real skill' above 100 to 120. A new powerful type of summons, or many other potential possibilities especially since you will be flagged 'red'.

Of course, there would still remain a work around in Trammel. You can have 50.0 real skill, then tack on jewelry, armor, books to boost your total skill above 100 anyway. So with that a remaining possibility, it's not all that devastating if you want to stay in trammel. But, any new perks for the necromancer should require real skill to make its pursuit worthwhile.

Finally, for RP purposes, anyone who does have the necromancy skill may receive occasional negative comments from NPC's for pursuing this evil magic.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Nalif]

Thanks for the replies...

I've played the heck out of both Morrowind & Oblivion, and during that time wished some of the game mechanics could be applied to UO somehow. They are 2 of the best RPG's ever created.

I agree they're both good games. You have to keep in mind that Morrowind and Oblivion can do things UO will never be able to do, however. It's a single player game. In UO, if you were to make a change to a skill set that banned all necromancers from Trammel, it just wouldn't fly. You can't make a huge blanket change that blocks out a huge chunk of the world from a player just because he likes necromancy.

ARMOR:
While the armor ideas could be tweaked, the only real way to make all armor useful is to add a durability cap.

It wouldn't change anything. It would jack the price of Powder of Fortification up, and become a nuisance to everyone, and that's it. People would just pay more attention to their durability ( annoying ), and waste their time repairing their stuff instead of playing the game. People are going to wear the armor with the best stats, and that's it. And right now, there's no reason not to wear leather, because it has the best stats. Instead of just making it inconvenient to wear the best stuff, give trade-offs between each type of armor. The closer to you get to plate, the more resists and stats are given. The further you get from plate, the less stats and resists are given, but you gain the ability to stealth and med.

NECROMANCY:
The idea with necromancy would be hard for some to accept, i know. It would cause me to change a couple of my own characters. With the coming addition of 'Mysticism', the thinking is that there would be more play room for potential changes like this that could add new intrigue to the game.

How would banning a significant portion of the player base from Trammel be intriguing? Again, your idea is more of an inconvenience to players. You're not adding gameplay, you're taking it away. It would be fun if necromancers were treated in a "negative" way. It would not be fun to limit how they're played.

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

ARMOR:
While the armor ideas could be tweaked, the only real way to make all armor useful is to add a durability cap. From there, scale armor's durability loss during battle appropriately to make platemail more appealing and useful. Leather armor should be shredded much quicker in battle than say bone, chain, or especially platemail. Add the risk of having an armor piece potentially destroyed if it hit's 0 durability, and there you have new appeal for the different armor types. I think it can and should be done.

That's pretty much how UO started out. And unless I am mistake, it pre-dated Morrowind and Oblivion by quite a few years.

What is really sad, is that UO really did have the right idea.

Plate - offered the best protection, was heavy so you took a dex hit, was dense and metal so your mana returned to you slower, had the best durability and was repairable by a smith.

Chain - offered the 2nd best proection, was not that heavy, so the dex hit is minimal, was metal so you mana returned to you slower, had good durability and was repairable by a smith

Studded Leather - offered pretty good protection, was still heavy so you took a slight dex hit, was dense and covered with metal studs, so your mana returned to you slower than with other armors besides plate and chain. Had good durability and was repairable by a tailor.

Leather - offered some protection, was not very heavy so the dex hit was barely there, was dense, so your mana returned back to you only slightly slower than if you were wearing nothing, and fair durability and was repairable by a tailor.

Bone - offered good protection...as much as plate (shouldn't have really), was not nearly as heavy so there was little dex hit, was not metal and was not that dense, so it didn't interfere with mana regeneration much, had good durability, but was not repairable at all.

And unlike many other games, the armor was not "class" based.

I always hated that in games. That is like saying...'Oh, Bob here is an accountant. He has to wear a suit. But he cannot wear this Janitors uniform.'

'Well, why not?'

'Because he is an Accountant.'

'...and...??'

'That's just the rules.'


I always thought that was silly.


On a side note...does anyone else remember when male characters in UO could wear female items?

There was a guy on Atlantic that hung around Trinsic and he actually RP'ed a drag queen!!



Does anyone remember his name? It was too funny.

 

[Maplestone]

That is like saying...'Oh, Bob here is an accountant. He has to wear a suit. But he cannot wear this Janitors uniform.'

um ... *looks over dress codes at work* ... I'm not sure that's such a good example

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

um ... *looks over dress codes at work* ... I'm not sure that's such a good example

Touche!

But I think you understood what I meant.

 

[Maplestone]

But I think you understood what I meant.

Oh, yes

 

[Stupid Miner]

I've never gotten a reasonable explanation from anyone in UO on why necromancy is actually evil. It's the same thing as magery really, except people call it evil because of how its represented in other media.

 

[Maplestone]

I've never gotten a reasonable explanation from anyone in UO on why necromancy is actually evil. It's the same thing as magery really, except people call it evil because of how its represented in other media.

Well, it causes a loss of karma, so right away that's bad mojo.

You are casting spells that are not just weapons like a fireball or lightning bolt, but cruel, tortuous attacks against body and spirit through massive pain, rotting the mind or enslavement of the spirits of the dead to do your bidding. These are all things that are, by their nature, are a path to the dark side.

Now that having been said, I still dream of building a chivalry-necromancy inquisitor who will never actually go into bad karma, but will do what needs to be done "for the greater good".

 

[Viquire]

I still dream of building a chivalry-necromancy inquisitor who will never actually go into bad karma, but will do what needs to be done "for the greater good".

Um, I think we elected him.

*ducks and covers*

 

[DPudding]

No matter where you are...when you hit 50 in Bushido....you're transported to Tokuno. Until Bushido drops below 50...you're stuck there.

No matter where you are...when you hit 50 chiv...you're transported to Luna. Until Chiv drops below 50...you're stuck there.

If you kill a character...you're transported to the Yew jail...where you'll live out your term in real time.

Need I go on with this nonsense?

 

[Zyon Rockler]

I don't think UO has really had the time to mature and have things put in that it needs for all of the systems to be understandable. I think that's why there are so many questions and why it looks like there are so many problems, when really the truth is, the game is just not finished.

I don't understand why it is that people think metal armour would take stamina. In my opinion the metal would protect you, giving you stamina. It is strength that the heavy metal would diminish and a very strong man would not have alot of trouble as far as stamina and furthermore, durability, I don't believe durability would be more with metal because a man wearing leather would be able to dodge and roll, pop up behind a man in plate and *bonk* him in the head from behind.

When your inside this metal armour and you get hit your strengh comes into play. Imagine a sword crashing into your arm, that weighs about 45 pounds at a swing of 25 mph. Your going to flex your huge muscles and absorb the blow using strength. Loss and stamina would come directly from having to swing the sword over and over, but again would more so be strength.

So, to me, simply, platemail should actually give dexterity or stamina bonus in the exact same way leather gives mana. It allows it to flow. True stamina loss is what happens when the sword pierces leather armour and opens the skin. The feeling of a blade inside your chest immediately drains your stamina. So, skills like dodge and jump would go hand in hand with leather armour as would block and beserk go with metal.

It seems to make sense to give metal the stamina regain that leather has to intelligence and kind of meet the 2 in the middle with your more heavier leather and your lighter metal. A dexer that uses a sword should find metal armour very valuable, if he has the strength to use it.

Mages should actually have some type of robe and clothing that is equal to the resistances. For example: if a mage wears a pair of boots, shirt, pants that contain magical properties.

Stealthers, Thieves, Wrestlers would be your leather types. Acrobatics, stuff like that. As far as Necros, they're not so bad.

 

[Sadrith Mora]

As far as Necromancy is concerned, Maplestone hit the nail on the head. Some should understand that Necromancy is no laughing matter. It is an ancient reality in real life. All you need to do is google it to learn about it's history.

Game features are a different story though. Game modifications to necromancy are far-fetched mechanics, and probably should be since it's for gaming/entertainment purposes only. That said, UO, unlike the Elder Scrolls series, is quite different mechanically. UO's version makes it seem like there is nothing wrong with it, and should be a status quo type of skill for anyone who wishes to indulge in it.

Bzzt! UO should make a change mechanically recognizing the bizarre spirituality it brings to the table. Then, condemning those who wish to practice it! yes, send them to felucca to reveal their true colors! (red)

Take care.

 

[Emil Ispep]

No matter where you are...when you hit 50 in Bushido....you're transported to Tokuno. Until Bushido drops below 50...you're stuck there.

No matter where you are...when you hit 50 chiv...you're transported to Luna. Until Chiv drops below 50...you're stuck there.

If you kill a character...you're transported to the Yew jail...where you'll live out your term in real time.

Need I go on with this nonsense?

Haha.. i like where your going with this.

Once you get 50 Camping, you get kicked out of town, and have to live in the wilderness.

50 Lumberjacking sends you to Heartwood.. since its a giant tree and all..

50 Wrestling sends you to the dueling pit for Saturday nights main event..

Instead of getting booted to Fel for having Necro, why not just do somthing with NPC behavior? Cant buy/sell to NPC vendors.. maybe they shout insults at you or somthing.. or run in fear..

Same with poisoning maybe?

 

[Warrior of Time]

May I suggest that you forget the NPC behavior alone. I don't think the reds would like going back in time in UO when they could not go into a city or react with NPC's. That would make it hard for one to bank again. That is a whole new can of worms that needed to be tempered with balance for factions.

Messing with the skills we have also would add trouble. UO don't need that kind of trouble.

What we do have is a clean slate. UO/SA gives the dev a chance to return to the way armor worked before AoS. The gargoyle is basically PVP in nature. It has armor that can only be worn by them. Imbuing changes how long the very best armor and weapons can last. The GM smiths again become the best way to go if you want the best armor, and weapons.

The tailored armor would not be able to get imbuing would also make leather impractical for anyone except a mage.

With UO/SA on the horizon I think we need to wait till we see it before much should be said how things was done in the past.

Taking the idea about archers not being a skill that a gargoyle can do. I hope it doesn't leave the bow maker out in the cold again. They finally get help with the new woods and pull the rug out from under will not help matters for one of the most forgotten skills in UO. Most boomerangs are wood.

UO/SA can go a long way to bring the good part of UO past to the future of the game.

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

I've never gotten a reasonable explanation from anyone in UO on why necromancy is actually evil.

Necrophobia.