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Five on Friday Answers

Pawain

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They are on the UO Discord, but for those who dont use it:


Five on Friday - August 8th, 2025
Welcome to this week’s Five on Friday, where the Ultima Online development team answers select player-submitted questions from the community. Topics this week include: • Dispelling Food Buff Myths • Focused Mage Viability • New Legacy Seasons • Server Line Removal • Party Loot Myths


Food Buff Myth
Question Does eating food do anything? There is a persistent rumor that eating ordinary food affects various commonplace skill based checks in game. Can you confirm whether or not that's true, and if so, what sorts of activities does it affect?
Answer Parallax: This has been a long-standing UO urban legend! Eating food will restore stamina based on how full the food makes you, but other than that the only other thing food affects is your character's ability to eat more food! We've often talked about making your food level more relevant to character stats. Never know what might happen.


PvP Focused Mage Viability
Question Focused mages need to be look at reverting. Any chance this could be on the table for the PvP love? Focused mages are too squishy in PvP and the Spell Damage Increase cap doesn't offer enough incentive to drop parry. Back in the day (pre-2015), you could play a pure mage with a 30% SDI cap (40% with GM Inscription) and hit hard, but after Publish 71, they slashed it to 25% (35% total). Then, Publish 97 made Parry break focus status if it’s over 30.0. So, you’re stuck choosing between a 5% extra SDI (25% vs. 20%) or Parry’s 35% block chance. Without Parry, you’re a sitting duck in group fights, it’s the reason everyone’s running Parry mages or hybrid dexer-mage builds to survive.
Answer Kyronix: A PvP publish is on our radar for 2026—this is the type of feedback we love to hear when scoping out what to address in that publish. We look forward to continued discussion on PvP topics and a more focused conversation as we move into the later part of this year.


New Legacy Season Timing
Question New Legacy will be ending soon with the Shattering. When will it end and when will the new season start?
Answer: Parallax: Our next publish to New Legacy is slated for later this month. That will begin the event that will ultimately lead to the shattering. The process of transferring off will begin this fall, and the new season is slated for next year.

Server Line Removal
Question Are we going to delete server lines? They shouldn't exist in the game anymore.
Answer Bleak: This is baked into the fundamental architecture of the production shards and can't be changed.


Party Loot Myths
Question To party or not? Many people feel being in a party lowers their drop odds. As a bard who counts on buffing and healing this is bad. Can you dispel this myth?
Answer Parallax: Generally speaking, being in a party won't impact your drop rates on encounters that use the top-contributor drop mechanic, where damage taken, damage dealt, and damage healed are factored into the drop chance.
 

Deimos

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I always remember when I first played the game, everyone would stuff themselves silly with food before doing the old 8x8? skill gaining thing on a boat, because it boosted skill gains.
Always thought that was nonsense and so it was.
 

Larisa

Publishing Manager, Stratics Leadership
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Funny thing is, on a mage...if I fizzle CONSTANTLY, I always create food and I'm ALWAYS extremely hungry. Once I eat, I can cast no problem. EVERY TIME...

So for me? Not a myth! Every character I have....on my archer...if I keep wiffing, I eat...then I don't wiff...why? I don't know!
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
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Funny thing is, on a mage...if I fizzle CONSTANTLY, I always create food and I'm ALWAYS extremely hungry. Once I eat, I can cast no problem. EVERY TIME...

So for me? Not a myth! Every character I have....on my archer...if I keep wiffing, I eat...then I don't wiff...why? I don't know!
Placebo effect.

Don't substitute sugar pills for your heart meds and try it in RL.
 

old gypsy

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Funny thing is, on a mage...if I fizzle CONSTANTLY, I always create food and I'm ALWAYS extremely hungry. Once I eat, I can cast no problem. EVERY TIME...

So for me? Not a myth! Every character I have....on my archer...if I keep wiffing, I eat...then I don't wiff...why? I don't know!
When I started a new account over a year ago, I did all my skill-building the hard way. I believe eating helped, just as I believe it helped my characters years ago on my original account. I'm biased, of course, since my favorite (and main) character has always been my cook who, sadly, can't even give her products away these days. I don't think eating should be essential, but it should provide a little boost at times.
 

Larisa

Publishing Manager, Stratics Leadership
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Placebo effect.

Don't substitute sugar pills for your heart meds and try it in RL.
Nope, happened again last night. I tried sending someone a gate 6 times...fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle...6 times in a row!

Created food, fish steak...ate it....you are extremely hungry....made more food, ate it until I was full, cast gate the first try.

Happens ALL the time lol.
 

Keven2002

Babbling Loonie
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Nope, happened again last night. I tried sending someone a gate 6 times...fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle...6 times in a row!

Created food, fish steak...ate it....you are extremely hungry....made more food, ate it until I was full, cast gate the first try.

Happens ALL the time lol.
**shames you for fizzling a mere level 7 spell with all the +magery items available to get you 115+ to never fizzle** :gee:
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
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Nope, happened again last night. I tried sending someone a gate 6 times...fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle fizzle...6 times in a row!

Created food, fish steak...ate it....you are extremely hungry....made more food, ate it until I was full, cast gate the first try.

Happens ALL the time lol.
Did you prove that by casting 5 consecutive gates after that?
 

Pawain

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And they still believe in Nessy after the original photo taker said it was a model he made near the shore in the ripples.
 

James [W^H]

Slightly Crazed
Governor
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And they still believe in Nessy after the original photo taker said it was a model he made near the shore in the ripples.
Of course we still believe Nessy is real and still alive. All that proved was that the photo was faked. And just to clear things up while we’re at it, Big Foot is real also. I applaud everyone that still believes eating in game does help. :D
 
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