The ridiculous thing is that uo curse (legal) does the exact same thing that uowedding (NOW illegal) does. Sends TEXT into the game screen.
I have used UO Wedding to conduct ingame auctions and player run events for the past few years in the belief that it was legit and ok to use.
This belief was gained from stratics hosting the download, the comments by Wilki et al, and the info on uowedding page on stratics that states:
"UOWedding is not UOPro, but it’s been authorized and used for two years by all Counselors of Ultima Online. The program does not interfer with the data stream in any way and does not retrieve any kind of information from the Ultima Online client."
and the belief that anything that did not interact with the client was legitimate to use, as per ea's own website that states:
...any other program that runs independently of UO,
and has no effect on the UO data stream or software are generally ok to use.
Now due to what I see here I am told that all the above information is now deemed 'incorrect' even though it all still stands (as written above) on each site as it has for the past 5 years that I have been playing.
I have never knowingly used cheat programs, illegal scripts, duped, or done anything that in my belief was illegal in UO. So I find it pretty repugnant that having looked at all the info prior to using uowedding and determining that from all the information available, backed up by the comments from Wilki etc that the program was ok to use, to have that 'view' just flipped as it is easier to say 'illegal' than to actually have an understanding of what players actually 'use' things like uowedding for is pretty disappointing on behalf of Jeremy as the EA rep.
I held another auction yesterday, so instead of using uo wedding I used uo curse instead (which are both written by the same person Xena dragon) The only difference is that in uo curse I had to pre-prepare the whole auction line by line pasting it into the program over 9 pages with 24 lines of 'speak' per page, instead of just being able to open my pre prepared notepad doc containing the identical text, with the script browser in uowedding to pull the notepad straight into the program spaced line by line without me having to do it all manually.
To the attendees at the auction, they could not tell any difference in how the auction was run as what appeared on screen was 'identical' in timing and view to every other auction run over the past couple of years.
The only difference was to 'me' in it took me 5 times longer to get it 'set up', 'edited' and good to go and while running the auction I had to manually 'click' down the list of 24 'speaks' and manually change the 'page' to the next 24 lines (9 times in total) instead of it all being in one long list in uowedding which automatically moves to the next entry in the list once a line is 'spoken' by pressing the 'speak' button meaning I had to concentrate a lot more on the program to ensure I was saying the 'correct' line as I conducted the auction.
So my questions to Jeremy are:
Would a gm or anyone be able to tell the 'difference' in which of the two programs I am using? Seeing they both do exactly the same thing? I seriously doubt it as both are basically 'cutting and pasting' 'text' into the client, which I can also do manually with ctr c and ctr v.
Now that you have taken the 'easy' way out in your reply, instead of a 'considered' reply as Wilki and other reps have done in the past, what action are you now taking to stop honest players like myself from forming the SAME view I did given the available information to the player base contained on this site (stratics) and the ea site as to the legality of this and other tools and downloads as listed on stratics that have been there for at least 5 years?
Why, when for at least the past 5 yrs, has there never been an attempt by any EArep or DEV to have these 'illegal' programs removed from the stratics site, given that 99% of all official ea reps communication to the player base of UO is done via the site forums containing these now 'illegal' programs?
How is any player who does NOT frequent these boards to know that these programs are illegal? For the first year I played UO the only site I used was 'stratics' for information as 99% of players referred me to that site as the 'official' place to get information. (after the basic new player stuff on uo.com there is NO further information on the game and stratics was the 'place' to go for it). I NEVER used the ea site for anything to do with UO until I had been playing for over a year and had NEVER been referred there to get information by ANY player at all in game. I know that at least 50% of the player base or more do NOT use the forums regularly, or at all, they log in, use stratics as their 'uo bible' for information, and just play. Who knows how many players are now using these 'illegal' programs in their day to day game play unknowingly 'cheating' as to anyone who is just out to have a good gaming experience it would be 'fair' to make the assumption that if it is on stratics it is ok (especially given that the info given to players by ea is so pathetic on any 'official' level so stratics has become the 'norm' to use). So what effort are you personally or ea going to make to change this situation so that other unfortunate players do not put their accounts in danger of being actioned due to the inconsistent information supplied by the 'quasi' non official/official sites?
Now that this has been bought to your attention, would it be safe to assume that we shall see a 'formal' and and 'official' statement by EA/UO Devs on the patch screen which is the ONLY way to guarantee that all players have the 'access' without relying on them using any other 'site', for information on UO to expect to see a list of these programs advertised and promoted by stratics, for at least the last 5 yrs ,advising them of their illegality. If not would it be safe to assume that if the current information is still not addressed by the end of February that there will be no action against those people who unwittingly use said programs until such time as there is a formal and official statement listing these programs in the ONE place that ensures all are aware of it?
Regards