lol@devs@hoc

[Lord Chaos]

[2010/06/04-02:01] <@Zephenia> <Anon155> Any chance of a future embroidery kit that would allow "embroidering" clothing items much like other engraving kits?
[2010/06/04-02:01] <@Mesanna> Thats a great idea I think we will steal it =P
[2010/06/04-02:01] <@Mesanna> *grins*
[2010/06/04-02:02] <@Supreem> But we will change it enough to call it our own!! muahaha

Now we'll probably end up with an embroidery kit that requires a quest to kill 50 rabbits and bow to every jeweler in Sorsaria. If their past record of changing things are to be believed.

hehehehe, but no, it was funny enough, its a good idea.

 

[Mapper]

<JCtheBuilder> Could something be done about upping the max resolution in the Classic Client? 800x600 makes everything look so tiny on today's large resolution monitors.
Supreem: The Classic Client uses a custom software rendering engine that is very complicated and only designed to run on specific resolutions. We decided a long time ago that it would not be feasible.
Supreem: If you want a bigger resolution, try switching to the Enhanced Client. Running the game at 1920x1200 on a 24" widescreen monitor is just beautiful.

Little disappointed by this, I guess it made sense though.

 

[Sergul'zan_SP]

No good news for factions.

No bad news on the prospect of a classic client. We will know more before the end of the year.

 

[Lord Chaos]

It makes little sense when a few lines of script code can enlarge the CC client, why on earth can't the dev team?

And basically they're avoiding all the hard questions.

 

[JC the Builder]

Full chat log

Zephenia - Welcome EVERYONE to the 122nd Ultima Online House of Commons chat on Stratics. The team will introduce themselves and we will begin! Remember, only send your questions to the 2 [QT]'s.

Mesanna - Hello everyone, I am Mesanna, Associate Producer
Mythic_Uriah - *waves* ... I bring the bagels
[QT]Faerunner waves her notepad
MythicMark - This is Mark (sometimes know as Shade) and I'm a designer on Ultima Online
Axel_Mythic - Hey all! I'm Billy, software engineer.
Mythic_Phoenix - Howdy folks! I'm a designer-type as well.
Logrus_Mythic - I'm Logrus supposedly a designer and I break stuff.
Bleak - Hey Everyone, I2019m Bleak, Software Engineer
brian - I'm Brian, another software engineer.

Nightcrawler - What is the status of the faction test server? Will we be seeing more attention to factions in the next few months?
Mythic_Phoenix - Factions updates are currently on hold while we go over the feedback we've received thus far. I can't offer a firm answer on when we'll be making further updates.

Xevei_GL - Additional House Storage upgrade? I desperately need one. Support your local packrats!
Mesanna - That is a subject we are discussing and its something we should have an answer on before the end of summer.

Adesteria - A question for Mesanna. If she going to be doing another event? And Is she coming back to Napa?
Mesanna - Yes I will be doing an event on every shard sooner or later, and yes I do want to return if they will have me.

Nightcrawler - Is the possibility of a classic shard under consideration? If so, what time period would it be geared towards?
Mythic_Uriah - The classic shard is under consideration, As stated in the letter earlier this year we would have an answer before the end of the year, There is no other update to its status

PotionMaster - So I hear you guys are going to activate all old player accounts.. Are you guys also thinking about reactivating a pre Trammel server?
Supreem *gears grinding*
MythicMark - see previous question on that last one
Supreem *chuckles*
Mythic_Uriah -

GvP - With party-enabled features such as Mysticism's cleansing winds and the new bardic abilities, can we get a party option for instanced looting?
MythicMark - There is not a plan to do instanced looting right now but it is not out of the question.

Basara - Question for the server tech types: I was in the Underworld on Lake Austin, killing Gray Goblins for music gears last friday, when I had UO lock up, and I had to abort out of the program. When it restarted, I was by Ter Mur moongate, hidden on a character with no means to hide. Did something happen to the server that resulted in my being "Telestormed" to safety, like at old-school events?
Supreem - I'm not exactly sure what happened there. It sounds like the server might have crashed and you were restored back to your last saved location.\
Supreem - If it happens again, send in a bug report with as much information that you can come up with.

Dermott - Any hints on what's in store for the next EC patch? (cont) <Dermott> Last EC patch had several well-recieved options that were "put back in" from earlier clients (both 3d and KR), will we see the return of more popular UI elements from those clients that have been removed?
Axel_Mythic- We got a large art patch coming up for Pub66.5 to fix some of the Gargoyle armor issues. For Pub67, we're gonna continue to focus on bug fixing. Post away on the Enhanced Client forum on Stratics. Our eyes are always on that.

Adesteria - Are there any plans for another expansion in the future? Or is the focus on the content at hand?
Logrus_Mythic - If we were working on super secret expansion content, it would no longer be super secret content if we said we were focusing on it.

Spoon - Are you still planning to changeover to the enhanced client and stop support for the 2d?
Mythic_Phoenix - Where'd you hear that? Someone tells dirty lies! We've never had plans to abandon the 2d client and we will continue to support it.

Zephenia - Please post your questions to [QT]Aesop and [QT]Faerunner - they are waiting!
Supreem *whistles a tune*
Bleak *dances a jig*

Logrus_Mythic - Will Logrus ever get to put giant mutant ninja chickens in the game?
Logrus_Mythic - probably should have submitted that to a QT
Supreem - Not on mesanna's watch!

DaKaren - Could the ability to unlock individual items in a locked down container be restored? Having to unlock the entire container and then reset permissions on each individual object is very carpal tunnel unfriendly.
Mythic_Phoenix - We are investigating this and hope to fix it soon.

Adesteria - Any plans for new Vet rewards? Or are they super secret too?
Mythic_Uriah - Mutant Ninja Chickens are now working on Fiction for the Live game ... and will be replacing the Server Backend by next November
Mesanna- Yes we have plans for new Vet rewards =)
Logrus_Mythic - lol
Axel_Mythic - halp

Spoon - are there any plans to revamp theiving skill as its pretty much useless?
MythicMark - We realize we haven't been giving the devil his due with the thieving skill, we hope to put more of your neighbor's gold in your pocket soon.

Lost - Will the Magincia rebuild be coming soon?
MythicMark - Magincia will be back by the end of the year, we are hope you enjoy the story of its triumphant return in the upcoming live events.
Supreem - So New's Years party will be in Magincia this year?

BeefSupreme - When does the next part of the current fiction start? (Pt2) Are there any plans to have Mesanna stop stalking me in game?
MythicMark - The next part of the current fiction will begin with 66.5, it is the beginning of a new plot thread that is leading toward the return of Magincia. Also, Mesanna says she doesn't know who you are but she will gladly kill you.

Lint - Will the EC map ever be able to display houses, custom houses? The EC seems to have a smaller housing cache than the classic client. Each time a house comes into view, even if I was just there 10 seconds earlier, it is slow to reload. Any plans on improving this, or an explanation why it happens?
Axel_Mythic - The EC map is a different beast from the CC map, so we use some image compression tricks to get the houses on there. Because the compression is costly to the cpu, the update rate takes a hit.

Llewen - These days everyone is moving faster, computers are more powerful, connections are more reliable and faster. Is there any plan to speed up the movement rates of mobs in the game?
Mythic_Phoenix - Yes, we'll be taking speedhacking away from players and giving it to the mobs.
Mythic_Uriah - heh
Supreem - *bonks phoenix*

Anon155 - Any chance of a future embroidery kit that would allow "embroidering" clothing items much like other engraving kits?
Mesanna - Thats a great idea I think we will steal it =P
Mesanna *grins*

JoO - I will name my first born after the dev team member that spear heads the effort to fix riding swipe not working on faction horses. Any Takers?
Mythic_Uriah - Actually there was a developer who attempted this and ended up in a rubber room describing the smell of Blue ... it's tough to fix, so we have to tread carefully on this one

JCtheBuilder - Could something be done about upping the max resolution in the Classic Client? 800x600 makes everything look so tiny on today's large resolution monitors.
Supreem - The Classic Client uses a custom software rendering engine that is very complicated and only designed to run on specific resolutions. We decided a long time ago that it would not be feasible.
Supreem - If you want a bigger resolution, try switching to the Enhanced Client. Running the game at 1920x1200 on a 24" widescreen monitor is just beautiful.
Supreem - ./end shameless plug

Lost - Can we have Dev named Voodoo dolls for Halloween? *evil grin*
Mythic_Uriah *sound of the ding of gleaming teeth here*
Mythic_Phoenix - Sure. Since some of us already have player-named Voodoo dolls on our desks, that would only be fair.

Mythic_Phoenix - And...it's a wrap. Thank you everyone!
MythicMark - Goodnight everyone, thanks for coming!
Logrus_Mythic - Now its time to say good bye to all our company
Axel_Mythic - Good night all!
Logrus_Mythic - and the nice HOC
Mesanna - Later everyone, I will be seeing you soon!
Mythic_Uriah *meanders off most likely to be eaten by a grue*
Bleak - Goodnight everyone
Logrus_Mythic casts invis on a grue somewhere
brian - Bye everyone!
Supreem - Night fellas... *goes back to server fixes*

Zephenia - Thanks for coming everyone! Logs will be posted shortly. Join us in #ultima-online if you wish to chat!

 

[Lord Chaos]

It makes little sense when a few lines of script code can enlarge the CC client, why on earth can't the dev team?

 

[canary]

Pro: It is nice that the dev team do these.

Con: The word 'soon' by the UO team is like using vowels in a sentence. They are EVERYWHERE.

(I pray those 'art fixes' include the 6 month wait on the EC male paperdoll, sheesh. It was announced in freaking December.)

 

[canary]

It makes little sense when a few lines of script code can enlarge the CC client, why on earth can't the dev team?

The resolution can indeed be increased. I have no clue why they say otherwise, but of course I am not allowed to go into specifics here.

 

[Kaleb]

The game play window can be "forced" to a better resolution. Maybe the devs need to DL R@$%& and reverse engineer it to make the play window bigger.

 

[Just Do It]

They are going to continue to not give the classic client any love and force the enhanced client on people

Ill quit UO when im not allowed or cant play classic client anymore

 

[canary]

As a side note, Cal better realize what a find he has in Mesanna. I can hardly recall any other dev team member aside from Draconi who has really put forth such a visible effort for the community.

 

[canary]

They are going to continue to not give the classic client any love and force the enhanced client on people

Ill quit UO when im not allowed or cant play classic client anymore

I'm pretty sure 2d will be around for a good long while. EC isnt dethroning the CC anytime soon. It pretty much sealed its fate with the horrendous KR introduction and keeping the SA EC in beta for pretty much almost a year. The team has no one to blame except themselves for the shoddy art, craftmanship and inability to produce a viable client upon release. You typically only get one chance to do it right; they had two chances and blew them both.

(No, I'm not saying all around EC sucks. Merely pointing out that 'the ship has sailed'.)

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Little disappointed by this, I guess it made sense though.

As chaos mentioned, if a few lines of code can do it in a third party setting...why can't EA?

 

[Lady Storm]

Unfortunatly I beleave the 2d client is written in a very old language **like unix* and if anyone is fermiliar with it you know its hell to insert code without rewriting the whole text of code and hope it dont break a section in the upper section of code you didnt know was conected to it.

 

[MalagAste]

DEV's are lazy???...... Um.... none of them can figure out the old 2d client code???

Who knows.... don't care anymore working my way into the EC......

Which absolutely MUST be fixed and needs to have the KR housing menu .... SOON please!

Also... Gargoyles.... need to be able to alter more items and artifacts ..... HELLO...

Need to be able to alter them BACK to Human/Elf....


I'd rather see them fix UO and the EC before they move on to another expantion.... heck.. we still don't have everything in this expansion yet.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Re: 1900x1200 on a 24" screen... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and clearly, there's a lot of beholders working at Mythic, because nothing about the enhanced client pixelating graphics that were never meant to be scaled much less used as textures is a "beautiful" experience.

But maybe if you package special Virginia bottled water with the next expansion, we can all see it like you guys do.

 

[Beleth of Atlantic]

I really hope they reconsider the resolution issue and take another look at it. I created another thread when third party program detection was announced and will admit, resolution is the primary reason I use an unauthorized third party program.

I dislike the enhanced clients look and prefer classic UO, but playing in a corner of my screen that is sometimes smaller then webgames sucks.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Pixelated and distorted, yes, but the amount of viewable area possible more than makes up for it.

 

[canary]

...

Pixelated and distorted, yes, but the amount of viewable area possible more than makes up for it.

Uhm, no. Not really. Either way there is zero excuse for it.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

1920x1080+ gameplay window with a zoom range vs 800x600 static image, yeah, I think it makes a difference.

Mind you, I'm as much annoyed at the downgrade in resolution quality from KR to EC and want them to fix it as well, I'm just looking at the way things are right now.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

...

Pixelated and distorted, yes, but the amount of viewable area possible more than makes up for it.

...

No, no it does not. Maybe for you, but not at all for me. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I'm not the only one who feels this way.

If they someday fix the EC with good, scalable graphics that look like UO is supposed to and not some impressionist's breakfast regurgitation of how they feel UO should look, then I'll consider it, but for right now, the Enhanced Client is hideous.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I agree about wanting the graphics to be higher, scalable resolution, but I do try to be pragmatic.

 

[siyeng0]

I love how readily Mesanna admits to being an evil supervillainess.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Lint - Will the EC map ever be able to display houses, custom houses? The EC seems to have a smaller housing cache than the classic client. Each time a house comes into view, even if I was just there 10 seconds earlier, it is slow to reload. Any plans on improving this, or an explanation why it happens?

Axel_Mythic - The EC map is a different beast from the CC map, so we use some image compression tricks to get the houses on there. Because the compression is costly to the cpu, the update rate takes a hit.

Translation: For some reason, we can't even handle the map as well in the Enhanced Client as we can in the Classic Client.

While I'm not certain why that is, there seems to be something functionally wrong with a situation wherein new technology that you have the ability to adapt to your needs from the ground up can't handle something as well as the old technology can.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

...

I agree about wanting the graphics to be higher, scalable resolution, but I do try to be pragmatic.

After four, plus, years and two clients, my pragmatism about an improved client is starting to wane.

At this point, I'd be happier if they added toolbars to the 3D client and brought it up to date.

 

[Tinsil]

As others have said.. if R@@)$ can increase the resolution for Classic Client.. Why can't EA?

 

[RaDian FlGith]

As others have said.. if R@@)$ can increase the resolution for Classic Client.. Why can't EA?

Well, it's not really the same thing as what I think people believe it to be.

Sure, it can increase the gameplay area, but it doesn't actually increase the size of anything other than the viewport. In essence, nothing gets larger, it's the same size... which doesn't really attack the issue of things appearing smaller. In addition, a larger viewport doesn't actually mean you have any greater update radius, or attack radius.

In short, it does little to attack what the 2D client would really need, which is increased graphic size.

 

[ingsmsico]

<JCtheBuilder> Could something be done about upping the max resolution in the Classic Client? 800x600 makes everything look so tiny on today's large resolution monitors.
Supreem: The Classic Client uses a custom software rendering engine that is very complicated and only designed to run on specific resolutions. We decided a long time ago that it would not be feasible.
Supreem: If you want a bigger resolution, try switching to the Enhanced Client. Running the game at 1920x1200 on a 24" widescreen monitor is just beautiful.

Little disappointed by this, I guess it made sense though.

they could allow us to expand the window to show the full 18x18 update range...

as far as a legitimate bigger game window, it would require complete re-do of every piece of art and animation

UO was designed with a 1024x768 monitor in mind. live with it. best thing to do is dual monitor a modern widescreen with your old 17 inch

 

[Warsong of LS]

Xevei_GL - Additional House Storage upgrade? I desperately need one. Support your local packrats!
Mesanna - That is a subject we are discussing and its something we should have an answer on before the end of summer.


Great, get ready to pay another $29.95 for 20% more storage again.

 

[Phaen Grey]

[2010/06/04-02:01] <@Zephenia> <Anon155> Any chance of a future embroidery kit that would allow "embroidering" clothing items much like other engraving kits?
[2010/06/04-02:01] <@Mesanna> Thats a great idea I think we will steal it =P
[2010/06/04-02:01] <@Mesanna> *grins*
[2010/06/04-02:02] <@Supreem> But we will change it enough to call it our own!! muahaha

Now we'll probably end up with an embroidery kit that requires a quest to kill 50 rabbits and bow to every jeweler in Sorsaria. If their past record of changing things are to be believed.

hehehehe, but no, it was funny enough, its a good idea.

A year or so back they added embroidery thread to the ciloc lines, I've been waiting to find out what they are for. I thought we'd use them in making the cloaks out of the threads from Magincia.

 

[Tinsil]

Well, it's not really the same thing as what I think people believe it to be.

Sure, it can increase the gameplay area, but it doesn't actually increase the size of anything other than the viewport. In essence, nothing gets larger, it's the same size... which doesn't really attack the issue of things appearing smaller. In addition, a larger viewport doesn't actually mean you have any greater update radius, or attack radius.

In short, it does little to attack what the 2D client would really need, which is increased graphic size.

You are correct in everything, but it's still a nice bonus to place in like 1024x768 than 800x600 for 2d. It's nice to see more.

 

[Gelf]

Lost - Can we have Dev named Voodoo dolls for Halloween? *evil grin*
Mythic_Uriah *sound of the ding of gleaming teeth here*
Mythic_Phoenix - Sure. Since some of us already have player-named Voodoo dolls on our desks, that would only be fair.

hhmmm I wonder what the Voodoo doll of Lord Chaos looks like?

 

[Basara]

I'd personally be happy with the current resolution settings of the play window for 2D/CC, but just expanding the viewable area (which should be doable, especially after the server upgrade later this year).

Part of the reason for the limited window sizes originally was to keep update speed reasonable, and I don't think that's an issue with current computers.

And, Gelf, IMO the Lord Chaos voodoo doll is probably kept in a dark box, that they have to stick their hands into and stab blindly at the doll, for to see LC's true visage (or a simalcrum of it) would cause madness.

 

[Nok]

I love how readily Mesanna admits to being an evil supervillainess.

*imagining Mesanna grinning from ear to ear when she reads that.*

 

[Yen Sid]

Xevei_GL - Additional House Storage upgrade? I desperately need one. Support your local packrats!
Mesanna - That is a subject we are discussing and its something we should have an answer on before the end of summer.


Great, get ready to pay another $29.95 for 20% more storage again.

It's $19.99 . And I would pay it lol. Maybe they will add an 8th character slot and make a combo deal for the both of them for $29.99 lol. I'm down for that .

 

[Kaleb]

As others have said.. if R@@)$ can increase the resolution for Classic Client.. Why can't EA?

At very least UOAssist, But it would take the work of tug to get er done.

 

[Cogniac]

Unfortunatly I beleave the 2d client is written in a very old language **like unix* and if anyone is fermiliar with it you know its hell to insert code without rewriting the whole text of code and hope it dont break a section in the upper section of code you didnt know was conected to it.

I like how you seem to imply that you are some sort of knowledgeable programmer, while at the same time claiming that Unix is a programming language.

 

[LordDrago]

hhmmm I wonder what the Voodoo doll of Lord Chaos looks like?

hmmmm. It seems to bear a very close resemblance to Popps!!!!!

 

[RaDian FlGith]

I like how you seem to imply that you are some sort of knowledgeable programmer, while at the same time claiming that Unix is a programming language.

Ah, but you should be used to that on these boards by now. And if you happen to really be a programmer, expect to be told your suggestions are never as easy as they appear to be -- even if they really are.

 

[Cogniac]

Ah, but you should be used to that on these boards by now. And if you happen to really be a programmer, expect to be told your suggestions are never as easy as they appear to be -- even if they really are.

And if you point out that some "quick feature" would, in all actuality, be damn near impossible to implement, expect a dozen replies that all basically say "wtf m8 u r crazy that shud olny take lik 2 lines of code lol"

 

[Lord Frodo]

I like how you seem to imply that you are some sort of knowledgeable programmer, while at the same time claiming that Unix is a programming language.

Nah it was writen in 1GL.

 

[Cogniac]

I like how you seem to imply that you are some sort of knowledgeable programmer, while at the same time claiming that Unix is a programming language.

Nah it was writen in 1GL.

That is quite the non sequitur you have there, sir.

 

[Lady Storm]

In my hayday I was Cogniac, back in the 70's but that is worlds away from todays programing. Fortran, Basic, Pascal, Basica, Unix to name a few of the old languages I have played with and last time was with C++. Hehe had fun making it do sliding windows (at the time ppl thought you couldnt do it )
Back to the point:
Uo 's game code is the type that if you break in and place new code you have the cascadeing effects we have all seen over the years when a patch went in hence the shards going down first year and after for hours or days at a time. The newer code the Dev is using to work their magic fights with the old code to put it simply. They have learned to mesh it better over the years.
I for one would never say to them its easy just do this ..... Till you have walked a mile in their moccasins dont squeek up on how you could do it easy. You just might be wrong.
In the end its not EASY.

 

[Cogniac]

In my hayday I was Cogniac, back in the 70's but that is worlds away from todays programing. Fortran, Basic, Pascal, Basica, Unix to name a few of the old languages I have played with...

Okay, how do I put this...

Unix is not a programming language, it is an operating system. So your repeated claims that it is a programming language gives off the impression that you are a colossal liar who is making things up so that people will think you're cool on an Internet message board.

 

[Basara]

In my hayday I was Cogniac, back in the 70's but that is worlds away from todays programing. Fortran, Basic, Pascal, Basica, Unix to name a few of the old languages I have played with...

Okay, how do I put this...

Unix is not a programming language, it is an operating system. So your repeated claims that it is a programming language gives off the impression that you are a colossal liar who is making things up so that people will think you're cool on an Internet message board.

Actually, being a rather old former programming student myself, Unix and the original form of the C language (well before C++) were co-created to the point that many referred to them interchangibly.

Didn't their creator make the joking comment once about the C language being the first computer virus, used to infect other computers with Unix? I remember some silly comment like that in one of my textbooks.

 

[Sergul'zan_SP]

At least they aren't wasting resources on halloween shards anymore...

 

[Lord Frodo]

That is quite the non sequitur you have there, sir.

Nope Think you should look it up before you call it non-sequitur.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Nope Think you should look it up before you call it non-sequitur.

Unfortunately, I'd have to agree that it is, indeed, a non sequitur. Given that I doubt UO was programmed in a base machine language using switches or punch cards, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it probably wasn't a 1st generation programming language. You've made an illogical conclusion, and thus, it is a non sequitur. Just sayin'.

 

[Nosbor]

The CC is being killed by suffocation.
They won't ever quit supporting it.
They won't ever intentionally break it.
At some point in the recent past, a point was chosen where the CC was considered a dead product and it was locked in at this point.
Don't expect any major changes to the CC anymore, OSI is only doing the minimum amount of work to keep it functional.
Microsoft hasn't issued a content update to COM since 1997, and there are people out there that still won't go to managed extentions.

 

[Basara]

At least they aren't wasting resources on halloween shards anymore...

Excuse me?

The Halloween shards were programmed by devs in their own free time, and the "resources" used on them were a maybe a dozen man-hours by engineers installing them onto Test Center server machines, and a few hours (usually well outside paid office hours) testing them in-house before releasing them to the players and running some events on them.