Someone Please Tell The Ophidians in Papua on Arirang the War Is Over!!

[Tina Small]

I have tamers-in-training and other newbie characters scattered all over the game and sometimes get motivated to dust them off and do odd things with them, like mark a few rune books. Tonight, I decided to do that with one of my newbie characters on Arirang.

Using a rune book at a vendor shop I found in Luna, I recalled my gal into Papua. Ouch! Good thing all of her gear was crummy monster loot because only three pieces were insured. LOL Figured there was no way in heck she was getting any of the rest of it and the blank runes back, so I ran her around and took a bunch of screen shots around Papua. About the only clear spot I found was up by the stable. Took a meander over to the ophidian lair as well and on the way noticed there was no more note in the road demanding the return of the "artificed scion."

Must be really fun for the folks who regularly play on this shard (yes, I did see people other than myself) to be overlooked so consistently by the dev team. In addition to still having nasty spawn from how many years ago still controlling most of Papua, Clainin still lingers in Haven and Queen Dawn and her husband have never been buried on this shard. Pretty sad treatment for paying customers.

 

[Snakeman]

Your 125% right, that wars been over for what, 3 yrs now. About time the Dev keeps ALL Shards up to date/speed. It's really kind of embarrassing on their part that they are still there & they have not corrected the situation as many times as they have been told about it.

 

[Raptor85]

Queen Dawn and her husband have never been buried on this shard. Pretty sad treatment for paying customers.

If they even HAD the queen dawn event that is, we didn't on siege, though due to that fact that it was part of a publish a box covered in flowers was one day inexplicably inserted next to the sigils in TB base. I believe we actually have the ophids marked as recruits and such as well, but they're not in papua, only spawning inside terra keep, didn't think anything of it, as I wasn't around during whatever event they're from.

 

[aarons6]

are those the wars that gave us those general books with the 3 mr 30 sdi and 10 lrc?

if so can you transfer to that shard and back?

 

[Tazar]

I understood those invasions to be something that the players were given a choice on so that players could direct the future of the world... Fight them off and defeat the invasion... or leave the town in enemy hands.

 

[Tina Small]

are those the wars that gave us those general books with the 3 mr 30 sdi and 10 lrc?

if so can you transfer to that shard and back?

Nope. Those spell books came later. The war with the ophidians happened during 2006, starting around late July or so. The ophidians were mad because Ricardo stole something from one group of them (I never did see anything that really explained what it was, but did read in UOGuide it was an egg) and in return they started attacking human cities. In order to push them back, you had to defeat them first in Vesper, then in Serpent's Hold, and finally in Papua. To clear a city, you killed everything you could find in one general area until a berserker spawned. If it was killed, then that area remained clear of ophidians.

The berserkers dropped some special weapons, I believe and maybe cursed artifacts. (Never managed to get looting rights myself.) The queens dropped slippery snake skins and journals, if I remember correctly. One type of ophidians also dropped orders and several types dropped rations. There were hints that the snake skins, journals, and orders would come in handy for something at some point, but in the end they just became more turn-in fodder for a "spring cleaning" event a few years later.

The spell books (along with some bows and other weapons) you're talking about came from town invasions in Trammel about two years ago that occurred whenever the Shadow Lords or Minax faction was able to take control of the same town in Felucca. Different types of monsters spawned in each town when it was "invaded" and the NPC townspeople were also affected differently in each town. That event was referred to as the "War of Shadows."

I understood those invasions to be something that the players were given a choice on so that players could direct the future of the world... Fight them off and defeat the invasion... or leave the town in enemy hands.

Seems you are correct, Tazar. I did some digging and found on the UOGuide site a copy of an 8/25/2006 Five on Friday where Draconi explained what would happen if towns weren't cleared of the ophidian invasion. Five on Friday - August 25, 2006 - UOGuide, the Ultima Online encyclopedia. (By the way, how do you find these Five on Friday articles and the BNN articles on Stratics? They all seem to have been cleared from the official site and I thought I read that Stratics was going to have them but I can't seem to find them in any one location.)

4. Do we need to clear out both Felucca and Trammel cities to progress in the storyline?
Draconi: No, the storyline will continue to progress; yet, the fate of each facet may rely upon the events occurring on that facet.


5. If only Trammel gets cleared will the Ophidians stay in the Felucca cities?
Draconi: Yes, the remnants of the Ophidian army that defected to the rogue queen will continue occupying the cities until they’re forcibly removed.

 

[kelmo]

We got tired of those things hanging out of Siege and just got many together one evening and exterminated them.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I'm glad someone else confirmed my memory, that the invading Ophis. were deliberately left on until someone cleared them, thereby giving shards a choice.

The kind of choice that some of us oft-complain about not having.

And let us not forget that sometimes the team does flat-out neglect to turn something off when it should, but the best example I can think of that actually relates to the largest shard, Atlantic, where the Vanguard spawn was left on for a long, long time.

That was a time when it was not intended we have a choice to drive it out or not. And it was the largest shard.

-Galen's player

 

[Tazar]

(By the way, how do you find these Five on Friday articles and the BNN articles on Stratics? They all seem to have been cleared from the official site and I thought I read that Stratics was going to have them but I can't seem to find them in any one location.)

The Five on Friday posts can be found at UO Herald archive! - Ultima Online Stratics TGN.TV. Just search by date.

BNN Archives can be found at UO Stratics - BNN Archives - Town Cryer Archive. I am not sure if this is all of them or not...

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

The Artificed Scion is what Ricardo stole from the Ophidians, and from the fiction is was a crown. The theft is what started the invasion of Papua. A rogue matriarch broke from the main Ophidian clan and continued the attacks, eventually joining the Shadowlord's siege on Vesper.


The Ohidian spawn was indeed left ON on the facets that failed to 'win.' Fel on GL failed, and the Ophidians were left on for several years. It was great way to get the mystic weapons. They should have left them on.

 

[G.v.P]

Wait -- why are you playing Arirang? You're worse than me, lol. I thought I had too many chars on too many shards :s.