NEWS Transcript for the Developer Meet & Greet - Legends 30Apr2014

[Flair]

Mesanna: lets begin
EM Avalon: Arakad you there ?
Mesanna: hi Arakad
Arakad Thorn: hey!
Arakad Thorn: wow ... ok
EM Avalon: *smile*
Arakad Thorn: Just a few questions about current content
Arakad Thorn: will there be any improvements or additions for the High Sea's? customize ships, more deed areas etc?
Arakad Thorn: and the second question would be any new recipes for the distillery? Its been pretty lack in comparison to others of its like
Mesanna: as far as adding more ships
Mesanna: we are not looking at that at this time
Mesanna: sorry what do you mean by deed areas?
Arakad Thorn: what about improving the ones we have now? Such as armor additions [perhaps slows the ship but makes it stronger]
Arakad Thorn: Deed areas such as the Britanian ship, it has two areas and only one square each
Arakad Thorn: perhaps make the cannon slots also areas to place deeded items or able to lock items down on the surface of the ship?
Mesanna: We will add those to our future ideas
Mesanna: we do want to add to the high seas and make it better
Arakad Thorn: there was an ammo idea as well *actually from a free shard* - they made a Snare ammo - that slowed down ships such as a paralyze spell
Arakad Thorn: I don't mean to babble a lot of questions, these have been on my mind for a while now. And appologize.
Mesanna: Thank you for your comments
Mesanna: thats what this is for
Mesanna: to listen to your ideas
Mesanna: what you would like to see
Arakad Thorn: and the distillery? is there any plans to add more recipes?
Mesanna: always possible
EM Avalon: *grins*
Mesanna: we all like to drink =P
EM Avalon: like Coffee?
Arakad Thorn: *laughs* I was thinking drinks similar to the fish pies
Arakad Thorn: and coffee .. we need coffee
EM Avalon: *smile*
Arakad Thorn: ok! well then ... thank you for your time!
Kyronix : Thanks!
Vino Jack: greetings
Vino Jack: from the line cannot see/hear anything so not know what been aske/told so far
EM Avalon: sorry sleeping at the switch
Bleak: Hi
Mesanna: Greetings
Kyronix : Hello
Misk: Test!
Mesanna says: What is on your mind Vino
Vino Jack says: have 4 items on list from town and guild
Vino Jack: having mouse oproblems
EM Avalon: *hides the cat*
Vino Jack: Stackable cooking ingredients such as for fish pies Samuels Sauce and Mentos stuff
Vino Jack: *i resemble that remark*
EM Avalon: *smile*
Vino Jack: Any word on if MyUO being re-worked?
Mesanna: Yes MyUO is being worked on
Mesanna: finally!
Vino Jack: yeah
Vino Jack: Variable city trade deal costs perhaps based on number citizens of all city on shard
Kyronix : And we are adding new stackables to the list where we can
Kyronix : rather than lower the cost we are adding new ways for governors to organize so they can
Kyronix : raise funds
Kyronix : as well as taking some monies from the sales of banners and titles
Vino Jack: will stop there and allow others to speak
Vino Jack: thank you
Kyronix : and a new traders quest that is being worked on right now
Mesanna: thank you
Kyronix : Thanks for your qeustion!
Mesanna: Have a good evening
Vino Jack: Mesanna: yes sir
Mesanna: Hi Zath
Zath Stoneworker: Good evening.
Bleak: Hello
Zath Stoneworker: My question is regarding the new player experience.
Mesanna: The one we have not done yet?
Mesanna: or the current one?
Zath Stoneworker: As it stands now, it is quite dire on people who are trying to start the game for the first time.
Mesanna: agreed
Zath Stoneworker: They get very poor equipment, and there is no good hunting grounds to teach them the basics of the game while rewarding them.
You see: stone pavers
Zath Stoneworker: In a way to increase the attach rate of trial accounts. I'd like to know what is being planned to address this issue now that we will soon be at stean.
Mesanna: First let me say we can only do so much with the team we have
Mesanna: we do have a good plan for a new player experience but we have something in front of it first
Mesanna: UO is 17 years old
Mesanna: we might get a few new players but we will probably get returning players faster
Mesanna: either way they need to be re introduced to UO
Mesanna: Every year it changes
Mesanna: and seems to be a new game if you are away
Mesanna: we as a team have alot of good ideas
Mesanna: we want to do so much
Mesanna: and have some really good ideas
Mesanna: but we can only so so much at a time
Zath Stoneworker: I understand. I also manage projects, and I know that you have time limitations.
Mesanna: but a new player experience is on our list to do
Mesanna: We want new and returning players
Mesanna: trust me
Zath Stoneworker: I'd just like to see them having to rely less on veterans to equip them so they will have a good time when trying the game again.
Mesanna: We all know new players have no idea what to do next
Mesanna: how to get around
Mesanna: where to go
Mesanna: where to travel etc
Mesanna: our idea in this is to guide them around the world
Mesanna: not keep them in one area
Mesanna: then let them go
Mesanna: not baby them but let them earn what they need
Zath Stoneworker: I am glad to hear that it will be addressed. My next and last question is about resource gathering. I am a rather new player myself, being around for only almost 3 years, and in that time I had a very hard time gathering resources.
Zath Stoneworker: Ore and lumber, mostly. Mining seems to not pay the time you invest on it, and getting enough to fill BODS can prove to be a challenge.
Mesanna: Then you are going to love what Kyronix is going to tell you
Kyronix : Well you'll be able to get some much better equipment compared to what is out there now
Kyronix : Right now, in development, we have changes that remove the old loot generation
Kyronix : And replace it with what many refer to as "Shame Style" loo t
Kyronix : And rolling that out globally
EM Avalon: *smile*
Zath Stoneworker: That will be nice indeed.
Kyronix : We are very excited for it
Kyronix : *grins*
Mesanna: thank you Zath
Bleak: great questions
Zath Stoneworker: One very last thing that came in general chat. Is there a chance to see a gather all button for botanny? It takes 225 clicks to empty a 3x3 raised bed.
Mesanna: that is a pain in the butt isn't it
Mesanna: we will look into it
EM Avalon: oh on so many levels its a pain
Zath Stoneworker: A simple for loop at the gather seed and gather resource would solve that.
Mesanna: Are you an engineer?
Zath Stoneworker: And with this, I take my leave. Thanks for hosting this meeting.
Zath Stoneworker: I have a bachelor in computer science, so, sorta.
Mesanna: Thank you Zath
Zath Stoneworker: Nice to have you around. I will leave the spot for the next in line.
Kyronix : Thank you for your question!
Mesanna: Thank you
Mesanna: Hi Raven
Kyronix : Hello Raven
Raven Hawk: Can we have coffee beans? The cooks can brew it and the tinkers can make the coffee machines
Raven Hawk: Hello all
Bleak: Hi Raven
Mesanna: we need big coffee pots
EM Avalon: yes we do!
Mesanna: I will add that to our wish list
Mesanna: how about that
Raven Hawk: thank you
EM Avalon: *moves it to the top of the wish list*
EM Avalon: *grins*
Mesanna: coffee beans to grow and coffee pots to brew
Mesanna: your next xmas present
Mesanna: a coffee pot
Mesanna: lol
Kyronix : *chuckles*
Raven Hawk: I have another question:
Raven Hawk: Could you please change the default llocation changing to "nothing" after having been on a boat?
Raven Hawk: Did I word that right?
Kyronix : Could you be more specific?
Mesanna: do you mean if you get kicked off?
Raven Hawk: Okay
Raven Hawk: Maybe it's just in EC
Raven Hawk: I set a default location on my rune book
Raven Hawk: I can use it over and over again as long as I don't go on a ship
Raven Hawk: After I go on a ship, the default is set back to nothing
Mesanna: that is a bug
Bleak: I will look into this
Raven Hawk: and I have to reset the default location
Misk: that should be pretty simple to fix!
Raven Hawk: thanks
Kyronix : Thanks for your questions!
Raven Hawk: That's all I have
Mesanna: thats for the bug also =)
Raven Hawk: thanks
Mesanna: thank you Raven
Tika W Majere: Hi! I'm so glad you came to visit! It's really nice to see you in game form!
Mesanna: hi Tika
Kyronix : Hello!
Tika W Majere: Okay so like...
Bleak: Hey
Misk: sup
Tika W Majere: I wanna say that all of the holiday deco and recent packs have been much appreciated...
Tika W Majere: Atleast in my castle.
Tika W Majere: However...
Tika W Majere: Our clothing, while classic... is... lacking...
Tika W Majere: Any plans for future fashions?
Mesanna: Clothing is alot more detailed to put in
Tika W Majere: *puss in boots eyes*
Mesanna: it takes the artist alot longer so we have to plan
EM Avalon: oh geesh
Mesanna: Oh I want new clothes
Mesanna: New female clothes first!!!
Tika W Majere: hehe Right on! YAY!
Mesanna: cause WE rule
Tika W Majere: *confetti*
Mesanna: ROFL
Tika W Majere: And lastly... undie dye tub?
Mesanna: rofl
Mesanna: I wish
Tika W Majere: haha
Tika W Majere: Lastly! LASTLY!
EM Avalon: *chuckle*
Tika W Majere: Mesanna Lanturn for Legends.
Tika W Majere: Pllleeeaaazzzeee
EM Avalon: !!
EM Avalon: ooh
Mesanna: I will do one
Tika W Majere: YAY!
Mesanna: I promise
Tika W Majere: Like right now?
EM Avalon: haha
Mesanna: I will come kill you all soon
EM Avalon: eek
Tika W Majere: Had to ask. Much love to y'all. Thank you for your hard work!
Mesanna: Thank you
EM Avalon: oh my
Kyronix : Thank You!
lil Ray: Grettings I have several questions to ask.
Mesanna: hi Lil Ray
Bleak: Hi Ray
Kyronix : Greetings!
lil Ray: Will you in the future allow crafting of raised garden beds and planters
Mesanna: planters maybe but not garden beds
lil Ray: not even the small version
Mesanna: we sell those
lil Ray: i need more for free
Mesanna: LOL
lil Ray: lol
EM Avalon: dont we all
lil Ray: last question
Mesanna: nice try though
EM Avalon: haha
lil Ray: back in the day at crhistmas time we had a raindeer vs santa vs elfs any chance we can do that
Mesanna: I remember those shards
Mesanna: Bleak can we get those back?
lil Ray: Last thought more items to steal is good for more
Bleak: I will check and see if we still have this code
Bleak: : )
lil Ray: thx
lil Ray: have a good day
Mesanna: hi Sakura
Sakura-X: hi
You see: stone pavers
Kyronix : Hello
Sakura-X: sorry I cant face to face...
Sakura-X: ok
Mesanna: its ok
Bleak: Hey
Sakura-X: I did
Sakura-X: And sorry, my English is not good
Mesanna: thats ok
Sakura-X: Question
Sakura-X: Will Skill Cap will be araised from 120 ?
Mesanna: We do not have any plans to raise it higher than that
Mesanna: at this time
Sakura-X: But, Power Scroll is no value now
Mesanna: so we need to come up with a trade in system
Sakura-X: I think it is not good situation
Mesanna: like tokuno dyes system for scrolls =)
Misk: you can turn them into points with Cleanup Britannia...
Mesanna: we are always adding new items to the clean up
Sakura-X: Is there any change of skill cap?
Mesanna: total skill cap?
Mesanna: I would like to bump it a little
Mesanna: maybe just a little bit =)
Sakura-X: not total
Sakura-X: I wish change from 120 to 125
Mesanna: no
Mesanna: we are not going to change that
Sakura-X: I see
Sakura-X: OK, thank you
Mesanna: thank you
Kyronix : Thanks for your questions
ANDROMEDA: hiya guys...good times ;-)
Mesanna: hi Andrp,eda
Kyronix : Hello
ANDROMEDA: aah
Mesanna: wow
Bleak: hi
Mesanna: Andromeda too
ANDROMEDA: prob the dumbest asked here
ANDROMEDA: lol
ANDROMEDA: is there a possibility of change in the runebook area
ANDROMEDA: i wish to secure this
ANDROMEDA: 16 isnt enough
Misk: more entries in the book?
Mesanna: more locations?
ANDROMEDA: i wish to secure this
ANDROMEDA: i wish to release this
ANDROMEDA: more entries...im carring 13 in my pack atm
Mesanna: I actually agree with you
ANDROMEDA: maybe multi pages
Mesanna: it was fine when they were first put in the game
Mesanna: but we need bigger better ones
ANDROMEDA: woot!!
EM Avalon: *nods*
Mesanna: good suggestion
Mesanna: thank you
ANDROMEDA: tyvm hun
Kyronix : Thanks!
Mesanna: hi Furley
Furley's: greetings all
Kyronix : Greetings!
Furley's: I was wondering how is the new Counselor program coming along?
Mesanna: I have over 250 applications
Mesanna: going thru them
Furley's: omg
EM Avalon: wow
Mesanna: please keep in mind we have to get Bleak to write a new system for us
Furley's: when do you plan on getting it going?
Mesanna: we are not going to be using the old system
Furley's: Thanks all for coming out, and gnite
Mesanna: I will be getting all the letters out probably around May
Mesanna: I will be getting them robed on TC1 so they can learn they powers in June
Mesanna: hi Aragorn
Kyronix : Hello!
ARAGORN: hi all its an honor to meet yall
Mesanna: Nice to meet you also
ARAGORN: I did finally get to see your state of uo address on youtube..very nicely done
Mesanna: we plan to have those more often
ARAGORN: you mentioned on there about gold going away and going to a ledger system?
ARAGORN: can u explain that in more detail plz?
Mesanna: Actually not yet
Mesanna: we do not have it all figured out in detail yet
Mesanna: but as soon as we do you guys will know
Mesanna: I hate to say something and it be untrue
ARAGORN: can it be summarized at all? maybe concept?
You see: stone pavers
Kyronix : Our high level goals are to basically make large amounts of gold easier to store
Kyronix : trade
Kyronix : and so on
Mesanna: it would be account tracked
Mesanna: gold will still be in the game but not in the large quanities like it is now
Mesanna: no checks
Mesanna: which frees up so much space
ARAGORN: very interesting idea
Mesanna: and look at all the atm vendors we will do away with =P
Misk: you will still be able to have gold for deco purposes
ARAGORN: oh my bank manager will have to go on unemployment..darn
Mesanna: lol
EM Avalon: haha
Mesanna: we hate to put anything out of business
EM Avalon: unless its a lawyer
ARAGORN: hehe she'll get over it..thats the price of business
ARAGORN: one more question is any future plans for invasions? like the one that happened back in 2004?
ARAGORN: in britain
Mesanna: Kyronix
You see: stone pavers
Kyronix : Never know what nefarious types will spring up in an effort to disrupt our peaceful cities
EM Avalon: *chuckle*
Kyronix : We definitely want to add a little flair to invasions like we did with the Minax invasions
Kyronix : Make them more fun and dynamic
ARAGORN: i look forward to it thank yall for your time *bows*
Kyronix : Thank you
Kyronix : *grins*
Mesanna: Our time is coming to an end we will answer one question from each person in line
DevilsOwn: evenin all and thanks for coming to Legends!
Mesanna: Greetings
Kyronix : Hello!
Bleak: Hello
DevilsOwn: my question is about high res art project - it was slated for possibly this year
DevilsOwn: how is it going?
Mesanna: we are working on it
Mesanna: we hope to have our first pass out later this year
DevilsOwn: housing tiles slowing you down, yes?
Misk: it has not made it to QA yet, so not super quick
Mesanna: so many tiles
DevilsOwn: thank you for your time, I look forward to it,, and possibly new housing tiles
Kyronix : Thanks for the question!
Mesanna: Hi Arakad
Arakad Thorn: Lo' I tremble before the dark lady ... I risk my life again
Mesanna: lol
Arakad Thorn: I am in contact via ICQ to some who couldn't make it tonight
Arakad Thorn: one of them wants to know about Morph earrings, they allow humans to wear / use elf items. Any plans on including gargoyles to that list?
Misk: not at this time, and honestly probably not ever
Arakad Thorn: Another asks a good question about Magery spell: Polymorph. Every magic brought out gives alternate forms special abilities
Arakad Thorn: Why not improve Polymorph, as Magery seems to be falling behind
Misk: magery offers diversity
Mesanna: We have been looking at so many other things we have not even though about updating magery
Mesanna: to be honest with you
Arakad Thorn: true, Necromancy has alternate forms that allow different advantages/disadvantages. I believe the question is - will you improve on that spell with the new content? New forms to chose from. And give those forms the appropriate updates
Mesanna: we should do a magery mastery
Mesanna: and you are asking more than 1 question
Arakad Thorn: *sorry - you can kill me for free later*
Mesanna: but I can kill you for free now =P
EM Avalon: eek
EM Avalon: quick run
Mesanna: lol
Arakad Thorn: *laughs*
Kyronix : Thanks!
Caelyr: hello!
Mesanna: hi Caelyr
Kyronix : Greetings!
Bleak: Hi Caelyr
Caelyr: you've mentioned at times that you all have a lot on your plates
Mesanna: always
Caelyr: and recently asked for ideas on new rewards, etc
Mesanna: yes sir
Caelyr: would you consider broadening that to allow for user generated content?
Mesanna: define that
Caelyr: such as art assets and other things which would consume precious hours
Caelyr: perhaps ideas or content could be voted for democratically
Caelyr: steam, for example, has its workshops
Mesanna: this is true
Mesanna: its something that we can look into
Mesanna: since we are Broadsword and not EA
Mesanna: that option is actually open to us
Mesanna: so I will not say no
Caelyr: congratulations, by the way
Mesanna: thank you
Caelyr: here's to the future, eh
EM Avalon: here here!
Kyronix : Huzzah!
Caelyr: thanks for your time
Mesanna: thank you
EM Avalon: haha
Mesanna: hi Nazoc
Kyronix : Greetings!
Bleak: Hello
Nazoc: Hi, just one quick question
Nazoc: Why is house placement disabled on TC ? When will it be back up ?
Mesanna: Bleak is working on it
Mesanna: so he can answer it
Bleak: I will be working to get housing back up and running soon on TC1
Mesanna: we have alot of people asking the same question
Bleak: The plan is to have it up by tomorrow.
Nazoc: oh ok thank you very much
Kyronix : Thanks for the question!
Mesanna: hi Athena
Athena Rage: hello
Kyronix : Greetings!
Athena Rage: im not sure which chat to talk in sorry
Misk: this one is fine
Mesanna: ?
Athena Rage: i had 3 questions but will ask 1
Athena Rage: ive read on web page bout the shroud of the avatar, but im confused, is that part of uo, or all
Athena Rage: together different game?
Misk: altogether different game
Mesanna: It is not UO
Athena Rage: so its not part of uo?
Mesanna: Nope
Mesanna: Different game
Athena Rage: ok tyvm for your time Great ones
Athena Rage: bows
Mesanna: You are most welcome
Kyronix : Thanks for your question!
Mesanna: Thank you Athena
Savoua Fair: Eavning
Mesanna: hi Savova
Kyronix : Hello!
Savoua Fair: Will Factions continue as a lead for PvP in Felluccua?
Kyronix : We are in the process of replacing factions with a more agile PvP experience
Savoua Fair: So wait to restart in it?
Mesanna: We will be getting together a player group
Mesanna: to give us input
Savoua Fair: Ill keep an eye out.
Savoua Fair: Thank you
Mesanna: please do
Kyronix : Thank you for your question!
Seledor: Greetings and well met all
Mesanna: hi Seledor
Kyronix : Hello!
Bleak: Hi
Seledor: I hav greatly enjoyed the presence of the Sea Dragons over the yrs
EM Avalon: *smiles*
Seledor: I was just wondering if they could b made more interactive to attract more interest in them
Mesanna: I personally would love to see more sea creatures
Kyronix : Hear Hear!
EM Avalon: *hides glee*
Mesanna: so I guess our answer is its very much possible
Seledor: it would giv us players who r not able todo the major battles something to do
EM Avalon: *grins*
Seledor: Ty for ur time
Mesanna: dragon turtles!!
EM Avalon: haha!
Alice Wonderland: *Cheshire Cat Grin*
EM Avalon: wooo
Alice Wonderland: *HUMS*
Mesanna: hi
Bleak: Hello
Alice Wonderland: Hail my UO Gods and Goddess
Mesanna: How are you Alice
Alice Wonderland: well my dark lady
Alice Wonderland: My question is related to being able to use the house art for castles
Alice Wonderland: and make them more customizable
Alice Wonderland: stained glass windows, get rid of barrier at the front entrance
Misk: meaning customizable castles or using the existing wall art to decorate casles?
Mesanna: we have had many discussions about making castles customizable
Alice Wonderland: either and perferable both
Alice Wonderland: wonderful! hopfully very soon!
Alice Wonderland: *Cheshire Cat Grin*
EM Avalon: that smile scares me
Mesanna: I can say we are always talking about it
Alice Wonderland: *cackles*
Alice Wonderland: *nods*
Alice Wonderland: thank you Great ones
Mesanna: do you have a white rabbit in your pocket?
Kyronix : Thank you for the question!
EM Avalon: dont ask...
Alice Wonderland: close ....
Mesanna: sorry
EM Avalon: haha
Alice Wonderland: *winks*
EM Avalon: afraid to know
Mesanna: lol
Agatha: Hi. - With the upcoming Vice vs. Virture, are Faction "Arties" being kept? Or will players need to
Mesanna: hi Agatha
Agatha: adjust their suits in advance?
Misk: similar artifacts will be made available
Agatha: Some of the mods on faction artifacts can essentially make or break a suit, which is why I asked.
Misk: with identical or potentially better stats
Kyronix : We aren't interested in forcing people to redo the hard work they put into their suits
Kyronix : That's no fun
Agatha: Ah yes, that was my concern Kyronix.
Agatha: Thank you all for your time, have an excellent night!
Kyronix : Thanks!
Mesanna: I was on the team when they first put in Factions
Mesanna: it was broken then
Mesanna: I was on the team when they tried to fix factions
Mesanna: it was worse after that
Mesanna: everytime it just seems to get worse
Mesanna: time for a change
EM Avalon: *nods*
Tika W Majere: I couldn't stay away!
Mesanna: Tika you have been here already
Tika W Majere: Okay
Tika W Majere: I just would like to say...
Mesanna: quickly then
Tika W Majere: You should come visit us more often!
Tika W Majere: That is all!
Mesanna: lol
EM Avalon: haha
Tika W Majere:
Bleak: lol
Mesanna: I am coming to kill Legends please show up
Mesanna: lol
EM Avalon: hee hee hee
Tika W Majere: I'll be near the front of the line!
Tika W Majere: Thank you!
EM Avalon: they like to die
Mesanna: *hugs*
Tika W Majere: *hugs*
Tika W Majere: Thanks!
Mesanna: Thank you Legends for having us
EM Avalon: Thank you Mesanna and Devs for gracing us with your presence
EM Avalon: we have enjoyed having you
Mesanna: Again if you have any ideas for rewards or gifts we would love to hear them
Kyronix : Thanks for having us!
EM Avalon: *coffee pot!*
Bleak: Thanks for having us!
Mesanna: please email me with your ideas so I can get them on the list
Mesanna: Thank you!
Mesanna: Good night all
EM Avalon: good night!
Kyronix : Have a great night everyone!

 

[DJAd]

Interesting read. Thanks for posting.

 

[Promathia]

In what world is Magery "falling behind" ? Magery is still the top PvP Skill, and is still quite powerful with ALL the utility it has in pvp and Pvm.

Hell, they even gave pure mages that giant SDI boost.

*shrugs*

 

[Lug]

Damn, missed my home shard meet and greet. I was jet lagged and forgot all about it!

Here are some highlights I found interesting:

-----
* Mesanna: Yes MyUO is being worked on

-----
* Kyronix : Right now, in development, we have changes that remove the old loot generation
* Kyronix : And replace it with what many refer to as "Shame Style" loot
* Kyronix : And rolling that out globally

-----
* Mesanna: Are you an engineer?
* Zath Stoneworker: And with this, I take my leave. Thanks for hosting this meeting.
* Zath Stoneworker: I have a bachelor in computer science, so, sorta.
* Mesanna: Thank you Zath

-----
* DevilsOwn: my question is about high res art project - it was slated for possibly this year
* DevilsOwn: how is it going?
* Mesanna: we are working on it
* Mesanna: we hope to have our first pass out later this year
* DevilsOwn: housing tiles slowing you down, yes?
* Misk: it has not made it to QA yet, so not super quick
* Mesanna: so many tiles
* DevilsOwn: thank you for your time, I look forward to it,, and possibly new housing tiles
* Kyronix : Thanks for the question!

-----
* Savoua Fair: Will Factions continue as a lead for PvP in Felluccua?
* Kyronix : We are in the process of replacing factions with a more agile PvP experience
* Savoua Fair: So wait to restart in it?
* Mesanna: We will be getting together a player group
* Mesanna: to give us input
* Savoua Fair: Ill keep an eye out.
* Savoua Fair: Thank you

-----
* Mesanna: dragon turtles!!

 

[BeaIank]

It was fun and interesting, yes.
And Kyronix didn't answer my inquire about resource gathering.

 

[Lug]

Bealenk, maybe you can do something about resource gathering if they hire you!

 

[Kyronix]

It was fun and interesting, yes.
And Kyronix didn't answer my inquire about resource gathering.

We were quasi-against the clock as we wanted to address as many questions as possible, but I wanted to ask - what is it about resource gathering specifically that you find challenging?

 

[BeaIank]

We were quasi-against the clock as we wanted to address as many questions as possible, but I wanted to ask - what is it about resource gathering specifically that you find challenging?

Well, I have been playing for about 32 months now and I've mined maybe 7K verite, 2K valorite and got 600 frostwood...
And mining doesn't really pay the time invested. Mining for an hour at fel with gargoyle pickaxes will yield you maybe 2K normal ingots, about 600 dull copper and depending on your luck, you may go back home with 300 or 400 of the higher grade ingots.

 

[Kyronix]

Well, I have been playing for about 32 months now and I've mined maybe 7K verite, 2K valorite and got 600 frostwood...
And mining doesn't really pay the time invested. Mining for an hour at fel with gargoyle pickaxes will yield you maybe 2K normal ingots, about 600 dull copper and depending on your luck, you may go back home with 300 or 400 of the higher grade ingots.

Thanks for the extra info. We have a few items available as void pool rewards that will convert various resources to higher level ones. Have you had any experience with those at all?

 

[BeaIank]

Thanks for the extra info. We have a few items available as void pool rewards that will convert various resources to higher level ones. Have you had any experience with those at all?

Yes, the void pool is interesting, but hard to gather points when you're trying to hold your ground against the masses of enemies in a 200+ ms ping.
Usually I manage to gather 20 to 40 points per run, and then you have to wait 15 minutes till you get another shot.
Not very productive, specially since it is hard to get a team together to do it.

That is why I sent those suggestions regarding putting a gold sink to get points multipliers on the void pool.

Edit: Also, the void pool needs maps to get shadow iron, cooper and bronze as well. There's only gold and higher available there.
For the lumber ones, ash maps would be handy too.

 

[Tjalle]

Agatha: Hi. - With the upcoming Vice vs. Virture, are Faction "Arties" being kept? Or will players need to
Mesanna: hi Agatha
Agatha: adjust their suits in advance?
Misk: similar artifacts will be made available
Agatha: Some of the mods on faction artifacts can essentially make or break a suit, which is why I asked.
Misk: with identical or potentially better stats

About this. ^
I asked what is quoted below in the other Virtue vs Vice thread but don´t think anyone answered it so will try again here:

Is there any possibility to not add the new Artifacts to Siege if this new system gets implemented?


Powerful artifacts should not be able to be easily bought through a vending system on Siege. Too similar to insurance IMO.
If a VvV player fights a non-VvV player and dies then he should have to go through the same trouble to re-equip as the non-VvV player would if he was the one who died.
Both sides should be dependant on the revamp loot farming and the imbuing made by crafters.

 

[Kyronix]

About this. ^
I asked what is quoted below in the other Virtue vs Vice thread but don´t think anyone answered it so will try again here:

We will take careful note of how artifact availability will effect Abyss rule sets and address any balancing concerns before it gets introduced.

 

[Tjalle]

Thanks a lot for your reply, Kyronix.

 

[Tomarke]

Thanks for the extra info. We have a few items available as void pool rewards that will convert various resources to higher level ones. Have you had any experience with those at all?

So instead of fixing the spawn of the higher level ores so that miners can actually go out and mine, we are going to have to go to a dungeon to grind to get points in combat in order to get items in order change the ore we mined into higher level ore?

Can't we just fix the spawns so that a miner can go out and get sufficient amount of the various ores needed in an acceptable amount of time to support themselves instead of taking another system from crafters and tying it to combat?

If I am misunderstanding this statement please let me know, but the way I read it now makes me very unhappy.

 

[Lug]

So instead of fixing the spawn of the higher level ores so that miners can actually go out and mine, we are going to have to go to a dungeon to grind to get points in combat in order to get items in order change the ore we mined into higher level ore?

Can't we just fix the spawns so that a miner can go out and get sufficient amount of the various ores needed in an acceptable amount of time to support themselves instead of taking another system from crafters and tying it to combat?

If I am misunderstanding this statement please let me know, but the way I read it now makes me very unhappy.

I 100% agree. The spawn rate for rare resources is far to low.

 

[BeaIank]

Thanks for the extra info. We have a few items available as void pool rewards that will convert various resources to higher level ones. Have you had any experience with those at all?

Now that dinner is taken care off, I can elaborate on this.
The resource maps are nice, but also have a poor return for the time invested.
The valorite one costs 2000 points and delivers between 240 and 250 ore, of which you will burn away 35% or so, meaning you will get about 320 valorite ingots.
To get 2000 points with the average of 50 points per hour that I am clocking, it would take 40 game hours. About two full weekends, considering that you do nothing but sit on the void pool for 10 hours on a Saturday and a Sunday.
That makes 8 valorite ingots per hour you spend down a the void pool.

In order to make this more viable, you need to increase the amount of ore you get from the map at least 20 times, making it 160 valorite ingots per hour.

Sure, there is the talisman that allows you to smelt 750 valorite ore with 100% success chance, and it costs 500 points, so another 10 hours for this. And to make it worthwhile, you need to have the 750 valorite ore, so you have to do get at least 3 valorite maps to use it, or 6000 points (120 game hours).
The concept behind them is pretty nice, the execution, not so much.

 

[Merus]

I am just curious why as a Dev team you are so ardently opposed to some pay per use for the the city stone buffs? Is it just because it isn't your idea? It completely escapes me. There is no organizing on small shards, there aren't that many people. Forcing a small shard to pay the same as a populated shard like Atlantic just means the city buffs rarely if ever get used. No amount of city titles or city banners is going to change that on a small shard where everyone who wanted a city banner got one a year ago.

Putting the city buffs on a per use basis levels the playing field between shards. Those who want the city buff contribute to it on an equal basis. I can virtually guarantee that you would see city buff utilization double or triple on most every shard (except maybe Atlantic) if you put in a pay per use feature. What would be so wrong with more people participating? Listen to what your small shard governors are telling you. Please listen. We don't need more "fixes" that don't make any difference for a population that isn't there.

 

[Kyronix]

So instead of fixing the spawn of the higher level ores so that miners can actually go out and mine, we are going to have to go to a dungeon to grind to get points in combat in order to get items in order change the ore we mined into higher level ore?

Can't we just fix the spawns so that a miner can go out and get sufficient amount of the various ores needed in an acceptable amount of time to support themselves instead of taking another system from crafters and tying it to combat?

If I am misunderstanding this statement please let me know, but the way I read it now makes me very unhappy.

If you'll permit me a question, what are you using most of your high end resources for? The original intent was to try and create a symbiosis between crafter and warrior in that the warrior could provide a useful crafting tool that would stimulate economic flow. We do run into a problem though, when the crafter and the warrior are characters of the same player who are splitting their limited playtime between two activities. I think we can find a solution for that, but before we do I think it'd be useful to know what crafters are spending their high level resources on. Are you selling higher resource level armor/weapons? Filling BoDs? This will help figure out the best solution

 

[Dot_Warner]

City buffs need to be pay-per-use AND the individual should be able to choose their own buff.

Why? On average shards, donations just don't cover the cost. While fundraisers might generate some income, that's a LOT of time expended for a meager return...and it relies on people being honest enough to turn in their gold. The buffs just aren't a big enough draw for most people as they are, a fish pie is really easy to come by.

While a cut of the banner and title sales is a start, how often are these currently purchased? Banners have been out for quite some time, I'm betting they have reached a saturation point. The titles are even more iffy, since they don't actually mean anything or confer value beyond vanity

Allowing people to chose their own buff gives the citizens choice. Having the Gov set the buff only benefits those that want that buff. And before anyone says that a player can switch to another city with the buff they want, switching takes a week. Even having the cities coordinate their buffs won't cut it, as people will eventually migrate to the cities with the "best" buffs. In the end, this just continues to lessen the RP opportunities that this system is supposedly designed to foster.

More options = more opportunities. More opportunities = system longevity.

 

[Erigo]

If you'll permit me a question, what are you using most of your high end resources for? The original intent was to try and create a symbiosis between crafter and warrior in that the warrior could provide a useful crafting tool that would stimulate economic flow. We do run into a problem though, when the crafter and the warrior are characters of the same player who are splitting their limited playtime between two activities. I think we can find a solution for that, but before we do I think it'd be useful to know what crafters are spending their high level resources on. Are you selling higher resource level armor/weapons? Filling BoDs? This will help figure out the best solution

I sell almost all of mine. Only problems I have is (1) having to get/fill/turn-in BODs to get the garg pickaxes and prospecting tools and (2) keeping vendor stocked especially with color ingots. Ratio of regular ore to color ore is not a problem for me. I spend about 15 hours a week mining.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

Verite in particular is a problem for filling bods for runic hammers. I've got dozens of them piling up, and I'm not a heavy miner

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Tomarke]

If you'll permit me a question, what are you using most of your high end resources for? The original intent was to try and create a symbiosis between crafter and warrior in that the warrior could provide a useful crafting tool that would stimulate economic flow. We do run into a problem though, when the crafter and the warrior are characters of the same player who are splitting their limited playtime between two activities. I think we can find a solution for that, but before we do I think it'd be useful to know what crafters are spending their high level resources on. Are you selling higher resource level armor/weapons? Filling BoDs? This will help figure out the best solution

Honestly, all of the above except for selling them. I mine/lumberjack to use my resources to make suits/weapons for people I know or myself, fill BODs, etc. Every board, piece of leather or ingot I gather is for my own use.

The overall complaint I have is that every time I turn around I'm being forced to sit in a dungeon and farm for Shame style loot to fill out a suit or sell, or farm for Mynax arties to trade in for other actually useful items, and so on and so on. Anything worth having in this game is had by sitting in a dungeon farming. It's a grindfest to get the skills you need to sit in a dungeon to farm.
To avoid this vicious cycle I decided to take up crafting which I do enjoy but in order to imbue I have to sit and farm for imbuing resources by...wait for it...you guessed it...fighting. In order to craft magical items I again have to go out and kill things until that special ingredient decides to drop. I've spent more time in dungeons trying to craft lately than when I was just farming for loot. And now I'm hearing that in order to gather colored ingots that I used to gather rather efficiently 10 years ago, I'm going to have to sit in a dungeon and farm. In order to reforge I need to get runics which means I need to fill BODs, which means I need colored ingots, which means that soon I'll be sitting in a dungeon farming for points to get the tools I need to get colored ingots.

I came back to this game two years ago because I was looking for something which would give me alternatives to the mindless grindfest going on in more modern games and ever since then every step taken forward in the development of this game has been to make people sit in dungeons. I do not enjoy pvp, and I honestly would rather cut my wrists before I go back to Shame, Blackthorn or any other dungeon which doesn't leave a whole lot keeping me here.

I apologize for the tone of this response, I am not mad at you or any of the dev team personally. I know you all have a very difficult job trying to keep all of us happy but I am very disheartened with the direction non-combat systems in this game are taking, which is forced combat. At this point, I would just like to go out and mine or lumberjack and be able to show something for my efforts.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Dot_Warner]

Easy fix for resources. End the rotating spawn crap, it clearly hasn't deterred scripters, only hurt your casual players.

If you want to deter scripters, enforce the ToS and ban them. If you're too afraid to ban them due to revenue loss, well...then we're screwed and you might as well embrace them instead of containing to punish the casual player.

Potentially damned if you do, definitely damned if you do nothing.

P.S. Putting crafting items that in content which requires combat tends to defeat the purpose in most cases. Personally, I don't know anyone who does the Void Pool (or Despise) anymore.

 

[soze]

Honestly, all of the above except for selling them. I mine/lumberjack to use my resources to make suits/weapons for people I know or myself, fill BODs, etc. Every board, piece of leather or ingot I gather is for my own use.



I came back to this game two years ago because I was looking for something which would give me alternatives to the mindless grindfest going on in more modern games and ever since then every step taken forward in the development of this game has been to make people sit in dungeons. I do not enjoy pvp, and I honestly would rather cut my wrists before I go back to Shame, Blackthorn or any other dungeon which doesn't leave a whole lot keeping me here.

I apologize for the tone of this response, I am not mad at you or any of the dev team personally. I know you all have a very difficult job trying to keep all of us happy but I am very disheartened with the direction non-combat systems in this game are taking, which is forced combat. At this point, I would just like to go out and mine or lumberjack and be able to show something for my efforts.

Thanks for listening.

The above is really a good reason why I am resisting coming back.....the relative simplicity of getting from a Point A to a Point B now involves Point A1, A2, B1-B17,etc.

Adding new content to a game doesn't mean it has to be overly complicated. Personally (and more on a side note) I HATE what happened to Despise. I loved that dungeon and spent a lot of time there when i used to play....before the changes. It is a really good example of unnecessary changes made....

 

[Tomarke]

Easy fix for resources. End the rotating spawn crap, it clearly hasn't deterred scripters, only hurt your casual players.

If you want to deter scripters, enforce the ToS and ban them. If you're too afraid to ban them due to revenue loss, well...then we're screwed and you might as well embrace them instead of containing to punish the casual player.

Potentially damned if you do, definitely damned if you do nothing.

P.S. Putting crafting items that in content which requires combat tends to defeat the purpose in most cases. Personally, I don't know anyone who does the Void Pool (or Despise) anymore.

Thank you for stating what I was trying to say so succinctly. I tend to ramble incoherently at times.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

About ore, its not that hard to find enough with prosp tools and pickaxes. Its just that its so frustrating to melt it! Its depressing to say the least. And fighters have all forgotten about the pool as there isnt anything of interest for them to get from reward list. So its rare you get some company and can get points! The waiting is also a plob. In the beginning you could get a bunch of people doin it but when the 15 min was gone thety had wandered off to something else.

 

[Uriah Heep]

Easy fix for resources. End the rotating spawn crap, it clearly hasn't deterred scripters, only hurt your casual players.

This. Very few have the time or patience to spend days hunting for that particular ore's random spot, so they can maybe get enough for a suit or two. But the scriptors, it makes no difference to them...they work all day anyway. The intentions were noble, but the real effect wasn't. I know the devs hate to hear about the old days and setting things back, etc etc, but this is one thing I think really really needs to be turnedd back.

 

[TandaBSK]

So many levels of this game depend on supply and demand. A lot of that became very skewed as most players have shifted their account structures to be as self sufficient as possible. Meaning that skills are divide up between 7 characters, my mules (crafters/gathers) have very little in the way of defense/offensive skills. When they were created the idea was I maximized the number of linked gathering/crafting combinations as best I can. I can't dungeon crawl on my miner, there is enough skill to recall/travel without walking -period. Fairly early on, you find out if your the PvP type, PVE/PVM type, merchant type, crafter type, fisher or t mapper sort. On some level your accounts are a mix of what it takes to excel or be efficient in what you enjoy most. When I began many miners had a fighting skill. We had community at the smithy shop, you had tailors you could hire.. YOU didn't have every single skill in your own stable of characters. As loss to dishonesty and theft increased so did those who suffered through building mules. I rarely ever repaired items for folks because it was so easy to be accused of some nefarious act. Trust and reputation are important to me. Repair deeds fixed the risk factor. Downside is the community interlink was damaged beyond fixing. Can't stuff that genie back in the bottle.

I don't see how the randomizing of ore, lumber etc has fixed anything. It would seem there would be less incentive to script/macro if the profit margin was lower. More supply, semi constant demand, lower prices. As a merchant in game, what I put on my vendors and at what price is determined by what is on my shard at what price and what I have to put in either to gather, create or buy it. I do old fashion market research I look through most every vendor in Luna on Great Lakes, hit all my vendor books, fix the price range in my head I'm seeing and go accordingly. If no one is selling Clothing Bless Deeds right now the price you can get maybe 400 to 600k if they're available easy only 200 to 300k. It becomes an art to try to stock what sells for a reasonable mark up quickly, vendor fees eat up profits. Yes, I do the same thing on Atlantic and a few other shards. I wander about and note prices.

The market in game/economy swings wildly, and sort of governs itself. I get asked a lot "what is this worth" and my standard answer is an item is worth what a willing buyer is able and willing to pay for it at that moment. Today 60k iron ingots might fetch 900k tomorrow you might get 1,200,000. It all depends on A. is there a demand, B. How much is available to be had at what prices C. Is your buyer willing to put in the hours to gather them for "free" What is they're play time worth?? That pretty much holds for all things except Rares, and even then to an extent it applies only it is what they're time is worth is is HOW badly do you want that for your collection of pixels. I vendor based on my character/ethics meaning I keep track of my costs (raw materials, purchase price, time, a portion of vendor fees) I research prices, I factor in what I think is a reasonable margin, some items I sell at cost, some I may double my investment on or more, some I run 30%. I try to make sure I'm not pricing too many out of my market. I accept someone is going to buy some of it mark up my price 100% over what they bought it for and resell it. It is the nature of the beast. I don't sell much in the way of resources because I can't compete price wise, and I can't restock my supply quick enough to craft and sell resources.

We're always going to have those who will pay gold for resources. The amount of profit to be made on 1 item may diminish instead of 20 gp per iron ingot you may only be able to get 12 or so, but there will always be those who will opt to spend their game time fighting over being a mule. The trick is to find a way for the crafter/mules to make enough gold to have fun, be able to buy what they wish or need or hire it out. Some means to bring back an interaction between different player types. There is little incentive right now for legitimate mules to do more than sustain themselves. As much as folks gripe about scripting and macro users when it comes to bottom line there is no way for anyone to put their "money" where they mouth is. You can't pay player x 30 gp per ingot because their time is spent mining legally with any assurance that is the truth. So in the end you opt for what is the easiest on your pocketbook.

If the price on resources drops globally for all shards because the supply is higher, sellers will shift strategy. Markets flux.

 

[G.v.P]

Zath Stoneworker: As it stands now, it is quite dire on people who are trying to start the game for the first time.
Mesanna: agreed
Zath Stoneworker: They get very poor equipment, and there is no good hunting grounds to teach them the basics of the game while rewarding them.

We didn't have ANYTHING back in 1999 when I started, except for a handy, physical manual, which I studied like a holy scripture. I'm not sure it's a "dire" situation?

Ok, here's my idea. What if the quests from New Haven gave maps you could read, like the Vendor Search (except don't make these drop runes/teleport!) and the maps had a context menu by which you could "track" the location (newbs need to move around!), similar to the High Seas Orc Ships and stuff? This way new players would know where to go after accepting a quest.

Zath Stoneworker: Ore and lumber, mostly. Mining seems to not pay the time you invest on it, and getting enough to fill BODS can prove to be a challenge.
Mesanna: Then you are going to love what Kyronix is going to tell you
Kyronix : Well you'll be able to get some much better equipment compared to what is out there now
Kyronix : Right now, in development, we have changes that remove the old loot generation
Kyronix : And replace it with what many refer to as "Shame Style" loo t
Kyronix : And rolling that out globally

How does the loot change pertain to BODs? You don't currently get random modded loot from BODs? Am I missing something, here?

Caelyr: you've mentioned at times that you all have a lot on your plates
Mesanna: always
Caelyr: and recently asked for ideas on new rewards, etc
Mesanna: yes sir
Caelyr: would you consider broadening that to allow for user generated content?
Mesanna: define that
Caelyr: such as art assets and other things which would consume precious hours
Caelyr: perhaps ideas or content could be voted for democratically
Caelyr: steam, for example, has its workshops
Mesanna: this is true
Mesanna: its something that we can look into
Mesanna: since we are Broadsword and not EA
Mesanna: that option is actually open to us
Mesanna: so I will not say no

Cool. Someone make an Alpha mod, quick! Release the children!

Mesanna: dragon turtles!!

Can we tame them? ;P

1) How can I kill it?
2) What's the loot?
3) Can we tame them?
Rules to live by ;P

Agatha: Hi. - With the upcoming Vice vs. Virture, are Faction "Arties" being kept? Or will players need to
Mesanna: hi Agatha
Agatha: adjust their suits in advance?
Misk: similar artifacts will be made available
Agatha: Some of the mods on faction artifacts can essentially make or break a suit, which is why I asked.
Misk: with identical or potentially better stats
[...]
Mesanna: I was on the team when they first put in Factions
Mesanna: it was broken then
Mesanna: I was on the team when they tried to fix factions
Mesanna: it was worse after that
Mesanna: everytime it just seems to get worse
Mesanna: time for a change

I appreciate the candor, but adding "similar artifacts" is just more of the same, encouraging players to use cookie cutter item templates. Is that really needed with reforging and Shame loot around? I hope the focus of Vice vs. Virtue will be an enjoyable combat system rather than another item dispenser.

 

[BeaIank]

We didn't have ANYTHING back in 1999 when I started, except for a handy, physical manual, which I studied like a holy scripture. I'm not sure it's a "dire" situation?

Ok, here's my idea. What if the quests from New Haven gave maps you could read, like the Vendor Search (except don't make these drop runes/teleport!) and the maps had a context menu by which you could "track" the location (newbs need to move around!), similar to the High Seas Orc Ships and stuff? This way new players would know where to go after accepting a quest.

When you started, the game was much simpler and vendor bought equipment was sufficient to survive around.
And you had a manual. Not much the case in both accounts nowadays.

When I started, 30+ months ago, I spent two weeks frustrated trying to figure a way to secure level 5 to 8 magery scrolls so that I could continue training my mage.
I had no idea of what the equipment properties stood for, how they worked together, what was good for a mage and what was not.
After two weeks a vet finally noticed me an gave me some basic information about the current state of them game, a full magery book and a LRC suit.
It was rather frustrating having to rely on the kindness of a vet to have access to something as basic as magery spells, something that should be found in the loot of monsters around the area newbies will start and train.
I only stuck during those two weeks around because I am stubborn.

How many potential subscriptions had we lost because the newbies couldn't even understand the basics of the game or didn't have access to decent enough gear to have fun while learning the ropes around the game?

That is a pretty dire situation for me.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

We were quasi-against the clock as we wanted to address as many questions as possible, but I wanted to ask - what is it about resource gathering specifically that you find challenging?

@Kyronix --- I have to agree here. Resources are tough to find naturally. For example, GRANITE... holy hell! I think in my time back I've mined maybe 50 total shadow granite, which is the most popular. Gems are also sparse. High end ores and wood as Bealank mentions too. I think we should make shovels/pickaxes customized to what exactly you want to mine, for example: Set to Gems, Set to Precious Gems, Set to Granite, Set to Ore --- the higher your skill in mining the more top-end resource you'll gather. I would love to see 120 mining and 120 lumberjacking added as well.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

Thanks @Flair for posting this summary. I worked that night and was not able to attend the Legends meeting. I would have asked if there any plans to allow something like moongates between shards.

 

[G.v.P]

When I started, 30+ months ago, I spent two weeks frustrated trying to figure a way to secure level 5 to 8 magery scrolls so that I could continue training my mage.
I had no idea of what the equipment properties stood for, how they worked together, what was good for a mage and what was not.

That's certainly true, with post AOS mods fully considered. But also remember that, in an MMO back then where you didn't have a choice and could be PK'd anywhere (two people could combo explode ebolt newbs to death and not feel any repercussions), role models were just as important then, if not more important. I remember the first time someone trapped me in their house with a trash barrel, and killed me after I obtained my first full set of bone armor for my title character. It took me forever to get my own set, going to the lost lands between Delucia and Papua, luring off skeletons and being careful not to be poisoned by Silver Serpents (which you used to run away from like there was no tomorrow) or magic casting spectre. After I was PK'd a Blacksmith named Magarock (if my memory serves me right) took me in and gave me a free set of armor, and proved to me that the entire world wasn't a cold, dark place.

What you described to me is far from dire and more in keeping with the some 200+ counselor applications Mesanna cited. The people who are willing to help build communities. But generally, the old adage in an MMO where you can have multiple characters per a server is to start a melee character first. A spell caster is almost always more expensive to start up. Imagine if you'd continue playing without the option of LRC, which we never had? ;P

But ok, old game, new game aside, let's look at the current game, because we could definitely go back and forth about what was and what is. When we start a character today, the first thing we are looking at is pick a shard. We take a look at three confusing options:

> TIME ZONE
> % FULL
> CONNECTION

For me, Time Zone gives Legends, which seems accurate. But for Connection? They give me, an East Coaster, Oceania. What does that mean? As for percent full, I imagine the first shard that pops up, Mugen, must have the most people on the server online at this time? I'm not really sure, because Atlantic is second from last, with Test Center being the final one on the list.

If Time Zone is the only usable sort function that makes sense to the end user, why are the other two even there?

So I decide to create a character on Wakoku, the second "% full," or, what I will assume, as a newb, is the second most populated shard in the game. I have templates to choose from after I make my character, and I choose mage, then I can select a starting city. The default is New Haven, which, if I read, tells me such. I can select other cities (which might not have been available 30 months ago, as they've tinkered with this part), and each city tells me a little something, as it did in 1999 (I chose Minoc, for mining). The only thing here I'd consider changing is to have it so when you click the arrow to change from one facet to the other, have it choose a default for each page, so that if you click to go forward to Ter Mur it changes to Royal City, then if you click to go forward to Trammel, it defaults to New Haven. Additionally, to address your concern about getting lvl 5-8 spells, I would revamp New Magincia by giving it a graveyard and having it as an alternative New Player town (the New Magincia Bazaar is by far the best way, right now, to acquire spells outside of buying a 64-spell magery book).

As soon as you log in you are greeted by the ALL NAMES report of an NPC called "Sir Helper," who you double-click. He gives you some information as to how to find out about different trainers, which is enough to get you to the next step.

I go to the magery instructor and the first thing I read is "Go East out of town," so I do that. I open my bag and I don't know that putting scrolls in my spellbook is a better idea than using them, and probably lose them that way, but in doing so I now have 16 physical resist (reactive armor) instead of the start up of 0. I then see ULTIMA CODES spamming in global chat, and I have no idea where this text is coming from, or how to respond.

I find Old Haven and I know I'm in the right place because I hear a weird sound. I have no idea what spells to use and find I have to single click a spell in my spellbook to get information. I see "Magic Arrow" uses only one reagent, although I don't know what reagents are yet, and so I use this spell to kill a skeleton. 11 sulfurous ash later I kill the skeleton and run in to your first problem. My loot is bone armor leggings which I can't wear because I don't have 55 STR. Even if I did, I'll later find, I can't wear them for a second reason, as they are not Mage Armor. I also get 35 gold, which is hardly worth the kill as I just spent 33 gold in reagents trying to kill the thing. Luckily I have 1,000 gold in my backpack for when I inevitably find out I am out of reagents and could never buy them back with my newb income.

After I go through that entire process, getting all the skills into their 50s, the "then what" is very apparent. You go back to town and there is nothing telling you about how you can use global chat, nothing telling you about how you can get to other towns, etc. You will also not be able to get anything other than regular leather armor unless someone drops loot at the New Haven bank. Otherwise, at this time, no one is at Wakoku bank. Other than the ULTIMA CODES spam, I am all alone.

 

[Tjalle]

Maybe a new BOD reward could be "coloured" pickaxes/shovels with let´s say 50 or 100 uses which will only yeald the ore that is the colour of the tool. For example "A copper pickaxe" or " A pickaxe made out of copper". So no matter what type of ore the vein would normally give, if mined with a Copper pickaxe you would get 50/100 copper ore.

The reward could either be random like the anvils or have set rewards for all the colours.
Best would be if the reward required only normal ingots to fill to not have us waste coloured ingots to get more coloured ingots.
Could use the 20 exceptional normal iron BODs to give a 90% on a random coloured tool and 10% on the +3 gloves. The reason I recommend those is that you also need some of those to get Powder of Fortification so this way you have to plan a little.

Could be a nice and needed addition to the smith BOD system and would give crafters a good way to get more coloured ingots by just mining and crafting.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

After I go through that entire process, getting all the skills into their 50s, the "then what" is very apparent. You go back to town and there is nothing telling you about how you can use global chat, nothing telling you about how you can get to other towns, etc. You will also not be able to get anything other than regular leather armor unless someone drops loot at the New Haven bank. Otherwise, at this time, no one is at Wakoku bank. Other than the ULTIMA CODES spam, I am all alone.

"After I go through that entire process, getting all the skills into their 50s, the "then what" is very apparent. "
Did you mean after getting your skills into the 50s, what do next is NOT very apparent?
I don't remember wondering that when I started out about seven years ago - just like every other RPG I had ever played, I figured my goal was to raise my skills and get more gold for better armor by killing harder monsters, so that's what I did (not saying everyone will want to kill things, but to me it seemed pretty apparent I'd have a hard time without finding some way to make gold).
I appreciate your recreation of what's it like to be a new player, and I enjoyed reading it, but I'm not sure we should assume the new player is as clueless as all that - although @BeaIank seems to be saying she pretty much was when she first started (she certainly is not clueless now). That kind of surprises me, because I would think most players with any kind of gaming background are used to doing some research on game mechanics, guides or whatever. It wasn't long after I started googling UO questions that I discovered the stratics guides, and after that uoguide.com. Was my experience really so unusual, maybe because I had played so many RPGs for years before UO?

 

[BeaIank]

I knew pretty well what I should do next after I trained up to 50 on the chosen skills.
Get up to level 6 magery spells so that I could try to find dungeons, mark a rune there (mark itself being a level 6 spell, and thus not available for newbies, since no NPC vendor drops it, no monster in the graveyards near the main cities drop it either and so on) to then try to venture inside. I was even stocking reagents because I had no idea about the AoS mods in armour, and being a long time Ultima player, I knew much of the micromanagement hell of the magery reagents.

And neither UOGuide nor stratics had a page to show me what to kill and where to get to those monsters to fill my spellbook or how to equip my mage.

But once I established myself, I have since ran into many newbies that were far more clueless than I was, not knowing even how to talk to NPCs or how to buy skills.
I've spared a good deal of time with them explaining the game basics, the places to hunt, which skills to use and equipping them as well as I could.

But... not all vets are around all the time to do that. As I have shown, it took two weeks on Legends for one to notice me.
Many new players will get frustrated and quit the game after spending an hour or so being clueless around, so the game has to do better to explain it's very basics to them, so they have a better chance to stick around.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Gathering. With the global revamp loot coming. Just have at least half the armor and weapons already come enhanced. Bag for unraveling and a bag of recycling. And for the love of all that is good make bone armor able to recycle for bone.

There was no problem for higher end ore for filling BODs. Then Bribery came along and now even finding I have a barbed leather shortage. Besides the white wyrm in Ice there is no real productive area to gather barbed. GD tend to slow a hunt untill they are kited off. Maybe that sea dragon turtle will be barbed skinned. Nice beach heavy spawn area they come to lay eggs and we can club them over the head. Shadow Wyrms work but the area they spawn is cramped.

Again look at the Dull Copper BOD reward list. And have axe spawning of dull eli with 25 ore already. Having gold eli spawn area and not improve the dulls really show nobody thinking for the game plays the game. The old rare ore eli invasion was great. The real problem is we do not have an elemental champ spawn with a spread of rare ores spawning. There should be a perma Fel and Ilsh spawn area for an elemental champ. Ore collecting fixed and the scripters be damned.

Coffe maker. The first ask & answer live had an equally useful question. "Can we have a dye tub for arrows and bolts?"

 

[solembow]

The game's 17 years old excuse doesn't fly with me. If you're actively accepting subs, then you'd damn sure better be able to update the game accordingly. I don't care if it's 30 years old. I am paying to play this game, fix and update it as such. Or go F2P and get new players and revenue. It's getting ridiculous at this point.

 

[CovenantX]

@Kyronix Is there any specific publish we can expect to see Global Shame-Loot is being rolled out?

 

[G.v.P]

"After I go through that entire process, getting all the skills into their 50s, the "then what" is very apparent. "
Did you mean after getting your skills into the 50s, what do next is NOT very apparent?

You know me, I tend to write and write. Yep, the NOT should have been there! lol (or inferred).

I don't remember wondering that when I started out about seven years ago - just like every other RPG I had ever played, I figured my goal was to raise my skills and get more gold for better armor by killing harder monsters, so that's what I did (not saying everyone will want to kill things, but to me it seemed pretty apparent I'd have a hard time without finding some way to make gold).

Since I studied the T2A manual, I agree, back when I started I had a fair grasp of what to do next (what with the 100 skill caps).

I appreciate your recreation of what's it like to be a new player, and I enjoyed reading it, but I'm not sure we should assume the new player is as clueless as all that - although @BeaIank seems to be saying she pretty much was when she first started (she certainly is not clueless now). That kind of surprises me, because I would think most players with any kind of gaming background are used to doing some research on game mechanics, guides or whatever. It wasn't long after I started googling UO questions that I discovered the stratics guides, and after that uoguide.com. Was my experience really so unusual, maybe because I had played so many RPGs for years before UO?

Well, I think the crux is, whether you study a manual, whether you might assume what's next, in modern games having a solid "new player experience" is really important. A lot of things out there are intuitive, but if you can ship our a new player experience which allows you to use the game itself as a manual, that's a much better new player experience than having to Google search.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

I knew pretty well what I should do next after I trained up to 50 on the chosen skills.
Get up to level 6 magery spells so that I could try to find dungeons, mark a rune there (mark itself being a level 6 spell, and thus not available for newbies, since no NPC vendor drops it, no monster in the graveyards near the main cities drop it either and so on) to then try to venture inside. I was even stocking reagents because I had no idea about the AoS mods in armour, and being a long time Ultima player, I knew much of the micromanagement hell of the magery reagents.

And neither UOGuide nor stratics had a page to show me what to kill and where to get to those monsters to fill my spellbook or how to equip my mage.

But once I established myself, I have since ran into many newbies that were far more clueless than I was, not knowing even how to talk to NPCs or how to buy skills.
I've spared a good deal of time with them explaining the game basics, the places to hunt, which skills to use and equipping them as well as I could.

But... not all vets are around all the time to do that. As I have shown, it took two weeks on Legends for one to notice me.
Many new players will get frustrated and quit the game after spending an hour or so being clueless around, so the game has to do better to explain it's very basics to them, so they have a better chance to stick around.

You raise some good points. BTW, if you actually went around collecting individual scrolls to fill your spellbook, you're to be commended for the effort. It's so much easier to just to kill things for 10k and buy a full spellbook. But I'm not sure of any natural in-game mechanic that could clue a new player that there are full spellbooks available for sale - other than another player mentioning it or the new vendor search that has just become a click option on the characters. I also notice on Atlantic that the Help channel is always busy with new players asking questions and older players answering them, which I find refreshing. But again, I'm not sure how a new player would find out there is a help channel other than another player mentioning it or accidentally discovering it in the GUI.

 

[Jerec KTM]

QFT...

I am just curious why as a Dev team you are so ardently opposed to some pay per use for the the city stone buffs? Is it just because it isn't your idea? It completely escapes me. There is no organizing on small shards, there aren't that many people. Forcing a small shard to pay the same as a populated shard like Atlantic just means the city buffs rarely if ever get used. No amount of city titles or city banners is going to change that on a small shard where everyone who wanted a city banner got one a year ago.

Putting the city buffs on a per use basis levels the playing field between shards. Those who want the city buff contribute to it on an equal basis. I can virtually guarantee that you would see city buff utilization double or triple on most every shard (except maybe Atlantic) if you put in a pay per use feature. What would be so wrong with more people participating? Listen to what your small shard governors are telling you. Please listen. We don't need more "fixes" that don't make any difference for a population that isn't there.

...as this seems to be the only sensible explanation for the head in the mud response on the issue.

We're giving you a slice of the banners and titles! Yay! (oops, everyone bought those years ago)

We're giving you new tools such as fairs! and marketplaces!!! Yay! (oops, forget raising money as you are going to have to offer at least 20-30 million in prize money out of your own pocket to get 5 or 6 people to show because this isn't an EM event with a 400 mil item drop!!!!!11 Oh, and lets not forget you are also going to have to pay to use these 'suites')

 

[popps]

If you'll permit me a question, what are you using most of your high end resources for? The original intent was to try and create a symbiosis between crafter and warrior in that the warrior could provide a useful crafting tool that would stimulate economic flow. We do run into a problem though, when the crafter and the warrior are characters of the same player who are splitting their limited playtime between two activities. I think we can find a solution for that, but before we do I think it'd be useful to know what crafters are spending their high level resources on. Are you selling higher resource level armor/weapons? Filling BoDs? This will help figure out the best solution

I think you nailed it down.....

The problem with nowadays Ultima Online is that too many players want to do all.....

That is, the player wants to play fighting AND crafting but finds themselves clashing with limited time doing both.

Personally, I support wholeheartedly your idea to keep the 2 areas separate thus supporting economic flow in the game from crafters to fighters and from fighters to crafters. Please resist the temptation to surrender to players cries who want to do both things also at high levels and thus ask for changes to make high end resources more readily available so that they can support their self sufficiency without needing to resort to other players for their needs.

Ultima Online is a multi-player game but in order to maintain a multi-player economy the roles should and must be kept separate and those who want to play mostly fighters can do so relying to other players for their crafting needs and those players who want to play crafters for most of their time can rely on fighters for their needs in that regards.

The only thing that you, as developers, must always keep an eye on, is in having the system well balanced.
That is, wherever the fighters need to be able to gather the financial needs through their hunting to afford what crafters can provide to them, likewise crafters need to be able to gather the financial needs to be able to afford whatever the fighters might be supposed to provide to them.

Otherwise, we end up with a richer class and a poorer class in the game which means players tending to gather the class which can get more wealthy rather then the class which will remain poorer....

So far, considering the complexity of the system for crafting high end armour/weapons I say you are on the right path as only those players who truly want to endevour into crafting will invest so much of their time into learning how the system works.

But you must stay vigil and not surrender to cries from players to change the system too much to make it even further possible as it currently is to support self sufficiency playing styles which hurt the multi-player characteristics of UO and a functional crafters <--> fighters economy.

Keep up the good job !!

P.S. As in regards to the upcoming Counselors, I DO HOPE that it is being planned totally different that of Events currently play out.

My gripe with events is that I find it totally outrageous that they have been playing out as a rares factory......

My take is that most players just participate because of event items' drops which are sold right away for hundeds upon hundreds of millions and this is just not right nor healthy for the game, IMHO.

Event items should merely be a memento for the participation to a given Shard's Event, should never ever be tradeable (i.e. selleable...) to other players, should be account bound, and stay on that Shard they were generated only, never ever be capable of being transferred to other Shards, period, end of the story.

This, not only because the trading of them is outrageous and empties out the Event of meaning in regards to that Shard's history, but also and perhaps most importantly, because in the long run it just destroys another area of the game, that of rares collecting and trading.

Why ?

Because if rares become infinite (as they are becoming with the multiplication of rares from Events on all of the various Shards every month that goes by...), then collecting them can become a daunting task to many players who might think "why bother ?" considering the enormous number of them and always increasing every month that goes, and this might shy away from UO further players who could therefore loose interest in yet another playing area of the game.

I hope therefore, that the handling of Counselors will indeed take into account all of the mistakes that were done with Events on Shards.

Please, do make Shard Events' items account bound, not tradeable and not transferable away from the Shard that they were generated on. They must simply stay a memento in the history of that Shard and not a lift to become rich overnight.

Thanks.

 

[solembow]

The problem with nowadays Ultima Online is that too many players want to do all.....

I'm sorry but this statement and the one from Kryonix are just plain ridiculous. First off you're talking about a game whose shards are mostly ghost towns save for Atlantic and one or two others. On most shards a player cannot simply be a fighter and rely on others to provide him with all of his needs. Have you looked at vendors on shards other than Atlantic??? They are empty...and of the ones who are actually selling something, it's all imbuing ingredients and arties that the simple fighter could never afford. A stack of 10 imbuing regs goes for a minimum of 200k, and we all know how much the final products cost! So your choice is either farm/make it yourself or be bent over by those who do.

Population has a large hand in this lack of goods, but there's another culprit as well....Age of Shadows.

AoS took a skill based game where there was not a whole lot of difference between people's gear and flipped it onto it's head. Your friendly neighborhood blacksmiths that used to stock their stores with GM armor and weapons disappeared in favor of LRC suit/Artie vendors. The itemisation of the game killed the simple crafter, and made way for those who as you say..."Want to do it all".

Because, now you can't be just a Crafter either...as crafting now a days requires of one thing....Imbuing. There's no reason to craft anything without it, and a simple Crafter can't just simply gather Imbuing ingredients now can they? No...you have to do Mini-spawns, kill Bouras, Mine and Lumberjack in Ter Mur, and fish for those white pearls! After all of that, you still need to pay Real life money if you want to craft and sell suits!

The game has forced us as players to Have to do it all...and again I can't imagine how our lead programmer can be this out of touch with the game he's in charge of developing.

Another reason people seem to "Want to do it all" ?

You give players 6-7 character slots per shard! What else are we going to do with them all? Am I to have 3 Archers arching? 2 Fighters Fighting and a Tamer in a pear tree? Theres only so many melee/spell casting/taming characters one account can handle. This game almost forces you to make a crafting character simply by giving them so many character slots to use! I mean it's almost moronic not to have your own mules and craft/farm for yourself.

Kryonix honestly, if you feel people should be only crafters and or only fighting characters you're really honestly out of touch. This game has not been like that for a veeeeery long time....and we all know it never will be again. We need to develop/update for the game we have, not the one we remember having.

 

[Kyronix]

Kryonix honestly, if you feel people should be only crafters and or only fighting characters you're really honestly out of touch. This game has not been like that for a veeeeery long time....and we all know it never will be again. We need to develop/update for the game we have, not the one we remember having.

I think whatever people want to do in game, is what they should do in game. I was referring to Bealank's assertion that they have to spend a lot of time in combat to support their crafting, which isn't ideal for them. On a larger population shard the resources and tools needed by crafters may be available in ample supply, however on a smaller population shard this may not be the case. I have hopes that vendor search will encourage people to setup vendors and either sell off their excess, or get into selling in general. I also think that there are other solutions available as well. At the very least it has encouraged the team to have discussions about it and plan something for future publishes.

 

[BeaIank]

If you guys come up with something that makes lumberjacking and mining a pleasant activity instead of a barely rewarding chore as it is now, we are more likely to start seeing resources vendors popping here and there. I know I will spend more time mining if it rewards my time better, and with that I will be able to set up shop to sell the excess.
Why go out mine for one hour (in Fel, because Tram mining is even worse) to get a meager 2K iron ingots when I can spend one hour at the golden elemental room to get 12K golden ingots and 80+ crystalline blackrock?
I fill my iron bods with golden because it is much more available than iron ingots.

Right now mining simply doesn't pay off, and you just can't compete with the scripters.

 

[popps]

If you guys come up with something that makes lumberjacking and mining a pleasant activity instead of a barely rewarding chore as it is now, we are more likely to start seeing resources vendors popping here and there. I know I will spend more time mining if it rewards my time better, and with that I will be able to set up shop to sell the excess.
Why go out mine for one hour (in Fel, because Tram mining is even worse) to get a meager 2K iron ingots when I can spend one hour at the golden elemental room to get 12K golden ingots and 80+ crystalline blackrock?
I fill my iron bods with golden because it is much more available than iron ingots.

Right now mining simply doesn't pay off, and you just can't compete with the scripters.

You nailed the problem right there : scripters.

The #1 motif why gathering of resources is not rewarding to players who play legittimately (i.e. not scripting), is because of scripters who, basically, devalue the worth of the time one plays in the game.

If it takes me X hours of game play of my actual time sat at the keyboard to gather frostwood, of course I have to give to this time a value as compared to any other activity I could have done in the game in the same time.

Unfortunately, since scripters can do that same activity 24/7 even without being at the keyboard, they will be able to undersell my frostwood hundreds of times thus making MY time in the game gathering resources, not worth it at all. I better do else, get gold and buy resources from the scripters.

But this, alienates me and players like me from entire chunks of activities in the game like Resource gatherings, Quests, Library Collectibles and so forth. Scripters push me out of entire sections of the game which I "could" drive entertainment from thus increasing my UO experience and thus staying with the game for more as my game play WILL be more varied.

That is why the fight against scripters, I always said it, and keep saying it, should have been and IS priority #1 for the well being of Ultima Online and I have never understood why instead scripters have not been much opposed in this game.

Scripting hurts, does not help UO in the long run, IMHO.

As in regards to Shards being too few populated to support a division of tasks between crafters and fighters well, I think we ended up here also because when the population to support this division was sufficiently large the division of tasks between crafters and fighters was not implemented, unfortunately (and also scripting was not fought as hard as it should have been...). Personally, I think that if scripting had had a zero tolerance policy early on as well as a division between crafters and fighters was implemented years ago, perhaps today we would see more populated shards because more players would have kept interest in playing UO being able to play a larger variety of activities in the game....

That said, I hope that the scarce population might be if not reversed at least improved with returning players and who knows, if resources become better even with new players on the wave of an entire new expansion (with ads and all the bells and whistles) but definately I think that the right way to go is with design choices which tend to maintain crafting and fighting separate activities and stimulating as much as possible interaction between players and a fighters <--> crafters economy.

For example, there could be a promotion that rewards somehow players actively playing their in-game time on less populated shards rather than on larger populated shards.

What type of rewards ? I do not know, feel free to bring up ideas, but having incentives for players to log and actually play on less populated shards rather than high populated shards could be a possible way to increase the population across all shards and not just on some....

 

[solembow]

I think whatever people want to do in game, is what they should do in game. I was referring to Bealank's assertion that they have to spend a lot of time in combat to support their crafting, which isn't ideal for them. On a larger population shard the resources and tools needed by crafters may be available in ample supply, however on a smaller population shard this may not be the case. I have hopes that vendor search will encourage people to setup vendors and either sell off their excess, or get into selling in general. I also think that there are other solutions available as well. At the very least it has encouraged the team to have discussions about it and plan something for future publishes.

This is quite the politically correct response, but I do appreciate your position and your response none the less. Vendor search is already existing in a working format on a rather popular website and it has done nothing to add to vendor traffic. A in-game version that works at all while it would be nice not to alt-tab will do nothing to change the landscape of vendors in this game. Luna will continue to be the only place to sell things on dead shards ( every other shard other than Atlantic )...and the rich will as always get richer.

I would love to hear the other solutions, because the vendor search isn't going to bring anything to the game that doesn't already exist.

That is why the fight against scripters, I always said it, and keep saying it, should have been and IS priority #1 for the well being of Ultima Online and I have never understood why instead scripters have not been much opposed in this game.

Scripting hurts, does not help UO in the long run, IMHO.

The biggest problem is that if they banned all the accounts who script, there wouldn't be enough revenue to keep the lights on.

 

[Captn Norrington]

The biggest problem is that if they banned all the accounts who script, there wouldn't be enough revenue to keep the lights on.

They don't have to ban "all" the scripters, just the top 5 or top 10 and then the rest would get scared and start following the rules again.

 

[solembow]

They don't have to ban "all" the scripters, just the top 5 or top 10 and then the rest would get scared and start following the rules again.

That worked so well with Markee Dragon eh? They literally burned his house in game and it stopped absolutely nothing.