A new edition of the Ultima Online Newsletter has been released you can read the newsletter via the Continue Reading link below.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
If you're just now going to Kotl City, there probably isn't much reason to question incentives for it.Everything seems pretty cool.
I've never been to the Kotl City, so I went there this morning.
@Kyronix, I have to ask, if you remove most of the reward content, and move the remainder to a skill (which I fully support), what is the incentive to visit this location?
Doesn't really matter to me one way or the other, just wondering....
I've been busy most of the summer. Just thought I'd check it out.If you're just now going to Kotl City, there probably isn't much reason to question incentives for it.
Who says the next publish won't have some new use for that space? Not saying that it definitely will or won't... or that our Devs aren't capable of wasting development time... but hopefully they realize the same thing we do and have a plan. Perhaps that's just wishful thinking.Turning off the ONLY REASON to visit Kotlan is a bad, bad idea. Eodon will be empty after mid-November.
Then they should communicate said plans now, instead of making it appear the area will go to waste. The cone of silence and NSA-level secrecy is only hurting them at this point.Who says the next publish won't have some new use for that space? Not saying that it definitely will or won't... or that our Devs aren't capable of wasting development time... but hopefully they realize the same thing we do and have a plan. Perhaps that's just wishful thinking.
Agreed. Only reason you see me there is working towards a few sets of boots and the recipes. Not much else there interests me. Havent even done the roof, the only thing I really wanted was the bow...and as long as it had the velocity on it it isn't worth having. *shrugs*Turning off the ONLY REASON to visit Kotlan is a bad, bad idea. Eodon will be empty after mid-November.
Who said it needs to draw anyone to that location after November?I've been busy most of the summer. Just thought I'd check it out.
If it is set up so that what is supposed to draw players to that location is a set of rewards and the rewards are removed, what is supposed to draw players to that location? I mean, all that time and money invested in building the city, seems unlikely it will just be left empty.........but it is UO.
Just wondering what the background thinking is.
Of course, a player might just want to see the lighting effects, which are actually pretty cool. I like the green glowies.
There's the Dragon Turtle, Shadowguard, the Myrmidex Threat quest, the Queen/Zippy timesink, and then Kotlan. They're removing 1/5th of Eodon's active, engaging content. Not many people do the Threat quest anymore, sooo...thats 2/5ths down. (And the Turtle is rarely done anymore because...*yawn*)Who said it needs to draw anyone to that location after November?
There is still a lot of newer content in Eodon.
I'm not sure I agree that there is any harm in not disclosing what (if any) plans they might have for that area. At the same time, I don't know that I think it would hurt anything either. All I am saying is that it wouldn't surprise me to see something about what will be in that area in the next publish notes. If it was always their intention for the TOK to be a temporary cycle, it would seem only logical that they had some idea of putting something there after the drops were stopped.Then they should communicate said plans now, instead of making it appear the area will go to waste. The cone of silence and NSA-level secrecy is only hurting them at this point.
Isn't the whole point to add things to the game that make people want to play the game and therefore subscribe to the game?Who said it needs to draw anyone to that location after November?
09/10, 09/11, 09/22. A bunch more are coming up next month, some on the same dates on a third master account. thank you Dot_ Warner, I will definitely heed your advice and try to spread out the update renewals. I am in email contact with support presently.@Spellbound Do the accounts all renew on the same day? The CC company might be seeing multiple charges for the exact same amount from the same entity occur within minutes of each other and reject them as possible fraud.
Might want to try renewing them individually a few days apart and see if it works.
Yep, and they did add things that made people want to play.Isn't the whole point to add things to the game that make people want to play the game and therefore subscribe to the game?
Why bother to spend limited development resources on something, anything, and then remove it?
For months the dev team has been saying they don't have the money/time/personnel power to create one-off content, so it seems odd to me that that is exactly what they have decided to do. Or maybe since the items stay in the game, it is considered permanent content, even if the gameplay associated with generating those items is removed.
Like I said previously, Kotl City itself doesn't really matter to me one way or the other. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this from a "why develop in this manner" standpoint. More of a behind the scenes thing on my part actually.
I guess I feel that the actual gameplay to get the items, is more important than the items themselves. So on a system level I would favor gameplay, but on a specific level of "this should happen with Kotl City" I don't really care. I just want to see the underlying systems in the game to give people something to do (and therefore subscribe).
An equal number of players probably feel the opposite about the importance of gameplay vs. items.
The dev team probably (hopefully) has something in mind to replace the removed content with, but it still seems like a lot of work to set the whole scenario up and then just have it cease to be.
Well, to be fair, if the Turtle dropped something other than an egg and some generic loot (not counting primers/pinks) people might do it more. The chance for one egg isn't enough to make people want to go over and over.The problem is when they add things, it's summed up in this sentiment by Dot: (And the Turtle is rarely done anymore because...*yawn*)
Don't misunderstand, I wasn't being critical of what you were saying because the turtle spawn sucks.Well, to be fair, if the Turtle dropped something other than an egg and some generic loot (not counting primers/pinks) people might do it more. The chance for one egg isn't enough to make people want to go over and over.
Simple fix would be to add the chance of a Shadowguard or quest reward from it on a Doom-like point system. Multiple eggs, etc.
Well, looks like you never tried to get a runic Fletching tool in Heartwood. You craft something, turn it in and get junk most of the time. Thats boring and frustrating. Bods are way better. I wouldnt call it fun, but its rewarding. You craft, turn in and most of the time get the reward you wanted. Better than doing most bosses where you collect keys, do the boss, loot is crap and useful drops are rare. I am fine with Bods. Hopefully you can also get runic mallet and chisel this way.Am i the only person that finds BODing to be one of the most insanely boring, tedious,and just purely non-joyable aspects of this game? Not to be negative but what i take away from this is that they are removing a reason to visit kotl - something that should be fun, and if tweaked a bit could be a lot of fun - and transferring those rewards to something that just isn't fun. Is it me or does it seem that this newcontent is being wasted? Do players want this? And can someone explain to me how collecting/filling BODs is fun?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not super fond of the Kotl City thing. I think the "puzzles" are lame, the fight is boring, and the rewards are mediocre. But for some reason my girl loves it, I think mostly because things at least actually drop there, unlike most UO content where you're just sort of expected to farm for the rest of your life and hope you win the lottery.Waiting on Spocks Beard to bash the devs plan of abandoning reason to visit content...
This has made it into my list of quotes to keep.Deleting content to keep it from getting played out is like shooting your dog to keep it from getting old.
Turtle absolutely needs unique drops other than the egg. I always assumed they would add some, but guess not.Well, to be fair, if the Turtle dropped something other than an egg and some generic loot (not counting primers/pinks) people might do it more. The chance for one egg isn't enough to make people want to go over and over.
Simple fix would be to add the chance of a Shadowguard or quest reward from it on a Doom-like point system. Multiple eggs, etc.
I think the point was the reason the turtle has become boring is because there is no incentive to do it over any other boss encounter once you get an egg, assuming you want one. People still do a lot of the old bosses/champs regularly for example, because they still have desirable drops. I think its really weird turtle doesn't have unique stuff. Seems like a good place for a kick ass "turtle shell" shield or something.The point was that after a while or in some cases short times, they become boring and people lose interest.
I like the concept of various events rotating back and forth.I'm glad they turning off the new eodon arties til next year.
THIS.Taking an event away without replacing it with another is bit weird and utterly needless though. They have around half a dozen of various Treasures of X type of event created. Imho one should always be there, set to replace another. If Kotl goes away come November, then why not have Tokuno,or Doom, or whatever replace it in December or January? It's be nice to have a feeling that something is always either happening or about to happen. These events should not be some once-year annual thing but monthly/bi-monhtly
I actually like there being a yearly event like this, I had no issue with it leaving Doom, in fact I thought it was too bad it was in doom 2 years in a row. The issue I have with it is just that firstly, unlike treasures of Doom being something extra you could do in Doom, Kotl was made for this event. There's nothing else there. Secondly is like I mentioned they had openly stated they were working to provide Eodon with the content it lacked on launch, and this should (hopefully is) part of that.I like the concept of various events rotating back and forth.
Taking an event away without replacing it with another is bit weird and utterly needless though. They have around half a dozen of various Treasures of X type of event created. Imho one should always be there, set to replace another. If Kotl goes away come November, then why not have Tokuno,or Doom, or whatever replace it in December or January? It's be nice to have a feeling that something is always either happening or about to happen. These events should not be some once-year annual thing but monthly/bi-monhtly.
It is, but it has a much slower drop rate.Isn't the Blackthorn's dungeon turn-in content always turned on?
We don't have to have ALL events turned on at ALL times.
The overall point was that the same thing will happen to Kotl city whicj already has started.I think the point was the reason the turtle has become boring is because there is no incentive to do it over any other boss encounter once you get an egg, assuming you want one. People still do a lot of the old bosses/champs regularly for example, because they still have desirable drops. I think its really weird turtle doesn't have unique stuff. Seems like a good place for a kick ass "turtle shell" shield or something.
I have to say I also think that not putting some other reason to visit Kotl after Halloween would be a mistake. Not because I am against temporary events, but because Eodon was introduced with very little content, and I thought this was a part of the effort to give people a reason to visit the area.
I'm really just arguing that something needs to go in there. If it's not this event, there really should be something else.The overall point was that the same thing will happen to Kotl city whicj already has started.
In my opinion, this event has an adequate length.
It's simply a difference of opinion whether it should stay in Eodon.
But looks like they already made the decision so not much to argue here.
This is the exact reason I started to use game-time codes. It was just way too much of a hassle when I started having these kinds of problems. Plus, since I'm an Origin Access member, I get 10% off the codes.@Mesanna
From the newsletter:
3. Anyone that is trying to reopen an account please make sure you send all the information to [email protected] so we can have a record of this. In the original request to support if you do not know your secret word please ask for a hint. Give them all the information to identify the account as yours so there will not be a lot of delays.
Does this apply to 3 UO accounts on 2 master accounts that had the supposedly bad credit card denied this month by EA/BIOWARE/Mythic? My reoccurring PANCAKE nightmare is back every time the card company issues a new expiration date and card security code...never mind the card is 29 years old and the issuing company stated nothing has been blocked and the account is fine.
Even after updating the card info for the 2 master accounts, other accounts under the same master account are getting closed, and not by my choice. On the BIOWARE/Mythic account management site, the card info on the subsequent closures shows the newest numbers. Yet I still had to cancel the new card info and re-input the same card data to reactivate the accounts. I think I will need some assistance in making certain my grandfathered account doesn't get cancelled as well. Must I update the info on my Origin account also to match what is on the account management page? I know Mesanna was able to help last time!
Droprate down there is a pure and utter horror. Period. This droprate insults players.Isn't the Blackthorn's dungeon turn-in content always turned on?
We don't have to have ALL events turned on at ALL times.
I average 3-4 an hour, but it's ridiculous. For the # of mages I kill per hour, I should honestly get MUCH more than that. A few days ago, I decided to see if Balrons would be better with my sampire's normal suit (I usually use the Virtue Armor and Soul Seeker/Mage Slayer Talisman), and I killed a few dozen. I didn't get a single drop out of doing that.Droprate down there is a pure and utter horror. Period. This droprate insults players.
And they treat CC-users like worthless trash (78 Euros vs 49 Euros per account). That's the exact opposite of a good marketing strategy.
QFTDroprate down there is a pure and utter horror. Period. This droprate insults players.
What does QFT mean?QFT
The drop rate is hellishly low. I too killed the mages when the area wasn't camped by the obvious scripter (Every day, 23 hours a day? Seriously? This isn't automatically popping up red flags to GMs?!) I managed to get 100 drops without slitting my wrists so I could get epaulets. Then I remembered I also wanted a woodland belt tangle and much swearing ensued.
Quoted for truthWhat does QFT mean?
I think that's the reason it's so slow. To give the captains purpose. I just wish they were a bit more soloable.I don't think that the drop rate at Blackthorn's is THAT bad. It could be a bit faster, sure, but if you are in a hurry, there are always the captains that can be killed fairly fast, unless the RNG hates you and gives you daemon or fey spawn at the city pods.