Ultima Online Newsletter

[Kyronix]

This newsletter has me worried about BODs now. "Randomness from reward deliveries" as the newsletter puts it, barely even hits the radar with the real problems the BOD system has. I don't know the plan so my concerns might be misplaced, but I feel it is necessary to reiterate the problems with BODs:

1. Quantity 15 - A completely arbitrary complication that, in the current reward framework, makes no sense.
2. Bribing - This is some of the randomness that needs to get cut out of the system. It's also annoying that bribing of all things is a necessity to get value from BODs.
3. Large orders require small orders - Extremely bad idea, I don't think I need to explain this one. This one absolutely has to change or else I am tossing all my LBODs for good. LBODs are a complete waste of time right now.
4. Rewards tied to specific BODs - Here is where my concern is relating to the newsletter. I want a reward list points system. Let every BOD have value. Not only that, but high level rewards, like val runic hammers, shouldn't depend on the rarity of specific BODs, or having to obtain 2000 valorite ingots to redeem.

The BOD system is simply a method of converting ingots into rewards, nothing more. A crafter's ability to do BODs is limited by their ingot supply, and the only reason a crafter should ever be storing BODs, is because they don't have enough ingots on hand to complete them. All BODs should have value. No BODs should be tossed on the ground because they have an undesirable reward.

Thanks for the feedback. I want to specifically talk about point #4 for a moment, since we addressed that in the newsletter specifically. When looking at the BOD system as a whole, and the idea of allowing banking BOD "points" we run into a major imbalance.

Let's take blacksmithing and Valorite runic hammers as an example. As it stands now, that item is only available from large Valorite BODs for exceptional plate suits. Were we to allow banking of points you could bank the requisite number of small, normal blacksmithing BODs to bank enough points to get the Valorite hammer or whatever high end reward you may desire. At that point why even have BODs for anything but low end iron items? What incentive is there to put time into filling large BODs (I know you think their current implementation is burdensome, but that is a topic for another post)...regardless there needs to be a give and take with balance of cost of time to material rarity and overall crafting difficulty and "just" allowing a banking/selection type systems does not provide for that.

That all being said, thoughtful, constructive feedback like this is extremely helpful and we look forward to a continued dialogue as we work through this feature!