NEWS [UO.Com] Ask and Answer

[UO News]

From the Devs
2013 May 06 19:58 GMT
1 UO Stratics
Regarding the loot table for Charybdis, at present the few we've been able to do seem to only ever give a Regeneration Piece drop to the summoning fisher. As that's usually me, I don't know what happens for the others, but they've reported seeing a message that I get the drop. Does this mean there's nothing special on Charybdis for those who help kill him, or are there mysteries still to be found deep within the wobbly bits of this most rare of encounters? (Adol )

Misk- Aside from the standard loot found on the corpse of Charybdis there is currently one piece of the Regeneration (Virtuous/Villainous) armor given out per Charybdis encounter. The system first attempts to provide the armor to the summoner if that player is within range. If that first attempt fails it then tries to provide the reward to a player on the top attacker list. If that second attempt fails then the armor is simply placed onto the corpse of Charybdis. There have actually been recent discussion on the team about adding some new and improved loot to the encounter.


2. UO Stratics
Do talisman slayers have any affect on caster summons? For example, if I am a mystic and have a bird slayer talisman equipped, will my Rising Colossus have slayer damage ability if I am fighting swoop? Are there any cases where talisman slayers benefit casters (mages, mystics, necros)? What about tamers or bards? The only use I can find for slayer talismans is for warrior classes and I want to verify that my info is correct. Thank you. (Obsidian)

Kyronix: Slayers only benefit the object they are equipped on, which would be the player.

3. UO Stratics
Durability loss
How is durability loss calculated on weapons and armor through wear? Does swamp dragon armor damage reduction cause armor to wear more slowly? Do resist increase refinements cause armor to wear more quickly? Does parrying cause wear to shields or weapons? (Gheed)

Bleak - There are several ways to lose durability on equipped items. When defenders take damage there are two chances to lose durability. Attacking with a weapon will always have a chance to lose durability on the weapon . Armor chance to lose durability is 15% and weapon chance to lose scales from 15% - 65% based on weapon speed. Swamp dragon armor damage reduction does not negate durability loss. Refinements currently do not cause armor to wear more quickly. Parrying will also result in shields as well as attacker and defender weapons having a chance to lose durability.


4. UO StraticsIs modding the 2d client still against the TOS?
With the introduction of UI modding with the EC client does this mean we can modify the 2d client within the same TOS constraints as the EC client? (Cycloknight)

Mesanna: The Classic Client is not built for modding where as the Enchanced Client was coded for it. So the answer is no you can not alter the Classic client.


5. UO StraticsCan the Enhanced Client download New Players get have Pinco's included?Since New Players are most likely going to download the Enhanced Client option, can Pinco's mods be automatically included in the game client they wind up with? The current EC client UI that New Players run into after the client download is finished is pretty basic. (Tanivar)

Mesanna: We do not own Pinco’s client therefore are unable to have it available when you download the client.

6.UO StraticsWhy do golems have blood?
How come when I smack a Golem in the EC I get a nice spatter of blood? Shouldn't they be squirting hydraulic fluid or something? (nexus)

Mesanna: We will look into the option to keep it from bleeding.

Continue reading...

 

[Obsidian]

Thanks for the confirmation on Slayer Talismans. Now that said, could slayer talismans be modified to affect:

- bard songs
- tames and summons under control of the taly wearer

This could open up some additional uses for slayer talismans. Something to consider.

 

[Lord Lew]

While your at it, can I have an actual tank with armor piercing rounds, evidently the greater dragon is not doing enough damage!!!!

 

[Pinco]

Thanks for the confirmation on Slayer Talismans. Now that said, could slayer talismans be modified to affect:

- bard songs
- tames and summons under control of the taly wearer

This could open up some additional uses for slayer talismans. Something to consider.

they forget to say that talismans slayer DO NOT affects spells, just weapon damage.

 

[G.v.P]

Thanks for the confirmation on Slayer Talismans

It'll be nice to have a point of reference for those who swear by Bird Slayer Talismans to kill Swoops while on their tamer, and the like...lol

 

[weins201]

Thanks for the confirmation on Slayer Talismans. Now that said, could slayer talismans be modified to affect:

- bard songs
- tames and summons under control of the taly wearer

This could open up some additional uses for slayer talismans. Something to consider.

NO NONNONONONNNOOONONO

 

[Viper09]

NO NONNONONONNNOOONONO

Why?

 

[MalagAste]

It'll be nice to have a point of reference for those who swear by Bird Slayer Talismans to kill Swoops while on their tamer, and the like...lol

Bird Slayers do NOTHING for Tamers or Mages. And you can't give your pet a talisman.

 

[Tanivar]

Pinco, how about considering offering EA a deal on the right to add your EC mod to the Enhanced Client download so new players run into a reasonably useful UI when they download the Enhanced Client? That basic thing they get now seriously needs the help.

 

[Berethrain]

Phew....glad all the important questions are out of the way now.

 

[Promathia]

6.UO StraticsWhy do golems have blood?
How come when I smack a Golem in the EC I get a nice spatter of blood? Shouldn't they be squirting hydraulic fluid or something? (nexus)

Mesanna: We will look into the option to keep it from bleeding.

Thank god

 

[Eht/Longbow]

Hydraulic fluid is often red in RL... That was a wasted question.

 

[Logrus]

Thanks for the confirmation on Slayer Talismans. Now that said, could slayer talismans be modified to affect:

- bard songs
- tames and summons under control of the taly wearer

This could open up some additional uses for slayer talismans. Something to consider.

Bards get their slayer effects through instruments already, though tamers could probably benefit from having the slayers applied to their pets, though I don't think summons need to be enhanced.

 

[puni666]

Why didn't anyone ask about the useless tomb stones in all the random locations of UO? Get rid of those before golem blood...

 

[Uvtha]

Why didn't anyone ask about the useless tomb stones in all the random locations of UO? Get rid of those before golem blood...

Like fel desolation? I hate desolation. Makes my trees look dead.

 

[G.v.P]

Bird Slayers do NOTHING for Tamers or Mages. And you can't give your pet a talisman.

I know--maybe I didn't phrase what I said right, but I'm saying, it'll be nice to have a point of reference for when people insist talismans work for pets, etc.

 

[Vexxed]

Wasted ask & answer...

1) Randomly obscure. YEAH...one person wanted to know that...

2) Common knowledge.

3) Common knowledge. If it gets used it loses dura...

4) Common knowledge. Modding CC has ALWAYS been against TOS. Glad that confusion was cleared up.

5) PINCOS? Dont ask if the answer doesnt matter. If a newbie is using EC and says that in gen chat how long b4 Pincos is mentioned?

6) Again...dont ask if....... this one irked me the most. Its meaningless in every way. Explaing reforging in depth could have been asked etc...


Anyway.. true to my name!

 

[Viper09]

If it was common knowledge it would not have been submitted as a question...

 

[Vexxed]

If it was common knowledge it would not have been submitted as a question...

INCORRECT...

The durability question is one that Id bet 9/10 UO players could approximate based off play experience / common sense.

The bird slayer one is rediculous. Does my dragon hit for double with it on or not?

 

[Gheed]

INCORRECT...

The durability question is one that Id bet 9/10 UO players could approximate based off play experience / common sense.

Ya I kind of figured the durability question worked something along the lines of what was explained. But I couldn't find a definitive answer and I don't care much for approximations. So now I know it is a flat out percentage/damage chance and not something odd like each point of durability having it's own set of invisible hit points(similar to swampy armor). And that damage reduction from swamp armor or bard buffs have no effect on durability wear from reduced damage. I know that high resist on one piece of armor won't cause it to take more wear on receiving that damage type. I know the only thing I can do to reduce durability loss on armor is to increase parry.

But more importantly I know I can extend the life of my weapon by decreasing parry. I repair my weapon 5 or 6 times before armor durability gets low. Makes sense because I'm usually swinging at cap. But for low damage farming mobs it doesn't make much sense (to me) to have parry. These types of mobs don't hit hard and suits are (sometimes) easier to build then weapons, if they require 100% element damage for low resist. In these situations I would also be doing my bush dexer a favor using a shield. Just let mob wail on my armor for wear chance instead of moving 30% of those hits to weapon wear chance through two-hand parry, which is already getting max chance of wear through swing cap. Kind of always thought that though. But now I know.

It also allows me to maybe suggest giving some less desirable mods a bit of a boost. Like changing the durability tag to lower wear chance percentage instead of increasing the over-all durability pool, A nice buff for Dull Copper, Shadow, Valorite enhance. Possibly even replace lower requirements of gold with the revamped durability mod.

 

[cazador]

What is the correct key sequence to walk?

How long does it take to recall if I have 1 faster casting?

Why when I die does my screen turn grey?

How old is Rikktor?

How long does it take to get from Moonglow Moongate to the bank single clicking?

What's a paladin?

All legit ?'s

 

[cdavbar]

4) Common knowledge. Modding CC has ALWAYS been against TOS. Glad that confusion was cleared up.

Not that they can tell if you do anyways

 

[Vexxed]

Ok Gheed I really do like your number munchkin-ness & at least you gave it some serious thought before asking the Devs about it. I do think you were hoping for a miracle though & that the answer would be drastically different allowing you some clever solution to durability loss problems. After reading what you wrote I picture you farming Clay golems in a Darkwood (3 self repair suit). I will tease you about the swampy or even quantity of resist idea that such things could effect durability. Ive always just processed it as "if it / you take dmg your incurring durability loss". Heck even the note about ATTACKING a parry person making the attackers weapon ( if parried) lose durabilty has always made sense.. Anyway here is where I ended up last time I thought about it....

*Chiv+ pita to make high end runic selr repair wep. TIME but worth it. Cannot imbue though hence EEO
*Multiple 100% elemental imbued weps.. Easy / best solution.
*Kill w/ fewer hits. I didnt realize inherent swing effected dura loss though but less hits = kill was enough.
*Armor.. dont get hit. HLA weps. Mirror images. Refine / hi DCI. SUMMONS / pets etc.

OK..this horse is dead heh.

 

[DJAd]

Where do I submit questions for this?

 

[Tanivar]

Where do I submit questions for this?

http://stratics.com/community/threads/tweak-requests-suggestions.298553/#post-2268656

This is stickied at the top of the Ask the Devs forum at the top of Uhall.

 

[Dag Nabbit]

....though tamers could probably benefit from having the slayers applied to their pets, though I don't think summons need to be enhanced.

Isn't a 1,000+ hp gdragon that does decent damage enough for one character to have? Giving a top-end gdragon slayer damage would be like giving my warrior a talisman that grants a bonus 850 hps.

 

[DJAd]

http://stratics.com/community/threads/tweak-requests-suggestions.298553/#post-2268656

This is stickied at the top of the Ask the Devs forum at the top of Uhall.

Thanks. I just had a read and it seems more suggestions for the game. I just want to ask when we can expect things like the vendor search, new payment methods, no more gold etc. They are constantly teasing us with these big changes and then it all goes quiet for ages. Are we talking weeks, months or years?

They always come back with "We shall add this to the list" which is a cop out answer in my opinion.

Why don't the devs post their magical list of things to do with UO and then let the players vote on which should be dealt with first.

 

[Voodoo Bad Mojo]

What is the correct key sequence to walk?

How long does it take to recall if I have 1 faster casting?

Why when I die does my screen turn grey?

How old is Rikktor?

How long does it take to get from Moonglow Moongate to the bank single clicking?

What's a paladin?

All legit ?'s

after looking at your list i couldnt help but go and test that one for you.
67 seconds.
average time tested over 10 runs, both with and without armor and SSI.
though strangely enough it was faster to do it naked in fel.....

 

[budman23]

Lets face it fishing is a FAIL, this whole Charybdis encounter was a MEGA FAIL.
Who's the genius on this team that thought first trying to get the obscurity of a 120 fishing scroll then to find out pretty much with everything with fishing is fail.
The suit pieces are horrible, they are not only not worth getting you would look pretty stupid wasting time to get them.
Then we are supposed to be encouraged to do anything with fishing LOL, complete waste of time.
Ultima Online has enough wastes of time we didn't need more crap like this. This was completely unfinished forced into production to make money.
Stop adding useless half done crap like this unless your trying to end this game.

In closing not only is fishing more worthless than item id, you got a lot of us to try it just so we could hate you people more.
Improve the loot? LOL you better improve the loot by about 1000 fold if you want anyone to care in the future.

BTW congrats on everyone who wastes time fishing cause that all it is, is a waste of time.

I closed my account with my fisher and I haven't looked back.

 

[Pinco]

Pinco, how about considering offering EA a deal on the right to add your EC mod to the Enhanced Client download so new players run into a reasonably useful UI when they download the Enhanced Client? That basic thing they get now seriously needs the help.

The UI itself is basically opensource, but I doubt they will dirstribute something made by someone else, because they can't know if the images or sound have some kind of copyright restriction and by distributing them they can get some trouble with the law.

 

[Tanivar]

Thanks. I just had a read and it seems more suggestions for the game. ...

... Why don't the devs post their magical list of things to do with UO and then let the players vote on which should be dealt with first.

The list is a place to put small suggestions for game changes that people can 'Like' to show they agree it would be a good idea, a tidy thread that can give the Devs an easy to scan list with a number of player votes given as 'Likes'. It is set up this way to avoid the list becoming a pile of 'Replies' to ideas suggested. Ideas can be posted and be 'Liked' by many people or not 'Liked' by anyone else, or somewhere in between.

Make a post in the thread saying something the Devs have spoke of would be good to have soon and the rest of us can 'Like' it to pile our votes onto it if we think it would be great to have soon as well. Such a vote could move it up the Dev's Things to Do list.

 

[Tanivar]

The UI itself is basically opensource, but I doubt they will dirstribute something made by someone else, because they can't know if the images or sound have some kind of copyright restriction and by distributing them they can get some trouble with the law.

With it being basically opensource maybe the Devs will sit down and write some code to add some of your UI's features to the default client then. Smoothing away some of the current default client's rough edges.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Questions go in the usual place, the ask and answer forum.
Ask & answer was becoming a request for changes instead of a request for information. Suggestions therefore now have their own sticky thread instead.

 

[kelmo]

I know a lot of folks that like fishing in game. It is a matter of personal preference.

 

[Pinco]

With it being basically opensource maybe the Devs will sit down and write some code to add some of your UI's features to the default client then. Smoothing away some of the current default client's rough edges.

EC come always after everything else and there are 4 people working on UO... so if I have to choose between a better default UI or some of the needed fix for the client I will point all on the fixes and who cares about the default UI... If they want to put my UI around without risks, they could just put a button or a link somewhere after install: "Download Pinco's UI" with a message after clicking it: "This UI is a third party addon and EA has nothing to do with it" and les jeux sont fait

 

[CovenantX]

Thanks for the confirmation on Slayer Talismans. Now that said, could slayer talismans be modified to affect:

- bard songs
- tames and summons under control of the taly wearer

This could open up some additional uses for slayer talismans. Something to consider.

and the wielders Spells.

Slayer talismans should work as a Slayer spell-book just as they do for weapons, and they stack with weapons.

 

[CovenantX]

Isn't a 1,000+ hp gdragon that does decent damage enough for one character to have? Giving a top-end gdragon slayer damage would be like giving my warrior a talisman that grants a bonus 850 hps.

Warriors pretty much only use Armor Ignore & Whirlwind in PvM. Some pets use specials (bleed with Greater Dragons), but they're not controllable (the specials) & the pets have limited mana just as the players do, but they do not benefit from Lower Mana Cost.

I've always wanted tamed pets to have an option to gain "Slayer" capabilities, for one, currently they do a fraction of the damage of anything that has a slayer bonus, & secondly (and most importantly) Slayer capabilities for Pets wouldn't screw up pvp.

Keep in mind, if you use a slayer weapon, say Undead slayer, you would be more vulnerable to Repond type monsters while you have the Undead Weapon/spell-book/talisman equipped. so there is advantages/disadvantages for using slayer items. so hopefully (If pets ever get the slayer option) they stick with this system.

 

[cazador]

Slayer pets would be awesome ..like a slayer barding deed..armored dragons/ponies/dogs..once the armor is applied it may not be removed till broken..so once you apply it your stuck with it till it breaks, cannot be overwritten

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I know a lot of folks that like fishing in game. It is a matter of personal preference.

Preference and the fish pies. While those are a niche market, it's a niche market that exists.

-Galen's player

 

[cdavbar]

but they do not benefit from Lower Mana Cost.

Nevermind, im an idiot, read your post wrong.

 

[Theo_GL]

INCORRECT...

The durability question is one that Id bet 9/10 UO players could approximate based off play experience / common sense.

The bird slayer one is rediculous. Does my dragon hit for double with it on or not?

Whoa there young fella! Do you mean in the 2d client you can tell the difference between pet damage taken and pet damage given? They are THE SAME COLOR NUMBER. I've asked for this fix since the first day they put the ability to have pet damage shown. If they did this - then yes, you could very easily tell difference between slayer/no slayer.

I concur though - this list is a waste of everyone time. Of course, they had to pick questions the dev team could actually answer so only the most rudimentary ones were chosen.

 

[MalagAste]

Isn't a 1,000+ hp gdragon that does decent damage enough for one character to have? Giving a top-end gdragon slayer damage would be like giving my warrior a talisman that grants a bonus 850 hps.

Warriors pretty much only use Armor Ignore & Whirlwind in PvM. Some pets use specials (bleed with Greater Dragons), but they're not controllable (the specials) & the pets have limited mana just as the players do, but they do not benefit from Lower Mana Cost.

I've always wanted tamed pets to have an option to gain "Slayer" capabilities, for one, currently they do a fraction of the damage of anything that has a slayer bonus, & secondly (and most importantly) Slayer capabilities for Pets wouldn't screw up pvp.

Keep in mind, if you use a slayer weapon, say Undead slayer, you would be more vulnerable to Repond type monsters while you have the Undead Weapon/spell-book/talisman equipped. so there is advantages/disadvantages for using slayer items. so hopefully (If pets ever get the slayer option) they stick with this system.

Tamed pets are great and all and yes a Greater Dragon with 1,000 hp + is awesome but 95% of tamers not only don't have such a beast but they will tell you that my Greater is great.... as a Tank. But he does somewhere between 5 and 35 points of damage to a mob per his "swing".... which is 125 DEX so you can imagine how often he does something...... I'd like it if he did his fire attack all the time and did bleed... more often etc.... but more often than not he just bites a little or claws and does 5 to 10 points of damage..... now if I'm a bard I have peacing or maybe provo not too often do I have discord which might be good but as good as that might be for my dragon it's not really great for me works better for you hitting at 180+ a shot with AI etc..... while I might be able to throw a few fireballs or in most cases because I don't have Eval I can only use a feeble mindblast which might do 5 to 15 damage if I'm lucky unless I eat a pie, use a scrapper slayer, drink some potion and turn around 3 times click my heels together and pray I might be able to pull maybe a 50 on a great day... But since I have 360 points wrapped up in my pet skills I really don't have much else going for me. Now maybe I put on spellweaving and do a few hundred at the end with a 6th circle focus and word of death..... But not all tamers are created equally.

Your dreaming if you think that Greater is doing mass damage...... before you tame them they can do some really nasty damage..... afterwards when their stats and all are halfed or more not so much. They tank well and you can fight bigger things without having to constantly heal and rez your pet...... that is all.

Having played PvM for years with both a Tamer and various tamer templates and an Archer on a regular basis I can tell you that my archer can do 10X the damage a Tamer and GD do any day of the week.

The reason you see so many Tamers using them is because they don't die the second a big boss sneezes on it. There is no way you can take a Rune Beetle or Mare or anything else to do most the big bosses anymore because those things will rip thru your pet in under 5 seconds. Greater Dragons have a much greater chance to live for more than 5 seconds. That's why you see them used more.

 

[Adol]

Wasted ask & answer...

1) Randomly obscure. YEAH...one person wanted to know that...

Just because no one invites you to their events doesn't mean everyone else didn't get a ticket... Fortunately some of us care enough about others and them having a rewarding time, that people want to come back to my parties anyway even if, as it's now confirmed, the best they can expect is a couple of fish steaks. That's very silly, and I hope the Devs will indeed look at opening out content and rewards to more people. Perhaps they could use the fishing net mechanism; the original caster "Hooks" Charybdis via the bait at the Oracle spot, and can't move once he triggers, but to completely drag him up others have to drop fishing nets to finally yank him to the surface, and anyone involved in that netting gets a shot at some form of loot table too. Or maybe they could use a "Winch" mounted on the ship in a cannon slot or the Britannia deed spots... the player has to maybe slot the Oracle into it to activate it, and stay "directing" it at the Charybdis spot with bait on the end, whilst the crew aboard can madly click on it and "winch" him in, and at the end are rewarded again (the winch is recording who was involved natch, using the EM clicky item code)...

Meanwhile Mr Vexxy, if you'd stop being such a moaning minnie and get off your tush and ask questions that interest you, you wouldn't be so "vexxed"... but I suspect you rather like being "wasted" and grumpy, you adorable little lazy rascal you! *tussles your hair*

 

[Adol]

The reason you see so many Tamers using them is because they don't die the second a big boss sneezes on it. There is no way you can take a Rune Beetle or Mare or anything else to do most the big bosses anymore because those things will rip thru your pet in under 5 seconds. Greater Dragons have a much greater chance to live for more than 5 seconds. That's why you see them used more.

Pretty much this; a Nightmare and Rune Beetle combination actually does far more damage output, but they'll die far too quickly to make it actually count. A Cu Sidhe will rip through Succubi faster than a Greater Dragon can, but apart from Fan Dancer Dojo you never get the peace and space to apply it's cold damage in a targetted way... Greater Dragons are the pet of choice simply for the all round tanking ability, and the fact you the tamer can more easily hide under them.

Of course, giving Pets a Slayer Bonus also means giving them the Slayer Vulnerability (at least, if we're talking 1 to 1 mapping) which would completely ruin the ability of Greater Dragons to perform that role, as they'd be taking double damage from all the other mobs they'd be tanking with at the same time. I'd much rather see some way of giving a "Taunt" to pets, and thus pulling damage onto the stronger of the mixed pet group, whilst leaving the Greater Dragons as the huge generic meat shield for everything option... certainly you'd see more of EM events if people weren't automatically bringing the screen blocking big fellas and were gambling on being able to risk a DPS set up instead. It would also open up comedy options of having a 4 slot beasty doing all the fighting whilst the 1 slot chicken nibbles at their heals.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Like having a mage miner, a mage tamer is also outdated. Pets bond and recall now with their owner. Mage tamer is only needed for pets sales and zoo turn in. True there are the area effect bosses. Like Proxy there is a better template for that fight then a tamer. Archer Pally Tamer is the classic bring your own meatshield template. Really not a mage tamer template but more a luck tamer template. The real fail of the mage tamer template is more the game no longer promotes group hunting. And just like weapon user is always looking for clean elemental damage weapons to Imbue. Tamers need a new spread of GD versions that do damage towards the elemental damage. Breath and spell use heavy to their elemental lifestyle. Observe the damage a necro's skelly dragon does compared to a GD and have soemthing else to fuel the fire.

 

[dupapa]

EC come always after everything else and there are 4 people working on UO... so if I have to choose between a better default UI or some of the needed fix for the client I will point all on the fixes and who cares about the default UI... If they want to put my UI around without risks, they could just put a button or a link somewhere after install: "Download Pinco's UI" with a message after clicking it: "This UI is a third party addon and EA has nothing to do with it" and les jeux sont fait

This is what ea need to do. Defo get pinco by default

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tazar]

EC come always after everything else and there are 4 people working on UO...

I've seen you post this several times... and my count is still higher than this.

Mesanna
Bleak
Kryonix
Ms Troublemaker
Onifirk (Art Guy)
Misk

and it seems like there are several more that I can't remember based on holiday named items then subtracting EM, GM team names. Unless several more have left that I did not hear about, I'd ask that we stop slamming the team with inaccurate information please.

 

[Gospel]

I've seen you post this several times... and my count is still higher than this.

Mesanna
Bleak
Kryonix
Ms Troublemaker
Onifirk (Art Guy)
Misk

and it seems like there are several more that I can't remember based on holiday named items then subtracting EM, GM team names. Unless several more have left that I did not hear about, I'd ask that we stop slamming the team with inaccurate information please.

Way to single one guy out for a common opinion.

 

[cazador]

I've seen you post this several times... and my count is still higher than this.

Mesanna
Bleak
Kryonix
Ms Troublemaker
Onifirk (Art Guy)
Misk

and it seems like there are several more that I can't remember based on holiday named items then subtracting EM, GM team names. Unless several more have left that I did not hear about, I'd ask that we stop slamming the team with inaccurate information please.

Oh yea how many of them sit behind the desk and bang out code ? 1-2?

 

[Gheed]

Oh yea how many of them sit behind the desk and bang out code ? 1-2?

For this team I think the art guy would have it the worst. Breaking down new content, you need a story, new art and new code. A couple of devs like Bleak and Kryonix could get a lot done on a 3 month publish cycle, even in mid term goals like mini expansions. And there are a lot of ways to go with that, Another level below the abyss, the unused areas on fire isle around the underworld entrance, more town related content. The EM's have done a wonderful job writing content. A lot of global arc fiction has centered around their writing. Several events I have attended were written and scripted well enough to be global arc pieces. And then you have Mesanna. Opinions may vary but she been around for a long time. No one else could understand what the team is capable of and how best to utilize what resources remain.

But the art guy gets pounded for resources by them all.

So I'm not completely gloom and doom on our little game just yet. I don't think we will ever see another major expansion and have no hope for the EC. But there is still a lot of room for adding small content and improving the vast body of current content, skills and systems that this game already has to offer.