NEWS [UO.Com] Ask & Answer No. 13

[UO News]

From the Devs
2013 Jan 25 16:47 GMT
The new Ask and Answers has arrived! The holidays and a business trip had caused a delay in our answers. We now return to our regularly scheduled Ask and Answer posts with a very creative set of questions and answers.

UO Stratics

Moonstone Jewelery - Can a dev please make another statement on this drop? Specifically where does it actually come from now? Is it Fezzik the Chef or a cannibal mage or a chest in Fezzik's area? all ove the previous? Has the drop % been altered because of the increase in difficulty of the target now? Thank you. (Mentiras)

Phoenix: It drops off Fezzik the Chef in a full moon when Venus is in the house of the Orion and the flaming pulsar has crossed the horizon on the first Tuesday of the Month of May. Silly Friday, it is a rare drop as in 1 in 1000 chance. We do not want to make this item a house hold name but we will review it.

There were always rumours about secret halls/rooms/whatever in the Stygian Abyss.
As of today I never heard of anybody know more about this "mystery"... is there really a secret part of the Stygian Abyss/Underworld or is this just what it was - rumours? (MedeaDF)

Mesanna: All false, total rumors *grins*

I was wondering if it would be possible to darken or offer a different color altogether for the journal in the classic client. Some text is very difficult to read and without having to go and change a lot of various text colors simply darkening the journal background color would solve this issue. (Vercingitorix)

Bleak: Even though this is an option in the Enhanced client, the only option we have is to make the journal always default to black. Feedback on that option?

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)

Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

The Bookcases you buy from the UOGameCode store you can engrave but not dye.
-The Bookcases you make from stealing Academic book cases you can dye but not engrave.
I know the Academic bookcases are suppose to be a little more special since you have to steal them but why cant we engrave them? Then the ones you purchase for $3.25 per case....you can engrave but cannot dye? For the Library I am planning to open I purchased over 40 bookcases spending approximately $130.
Now I would buy more to replace the Academic ones except you cant dye them. I would craft more Academic books but I cannot engrave them....
Any chance one of the two could have the ability to do booth? (Lord Gareth)

Mesanna: I cannot answer a question about an item not sold in the Origin store. (psst UOGameCode store does not exist any longer) No one on the team has any objections to allowing these to be dyed or engraved.



UO Japan

I love new art items such as soulforges, Nexus, Harpsichords and Davies’ Lockers. They look very cool! Unfortunately, they are so large, that I can't place all of them in my house. Is there any chances to add options which allow me to select smaller version of them? (Nickname: MESORIN)

Mesanna: Maybe in the future but not at this time

House ghost image which appears when you place a house is very good guide to determine where you place it. Unfortunately, house add-ons don't have those images. I often have to retry placing my add-on several times because I misplace it. Is it possible to add such ghost image guide to house add-ons? And, I have another request about house add-ons. Please show add-on image instead of deed image in crafting menu. I sometimes create add-on deeds which don't face towards direction I expect. Visual guide would help me see if it is the one I wanted to make. (Namako)

Phoenix: This is not as simple as it sounds and it’s not a task we really want to undertake at this time. The second part of this is also a no at this time for the same reason.

If we took long time to perform the ritual, the Exodus could be defeated before we arrive at the boss area. Do you have any plans to address the issue? (a Twitter user)

Mesanna: This is already fixed


UO Mania

Can we get a way to dye an Artifact with its original color? The bleach can dye an item with the color of its basic item type, but why not restore the item to its original color (at least for Artifacts for which the original color is known) (clorenz)

Kyronix: Sorry we can’t do that without redoing all the dyes in the game. So at this time it is not an option.


UO Auctions

Since we now have Town Loyalties, a great addition, are there any plans to open up a system for Ter Mur Loyalty? perhaps just titles based on reputation with the queen? (Treasure Seeker)

Mesanna: Not a bad idea we will look into it.

Continue reading...

 

[Merus]

Re: restoring original hue to artifacts... Why not just a "swap box" like the seeds box. Drop in a tangle, get a freshly spawned tangle in your pack with original hue... Seems simple enough to me.

 

[mikni]

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)

Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

That would be even better of course. Just thought it was out of the question.

 

[Zosimus]

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)
Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

That be a step in the right direction

 

[Bazer]

Glad this is Back!

 

[Cetric]

Seeing questions answered about engraving ****ing bookcases makes me want to put my fist through the monitor.

I remember a thread where there was some complaint that the ask & answer sessions never had any combat or pvp questions and answers. Mesanna's response was that people need to start asking the questions. So we flooded the thread with questions, and there have been numerous well thought out ones since. Oh they are doing a publish on arms and armor according to the Dev letter, but despite the 100s of questions previously and post letter, there was no tidbits of that either. At one point a Dev hinted on boosting archery to be on throwing levels, nerfing protection-stone form, and other issues users have complained about for years again....Yet we get questions answered about engraving book cases.


/End Rant... its been a long day. Hope whoever was concerned about their bookcases is now relieved.

 

[Cetric]

I remember when I first saw a map of the Abyss during the SA beta and read that the Fel ruleset would apply (I mistakenly thought the whole dungeon would be subject to it and at that point there was little detail yet about the champ spawn areas and corridors leading to them). My first reaction was wondering what it would be like to play some kind of a "capture the flag" game in there, especially with the narrow path in the middle and if there were hidden passageways anywhere.

That would be pretty awesome, i must say, the landscape is setup pretty nicely for that.

 

[weins201]

Re: restoring original hue to artifacts... Why not just a "swap box" like the seeds box. Drop in a tangle, get a freshly spawned tangle in your pack with original hue... Seems simple enough to me.

What about durability LMAO - not well thought out sorry

 

[DerekL]

I have another request about house add-ons. Please show add-on image instead of deed image in crafting menu. I sometimes create add-on deeds which don't face towards direction I expect. Visual guide would help me see if it is the one I wanted to make. (Namako)

I use uoguide.com as my visual reference, it's a laggy site, but it's an invaluable reference.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Glad this is back.

I recognize that my own concerns may or may not be addressed, but that the point is that someone (and likely more than one someone) had his or her issue answered.

-Galen's player

 

[Merus]

What about durability LMAO - not well thought out sorry

It would be easy to code it to drop with the same durability and whether it was blessed or not. The only ones that I think would be an issue are the imbued ones. It would be possible are far easier than refining all the dyes.

 

[Kyronix]

Re: restoring original hue to artifacts... Why not just a "swap box" like the seeds box. Drop in a tangle, get a freshly spawned tangle in your pack with original hue... Seems simple enough to me.

If we had one standard way that artifacts were created this would be a simple solution, the unfortunate truth is, however, that all artifacts are not created equally. Over the years a variety of ways of creating artifacts have been utilized and as a result the simple switcheroo becomes a lot less simple very quickly. You also run into issues with further customization of artifacts. Being that we don't store the original hue of the item after it has been changed on the item itself, the task rapidly gets intensive.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Sell the dyed one and buy a new one?

 

[Lythos-]

If we had one standard way that artifacts were created this would be a simple solution, the unfortunate truth is, however, that all artifacts are not created equally. Over the years a variety of ways of creating artifacts have been utilized and as a result the simple switcheroo becomes a lot less simple very quickly. You also run into issues with further customization of artifacts. Being that we don't store the original hue of the item after it has been changed on the item itself, the task rapidly gets intensive.

How about taking a poll of what the majority wants dyed back to original color then adding those into a perm addition 1 charge cleanup dye? It's obvious conj garb would be one of the main ones so "Conj garb original color dye". You should already have the color code right there so it wouldn't take much effort to move into a cleanup.

I have to agree with Cetric as well. We, the pvpers, have had smoke blown up our tails for 6 months with talk of Chaos/Order, armor and wep revamps, pvp fixes but we don't get a whisper on WHAT is being done. If you guys would just ASK us we will tell you whats wrong so you don't spend months doing a code for something that's going to drive even more pvpers to blizzard or F2P versions.

PS: Please fix luna bank. After a decade of dropping off the 2nd floor, i find it extremely annoying to take the stairs.

 

[Sauteed Onion]

PS: Please fix luna bank. After a decade of dropping off the 2nd floor, i find it extremely annoying to take the stairs.

Blowing the place to smithereens and putting in a used horse dealership would be a good sta.. *hides*

 

[Merus]

If we had one standard way that artifacts were created this would be a simple solution, the unfortunate truth is, however, that all artifacts are not created equally. Over the years a variety of ways of creating artifacts have been utilized and as a result the simple switcheroo becomes a lot less simple very quickly. You also run into issues with further customization of artifacts. Being that we don't store the original hue of the item after it has been changed on the item itself, the task rapidly gets intensive.

But you do store a hue value associated with every arti for its initial creation... You don't need a history of an individual items hues... Just a way to reference the hue stored in the table that creates the item.

 

[Tjalle]

PS: Please fix luna bank. After a decade of dropping off the 2nd floor, i find it extremely annoying to take the stairs.

Not sure the stairs would agree with you. Stairs have feelings too...

 

[Barry Gibb]

Sell the dyed one and buy a new one?

Or get on chat and see if you can trade it.

Stayin Alive,

BG

 

[RaDian FlGith]

What about durability LMAO - not well thought out sorry

Sub-function that checks the existing durability and overwrites the "newly spawned one" with the same durability. Not precisely what I'd call rocket science. Still, in either respect, they'd have to write the system and test it in order for it to work, and even though there's a seed system, it's not remotely on par with artifacts, so it's not exactly going to be a cut & paste situation.

 

[Kyronix]

But you do store a hue value associated with every arti for its initial creation... You don't need a history of an individual items hues... Just a way to reference the hue stored in the table that creates the item.

Actually, we don't. As I said before, there are a few different ways that artifacts are created and in none of them are the initial hue values easily referenced.

 

[Merus]

Actually, we don't. As I said before, there are a few different ways that artifacts are created and in none of them are the initial hue values easily referenced.

*shakes head* Every artifact always seems to come out the same color when pops in my pack... The system has it saved someplace.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

*shakes head* Every artifact always seems to come out the same color when pops in my pack... The system has it saved someplace.

I understood him to mean that the original color isn't saved on the artifact once it's dyed.

In other words they'd have to build a system to query for the original artifact color, and doing such does not quite seem worth it.

-Galen's player

 

[Kyronix]

*shakes head* Every artifact always seems to come out the same color when pops in my pack... The system has it saved someplace.

Yes, that is correct. However, once that item is created in the world and then changed by players there is no way to reference what its original color was. Yes, the original colors are saved somewhere but once those items are created they can't be referenced at a later time.

That being said, we are planning on adding new dyes in future publishes and can look at making some available that mimic the colors of the more popular artifacts.

 

[Prawn]

Not even one question regarding shard mergers... felucca or scripting/hacking.

I am going to get one of those calvin peeing stickers and put a EA under it.

 

[CovenantX]

From the Devs
2013 Jan 25 16:47 GMT

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)

Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

very surprising, It's one of the major drawbacks of creating a new account. Some people don't agree the +20 skill points makes that much of a difference, but it certainly does, it just depends on how you utilize your skills .

Very nice change indeed.

 

[Tazar]

Not even one question regarding shard mergers... felucca or scripting/hacking.

I am going to get one of those calvin peeing stickers and put a EA under it.

The question on shard mergers has been answered again and again... it's not happening. If you'd like to try a new shard - train up or get a transfer token.

 

[Tazar]

Seeing questions answered about engraving ******* bookcases makes me want to put my fist through the monitor.

I remember a thread where there was some complaint that the ask & answer sessions never had any combat or pvp questions and answers. Mesanna's response was that people need to start asking the questions. So we flooded the thread with questions, and there have been numerous well thought out ones since. Oh they are doing a publish on arms and armor according to the Dev letter, but despite the 100s of questions previously and post letter, there was no tidbits of that either. At one point a Dev hinted on boosting archery to be on throwing levels, nerfing protection-stone form, and other issues users have complained about for years again....Yet we get questions answered about engraving book cases.


/End Rant... its been a long day. Hope whoever was concerned about their bookcases is now relieved.

Please keep in mind that these questions were submitted back in December before the hollidays... Some of your desired questions are more recent than that. Also - questions are generally pulled from the "Ask a Dev" forum easiest. Questions posted in a random thread are much harder for us to find since we do not read every post ever made. Please post them in the "Ask a Dev" forum to help us keep organized with pending items.

 

[WildStar]

There were always rumours about secret halls/rooms/whatever in the Stygian Abyss.
As of today I never heard of anybody know more about this "mystery"... is there really a secret part of the Stygian Abyss/Underworld or is this just what it was - rumours? (MedeaDF)

Mesanna: All false, total rumors *grins*

Not sure if I believe her.

 

[Zosimus]

There were always rumours about secret halls/rooms/whatever in the Stygian Abyss.
As of today I never heard of anybody know more about this "mystery"... is there really a secret part of the Stygian Abyss/Underworld or is this just what it was - rumours? (MedeaDF)

Mesanna: All false, total rumors *grins*

Not sure if I believe her.

Dont you know silly? The internet doesn't lie! So if Mesanna says on the internet it's false then what she is saying is true.



lol


*

 

[Shakkara]

But you do store a hue value associated with every arti for its initial creation... You don't need a history of an individual items hues... Just a way to reference the hue stored in the table that creates the item.

Nope, that's the thing, they DONT store it, and there is no such thing as item tables. Ultima Online is pretty unique in this, unlike WoW and other MMOs that have been built to run inside a database, there is no table with a template for all the items and their properties. Instead, they are created by code, each being unique. In that code, hue is hardcoded, so if the code creates a Holy Knight's Breastplate, it'll likely inherit the properites of a platemail chest, and then the code modifies it to change the name to string 1061097, the hue to 0x47E, tells it to display artifact rarity 11 on the item, change the physical resist to 35 and add 10 HPI and 15 reflect physical properties.

There is no table with item properties. Why not? Cause UO doesn't run in a database, and cause UO has one of the more complex item systems of any MMO.

There are two ways to store items in a "table" that I know of (I'm a ****ty programmer - there are probably more)

First:
Platemail Tunic, Holy knights breastplate, hue 0x47E, rarity 11, 35/2/3/2/3 resists, HPI 10, reflect, 15, strength increase 0, dex increase 0, int increase 0, stamina increase 0, mana increase 0, HCI 0, DCI 0, hit fireball 0, hit lightning 0, hit harm 0, etc etc ETC... well you can see why this is a bad idea.

Second:
Platemail Tunic
name 1061097
hue 0x47E
rarity 11
32/2/3/2/3 resists
First property: HPI, value 10
Second property: reflect physical damage, value 15
Third property: null, value null
Fourth property: null, value null
Fifth property.... etc etc etc

It would work if UO would have stuck with max 5 or 6 properties on items like Diablo has. But we have nice items like these:

In a table, or array, or struct, or whatever else, you can easily look up the appropriate field and reference to it with another part of the code (provided it is public, which is another issue). If you hardcode in an item creation function that hue = 0x47E, you CANNOT ever access the "0x47E" part from anywhere else in the code, because it is code that is run and then goes poof from the memory, not a variable that is stored in the memory for later use. So when asking a computer what the hue was of the item that it has just created will result in the equivalent of "lol I dunno, was that important?"

Anyway, I still love UO's system. They could code some Pants of Armageddon that would destroy the world when doubleclicked if the last creature that hit you was a Vorpal Bunny, and it wouldn't even be THAT hard to code. Try to code something like that into WoW's item system.

Hope that explains it a bit and not made you any more confused than you were already.

 

[LordDrago]

[quote="Shakkara, post: 2228143, member: 24771" They could code some Pants of Armageddon that would destroy the world when doubleclicked if the last creature that hit you was a Vorpal Bunny.[/quote]

This is way overpowered and needs to be fixed asap.


Nice to see this feature back.


Thumbs up again to Kyronix for communicating with us.

 

[Basara]

There were always rumours about secret halls/rooms/whatever in the Stygian Abyss.
As of today I never heard of anybody know more about this "mystery"... is there really a secret part of the Stygian Abyss/Underworld or is this just what it was - rumours? (MedeaDF)

Mesanna: All false, total rumors *grins*

Not sure if I believe her.

There is the "False Tomb of Kings" hidden away that was used in SA pre-release testing, that occasionally gets used by EM events.

 

[ShadowTrauma]

It's great to have these Ask & Answer posts back again. I was begining to miss this, even if we don't always get the questions we want answered it's nice that someone does, and we still get a little interaction with the Devs.

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)

Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

This is singlehandly one of the best changes I have read about in a long time, I hope it's as easy, and fast to implement as it was to answer.
I agree with Covenant X 100% and I also seem to remember reading about several posters who said that if a change like that was made they would be (re)opening a few accounts themselves...

 

[Goodmann]

It's great to have these Ask & Answer posts back again. I was begining to miss this, even if we don't always get the questions we want answered it's nice that someone does, and we still get a little interaction with the Devs.



This is singlehandly one of the best changes I have read about in a long time, I hope it's as easy, and fast to implement as it was to answer.
I agree with Covenant X 100% and I also seem to remember reading about several posters who said that if a change like that was made they would be (re)opening a few accounts themselves...

How does this help the existing players who waited 3 YEARS to get the 720 cap? How about raising the cap to 750 for everyone.This would be useful

 

[Tanivar]

Not even one question regarding shard mergers...

Shard mergere can be bad for many players, we like the lower populations our shards have. If we didn't we'd have changed shards. Some like playing in a crowd like Times Square on New Years Eve, some like an uncrowded rural flavor game world. Merging shards would force many players onto a crowded shard where traveling the lands is like walking through suburbia, seemingly more houses than trees. That would not be fun for us and we'd likely leave because we're not having fun.

There would also be the loss of favored housing spots for many, the loss of player towns, and the loss of the shard histories.

Those who like shuffling through crowds as they travel through suburbia need to, as was mentioned above, move to a more populates shard. Pick a method of moving and make it happen so the game is fun for you. That way each of us is playing on a shard we are happy with.

 

[Tanivar]

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)

Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

Can it be raised up to 740 so that with 100 points on jewelry we can have a shot at seven maxed skills again? GM on skills that can go to 120 isn't much good vs the monsters we have now which are rigged to challenge 120 skill. Sampires and other exotic builds can do it but those of us who play the classic character types don't have the bang to deal with the modern monsters.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Not even one question regarding shard mergers... felucca or scripting/hacking.

Because they need to repeat, "No, we're not merging the shards," and "We take scripting and hacking very seriously," every single time they post an Ask & Answer series, right?

As for Felucca, it gets mentioned from time to time, but since the vast majority of the playerbase doesn't play in Felucca, it's unlikely to get regular billing.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Nope, that's the thing, they DONT store it, ... any more confused than you were already.

Lots of incorrect armchair programming later, your answer is partially correct, but also extremely misleading.

To make your long story short, we'll summarize it as this: An item is created from a master loot table, which does identify items in their intial property states. When created, you are correct, it inherits these properties, but the properties are stored on that item. The item itself tells its own tale of how it functions, and so it is a replica of the original, but no longer relies on or references that original item. Thus, as you correctly point out, it spawns with a particular color of a particular base item type. The only thing it knows for sure is that base item type (which if it were altered to say a gargoyle state it would then ALSO forget, becoming the new item type) is of a particular type. When the color is changed, it is now forever that new color, and if it goes to reference an original color, it ends up being the original artwork (ie: undyed) version of whatever it thinks its current base model is.

Could they make something that references that original item type that it was created from? Sure. Is it really worth the headache? I mean, I suppose it could be argued one way or another, but they clearly have higher priorities, so the solution of putting dyes in that emulate those colors seems far simpler and ultimately better for the game, because then you could also coordinate your item colors.

 

[ShadowTrauma]

How does this help the existing players who waited 3 YEARS to get the 720 cap? How about raising the cap to 750 for everyone.This would be useful

It's fairly obvious it doesn't help people that already have it, but it most definately balances a situation that shouldn't have existed in the first place. You should never introduce any system/item that effects gameplay and then tell players that there is no way to get it (except by waiting 3 years in this instance) and they will just have to deal with the uneven playing field... If there had been another way to achieve the 720 cap, wether it was through a drop (like a scroll), a newbie/starter quest (someone suggested this and it would have been a great idea), or an online purchase, then it would have been fine, but that wasn't the case.

As to your other comment and main concern, I honestly don't care if we (players that already unlocked the 720 skill cap) get something or not. Your suggestion of an increased skill cap for all is fine, if the Devs think it is balanced. You could also suggest we get extra vet rewards for the first 3 years... All that I truly care about is, now everyone will start on the same level, and I hope they implement this change ASAP.

 

[G.v.P]

Could we please get a token/code to buy from the origin store, that would allow a player on a younger account to get the 720 skill cap? (mikni)

Mesanna: How about we just raise everyone to 720 ?

Nice. I support it.

 

[Aurelius]

That being said, we are planning on adding new dyes in future publishes and can look at making some available that mimic the colors of the more popular artifacts.

I'd far rather see a way for players to make a deed or item that will re-colour an artifact than another range of dyes in the turn-in or 'limited time gift' schemes.

 

[KLOMP]

When a Berzerker's Maul spawns, it knows "I am red!"

If you dye it blue, now it knows "I am blue!"

However, it does NOT know "I used to be red!"

In order to allow an item to be toggled back to it's original color, you would have to build code which looks at the item, decides which of like fifteen or more different artifact systems it came from, and then goes to that particular system and asks "What color did this used to be?" and resets it. It's perfectly possible to do this, but it's WAY too much work to go through just because you derped up and dyed your Tangle or whatever and don't like any of the existing dye colors.

 

[Lord Lew]

Derped?

 

[cazador]

I think a major question for the next A&A should be..should we wait on crafting new suits or are we safe in that regards

 

[Picus of Napa]

I think a major question for the next A&A should be..should we wait on crafting new suits or are we safe in that regards

I think it would be safe to think that waiting would be wise. I'd guess that both A&A and the patch might come out around the same time but I guess Bonnie could just post and fill us in a little....please?

 

[Parnoc]

If we took long time to perform the ritual, the Exodus could be defeated before we arrive at the boss area. Do you have any plans to address the issue? (a Twitter user)
Mesanna: This is already fixed

What does this even mean? Do not understand.

 

[CovenantX]

I don't think UO can sustain another mass exodus like the one we had last year after the changes that affected people who rely heavily on being able to wear faction armor.

A few people in my guild quit because of this.
Coincidentally they all happen to be Pvp'ers.

 

[CovenantX]

If we took long time to perform the ritual, the Exodus could be defeated before we arrive at the boss area. Do you have any plans to address the issue? (a Twitter user)
Mesanna: This is already fixed

What does this even mean? Do not understand.

It means, while you're at the Shrine with your party waiting on other people to show up to take your group to Exodus, it could be redlined/killed as you arrive. (killed by a group already fighting it)

Now you can't get to Exodus unless it has 60% or more HP to avoid that.

 

[cdavbar]

Hope whoever was concerned about their bookcases is now relieved.

I am.

 

[Goodmann]

Because they need to repeat, "No, we're not merging the shards," and "We take scripting and hacking very seriously," every single time they post an Ask & Answer series, right?

As for Felucca, it gets mentioned from time to time, but since the vast majority of the playerbase doesn't play in Felucca, it's unlikely to get regular billing.

80% of the reason people defend the smaller shards is bc thats where they can farm scrolls/resrouces in peace. Merge some shards PLEASE. Over 5,000 houses have fell in the last 3 weeks.............