NEWS [UO.Com] Publish 91 Comes to TC 1

[Arroth Thaiel]

Spending 20 years with a game should be acknowledged and rewarded by the studio that supports it, not ignored "'cuz there's so few."

They can do a new reward for every 5 years past 15, so that won't amount to a great deal of work. The other years past 15 can be increased picks.

I think what Uvtha means is that if you spend say 2 weeks of personnel time (at an average salary of 50K, that'd be about $2000.00) developing a piece of content, but that content is only accessible by say .01% of your customer base, then you've spent ~$2000.00 without impacting 99.9% of your customer base. Or, you could spend the same ~$2000.00 on content accessible to 100% of your customer base, thereby impacting your entire customer base in a positive way. The latter is probably a better investment from a business standpoint. Yes, the .01% might be impacted substantially by the first scenario, but it's still only .01%. You can increase/decrease the numbers a bit, but the general point is probably still valid for UO at this point in its lifecycle.

However, 20 years is kind of a milestone. Some token of recognition for players who reach that milestone would be nice.

Also, and sorta on topic, isn't there a title only available to 18 year accounts?

 

[Captn Norrington]

I think what Uvtha means is that if you spend say 2 weeks of personnel time (at an average salary of 50K, that'd be about $2000.00) developing a piece of content, but that content is only accessible by say .01% of your customer base, then you've spent ~$2000.00 without impacting 99.9% of your customer base. Or, you could spend the same ~$2000.00 on content accessible to 100% of your customer base, thereby impacting your entire customer base in a positive way. The latter is probably a better investment from a business standpoint. Yes, the .01% might be impacted substantially by the first scenario, but it's still only .01%. You can increase/decrease the numbers a bit, but the general point is probably still valid for UO at this point in its lifecycle.

However, 20 years is kind of a milestone. Some token of recognition for players who reach that milestone would be nice.

Also, and sorta on topic, isn't there a title only available to 18 year accounts?

Yes, the 18 year title is "Ascendant Of The Avatar" and is the last veteran title they added. Hopefully they add at least one more title for the 20th anniversary.

 

[Irulia Darkaith]

I think what Uvtha means is that if you spend say 2 weeks of personnel time (at an average salary of 50K, that'd be about $2000.00) developing a piece of content,

Wow, it takes two weeks to make a new statuette? or ethereal ride? They must be spending a fortune on those EM drops they roll out weekly! How many people end up with those?

Just kidding - sort of - I get your point, but acknowledgment of veteran status is nice and used to be something to look forward to.

As for the business model, keep in mind I used to have 4-5 permanently active accounts, after they changed the way vet rewards are distributed I dropped to one permanently active account, one semi-active account and one account I activate about twice a year. No, vet status wasn't the sole reason I dropped my financial commitment to the game, but it helped me make that decision. So if I wasn't alone in doing this, perhaps it would have been financially viable to keep rolling out new vet rewards at higher levels? Just a thought...especially since I doubt some of the rewards even take a day to code.

 

[Arroth Thaiel]

Wow, it takes two weeks to make a new statuette? or ethereal ride? They must be spending a fortune on those EM drops they roll out weekly! How many people end up with those?

I was thinking of it more like work hours in the week. 40hrs per week, 80 hrs for 2 weeks. No idea how long it actually takes to make something in game, from the initial concept time to live service. However, as a community we can kind of scope it out.

Couple hours to write down the initial design, present it for approval, get ok'd, and document the design
Couple hours to draw up the design in the Classic Client
Couple hours to draw up the design in the Enhanced Client
Couple hours to build it into the code in the Classic Client
Couple hours to build it into the code in the Enhanced Client
Couple hours to make sure the Classic and Enhanced are playing nice together
Couple hours to run it through internal Quality Assurance
Couple hours to present the final product for approval
Couple hours to build it into a patch
Couple hours to set up the patch for Test Center
Couple hours to set up the patch for World Wide

By the time you figure all the meetings, documentation, comments in the code, copiers not working, keyboards with spilled coffee, navel-gazing at cat videos, and assorted extra stuff that goes on in office work, a couple weeks might not be that far off?

Edit - A couple hours could be anywhere from 10 min to 10 hours. And you'd be adding up everyone's cumulative work times for a project.

 

[Arroth Thaiel]

Yes, the 18 year title is "Ascendant Of The Avatar" and is the last veteran title they added. Hopefully they add at least one more title for the 20th anniversary.

I think it would be cool if they did titles out to 24 years.

3 principles, 8 Virtues. 3*8 = 24.

 

[Irulia Darkaith]

By the time you figure all the meetings,...a couple weeks might not be that far off?

Okay I can see this being the case for the lighthouse reward, but very few vet rewards have any complexity to them, and many are based on static art, sound and code that already exists in the game. An ankh? Already have those on the shrines. Banners, hanging skeletons? same deal. Ore cart, tree stump or sheep? the art exists, but we have to make resources spawn off them - oh, you mean like the way we make resources spawn in the game all the time? Robes that give +3 resist (after the first one was made all they did was colour the new ones differently). Statues that are miniature versions of art that's already in the game that make a sound that already exists in the game?! Not a big time suck and I don't think there is a lot of testing involved in adding new ones ...if there was there is no way there would be such a variety of EM drops.

 

[Arroth Thaiel]

I agree, although I had forgotten about the lighthouse. I was thinking mostly about Davies Locker, and the Garden Shed, and other things that took new art/code.

Rehueing/reusing art or existing items would probably be much simpler, there would still be some type of coding, but yeah, probably much simpler.

But, would we want a simple, reused, item/art for a 20th anniversary gift? (I'm imagining complaints.)


I was thinking, is UO the first game to do veteran rewards?

The first rewards were, I think, in Year 3 (2000?) and you could get that sweet, sweet pony if your account was 3 years old. Everquest would have only been 2 (did they have vet rewards?), and I don't think there were many other games out there at that point. Is this something else UO started in the MMO industry? Were there MUD's or something with Vet Rewards?

 

[Cyrah]

How do we get vet statues on test? The safe has a bee hive. I also agree with those who thought a great 15 year item would be included.
18 years...

What is new? Colors, shapes of boxes? No. TOT item? No. Horn of plenty item? No. Most of the player base being left out of an event? No. That happens almost every year. Sometimes two times per year.

A gigantic bonsai tree? Yes.

Good note, safes will make great tables. Lathes and other tool are teeny tiny instead of 100 times our size. So ty on sorta right scale. Still like Tigers.

 

[MalagAste]

I just wonder how many of you all know how much art is in the game already but isn't used. Every monster from old to new has a "mini" version in the code. It's there. Having had used InsideUO for a number of years to do many things and get many item ID's I can tell you there are literally thousands of items in there which are NOT in-game in any form...

Such as did you know there are graphics of weapons for many mobs that you "don't" see???? That's right from Lich's and Ogres to Orcs and Ophidians have their own weapons... which have graphics in the code of the game. Probably 30 or so weapons with graphics... the only thing is those graphics do NOT extend to your paperdoll and are not equip-able by any means as the client doesn't know what to do with them. There are also 4 or 5 or more designs for shirts, skirts and dresses in there which are NOT usable but they are in the art files. Along with hundreds of house tiles we could be using... including windows that are at a 45degree angle on the tile...



Just so you know.

 

[Arroth Thaiel]

I just wonder how many of you all know how much art is in the game already but isn't used. Every monster from old to new has a "mini" version in the code. It's there. Having had used InsideUO for a number of years to do many things and get many item ID's I can tell you there are literally thousands of items in there which are NOT in-game in any form...

Such as did you know there are graphics of weapons for many mobs that you "don't" see???? That's right from Lich's and Ogres to Orcs and Ophidians have their own weapons... which have graphics in the code of the game. Probably 30 or so weapons with graphics... the only thing is those graphics do NOT extend to your paperdoll and are not equip-able by any means as the client doesn't know what to do with them. There are also 4 or 5 or more designs for shirts, skirts and dresses in there which are NOT usable but they are in the art files. Along with hundreds of house tiles we could be using... including windows that are at a 45degree angle on the tile...



Just so you know.

Sounds like a movie studio with 100's of hours of film and a final product that is 1 hour and 20 min long. Lots of stuff left out.

Maybe they will release a Director's Cut of UO someday. Remastering is big in gaming right now.

How about an "Avatar Edition" of UO?

 

[MalagAste]

Sounds like a movie studio with 100's of hours of film and a final product that is 1 hour and 20 min long. Lots of stuff left out.

Maybe they will release a Director's Cut of UO someday. Remastering is big in gaming right now.

How about an "Avatar Edition" of UO?

That'd be kinda neat. If they did that they could put Magincia and Blackthrons Castle in Ilshenar back together! I'd like that.

 

[Parnoc]

Look at it this way: How many people will hit 20 year old account status? Maybe 500? That's dedicated dev time and art time for what could amount to a shockingly low number of people... and the older the game gets the few people will reach that next year plateau. That's time better spent on adding real universal content. A new set of picks every year should really be good enough.

Yeah, like to create one item is a week's work for the devs? Come on man!! Look how much time and effort and thought was spent on that stupid auction safe, you think that is going to be used by many players? Come on man!! Oh but i forgot, that's for the rares crowd, the truly elite in this game evidently.

 

[Kazute]

Would love it if the Turtle Dragon Vet statue reward was made like spring deco Blessed cat statue but instead of giving reagents everyday it would give a dragon turtle egg per day. Someone make it happen please!

 

[FrejaSP]

I really love this Vicious Masaw/ foil nests spawn and the Chocolate Nutcrackers with a chance for a nice card.
I hope more of this kind of fun spawn are planed on some of the empty plot of Eodon.
Well done Devs

 

[popps]

Ehhh... That'd be ok... But, at 20 years they'd better rethink this policy and give their vets something special. A 20yr vet will have, at minimum, put in $2,388 (add another grand if you're paying the monthly max) in subscription fees per account. (Not including expansions, boosters and misc code purchases.)

The one issue that for me counts above all of the others, is not the $$$ amount spent over all those many Years, but that fact that one's own account has been kept as active for the entire life of Ultima Online no matter what, in good and bad times.

This is what for me defines loyalty, the continued support over a very long time regardless from what may have happened over that much long time.

I think that 18, 19, 20 Years by all means would define that loyalty and, as I see it, this continued and uninterrupted support of Ultima Online should indeed be recognized to these Veteran players in a special way, exclusive to them and not for the player who stayed loyal to Ultima Online for 19 or 20 Years just like that who did it for 15 years, 4 or 5 years less.....

All over the World usually business tend to cuddle their loyal customers, prize them, treat them specially because they indeed are special to those businesses, because of their demonstrated loyalty......... but with Ultima Online ? An account stops being "special" at 15 years of active account age ?

I cannot possibly agree with such a Policy, sorry, I do not find it a rightfull recognition of such an outstanding, uninterrupted and lasting for the entire life of the product, Ultima Online, 100% loyal support.

Does anyone here remember the "Are you with Us" ?

Well, we have long time Veterans who indeed have been with Ultima Online for its entire, long life but then, the recognition of this endured, 100% loyal support has been stopped short at mere 15 years of active account age.

That does not sound right to me.

 

[popps]

Look at it this way: How many people will hit 20 year old account status? Maybe 500? That's dedicated dev time and art time for what could amount to a shockingly low number of people... and the older the game gets the few people will reach that next year plateau. That's time better spent on adding real universal content. A new set of picks every year should really be good enough.

@Mesanna

I am sorry, but even if those 20 Years active age accounts where just 10 players, their loyalty, their continued 100% loyal Support to Ultima Online for its entire life, in good as well as in bad times, no matter what, would be well, but WELL deserved to my opinion and, by no means, I think it would be Developers wasted time.

Regardless how many actual customers would benefit, what is important, at least to mt viewing, would be the message sent out, that if a customer stays loyal with Ultima Online, this customer will get appreciated for the loyalty showed depending on how many Years they supported the game, maintaining their account as active.

Customer loyalty I would imagine, should be considered an important assett and be rightfully well awarded by Businesses.

I really hope that the CAP at 15 Years to recognize the loyalty of Ultima Online Veterans' accounts will be reconsidered and lifted and the sooner the better, IMHO.......

 

[FrejaSP]

I would be happy for a title on my paperdoll, telling how many years I had been here but I can see, it can be hard to come up with new titles for each year. what about a title for 5, 10, 15 and 20 year, when we get there and then the months showing on the profile in the paperdoll, maybe char and account age and char (chat) number in the profile.
If we ever get an ingame mail system, the char number could be used, special if made an alias for it, being char name + a number, f.x Freja1 for first Freja made on the shard. You could add the alias to MyUO too.
Give players an option to not show account/char age and char # on profile.
The alias for char # would also help telling, that the char is the one you know and not a scammer. If Freja5 tells, she is Freja1, you can easy check on her paperdoll profile.

 

[old gypsy]

@ popps
A new vet reward for each year would be nice. I'm with you on that part. But honestly, I don't recall being "cuddled" by any businesses for being a loyal patron for years, or being offered a valuable item someone else isn't allowed to acquire because they haven't been a customer for as long as I have. Then again, maybe I've just been shopping at all the wrong places.

*considers bringing up this issue with Walmart'*

 

[popps]

while id like to have a new reward too, over the last few years the devs have been moving more casual to tailor to that target customer group. weve seen this in everything from crafting, loot, peerless, new content, em events etc.

it makes perfect sense and keeping with direction the devs have chosen to move UO to not give additional rewards over 15 years, removing the exclusive nature and making the game elements more accessable to all without extreme dedication or involvement.

I think differently.

Personally, I think that it is also thanking to those players who stayed loyal to Ultima Online, no matter what, over these many Years, that Ultima Online was able to endure for so long because their dedication to the game, their long time loyalty has perhaps been a "means" for others to come back to Ultima Online, friends and family of those loyal players to come to Ultime Online to play it out and so forth.

Can we really dismiss the contribution of all those players who stayed loyal to Ultima Online for all of these Years as not been in contribution to help the longevity of Ultima Online ?

And should that hold true, shouldn't this long time loyalty to UltimaOnline and contribution to its longevity be rightfully recognized and not CAPPed at 15 Years of active account age ?

 

[Smoot]

I think differently.

Personally, I think that it is also thanking to those players who stayed loyal to Ultima Online, no matter what, over these many Years, that Ultima Online was able to endure for so long because their dedication to the game, their long time loyalty has perhaps been a "means" for others to come back to Ultima Online, friends and family of those loyal players to come to Ultime Online to play it out and so forth.

Can we really dismiss the contribution of all those players who stayed loyal to Ultima Online for all of these Years as not been in contribution to help the longevity of Ultima Online ?

And should that hold true, shouldn't this long time loyalty to UltimaOnline and contribution to its longevity be rightfully recognized and not CAPPed at 15 Years of active account age ?

sorry pops, its a nice thought, but if i shop at a store for 20 years, i dont get a thankyou. its alot more likely that they will remove the products i like, raise the prices to what newer shoppers can/will pay, and add in the latestest trends to accommodate a different target group than the store began with.

This really all started at the creation of Trammel. Appease the masses for higher initial gain, while sacrificing loyalty / long term sustainability.

 

[Petra Fyde]

I'm not a mind reader, but my feeling is the intention wasn't to dismiss the contribution of veteran players - although some older accounts aren't actually any longer in the hands of the players who started them. I believe the intention was to not discourage newer players who felt they would never reach an age at which they could obtain and use the higher level rewards.
The Shard Shields, being account bound, are still only claimable and therefore useable by 14 year accounts and older.
The red soulstone, also being account bound, is still only available to players who have played for a full year.

 

[Uvtha]

I think what Uvtha means is that if you spend say 2 weeks of personnel time (at an average salary of 50K, that'd be about $2000.00) developing a piece of content, but that content is only accessible by say .01% of your customer base, then you've spent ~$2000.00 without impacting 99.9% of your customer base. Or, you could spend the same ~$2000.00 on content accessible to 100% of your customer base, thereby impacting your entire customer base in a positive way. The latter is probably a better investment from a business standpoint. Yes, the .01% might be impacted substantially by the first scenario, but it's still only .01%. You can increase/decrease the numbers a bit, but the general point is probably still valid for UO at this point in its lifecycle.

However, 20 years is kind of a milestone. Some token of recognition for players who reach that milestone would be nice.

Also, and sorta on topic, isn't there a title only available to 18 year accounts?

Yes, but much more eloquently put.

There will be a title anyway. That's something, and exclusive. I'm sure there will also be a big event planned that everyone can enjoy.

 

[Uvtha]

Can we really dismiss the contribution of all those players who stayed loyal to Ultima Online for all of these Years as not been in contribution to help the longevity of Ultima Online ?

Why is not getting a special treat dismissing them? I don't get that. We got 20 years of a game we liked (or disliked and were too stupid to stop paying for), why do need a cookie as well?

 

[Uvtha]

I would be happy for a title on my paperdoll, telling how many years I had been here but I can see, it can be hard to come up with new titles for each year. what about a title for 5, 10, 15 and 20 year

Well, there are age titles already, up to year 18. I am sure they will keep adding them as the years go by.

 

[Irulia Darkaith]

why do need a cookie as well?

Why do we need cookies? Are you even listening to yourself? Everyone likes cookies! Wait isn't this game just one big cookie?

 

[Uvtha]

Why do we need cookies? Are you even listening to yourself? Everyone likes cookies! Wait isn't this game just one big cookie?

You got me there!

 

[old gypsy]

Everyone loves cookies. Especially chocolate.

 

[kelmo]

 

[Mene (DF)]

@ Kelmo: I love this monster - never would kill Krümelmonster - as we call him in Germany

Need some help nevertheless - where can I find or buy or make sweet cocoa butter??? I can only find simply cocoa butter as monster loot per example of the Macaws...

Edit: OKi... somewhat I be a blind fish today - I found it now on cooking menu - top of the list....
you need sugar and cocoa butter.

 

[Cocaine1]

Dragon Turtle Armor...

....

There is also the aforementioned wardrobe malfunction when a female wears the male chest piece instead of the bustier... Not that I'd really call the bustier a bustier...so...yeah.

Edit: Just for the pervs :

This set, as with the tiger pelt set, needs to be able to be altered into a gargoyle equivalent. Leaving the gargoyle race out in the Eodonian cold is unacceptable.

Male chest also got surprise. Sash make this chest invisible:

http://i68.***********/2qwfsl1.jpg
I didnt tested the Female char and CC.

May be this chest bug's is just a new features ( " all works as intended")

 

[Dot_Warner]

Male chest also got surprise. Sash make this chest invisible:

http://i68.***********/2qwfsl1.jpg
I didnt tested the Female char and CC.

May be this chest bug's is just a new features ( " all works as intended")

Good catch!

This is the second new wearable that causes other wearables to disappear...

 

[Capt. Lucky]

I love all of the new stuff, especially the "Cards Of Semidar". Since that name began as a completely unrelated thread title here on Stratics, It's a very nice "nod" towards the community that when good ideas are thought of, even by accident, the developers take notice and might add them to the game in some form.

Here is a link to the thread for any who do not remember it: Cards of Semidar

Just replying cause I saw your place on Atlantic today. The Luna vendor one anyway. Certain feeling some pixel envy. Very nice.

Anyway I think I like the idea of the cards. Don't know enough about it, but it sounds cool and a little cooking love?

I had just used 2 vet rewards the day before they announced this. I was really happy with a trade I made using one and made another player very happy with another one of my picks. So in a way I was content knowing there's nothing new I'd be burning to have.

The auction safe thing is another I don't know a lot about. But it sounds kinda useless unless they have some sort of auction search. How are we suppose to know there's an auction? Hopefully not by spamming chat, then try and figure out where the auction is? There's gotta be a system like vendor search for it. Maybe there is? lol

 

[popps]

I'm not a mind reader, but my feeling is the intention wasn't to dismiss the contribution of veteran players - although some older accounts aren't actually any longer in the hands of the players who started them. I believe the intention was to not discourage newer players who felt they would never reach an age at which they could obtain and use the higher level rewards.
The Shard Shields, being account bound, are still only claimable and therefore useable by 14 year accounts and older.
The red soulstone, also being account bound, is still only available to players who have played for a full year.

Stopping Veteran Rewards at 15 Years was overdoing it at the expense of longest active account Veterans. IMHO.

Who are a minority, I would guess, and thus way less vocal then the majority who wanted the system to be changed more to "their" liking.....

It would have been suffice if Broadsword simple made the Veteran rewards albeit be only claimable by the Year they were meant to be claimed by (for example the longest active age), be usable also by lower active age accounts.

This way, only longest age could have claimed the rewards intended to them but all ages accounts could have used them thus not needing to wait for too long before being able to use them.......

Problem solved without punishing longest years Veteran accounts as it was done, to my opinion, by CAPPing the age at 15 years.........

 

[Gamer_Goblin]

Why does this Huntsmaster's Challenge thing even exist? You kill some generic creature you could kill a billion of, are assigned a random number that the creature supposedly "weighs", and... that's it.

I like it... it's a nice little gold sink too and it's just fun. I don't understand why you're calling out something so simple as this instead of anything else in the game.

 

[S_S]

Card of Semidar

Spoiler

 

[Kei]

are they going to fix mastery passive dropping after each death? or is this working as intended?

I find it a hassle to keep switching from one mastery to another and back again just to reactivate the passive.

 

[Kyronix]

are they going to fix mastery passive dropping after each death? or is this working as intended?

I find it a hassle to keep switching from one mastery to another and back again just to reactivate the passive.

Which mastery?

 

[Merlin]

Which mastery?

I know it certainly affects all of the spell casting masteries... i.e., magery, mysticism, spellweaving, etc. The passive buff no longer shows on the buff bar.

 

[Kirthag]

luv the idea of adding the cards to the chocolates... gives more purpose for the chefs.

thank you devs. good job!

 

[Sir_Bolo]

I know it certainly affects all of the spell casting masteries... i.e., magery, mysticism, spellweaving, etc. The passive buff no longer shows on the buff bar.

When I tested this on TC, I verified that for Enchanted Summoning it's just a display issue: the icon disappears from the buff bar, but your summons still have the increased HP (checked with Animal Lore)

Same thing for Boarding (passive Taming mastery): if you die the icon disappears from the buff bar, but you still have the extra stable slots.

I haven't checked the other passive Masteries yet

 

[Lord Taliesin]

Which mastery?

As stated above the passive casting masteries as well as the mana buff for combat masteries. To get the icon back you have to switch masteries or wait for server up. Similarly the passive masteries don't update when you eat a higher level primer, you have to switch then switch back.

 

[Kyronix]

As stated above the passive casting masteries as well as the mana buff for combat masteries. To get the icon back you have to switch masteries or wait for server up. Similarly the passive masteries don't update when you eat a higher level primer, you have to switch then switch back.

This is a display issue. Currently slated for fixing.

 

[BeaIank]

I can confirm that the passive mana bonus from chiv and bushido doesn't update when you go from volume I to II nor from volume II to volume III.
Logging on and off didn't fix that, only switching to another mastery and the back to bushido or chiv.

 

[Sir_Bolo]

As far as I can tell, the two issues are different:

1) The passive Mastery buff icon disappears when you die. This is just a display issue, the bonus is still there (tested with Magery, Taming and Bushido passives)

2) The passive Mastery bonus isn't updated when you read a higher level Primer. This is a real issue: the bonus isn't increased as intended (tested with Ninjitsu: I had +5 mana from Intuition Level I; after reading Level II the bonus was still +5 instead of +10).

 

[Hyssmaye]

The temple has been cleared of all the shrubbery and there are now nests on it.

Did players clear it somehow, or did it disappear in some other way? I want foil but the temple on Chesapeake is still covered in morning glories and other viney stuff, and I don't see any nests.

 

[MalagAste]

Did players clear it somehow, or did it disappear in some other way? I want foil but the temple on Chesapeake is still covered in morning glories and other viney stuff, and I don't see any nests.

The publish hasn't gone public yet.....

 

[Hyssmaye]

The publish hasn't gone public yet.....

Oops, thanks

 

[Larisa]

Does anyone know if the Chocolate Nutcracker can be engraved or have the maker's name?

I tried and it didn't put my name on it.

Got Dupres card so far.

 

[old gypsy]

I tried and it didn't put my name on it.

Got Dupres card so far.

Nice card!

I made a couple of chocolate nutcrackers this a.m., and they were marked with my character's name as the maker. These will be fun to give as gifts.

 

[FrejaSP]

I like the idea of giving them as gift. I wonder about the % chance to get a card from them as I have no idea what price to set for them on my vendor.