[UO Herald] Letter from the Producer

[UO News]

Hello everyone,
First off I would like to thank everyone for their kind words to me regarding my promotion. I am writing this because some of you wanted an official Producer Letter so here goes. First I would like to address the Exodus Event reward. The +5 stat scroll will be put in the game as a permanent drop. This is something that was discussed as a team from the very beginning, so if you did not get one at Exodus or were not able to be at the event, you will be able to get it later.
The second part is the future of UO. After we finish the holidays, which does take up a lot of time for creation for Halloween, anniversary, vet rewards etc, we are going to step back and do a major bug fixing publish. Currently we have documented 1173 known bugs in our system, I want to cut that number in half. This bug sprint will not happen till the first of the year so that will give me plenty of time to go over all the bugs in the thread on stratics to make sure we have those documented in our system.
After the major bug sprint we will continue to put in updates to the dungeons, armor and monsters. Of course we will be throwing in other tidbits but it wouldn’t be any fun to tell you what they are now. =P
I hope everyone enjoyed Exodus and with that being said here is a fitting screenshot for the downfall of Exodus!

Bonnie "Mesanna" Armstrong
Producer Ultima Online

Continue reading...

 

[Borric]

If you reduce the number of bugs by half, you get my vote for President of the US.

 

[Mapper]

Great news! I've always wanted to see a pure bug publish.

 

[Aurelius]

Nice news, all sounds good to me.

Great news! I've always wanted to see a pure bug publish.

We've had those ... oh wait, you mean REMOVING'....

 

[Assia Penryn]

Thank you for giving us all an update.

 

[Mapper]

Nice news, all sounds good to me.



We've had those ... oh wait, you mean REMOVING'....

 

[King_Fisher]

News of the future! **Audible Gasp** Communications of recent events! **Double Gasp** I hope that producer updates are going to be more common then they were in the past, But I don't know if I can take such shocks to my system.

 

[Lightfoot]

Although I believe fixing the bugs should be job #1, I am grateful to see a comment of the major problem bugs have become. As long as you don't think saying you'll work on fixing bugs in 6 months is the same as fixing the bugs, we should be ok.

Congratulations on getting what many would regard as a dream job. You have some tough acts to follow as well as some bad examples to avoid. I hope you can tell the difference.

Good luck!

 

[Ludes]

Got my thumbs up!

 

[Petra Fyde]

k, who recognises themselves in that picture? Which shard did our Dark Overlady sneak onto?

 

[Woodsman]

What about the high resolution graphics update?

 

[O'Brien]

No refunds or exchanges shall be given on 100mil gp +5 stat scrolls.

 

[Ludes]

k, who recognises themselves in that picture? Which shard did our Dark Overlady sneak onto?

I think I can rule out Catskills.. I don't see myself where I was standing.

 

[cazador]

Well sure glad I got 80m for scroll awesome the future looks bright I hope Messana isn't all talk like the others

 

[Cogniac]

All that gonads and strife over the +5 stat scroll for naught.

 

[IanJames]

Waits for complaints from people who were taking advantage of bugs

 

[Swordsman]

very good, thanks for the update!

 

[christy1221]

Yes thanks for the update.

 

[Merus]

Will the new stat scroll be presented in the same item as was dropped from Exodus, or will the graphics and text of the scroll of commendation remain unique to this event? For those of us who value them for their unique and personalization knowing the answer to this question will significantly affect the value for those considering buying/selling.

 

[Picus at the office]

Goes off to invest 100mil into other useless items....woot

 

[legendsguy]

Okay, I will not cancel my account yet. But I am curious how long of a wait it will be until the scrolls are added. Either way, I appreciate Mesanna addressing our concerns!

 

[NuSair]

While it is nice to get confirmation that the scroll will continue to drop in some capacity- it really should have been announced sooner.

Not hatin, just sayin.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Nice news, all sounds good to me.



We've had those ... oh wait, you mean REMOVING'....

 

[cazador]

Will the new stat scroll be presented in the same item as was dropped from Exodus, or will the graphics and text of the scroll of commendation remain unique to this event? For those of us who value them for their unique and personalization knowing the answer to this question will significantly affect the value for those considering buying/selling.

sounds fair considering the new drop will be considerably easier exodus was one badass

 

[SlobberKnocker]

Nice news regarding the plus 5. nice to see them going after bugs in the system. i would suspect with this game being what it is bugs will always be a part of the mix. that being said 1000 plus is too many.

on the plus 5, i will certainly not gloat over those who spent 100 mln for one on the after market however i'd like to say that there exists a cause and effect for things introduced in the game. a simple forwarning regarding something as important as a stat bump scroll should have been explained up front. we have a new desirable item to be handed out at the event. if you dont get one there either because u didnt do enough damage or u couldn't attend said event dont get your panties in a bunch. these willl be made an obtainable part of the game in the near future. simple sentence and a heads up the player base deserves.

if you wanted to make the event one a named drop and the future ones without names i think that would be fair and level for all in game.

public relations are an integral part of any business model.

 

[Shelleybean]

Thanks Mesanna. You made my day.

 

[Picus at the office]

Some forwarning might have been a good idea but there should be a better reward for those that showed up either way. This said it was in typical UO style for some to run out for the uber item and get clobbered for those actions.

I fondly recall when ML(?) came out and those boom sticks sold for 10 mil or more....made more money that first week than ever in this game I believe....now you can't throw them away fast enough.

 

[CovenantX]

Bah! I missed Exodus, what kind of abilities did it have? and is there any way that it/something like it will become a peerless in one of the future dungeon revamps?

Also, does this new "+5 stat scroll" stack on top of an existing +25 to bring a person to a 260 stat-cap?

 

[Mirt]

I am so glad to see this. Fast quick and on track. Thank you Mesanna and let me tell you it went great on chesy.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Watch them put them in Fel at a champ spawn. The controling guilds will keep the prices sky high. You may have gotten a deal at 100M if they do this.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Also she never said when they will be put in so those that have them may have an advantage for some time until they get put in. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, its all a game.

 

[Taylor]

I remember what hope feels like.

 

[Borric]

The +5 stat scroll will be put in the game as a permanent drop. This is something that was discussed as a team from the very beginning, so if you did not get one at Exodus or were not able to be at the event, you will be able to get it later.

 

[Crysta]

Could we get a fix on the wording of the tag on the scroll once its been used? It should almost definitely be "Awarded to" instead of "Rewarded to", and "Exodus City" is an odd choice of name for the location as it was being referred to throughout as Ver Lor Reg. And yes, I realize this is very minor.

 

[Picus at the office]

Sorry Ophid but by your own posting you knew there was a risk to purchasing these items. I can only imagine your frustration though and hope that my posting were not taken as a direct personal attack.

 

[James [W^H]]

k, who recognises themselves in that picture? Which shard did our Dark Overlady sneak onto?

The different color dragon in the lower left corner of the picture was on Chesapeake, so I guess Chesapeake. The real question is, did Mesanna get a +5 scroll?

Katrena

 

[outcry]

All I have to say is Someone Owes Petra A Public Apology....................... And as for the rest we have a new awesome bomb diggity Queen of Dead Producer, the future of UO has not look this bright in a long time ....... Sits back and waits for the new ride to begin

 

[Cogniac]

...that complained until they were given what they wanted... yet again

...This is something that was discussed as a team from the very beginning...

That's right, the UO Dev team caved so badly that they built a time machine, went back in time to when they were planning this event, and re-planned it so the reward would become a permanent drop.

You heard it here first, folks.

 

[Woodsman]

And personally, I'm surprised that people are so focused on items. The producer's letter should be a much bigger topic. We are getting a bugfix publish, that's big and good. The graphics update was ignored, that's big and bad.

 

[NuSair]

The +5 stat scroll will be put in the game as a permanent drop. This is something that was discussed as a team from the very beginning, so if you did not get one at Exodus or were not able to be at the event, you will be able to get it later.

And everyone should have been told that instead of letting it boil over the weekend.

 

[Pinco]

What about the high resolution graphics update?

seems the destiny of UO is to stay clientless forever and worst of all the 15th anny "big thing" are just some rewards... I'm not saying that having more items around is bad, but the game is fossilized with an ancient client that gives no real visual satisfactions.
The funny thing is the "T" rating with blood and violence where a red splash can be hardly considered blood and the violence is a bit static compared to the last decade games that can barely be considered violence... probably super mario is more violent than UO


What about an open source UO client at this point? closed source dll with the packet handlers, graphics and interface fully open source. I'm sure at this point that the community could achieve a better client and the UO devs could stay focused in the server side contents/bugs. Since there is no money/people to seriously take care about the client, probably the open source is the only way to save the game at this point...

 

[Woodsman]

I asked Sir Ophid of Yew before: Did you really think the UO team was going to add something that gives +5 stats in an EM event?

An EM event.

Think.

 

[Crysta]

That's right, the UO Dev team caved so badly that they built a time machine, went back in time to when they were planning this event, and re-planned it so the reward would become a permanent drop.

You heard it here first, folks.

If only that were true. Then they'd be able to stop the majority of AoS. Heck.. maybe even form a better solution than the facet split.

 

[Lady Storm]

I went to answer in other thread before i read this one................ ok I was correct! Good going Mesanna I knew you had a good reason. Oh Petra how do i send in this new system a pm to mesanna....

 

[sativa green]

they made this decision far before they did this event. if you thought for a minute something like this scroll would not be available to all players, you deserve to lose whatever money you spent on it. generally, people sell early and buy later know prices drop over time. i for one do not expect this scroll to be such an easy item to get once it's finally released, but it would be nice if it were offered on both trammel and felucca sides so the market is not cornered by a few guilds that run with 20 players.

 

[Viper09]

And personally, I'm surprised that people are so focused on items. The producer's letter should be a much bigger topic. We are getting a bugfix publish, that's big and good. The graphics update was ignored, that's big and bad.

It looks like just a quick note or an informal letter to address mainly the scroll topic, the topic you wanted and introduce herself in her new position. But you're getting the couple topics you wanted addressed briefly you should be happy.

 

[Cogniac]

I asked you this before: Did you really think the UO team was going to add something that gives +5 stats in an EM event?

An EM event.

Think.

Either you replied to the wrong person, or you need to get your sarcasm detectors recalibrated.

 

[Taylor]

I went to answer in other thread before i read this one................ ok I was correct! Good going Mesanna I knew you had a good reason. Oh Petra how do i send in this new system a pm to mesanna....

I'm not Petra, but I hope this helps:

How to Converse (Private Conversation) | Stratics Forums

 

[Woodsman]

Either you replied to the wrong person

I did, my apologies.

 

[Viper09]

I agree if she had said from the start that the scrolls would be offered later on too that it would have been nice. But perhaps she predicted, incorrectly, that people wouldn't be going so crazy over just a couple days about this item lol.