[UO Herald] Letter from the Producer

[Woodsman]

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.

What if this is the only producer's letter before the 15th Anniversary? We got a couple of them last year, we've had a couple this year.

The graphics update is the biggest thing that can happen to UO at this point as far as attracting new players, but the producers don't want to seem to talk about it. Jeff did mention they were changing it slightly.

I don't care about the next few months, I care about the next few years, and that update is needed. This ain't 2002 or even 2007, it's 2012.

 

[Borric]

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.

I doubt that she would want to give the secret away just to keep the rabid UO fans (IE. us) calm. In hindsight, it might have been a good idea to say that the rewards from the event would be available to everyone else later, in a way that didn't say "+5 Stat Scroll".

 

[MedeaDF]

I am very happy that the +5 will be added as a permanent drop.

Even if it's a Felucca only champ spawn thing - thats fine with me. I love to go shopping (but not for 100m for an item which should be definately NOT unique to some players, but should be available for ALL players. After 15 years, this would be just ridiculous).

Thanks a lot, Mesanna!

*bows*

PS: But please, consider a different approach in the future for global events like this - its just a frustrating experience most of the time! (Whats wrong about riddles for a global event? Can't you do something about those lag-fests anyway?)

 

[Viper09]

What if this is the only producer's letter before the 15th Anniversary? We got a couple of them last year, we've had a couple this year.

The graphics update is the biggest thing that can happen to UO at this point as far as attracting new players, but the producers don't want to seem to talk about it. Jeff did mention they were changing it slightly.

I don't care about the next few months, I care about the next few years, and that update is needed. This ain't 2002 or even 2007, it's 2012.

What if? What if this isn't the only producer's letter before the 15th Anniversary? There may be another one coming and I'm sure everyone else, myself and you included, is hoping there will be another. The future plans seem more than just a couple months, maybe not the next few years but a decent plan for at the remainder of this year and first part of next year, it's more than they have given us recently. I was just commenting that this looks just like an informal letter to comment on recent events and discussions because you seem to be quite unhappy with this post.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

All I have to say is Someone Owes Petra A Public Apology.......................

DONE! I payed my dues!

 

[AirmidCecht]

First off, thank you Mesanna for your Producer's Letter and so fast too after your new position!

The clarification on the stat scroll is appreciated and I can see holding off on sharing it. If everyone thought 'meh, I'll get it later then,' it would have maybe left the bulk of the event for RP but I'd rather not *tink* at Exodus all night. We needed large numbers! The Exodus event was amazing and Grimm did a fantastic job with his graphics!

I'm sure there will be more Producer's Letters to the community before the 15th Anniversary so I look forward to hopefully more exciting news for us

 

[sirrojen]

I think mesanna handled it perfectly, to even hint a reward woukd be given would have been too much of a spoiler to the anti spoiler people, had she done that then those people would be pissed. you cannot please everyone. Ophid u took a huge gamble and lost, why not go to thw casino and find someone who cares? Cause none of us feel bad for you.

 

[Woodsman]

I was just commenting that this looks just like an informal letter to comment on recent events and discussions because you seem to be quite unhappy with this post.

It's a producer's letter, people will see it regardless of the tone or intention.

I am happy with most of it actually. I think the bugfixes are good and do show some long-term planning, but I just really think that new players are very important to the survival of UO, and these kinds of things are chances to get people outside of UO interested. So far this year, and we're nearly 7 months in, and just a few away from the anniversary, nothing has really been discussed about attracting new players. The only thing producers have really said about new players was that they weren't targeting them.

 

[Woodsman]

It was a really fun event, I do agree.

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

This whole situation could have been avoided with a few lines of text in the Call to Arms post.

Bah then I would have missed the gripefest and all the laughing I did at those pitching fits. It would not seem like UO if there was none of that goin' on. *shrugs*

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Bah then I would have missed the gripefest and all the laughing I did at those pitching fits. It would not seem like UO if there was none of that goin' on. *shrugs*

btw my apologize to you too, Kylie

 

[Petra Fyde]

On the whole it's a very interesting first 'producers letter'. I look forward to seeing all the things that are in store for us.

 

[kelmo]

This short and sweet letter from a producer is the best I have read over the years.

 

[Ender76]

Can I get a dread mare? They don't spawn anymore and it's not fair. If not, I will threaten endlessly about closing my 14 accounts. Thx much

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

btw my apologize to you too, Kylie

Never any need for apoligies to me, but thanks. I never take offense and am always laughing even when I am involved in a heated debate, or trading smartassed quips with folks

Life's too short for me to get upset with folks

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

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.

I just wonder if they are doing a different pixel shape for the ones that do not drop for the Exodus Event. I kinda like having a unique looking drop from the event to remember it by.

 

[kelmo]

Yer OK in my book Poo.

 

[Poo]

now that im home from work i look at my post and i feel guilty that i helped leach one of the many ongoing topics from other threads that are in the spotlight over to here.

so i shall change gears.

Good to hear from the new Commander and Chief.
good to hear what sounds like firm direction.
we all already knew she had her feet on the ground and her ear/hand on the pulse of the UO player base, and i with what i will assume is most of us are looking forward to a boss that is in control and actually HAS PLAYED the game!

i must admit im very happy and actually looking forward to what im hoping is coming down the pipe here on our 15 years anniversary and with the new high command.

though i think most of us look on with the 'once bitten twice shy' approach when dealing with new producers and the tackling of the mighty bug list, hehe

 

[Sevin0oo0]

Good to hear from the new Commander and Chief.
good to hear what sounds like firm direction.

I know I was quite surprised, pretty fast compared to some, further still when the amount of direction planned was given. we could have been waiting weeks, just for a "soon".
~Cheers

The whole scroll thing... I think they knew, or were hoping for the Firestorm it unleashed - Talk about wondering if a gift/reward would be accepted well. I think the threads spoke for themselves - Hell Ya! We want one!
it could had been a static dancin' pony - or just a picture of one - what then???
Why do y'all think they released the (partly incorrect) time and date info on the Herald? cause they knew it was a big deal, a Very big deal - big enough that those who come later (think newer players) will get a chance. So did everyone get enough for every char on their account? No? maybe you'll get that chance soon - For the ease of swapping skills and stuff, I prefer to raise all mine equally, i just don't need the confusion.

 

[Redxpanda]

Shoutout to the lady in charge and congrats on the promotion.

Can we add melee to those bugs that need to be fixed. Seriously, us legendary fighters miss way too much.

Almost forgot: Please give us at least 24 hours notice before a major event. Thanks.

 

[puni666]

You say a lot about bugs.. that's fine and dandy, but I saw 0 about balance. Will that be incorporated with the bugs?

 

[popps]

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

Absolutely agree.

This is a thumbs up letter from the Producer and very good news for Ultima Online.

The scroll made a permanent drop AND a publish only directed at cutting in half the current bugs.

Good news.

I say make the publish directed solely at fixing bugs 2 and let's get rid of them all......... Half of the bugs in one publish and the remaining half in another publish......

 

[Reth]

90% of those who post on this silly website are the same people who started playing this game 10+ years ago. There are no more new players, there might be some who returned but there are no new players. This game hardly shows up on google....

Started a few months ago for the first time. But the time I've been here, after reading up on some things, it seems the new producer played a big part of the game up until now. I hope it keeps getting frequent updates like it has since I've been playing.

 

[Viquire]

Thank you, Mesanna. That all looks great and I look forward to seeing it unfold.
Just curious, as to the balance of this year, will we be likely to see one more revamp during late summer/early fall or are we on top of the roll through to years end at that time?

 

[Rand Althor]

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

I think it's Pacific... those Bones look like mine.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

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

On another note, Petra... I pronounce you the proud owner of the "I told you so" dance. Please feel free to dance around and say, "I told you so," as much as you like and to your heart's content.

 

[claudia-fjp]

You say a lot about bugs.. that's fine and dandy, but I saw 0 about balance. Will that be incorporated with the bugs?

The problem is MMOs are never really completely balanced. Ever. Every time something is changed something else needs to be redone to balance it. They've been balancing and rebalancing UO for the past 15 years. On the other hand when was the last time they hunkered down and concentrated on fixing things, things that have been broken for YEARS, and not just something that they broke in the last patch?

 

[Felonious Monk]

*Raises Hand*
Just Curious.....
Why did it take Jeff 6 months to have his letter "approved by the corporate process" and Mesanna pops it through in less than a month?
I'm VERY grateful for the change.

 

[Raptor85]

here's to hoping container stealing gets fixed, it's been "temporarily disabled" until they can patch the bless bug for what....10 years now?

 

[RaDian FlGith]

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

I disagree. The Dev Team should not be required to announce every new thing that is coming to the game. I think that they should be able to rely on rational thought from time to time to prevail.

I mean, clearly they were wrong about the whole rational thought thing on the whole, but still... some things are better left surprises. They don't need to spoil everything for us before it is released.

And... frankly... no amount of complaining should have made them say, "You know, we're doing this event this weekend, and already people are pancakes... let's let them know now what's up..." Not everyone was pancakes, and not everyone was moaning. That a vociferous minority was doesn't change that the event was still on-going, and people could afford to wait a couple of days to find out what was going on.

 

[Daelomin]

Easy solution to avoid devaluing the current event stat +5 scrolls is to release new permanent drops of either +3 or + 4 stat..... Not unbalancing and but still would make the event scrolls stay in value (and make some players happy that bought them for loads of gold).

By the way. This reward was poorly designed. As you could still sell the scroll once used at high value implying the scroll would still give the stat bonus. This should have been more thought through...

 

[RaDian FlGith]

The notion that saying the event's reward (the scroll) would be available latter, before the event had actually occured, would then lessen attendance is a cop out. This would be admitting the real reason people went to kill Exodus (even before the scroll was revealed) was for an item, not for the event itself. If the item is the sole draw for many people then we have a serious problem.

With respect, we already know that this problem does indeed exist. On Great Lakes, we discuss it inside the RP community on a near weekly basis, and I can say that without playing every week. We have had many discussions about events, items, and the effects they have on event turn-out.

And it's not a cop-out to suggest that advanced knowledge of either the item, its significance, or its drop-rate would have had adverse effects. In truth, given that it was a global arc, and global arcs tend to have items dropped, you can definitely bet most people thought there would be an item dropped. Now, the other unique item, the book, the one that everyone and more could get... I mean, is that any different than the display pedestals? Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people don't care about the book -- which is sad, but also attests to the very thing that you are questioning: The real reason (many) people went to kill Exodus was for an item, not for the event itself.

People should want to go to events like this (and the normal EM events) because they are fun community activities that enrich a shard's fictional history and bring people who might otherwise never play together into contact.

Should versus Reality. Unfortunately, Reality wins.

This whole situation could have been avoided with a few lines of text in the Call to Arms post.

It didn't need to be avoided. I mean, really... I prefer my events to be without foreknowledge of what's coming. I also think most people are grown up enough, if not necessarily logical enough, to discern for themselves that permanent, character altering rewards aren't going to be unique. Remember, because a lot of old Seer items were duped and spread themselves around pretty widely, the Dev Team decided to do the correct thing and add them in as drops. So on and so forth.

There really wasn't anything that needed to be avoided. We, the community, caused the vortex of rumbling all on our own.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

I got one at the event, but I also spent about the same on additional scrolls, and now feel like I should be reimbursed. If the whiners get their way, I am going to whine until I get my hundreds of million back.

In order for "the whiners [to get] their way," one must believe that the decision to add these as a permanent part of the game was an afterthought, not forethought like Mesanna claims, and like many of us already believed to be the case. You're welcome to believe what you will, but I suspect it must have entered your mind at some point that these were not going to be a unique, one-time stat increase for "the special few" who could attend a single event on each shard.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

*Raises Hand*
Just Curious.....
Why did it take Jeff 6 months to have his letter "approved by the corporate process" and Mesanna pops it through in less than a month?
I'm VERY grateful for the change.

While I can only speculate, I suspect it may be because Jeff doesn't work directly with the UO team, and so he had to double-check his stuff both upstairs and behind the scenes... Mesanna's already behind the scenes, so she probably was ready to go with what she wanted, and perhaps, because of the number of complaints about the length of time that it took to get information out previously, Mesanna's been instructed to use her best judgment on public releases much like others under the EA umbrella currently do for other MMOs in the group.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Easy solution to avoid devaluing the current event stat +5 scrolls is to release new permanent drops of either +3 or + 4 stat..... Not unbalancing and but still would make the event scrolls stay in value (and make some players happy that bought them for loads of gold).

Well, yeah, if they wanted to be silly, they could split it into +2 and +3 scrolls that would total the +5 earned, and just make the new cap 260... but why be silly about it?

By the way. This reward was poorly designed. As you could still sell the scroll once used at high value implying the scroll would still give the stat bonus. This should have been more thought through...

If the person buying the scroll couldn't read that it was already used, I'm not sure what else to say. It has the character's name on it once used... I know I'd question why it had a name if it hadn't been used already.

 

[Daelomin]

Well, yeah, if they wanted to be silly, they could split it into +2 and +3 scrolls that would total the +5 earned, and just make the new cap 260... but why be silly about it?

If the person buying the scroll couldn't read that it was already used, I'm not sure what else to say. It has the character's name on it once used... I know I'd question why it had a name if it hadn't been used already.

How can you misinterpret something so evident is beyond me. Off course the new suggested +3 or +4 Stat scroll would raise THEIR cap to either 258 or 259... making the event-version slightly better.

Yes some would look at them suspiciously and avoid them, but some (does not include me thx) would definitely buy the used one in haste - To give you a scenario:
Players hear about a new limited event item "Scroll of Valiant Commendation" which will boost Stats further.....
They found this item on a vendor.
It says rewarded to "Player X"
This could definitely be interpreted as this item was given as a reward to this person, but may be used by anyone...
The very high prices these "used" scrolls are priced at indicate this. Why do you argue this?

 

[Crysta]

The EMs only left dispensers out for the weathered journals after the event had concluded, in most cases at Honor gate and in a few cases at Dupre's camp, on these nine shards (out of 27 total): Arirang, Chesapeake, Drachenfels, Europa, Formosa, Lake Austin, Origin, Pacific, and Siege Perilous.

The LS one is still where it was left near where Exodus died (southish area). You have to go in and break a few walls but you can still get to it. So yeah. 10 shards.

 

[Tina Small]

The LS one is still where it was left near where Exodus died (southish area). You have to go in and break a few walls but you can still get to it. So yeah. 10 shards.

Thanks, Crysta. Took a little bit of looking to find an entrance to Exodus Dungeon that wasn't blocked (the first one on the north side) and thankfully the hole in the west room still worked (on some shards it doesn't). There were sufficient holes in the walls to let me wind my way to the book without having to break any.

Edited to add: I checked on Yamato to see if the EMs there might have done the same thing, but couldn't find anything in Ver Lor Reg.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Everyone knew that a single item that is consumed one time giving a permanent advantage was not going to be a one time thing. No one in their right mind ate these scrolls, they sold them to people like you.

I got one on Baja and tried to sell it, no go. Guess people on Baja are smarter than Alt. What I was really trying to do was get one of the Cross-Sharders to buy and take to Alt.

I have 5 chars at 255 (Mystic Mage, Bard Tamer and 3 Warriors) and looked at all thier gear and Stats and could not think where a +5 Stat was all that OMG I HAVE TO HAVE 260 STATS. To me this is not that OMG of a game changer.

I am glad that UO is going to make more of these and I hope that they come up with a way to do it other than putting them in Fel at a Champ Spawn. If they do this then it will be a very long long time before you see any price drop because the people who control the Champ Spawns will want all the gold they can get for them.

What type of Char would theas really be a game changer for?

 

[Crysta]

Thanks, Crysta. Took a little bit of looking to find an entrance to Exodus Dungeon that wasn't blocked (the first one on the north side) and thankfully the hole in the west room still worked (on some shards it doesn't). There were sufficient holes in the walls to let me wind my way to the book without having to break any.

Yeah, because I broke through them to check if the book was still there.

Sorry I didn't say hi.. kinda switching windows because breaking them is boring. And there's no monsters there to need to avoid.

 

[Tina Small]

Yeah, because I broke through them to check if the book was still there.

Sorry I didn't say hi.. kinda switching windows because breaking them is boring. And there's no monsters there to need to avoid.

I wondered if that was you! Yeah, I tried breaking a wall on Yamato and then casting fire spells on it and it looked like it would take forever. So I just resorted to teleporting around and running in the ditches. Didn't find anything other than a few NPCs that seem to be stuck underground.

 

[Crysta]

I wondered if that was you! Yeah, I tried breaking a wall on Yamato and then casting fire spells on it and it looked like it would take forever. So I just resorted to teleporting around and running in the ditches. Didn't find anything other than a few NPCs that seem to be stuck underground.

It takes about 3 or 4 minutes of bashing by me alone to get through one wall.. so yeah, it does take forever.

 

[Merus]

The EMs only left dispensers out for the weathered journals after the event had concluded, in most cases at Honor gate and in a few cases at Dupre's camp, on these nine shards (out of 27 total): Arirang, Chesapeake, Drachenfels, Europa, Formosa, Lake Austin, Origin, Pacific, and Siege Perilous.

Not sure your list is complete. I got books on Napa, Baja, and Sonoma as well. I can't speak for other shards you did not list as I did not attend those events.

 

[Tina Small]

It takes about 3 or 4 minutes of bashing by me alone to get through one wall.. so yeah, it does take forever.

With 0 weapon skill and a butcher's war cleaver, who knows how long it would take me.

 

[SlobberKnocker]

I got one on Baja and tried to sell it, no go. Guess people on Baja are smarter than Alt. What I was really trying to do was get one of the Cross-Sharders to buy and take to Alt.

I have 5 chars at 255 (Mystic Mage, Bard Tamer and 3 Warriors) and looked at all thier gear and Stats and could not think where a +5 Stat was all that OMG I HAVE TO HAVE 260 STATS. To me this is not that OMG of a game changer.

I am glad that UO is going to make more of these and I hope that they come up with a way to do it other than putting them in Fel at a Champ Spawn. If they do this then it will be a very long long time before you see any price drop because the people who control the Champ Spawns will want all the gold they can get for them.

What type of Char would theas really be a game changer for?

if its a stat scroll it should be obtained in fel. i disagree about guilds that controll spawns. on most shards i find you can spawn at will now. i think they should make a water champ spawn using scalis and needing the new vessels equipped with cannons as the only way to get them. i think this would revive group play as well as group pvp and get a tremendous amount of use out of that publish.

 

[Phangs_of_Phage]

I got one on Baja and tried to sell it, no go. Guess people on Baja are smarter than Alt. What I was really trying to do was get one of the Cross-Sharders to buy and take to Alt.

I have 5 chars at 255 (Mystic Mage, Bard Tamer and 3 Warriors) and looked at all thier gear and Stats and could not think where a +5 Stat was all that OMG I HAVE TO HAVE 260 STATS. To me this is not that OMG of a game changer.

I am glad that UO is going to make more of these and I hope that they come up with a way to do it other than putting them in Fel at a Champ Spawn. If they do this then it will be a very long long time before you see any price drop because the people who control the Champ Spawns will want all the gold they can get for them.

What type of Char would theas really be a game changer for?

It would be the biggest boost to tank mages and parry mages. Both those builds are really squeezed for stats. And on my sampire and wammy I couldnt tell you how many times I've had to throw a lighting strike because i was 1-2 mana short of another AI.

 

[Woodsman]

if its a stat scroll it should be obtained in fel. i disagree about guilds that controll spawns. on most shards i find you can spawn at will now. i think they should make a water champ spawn using scalis and needing the new vessels equipped with cannons as the only way to get them. i think this would revive group play as well as group pvp and get a tremendous amount of use out of that publish.

Would be interesting to have them as a water champ spawn, would be cool actually, but I don't know about Fel-only. It's not going to attract any more people to Fel than are already there.

 

[Petra Fyde]

This thread has be de-biled. I apologise to anyone who's post became a victim of my cleaning as a result of quotes within it, but Mesanna really didn't deserve the abuse that was happening in it.
Please keep the thread to the topics revealed in the letter, and without further attacks on Mesanna, her staff or other posters.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

How can you misinterpret something so evident is beyond me. Off course the new suggested +3 or +4 Stat scroll would raise THEIR cap to either 258 or 259... making the event-version slightly better.

I didn't misinterpret it at all... I simply don't see a purpose in giving the Exodus scroll a +1 or +2 point advantage, especially since it was a one-time event.

 

[Lord Frodo]

if its a stat scroll it should be obtained in fel. i disagree about guilds that controll spawns. on most shards i find you can spawn at will now. i think they should make a water champ spawn using scalis and needing the new vessels equipped with cannons as the only way to get them. i think this would revive group play as well as group pvp and get a tremendous amount of use out of that publish.

Fel is a failed experiment. Spawns are dead because the market is fluided. This will bring back the Zerg Guilds trying to control the market, just like when new power scrolls were brought in, enough already with trying to lure sheep into Fel or allowing a select group the ability to fleece the rest of the player base.