What has imbueing done to magic item market?

[UODevTracker]

Original Thread

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[Mark_Mythic]

I'm interested to know how you all feel that the new properties that were introduced with SA (which are not imbuable) are bolstering pve/pvm?

Also, I find it counter intuitive that a system that requires 20 + high intensity items to make 1 new item would "kill" pve/pvm. For those of you who are claiming this is true, what makes you say this is happening?

As for new players, if you just need to get a full set of armor/weapons, show up at any of the live events where there is one of the random reward treasure chests... people tend to dump a lot of equipment on the ground there if it doesn't fit their current armor plan and you can just take it.

By design, building the "perfect suit" is an advanced player game. It is not required to enjoy UO and the definition of the "perfect suit" continues to evolve as new properties are introduced. Optimization is fun for many people and thus this element of UO is there for them as a long term goal.

I would like to create some kind of support to help players who don't want to figure out imbuing to contact people who enjoy it. In the mean time, people will just have to talk to each other in game and work it out. UO community has always been good about networking.

 

[Mark_Mythic]

A lot of the properties seemed intriguing, but when I try them out, the results were disappointing. This ties into imbuing in that the special SA item properties require compromises compared to the imbued stuff it replaces. So I haven't yet found an SA item with a special property that will out perform the replaced imbued piece(s). With so many item properties and combinations possible, the SA arties with special SA properties but other fixed property combos limit the types of templates/playstyles you can do - again comparing to imbued equipment.

Maybe allow imbuing of the SA properties - start out with a heavy intensity weighting on TC. Lower the weighting until people start using it - then nerf the @#$ out of it.

LOL, I'm not from the old school where you introduce things to get people to use them and nerf them. Maybe I'm too progressive? Hard to say.

I do like your idea of having a series of items that are almost exactly the same except with various special properties on them so that you could more easily work them into a template. I'll make some spreadsheets and see how viable it is in practice.

I don't want to make them imbuable for the reason posted above... if everything is imbuable then pve/pvm isn't as fun.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[Mark_Mythic]

What about some sort of ordering system for imbueing? Almost like a bod i guess, for instance:

I could sell a deed on my vendor for an imbuing contract, the buyer could buy my contract and fill it with one item that the seller designates.

say you buy a imbuing contract for a ring, a kryss, etc etc. The buyer checks boxes for intensitys, durability, resists needed on a piece, etc.

On the sellers side, he has a deed that is binded to the contract, he can fill it like a bod which would then collect the gold and place the piece in the buyers bank box or something. Possibly give them a message and say their order has been completed. I dunno, just blowing smoke i suppose, this is off the top of my head without a whole lot of thought, like most things

We've been looking at this for a while now, but it would require us first to create a centralized bank. Currently, your "bank" is actually stored on your character and is not accessible when you are not online. We would need some kind of bank to put your payment in so that you don't have to be online to make the transaction. This is not out of the question, it's just a bigger task than it may appear on the surface.

 

[Mark_Mythic]

Also while you are looking for some feedback, i saw some threads from new/returing players who could not figure out how to even get involved in the game. Would there be an suggesstions for feedback to revamp the new player system? maybe even a pop up for new players after they do new things, that they can request help from a veteran, etc? Help them on their way to making money and getting items more (since the game depends on such things) etc? i have alot of ideas on the subject if you would be interested.

I would **love** to spend some time on new player experience. It is like my pet soap box around here. Again, the trick is getting time on the schedule. The core of what I want to do is have a more extensive tool tip system. Like, I'm a new player and I have a pair of scissors in my backpack... I'm like..."what is that for?" I click on a question mark icon, then click on the scissors and it tells you. Also, there are a few UI things I would like to improve. How many times do you think a newb attacks their own horse? I also think the change in state from peace mode to war mode should be more obvious. I know these are the kinds of things that make new players crazy but vets are just used to it so they don't even notice anymore.

 

[Mark_Mythic]

Cetric, I think this topic has a lot of merit but I don't want to derail the thread by continuing it here so if you want to make a new thread about new player experience that might be appropriate.