Ultima Online Storm Chat 10
Date: October 23, 2003
Topic: General Discussion
Moderated by: TrinityX
TrinityX - Welcome to the 10th UO StormChat! Thankyou to everyone for joining us!
TrinityX - This chat will be moderated, general chat can continue during in #ultima-online. To submit a question, please /msg one of the question takers listed in the channel topic. Please do not message myself, or anyone from EA: Origin, they will be ignored.
TrinityX - Our question takers are: Peaches, Ouch, Pittminion and Ian. They are easily recognised by the [IS] in front of thier names.
TrinityX - Tonight's topic will be: General Discussions. All inappropriate questions, including those about UX:O will be ignored :)
TrinityX - *Viceroy* Do you think we might ever possibly see property taxes introduced to UO to remove excessive gold from the economy and free up more land for others to place houses based on a houses value?
Evocare - It isn't likely that we will implement property taxes.
Evocare - While we're all for adding things to the game that players want to spend gold on,
Evocare - we're not big fans of making players pay gold for things they already have
TrinityX - *[DJ]psycho* With PvP in mind, have the Developers talked about how unbalanced the FasterCast/FasterCast Recorvery items are? (artifacts is the problem here)
Evocare - Yes, we have.
Evocare - We've been consideringimplementing a cap on some of the magical properties
Evocare - for example, a cap of +2 faster casting on a player
Evocare - However, we're still looking at alternative solutions too...
Evocare - the reason being that we don't have a problem with really high fast casting (for example again) when it pertains to PvM
Evocare - The monsters don't seem to be too worried about it...
Evocare - So optimally, we can find a solution that impacts pvp primarily...
Evocare - That being said, we are considering such solutions
TrinityX - *Monroebot* What exactly is on the test server right now? Is it early pub21 stuff or is it a minipublish coming sooner?
MrTact - It *IS* early pub 21
MrTact - One of the responses to player concerns about publish 20 was to try and get stuff onto a public test center sooner so it could be out there longer.
TrinityX - *Viceroy* Does OSI ever have any plans to introduce a polling / feedback system in-game in which solicit feedback and opinions from players on a per account basis upon login for upcoming and recent changes made to UO? I would really like to see OSI getting feedback directly from players rather then through selective communities such as Stratics and etc., which is why I ask.
MrTact - We have talked about it, but we don't have a PLAN to do it right this moment.
MrTact - I know that Sunsword is in favor of it, but I don't know when (if ever) it will get on the schedule.
TrinityX - *Drull* Hi. Whats gonna be done about the VERY annoying archery crash bug? Everyone knows about it but nothings being said. Its not something that should be overlooked. Any info?
Fertbert - We're looking into it, it's very difficult to reproduce in a controlled environment and get the data we need in order to fix it.
Fertbert - I also hope to address the fireball crasher as soon as I can reproduce it as well.
TrinityX - *Dolgorath[ATL]* On TC2 some players have noticed that the healing timwer has been increased to self heal in about 2 seconds, surely this is a bug??
Hanse - It'll be changed.
Hanse - Hopefully, the tweak will be visible tomorrow to be around 5 seconds with 120 dex
Evocare - Basically it should be like it is on the live servers now
Hanse - Uh, no
Evocare - whoops err i mean it should be faster then it is on live servers
Hanse - This is publish 21. :)
Evocare - what Hanse said =]
* Hanse nods.
TrinityX - *JediDeamon* Are there any plans to rework enhancing so that blacksmith skill will factor in, or possibly having secondary smith skills, such as arms lore give a bonus or making it easier or something along those lines?
Evocare - We are indeed speeding up bandage heal times, and reworking interruption and heal amounts and all that
Hanse - ...enhancing is affected by crafting skill in publish 21...
Evocare - so... "yes" =]
Hanse - It's roughly 1% per 10 skill.
Hanse - better chance, that is...not worse... :)
TrinityX - *Malkes_Talren* Is there any information you can give regarding looking into Siege Perilous skill gain issues?
MrTact - Yes.
MrTact - The issue where it is impossible to gain over 100 skill should be fixed for pub 21.
MrTact - Also
MrTact - As a side effect, the higher your skill cap is, the faster you should gain, on all shards.
MrTact - Special new bonus PS feature.
TrinityX - *Triezee* Is Runic hammers going to be made easier to get then the Ash Hammers.Why is runics having only 35 Damage increase on all hammers,is this going to be fixed?
Hanse - Ah, sneaky...two questions in one...
Hanse - The first part... are runic hammers going to be made easier to get than ancient smithy hammers
Hanse - Yes and no.
Evocare - so complex!
Hanse - The rewards in publish 21 are easier to predict. We've reworked the rewards to not select from random lists at the high-end.
Hanse - This means filling high-end bulk order deeds of the same type will yield the same reward.
Hanse - We wanted to elliminate frustration at getting an item you do not want.
Hanse - This makes it easier to get either an ancient smithy hammer or a runic hammer.
Hanse - It does not make it easier to get the deeds you need to fill for the rewards you want, though.
Hanse - For the second part...
Hanse - Runics having only 35% damage increase on all hammers is incorrect.
Hanse - If you've kept an eye on the stratics boards, you'll notice that many players have posted crafting weapons with higher damage increase than 35%.
Hanse - The reason why you see the 35% often is because you're crafting those items with exceptional quality.
Hanse - 35% is the minimum...if a lower roll is made, then it is discarded...
Hanse - and a new roll is made
Hanse - If a roll exceeds 35%, then it's placed on the weapon.
TrinityX - *Red_Falcon* Is anything being done for artifact distribution? The same players keep getting artifacts over and over; ie one person on atlantic has gotten 12 in 24 days, while some get none and some have gotten 3 in 2 months.. it doesnt seem very random.
Evocare - We do keep logs on artifact drops, and I have certainly noticed some players getting impressive numbers of artifacts
Evocare - now, it's hard to tell whether they're just lucky, don't sleep, or bugged in some mysterious way
Evocare - however, there are also many many players who have only gotten 1
Evocare - so... I wouldn't say there's anything conclusive in the datea
Evocare - err data
Evocare - that being said, I'll keep an eye on it and try to make sure there isn't actually something amiss
TrinityX - *Flutter* How real is the "auto loot" feature we are seeing discussed? Does this apply to all kills or just boss kills?
MrTact - It's only quasi-real at the moment.
Evocare - that's slightly more then pseudo-real btw
MrTact - Vex and I have been having lengthy discussions about script looting & are convinced that's pretty much the only way to address the problem.
MrTact - But nothing definite has been decided yet . . . we are carefully monitoring the reaction of the community & factoring that into any decisions we make.
TrinityX - *Lapris* Is the rummor about combining Bowcraft and Carpentry true? What's going on with the BOD systems for these, as well?
MrTact - Just a rumor.
MrTact - Again, something that's been talked about but nothing conclusive done with it.
TrinityX - *JustaGirl* Can Sannio tell us if the "scam prevention" measures are on tc right now?
Sannio - Sannio can't, but MrTact might be able to. ;)
MrTact - Ahem.
MrTact - Yes, some of them are.
MrTact - You may have noticed some difficulties picking up stacks of items today.
MrTact - That was related to the fix. (I have since "fixed" that fix, btw.)
TrinityX - *Drull* Are there any plans for anything archery related in the upcoming publish 21 patch? If so, can you elaborate on whats being added, if not... WHY! :/ thanks
Hanse - Well, we made bows repairable a while back.
Hanse - However, with publish 21, repairing items has a chance to lower the maximum durability of an item.
Hanse - So, powder of temperament, which is available through the BOD reward system, is being changed to powder of fortifying
Hanse - The powder of fortifying, while not only for bows, will work on all equippables...
Hanse - That's the only change that I know of that will affect bows with this upcoming publish.
TrinityX - *Aron* Are runic sewing kits going to get similar boost that runic hammers in pub21, since we only got runic hammers in TC for testing?"
Hanse - The changes in publish 21 to runics affect all runics.
Hanse - I've written a note to myself to add the sewing kits in for test center. I can't say if that'll be available this weekend or not, though.
TrinityX - *JustaGirl* Is Blaze the mystery bell color that no one has yet to see, or that we know of.
Hanse - There's a little confusion with the colors.
Hanse - Fire is the index in the file used for the bright tailor color.
Hanse - Blaze is a reversed color that I put in and thought looked horrible on items.
Hanse - So, Blaze is not used in the game.
TrinityX - *Kagaya* The Archery class has been in desperate need of some attention. Can we expect some new features to this class soon? Say next few publishes? Enhancing and Runic Fletcher tools would be great.
Evocare - We still really want to add new content to archery/bowcrafting, it's just a question of scheduling and priority
TrinityX - *Hydro* Ok my question is, Would you folks at OSI please consider making different colored beetles, instead of that ugly baby blue? Some shades of brown and a grey would be nicer, thanks!
Evocare - Beetle dye tubs are a 10 year vet reward
Evocare - ok just kidding
Evocare - I suppose we'll consider other beetle colors when the opportunity arises
Evocare - =]
MrTact - Like, uh, when we hire some artists?
TrinityX - *JustaGirl* oh my gooses another question! Is there a fix for the current BOD bug allowing people to get high end powerscrolls VERY easy? (also sandals and such)
Evocare - Yes, that bug will be fixed in pub21
TrinityX - *Flutter* Do the enhacement and runic tweaks apply to tailoring as well as smithy?
Hanse - Yes.
TrinityX - *Lapris* Is there going to be a BOD system for carpentry/tinkering/bowcraft? If so, how's it going to work and what kinda rewards?
Hanse - We'd like to. Our current publish is bug fixing and balance tweaks (publish 21). I haven't seen a proposal on a new BOD system, so it's not currently being developed.
TrinityX - *Kagaya* The house rune marking system is sometimes blocked by objects outside the house. IE: Rocks, trees, ect. Are there any plans to give GM's a way to move the default location a space or two so this game feature will work again for some of us?
MrTact - I have been considering that it might be a good idea to allow recalls to find a safe space within a tile or two of the actual destination.
MrTact - But since this is the first the designers have heard of it, I wouldn't count on that :-)
Evocare - huh? what?
Evocare - =]
MrTact - Anyway, hopefully we will find SOME good solution for this problem in a future publish.
TrinityX - *Ragman* It has been a topic of discussion lately that the UO.com pages are becoming rather outdated. Any updates being worked on?
Sannio - Working on the UO.com updates is often a balancing act between posting news, like FYIs and In Concept notes, and making updates to feature-sections like the playguide. We've had to spend a bit more time recently on some news updates, with the recent pubish, housing changes, account system migration, etc., but as things settle down you'll start seeing more updates to non-news sections (like the playguide).
TrinityX - *Dolgorath[ATL]* will runebooks ever be equippable again? when AOS made it so you could not equip them, it devalued the runebook dye tub as well as did not let players walk around with customized spellbooks =[
Hanse - Runebooks were converted to a different object number.
Hanse - When that happened, it unlinked them from the spellbook animation. (and they have slightly different art now for your backpack
Hanse - So, we're not looking at making them equippable again.
TrinityX - *RacerX* why is it that necro familiars, when attacking an aggressor to the necro, flag criminal, and if the aggressor is killed, is able to give a murder count to the necro?
MrTact - I'm pretty sure that's a bug.
MrTact - We will look into that.
TrinityX - *Dupre* is there any intention to reward those who send in bugs to the development team, rather than exploit them for there own gains
MrTact - yes, if I have to buy stuff out of my own pocket :-)
MrTact - But it looks like I won't have to . . . everybody seems to be pretty enthused about doing some kind of "bug bounty" program.
TrinityX - *JustaGirl* Ooh another one.. Will Chessie be getting the Orc Event. We got the first wave, yet never saw the rest. I believe there is another shard that never got it as well
kieron - We need to progress the story arc along further, rather than bring it backwards. Seeing as we've progressed beyond a point in the arc where a return to the orc attack would be good, I don't forsee continued attacks on Moonglow
kieron - However, we have brought on a new EM for Chessie and she is progressing through training nicely.
kieron - Chessie (and Oceania) should be caught back up with the remaining shards within the week.
TrinityX - *Triezee* Hanse you stated you wil implement the boost on treasure maps for pub 21*sticky note on Hanse forhead* Please dont forget
Hanse - the boost is already on TC2
Hanse - Level 4 and 5 maps get the boost. :)
Hanse - You may not find it very evident, due to the random intensities...but it's there!
TrinityX - *Watts* Can you give us any hints about this upcoming change that "Vets will really enjoy"?
Evocare - it pwns
MrTact - We could, but then we would have to kill you.
TrinityX - And that ends our 10th UO Storm Chat!
TrinityX - i'd like to give a thanks to Evocare, AviStetto, Sannio,Hanse,MrTact, Fertbert and Helios for joining us tonight and answering our questions.
Sannio - Thanks for coming, everyone!
TrinityX - And a special visit from kieron :) (Notes the lower case k)
TrinityX - Logs will be posted at http://www.ianstorm.com/ultima/UOSC/ TrinityX- If you wish to continue talking to other UO players, please /join #Ultima-Online
TrinityX - Thanks for coming everyone!!!
* Hanse runs after his mongbat kite that he accidentally let slip.