Ultima Online: Adventures on the High Seas

Adventures of the High Seas (from UO Town Hall presentation slide)

Overview

Adventures on the High Seas is the latest expansion that is scheduled to launch in Fall 2010 "before Christmas". It was first announced during a UO Town Hall Meeting held on August 28, 2010 at EA Mythic/Bioware's division headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia.

It was formally announced as a "booster" as opposed to a full-fledged expansion and was stated to have a retail price of $14.99 USD upon release.

During the first public demonstration, an NPC orc ship was attacked but the orc crew killed the dev team member.

Features

Note: These additions are in alpha and are all subject to change/removal.

New Ships

Three New Boat Types/Styles:
- Orcish - 3 weapon stations per side
- Gargish - 3 weapon stations per side
- Tokuno - 2 weapons per side, faster speed than other ships
Boats are paintable, in different Hues (no glacial colors!)
Introduction of Rowboats
Limitation of one boat and one ship placed on the water per character at any given time.

Ship Movement

Boats move smoothly from tile to tile (like walking)
Boats can now move at three different speeds
May be controlled via mouse instead of spoken commands
New methods for boarding ships, replacing long-troublesome plank method

Ship Weapons

Boats will have multiple weapon stations where cannon may be placed
Multi-step firing system(loading, lighting, etc.)
Ammunition crafting(Tinkering skill addition):
- Cannonballs - for other ship and large monster targets
- Grapeshot - for anti-personnel use
Cannon crafting(Blacksmithing skill addition)

Ship Damage and Repair

Boats will display increasing amounts of damage taken
- At third level of damage, Immobile, any ship may be boarded.
Boats may be repaired with a variety of craftable items
Players with Carpentry or Tailoring skill receive bonus to ship repair ability/effectiveness

Pirate/Merchant Ships

NPC waypoints
Unique crews
Attackable
Defend themselves

Boss Encounters

Scalis the Enforcer
Island Encounter

Sea Market

A floating dock-style town at sea(both Felucca and Trammel), between Moonglow and Fire Isle
New NPC's:
- Fish Monger
- Dockmaster - to automatically load/unload items from ship holds, for a fee
- Specialty Merchants
Pirate bounty quest system
- Based off a bulletin board
- Pirates may be captured or killed
- Captured pirates maybe be placed in manacles on your ship's bow

Fishing Skill Updates

Fishing skill cap raised to 120(Legendary)
Location-specific fishing
36 new fish, including lobsters
16 new buffs(10 minute duration, from eating fish pies made with new enchanted fish)
2 new wall-mountable fish
- One each from Trammel and Felucca
- Will include the date the fish was caught
Introduction of Lobster Traps mini-game to catch lobsters