Five on Friday - January 26, 2007
UPDATE! The Four on Friday is now Five. Check out the last question for info about the current state of Customer Service.
"Do the developers introduce smaller gameplay elements into UO that may transpire into larger additions to the game?"
Leurocian spotted some of y'all discussing this, and wanted to bring it up:
"Yes. We do like to introduce smaller ideas or subsystems into the game for Live Events that may or may not become larger additions to the game. If these ideas don't pan out, then they're only in the game for a limited amount of time. However, there are many cases where the ideas were also well received and have further inspired us as developers to extend these initial ideas. An example of this is the Motherlode event with accelerated skill gain. While we wouldn't want the rate of gain to remain constantly like that, it is an interesting game mechanic that we could possibly use in the future."
"[Ethereal mount stamina seems] to run out very fast! Could we get to changes to them?"
Currently, as near as we can tell with extended testing, ethereal mounts are handling stamina correctly - they use it when running, and regain it when walking or standing still. They do NOT regain stamina when in statue form - this is by design, to prevent folks from using multiple ethys to gain an unfair advantage in PvP.
However, when your ethy runs out of stamina, you need to do the same thing you would do if YOU ran out of stamina - namely, stand around for a while and wait for the regen. Further, because the ethies don't regen if you're dismounted, you can't just hop off and jog for a while - well, you can, but your ethy will still be out of stamina when you get back on.
As it stands, it's not exactly a bug - but it certainly can lead to excessive annoyance, and Wilki put together a tweak to ease the annoyance. I don't have an ETA on when you'll see it on Test Center, but we hear you, and we're listening!
"The main thing i want to know is about the luck, does it act just like luck you would find on armor? More importantly, does it stack with the luck on your armor?"
OK, in this case our KB is correct. Short answer - perfection does not affect luck at all.
Leurocian checked the code on this - he was actually looking up the "does it stack" question, and when he got there, he saw that there was luck code, but it had been disabled - apparently, long and long ago. So I went looking, assuming this was a documentation issue - and I couldn't find any reference to perfection affecting luck at all.
I can't find any documentation on the UO.com site that refers to Perfection affecting Luck, but if anyone does, feel free to drop me a line at community@uo.com with a link. It appears there was a fairly vague note in the SE manual that was incorrect, but I haven't found any others.
"A GM sent me the wrong answer to my question!"
This can be a problem for any number of reasons, but one thing that will help is writing the petition to be as clear and concise as possible. The Customer Service team (most eagerly) provided me with a number of tips and examples to help players write petitions that will get the the fastest, most accurate service possible. The examples are broken up by category, but if you should have an issue that does not fall under any of these, it should still be possible to use them as a general guide.
Verbal Harassment:
Hello! This is (Your character name) from (your shard). I have targeted (target's name) for the following verbal harassment, after I've asked them to stop: "Include harassment text here".
Example:
Hello! This is Jane from Great Lakes. I have targeted John for the following Verbal Harassment, after I've asked them to stop: "You are a stupid ****, and you need to **** off".
It is important that you target the player you're petitioning against for Verbal Harassment. (If you cannot for any reason, CS will still try to investigate, but it makes it more difficult for them.)
Physical Harassment:
Hello! This is (Your character name) from (your shard). I have targeted (target's name) for Physical Harassment. We're in (facet), (location). I'm (explain what is taking place), and they're (explain what is taking place).
Example:
Hello! This is John from Legends. I have targeted Jane for Physical Harassment. We're in Trammel, outside of Wind. I am hunting mobs, and they're luring other mobs onto me.
It is important that you target the player you're petitioning against for Physical Harassment. (If you cannot for any reason, CS will still try to investigate, but it makes it more difficult for them.)
*Note*: If you witness somebody cheating (macroing, duping, etc) please file the petition under "Physical Harrassment", as above.
Stuck
Hello! This is (Your character name) from (your shard). I am on the (number)d client, and I'm physically stuck in (facet) near (closest town/area) on/in (geometry you're stuck on, in or under).
Example:
Hello! This is Jane from Lake Superior. I am on the 2d client, and I'm physically stuck in Trammel in Britain. I'm stuck under the bank. Please help!
Missing Pet
Hello! This is (Your character name) from (your shard). My pet has gone missing. It is a (pet type here) with the name (pet's name). Could you try and locate my pet for me?
Example:
Hello! This is John from Chesapeake. My pet has gone missing. It is a Cu Sidhe with the name Kittyloaf. Could you try and locate my pet for me?
There are some pets that we can find and return, and others that we cannot (dead ones, for example). We will make every effort to get your pet back to you, but we can not guarantee the return of any pet.
Missing Item
Hello! This is (Your character name) from (your shard). I seem to be missing a (object name here). When I last saw it, it was (location). I've looked everywhere I can think of, but can't find it. Could you help me try and find it?
Example:
Hello! This is Jane from Catskills. I seem to be missing my Staff of the Magi. When I last saw it, it was in my backpack. I've looked everywhere I can think of, but can't find it. Could you help me try and find it?
If an item has been misplaced, we will often be able to find the item and tell you where it is, if that place is still somewhere in your possession. If the item is found in a location you can not retrieve it from, we should be able to return it to you. However, if an item has decayed, or is no longer in the world, we can not replace it to you at this time.
Item will not re-deed
Hello! This is (Your character name) from (your shard). I have an item in my home in (facet) at (location) that will not re-deed. It is a (object name) located (short description of where in the home it is). Could you please assist?
Example:
Hello! This is RedundantMan from Pacific. I have an item in my home in Felucca at 90o 0'N 22o 42'W. It is a Gingerbread House on the first floor of my home, in the NW corner, next to a chest. Could you please assist?
If an item should re-deed, but will not, we can usually re-deed the item for you. On rare occasions, we run into the same issue that the player does, and we cannot re-deed the item, or the item breaks upon re-deeding. We would then need to file a Bug Report on the item, and try to find the cause of the trouble.
"Why did I have to wait so long for a GM to answer my petition?"
This post has been removed - see here for details.
In the interests of archiving, the original text follows:
"Jeremy has been poking at me to answer this, because this is such a top issue for you guys. Sorry it took so long for me to write this - I needed to do some research first.
Here then, is the whole enchilada. Settle down! Have a snack!
Behind the scenes, we've been reevaluating the different customer service policies. (Policies have to be looked over every year - it's a very bad thing to have a policy for the sake of itself. Policies should only be in place if they do something good for the greatest number of people. Games and communities evolve, and policies have to evolve with them.) Many policies are still good, sensible things that have stood the test of time.
But one thing that changed was the way we prioritize petitions. It used to be that petitions were taken one at a time. The CSR would look at the top one on the pile and take it. And that worked very well for a long time. It's not that it doesn't work, either. It's that the way the game is now, we think that the most important thing is to identify people who cannot play the game (because they are unable to move, for example), and get them playing. Then we look for people who can play, but they are having their experience ruined by other people. We investigate those, which is a little time consuming, and handle them, so the players can get back to playing.
All other issues, which are important but not preventing players from... playing, are next. So if you don't have a game stopping issue, you are probably waiting longer than you were a few months ago.
Also, to be completely honest, we are using new methods to investigate harassment petitions, and so they are taking longer than we want them to take. We are getting faster at this kind of petition, but for now, each harassment appeal is taking awhile... and of course, that kind of thing tends to snowball and affect petitions down the line. But we are getting better every day, and I do apologize for this.
(By the way, speaking of harassment petitions: In every game I've ever played, it seems that the jerks I petition for harassment either get away with it, or they just disappear. I never find out what happens after I send my petition. It's frustrating, especially given how hateful anonymous humans can be. But please believe me - we read every harassment appeal, and prompt investigation is a priority for us. (Often, we are invisible while investigating, for obvious reasons.) Because we do not discuss punishments with anyone but the person being punished, please, don't expect to hear about what happened to someone accused of harassment. We can't ethically tell you.)
More of our issues these days are getting a personalized answer. However, there are many answers where a quick URL is the best response possible. If the URL is accurate, it saves time, and lets us get to the other petitions faster. If you are given a URL, please look at it instead of getting angry. We thought it was the best possible answer, or we wouldn't have sent you there. If it is not a good answer, we want to know! Tell us, in a GM Review, what your question was and what the URL said the answer was. It is in our best interest to give you good information, and so we welcome and desperately want your feedback.
Finally, one thing you might not realize is that we've changed the staff scheduling a little. We try to have the most CSRs on duty during peak hours, and therefore we only offer limited support during non-peak times. It is certainly possible, during those times, for you to wait for several hours. It's ironic, but our wait times are much shorter during peak hours. I really do apologize to those of you who are waiting longer these days - we're working on the solutions.
We do have job openings in CS right now. (it's under "Fairfax, VA", on page 3) Filling those jobs will help us to staff at higher levels during non-peak times! Please, if you know and love UO, and you have CS experience... just apply. We're willing to do a lot of training for the right people. We'd love to meet you.
Sanya M. Weathers
Director of Community Relations
EA Mythic"
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Our Town Hall is tomorrow - stay tuned for lots of juicy details!
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Alert readers will notice only four questions above - the missing question required just a bit more research and signoff than usual, so I'm holding it until I am confident that posting it will not inspire people to chase me with blunt objects. Expect to see it early next week - I'm off to catch a plane to Atlanta!
- Jeremy