Codex of Standard updated.
The latest version of the Codex of Standard can be found here
Posted by Balandar
Saturday, April 21, 2001 4:36 PM EDT
Imperial Treasurey
As of April 10th, 2001 the Imperial Treasuery Stands At:
IMAGE NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Posted by Greg
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 9:00 PM EDT
Could the Cult of Jou'nar Be Returning?
It was a run of the mill evening as the late Trinsic sun slowly faded behind the mountains to the West. Atop the bank I stood, sorting my treasures from the day, around me stood my fellow adventurers discussing their evening plans. As I reached into my satchel to retrieve the necessary reagents for the spell that would zap me home a man approached me. The man spoke in a very cautious tone,
“Emperor, I fear one who once wore the colors of HONOR mayhap return, however I cannot speak here without fear for yours and mine own life; meet me in the basement of the Britain Tavern in ten minutes, come alone.”
I glanced at my wrist watch and waited ten minutes before proceeding to the tavern. When I arrived at the tavern a man, by a different name approached me and identified himself as the man from the bank. He alerted me to the fact that he is in constant disguise….many faces, many voices. He beckoned for me to follow him, and upon reaching our destination, a small cramp room above the Britain Inn he removed a chess board from his satchel,
”Do you play Emperor?”
“Not in ages, I fear I am a bit hazy on the rules of chess.”
“I see,” he replied, “Then let us play, if luck is with you this night and you win I shall tell you all I know, if misfortune stands with you, then I shall tell you a little.”
The game went on, however, after about three quarters of an hours time I lay my king down to rest and he uttered the word, “Checkmate”
He looked up with a smile and said, “You put up a good fight sire, so I shall tell ye some of what I know. As I said on the bank, a man who once wore the colors of the Empire and of HONOR is returning, however it is not a good thing I say.”
I nodded and listened further, “Tomorrow eve there is a chess tournament at 8 by the Eastern sky in the Counselor’s guild in Skara Brae, I implore you to attend. You know, most great leaders in history were excellent chess players. From an early age they develop a sense for the game, as long as they know the rules, the strategy comes natural. At the tournament there is a prize of 30,000 gold, however the prize is much more than that, as with history a leader will be chosen.”
With his telling this I immediately began to ponder…..chess….chess….how does that connect with a past Guardian of Honor?
He added, “Do you remember the tournament in Nujelm? Where the final match was with Gorion of the Purple Guardians? And was Gorion not affiliated with Cove in some way?”
I replied, “Yes, he faced off with Jonathan Rye who beat him for the victory.” Then it clicked. Jonathan Rye, a past member of the Purple Guardians of HONOR, chess fanatic and ex-leader of the Cult of Jou’nar. It all made sense now.
The man went on, “Now you see of the danger, I must take leave now Emperor, but please research this matter fully. Many Faces, Many Voices….” With that he vanished into thin air. Not entirely sure of the events that had just happened to me I proceeded to my office in the North Western part of Trinsic. As I walked passed the faded sandstone walls of the Tinker’s guild on the way to my office a peddler approached me.
“Wanna buy a watch?” he said.
“Not today my good man.”
“Then how about a Snowy Scene of Cove? Or Perhaps a Gnarled Staff of Force? Or maybe a letter from Gorion the day before the Tournament……Many Faces, Many Voices.”
He then vanished, and again left me in a confused state of mind. As I sat in the chair behind my desk I reached for a piece of parchment and began to write…..All Chess Players Wanted, Inquire to Emperor.
The following day I made way to the tournament around a half passed seven with Gladiator Centurion Coldren and Senator of Genesis Keith Lasgrove, the two representatives of PGoH at the tournament. As we walked into the hall I met with the other contestants and an old friend, Madmardagan of The Unknown and the True Britannian Faction. We chatted at great length, and apparently he had seen the connection with the Cult and the tournament as well. The tournament progressed, however the two representatives from PGoH were knocked out during the early rounds. As the tournament progressed Madmardagan noticed that one of the judges was named Dimitri, as he recalled, a member of the Cult of Jou’nar. Dimitri also wore armor crafted by Farrah, original blacksmith for the cult. As the tournament drew to a close Kai Hohiro of guild Bedlam and Raven of Trinsic were left as finalists. With much disturbance from outsiders the match was called a tie and the true meaning of the tournament and it’s connection with the Cult was revealed. A book was given out that read the following:
Title: Banished; Returned
The withered
Hands that held me
Down have all been
Severed; the blood of
Their passing now marks my way
Silenced
mid-sentence, my
refrain begins again, a
chorus long forgotten
trailing from the tip
of my tongue
Seven new voices now
Carry the note, but
Have yet to learn the words.
A trial of shades, in
Eight rows and
Columns, reveal to
Them the lyrics, or
Remove them from the verse
With eight in the choir, the game is
Retired, rhythm and
Volume replacing
Check and checkmate.
Allow them to join us
In a state of harmony,
Or add a sense of
Discord to our
Melody, the song
Is yours to sing.
Sunday bears the key
Of C, as the cloak casts
Eight tones to the glow
Of an eastern moon, a
Two hour eulogy
Stirring the fallen as
The game begins and ends
From these writings it was decided that an event would possibly be taking place in Moonglow at 8 o’clock. Upon searching of Moonglow by myself, Ser Brightblade of PGoH and Kai Hohiro of Bedlam, nothing turned up.
This eve I received a scroll from Arianna of the Valor Knights via courier pigeon…
To the leaders of the Allies of Valor Knights
My dearest Mallock relays to me he has been visited by a man cloaked in green. He awaited outside the castle till all were gone but Mallock. Entering the castle to have words with him.
We know not who he may be as of yet. He had very little to say but what he did say was this
"The First Song is Sung. The first board is claimed. Wait for Another in a cove where it Rains. On Wednesday 8 eastern evening sky. You'll find out our Machinations. Our many reasons why" Vincent
Further reports from Arianna of Valor Knights report that Vincent did wear a set of green armor, the trademark of the cult.
Could this be the return of an evil throughout Britannia?
Only time will tell………
Posted by Greg
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 8:50 PM EDT
UO: Third Dawn Upgrade Maps
It has come to our attention that existing customers ordering the Ultima Online: Third Dawn upgrade offer have not been receiving the complete paper map of Ilshenar and the Britannia and Lost Lands as promised, but have received a map with only the Ilshenar lands visible. We would like to apologize for this, and will be shipping the dual-sided map of Britannia, the Lost Lands, and Ilshenar to all customers who have participated in the special upgrade offer.
The dual-sided map will be shipped to the address entered for the upgrade offer. Additionally, customers who participate in the Third Dawn upgrade offer in the future will receive the dual-sided, retail version map.
To participate in the Ultima Online: Third Dawn upgrade offer, please visit http://www.uo.com/upgrade.html. The upgrade offer includes an Ultima Online: Third Dawn CD along with a map displaying the new land of Ilshenar and the existing lands of Britannia. As a special addition, this upgrade also includes a collector's edition cloth map of Britannia and the Lost Lands. All of this is bundled into one package priced at $9.95 plus shipping ($4.95 for U.S. and Puerto Rico or $6.95 International).
Posted by Balandar
Friday, April 6, 2001 12:22 PM EDT
Vet Rewards Update FAQ
Sage, the Lead Designer for UO, posted this to the official UO Boards:
Why are vet rewards not in at this time?
Vet Rewards is the first system in UO to tie items to an account, rather than a character. This was something that was very new for us, and while seemingly simple, was actually a very complex task. UO, while incredibly flexible, was not originally designed to support this kind of addition. It was clear after release that the Vet Rewards system was in a state we did not feel comfortable with keeping active. (i.e. Some people could get more rewards than their accounts merited.) The system had issues and we felt it was best to hold the system back to try to remove the known issues, rather than keeping it active and trying to fix it on the fly.
Why has it been so long?
While we could have held off on many aspects of development for Vet Rewards, it was believed that UO:Third Dawn took precedence over Vet Rewards. Third Dawn potentially reached more people, and was better for the ability of the game to maintain a longer life cycle. (In other words, Third Dawn would give us the ability to hold the interest of the players for longer.) While simultaneous development occurs all the time, the danger of working on Vet Rewards and Third Dawn together would have hurt both projects. Therfore, we gave Third Dawn priority.
Are Vet Rewards going to be implemented?
The current team is committed to having Vet Rewards come out and be stable. This may still take some time. The Vet Rewards system has been largely put on the back burner until Third Dawn could be published. This does not mean we will be putting Third Dawn fixes or enhancements to the side in order to do Vet Rewards, as we should be able to work on both simultaneously from this point on. Vet Rewards is currently back under development and we should have more information on when they will be back on TC soon.
Posted by Balandar
Wednesday, April 4, 2001 2:09 PM EDT
Upgrading to UO:Third Dawn
Reminder: To enjoy the features and changes present in Ultima Online: Third Dawn, you must have a UO: Third Dawn CD. Existing customers can take advantage of our special offer and receive a Third Dawn CD and the map of Ilshenar, Britannia and the Lost Lands for $9.95 at our upgrade site located at http://www.uo.com/upgrade.html. This special upgrade offer also includes a collector’s edition cloth map of Britannia and the Lost Lands. Ultima Online: Third Dawn can also be purchased at your local software store. Players new to Ultima Online will be able to access the Third Dawn client simply by creating their account using the Third Dawn CD. Existing customers, whether using the upgrade or the full retail copy, need only install UO:Third Dawn and download any latest patches before playing. There is no need for existing account holders to update their registration.
Posted by Balandar
Tuesday, April 3, 2001 7:24 PM EDT