(OSI)Employment Listing at Origin
CURRENT EMPLOYMENT LISTINGS
Server Programmers
We are searching for talented and experienced Server Programmers to join the ORIGIN team! Primary responsibilities include coding and implementing new game content as well as maintaining current server code. They will also work with the team to determine architecture for new systems, and evaluate current systems for optimization and bug fixes.The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:
Extremely competent and experienced working in a UNIX environment, specifically Linux and Solaris
3+ years programming experience using C++ / object-oriented programming
Significant network programming experience with TCP/IP
Significant distributed programming experience, including ability to build distributed and client/server systems
Knowledge of scripting languages such as Perl, Unix shell scripting languages (sh, bash, and/or tcsh), Java and Python
Familiarity with RPC programming and shared object / DLL programming
Experience profiling executables with grof or other profiling tool
Experience using memory debugging tools
Ability to discern appropriate code and timing for optimization
Disciplined and experienced using CVS or similar versioning control system
Highly documentation-oriented, engineering approach to problem-solving
Desire/ability to work in a team environment
Pluses Include:
Win32 development experience
Familiarity with threaded programming (POSIX threads) and other internal systems issues
Familiarity with programming DB applications and using SQL commands
Experience with the Berkeley DB system
Experience implementing movement prediction and latency tolerant movement systems
Familiarity with massively multiplayer games
ABOUT ORIGIN SYSTEMS, INC.
Located in the scenic hills of Northwest Austin, we offer a unique and casual work environment along with competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. Origin offers challenging projects, excellent opportunities for advancement, and the freedom to be as creative as you can possibly be. At our facility, you will find an on-site fitness-center, café, free video games, pets and more.
CONTACTING ORIGIN SYSTEMS, INC.
For immediate consideration for any position listed above (unless otherwise noted), please send resume and salary requirements to:
Origin Systems-Human Resources
5918 W. Courtyard Drive
Austin, TX 78730
Fax: 512-346-7905
jobs at origin.ea.com.
Posted by Borg
Saturday, April 27, 2002 6:39 PM EDT
(OSI)Ultima Online HORTICULTURE 101
PLANT GROWING
Using special seeds harvested from slain monsters, you may grow uniquely colored plants to use as house decorations or to produce hybrid seeds and resources. As your plant grows from a seed to a full-grown plant, it will need watering and alchemical care in order to protect it from insect infestations and harmful fungi. Through the process of cross-pollination, you may even be the first person to grow a unique new hybrid plant type!
PLANT SEEDS
Plant seeds come in many different colors. When planted in a bowl of dirt and carefully tended to over time, plant seeds will grow into full-grown plants. These plants can be used for decorative purposes only, or as a source of new hybrid plant seeds and specially grown resources. While you can tell what color of plant the seed will grow into by the color of the seed itself, the type of plant that results from a particular seed remains a mystery until the plant is fully-grown! The first step in growing a seed into a plant is planting it in a bowl of soft dirt. In order to plant a seed, simply double click the seed to use it, and then target a bowl of soft dirt. Freshly dug dirt isn't soft enough for a seed to be planted in, so you'll need to pour water into your bowl of dirt before attempting to place a seed in it.
PLANT BOWL
In order to plant a seed, you first need a special bowl. Plant bowls can be purchased from a provisioner for a small price. Once you have an empty plant bowl, you'll need to fill it with dirt before you can plant a seed in it. To fill a plant bowl with dirt, double-click the bowl to use it, and then target a source of nice soft brown dirt. If you've targeted an appropriate patch of dirt, you'll now have a bowl full of dirt. Add in enough water to soften the dirt, and you'll have a perfect spot for planting a seed!
PLANT GROWTH
Plants take time to grow through their various stages. A plant has nine main stages of growth, from seed, to sapling, to fully grown plant. Plants will not grow in containers unless the container is in a player's backpack. If a plant is healthy and well-tended, it will grow one "stage" of its life-cycle in about a day's time. If a plant is not healthy because it has not been well taken care of, then it will not grow. You must keep your plant in a healthy state by curing it of any maladies that might be affecting it, and then letting it heal naturally or help it along through alchemical means.
PLANT HEALTH
Plants have hit points much like your character. A plant loses hit points when it is affected by various maladies. If a plant has insects eating at it, then it will lose hit points each day. Other maladies that can affect a plant's health include under or over-watering the plant, harmful fungi, poison, and disease. Heal potions and a plant's natural healing will raise the plant's hit points back up to its maximum, but only if the plant has been cured of all maladies first. If a plant loses all its hit points, it will die. As a plant grows, its maximum health increases. Seeds and saplings are very weak, and can easily be killed if neglected for even a short while. Full-grown plants, on the other hand, could survive for several days without any help.
INFESTATION
As a plant grows, it has a chance of being infested by insects. These insects will slowly eat at a plant, causing it to lose health and eventually die. Different plants have different chances of being infested. Flowery plants, over-watered plants, and bright plants all have a greater chance of attracting hungry insects, so they'll need even more attention from their owner. You can use poison potions on your plant in order to kill off the insects that have infested it. Be sure that you do not use too much poison, however, or your plant will soak up the poison, which can cause it to wither and die! You can view your plant's current Infestation Level in the Plant Health menu.
FUNGUS
As a plant grows, it has a chance of being infected with harmful fungi. Fungi sap the plant of its health, which will cause it to wither and die. It is important to remember that fungi love moist areas, so over-watering your plant increases the chance that it will become infected by harmful fungi. You may cure your plant of fungus by using cure potions. You can view your plant's current Fungus Level in the Plant Health menu.
POISON (PLANTS)
You may apply poison potions to your plant to kill insects infecting it. If you apply too many poison potions, however, or apply poison potions when there are no insects on the plant, then your plant will soak up the poison and become sick. When you apply poison potions, they will not take effect until the next growth check your plant performs (approximately once a day). Don't worry, however, as insects only harm your plant during a growth check as well, so any insects will be killed off by your poison potions before they can harm your plant. If you accidently poison your plant, you can cure the plant of poison by using heal potions to counteract the poison. You can view your plant's current Poison Level in the Plant Health menu.
CURING (PLANTS)
You may apply cure potions to a plant in order to cure it of harmful fungi. If you apply too many cure potions, however, or apply cure potions when the plant is not infected by fungi, you will infect your plant with a deadly disease which will cause it to wither and die. When you apply cure potions, they will not take effect until the next growth check your plant performs (approximately once a day). Don’t worry, however, as fungi only harm your plant during a growth check as well, so any harmful fungi will be cured by your cure potions before they can harm your plant. If you accidently infect your plant with a disease by over-curing it, you can use heal potions to counteract the disease. You can view your plant's current Disease Level in the Plant Health menu.
WATERING
In order to keep your plant healthy, you must water it regularly. An under-watered plant will wither and die if left unattended. However, it is important to remember that over-watering your plant is also unhealthy. Over-watered plants become waterlogged and lose health, in addition to becoming perfect breeding grounds for insects and fungi. Each time a plant performs its growth check (approximately once a day) the plant will soak up one dose of water, so you'll need to keep a constant eye on your plant to make sure it has not dried out. You can view your plant's current Water Level in the Plant Health menu.
POTIONS (PLANTS)
You may apply various potions to a plant in order to cure it of various maladies, help it to heal back up to maximum health, or strengthen it against infestations. Potions are applied through the Water button on the Main Menu. The following potions may be used on plants: Heal, Cure, Poison, Strength.
CROSS-POLLINATION
When a plant first reaches its full-grown state, it will sprout its full foliage, no longer contained within the plant bowl. At this stage of the plant's growth, it will begin to produce pollen. You can view your plant's current Pollination State in the Plant Resources menu. The plant will eventually self-pollinate if left unattended, and the plant will begin to produce seeds. Seeds produced by a self-pollinated plant will grow up into an exact duplicate of the "parent" plant. Another method of pollination is called "cross-pollination". Once a plant reaches the pollen-producing stage, its pollen may be gathered by the owner by using the Cross-Pollination button. Gathered pollen may be used on another full-grown plant. When you pollinate one plant with pollen from another plant, the targeted plant will produce seeds that will grow into a hybrid of the two plants. The color and type of each "parent" plant are combined to produce a new type of seed that will grow from the targeted plant. While you may continue to gather pollen from a plant throughout its entire life cycle, once a plant has been pollinated (either by itself, through natural pollination, or through manual cross-pollination from another plant), no further combinations may be performed. The seed type that the plant will produce is determined the first time the plant is pollinized, and cannot be changed afterwards. In very rare circumstances, cross-pollination may result in a "mutation". If mutation occurs, the targeted plant will not produce seeds that are a combination of the two "parent" plants, but will instead produce "mutated" seeds that grow into mutant plant varieties.
SEED PRODUCTION
When a plant reaches its maximum growth level, it will no longer grow in size, but will instead produce seeds any time a growth check is performed. The type of seed that a plant produces is determined by whether it pollinated itself, or if pollen from another plant was applied to it during the cross-pollination process. A plant will produce one seed per day, up to a maximum of 8 seeds. A plant will only produce a seed if it is healthy. You may gather seeds from a plant by using the Gather Seeds button on the Resources menu. You will pick all available seeds from the plant and place them in your backpack, if there is room. The number of seeds available is displayed next to the Seed # indicator (seed image in an empty box). A red X symbol indicates that the plant has been set to decorative mode, or has produced its maximum amount.
RESOURCE PRODUCTION
Certain plant type and color combinations result in a plant that can produce unique resources. A plant will begin producing resources at the same time it produces seeds, when it reaches its maximum growth level. One resource is produced per day, up to a maximum of 8 resources A plant will only produce resources if it is health. You may gather resources from a plant by using the Gather Resources button on the Resources menu. You will pick all available resourcesom the plant and place them in your backpack, if there is room. The number of resources available is displayed next to the Resource # indicator (petal image in an empty box). A red X symbol indicates that the plant has been set to decorative mode, or has produced its maximum amount. Resources produced by unique plant combinations have special properties dependent on the resource type and color.
DECORATIVE MODE
When a plant reaches its maximum growth level, a Decorative Mode symbol will appear in the Resources Menu. This symbol is displayed as a leafy plant with a red / symbol through it. Pressing this button (and clicking Yes to apply) will set the plant to Decorative Mode. A plant set to Decorative Mode will not produce seeds or resources, and cannot be used for cross-pollination. A Decorative Plant does not need upkeep, however, and is always in a healthy state. Decorative Mode should be activated if you simply want your plant to be used as a house decoration, and therefore do not want to have to water it or keep it healthy. A Decorative Plant will have the tag [decorative] displayed above it when single-clicked. IMPORTANT NOTE: Once a plant is set to Decorative Mode, it cannot be set back to its normal state. A Decorative Plant will never produce seeds or resources again.
EMPTYING THE BOWL
If you would like to empty your plant bowl of the plant or seed and start over again, you may use the Empty Bowl button on the Main Menu. If the plant in the bowl is in the seed or sapling stage, emptying the bowl will result in a bowl and the seed placed in your backpack. If the bowl only had dirt in it, or the plant had grown beyond the sapling phase, emptying the bowl will destroy the plant, returning only the plant bowl to your backpack.
Posted by Borg
Friday, April 26, 2002 5:13 PM EDT
Chapter 5 Confrontation part 3 Reinforcements
Chapter 5 Confrontation
Part 3 Reinforcements
Safe Haven at the Britain Crossroads now holds Sanctuary for Dawn in between her activities.
Minoc now becomes the focus of a tug of war between Lord Blackthorn and The Alliance (PGoH, GoL and VK) who stand to stop Lord Blackthorn from securing Minocs vast ore resouces to supply his Mechanics and Golem production.
The air across the realm continues to thicken with the stench of compost drying in the sun.
Lord Blackthorns forces continue to search Trinsic for books that he believes (correctly) The Honor Empire of PGoH have in thier possession.
Dr Codene continues his decryption work on these ancient texts with 3 of the volumes looked safely away, he still feels like he is being stalked...and still believes it is a large cat....not the Juka.
Posted by Borg
Friday, April 26, 2002 12:00 AM EDT
Saturday 4-27-2002 Recruitment Drive
For the greater part of the day at Olympus the The Honor Empire of PGoH will be accepting new recruits into the Legion as well as accepting and interviewing canidates for State and Senate roles. Additionally, Naval recruitment will also occur (a role VASTLY underused by the NON-Pirate community). General citizen recruitment also will be facilitated during the Recruitment hours noted below.
State application and interviews from 10am until Noon EST.
Naval Recruitment from Noon until 2pm EST.
Legion Recruitment from 2pm until 5pm EST.
General citizen and tradesmen/women will be recruited throughout the whole recruitment time periods.
ALL EXISTING members are asked to consider bringing into the Empire thier existing alternates...there is a place for any character or role regardless of race (even Orcs exist in the Empire now)
Also Existing members (defined a member with at least 1 active Legion unit on guildstone) are eligible for the Recruitment Reward.
The following Roles are available within The Honor Empire of PGoH.
NON COMBAT ROLES
Senator of Espionage (Rouge)
Senator of Genesis (Bard)
Governor of Illyceum (Trinsic/Skara/Jhelom/SerpHold Areas)
Governor of Dalmatia (Islands and Britain)
Governor of Draconia (the Lost Lands of T2A)
Governor of Ilshenar (the lands of LBR)
Emissaries (Inter-guild reps and Defenders in courts of law)
Praefectors (Provincial Procecutors or Guards)
Herald (guild reporter)
Caravan Runners (Tamers)
Healers (Wandering Healers)
Ranchers (Sheep, Cattle, Horse, all ridables)
All Trade workers (Citizens)
COMBAT ROLES
Herans (Beastmaster)
Gladiators (melee/shields on foot)
Warlocks (mages)
Rangers (archers on foot)
Dragoons (horsed melee/shields)
Shadowriders (horsed archers)
Lancers (horsed longspears)
Pikemen (Halbreds on foot)
Legionnaires (Legion recruit)
Fleet Admiral (Leads 5 ships)
Captain (Naval ship leader)
First Mate (naval landing party leader)
Marine (naval warriors)
Sailors (naval archers or mages)
Grenadiers (naval alchemists)
Swabbie (naval recruit)
ENHANCED COMBAT ROLES
High Elf (Elf leader)
Elf Rangers (archers/warriors)
Orc Guardian (Orc leader)
Skullcrusher Orcs (warriors)
Templar (Gargoyle leader Mage)
Locust (Gargoyle Mages)
Praetorian Guards (elite combat role)
UPCOMING NEW ROLES IN DEVELOPMENT
Necromancer
Herbalist
Brew Master
Sculptor
Painter
Vampire Hunter
Werewolf Hunter
Minstrel
Interior Decorator (Rugs, Tapestry, Shields etc)
Architect
Quartermaster
Shipwright
Casino Staff
Archeologist
Demolition Expert
Siege Crafter
Executioner (Torture Devices)
Mausoleum Director (Tombstones/Crypts)
Astronomer (Mystic Tarot Gypsy
There are 5 Naval Fleets planned and they will be based out of Trinsic, Jhelom, Nujelm, Papau and Lakeshire. Fleets will be used to support Dawn and the Empire's effort against Lord Blackthorn. Additionally, Fleets will be used to discover new Islands and beach heads which may also need Legion deployment to. Salvage operations and providing shipping lanes are clear of piracy will be conducted. Each Fleet will be made up of 5 ships and each ship will have the following planned compliment.
Captain, First Mate, and a combination of 6 Marines, Sailors, Swabbies.
Captains and thier crew will recieve 50% of Legion "spoils of War" if thier ship is utilized in a landing event.
As with tradition and tribute to the GODS of Skills....all gems always are requested to be sent to the Imperial Treasury; regardless of the role or responsibility a member has.
All roles within the Empire are "Roleplayed" and the following methods of communication should be used.
ALL ingame communications should be RP and in character
[OOC used for exceptions]
GROUP CHAT.........INGAME INGROUP NON RP conversation
ICQ CHAT for IN/OUT of Game NON RP Conversation (also AIM)
Website FORUM......for NON Gametime coordination/communication and/or sharing of thoughts, ideas, tricks or adventures.
Website NEWS.......for reporting of OFFICIAL RP events or OSI communications.
EMAIL.............for communicating LARGE detailed memos or personal issues.
MiRC and PGoH Volcano Chat is for use by members for NON RP meetings.
RP meetings should take place IN GAME at OLYMPUS Castle
Guild Gatherings...for having alot of fun in realworld like we did in Las Vegas 2001, NYC-FortWayne-Cleveland-Boston in 2000.
Posted by Borg
Thursday, April 25, 2002 3:40 AM EDT
(OSI)Virtue Titles and Achievment
The Virtues Apr 23 2002 10:08AM CST
There is currently a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues. The Shrines are named after them, and players can read about the eight Virtues in certain books that are available within the game. But, beyond those small representations, the Virtues have never played a significant role in the world of Ultima Online. A system will be put into play which will reward characters who actively pursue the activities that represent each of the eight Virtues.
Listed below are the details relevant to pursuing the Virtues:
Paperdoll interface: The paperdoll will be modified to allow players to display the steps achieved in each of the Virtues for their characters. Any player will be able to access the display on any character’s paperdoll by pressing a certain “Virtue button.”
The button used to access this display will be the mailbag icon currently in place on 2D paperdoll gumps.
A new Virtue symbol icon which will be added to the 3D paperdoll.
Double-clicking the “Virtue button” will present the player with a graphic display, indicating what steps they have attained in the Virtues. There will be eight sections, one for each Virtue, in the form of an engraved stone. There will be a “status” button (see “Status Button Interface,” below) and “cancel” button on this menu.
For characters who have not yet achieved the first step of a given Virtue, the respective engraving is empty. The engraved symbols for each of the Virtues are listed below. Hovering the cursor over a given Virtue symbol will display the name of that respective Virtue in the center of the Virtue gump.
Humility: a shepherd’s crook
Sacrifice: a teardrop
Honor: a chalice
Compassion: a heart
Valor: a sword
Honesty: a open-palmed hand
Spirituality: an ankh
Justice: a set of scales
When characters have achieved the first step on the path of a given Virtue, the engraved symbol for that Virtue will fill with the appropriate Virtue symbol, tinted light gray.
When characters have achieved the second step on the path of a given Virtue, the engraved symbol for that Virtue will fill with the appropriate Virtue symbol, colored a light tint of that Virtue’s respective color.
Humility: a tint of black (“medium grey”)
Sacrifice: a tint of orange (“light orange”)
Honor: a tint of purple (“light purple”)
Compassion: a tint of yellow (“pale yellow”)
Valor: a tint of red (“pinkish”)
Honesty: a tint of blue (“light blue”)
Spirituality: a tint of white (“pale grey”)
Justice: a tint of green (“light green”)
When characters have achieved the third step on the path of a given Virtue, the engraved symbol for that Virtue will fill with the appropriate Virtue symbol, colored in the respective color of that Virtue.
Humility: black (“dark grey”)
Sacrifice: orange
Honor: purple
Compassion: yellow
Valor: red
Honesty: blue
Spirituality: white
Justice: green
Progressing any number of steps in a Virtue will grant a character some special abilities. Players will be able to access these abilities by clicking the related Virtue symbol on their own Virtue gump. For example, double-clicking on the symbol for “Sacrifice” will activate the Virtuous ability for Sacrifice.
When a player moves his cursor over a given Virtue symbol, a title will be displayed under the respective symbol, indicating the step currently achieved for that Virtue by that character.
First step: Seeker of [name of that Virtue]
Second step: Follower of [name of that Virtue]
Third step: Knight of [name of that Virtue]
A character that has achieved all three steps in all eight Virtues will earn the title “The Virtuous” on their paperdoll.
Murderer characters (“Reds”) cannot gain any Virtue points nor use any Virtues. Any current points will continue to decay over time.
Status Button Interface: Double-clicking this button will display a special listing of the Virtues, and it will include one button for each of the eight Virtues. Clicking on one of the Virtue buttons will display:
A series of ten red gems across the top. As your character achieves status in his current step of that respective Virtuous path, the gems will begin changing from red to blue. When all the gems have turned blue, your character will advance to the next step in that Virtue.
A definition of that Virtue
A descriptive concerning how close the character is toward achieving the next step of that Virtue
"You have not even started on the path of this Virtue."
"You have barely begun your journey through the path of this Virtue."
"You have progressed in this Virtue, but still have much to do."
"Your journey through the path of this Virtue is going well."
"You feel very close to achieving your next goal in this Virtue."
"You have achieved a goal in this Virtue
A link to a UO.com Web page which describes the Virtue in greater detail
Players who progress any number of steps on the path of a given Virtue, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that their Virtuous title reduces in steps over time.
Posted by Borg
Thursday, April 25, 2002 2:42 AM EDT
(RP) Seeds
Seeds
Apr 25 2002 12:35PM
Aiella Leigh pulled her horse to a stop at what seemed like the thousandth tree of the day. As she dismounted and set her horse to graze, she glanced appreciatively at the heavy stand of trees in the thicket. It was good to be a bowyer in this part of Britannia, where oak, walnut, and o’hii rubbed shoulders with massive Yew trees. The wood was plentiful around her small brick house; the occasional ettin or giant spider that wandered through made the tedious chopping interesting. She was getting to be a fair hand using the axe as a weapon as well as a tool, although she preferred to use the sturdy bows that she crafted herself to protect herself, if need be.
Recently, it seemed, a lot of people felt the same way. Aiella could barely keep her bows in stock; the hundreds of arrows that she had stocked only the day before were gone. Many of Britannia’s citizens apparently preferred to take on the jukas from a safe distance using archery or magic. She could hardly complain about the business, of course. It paid her vendors and provided gold for anything she might want or need.
“Enough of this,” she said aloud. “We have work to do.”
Before long, Aiella had fallen into the comfortable rhythm of chopping the wood and securing it in her llama’s pack. To her surprise, she worked undisturbed as Rama’s pack filled quickly with the wood she would need for dozens of bows, arrows, and bolts. It wasn’t until she had ridden north a ways, nearly to the city of Yew, that she began to realize that something was amiss. Duke, her normally steady riding horse, began to prance from one side to the next rather than trot forward on the path toward the settlement. Even fat Rama, who rarely showed interest in anything other than the fruits and grains she fed him, refused her command to follow. She peered cautiously through the trees in the direction that her animals gazed, ready to jab Duke with her heels if flight seemed like a good idea. Something was definitely moving up ahead.
Instead of the Juka that she had anticipated seeing, an indistinct shape shambled toward her. She grasped her axe, wishing that she had bows instead of wood in Rama’s pack. It was something that she had never seen before—and in these unsettled times that could not be good. If it had not seen her, and had only been following the path as a matter of course, perhaps she stood a good chance to escape whatever it was. She quietly commanded Rama to follow again and urged Duke off the path, intending to walk him discreetly toward the northeast, and home. Though she hoped that she wouldn’t have to fight it, she continued to hold her axe at the ready.
The creature barely seemed to notice as she rode within mere yards of it. It was difficult for her to tell where the beast stopped and the forest floor began, as if it were growing from the ground itself. It was as tall as an average-sized man, yet not like a man at all—and the breeze carried the stench of rotting vegetation over the three of them from its direction. Rama bleated and galloped off in a panic, drawing the creature’s attention. Aiella clapped her heels into Duke’s sides. He needed no urging to follow the fleeing llama. Even as they left the creature behind, however, the foul odor seemed to ensnare them from all sides. Far from retreating, Rama seemed to be leading her into the thick of the creatures. Aiella glanced over her shoulder to see if they’d left the one behind at least, only to find that now two were pursuing her, the new one smaller and more humanoid than the first.
It couldn’t be! She hadn’t seen the second one anywhere nearby; it was as if it had sprung from the rotting vegetation. Ahead she could see another two—no, four—of the creatures. Aiella used all of her strength to turn Duke from them, toward the safety of the moongate, until she realized that a single warrior was being engulfed by their attacks. She once again turned the confused riding horse, sending him into the middle of the battle. Her axe swinging, she set upon the creature nearest the warrior. As the creature let out its death rattle, Aiella took the time to leap from Duke’s back.
“Duke, attack!” she yelled over the clamor of the melee.
Aiella fell in once again beside the warrior, without pausing to see if the horse obeyed. One glance from the corner of her eye told her all she needed to know about him. His armor had great gashes where rings had been destroyed; blood flowed from many wounds. She had not trained in field medicine, but she could tell she could do little for him, even if they should both survive. But together they had a better chance at survival, even in his weakened state. Finally, five creatures lay stretched dead before them and the air was still.
The battle had not been won without a cost. Rama was dead and Duke limped badly on one of his hind legs. The warrior—whose name she still did not know, swayed unsteadily as he tried to bandage himself. It did not seem like a good idea to remain much longer. There was no telling when the sixth creature had escaped, or where it had gone. If it returned, even if it returned alone, they would not survive another attack.
“Get on my horse,” she said to the warrior. She dragged him to his feet, sending his bandages flying in every direction. The wounded man put up a weak protest as she pulled him toward Duke. As she fought to get him on the horse’s back he crumpled to the ground.
“It was like fighting quicksilver… they never stopped growing,” he said in a soft voice, shot through with amazement. His eyes closed for a final time.
Aiella dropped to her knees to examine the warrior. He was dead. She would not struggle to get him away, not with a wounded horse and no assistance. She’d mark the place where he’d died and return—she needed the wood from Rama, in any case. As she rose from the ground, something caught her eye. The warrior had fallen near one of the creatures. Between them, on the ground, were a few oddly shaped seed-like objects in strange bright colors. Curiously but with haste, Aiella scooped up a handful and put them in her pouch. She mounted Duke and trotted him in the direction of the moongate. As the horse’s hoof left the ground its print began to fill with murky water. A few moments later the ground began to shift as vines and grasses slowly congealed into a mass that throbbed faster and faster as it grew.
Posted by Borg
Thursday, April 25, 2002 12:00 AM EDT
Promotions Declared
It is hearby declared....
For thier support, commitment and HONOR in the defense of Trinsic and its citizens the following Legionnaires are hearby promoted to Squire.
Edric d'Corville is hearby presented with the title of Squire of Honor and given the blessed kilt woven in the purple color of Honor.
Waldorf Kemp is hearby presented with the title of Squire of Honor and given the blessed kilt woven in the purple color of Honor.
May thier journey to Knighthood bring the Empire, the realm and themselves closer to peace and prosperity.
May HONOR Guide and Bind thee!
Posted by Borg
Tuesday, April 23, 2002 1:44 AM EDT
(OSI)Compassion and Sacrifice Paths to Virtue
The Virtue of Compassion Apr 23 2002 9:55AM CST
Compassion is part of a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues, and is one of eight pursuits within the upcoming Virtue system.
The Virtue of Compassion has been described thusly:
“Compassion is nonjudgmental empathy for one's fellow creatures.”
Players will be able to pursue the Virtue of Compassion by assisting non-player escorts and prisoners.
Gaining Compassion:
Characters will be able to gain points in Compassion in one of two ways:
Successfully completing an NPC escort quest.
Haven escorts are an exception; characters will not be able to gain Compassion points from Haven escorts.
Successfully completing a NPC prisoner quest.
The amount of points gained for completing a prisoner quest will be more than those gained for completing an escort quest.
Points in Compassion may be earned up to five times in a given day.
Characters that are [young] will not be able to earn Compassion points.
Virtuous Title & Abilities: When a character has achieved any number of Compassion points, he is considered to have achieved a certain step on the path of Compassion.
When a player moves his cursor over the Compassion symbol, a title will be displayed, indicating the step currently achieved in Compassion for that character.
First step: Seeker of Compassion
Second step: Follower of Compassion
Third step: Knight of Compassion
Players who progress any number of steps on the path of Compassion, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that this Virtuous title reduces in steps over time.
Gaining steps in Compassion will grant a character the ability to improve the results when resurrecting characters other than himself.
Characters resurrected in this manner will return to life with a higher number of Hits than which they would normally resurrect.
First step: Resurrected character returns to life with 20% of their maximum Hits.
Second step: Resurrected character returns to life with 40% of their maximum Hits.
Third step: Resurrected character returns to life with 80% of their maximum Hits.
This ability may be used as often as the player wishes.
Note: you must have the ability to resurrect through the use of spells or Healing skill in order to benefit from the use of this Virtue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Virtue of Sacrifice Jan 30 2002 3:48PM CST
Sacrifice is part of a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues, and is one of eight pursuits within the upcoming Virtue system.
The Virtue of Sacrifice has been described as:
“The courage to give of oneself in the name of love.”
Pursuit of Sacrifice will be designed to allow players to interact with “monsters” in a manner other than one of combat.
Sacrifice & Redemption: Characters that attain a level of Fame will be able to “sacrifice” their Fame in order to defeat certain monsters.
Upon encountering a related, “redeemable” monster, players will be able to sacrifice their Fame to defeat the monster in the following manner:
Open up the Virtue gump.
Double-click the Sacrifice (teardrop) symbol
Target the monster
The following is a list of monsters which may be redeemed with the sacrifice of one’s Fame:
Lich
Enslaved Gargoyle
Gargoyle Enforcer
(Regular) Demon
Succubus
Evil Mage
You cannot target a redeemable monster if:
It has already taken more than 15% of its maximum hit points in damage.
You cannot see it (you must have line-of-sight).
You are invisible.
You are dead.
Attempts to sacrifice Fame to anything other than the redeemable monsters will have no effect.
Once a monster is redeemed, the following will occur:
The character’s Fame is set to “zero.”
The monster disappears in a cloud of particles
The character will gain a certain amount in Sacrifice, depending on how much Fame was lost in the redemption—the greater the Fame loss, the more Sacrifice is gained.
A given character can sacrifice his Fame only once per 24 hour period.
Virtuous Title & Abilities: When a character has achieved any number of Sacrifice points, he is considered to have achieved a certain step on the path of Sacrifice.
When a player moves his cursor over the Sacrifice symbol, a title will be displayed, indicating the step currently achieved in Sacrifice for that character.
First step: Seeker of Sacrifice
Second step: Follower of Sacrifice
Third step: Knight of Sacrifice
Players who progress any number of steps on the path of Sacrifice, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that this Virtuous title reduces in steps over time.
Gaining steps in Sacrifice will grant a character the ability to resurrect himself a number of times each week, equal to the steps achieved in Sacrifice. Players will be able to access this ability by clicking the Sacrifice symbol on their own Virtue gump.
First step: Self-resurrect one time per week
Second step: Self-resurrect two times per week
Third step: Self-resurrect three times per week
There will be certain notable benefits & caveats of self-resurrecting:
Players will be able to instantly resurrect their characters which have achieved any number of steps on this path of Virtue.
Self-resurrecting characters will not suffer any stat or skill loss normally associated with “insta-resurrection.” However, effects such as Murderer-based stat-loss, Faction-based stat-loss, etc., will still apply.
Self-resurrected characters will only have 1 Hit Point and 1 Mana Point upon resurrection, just as if he was resurrected by a healer, friend, or shrine.
Characters which self-resurrect will instantly recover all the items they had on their corpse, except for any items which have been looted or decayed.
Self-resurrecting characters will not be able to recover items in this way if they move across a server boundary into another server region. Characters in this situation will receive a notice to his effect before allowing such a self-resurrection.
Characters will not be able to self-resurrect:
…within a “multi-object” (a house, boat, etc.).
…within a faction stronghold
…while flagged as a criminal or aggressor
Posted by Borg
Tuesday, April 23, 2002 12:00 AM EDT
Chapter 5 Confrontation part 2 Golems and Columns
Chapter 5 Confrontation
part 2 Golems and Columns
Lord Blackthorn’s Juka squads had been searching Trinsic for 5 days. The Chaos Dragoons seemed also not to have found what they had been instructed to find. Perhaps it was the reason they were easily confused in battle; their minds worrying about failing their master’s orders. Regardless they were put to rest along with the Juka squads that assisted them in their search. The pikemen of the Legion had proven very effective against the Juka Lords while the Dragoon Lancer Cohort easily out jousted the Chaos Dragoons of Lord Blackthorn. The Shadowriders and Rangers had easily cut down the Juka siege on Olympus overlooking Trinsic and nearly 4 days had passed since the Juka brought Lord Blackthorn’s message to Emperor Borg. Trinsic has been quiet now for nearly 2 days with only a few remnants of Jukas and Dragoons to be found hiding within ancient tunnels in and around the mother city of Trinsic.
Merchants of the city were still under effective protection of the city guards while the Purple Guardians of HONOR (PGoH) Legion continued to lead the city defense with aid from their allies Valor Knights (VK) of Vesper and Guardians of Light (GoL) from Serpent’s Hold. While much of the Legion was sent to sea, Shadowriders and Rangers defended Olympus while the Praetorian Guard was maintaining Safe Haven as a refuge for any in this time of uncertainty.
Towering over the Britain Crossroads, Safe Haven has been a place of sanctuary since it was built by Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade. It has housed wounded from both sides in the Orc Wars and Undead Cleansing Campaigns. While wielding the power of the Stormguard Relics even Lord Ventryn used its sanctuary occasionally, as did Minax and Maribelle as they too came through the crossroads on their endeavors. Praetorians now have begun the restocking and fortifications of the Safe Haven Tower sanctuary and also have prepared the grand suite for Dawn to use between her campaigns. Even in this time of uncertainty, the local caretaker Aticus Finch, has begun construction of a museum of local history, lore and wonders for all travelers to enjoy and visit.
Still though the sound of troops being mobilized can be heard and brings concern to the faces of even the most tried and true britannians. Elwe D’Loche of the Shadowriders Cohorts reported in that several columns of Juka had left the city of Mistas in the afternoon and moved toward Lord Blackthorns Fortress in Ilshenar. As night fell upon Ilshenar the Shadowrider Centurion ordered the the Shadowrider scouts with him to return and give the news to Emperor Borg and Dawn. A grave and most serious look came over the veteran Centurion Baltazar Con Wec. As his men left he turned back to look down upon the Fortress from his vantage point; Armored columns of Dragoons stood and were joined my Juggernaughts and Betrayers, clones of Lord Blackthorn. It was such an eerie sight but even more disturbing was the sounds that the columns made. Not since the Dragon Dominion’s attacks on Olympus had the ground shook so and sounds of thunder roll though the clear sky. (see Gallery Olympus Invasion and Renderings link) Giant Golums shook the mountains Centurion Baltazar peered down from. Rocks began to tumble down from above and his small area looked as if it was soon to give way as a result of the numerous columns that now moved out toward the north…toward the shrine of HONOR.
Shadowrider Elwe D’Loche rode into the mother city of Trinsic and headed straight for Emperor Borg’s office in the northwest corner of the Imperial quarter. As he arrived he could see that his old tutor Arthil, once Senator of Genesis now leader of the Valor Knights sat in attendance with representatives of the local merchants guild and city guards. His news would not bring them pleasure at all.
“Sire…excuse me…I have word from Ilshenar m’lord.” Elwe offered as he bowed respectfully to the meeting.
“Understood Elwe….what news do you bring?”; asked Emperor Borg
“I hope it is good news my old appentice”; quipped Arthil
“Columns of Juka marched from Mistas to form up with Lord Blackthorn’s armored Dragoons.” offered Elwe.
“Well that is not the news I was hoping for.”; commented Arthil.
“There is more m’lords”; Elwe said sadly.
“Continue Shadowrider”; Emperor Borg replied.
“Lord Blackthorn’s abominations join them….Juggernaughts and Betrayers sire”; Elwe added.
“My God man…when is this nightmare going to end….bah!”; Arthil exclaimed as he slammed his fist down onto the table.
“Not anytime soon I seems my old friend”; answered Emperor Borg as he rose and patted Arthils shoulder in a supportive gesture.
“Sire….there is more”; Elwe said now shrugging his shoulders toward Arthil.
“Oh my lord, for Gods sake man….spit it all out.”; Arthil said exasperatingly
“Still don’t like surprises aye Arthil….perhaps those abductions by the Liches have soured your taste for the unexpected.’; commented Emperor Borg.
“Aye….that they did brother…filthy old nasties……and those racquet snakes….now let me tell y”; Arthil exclaimed then cut himself off as he knew such was a story un-needing revisiting at this time.
“Well Sire….the mountains we had been using for overlooking Lord Blackthorns Fortress…well they have been mined nearly to a point of collapse. Golems are being produced in great numbers by Controllers Sire.”; finished Elwe again shrugging his shoulders toward his old tutor Arthil in a manner of apology.
It was not surprising that the local merchant representatives were not pleased, but the city guards promised to double guards at shops to secure their inventories and well being. Arthil reconfirmed his Valor Knights to defend the South Gate and its Industrial Quarter and Emperor Borg instructed Praetorian Prefect to return some reserves to Trinsic from Safe Haven.
“What of the Fleet sire…shall we recall it and bring in those reinforcements?”; asked Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade.
“Nay, Imperator Kalinaf keep those forces at sea and instead bring in a portion of Heran Knights. Have the Ranger Cohort and the Lancer Cohort leave from the Olympus Garrison and meet up with Dawn at Safe Haven.”; answered Emperor Borg as he walked toward the doorway of his office.
“Yes m’lord”; Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade said with a nod
“Aye…consider it done.”; replied Imperator Kalinaf
“Arthil…it seems I will see you in the morning old friend…enjoy a room here for the night…in the morrow Anakkin will make his famous pancakes you were so fond of”; offered Emperor Borg.
“Ho ho ho…that is quite inviting and appealing…but I must return to Valor Castle and have the quartermaster fit our troops for battle.”; Arthil replied as he shook Emperor Borg’s outstretched hand.
As the meeting members cleared the office, Borg stood with SerBrightblade and Kalinaf at his side. Looking at the rising moon the nightfall was like no other they had sensed. Something was different in the air as if a slight musty odor filled the night air.
“Almost smells like a damp dungeon cell…aye”; offered Kalinaf.
“Indeed a bit”; agreed SerBrightblade.
“Aye….but this damp is dry…there is something about it”; remarked Borg
“BUT…for now brothers….we have work to do.”; Borg said as he clasp both hands and then motioned them both to join him on the way to the Imperial Garrison in Trinsic.
As the evening sunset had submerged into the horizon Emperor Borg escorted a newly promoted Squire, Waldorf Kemp, from the Arch of HONOR up toward the Squire’s new accommodations in the barracks. The Emperor enjoyed seeing the growth in the lines and took pride in keeping touch with the men and women that fought in the lines of HONOR. As the two reached the garrison barracks a squad of Guardians of Light met with Emperor Borg. The Guardians of Light had always stood with The Purple Guardians of HONOR and visa versa in all matters of state…again they would stand with the PGoH Empire of HONOR. The Alliance of PGoH, GoL and VK would once more to defend the realm…May HONOR Guide and Bind thee!!!
Posted by Borg
Tuesday, April 23, 2002 12:00 AM EDT
Chapter 5 Confrontation Part 1 Jukas Arrive
Chapter 5 Confrontation
Part 1 Jukas Arrive
Posted by Borg
Sunday, April 21, 2002 4:04 AM EDT
(RP)News from Lakeshire about the Meer
The Casting
Apr 18 2002 3:21PM
Within the Meer crypt a small shimmer of light appeared over the carved wooden tiles of the teleporter entrance. Dasha blinked once as the light twinkled out of sight and, with a catlike grace, walked slowly through the great dark chamber towards Adranath. A slight smile played across her face as she approached him.
“Ah, you have returned to us, child. I take it your meeting with the humans was interesting?” Adranath said without looking up, his hands busy casting a healing spell over a warrior.
“Interesting… yes.” She waited for the ancient mage to finish his spell. The warrior’s broken leg snapped back into place and the glow around Adranath’s hands faded. He looked up at her and smiled.
“You seem amused. I do still remember how to cast a healing spell after all this time.” He smiled warmly at her. The Meer warrior walked away to join others in meditation.
“Oh, I was still thinking about my meeting with the humans, Master.” She took a seat near the Eternal. “I sat and spoke with humans, in a human castle. It was not altogether an unpleasant experience, but certainly nothing I thought I would ever do!”
“Yes, it is fascinating, isn’t it? In my time as the Watcher I saw nothing but the more savage humans here in Ilshenar, until recently. When these more civilized humans came into the world my first suspicion was that they had been enchanted with sorcery.” He chuckled. “So you saw this city of… Britain, was it?”
“Yes, quite impressive. They seem very… established. One of them—quite a warrior—named Dupre, has asked us to form an alliance against the Juka.” She smirked. “I expect they have become too proud to directly beg for help.”
“And would it be so wrong for us to assist, Dasha?” Adranath asked quietly. “If it were not for my haste those ages ago, attempting to wipe the Juka away in one chaotic moment, Exodus may not have been able to bring them here. They wouldn’t be threatening the humans now.”
“You have to stop blaming yourself, Adranath. What once was our fate is now nothing but a vision, a nightmare we were spared from. You have sacrificed enough during your time as the Watcher. I warned them of the Juka forces moving toward Minoc…”
“The humans need our help. We did not risk placing our entire race into the great sleep to sit by and watch the Juka exterminate the innocent. Our fight is with the Juka; why do they not fight us? We are clearly weakened as a whole by our slumber and our ignorance of the inhabitants of this time. Why would the Juka not attack us when this weakness is clear?” He stood and paced. “We are not a threat to Exodus, Dasha, not now. The humans are. He would not waste time attempting to destroy them it were not so.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Dasha looked confused.
“I suggest we spare the humans as much trouble with the Juka as we can. Say what you will, but if not for my actions the Juka would not threaten them. I must assist.” Adranath paused. A determined look fell over his face like a mask of stone. “I mean to cast the Decay upon the Juka.”
“You’re willing to cast so dangerous a spell to help the humans?” Dasha stood and placed a hand on the Watcher’s shoulder. “The Juka are spread out over many cities; it would be unwise to attempt to channel so much magic to strike them all. You could damage the very balance of nature!”
“We wouldn’t dare attempt such an act! Never again shall any Meer attempt a spell so large, never!” Adranath clenched his eyes shut for a moment as if reliving the nightmare of seeing his race die at the power of his enraged magic. A moment later he calmed himself and continued, “The Juka began these assaults in the human city of Yew, we shall begin ours there as well. Then we can continue casting on the other cities one by one.”
“But why cast the Decay? Surely there must be a better option.” Dasha’s eyes focused deeply into Adranath’s. The old mage shook his head slowly.
“The warriors need more time before they can make an attack. This is the one spell we can use to counter the Juka without harming the humans. I know the Decay is horribly destructive. I have watched more Juka writhe in agony under its effects more times than I care to imagine. If we do nothing the humans continue to suffer.” Adranath turned and walked away slowly, then stopped and looked sadly at Dasha. “The Juka joined Exodus, Dasha. They have forsaken their honor and declared war upon us.” He continued walking away to find the other mages.
“And in war, horrible things must be done.”
* * *
Outside, Dasha sat at a distance watching the circle of Eternals and mages as their hands moved in perfect unison in a complex pattern. In the center of the circle, Adranath held his arms aloft, his face empty and his eyes closed. In his mind, he began to see the city of Yew. Quick flashes of imagery became full visions of the Juka, claiming lives and being slain alike. The chaos of people running in every direction was difficult to see past, but slowly he focused his view and could envision the entire scope of the battle.
The magic users around Adranath began to chant and raise their voices in a dark harmony that sent a shiver up Dasha’s spine and continued to blanket the area in a slight tremor. Light slowly began to trail from their fingertips and form an intricate pattern like a lace made of flame around the entire circle which seemed to vibrate with the sound around it. The ring of light shrank inward and bathed Adranath in its glow until he seemed to be nothing but a bright speck in the center of the chanting circle. All at once the mages’ voices grew even louder, and with one final discordant note held for what seemed like ages, the light within Adranath fired outward into the sky in a great wave. His eyes suddenly shot open and his face stretched in a moment of terror. Dasha stood and darted as fast as she could to the ancient mage.
Within his mind, Adranath could see the spell shimmering over Yew for a moment, falling to the ground in a shimmer of tiny motes of light. Suddenly, his vision went dark and his mind erupted into pain.
By the time Dasha had broken through the ring of mages and reached Adranath, the spell had been completed and he was already starting to crumple to the ground, exhausted. She caught his shoulders and helped lower him to the ground. His eyes still seemed to stare out at nothing in fear.
“Watcher!” one of the other Eternals spoke as the mages recomposed themselves after the great spell. “The spell felt… different… than it did in the past.” The others nodded and seemed to agree.
“Adranath! Master, what happened?” Dasha shook the old Meer by the shoulder slightly. “Are you hurt?”
“The Decay…” he mumbled. “Nature… magic… it is… bent… skewed since we last… last attempted the… the Decay…” He steadied himself for a moment and looked up into Dasha’s eyes.
“I fear something has gone terribly wrong.”
Posted by Borg
Thursday, April 18, 2002 12:00 AM EDT
Borg nears 3000 copies of UO Series sold at work
After a 3 years of software sales at Borg's real world employer, OfficeMax...it seems that his efforts to expand the UO client base have been successfull. In nearly 1000 stores....an estimated 2695 copies of the Ultima Online Series of software packages have sold. In his local area Electronic Boutique in Ithaca and BestBuy another estimated 100 copies turned through the registers after he had conducted impromtu questions and answer sessions with patrons and managment.
Officemax sold the Second Age and Renaissance Versions
Electronics Boutique sold Ultima Online, Second Age, Renaissance and Lord Blackthorns Revenge
BestBuy in Ithaca only sold Lord Blackthorns Revenge
"Convincing the buyers of office supplies to put games into the inventory is a sell; but I won my argument with a test sale in Ithaca. I could have sold another 3000 units if I could have implemented various 'Software Signing' events across the US in various cities; but the end of the Seer program ended that marketing idea. Software signings can be just as effective as Bookstore signings. Gamers love to get anything 'rare' ingame and out of game; a signed copy of a game by a development or known in-game character becomes priceless to the gamer."
Posted by Borg
Wednesday, April 10, 2002 12:00 AM EDT
Bulk Order Deeds New Details
This time around in my comments from the team, I’d like to talk more about the Bulk Order System and the additions/enhancements we’ve added to the system. On our development and crafting boards, I dropped hints as to what is coming in our next publish in regards to blacksmith rewards. I’ll try to sum up many of the hints that were spread out over all the threads.
A mistake we made with the blacksmith bulk orders was releasing rewards for the easy bulk deeds that were not very appealing to veterans, and the appealing rewards were almost too difficult to obtain for a veteran that is a casual player. While our new players do benefit from our lower rewards, veterans wanted something more substantial for their efforts. At the same time, some veterans felt that the low-end deeds became worthless after collecting a gob of durable shovels, pickaxes, and mining gloves.
Here are the enhancements we’ve posted on our boards, so far (for Publish 16), for Blacksmithy bulk orders:
1)Currently, GM smiths have a bonus to get exceptional bulk order deeds. The exceptional bonus percentage will be significantly increased.
2)Currently, GM smiths do not have a bonus to get colored bulk order deeds. A significant bonus will be added to get colored bulk order deeds (if the object selected is colorable).
3)Weapon deeds are not appealing to veteran smiths, because they are not colored and give small rewards, while hardly giving any fame. Instead of increasing rewards for individual weapon deeds, we will be introducing five weapon large bulk orders that give new rewards (axes, swords, fencing, maces, and pole arms).
4)As with #3, we will be adding seven new rewards to the system. Three of the rewards will be low-end rewards. These rewards have not been released yet. They will be available on Test Center when Publish 16 is available for testing.
5)Any colored deed or weapon large bulk order will get an increased bonus to its rewards if it is exceptional (object reward, fame reward, and gold reward).
6)A context menu option will display how many hours until your next deed will be available. Minutes are rounded up to the closest hour.
Ancient smithy hammers were increased from 150 uses to 600. This is retroactive for hammers that were obtained prior to the increase.
7)Runic hammers will have their color displayed as part of their description (i.e.: “a valorite runic hammer”).
8)To prevent scams, all hammers will state how many charges they have left.
And now, a summary of Tailoring Bulk Orders…
1)There will be 55 craftable Tailoring items in the system. These items do not include cross-skill items (such as house add-ons) and will not include oil cloths. This means 55 small bulk orders will be available as offers. (Hint: Tailors only have 51 craftable items, currently.)
2)There will be 14 large bulk order deeds in the Tailoring system. All items that can be crafted will be included in at least one of the large bulk orders. This makes all the small bulk order deeds valuable.
3)There will be 19 new colors of cloth (not currently available in the game as colors of cloth) as low to medium rewards. This will make all the low-end rewards valuable and usable. Only one color is not original and that is pale blue, but it is not available as a dye.
4)There will be 44 different rewards (colors of rewards included) with the Tailoring bulk orders.
5)As with Blacksmithy, we felt that in order to add depth and difficulty to the bulk order system, colored resources would be needed. We explored other avenues of creating depth in the system, but settled on three new types of colored leather. This means there will not be as many deeds in the system, so the system will be easier than Blacksmithy.
6)GM tailors will receive the same bonus as GM blacksmiths in regards to getting exceptional and colored deeds, mentioned above.
7)Exceptional quality deeds will yield a higher monetary value than normal deeds.
We have learned a lot from our previous release of Blacksmithy bulk orders, and hope you’ll enjoy both the new changes to Blacksmithy and the new Tailoring bulk order system!
Now that I’ve told you about the stuff most folks are probably interested in, I’ll go into the design steps required for making Tailoring bulk orders.
I was challenged by Evocare to make a bulk order system design. I had predicted that Carpentry would be the next obvious choice, but was surprised when Evocare decided that tailors would benefit from the system.
Tailoring does not have the depth or usage that Blacksmithy does. With only 51 items, it would have been very difficult to make a challenging and rewarding mini-game with the system. Different approaches were plotted out, but I still felt it would be too easy and not on par with the Blacksmithy bulk order system. It was decided that Tailoring needed to be changed to give it more depth.
This meant that the Tailoring system would need to undergo some modification and new additions. New leather resources and an as-of-yet undisclosed resource were created (the new resource is stackable). With a resource system much like that found in Blacksmithy, we now had a foundation to make a bulk order system that was on par with the Blacksmithy system.
After finishing the changes to tailoring itself, everything fell into place with the bulk order system. The rewards were culled from player posts on the boards, and a few twists were added (like the new colored cloth). Now, I’ll go rest my eyes from staring at spreadsheets, graphs, and localized text. 
Hanse
UO Live Designer
Posted by Borg
Wednesday, April 3, 2002 9:13 PM EST
How to use your own MP3s in UO LBR
Included in the list of features for Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn’s Revenge is “MP3 support.” Those who have registered and play either the 2D or 3D versions of UO:LBR will sometimes hear certain MP3 music selections that will play and/or loop while playing UO, in addition to the MIDI music that may still play in certain areas (Note: MIDI music will only play if the associated MP3 file cannot be opened, or when an MP3 isn’t defined for that location/activity.)
Although this MP3 music is selected from a standard playlist automatically, enterprising UO:LBR owners have the option of playing their own supplied MP3s, rather than UO:LBR’s “official” MP3s, in one of two possible ways.
Replacing a UO:LBR MP3 with their own MP3, where their own MP3 has been re-named to match the one being replaced.
Opening the MP3’s config.txt file in a text editor and modifying the details within.
Locating your MP3s: UO:LBR stores it’s MP3 files within Ultima Online’s \music\Digital\ subdirectory. Both the 2D and 3D versions of UO:LBR will be sharing the same directory, and using the same MP3 files.
All MP3 files need to remain in this directory in order to be used, otherwise the game client may not be able to access them.
Before making any changes to these files, it’s a good idea to back them up into a safe location. Thus, at any point afterward if you feel like reverting back to “square one,” that option is available to you with minimal effort. Otherwise, should you need to return to the original configuration/files, you may need to reinstall UO:LBR from the CD.
With the exception of the introduction song, the server will send a “song identifier” to the UO game client, which will then attempt to play back the specified song. The file that maps song identifiers to file names is “config.txt,” which is stored in the same folder as the music.
Deciphering your config.txt file: Within the aforementioned config.txt file, you’ll find a listing that looks very much like the following:
0 turfin,loop 1 turfin,loop 2 turfin,loop 3 turfin,loop 4 turfin,loop 5 turfin,loop 6 turfin,loop 7 turfin,loop 8 stones1 9 britainpos,lop 10 britain1 11 bucsden,loop 12 jhelom 13 lbc 14 linelle 15 newmagincia,loop 16 minocpos,loop 17 valoriapos,loop 18 ambrosia,loop 19 stones 20 scarabreapos,loop 21 trinsicpos,loop 22 vesper1 23 yew1 24 yewpos,loop 25 dungeon 26 dragonshi,loop 27 citynightedit,loop 28 walking,loop 29 citynightedit,loop 30 walking,loop 31 citynightedit,loop 32 boattravel 33 citynightedit,loop 34 tavern1 35 tavern2 36 tavern3 37 pubtune,loop 38 goodevil,loop 39 humanoids,loop 40 gargoyles,loop 41 turfin,loop 42 deathtune 43 victory 44 overlordv2 45 nujelm 46 dragonslo,loop 47 cove,loop 48 moonglowpos,loop
Each listing has basically two or three parts:
Song identifier number
Song name
Loop (this is optional)
Currently, some songs may not currently be used in the game even though they’ve been assigned numbers in the config.txt file.
Swapping MP3s: You may swap your own MP3 for one that already exists. Don’t forget to back up your files before making any changes.
Open the \music\Digital\ directory mentioned above, note the name of the original song that you want to replace, and delete it. Select the replacement MP3 and move it into the Ultima Online \music\Digital\ directory. Rename the new MP3 to be the same as the original MP3, and you're done.
For example, if the official UO song file is named “Bucsden.mp3” and your replacement song is “CarminaBurana.mp3” (by Carl Orff), delete “Bucsden.mp,” move “CarminaBurana.mp3” into the \music\Digital\ directory, and rename that copy of “CarminaBurana.mp3” to “Bucsden.mp3.”
Changing the config.txt file: Instead of swapping MP3s, you can add MP3s into your Ultima Online directory and change the related config.txt file. Don’t forget to back up your files before making any changes.
Open the \music\Digitial\ directory and open for the “config.txt” file.
Copy your MP3 into Ultima Online’s \music\Digitial\ on your hard drive. You should simplify the new MP3’s file name before proceeding, removing any spaces or special characters.
For example, if the original name of your MP3 is “CarminaBurana.mp3” (by Carl Orff), it’s good to simplify the name to something like “carminaburana.mp3” before proceeding.
Open the config.txt file in that directory and look for the line which contains the name of the song you'd like to replace. Remove the name of the existing song and type in the new name of your replacement MP3. If your game client is already running, you’ll need to close it and restart before any changes can take effect.
For example, you might change the line that reads "22 vesper1" to become "22 carminaburana”—and after doing so, restart your game client for the change to take effect.
Now, your game client will now play “carminaburana” where it would previously have played the “vesper1” MP3 song.
If an MP3 song name is ever removed from its listing, the default MIDI song will play in its place.
Special note on changing filenames: When you’re changing the names of your MP3 files to work within our MP3 support scheme, it might help to know that our parser can handle anything but a space, comma, newline, and null character.
Example of usable renaming: “Carmina Burana.mp3” could become:
carminaburana.mp3
carmina_burana.mp3
carmina-burana.mp3
Example of unusable renaming: “Carmina Burana.mp3” should not become:
carmina burana.mp3
carmina,burana.mp3
carmina
burana.mp3
Looping MP3s: I’ll need to refer back to that config.txt file for this one (at “\music\Digitial\config.txt”).
Not every song will be set to play continuously. If you want a certain song to playback forever in a loop, you’ll have to change a setting for that song within the config.txt file (within Ultima Online’s “\music\Digital\ subdirectory).
Open the config.txt file and look for the name of the song you’d like to loop. If the song does not have “,loop” immediately after it, it will play once and not loop. In general, if the song does have that loop notation it will play until you leave the associated area, you stop or complete the associated activity, or until a new song is triggered.
For example, the entry listed as “45 nujelm” is not set to loop. However, changing “45 nujelm” to “45 nujelm,loop” will activate the looping process for the song "nujelm.mp3." Without that extra ",loop" comment, the song will only play through once, and then end.
Another example is the “24 yewpos,loop” entry. This setting indicates that the “yewpos.mp3” song file will play continuously when triggered. Removing the “loop” notation will compel the song to only play through once and then stop.
There are some “looping safeguards” in place, however. If you move into a new “trigger situation” within 10 seconds of the previous trigger situation, the previous song will finish out a full ten seconds of play before changing. This is designed for such occasions when, for example, you need to cross between two trigger locations frequently but aren’t really interesting in hearing the first fraction of each of the related songs quickly swapping back and forth.
Songs that play but aren’t set to loop will end after a certain period of time, and may incorporate both a fade-in and fade-out effect. (These fade-in and fade-out lengths are “fixed,” and cannot be changed by the players at this time.)
There also a certain small amount of randomness built into one or two of the song selections. Players can create their own small system of randomness as well. Although each listing only contains one song entry, each listing can instead contain multiple song entries, with a single space in between each. Each time that listing is called upon to play, one of the entries in that multiple-entry list should play.
For example, song ID number 45 lists:
45 nujelm
If you’d like to add some randomness to what plays when that ID is called and possibly hear the “moonglowpos” or “victory” songs, you can change the entry to read instead:
45 nujelm moonglowpos victory
With the above configuration, upon entry into Nujel’m you might hear the “nujelm,” “moonglowpos,” or “victory” songs.
Further, even if they are in the same listing, not every entry has to be set to loop or not loop—you can mix & match.
For example, song ID number 47 lists:
47 cove,loop
If you’d like to randomly hear the “cove,” “moonglowpos,” or “victory” songs, and the cove or victory songs should loop but the moonglowpos song shouldn’t, you can change the entry to read instead:
47 cove,loop moonglowpos victory,loop
With the above configuration, upon entry into Cove you might hear the “cove” song looping, the “moonglowpos” song play once, or the “victory” song looping.
Reverting to the backed-up files: Hopefully you backed up all your files before making any changes, as suggested at the start. If so, you may simply close out of UO, copy all your saved “masters” back into your \music\Digital\ directory, and start up without concern.
If you haven’t backed up your files, it’s likely that the best way to recover your original MP3 files is to reinstall UO completely from the CD.
There’s actually a third option, for those feeling a little adventurous. You can, in a sense, copy the files you need from the CD, but it’s not as easy as just moving them across into your computer's UO directory. Here’s some notes on this procedure:
You’ll need to find where the music is stored on your UO CD.
The music files themselves are collected into a cab file on the CD, in the same location as on your computer. That means your music may reside on your computer in a directory labeled as “Ultima Online\music\Digital\” (or words to that effect) and the cab file you need should be on the CD in a similar subdirectory, along the lines of “Client\Music\Digital\client5.cab.”
Simply having the cab file itself isn't enough—you’ll need to have some program to extract the music files from within it. An application called WinZip that many people have may be able to let you open up this cab file, and Windows 2000 and Windows XP have built-in features for opening cab files as well.
Once you’ve opened up your cab file and extracted the files from within, you can replace all these “new” files within your \music\Digital\ subdirectory with these “original” files.
The choice is up to you. If you're not comfortable opening cab files then I'd suggest reinstalling. If you don't mind experimenting a little by opening the cab files and moving them into your proper UO directory, then you have that choice as well.
MP3 Song triggers: Different songs are triggered by different in-game events. Essentially, there are two trigger types: becoming involved in combat and walking into a certain region.
Songs are triggered when you perform an action or enter a region that has a different song than the one that was playing. Examples of regions might be the wilderness of Britannia, the city of Skara Brae, or any NPC tavern.
No two songs should be playing simultaneously, whether new MP3 or original MIDI.
MP3 Song listings: Below is the complete config.txt song listing. There are four columns:
ID: This is the song identifier.
MIDI NAME: This is the name of the original MIDI song that was set to play on pre-UO:LBR game clients
MP3 NAME: This is the name of the default MP3 song that plays when the song identifier is caller for the UO:LBR game clients.
DESCRIPTIVE: This notation was a part of the original MIDI-based song-calling code, and may serve some players here by helping identify groups of songs that play during certain occasions.
Please note that this listing is only a guideline, and is subject to change.
ID MIDI NAME MP3 NAME DESCRIPTIVE 0 oldult01.mid turfin,loop 1 create1.mid turfin,loop Nostalgic songs 2 dragflit.mid turfin,loop 3 oldult02.mid turfin,loop 4 oldult03.mid turfin,loop 5 oldult04.mid turfin,loop 6 oldult05.mid turfin,loop 7 oldult06.mid turfin,loop 8 stones2.mid stones1 9 britain1.mid britainpos,lop Town and named location songs 10 britain2.mid britain1 11 bucsden.mid bucsden,loop 12 jhelom.mid jhelom 13 lbcastle.mid lbc 14 linelle.mid linelle 15 magincia.mid newmagincia,loop 16 minoc.mid minocpos,loop 17 ocllo.mid valoriapos,loop 18 samlethe.mid ambrosia,loop 19 serpents.mid stones 20 skarabra.mid scarabreapos,loop 21 trinsic.mid trinsicpos,loop 22 vesper.mid vesper1 23 wind.mid yew1 24 yew.mid yewpos,loop 25 cave01.mid dungeon Generic area songs 26 dungeon9.mid dragonshi,loop 27 forest_a.mid citynightedit,loop 28 intown01.mid walking,loop 29 jungle_a.mid citynightedit,loop 30 mountn_a.mid walking,loop 31 plains_a.mid citynightedit,loop 32 sailing.mid boattravel 33 swamp_a.mid citynightedit,loop 34 tavern01.mid tavern1 35 tavern02.mid tavern2 36 tavern03.mid tavern3 37 tavern04.mid pubtune,loop 38 combat1.mid goodevil,loop Combat songs 39 combat2.mid humanoids,loop 40 combat3.mid gargoyles,loop 41 approach.mid turfin,loop Event songs 42 death.mid deathtune 43 victory.mid victory 44 btcastle.mid overlordv2 Miscellaneous 45 nujelm.mid nujelm 46 dungeon2.mid dragonslo,loop 47 cove.mid cove,loop 48 moonglow.mid moonglowpos,loop
Some questions from players:
Are there any limitations on quality, file size, type, or length of the MP3s which can be played?
Not that we are aware of.
Are there any unused MP3s that came with the UO:LBR CD, like there were unused MIDIs with the original client? If so, which ones are unused?
There are some MP3s that are currently not in use, but this is subject to change (depending on Development needs, scenario requirements, etc.).
If for some reason someone wanted to revert back to the old MIDI music instead of having the new MP3 music play, would that be possible? If so, how would one do that?
We currently have no plans on implementing such a feature. However, it may be of note that, as mentioned above, if an MP3 song name is ever removed from its listing, the default MIDI song will play in its place. With that in mind it’s possible to remove each MP3 song name from within the /music/Digital/config.txt file.
=========
Sannio
Online Content Coordinator, UO
Origin Systems
Posted by Borg
Wednesday, April 3, 2002 12:00 AM EST
MSNBC Story
War on the Web: Gamers in a tussle
A virtual community gets a taste of real world power politics
By Lisa Napoli
MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR
March 29 — Who owns a virtual world — the people who inhabit it, cultivate, and pay to participate in it, or the company that created it? That question is being asked by disgruntled players of Ultima Online, one of the most popular role-playing games of its kind.
IN LATE FEBRUARY, game creator Electronic Arts announced its intention to change the rules that govern the play of UO, as it’s widely referred to. After four years and with more than 230,000 players participating world-wide, Electronic Arts staff began to notice an imbalance of power developing in Brittania, their virtual community. Those who chose to take on the persona of the “Bard” character were amassing power and able to perform feats only much more developed characters should have been able to do.
The need for a revamp became crystal clear last year, UO employee Amy Sage said in a recent interview, when a new version of the game, called a “Shard,” was launched in Korea. There, bards were achieving in two weeks what in the game’s earlier existence would have taken a year to 18 months.
That’s when UO’s development team started to devise new rules for this one of more than a dozen “professions” virtual inhabitants of Brittania can choose, Sage said.
“You’re constantly having to balance what you do based on what other people do,” explained Sage, UO’s manager of community development. “We make a very large number of changes on a weekly basis. We’re constantly trying to bring things more in line, add new content. After a while, people will eventually have seen everything and done everything. It’s important to keep things fresh.”
Fresh is one thing, said the players, whose most ardent ranks spend thousands of hours a year — as much time as some people spend at their jobs— in the virtual world. But changes of this magnitude, they argue, are another. Management’s posted intentions prompted players to start filling the game’s message boards first with alternate suggestions, and then with angry words.
Some players are considering suspending their accounts for 90 days — it costs $9.95 a month to play — as protest. Others say they will quit the game altogether, and some are even divesting themselves of the virtual real estate they’ve amassed during the play, sometimes for hundreds of dollars, on eBay.
Electronic Arts said it understands that players who have invested years of time and thousands of hours to create a character would naturally be upset with changes that would diminish its role.
But, said Sage, “We’re not trying to punish the bards. This type of imbalance affects the game.”
And keeping the game attractive and appealing to new, paying customers is particularly important when it has existed for several years and new games are released all the time.
Marilyn Rice, who divides here time between Chicago and Germany, has spent three years in the UO virtual community. The changes, she said, are “drastic — akin to trading a semi-automatic pistol for a straw and a wad of paper.” It took her two years to develop her bard, “the most difficult character to take to the highest levels of skill development. Mine took me approximately two years. That is a huge investment of time and energy, now apparently a wasted effort.”
In response to critics, Electronic Arts has revised its proposed changes twice so far, and the latest version reminds players that the specifics are not yet set in stone, pending testing and further input. On bulletin boards, players complain that much of their input is being ignored. But Sage maintains that’s not true, and that once changes actually go into effect, the controversy will abate.
“The bottom line and one that’s really, really difficult to see, is that we are a business, and we have to work to please the majority,” she said. “This kind of problem is the most gratifying and most challenging thing about running a game world. People are deep enough in it to have emotional ties, but the same success makes it difficult to change things.”
By Lisa Napoli
MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR
Comment clarification from Cynthe:
The interviewer was not familiar with UO before the interview, so there were some things that were said that she interpreted slightly differently than they were meant, and a few points that didn't quite make it to the article. About the Korean shard she mentions - the shard was Baekdu, and it actually had to be completely wiped 2 weeks into its testing period because there were already quite a few players not only with Grandmaster characters and millions of gold, but with castles... and when we checked into the records, every single one of those accounts had a bard as their main character. A castle is the largest and most expensive thing to acquire in UO, and Baekdu was a Siege Perilous ruleset shard, meaning those castles were even more expensive than on regular shards - and it took players two weeks to achieve that goal. Whether the Korean style of play was different from the American style, you have to realize that in a game like this, what does accomplishment mean for any character if there are people who can reach the pinnacle of the game in two weeks? That incident was one of the things that spurred us to make barding more difficult on Siege Perilous ruleset shards, and showed us more vividly than ever that there was a significant imbalance.
Cynthe
Community Manager
ORIGIN Systems
Posted by Borg
Monday, April 1, 2002 5:19 PM EST
Stratics Interview with Ignatz
The Future of Scenarios
UO has a great thing going with scenarios. The stories have been enthralling and well written. The new items, creatures, and areas are exciting. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your role in scenario development, challenges and the future of these great adventures:
What is your responsibility with scenario development?
I am one of the scenario designers, which means I help design and code scenario systems and features. Though, to be honest, most of the next scenario (Scenario 4) was already underway and nearing completion by the time I joined the scenario team. I've been able to offer some ideas and input here and there, but mostly I've been working to help coordinate with QA and with gathering the new client content that this scenario will need.
That leads into my second set of responsibilities... basically just coordinating all of the various components that go into a scenario. There are a lot of moving parts that all need to stay on track- scenario development documents, server code and data, client code and data, server and client testing, bug fixing, setting up each separate week of the scenario, and so on. Keeping an eye on all of these things is a bit new to me, and I have more to learn, but it's all good.
How does OSI come up with the scenario ideas?
I wasn't involved in the creation stage of Scenario 4, but we've already been kicking around ideas for the next few scenarios. The inspiration for those ideas can come from anywhere: previous UO or Ultima events/scenarios; player suggestions; other games; movies and books; that strange, coiled wire sticking out of the wall over there; a bizarre joke someone told; sleep deprivation -- pretty much anywhere.
Previous scenarios often provide a starting point. Maybe something that happened in the last scenario, or even a couple scenarios back, could end up being the launching point for the future. Or maybe something that seemed trivial or unimportant in one scenario is revealed to be essential in the next scenario, or perhaps it becomes the source of a horrible curse.
When it comes time to put it all together, we talk about the ideas we have and hammer out a framework for what we want the scenario to be. Some ideas are set aside for later, others get distilled or changed, and some are thrown out completely. And finally, a scenario pops into being. We call it the Little Bang. Well, I call it that. Called it that. Just that one time. I promise to never do so again.
How far in advance do you plan (even just a concept) for the scenario story line?
We already have basic ideas for well into the future... like for the next 3 or 4 scenarios. Nothing set in stone and nothing more than concept for those furthest away, but we do have general ideas so that we can plan for future events and content, and maybe drop the occasional hint or bit of foreshadowing.
What special challenges are there in developing scenarios? (technical and human)
The biggest challenge is introducing new content and fiction in ways that are dynamic and engaging. As game players, we want to explore new lands and find new stuff. We want to be heroes, and we do not want to win silver medals. Nothing new there. Those are the same basic problems that arise when developing any game. Of course, in a massive online game, the problem becomes one of making hundreds of thousands of people the hero, dealing with having solutions posted on every available virtual surface, letting everyone make their mark on the world, providing a sense of discovery to an enormous community of players, and making it all truly fun. It's an engaging challenge.
Technically, the biggest challenge is getting everything implemented and tested in a reasonable amount of time.
What parameters do you try to follow when developing scenarios (i.e. No modern day vehicles).
Yeah, no modern day vehicles... that's a good one. **Writes that down**
We try to keep everything within the expected realm of possibilities for a world of magic and swordplay. No lasers. No starships. And minimal in-game advertising.
How do you know if a scenario is successful? What measures of success do you use?
You throw the scenario against a wall. If it sticks, it was successful.
Some players would enjoy a city attack. Other players don't want their city life interrupted. How you do feel about city invasions in scenarios?
I think it's a necessary evil. I understand the connections that UO players can have with certain cities, and not everyone likes being caught in a war zone. But I also think that city invasions and other events of that kind can help make Britannia feel more like a living world. They can help create excitement and a glimpse of the world changing.
City attacks are just one way to bring excitement to UO. And not all events that transpire within a city need to be attacks or of an evil nature. Even something like the changes to Haven can provide a spark. Despite the fact that those changes were done without any significant fiction or events, Haven has become a place of interest... at least for the moment.
Will players have the chance to play evil in a scenario?
If you mean siding with the "villain"-- that's an interesting possibility. But we have no plans for that in the current scenario.
How important do you feel that it is to keep to original Ultima Prime fiction when writing your scenarios?
Lots of Ultima Prime lore is ripe for use in UO scenarios, but I do not think that it is important for UO to mirror events that transpired in those games. On the contrary, I think it's important for us to pave our own path through Ultima history... and as much as possible, for each shard to do the same.
Is it true that you force Gromm to dress up like Shakespeare at work as he writes content for the future scenarios?
Only if "force" means "trying to talk out of."
How important do you feel it is to differentiate every shard from each other through the use of Scenarios? For instance, having Cove be destroyed on some shards, while saved on others. Any examples you could give that you feel would be ideal for this?
I think the scenarios could be an excellent way for players to get an opportunity to differentiate their shard from others. It's important for those differences to be determined by the actions of players on each shard. It's meaningless if something is built into a scenario that forces shard differences.
I don't think the importance lies with giving each shard a way to be different from one another. The important aspect, in my opinion, is to create fiction and scenarios that have different possible outcomes or results based on what is done by those taking part in them. Different results on different shards would be a possible result, but would come about because different players responded to the given challenges in different ways, not because something was set up to make Sonoma different from Chesapeake.
Meer versus Juka. Which is cooler?
Mongbats, duh.
Tell us about how you first got hired at OSI, what were you doing career-wise before then?
Pretty mundane stuff, actually. Origin had something in the Austin newspaper about hiring testers for an online game (this was before UO's initial release). I applied for the position and was hired. I had played many of the previous Ultima games and knew what OSI was, so the idea of working there was awesome.
Before getting the job at OSI, I graduated from the University of Texas and then spent a summer traveling around, including about 6 weeks in Italy studying the history and art there. After that, I was waiting tables at a great Austin restaurant while looking to start a career somewhere.
Before you joined the Development team you were an IGM (Interest Game Master). What was your favorite cross-shard plot that you worked on and why?
There were aspects of the Followers of Armageddon plot that were good. Especially the idea of having three persistent plot characters in-game all the time (Martoo Saul, Junin Pince, and Zendella Kxriss). Seers played these characters, and they were given goals to fulfill, but limited resources to draw upon. The seers playing these roles were also given certain general parameters to follow, but mostly had a lot of freedom to role-play as they chose. No one knew who they were at first, though word quickly started to spread about the FoA. Some players aided them while others hunted and captured them.
I really liked having persistent event-characters like this. Not everything went smoothly, and there were parts that bogged down quite a bit, but when things clicked, it made for some great UO moments. I think that a lot of players who were involved really felt that they were all playing a true role in shaping their world. The whole sequence of seeking to capture the FoA members or protect and aid them had great potential and had some of the most dynamic event sequences that UO has seen... at least on this scale anyway. All of the FoA members could be captured, or any combination of the three, or even none of them. There was also a chance to rescue a captured FoA member during one event. Much that happened with this plot was totally in the hands of the players on each shard.
As far as other types of plots, non-major plots, there were too many good ones to detail them all. I remember a building of ice being melted, an ivory serpent terrorizing the seas, a fountain corrupted and then renewed after many adventurers and with an unexpected final twist, a singing sword, a farmyard full of apples enchanted to look like horses, an ethereal elemental and staves of the elements, frozen shrines and a frozen chicken, a secret mountaintop hideout, yellow trees that turned red at the end, weapon and armor caravans from Minoc to Yew, a great white hart, and many, many more. Most of these were seer events or plots, and there were many others that were also good ones.
During the FoA (Followers of Armageddon) plot, there were a lot of really great articles on BNN (then known as the Town Cryer) by Jasper McCarrin. Being the author, how much fun did you have in writing these reports that everyone looked forward to? Do you have plans in your current position to bring that magic back to BNN?
Well, I don't know how much anyone actually looked forward to them, but I enjoyed writing them. Jasper was a fun character. I brought him in-game to interact with other people any chance I got, and it was always fun talking to players as Jasper. I also enjoyed being able to use Jasper's writing to add depth to what was happening in-game. Things he would mention could always be seen in-game exactly as described. His stories helped to tie up loose ends and to provide hints for what to do next, but since most of the elements used were also present on each shard, it was not absolutely necessary to read an out-of-game newspaper to be involved. Hopefully, though, Jasper's stories did add something to what was going on for those who read them.
One story with an interesting twist was the one with Branson One-Thumb. I had been told to write a newspaper article that explained that the former "Zog Cabal" would now be known as the "Followers of Armageddon" (*sigh*). The catch was that I was specifically told not to use the words "Zog" or "Cabal" anywhere in the story. Poor Branson gave his life to that tragic cause.
As for bringing that magic back to BNN, I'd have to say that Gromm's fiction so far has well surpassed anything Jasper ever had to say. I might be able to write a thing or two along the way, and Jasper could possibly make an appearance as well, but Gromm already has the BNN magic flowing with his excellent writing.
As an IGM you were very interactive with the Seers in the volunteer program, how did you feel about things when the program was cut?
I had heard about what was coming before it had happened, but it was still a sad occasion for me. We were fortunate to have some very creative people come through the UO Seer and Interest program -- they were a pleasure to work with. I thoroughly enjoy what I'm now doing as a UO Live designer, but I often think back and miss running events with them.
The UO Interest program had its share of problems, but it also had an amazing amount of untapped potential. My biggest disappointment was not being able to find a way to truly make the seer program everything that it should have been.
Most people probably don't realize, but you were the IGM directly responsible for many of the well-known decorated player venues on the shards, such as the Golden Brew on Baja, Cove's Merchant Guild on GL, SCT and the Atlantic Mage Tower on Atlantic. Which was your favorite venue that you decorated and just how much fun was this part of your job?
Hmm... it would be impossible to pick a favorite venue. I had the good fortune of getting to work with many great player-run establishments during my time as an IGM. The fun part was being able to actually do something to help UO players who were trying to add to their world and their shard.
How about a memorable moment? Kazola's tavern on Great Lakes was the second player venue that was ever helped. tOAD and I decided to role-play the whole thing. We played the part of two brothers who owned a carpentry business (my character was JohnnyJonJon, but I forget the character name tOAD used). We argued about how much to charge for this and that and had carpentry sound effects going as we pretended to build things. It was fun, but it was also the last time we'd go to that extreme; it took way, way too long, and time was never something we ever had enough of.
The worst part, by the way, was not having enough time or enough IGMs to really make as much of a difference as I wish we could have. For every place we helped, there were dozens more that were just as deserving, but that didn't get anything. I think that a lot of the player venues we helped have had amazing success (and many still do), but I also think that this part of the Interest program essentially failed. It couldn't do otherwise without being able to provide for every player venue out there that deserved an equal chance. But I'm glad we at least made the attempt.
Posted by Borg
Monday, April 1, 2002 4:52 PM EST
Book Wyrm part 2
Book Wyrm part 2
The morning sun rose from the eastern sea and as it burned off the nights chill, small birds sang their songs of sunrise. In the distance could be heard the calls of harbormasters coordinating the arrival of new trade ships and the echo of caravan horses trotting into the mother city of Trinsic. This was part of the beauty and simplicity of mornings; everything anew and the air had not been filled with record of days activities.
Dr Codene, had spent the night in Olympus after an unnerving evening at the Infirmary. Though Olympus held no beds, he had found the cushion of Emperor Borg’s Throne comfort enough to drift into slumber. Had not a pair of small birds chasing each other in playful flight through the chamber awoken him, the Dr may have slept till noon. Alas, even an old man has his duties to perform and Dr Codene stretched and wiped the sandman’s work from his eyes. Standing and moving toward the doorway he could feel the warmth of the morning sun begin to fill Olympus Castle with energy. The clock on the wall read nearly 7am and like clockwork his morning calling for breakfast rumbled within his stomach. As he exited the Emperor’s chamber he turned and propped himself up between a pair of wall stones and looked out over the bay toward Trinsic. A beautiful site the city of Trinsic is in the morning he thought as the tops of the buildings glistened like jewels and families of birds darted in and out of the treetops. Taking in deep breathes Dr Codene searched for a familiar flavor.
“You think Anakkin has breakfast ready yet?” asked a voice from above the Dr’s right shoulder.
“Not yet, but Nona the baker does have fresh muffins ready” answered Dr Codene.
“Tis a beautiful sight m’lord….how far can you see from up there?” asked Dr Codene.
“Yes…this is a sight to behold….from this rampart one can see all the way to the Honor Shrine”; replied Emperor Borg who stood on the rampart above his chamber.
Gliding down on the morning air, Emperor Borg greeted Dr Codene formally and asked if he could join him for breakfast. As the two began to make their way downstairs they spoke about personal matters and as brothers enjoyed the simple company on each other. Leaving the Olympus Castle, the pair chose to walk toward Trinsic to enjoy further the morning warmth and awakening of the day around them. The pair reached the western gates of Trinsic and the keen nose of Dr Codene picked up Anakkin’s work.
“Ahh………that man is an artist”; Dr Codene remarked as he took in a deep breath of air.
Smiling back to Dr Codene, Emperor Borg nodded and the two continued on to Nona’s shop to pick up a tray of muffins to take to breakfast at the Imperial Mess hall. As they reached the shop Emperor Borg could see a squad of Shadowriders heading to the Arch of Honor from the Southern gates area.
“Seems Anakkin’s work is reaching many this morning Dr”; remarked Emperor Borg.
“Egads…we must hurry….young men have deep stomachs”; added Dr Codene.
Purchasing their muffins and some pots of honey, Dr Codene and Emperor Borg moved toward the Arch of Honor and the Imperial Trinsic Barracks. Though only half past 7am they could already hear activity in the Youth Bureau as aspiring men and women trained for their role in the Legion. Nearing the barracks area the sound of heavy horse passing under the Arch of Honor came from behind them.
”For HONOR and Empire”; a trio of voices exalted.
The trio of Cataphractii, heavily armored cavalry Dragoons, soon arrived at the barracks and as they dismounted and rushed to the mess hall. Emperor Borg opened the door and Dr. Codene entered and was followed by the three Dragoons. Emperor Borg welcomed them all in and it was a bit of a humorous moment as the trio had been so interested in getting to the table they did not at first recognize the doorman was their Emperor. Embarrassed the trio stopped and fumbled a bit at the doorway until Emperor Borg put them at ease with a smile and comment.
“If you don’t hurry up and get inside….the Dr will surely finish off all the muffins and we all will have a cold plate of eggs and bacon.”; Emperor Borg said as he put his arm around one of the shoulders of the Dragoon.
The hall was a buzz with morning chatter and the rich smell of Anakkin’s breakfast splendor. As the door to the mess hall closed, one by one the hungry men recognized who was with them this morning for breakfast. Standing and passing salutations Emperor Borg asked them to please return to the fine meal. It was as well the humor of Gladiator Felix Felthwin who, in his hast to salute, slapped a fork full of eggs onto his own face….that put the room back to ease and enjoyment of the breakfast.
“As long as their courage is as strong as their appetite….I think we will be fine indeed”; commented Dr Codene.
“Agreed Dr….but your eyes tell me that you worry about more than their appetite or simple courage”; replied Emperor Borg.
Looking at Emperor Borg, Dr Codene nodded slowly and added: “Yes….there more, but I know not what to say as of yet.”
“Still studying those books Dr?”; asked Emperor Borg as he held out a plate for Anakkin to fill with eggs.
“Yes…until I know more, I have locked them up until I can find some reference material to help me in translating several of the texts. The writings are ancient and I have never seen such in any of the libraries, even in the great libraries in Britain or in Moonglow’s Lyceum.” Dr Codene answered.
As the two began to enjoy the breakfast, Emperor Borg offered a possible solution; “Then perhaps you should seek one who is an Ancient….and I do not mean one of our own.”
Emperor Borg placed a forkful of egg and his demeanor turned a bit serious as he looked at Dr Codene; who now froze a bit and gulped deeply realizing what the Emperor meant.
“Don’t worry old brother….give me what questions you wish and I will get your questions answered. Besides…Ancient Wyrms tend to enjoy company…..at least once and a while”; added Emperor Borg.
“Did I hear Wyrm…..like in Wyrm hunt?”; asked one of the Legion.
The room began to quiet a bit and Emperor Borg looked over toward the eager Legion Shadowrider and replied; “Soon brother….yes we may need to do a Wyrm hunt…for now…scout out the location in Ilshenar where one can be found and contained. We need to seek its council on matters we will explain later after the Wyrm has answered some questions.”
“Very good sire….we shall find it.”; replied the Shadowrider.
Posted by Borg
Monday, April 1, 2002 12:00 AM EST