Old News: October 1999

The test client is now available on our ftp server. In addition to allowing you to test some of the features in In Testing (such as skill management) this client also contains fixes we are testing for issues such as "ghosting".

ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/uo/client/test_skill/

To install the client follow these steps:
Click the link above.
If you have T2A then click the T2A version. If you do not, click the non-T2A version.
Save the file to your desktop (do NOT save the file over your client.exe in your UO directory. If you do, you will need to reinstall UO when we patch the servers.)
Load the file from your desktop and log into the Test Center Server.
There are a few things we would like to mention about this test client:
When playing on a regular shard with the test client, your skill menu will show all skills as 0.0. Note this is a graphical issue, your skills have not changed at all. While we encourage you to use this test client on the normal shards (to see the effects of "ghosting" on regular shards), if this causes confusion for you, you can simply log out of UO when done testing and reload the game with your regular client.
The same is true for playing on Test Center without the test client. Playing on Test Center without downloading the test client will show all of your skills as 0.0 and you will not be able to see the changes for skill management.
The current layout on Test Center for the skill menu is not the way it will appear once we patch the regular servers.

 

In order to test some of the features listed in the previous In Testing Communication (such as Skill Management) you will need to download a test client. We will update you tomorrow in the FYI section of the website with the link for where to download this test client.

In a few weeks, we will announce and begin a regular process of deleting characters that have not been played within the previous three months. If you have characters that are no longer in use, we would appreciate your taking the time to delete them yourself. Character data makes up the majority of the backup size and the majority of current characters have not been played in the last three months. If you wish to keep these characters, you will need to play them occasionally to avoid deletion.

An additional notice will be posted one week prior to the start of the character deletion process.

After two weeks of amazing success, the ticket system will be removed from all shards after they come back from maintenance on Friday, October 29th (local server time). Your contributions have succeeded in reducing average backup times by almost 30%! The shards are many millions of items lighter, and some very cool prizes have been taken home. We look forward to seeing how much more will be accomplished in the last four days of Phase I of the Clean Up Britannia program.

We would like to express our thanks to those players who have participated in the Clean Up Britannia Program and to everyone who has helped reduce the item counts. Your continued effort and support are paying off and the resulting improvements to Ultima Online benefit everyone.

We will be posting announcements regarding Phase II & Phase III of the Clean Up Britannia program in the near future.

 

In the forests west of the dungeon Wrong, the presence of monsters is not an unusual event. Small orc groups or lone ettins sometimes attack those who travel in those lands, and air elementals are also often reported in the area, but none expected what happened this week....

Large groups of ogres and trolls were seen leaving the dungeon during the week, and many attacks were reported in the area. A huge group of trolls was seen chasing one ogre, then attacking the Dragon's claw castle mall. Later the same day, two trolls who seemed to want something very special attacked a miner. The next day, the trolls, who looked to be on their way back to Wrong, also attacked a tavern. Ogres were also seen in the area, both in the abandoned fort near the road and in the nearby town of Northwood.

What are the reasons for their presence? And why were ogre and trolls reported to attack each other? Many questions remain unanswered...

The complete log of the Fortieth UOHoC Open House chat has been posted, and is available from the House of Commons website. Tune in again in two weeks for the next House of Commons chat.

We are aware that some of the furniture dye tubs on the Catskills Shard are not working properly. Although we have resolved this issue and all future dye tubs will work fine, furniture dye tubs purchased with tickets before the fix may not dye furniture properly. If you have a furniture dye tub that is not dyeing furniture you can contact a Game Master to fix the dye tub in the following manner:

• Log into UO with the character who actually purchased the dye tub with the tickets. If one of your other characters has the dye tub, you must transfer the dye tub to the original character that purchased it.
• Make sure you have the dye tub in your character’s backpack.
• Call a GM and ask them to fix the furniture dye tub.

It has come to our attention that there is some confusion as to how the "ping-pong" counter works for murder counts.

The system is based on your short-term murder counts, not your long-term murder counts. Therefore, it is possible to become permanently "red" without ever going "blue". This is due to the fact that while your short-term murder count may fall below statloss level and then raise again (ping-pong), your long-term murder counts will keep your character "red".

Please keep in mind that the maintenance free period this weekend will affect the shards in the following ways:

 

• Changes to your guildstone (adding new members, changing guildmasters, declaring war, etc.) will not take effect until the shard’s next maintenance.
   
  • There will be no time warp periods over the weekend. Barring any unexpected outages, everything you do in the game will be saved.
  
  
  Please adjust your activities accordingly.

November is virtues month in UO! We’ll spend the entire month highlighting two players each week who personify one or more of the virtues.

Valor, the ideal virtue of courage, is found in the bravest of adventurers. Those imbued with the virtue of valor are willing to face any foe that threatens their beliefs. Tell us a tale of an adventurer who best personifies the virtue of valor.

Justice is the virtue born from the meeting of truth and love. A strong sense of right and wrong, with a passion to always follow the path of righteousness, makes this a virtue for the strong of will. Tell us a tale where justice played an important role in the outcome.

Send an e-mail to uo-profiles at uo.com by Friday, October 29th, and tell us a story of Valor or Justice. Please be sure your story falls between 500-1000 words. Also be sure to put either “Valor” or “Justice” in your subject line. Be sure to provide a name and phone number for verification of the story. You are welcome to submit stories for both virtues if you wish.Submissions to "uo-profiles" become the property of OSI and may be used for special events, promotions and/or advertising. All submissions are subject to verification.

OSI will be updating our billing system in the near future. During the conversion process, our billing system will be unavailable, both via the website and internally in our billing department, for an indeterminate period of time.

Once the new system is in place, any customers with overdue account payments, expired credit cards, or expired gametime coupons will be unable to access Ultima Online pending payment of any outstanding fees. Once we begin the process of conversion, there will be no way for us to update your account information until the process is complete.

We strongly urge you to visit the Account Management area of our website as soon as possible to take care of any issues which may cause your gameplay to be interrupted.

An additional notice will be posted 2 days prior to the billing transition beginning

EA vs OSI?
Saturday, October 02, 1999 - Vapor
A friend of mine wrote a letter to Electronic Arts, not Origin. He recieved a VERY nice response that actually looked like it was thoughout and not a copy-paste-boom done! thing.

To: support at ea.com
Subject: complaint about Origin

I wish to complain about Origin. first of all, I know OSI's email address. I dont need to be told to mail them. 2 years has proved that to be useless. since EA owns or is partnered with Origin i bring my complaint to the top. for the most part my complain isnt specific. I'm complaining about how Origin treats its customers with little respect.

The level of service they provide is pathetic. the game im talking about is Ultima Online. Let me say again. i dont need to be told i should mail Origin. i would think that EA would at least have some sort of standard its sister companies should abide by. arent you the least bit concerned that customers of Orgin/UO feel so helpless that they feel the need to contact EA as a last resort? players/customers of UO are asking that EA intervene on our behalf. after all, if EA cant restore quality to one of its own business partners then who can?

the reason im mailing this to EA is the latest game patch Origin intends to install in UO. the patch will cause item loss in player owned houses. i played this game for two years only to discover 90% of everything ive acquired in UO is going to be lost. many players are upset about this. actuallly many is an unsderstatement. this is just one of numerous examples of how OSI has screwed its customers. the fact that EA has chosen to partner its self with such a dishonrable company like OSI is disturbing. infact, if nothing is done ive decided that i will no longer purchase or support products made by Origin

So once more. on behalf of UO players we ask that EA intervene on our
behalf to stop this upcoming game patch and restore quality customer service. surely you must have some sort of control over OSI i look forward to hearing your response and recieving support in stoping this patch.

______________________

Hello ******-

I forwarded our previuos email exchange to the CS manager at UO. I appreciate that you are having difficulties with UO. Personally speaking I choose not to play UO for many reasons. I do believe that it is an exciting game with lots to offer. And it could always be made better. A better dialoge between the production teams and the customers would be an excellent way to improve the game. I am keeping all of the emails about this and other UO issues so I can present them to my manager. I've told you before that I really do not have many avenues open to me to help you with UO. The more customers that email me the more weight what I say will have. I thank you for your thoughtfull remarks and I will try and help you out.

Thank you,

Sean S
EA Online
Are they doing something against OSI? Perhaps they could do a little REMINDER that OSI should treat their players with the respect they deserve.

-Vapor

 

Ticket System Postponed Oct 4 1999 10:14AM CST
The ticket system is not active on the shards at this time. We expect the system to start soon and will update you again when a new target date is confirmed.

In Development

Oct 1 1999 5:19PM CST

The following features and fixes are currently in development. Skill Management In an effort to give players more control over their character’s skills we will be implementing a skill management system. To facilitate this management the skill menu will be changed in the following ways: A toggle button will be added at the top of the menu. This toggle button will change the state of the menu so that it will show or hide your character’s unmodified skill numbers. This will allow you to see what your actual skill level is unmodified from stats. A toggle button will be added next to each skill. This toggle button will have three states: "up", "down", and "stop". Skills marked "up" will rise normally and will never go down. Skills marked "down" will be candidates for atrophy. Skills marked "stop" will not go up or down, regardless of how often they are used. A field will be added to the bottom of the skill menu that lists the character’s unmodified skill total. This will allow you to see how close you are to the skill cap (700). The FAQ for skill management can be found in the previous In Development communication. Flagging Changes PvP enhancements will begin with changes to the flagging system. These are designed to make combat more consistent and create more fairness in guild wars. Using the healing skill on a murderer (red) or criminal (gray) will result in you taking on their flag. In other words, if you heal a "red" player, you will be red to all other players for two minutes and they will be able to attack you freely. This also holds true for healing a member of a guild. If you use the healing skill on a guild member, you will be "orange" to any warring guild. This means that opposing guilds will be able to attack you and you will not be able to report them for a murder count. We are also looking into the criminal flag timer to combat exploits within the system. These will be designed to stop flagged players from abusing the system. More details on these changes will follow. Crafting Some of the trade skills will be enhanced to allow for more flexibility and personalization of their wares. These enhancements will affect Tailors, Carpenters, Blacksmiths, and Tinkers. In addition to Blacksmiths and Tailors - Carpenters and Tinkers will now be able to craft "exceptional" items. Any item that is exceptionally created will be marked as "exceptional" even if the craftsman is not a Grandmaster in the skill. Exceptionally made items that have limited uses (such as sewing kits and smith hammers) will have more uses than non-exceptional items. When a Grandmaster creates an exceptional item, a window will appear asking if they wish to place their mark on the item. Selecting "okay" will place the creator’s name on the item when examined (single clicked). Selecting "cancel" will not put the maker's mark the item. Vendors Buying from vendors will be made more secure. After selecting an item to purchase from a player vendor, you will be given a message that tells you the item name and the cost associated with it. The message will have two options: To purchase the item, click "okay". To cancel the transaction, click "cancel". While the message is on your screen, the vendor owner will not be able to move the item or change its price until you click either "okay" or "cancel". The message will remain on the screen for 60 seconds to give you time to decide. Pet Changes Some issues involving pets will be addressed. To avoid a bothersome misuse of pets, you will not be able to name any pet "you" or "your bag". Pack horses will now accept food. Dragging food onto a pack horse will cause the horse to eat it. Veterinary and Healing We have made some changes to the Veterinary and Healing skills to improve their performance and make them more consistent. You will no longer be able to use Veterinary or Healing on the following monsters: Zombies, Daemons, Air Elementals, Earth Elementals, Fire Elementals, Water Elementals, Gazers, Liches, Spectres, Skeletons, Wisps, Energy Vortexes, and Blade Spirits. The Veterinary and Healing skills will also now distinguish between animals, monsters, and humanoid creatures. The following animals and monsters will be healed using the Veterinary skill: Gargoyles, Corpsers, Dragons, Reapers, Slimes, Terrathans, Eagles, Birds, Giant Snakes, Spiders, Gorillas, Mongbats, Giant Scorpions, Snakes, Drakes, Frogs, Sea Serpents, Dolphins, Horses, Cats, Alligators, Pigs, Rabbits, Lava Lizards, Sheep, Chickens, Goats, Ostards, Bears, Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears, Cougars, Giant Rats, Cows, Dogs, Llamas, Walruses, Wolves (timber), Nightmares, Bulls, Great Harts, Hinds, Rats, Pack Horses, Pack Llamas. These creatures will be healed using the Healing skill: Trolls, Cyclopes, Ophidians, Ogres, Ettins, Orcs, Harpies, Headlesses, Lizardmen, Ratmen, and Humans (including Player Characters). The issue with double finger slips while healing when hit with a magical attack will be resolved. You will now only slip once. Boats Some issues involving boats will be addressed. Issues that did not allow players to dry dock a boat even when it was empty will be resolved. The miniature boat models will now say the type of boat and the name of the boat when examined (single clicked). Other major changes to boat functionality will be announced late next week. These changes will be designed to prevent boats from being used as permanent storage. We will update you further once these changes are more formalized. Monster Treasure Some issues with the treasure carried by monsters will be addressed You will no longer get the item, "a scroll". These items have been removed and you will now get a genuine, usable magic scroll. Monsters will no longer carry an inordinate number of backpacks to hold their treasure. Name Change Deeds You will be able to purchase a deed that will allow you to change your character’s name. A new NPC called a "Registrar" will be available in towns and the deeds will cost 10,000 gold. You will only be able to change the name of a character once. Therefore, once you change a character’s name you will not be able to use another deed to change it again.

Phase I - Clean Up Britannia (Currently on the Test Center Shard) What is it? The Clean Up Britannia event is a limited time chance for you to trade in all of your older and unused items for ticket credits to spend on unique prizes. When is it? Clean Up Britannia will begin on approximately October 4th and will run for only 14 days. Don't be left sitting alone counting your piles of clutter while your friends are all off enjoying their new and valuable prizes! How is it done?   After the event starts, all trash barrels in Britannia will automatically become ticket barrels. Newly placed barrels will also be ticket barrels. To place a ticket barrel in your house, you can say the words, "I wish to place a trash barrel". We will also be placing ticket barrels at different locations throughout the shards. In order to participate in the event, you must place items in a ticket barrel. After placing an eligible item into the ticket barrel, you will be asked if you are sure you want to place the item in the barrel. If you select "yes", you will receive a ticket credit based on the sell value of the item. You can view your total tickets by double-clicking on the barrel. There is also an option to turn off the confirmation window. You can place a container (bag, chest, etc.) holding eligible items in a barrel and receive tickets for all of the items in the container. Some items are not eligible for the event and will not return any tickets. If these items are placed in an event ticket barrel, you will be warned that they are not eligible for the event and asked to confirm that you wish to place them in the barrel. These items include: Gold All other stackable items, such as, but not limited to: fish steaks, reagents, ingots, cloth, bandages, etc. Some items are not eligible for the event and will not return any tickets, nor will you be permitted to place them in ticket barrels for the duration of the event. You will be warned that the value of these items is too high and they will be returned to your backpack. House, ship, guild and any other deeds Treasure Maps Body parts Order/Chaos Shields Model Ships Keys Contracts of Employment Spellbooks Newbie Items Items stolen in the previous 2 minutes Don't worry about accidentally throwing away your favorite item. There will be a separate confirmation window anytime you place an ineligible item in a ticket barrel. If you do not wish to be asked to confirm, simply turn off the confirmation box. To view the prizes in detail, you can click on the "View Prizes" link in your ticket display. To claim your prize, click on a ticket barrel to view your tickets and select the prize from the list displayed. Your ticket total will be debited and the item will be placed in your backpack.   What are the Prizes? All prizes are "blessed" - they cannot be looted or stolen. It is important to note that placing "blessed" items in a container does not "bless" the container. If the container is stolen or looted, you will lose any "blessed" items within. Small Ticket Items   Hair Dyes - These hair dyes of unusual color will allow you to permanently change your hair color. One use only. (10,000 tickets) Facial Hair Dyes - These hair dyes of unusual color will allow you to permanently change your facial hair color only. One use only. (10,000 tickets) Hair Change Deeds - This deed will allow you to permanently change your hair style. One use only. (30,000 tickets) Facial Hair Change Deeds - This deed will allow you to permanently change your facial hair style. One use only. (30,000 tickets)   Medium Ticket Items   Dragon Skeleton Troll Orc Daemon Ettin Earth Elemental Gargoyle Gorilla Crocodile Liche Lizard Man Ogre Ratman Singing Crystal Ball - This crystal ball plays random sounds within the game. It will only work when locked down and will play songs only to other players who are nearby. To turn on the crystal ball, it must be double-clicked and then locked down. (100,000 tickets) Furniture Dye Tub- These dye tubs will allow you to partially change the color of certain furniture such as chairs and tables. You can change the hue of the tub with regular dyes. The tub has unlimited uses. (100,000 tickets) Phoenix Armor - A random piece of red ring armor. As these pieces are random, it is possible to be awarded a duplicate prize. (100,000 - tickets) Mini Monster Statues - One of 14 random small statues that come in a variety of shapes and colors and will emit monstrous sounds when approached. They can be placed in houses. As these are random, it is possible to be awarded a duplicate prize. The statues types are listed below: (100,000 - tickets)   Large Ticket Item   The Bless Deed - This deed will allow you to "bless" one item to ensure that it can never be stolen or looted. This deed will not work on keys, containers and stackable items. The item to be blessed must be either in your backpack, or currently worn or equipped. This is a one use only item. (500,000 - tickets)   For more information on the next phases in the Clean Up Britannia Program (Lockdown and Item Decay), please visit In Development. Phase II - Lockdown The second phase of our Clean Up Britannia event will change the way items are stored in houses. Lockdown will be optimized for interaction with the item decay system. In addition to storage changes, we will also be implementing some other changes in preparation for item decay. We will be increasing the number of secure containers for most houses. The exact numbers will be released next week. The number of lock-downs will also be increased for most houses. You will be able to lock down stackable items (such as ingots and reagents). Friends and “co-owners” of the house will be able to use these items. You will be able to designate other players as a "co-owner". Co-owners will have access to all functions associated with a house, except redeeding. This includes rekeying, unlocking and locking items down and designating secure containers. Only the most trusted friends should be designated as a co-owner. Secure containers will have their weight restrictions removed. You will be able to place 125 items in these containers regardless of their weight. Bank Boxes will have their weight restrictions removed. You will be able to place 125 items in these containers regardless of their weight. While items on boats will not decay, we will be making changes that prevent boats from being used as permanent storage. More information on this system will be posted at a later date. The Lockdown phase is scheduled to begin October 19, 1999. More Details on this phase will be posted in the upcoming days. Phase III - House Item Decay The final phase in our Clean Up Britannia campaign will be the implementation of item decay in houses. Once in effect, house item decay will affect all items that are not: Placed in a secure container. Locked down. Placed by an IGM or GM. House item decay is scheduled to begin on October 25, 1999. More details on this phase will be posted at a later date. Future House Changes * You will only be able to place one house per account, per shard. Accounts with more than one house per shard will not be affected, however if you have more than one house on your account, and deed one of the houses, you will not be able to place the deed. * A secure house transfer system will be added in the future. * We are also planning on implementing a house maintenance or taxation system. However, this change will probably not occur until late this year. We welcome your feedback on this issue.