@}>----,--'-[Submit News]

February 21, 1999

Argh, altern's been a total mess. They got sued because of the abuse of their hosting service so they canceled their service for all of us. Thus, we've moved again, this time hopefully to our permanent home at http://www.3dinfinity.com/uo/sg/. (Just in time to introduce the new Ballot House) Anyway, the scoop is at 3di, so head on over. -@1:55 A.M. EST, Majestic

February 18, 1999

Hi, back here again just to switch the counters (the old service went *kaput*). But in any case, I want to direct you to the new URL again since it is easier for me to update there than it is to update here. As well, I am testing a bunch of scripts in a new cgi-bin so the polls and boards will probably be ported to a new server (that shouldn't be down like 20-40% of the day). As well, SG will be premiering it's new Ballot House section in a day or two. Instead of suggesting your poll topics to us, you can add them instantly, and we will review the list to cull any pertinent info to send to UOConcerns (for OSI). Check out the new URL for the release info (I'll probably trudge over here to announce it too though... =]) -@11:23 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 31, 1999

SG @ the Gate Ok it's up and clunking about. Some bugs have to be worked out and some scripts implemented but the concept is there. Check out our new home at the Gate. No pop ups there! Shadows Gate of Ultima Online. More (UO) news to come as things get worked out. Shadows Gate Moves Yep that's right, we're jumping to a new server temporarily while we finish up a hosting deal. I'll have a link to the new SG posted in an hour or two (as soon as the new design framework is set up =]) and you can read more about it there. It will still be under major construction but you'll get an idea of what's going on. UODR - New Player Polls From King Stephen: UODR’s Player Polls page is now up, and would like to welcome all to vote upon our 7 new polls. The polls are organized concerning the following subjects: Player vs. Player Player Killing PvP Switch Player Characters - Skill & Stats Magery Recalling Non-Player Characters Human NPCs Systems Territory Foods Spamburger Hamburger (Maybe you should just see for yourself) More polls are on the way! To get to these polls visit UODR - The Largest Vault of UO mental work at: http://www.msc.net/metawave/uodr/ -@7:46 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 29, 1999

Town of Cape Valiar - Yamato The Town of Cape Valiar is now complete! It is located 3 screens west of the shrine of Honor. Features of this establishment include a tavern, 2 towers for guild members, an inn, a provisioner, a woodworker, a tailor, an armoury, and 2 mage shops! For anyone who wishes to see the town, I can provide runes or gate you if need be. Just contact me at ICQ UIN 4984429 The Illustrious Mondain, Grand Master Mage -@6:50 P.M. EST, Jesper Ma & Pa Strongbow’s First Annual Sonoma Scavenger Hunt This from Pa Strongbow: When: Saturday, February 6th 1999 - Starting about 30 minutes after maintenance - Ending at 7PM PST Where: At Ma & Pa Strongbow’s General Store (You can get directions from my website) Why: To see who is the 'badest ass' scavenger in all of Sonoma. (The prizes help too...) How: Keep reading, we will tell ya. Entrance Fee: 5000gp (per team of 4) Prizes: First Place will receive: (Their choice of) a minimum of 100,000gp (we hope to have MUCH more, maybe as much as 250,000 gold) or Full Suit of Hardening Plate Mail or a Scimitar of Vanquishing Second Place will get to choose from the 2 left Third Place will receive the last item Teams will consist of 4 players only. Each team must register with Ma or Pa before Saturday February 6th. There will be NO 'at the door registrations.' If we do not get a minimum number of teams, this event will NOT happen. Deadline for registration will be 24:00 hours Friday February 5th. Email, ICQ and Drop Box will be checked for the last time at that time. To register your team, please do at LEAST 1 of the 3 following (all 3 would even be better to insure that your team gets in): Write the following information in a book and drop in the drop box inside the store ICQ the following information to ICQ UIN 24935468 Email Ma and Pa at cosbyj@bigfoot.com Team Name Team Color Team Captain and the captain's ICQ UIN Team Password (please make this an original password, not your UO account password) Characters' Full Names Guild affiliation if any Example Registration: Golden Dragons Gold 3ojg94jg Pa Strongbow (Team Captain) ICQ 837538375 Ma Strongbow Taren Blackmoon Rav Nightshadow Guild: GDT (Golden Dragon Trading Company) Of course, there will be NO max number of teams. Scavenger Hunt Rules: Only the 4 people on the team may collect the items in the book (As of yet I have not found a way to enforce this, so this is an honesty thing.) All items MUST be turned in inside the main area of the shop. Once a player is inside the shop he is in a SAFE zone, any fighting or stealing and that player or players will be banned from the shop, thus disqualifying their team. Outside of the shop, EVERYTHING is legal. You can steal, kill, beg or borrow to get what you need for the list. There will be a list of items to find in a book given out to each team. Each team will receive 4 copies of this book and 4 recall runes to the shop. Captains will also receive a communication crystal to stay in communication with the shop. Please, place scavenger items in a bag before turning them in (assuming that they can fit). Each item on the list will be put into a point category. Something like a Blood Moss would be worth 1 point; something like a durable surpassingly accurate crossbow of might and ghouls touch would be worth many more points. Of course, the point rating will depend both on the value and rarity of the item. If you feel that you can't part with an item on the list, don't turn it in. All items received from the hunt will be sold in the store to make up for the costs of running the hunt, and paying the people that work for me. Along with the listing of items in the books, Ma and Pa will travel around both worlds and place “Easter Egg” bags in obscure locations. In these bags, there will be runes marked for the store and labeled with their point values. Example: EASTER EGG RUNE Worth 25pts E593kektuy349 They will be clearly marked 'Easter Egg Rune' with their point values. After the point value will be a code that will let us confirm that the rune is bona fide. These bags can be ANYWHERE; These bags may turn the tide of the hunt. This will be the hidden factor. And they will be placed in locations where they will not deteriorate quickly. All entrance fees will be collected inside of the store just prior to the beginning of the event. Thanks! I hope to see you ALL down at the hunt! -@11:18 P.M. EST, Majestic For the past few days I've been busy fiddling with scripts and coming up with a new design for the message boards. I've got a new prototype up and running with everything (that works so far) implemented. Now I just need a little feedback from you. If you have a few moments, please hike down to the new General Discussion board and leave a comment or idea/suggestion. Thanks! As for the UOHoC chat, the gist of the upcoming changes are leaning towards converting thievery into a more of an adventuring set of character skills. -@5:36 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 26, 1999

Return To Innocence - RealAudio Interview with Designer Dragon @ BV I heard about this over at the BattleVortex. The interview is 1 hour and 20 minutes long and although I didn't get a chance to hear it yet, this is what Batlin summed up about the show: Necromancy (resurfaces) They are still debating recall.. the best we may get is not allowing an agressor to recall.. But recall will more than likely never leave the game.. They are still coming up with methods to curb Blue PKing..(DD called all the Blue PK's "gutless cowards") They are still on their quest to make thieving a more "adventuring" profession.. Also maybe something about house maintenance. Can anyone give me the real on this? Next UOHoC Open House Chat Just posted at the UOHoC website: The next UO House of Commons Open House chat between the players and creators of UO is scheduled for next Thursday January 28, at 7 PM CT (5 PM PT, 8 PM ET). The chat will be available to you at #uohoc on Stratics IRC, on one of three networked servers: irc.stratics.com, port 6667 (randomly selects one of the below IRC servers) csdd.stratics.com csdd2.stratics.com intworks.stratics.com This week's topic is "In Testing". We will be discussing upcoming changes that are available on Test servers. This includes colored ore, ingots and armor, changes to the combat and magery system, housing and karma. Server Poll Yesterday I took the liberty to fix the server poll and add it to the list of running polls. The results of the old server poll were cleared because of the addition of three new choices. I'm planning on adding the skill poll later today and adding one more. Feel free to vote and/or comment on the topic at the board. Thanks! Update Center Colored armor, new Meditation skill, and Combat Changes! - Jan 25 1999 7:17PM As you may have noticed on Test Abyss, there are a load of changes coming in. The details on the additions/changes can be found on the In Testing section (although the update was to the FYI section). Here's the load on colored ingots (see the In Testing page for the rest on combat changes, creature additions, meditation etc): Colored ore, ingots and armor go[ing] in: Mining Eight new varieties of minerals can now be found. Each variety offers a unique color. The different colors can only be found by miners of specific skill levels--only Grandmasters or near Grandmasters can find the rarest mineral, valorite. Once a vein is located, it will always be at that location from then on. (It behooves miners to conceal this location!) Even a known vein will not always yield the rare mineral. You cannot combine ore of different colors. You can only smelt the colored minerals if you meet the Mining skill requirement to do so. Blacksmithing You cannot work the resultant ingots unless you meet the Blacksmithing skill requirement to do so. You can make colored armor and shields from the colored ingots. Pirate Treasure Chests - Jan 25 1999 8:55PM There appears to be some confusion about unlocking pirate treasure chests. In order to unlock the chests that are found with the pirate maps, sufficient skill in both detect hidden and lockpicking is required. If a player has a low skill in detect hidden or lockpicking, it would greatly reduce the chances of opening the pirate chest, regardless of the other skill's level. ON WITH THE SHOW A new article in the Town Cryer by Deborah the Scribe was published early this morning. Click here to read it. UODR Announces It’s Reconstruction This from King Stephen: After two broken fingers (I missed a couple of keys, and the desk is really hard), severe eye strain (contrary to popular belief, staring a monitor for extended periods of time is actually bad for your eyes - go figure), missing work (it’s ok to miss work when you’re doing anything involving UO, right?), and one attempted murder (those were MY skittles) UODR has finished reconstruction. So we welcome all desiring improvement in UO to come, and report all of bugs and errors which we missed during in testing. I’m joking, it’s really impossible for me to make a mistakkke. Make sure to drop your thoughts in the discussion room. You’ll find us at: http://www.msc.net/metawave/uodr/ Great work! I would like to mention that I really am making an effort to get current site tasks done and relocate at the same time (and looking into that domain name/hosting thing...). I'm hoping to get the screenshot tutorial up very soon (and the files list up updated), and the Markets and Merchants service has been suspended until I can get a few upgrades in. As a side note, I will post short announcements of vendors, their wares, and location if you wish (though try the vendor shop board first!). I'll include the all the submissions (old/new) in any new section I'm developing. As well, I'd like to see if there's any support for a literary section. I've received a couple of submissions (out of the blue), and I could certainly publish to stories on the site. You will retain full rights to hard-copy publishing and its copyrights of course, but it's just for fun. -@8:33 A.M. EST, Majestic