Archived News

January 23, 1999

The PvP Switch poll is back online. I've changed or reworded some of the answers to better reflect good answers to this question. As well, there is a briefing with information on the state of PvP from the Dev Team and links to 2 essays on the murderer system and fame/karma changes as well as a FAQ from Stratics on the basics of how flagging works. Town Cryer - Caravan Heist Averted : The Mystery of the Insidiae is Unveiled An article by Ceridwen the historian has been published early this morning at the Town Cryer. UO Journal Problems Posted by Marduk of the RPG Bugbase: For those of you who are having problems saving your journal, here is a workaround from Runesabre: For now, change your UO.CFG to have the following line: JournalSaveFile=save.txt This will save your journal into a file called save.txt in your UO install directory. I have fixed the problem as well so you can save as you used to. This will be in a client patch that will be available and will also fix some other problems. Hope that helps! To download the UO Journal Converter, check out the Official UOJC Website for the details and files. The Abyss Test At update.owo.com FYI: What's the Test Abyss? - Jan 23 1999 10:37AM We've opened up a fun shard for all the Abyss fans out there! On the Test Abyss, you'll find no stat loss for murderers, no guards except in the city of Britain, and advancement gates for most skills in Britain as well. It also serves as a sneak peek at the upcoming update, including meditation! It will be available this weekend off and on, so you may want to check it out! Posted by Runesabre at the UHall: Well, for this weekend, I have published a test shard and called it "Abyss Test". On this shard you will find the following: 1) No statloss for murderers! 2) No guards except in the city Britain! 3) Advancement Gates for most of the skills scattered in logical spots around the city of Britain!! Runesabre, Lord of the Abyss Meditation on Test Center Just a quick note by Faceless that Spirit Speaking will no longer raise mana but Meditation will. New Tar Valon Website - Great Lakes Second hand info, but the citizens of Tar Valon have done a great job in designing a new website. If you're interested in visiting, this is definitely a place to get your brochures. The Island City of Tar Valon -@12:18 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 22, 1999

It's taking a while but I'm cleaning up the poll scripts and adding a lot of new things. The Poll of the Week is now functioning again. Please feel free to test it and email me if there are problems. As well, I've added some important information regarding housing and maintenance at this poll page to complement it. Working on the PvP Switch Poll next. The information links section has been totally revamped and I added 3 more links today. Check it out; this is a pretty thorough resource listing. UO Information Links As well there's a quick page up with links to the official sites for several other games of a similar or same genre. The Book of Quotes has been (finally) updated with a new entry. Market Merger Chuck Lorist of UOMarket sent me the URL for the new Stratics-based Trading Post. As you most likely know, UO Market is merging with the Stratics trading post and they promise a whole lot of new things. Caemlyn Petition - Great Lakes I received this URL from Solomon Brood of the Museum of Memories. The citizens of Caemlyn are petition for a chance to build their city. I'm not sure what the terms entail, but there is mention of being against housing in T2A as well. Petition to Support Caemlyn -@6:12 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 19, 1999

Well, it seems as that the rest of my staff is away and unavailable for a while and unable to update the site for me, so I'm back to updating. A lot of things have happened meanwhile so I'll try to fill you in as I can. Update Center News Lots of update announcements from OWO. Check out the following pages for the headlining news: [Latest Updates] - Treasure maps and more! Jan 19 1999 3:05PM [Common Issues] - Recall Spell After The Patch Jan 19 1999 2:07PM [In Testing] - (Evaluating Intelligence vs MR Effectiveness, Meditation aka Channeling, Anatomy as a Damage Modifier) [FYI] - Counselor Elders Jan 18 1999 8:15PM [FYI] - A vendor in need is a vendor in deed! - UPCOMING VENDOR DEED CHANGES Jan 18 1999 6:33PM [Shard Issues] - West Coast and European server updates delayed Jan 19 1999 3:44PM As well I found this bit of info at UOSS: Interesting thing added to the new patch that I dont think many knew about. If you use anat on something, you will get the % stamina left as well. Same code as what EI [Evaluate Intelligence] gives I guess. I would assume that it requires the same level of skill (75ish) as EI. - Neuroman The Dragon Awards I was surprised with this email in my box a couple of days ago: Hello Fellow Ultima Online Citizen This email is to inform you that your web page has been selected by the Dragon Reborn for the following awards: Content Graphics Layout Thanks goes to Rand for the great honors. The awards will go up on our new awards page (under dev). As well, he mentioned that he will be reviewing sites randomly or by request. See the Army of the Dragon website for more details. Gamer's Alliance Giveaway I found this out from Eliot of UOBoard: Gamer's Alliance is giving away $12,000 worth of prizes in a random drawing at the end of the month. The prizes range from Motherboards and 3-D Graphics Cards to games and T-shirts. You can enter just by checking out their site and filling out a form. The deadline is sometime this week. Assassin/Poisoning Discussion Board This might be a good place to go if you have questions or opinions to voice about this skill. More on it later. Poisoning and Alchemy Discussion Board Markets and Merchants Yes, it's been a while. I can't say I'm going to revive the section with all these sites now... (like UO Web Market, UO Market, Vendor Pages, etc) But in any case, if there will be any reviving, it will be with several new layouts to choose from and added features, including owner-editable sections, full image library support (adding more craftable images soon), and db amenities. Working On... The new site is coming along nicely and I hope to have a few of our old and outdated sections revived and expanded there. As always, there will be something new there so, hopefully more on it later. As for the polls, I will have to leave them up for a couple more days as I get things in order and finish some important work. I've noticed the server poll has somehow mysterious messed itself up. More info on that also later. What's on the to-do: Screenshot Tutorial covering the basics of Print Screen Key, UO Screenshot Utility, Hypersnap DX, MS Paint, Paint Shop Pro, and Adobe Photoshop and when to use what. Board Additions (depends on how CGI saavy I can be...) Skills Discussion (a big if...it's been done before...) Picture of the Week (still looking) -@6:02 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 13, 1999

More on the Tailoring Problems Seems that there have been several problems with the Tailoring skill (aside from the fact that it is difficult to sell tailored items...) There is a duping bug and a weight problem, according to players on Test Center and Faceless. Something we just determined on TC. Upon failure, the failed item is going into your base-body. This causes your weight to raise, but you can not remove the item, see it, or sell it. From what we've seen, the only way for it to be removed is by 'godly intervention'. Even when you die, it still stays on your body, and not the corpse. - SRC Dracor Shard Photographers I'm looking for players who like to take screenshots during their time on UO. It's a pretty easy job with very little work involved, and you will get your most interesting shots published with full credits. The term 'interesting' includes shots of major events, oddities, story chronicles, large-scale PvP combat, rare creatures and the like. It's just an idea I'm throwing out to the public so I don't expect much at all. Some Clarification: There will be a tutorial on using screenshot programs and various methods of taking (editing, and converting) screenshots posted so no experience is really necessary. If at all interested or need further clarification, just email me. Thanks Poll Results The final results of the last Poll of the Week and the Skill Poll: What should OSI do about the lack of space to place houses? [1213 Votes] - "Allow hilly terrain placement again" and "Allow access to the lands known as 'Green Acres'" What should OSI do about Cartography? [471 Votes] - "They should make maps more useful" and "Allow you to set auto-walk courses using maps on land" Polls Two new polls up...the Poll of the Week and Poll#2 of the Week. Skill Poll still to come... Ok, I'll be taking some time off from updating here because I will be taking finals for a week or more. So I direct the spotlight to Jesper, who will do any needed announcements while I'm cramming. (minor administrative edits will continue as usual) -@8:00 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 12, 1999

Tailoring Disabled Just in from the FYI at the Update Center: Due to some issues related with tailoring, the skill has been temporarily disabled. This includes all objects related to tailoring (ie. sewing kits). [...full details] The POTW and the Skill Poll are being archived right now so they will linked back when the new polls are reconfigured. -@7:06 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 11, 1999

Shard Issues Firstly there are several new entries (1/8-1/10) on the Shard Issues section at support.owo.com, which affected West Coast servers mainly. [...full details] Secondly, I received an update from Leo after his time spent testing skills on one of the test shards. As a result, the new 'healer's treatise' will be postponed until the final stage of the healing and anatomy change goes in (they've already revamped it on the test shard), so as to not influence the issue in any way. Also, Runesabre has noted that treasure maps will spawn on T2A creatures. The locations of the treasure will not be in the lost lands however. New Oracle at the Hand of God UO Alliance This from Lord Luker: Hail good friends we have the Oracle at our grand opening of our new domain at http://www.uoalliance.com/ and we invite you all to come and be allies with us!!! There is a bug with guildstones which have too many members everyone is asked to e-mail OSI see the Oracle at http://www.uoalliance.com/ for all the details! A Little More Clarification on Hiding This post by Runesabre was spotted by Ian Stormbringer of The Paladin's Tower: "...the distance that you must be to break LOS with your whomever you are in combat with depends directly on your hiding skill. Someone with 0 hiding will have to be at least 58 tiles away to hide ( or break LOS... run around behind a house or something ) while someone with GM Hiding will only have to be 8 tiles away to hide. What is not also mentioned is we have eliminated the 5 second wait to use your hiding skill if you can't hide because you are in combat. If you fail hiding because you are in combat you can try the skill immediately again until you either succeed or fail hiding for reasons other than being in combat." My apologies for not switching the polls. It's been hard for us to confer on all the new topics that have been sent in recently. I will try to have some new ones up today. -@3:26 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 9, 1999

Some Needed Site Updates I would like to thank the players who emailed me about our other sections. They will be re-worked on as we build the sections for the new site but please don't expect the skills section to be up-to-date (or marginally close to...) The links section is being expanded so there hasn't been too much updating of it online. I will redo them this afternoon as time permits. Great Lakes - Tar Valon Website I received this URL from Fixxxer a little while ago. If you're a GL player looking to visit a great city, check out the Tar Valon website for more details and a map to the player-run city. Tar Valon Polls The Housing Poll (POTW) and the Skill Poll will expire and be archived later today. Look for 2-3 new polls (hopefully) this evening. More UO Essays I spotted this on the Dev Board early this morning. It's fairly new and still under construction, but it's endeavoring to keep a collection of essays and well written proposals for game changes. Ultima Cantina Also, from a post on the Poll Discussion board, I found a site with essays and links to more essays, including some proposals made by other players as well as Faceless. Vishal's UO Suggestions The cartography/treasure map post from Jan. 6 has been archived. If you still wish to read it over, please use the Latest Archived News link on the left side bar at your leisure. -@11:45 A.M. EST, Majestic

January 8, 1999

New Roleplaying Message Board This from Doomhammer: I would like to let everyone know that the Roleplaying & Quest Center (GL) has opened up its message board for discussion on bettering roleplaying on the shards. I'm sure this will include a wide range of topics from player races, quest engines, skills, to lots of other ideas. Hopefully we will also be able to have some polls and get the development team to check it out if we have some good ideas going. Quest Center Board Regarding the Next Game Update Posted by Faceless on CoB's Dev Board: "This next update is almost 90% bug fixes. We're doing this to clean up before the big projects of the year begin. This includes bard spam. So yes meditation and combat wait for the next update because they are not bugs. Treasure maps was an easy feature to throw into this update. Just goes to show, you can have your steak and your bone too." More Info on Treasure Maps The latest from Runesabre: The latest version of the treasure chest hunt will be on TC [today]. Highlights of this version will be: - Over 200 locations added from all around Britannia. - Monsters will be spawning treasure maps on them. I won't tell what monsters spawn what level of maps except in one instance... the Sea Serpent will now have the possibility of having a level 3 treasure map on them. :) So grab your boats and start hunting them! - Addition of mining as an aid to digging up the treasure. The radius that can be targeted for digging up the treasure will scale based on your mining. People with no mining skill can still target the 9 tiles in order to successfully dig up the treasure chest. If you have GM mining skill you will be able to target a 81 tile area. The radius is scaled between these 2 extremes. Please note that you DO NOT raise mining skill, it is simply used to determine the dig radius. Also, I found this info at Morliki's site to fill in the gaps: Any one with cartography can decode a map. The higher level maps require a certain proficiency of cartography before they can be decoded. The highest level treasure map requires GM cartography. The lowest level treasure hunt has no minimum cartography requirements. Only the person who decoded the map may look at the map and actually dig up the treasure. The higher the level of treasure hunt, the more treasure that is inside the chest once you find it. Of course, the higher the level, the harder it is to pick the lock of the chest as well as escape the trap set on it. Monsters will guard the higher level treasure chests as well... I think you will find the bounty well worth it though even for the lowest level treasure hunt. "[Monsters] will spawn right next to the chest. I am looking into ways to freeze them in place so they don't wander off either or better yet only allow them to wander in a tight radius so people can't simply lead them away then run back. Additionally, there will be a chance that a monster will spawn on any person taking something from the treasure chest. The probability will be scaled based on the level of the quest. Level 1 hunts don't have any monsters period. Level 2 will have something like 5% chance of a guardian spawning on a chest looter while a level 5 hunt might have a 25% chance. ( there is a ton of loot in a level 5 chest so I don't necessarily want 300 monsters spawning in one area. *grins* )" "The treasure hunts were designed to have sea quests in mind. Expect sunken treasure chests at sea in the future." -@11:01 P.M. EST, Majestic

January 7, 1999

Regarding the Hiding Skill Now the dev team is busy with more changes underway. I was a board junkie for a little while this afternoon and got the gist of some of the intended changes to the hiding skill (responses by Faceless): Basically, this is how it should work. This was something that has been a long time coming. - If you are attacking someone who can see you, you cannot hide. You can get out of this by TABing out of combat. - If someone is attacking you, you must break LOS [line of sight] with them Here is the problem as I see it: LOS right now has too far a distance check. If I run maybe 20-30 tiles away from my agressor, I should be able to hide, even if they can 'see' me in code. You will be able to hide once you get a certain distance from the aggressor even if LOS is not broken. The distance will be this: 58 - HidingSkill/2. GMs can hide at 8 tiles. 10 [tiles] at 53. This change affects PvP in a big way. It does not really do much to Pking. Will stealing-in-combat also be fixed? Yes but slightly different. It only blocks if the person you are stealing from has you targetted. Why that difference? Is hiding "bad" and stealing "good"? Why should I be prevented from pickpocketting someone because someone else is attacking me from across the screen? That's the reasoning here. Pickpocketting is a physical action. Hiding is visual. If a thief steals something from me will he be able to hide? Since no combat is initiated yes. What are your views on the 10 second delay after you have come out of hiding (whether forced, or on your own) before you can hide again? I like the 10 second thing personally. But many people don't think it makes [sense] to vanish from sight instantly while they are attacking you. Also on the hiding change that your proposed... Why make it so we have to "tab out" of combat? Why don't you just make it where if we break the LOS of our aggressor that we can hide automatically, without having to fool the system? If you break LOS with all combatents, then you can hide. Period. No tabbing needed. [Stuck] monsters can see you AND target you without doing you damage. However this makes them grey to you but you can't hurt them either. This problem has been around a while. Now with the new hiding, it will be impossible to hide in dungeons unless you make it impossible to have monsters spawn on these ledges. Wrong has this problem as well. Even though they can target you, when you hide, the hiding skill checks LOS just as if you tried to fireball those monsters. It will fail of course, and you can hide. Conclusion made by Runesabre: In the end, the changes to hiding go both ways. It hurts the PKer who tab-tab-hide when the battle goes wrong... which means it helps the attackers take out PKers more often. It hurts victims because they can't hide away from an attack as well, but, I assert they would die more times than not if they COULD hide conveniently. Update Post Regarding Treasure Maps Probably posted after I left, but this was found at UOSS: "The maps will spawn on monsters with more difficult monsters gaining the higher level maps. I am thinking perhaps Orc Mages being the lowest difficulty of monster having the easiest treasure map and things like Balrons or poison elementals having the highest level maps. Even then, there is only a 1% chance the monster will actually spawn with a map. I may have to adjust that as well." - Runesabre UOSS Application for Shard Reporters Since Brimstone has posted the application questions on the UOSS main news page, here are some of the gory details that were elaborated on a long gone post made by Brim that you will not find (unless you look really hard). It's good to know these things to get a better handle on how you should apply and who qualifies (and whether or not you'd want the job. There are currently 50+ applicants. Details: You MUST be good at spelling, grammar, HTML. You must filter out posts that are debatable, not ALL news gets posted. You must be an active figure on your shard, once you are an official Shard Reporter. This means following up on events, visiting players in game, etc. It can be a FUN job if done correctly. It only takes about 30 minutes to an hour a day to post news. Sometimes shorter time than that. YOU will either be VERY active, or at least post more than 3 or 4 times per week. That is up to you. News comes from: a.) message boards, b.) other players, c.) OSI, d.) other UO news sites, when the news is THAT important to the UO community, e.) your own investigating. You must be active. If you are a reporter and you are no longer active, you will be asked to 'get' active or step down, allowing someone with the time and ability to represent that shard. As a Shard Reporter, you will have access to a great reporting tool that allows you to post your news into a form, then the script will update the Shard News Page. Quick and simple process. You will be expected to represent UOSS in a mature manner. When on official UOSS business, in game or out, please keep yourself composed. You know what we mean by this... ;) As a reporter, you cannot overglorify your guild or your friends. It's hard, I know... but you need to keep a watchful eye on your trigger 'post' finger. "I will tell you this: as one of the screeners, I AM looking for someone who is active, willing to participate both in game and in UOSS." - Beans Baxter -@10:18 P.M. EST, Majestic