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July 2002 News:
|
^ top-UOPG Publish July 31, 2002
[Nieves] July 31 - 7:50 PM EDT | Finally got some linking errors fixed on Secret Gimp's site. Yes, UOPG has all the Gimp stories for your reading pleasure.
Also organized the Site Nav menu to the right so it makes more sense.
Enjoy.
Hasta. |
^ top-Dragon Empires Interview
[Nieves] July 31 - 2:02 PM EDT | GameRifts.com has an interview with Peter Tyson Community Liaison Manager in a first look at Dragon Empires to see what set's it apart from other titles in the
genre.
Check it out!
Also, you can read about the over 500 Modules that have been publically released for NWN here.
Hasta. |
^ top-Stat Locks
[Nieves] July 31 - 8:52 AM EDT | Released on Great Lakes and I believe Chessy so far. Maybe Pacific.
I don't know. I don't see it on UO.com and I am reading 2nd hand reports.
That is all.
You can go back to playing Warcraft 3 and Neverwinter Nights.
Hasta. |
^ top-Ooooh...Fansite Licensing!
[Nieves] July 30 - 7:13 PM EDT | You too can be licensed as a fansite by OSI!
Woowoo!
Read the fansite license and the requirements for being 'licensed' as a fansite before committing to it.
And let's look at what you get!
Membership is the UO.com News Alert mailing list
Ooooh. But, um, how is that different than the mass UO.com News mailings you do now?
A link from the fansite section of UO.com
YEAH! And then you can be listed on their next CD as part of their Fansite program! WOOWOO! Free promotion! Right.
A monthly fansite newsletter
You mean the one you update monthly now? Thanks!
Fansite kit, comprised of graphics and images available for use on UO fansites in conjunction with a fansite license
I got to say. The art is kick ass. But do I want to use someone else's art? Just so they can take it away later? Right.
Priority status in regards to chats and interviews, or the opportunity for a monthly scheduled chat/interview
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Who gets all the interviews and chats now? Two sites. And the 2nd one just started getting theirs. Mhmm...all for commercialism.
I will stick to my journalistic and personal integrity, thank you.
CORRECTION: The Herald has also gotten an interview recently (in the last few weeks). I guess I forgot about that one as I was writing this. My apologies Noleeens of The Daily Herald.
Oh, and if you are a panty ass site, you ain't getting shit for chats. You will get the opportunity to send in 20 questions.
The occasional bonus item, such as a signed t-shirt or poster, to be used as giveaways by the fansite
OOOOH! COOOL! Neat. Wow. A T-shirt. G, thanks. Oh, a poster too!? Woowoo!
Why don't you give me 6 months free game time on one account for supporting you? Yeah, now THAT would be cool!
Any bets Stratics doesn't do it? I mean, why should they? They already get all the preferential treatment they want anyway.
And look at all the popular UO Fansites out there now. How did they do without OSI's support? Yeah. Thought so.
I don't know about you, but I am not giving OSI that much control over my content.
Good idea. Too little too late. And you aren't going to control UOPG. Nuh uh. Never.
And OSi, you need me. Why? Because the world isn't all candy land and lollipops. Without UOPG, you wouldn't have anyone to question your methods or tell people you lie when you say it's a "smooth release".
Oh wait, that's what you want. Sorry.
Hasta. |
^ top-Ok Now
[Nieves] July 30 - 6:22 PM EDT | For all of you wantting to know where the Champion Spawn Locations are...go here.
I will be hard linking that page soon. If Deady deletes his page, I will find him and kill him. I know where he lives so he can't hide.
Hasta. |
^ top-OSI/EA has a Live Chat Tech Line
[Nieves] July 30 - 1:32 PM EDT | Check it out.
Also: Scenario 5 is coming along quite nicely and is steadily nearing completion. We don't have any spoilers on content quite yet for you (besides, watching you guys guess is so much fun) but we can tell you whenabouts it's coming.
We hope to have the first week of content to you sometime in mid to late August.
I wonder what this one will be about...
And finally: [...]Housing, Phase 2 begins on Monday, August 5th. Pressing that button will not set your house as a "Primary House" until Phase 2 begins, nor announce any change in housing status - although please be warned that, at this time, pressing this button both disallow you from placing or being traded a new house as well as condemn all of your other houses on that shard (but not on any other shard). We urge players to plan any changes in their housing status accordingly.
Whew, lots of information today.
Hasta. |
^ top-Knights of Virtue
[Nieves] July 30 - 9:41 AM EDT | The Pursuit of Valor will be designed to allow players who consistently protect the populace against the forces of Evil to challenge the greater Champions of the realm.
-Characters will be able to gain points in Valor through combating the monsters associated with the Champion spawns.
-Characters will be able to "spend" points in Valor to help advance the pace of a Champion spawn.
-Although the activation of a Champion spawn shrine is normally a random occurrence, characters that become "Knights of Valor" will be able to activate such a shrine.
So you want to be a Knight? |
^ top-Greywolfe Tells us What Evocare Meant
[Nieves] July 29 - 6:25 PM EDT | "worthless" is what Evocare meant to say and it is not. What he meant that as far as the Justice system went, the reds being res-killed had no point value to speak of--they were without a lot of "worth" as a kill. He certainly was not calling the character type unimportant as a whole. All characters are important to the breadth and depth of the game.
It's all right here.
Ok, thanks for clarifying it. I feel better.
Hasta. |
^ top-Is Your UO Group Being Shafted?
[Hennarr] July 29 - 4:16 PM EDT | | Segregation and hatred based upon differing belief systems isn’t something you would expect in a computer game. Unfortunately, that is the state of affairs in UO. Under the guise of freedom, freedom to be free from the effects of other players in a multiplayer game, the playerbase was torn in half with one side doted on and loved by OSI, the other side slowly destroyed and carved apart. A world that once supported all playstyles and beliefs concerning what type of game UO was became a place of separation and endless debate, with OSI blatantly taking one side of the conflict under their wing. Of course, this is old news. The UO status quo has been one of division and group hatred for over two years now. Even though an older dev team, long gone from OSI’s once hallowed halls for the most part, were the ones who created the Trammel vs. Felucca debate and hatred they left the old world reasonably untouched aside from looking hideous to most players. What do we have now that Publish 16 is in full effect? We have a Felucca that has been “fixed” and the neutering reference certainly fits. We have older playstyles, playstyles that personified the freedom in UO, whether it was good or bad, utterly neglected and actually attacked by the current dev team. You can read more here. |
^ top-A Player Explains OSI's Statements
[Nieves] July 29 - 7:11 AM EDT | Nieves, he meant rez-killed reds are almost totally worthless for improving your avatar's Justice virtue. Not that OSI considers players who play reds worthless (even if they do, he didn't mean to say it).
This is like the other day when your site published the rant about population control. What the GM meant there is that pub 16 acts as a way of controlling the number of new characters on shards, not by driving away old accounts, but by making it a more daunting task to build a new character on a shard other than your home shard.
By the way, nice couple of posts on the OSI boards. Thoughtful, clear, and well reasoned (and you didn't say fuck even once), I hope Cynthe pays attention. Am I a dreamer or what!?
Sluggo
Mhm.
Hasta. |
^ top-Shard News
[Lealla] July 26 - 6:52 PM EDT | Well since I haven't recieved anything from other shards this time around. Pull up a chair, grab a drink and lets head on over to some interesting stories taking shape over on Great Lakes;
From The folks over at The Daily Herald Comes a tale by Damon Omenborn leader of a dwarven guild.
Approaching Blackthorne's Castle (chapter 1)
‘Come on lads’, Damon Omenborn shouted in the rain. ‘The city’s
not far now’. Visible through the rain was a small band of dwarves. Burdened with heavy packs on their backs, following their leader, Lord Damon Omenborn, they continued on the path sloping up a small hillside. Through the rainy fog, a faint silhouette was visible in the distance. ‘Look lads! There it is. Can’t ya smell all that loot just waiting for us?’ a few of the dwarves cheered, the others grumbled something as they looked out from beneath their cloaks and stumbled on up the muddy road. Water washed around their boots as they marched on and left deep footprints in the ground. Soon, the prints were all washed away and nothing remained of the passing dwarves. Keran Blackstone looked up to where Damon had pointed a minute ago and what he saw did not raise a smile on his face. How did he ever get himself in to this? At first everything seemed interesting, but now this whole thing meant nothing more than another scar on his face.
The tale continues HERE
Now Over at The Royal Britannian Post There seems to be a lot of murder mysteries brewing.
First a tale that has 5 episodes already revealed, Written by Scribe Sidious. Lets take a peak at episode 1 ( all 5 episodes can be read following the above Royal Brit Link)
Read on, followers of light and Virtue. The recent squabblings of unfit Kings who possess not the will fortitude to rule this land are now the least of your concerns. In the following saga...the FINAL DAYS of Rath Stonesoul shall be revealed to you...as well as the mystery of a hidden bloodline to the throne....
THE FINAL DAYS OF RATH STONESOUL
Episode I
"Deathspawn Arcanus",
The leaves fell around the gates of House Stonesoul. The guards were relaxing at their posts and the gods were content. Rath had enjoyed the relative peace from what he considered to be the scourge of Sosaria...the occursed Temple of Mondain.
"Fret not, Avaris. The minions of Mondain are outnumbered and they know this. They shall stay to their hold and not press our interests here," stated Rath over his mid-day flagon of ale.
"Agreed," exclaimed Avaris. "But I definitely sense something afoot. They have been quiet for far too long...."
"...and my spies have reported that their numbers have not increased, their borders have not expanded and aside from troubles best left to the local magistrates, we are secure. Mordain is powerful, but he is no fool. Our alliances and disruptions have left them bereft of all aid. We've seen no sign of the Sisters in two seasons. Mordain’s back is to the wall in his desert, and that is how..."
The story continues HERE
And now a tale by Nira. A story called A Daughter's Love... If this is love... keep her away from me!
The halls of the castle had not seen this much activity in many, many moons. Until news arrived of a new King to be named, the servants had spent their days trying to look busy for fear of loosing their jobs. Now life had returned to the chilled stone halls of the castle.
The Coronation was grand. Plush red velvet carpeting entwined with gold was laid in the main hall of the throne room. Satin crimson and gold banners of the royal court were hung with tender care. Nobles and commoners alike filled the room as the letters from Lord British were read. Cheers arose from the crowd as Marcus was named. Many voices yelled out in opposition as well. Chaos seemed to rein.
After much debate King Marcus threw up his arms and was whisked to his private quarters by his guards. Many Ladies and Lords from around our lands had come to show support. But just as many heated arguments could be heard coming from the chambers.
As yet another day was drawing to a close, the new King showed signs of all the tension. Retiring to his chambers he sat penning a note. He smiled as he saw her enter the room, always a pleasure to see her loving face. Walking to his bed, she turned down the satin tapestries as she did each and every night. She helped her Master prepare for a night’s rest as she had done since the tender age of fourteen.
the story continues HERE
I hope you enjoy the reading as much as I did!
Till Next Time...
Lealla |
^ top-Knights That Go NI!
[Nieves] July 26 - 2:55 PM EDT | When Jade speaks, all you can do is listen...
Well, well, well...
I've been away from the game for a few weeks, but had some free time this week and decided to log in and check out the new publish.
Where to start?
Noone listens to Nieves....
Hasta.
|
^ top-Reds Are...Nearly Worthless
[Nieves] July 26 - 7:14 AM EDT | Kehleyr - *Bladefire* What will be done about res-killing of reds to gain justice points? As it is now anyone can get a friend who is red and keep killing them over and over for points...
Evocare - Hanse, you aren't going to tell them about the special blue-shirt BOD trick? Oh wait, nm.
Evocare - *coughs*
Evocare - As far as res-killing goes...
Evocare - there is a timer limiting how often you can get justice points
Evocare - it scales based on how many justice points you got off your last red kill
Evocare - if you're killing worthless reds, it's not a very long delay. then again, they're... well... nearly worthless.
Evocare - Honestly, Justice points aren't supposed to be very hard to get.
Evocare - The idea is what you actually do with those points.
Evocare - Simply having the points doesn't do you a darn bit 'o good.
Evocare - (other then the title)
Nah, OSI isn't out to get the Murderers of the game because it's a legitimate playstyle. Oh, and you Reds in the game aren't totally worthless, just nearly.
I will be breaking down this IanStorm chat today.
Hey, I even got to talk to Peaches.
Hasta. |
^ top-Stat Locks On Test Center
[Nieves] July 26 - 7:07 AM EDT | To go in on Monday.
That is all.
You can go back to playing NWN now.
Hasta. |
^ top-Communication At It's Finest
[Nieves] July 26 - 7:06 AM EDT | Actually, there are no stealth or stealing scrolls in the game, and I very much apologize for the documentation being out-of-date... I have just updated it now. We will actually answer this in more detail in an upcoming Tuesday Q&A in the FYI section, but for now, all I can tell you is that stealing scrolls were removed due to a hard-coded limit in the skill itself (abilities to steal are based on weight), and stealth was removed due to a potential balance issue.
It's possible that these may return as power scrolls, but for now, I'm afraid they will not be in the game.
Thanks for understanding,
Cynthe
Well, at least she apologized.
Hasta. |
^ top-It's Not An Exploit
[Nieves] July 25 - 8:37 AM EDT | Wait, yes it is..
Ok, that's not a direct quote, but that's the theme of the year. What the fuck am I talking about?
Check it.
Hasta. |
^ top-Dovo...lick.
[Nieves] July 24 - 11:02 AM EDT | I was given this link and read a story about a little 13 year old boy wanting to play with the big boys. Well, I think I should share my own.
Read all about Dovolick here.
Hasta. |
^ top-Sorry About this Folks But Nieves told me to!
[Lealla] July 23 - 3:53 PM EDT | Attention All QfB Members
Well Folks the rumors are true The QfB message boards and main site have been deleted. Does that mean the end of the QfB?
A resounding Hell no! was heard throughout the lands.. As my grandmother always said." One door shuts in front of you, open a window" New message boards and a New QfB web site will be up and operational soon! So stay tuned folks.. together we shall overcome!
There will be a meeting Tomorrow evening at 9pm central for all QfB Gm's or their Representative.
We will gather at the Serpent's Hold Councillor's Hall and then gate to the meeting location.
We ask that each guild to please send only one representative. |
^ top-Character Generator
[Nieves] July 22 - 4:00 PM EDT | Updated for Publish 16.
Thanks to Talen (Gavin) for the update on the Character Generator.
And good luck getting that answer from OSI about you getting the verbal spankage from that GM. And it is a legitimate concern.
I mean, the inconsistancy of that situation, bleh.
I am sorry it's taken 2 emails to get a response. And I am sorry they have decided to pass it on as opposed to handling it immediately or maybe even take it to the department they asked you to email it to themselves. I mean, all they have to do is hit forward, put in an email address, and a note to look into it right? But wait, that's too easy! Why call it customer service when you have to service yourself? Oh wait, that means doing your job and servicing the community! Sorry, I guess I misunderstood what being a Community Rep meant.
Even so, I am sure the next person you emailed it to will see to it ASAP. Third time (3 emails and counting) is usually the charm right?
Update-16:20CST: Char Gen link taken down because there is a bug. Talen is working on it now.
Update-17:05CST: Bug worked out.
The problem was: " A form name was duplicated on the main page....caused only the last form of that name to be recognized.".
See, tell the people there is a problem, then fix it. Is that so hard to do?
Hasta. |
^ top-Ancient Smithy Hammer Problems
[Nieves] July 22 - 3:15 PM EDT | You can read today's story here or yesterday's here.
Is it me, or are some people slow to the news these days? UOPG included...
Hasta. |
^ top-I Serve
[Nieves] July 22 - 9:25 AM EDT | Epyon has now left to serve in the United States Army.
His dumbass self wanted to be a Ranger instead of taking my advice and using his degree to be an officer and take a desk job and order around all the privates and sergeants that would be at his beck and call (yah right). Call me lame for saying so, but, while in the service, you take everything you can and do forself. Believe that. I don't mean to say you shouldn't give your all or "be all you can be" (Army of One Is Bullshit <-- That goes against the Teamwork Principles the Army taught me). But you got to take care of yourself and, in the end, make sure all your shit is right and proper.
Anyway, I blab. He wants to be a Ranger. More power to him. I think he will do very well and I wish him well.
Epyon was there for me from the beginning. He became a UOPG Updater before I did. Even though our styles clashed at first, we became good friends and each other's sounding board from talking about how stupid Lawyer can be sometimes to how fucked up a relationship with a girl can become. He was never afraid to tell me the truth about anything and was always willing to hear my bullshit. I owe him much and will miss his council.
Good luck Epyon. Your friends will miss you. Remember that when you read the markings on the M18 that says "this part towards enemy", it means, point that shit away from you.
Hoooah.
Hasta. |
^ top-OSI Financials By Galahad
[Nieves] July 20 - 12:09 PM EDT | If you have been with UOPG for over 2 years, you will remember Galahad. Long time UOPG reader, friend, and Updater. He gives us his take on OSI/EA's financial reports.
Over the past few months, the world that we know as Sosaria changed quite a bit. While some will walk away from the new landscape of Ultima Online, many will stay. The question on my mind has been: Why did they make all these changes? I mean I understand some of them but many simply are beyond reason. Then I began to think...who is calling the shots at OSI? Is it the developers? Hell no. Its the CFO of OSI who is answering to the CFO of EA to ensure that UO's subscription revenues to not decrease in the coming fiscal year.
To understand this I'd like to describe the business environment that OSI / EA is working with. Think of Flux...where to be profitable the number of new subscriptions must be more than the number of subscriptions that are leaving. If the number of leaving subscribers is increasing at a faster rate than the new subscribers then the business unit will eventually go out of business. Now here is how I see it: From EA's annual report there was 16 million in 2000 subscription revenue; 28.8 million in 2001; and 30.9 in 2002. As you can see, the growth in revenue is decreasing rapidly. So what must OSI / EA do? They must develop a way for new subscriptions to increase, for current subscribers to stay longer, and to minimize the number of subscribers that are leaving the game. I must say that OSI / EA is doing an impressive job at these tasks at hand.
Now that we know what OSI / EA must do to ensure profitability in Ultima Online, let us look at what has happened to the game in terms of the three goals outlined above. First: new subscribers. They began this initiative with Trammel, now continue it with the new marketing ploys (UO:LBR and the just announced UO:AOS) as well as the GGS system (if you promise someone achievement, it is more likely they will actually began the path to that achievement). In terms of the second goal, (current subscribers staying longer) this is what Publish 16 was designed for. First, now that skill caps are at 120, veterans will want to have the best characters and will stay in the game to get that character. It is similar to what Sony did with EQ increasing the max lvl from 50 to 60. Second, new housing changes will make it so that more veterans will have fewer houses (in contrast to many veterans having many houses). Third, GGS: this is very interesting actually and it took me a while to figure out why the hell they were doing it. Here is what I came up with: If you have a 6-12 month player that has pretty much maxed out his skills / stats that player may get bored with the game yet if you make it so that it is nearly impossible for that player to max out his skills / stats in 12 months, OSI hope that the players will stay excited longer to accomplish the goal of Gming skills and the like. One more point on this second goal it is interesting to note that OSI just announced the new expansion in a point where many veterans were thinking about quitting because of Publish 16. By doing so, OSI hopes to keep veterans from leaving and waiting another 6-10 months (at ten dollars a month) for the changes the new expansion may bring. The third goal, of keeping veterans from leaving, is also accomplished by the announcing of a new expansion as well as changing the game so drastically that veterans may stay because they find new fun in an otherwise boring world.
I hope everyone understands that these are my opinions and thoughts. You may disagree or agree, but I’ll wager I’m pretty close to what’s going on in the minds of OSI / EA executives. 31 million dollars in annual revenue (with an enormous margin) is something that corporations just cant turn their back on. Hope this helps understanding from the corporate side of things.
Good luck to all in getting them Power Scrolls :)
-Galahad
Thanks Gal. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you are doing it as well as you did when you were with us here at UOPG.
Stop by and say hi sometime.
Hasta. |
^ top-Stat Lock Info
[Nieves] July 19 - 4:04 PM EDT | Copied and Pasted for your pleasure: The way stat locks will work will be identical to skill locks. You will have a choice of setting a stat to rise, lower or lock.
Similarly to skills, if you get a potential gain in a stat but the stat is set to lower or locked you will not gain a stat point (it obviously will not count against your GGS stat timer though). So to answer your question: no it will not give auto-gains in a skill that raises more then one stat, you will have to use the skill a bit more until you get a potential stat gain for the stat you are trying to raise.
It is this way because that’s the way the code currently works. The code chooses your stat to rise for a skill, then makes the chance roll to see if you gain a point of stat. I would have had to rewrite the entire stat gaining mechanism for you to be able to get auto-gains if one stat is locked. Not something I had time to do if you wanted to see stat locks anytime soon. J
As well if you are the stat max, then you must set one stat to lower to be able to gain in another stat (again identically to how skill locks work).
I guess.
Hasta. |
^ top-New Vet Rewards Out
[Nieves] July 19 - 3:56 PM EDT | Freaking Marketing Geniuses is what OSI is now.
Anyway, read about it here.
Only thing that might excite me is the 'free' skill cap bonuses and maybe some of the statues.
Other than that, the rewards are variations of the same old themes. And when exactly can we expect these rewards to hit? With Age of Shadows?
Anyway, you guys can judge for yourselves in the above link.
Hasta. |
^ top-UO Meeting
[Nieves] July 19 - 3:47 PM EDT | Meet Other UO Players in Your Hometown!!
from Heather-GL
I stumbled across a new site this week:
Click Me.
The next worldwide UO meetup is Monday, August 5th, 2002. Looks interesting.
Meeting once a month informally on a regular basis might be fun. Whatcha think? If a lot of UO players started using this site, it might turn into something cool. Or not. Who knows...?
In the meantime, if you are in Texas, I try to have UO get togethers here somewhat regularly. Check out the Austin UO Player's Community. There are pics from past events in the Archive. You can also sign up for our mailing list to receive emails when we do events in Texas. You can email me here, or PM me on the UO.com forums (posting as HeatherGL).
Thanks to Heather for the information.
Meeting people you play with is always cool. No, it's not about lame events or whatever, it's about people.
Hasta. |
^ top-OSI GM Gets Cool Points
[Nieves] July 19 - 12:41 PM EDT | New info: There was a broadcast message on Europa from Maleki that said to page for help. Well Maleki himself came over to the logcabin we were in and started turning people blue again.
I'll say this is very very nice of them (GM's Maleki, Ash and Pax).
Removed our counts and wished a good night with a smile ^^.
I won't say a thing about the dev team pff.
Well, it was handled properly. Got to give the GM and his managers 50 Cool Points for that.
That puts OSI at -9,050 cool points. I wonder if they even give a shit about earning enough cool points to be on par with me again.
Hasta. |
^ top-Tajima Speaks
[Nieves] July 19 - 9:03 AM EDT | I saw this yesterday, but really didn't give it a hard look. Well, this time I did.
Interesting to say the least. And oh boy does it look like a fun one to break down. But...
I am going to do something different today. I am going to just put it out there and let YOU, the players, break down what's being said in Tajima's comments on Age of Shadows.
Here is the text.
Feel free to express yourselves in true UOPG fashion.
Hasta. |
^ top-When it Rains it Pours
[Lealla] July 19 - 8:48 AM EDT | Ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? Break a shoelace, hit every red light on the way to work when you are already 15 minutes late? Well seems OSI has been having a few bad days!
SHARD ISSUES
Log-in Servers Jul 19 8:10AM CST (GMT -06:00)
Due to a twisted ankle HamsterJoe powering the Log-in Servers will be unavalible today. We are hoping for him to heal quickly and return to work ASAP.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you Virus for this entertaining information.
So tell us OSI what's up??
|
^ top-Do NOT Hunt The Harrower
[Nieves] July 18 - 4:22 PM EDT | If what I am hearing is true, it is giving out murder counts
I will have a more informative post once I have all my information together. At that time, I will confirm or refute this post.
Hasta. |
^ top-Gankage BC Style
[Nieves] July 17 - 8:52 PM EDT | Walking around Felucca, I saw something that caught my eye. It was a lone BC. All by his lonesome, doing nothing in a home. He probably wasn't even at the computer or might've lost con. And he was shining a bright red. Do I leave him be because dropping him in this state is wrong?
Nah, can't. Gotta do it. Earthquake x 2 plus poison plus Kryss swipe = Dead BC.
I hope he wasn't in stat loss.
Thanks to the changes to Earthquake and him not responding, it was a cheap-ass kill. One I normally wouldn't take ANY pleasure in. I don't like killing reds unless I have too. Stat loss is the serious suck. I know. And killing someone when they are AFK? It's just wrong to drop someone like that.
But, know what? This one felt good. Very good.
To put it in BC Verbage: Another heathen has been cleansed from the world.
Hasta. |
^ top-The Quest For The King Of Brittania
[Nieves] July 17 - 4:16 PM EDT | For all of you that play, or have played on the Great Lakes Shard and been a part of the RP Community, this is for you.
Due to time constraints, the overflow of ideas between Red William, Editor Lealla, and those that choose to remain nameless, as well as the fact that Red William’s hands can only draw so much before suffering severe chaffing, Today’s comic is being replaced with a humerous written dialogue, written by Red William, who will most likely suffer carpal tunnel from all this (Thanks a lot Lealla!)
Disclaimer: The following is faked. The names of those involved have not been changed to insure the maximum humor and humiliation possible. Any relation to those portrayed is pretty much on the money. References to Dupre, Dawn, Lord British are copyrighted to Origin and EA. Richard Garriot is Copyright to that…other company.
You have been warned.
I am still laughing my ass off about it.
Hasta. |
^ top-UO:AoS - The Secret is Tossed out of the Bag
[Hennarr] July 16 - 3:40 PM EDT | | Finally we get the skinny on OSI’s secret project, touted as the most ambitious expansion ever created for UO. This shouldn’t be any big news to anyone, if you paid attention you would know that OSI publicly acknowledged that a big expansion was coming quite a while ago. Publish 16 was obviously phase one of this expansion. The surprise has to do with the details, timing of this press release, and the fact that we players are initially hearing about it through EA’s PR firm and not OSI themselves. OSI is pulling out all the housing stops it seems, afterall UO house ownership is one of the remaining major draws of UO and a lot of people aren’t really paying for UO itself insomuch as they are paying rent for virtual homes. Necromancy, being a paladin, new spells and a house design tool that sounds like something out of the Sims are being trumpeted as the major features of this upcoming expansion. What’s not to be happy about? Shouldn’t we all be creaming our collective pants with joy? You can see if I’m creaming my pants right here. |
^ top-Give This Motherfucker Some Love
[Nieves] July 16 - 10:09 AM EDT | To the asshoe that owns this website:
Your layout belongs to me. Remove it immediately or face legal action.
You have 24 hours to comply.
Hasta,
Nieves,
Owner/Operator
UOPowergamers.com
nieves@uopowergamers.com
UPDATE: I guess he saw my message. Thank you Orbitz for handling the situation promptly.
Hasta. |
^ top-Necromancers In UO.
[Nieves] July 16 - 10:03 AM EDT | In addition to building homes, players will have two new professions to master: a Paladin and a Necromancer. The chivalrous Paladin is a courageous warrior fortified with awesome new powers and the cunning Necromancer is a wielder of the darkest magic and forbidden secrets. As players role-play either of these two opposing forces they will discover a large new landmass to conquer and settle.
Read about the rest of it here...
Could it be true?
Hasta. |
^ top-GM Redcell Tells A UO Player Why Publish 16.
[Nieves] July 15 - 2:44 PM EDT | Well out of my five years of play, working with dev team in beta stage, and being a GM/Counselor back in the day of working out of the house Here is some information for the Young and the Veterian Players.
What else did the GM have to say?
Hasta. |
^ top-NWN Module Downloads
[Nieves] July 15 - 2:25 PM EDT | Get 'em while they are hot.
How many people do you think are creating their own modules? Thousands? So, how many different modules do you think will be released on a weekly basis? Talk about replayability and never having to play the 'same game' twice.
Can other games say that? I didn't think so.
Oh, by the way, Publish 16 is on Great Lakes. Just thought I would add that.
Hasta. |
^ top-I Just Can't Do It.
[Nieves] July 15 - 9:43 AM EDT | I sit here reading the news from Q&A and I want to bang someone's head through a fucking cement wall.
More things being changed without them being publically announced. More bugs that are being diplomatically written off.
Why do you, the Ultima Online players allow this to happen? Why are you allowing this company to lead us around like sheep?
Why aren't you, those that aren't happy, emailing them and corporate (EA) telling them you will not accept a shoddy peace of design work and craftsmanship?
Publish 16 has already been proven, as a whole, to be a shitty patch. Let them know, in a professional tone, how you are not happy with it.
Let them know that you will not accept anything less than quality work and quality designs for the money you pay. If anything OSI makes off of us is pure profit, then that profit needs to pay for providing us, the players, with profitable gameplay.
That is all.
I have bitched. I am now content. You may continue with your regularly scheduled programming.
Hasta. |
^ top-You Never Know Who Is Coming For Dinner
[Nieves] July 14 - 1:52 PM EDT | Adam Ant might just come over to say hi.
Hasta. |
^ top-Er...Um....
[Nieves] July 11 - 11:23 PM EDT | Publish 16 Roll-out Status
Give us the status, that you are evaluating the roll-out, then post the schedule all in the same day? Um...someone is LATE!
We understand many players are looking forward to using some of the new systems, and we want to release it as soon as possible-but it's even more important to make sure that the worldwide release is smooth and free of surprises. With this is mind, we are currently working to iron out a few last issues, after which we will set the schedule for the publish to be released to the remaining live production shards.
Read about the rest of the issues here.
Hasta. |
^ top-UOHoC Thursday July 12th, 2002
[Nieves] July 11 - 10:50 PM EDT | Well, while I was sick in bed, they go ahead and have the UOHoC.
For the record, there are two reasons why Nievesy Pooh doesn't attend UOHoCs. Originally it was because I wasn't in the mood to have my questions ignored and stupid questions asked. Now it's because I have my bible study on that night. Hey, don't look at me funny. All that use of the word Fuck will send me to hell. I got to do something to set it straight.
Well, time to break it down. You guys ready?
Hasta. |
^ top-An Interview with "Oaks"
[Lealla] July 11 - 7:44 PM EDT | Noleens over at The Daily Herald had the chance to sit and interview Jonathan "Oaks" LeCraft - Designer
Last night I had the opportunity to sit down and have a little chat with Oaks....
... Clothing Bless deeds are comin back!!!
... More pixel crack is on the horizon!
... Ever wonder why one animal is stronger than another - even though they are both fresh tames?
... I offered him the ability to blend time periods, things, people, and events into one days' grand adventure.....
Step inside and read the sordid details....
~Nols
Definetly an interesting read... Enjoy... Lets hear your thoughts Here
Till Next Time...
Lealla |
^ top-This just Posted
[Lealla] July 11 - 7:11 PM EDT | 'We are targeting to release the “Publish 16” changes, currently live on the Pacific and Test Center shards, to all remaining shards starting tomorrow, Friday, July 12th CDT. Barring any issues, each shard will have this publish active following their respective morning maintenance periods as per the schedule below (listings are in chronological order). Each of the related maintenance periods may last around 90 minutes.
Read the rest Here
Well folks, looks like the time has come (until they change their minds again)
Till Next Time...
Lealla |
^ top-UO = The Matrix?
[LadyGrania] July 10 - 1:57 PM EDT | 
*Chuckles*
Go check it out from the beginning here.
LuvYaBye |
^ top-UOPG Chat
[Nieves] July 10 - 11:58 AM EDT | Dupree, our UOPG Chat Room Moderator is hosting a chat. Check out the details here.
Hasta. |
^ top-A Bandage Until Stupid Stat Gains Are Fixed.
[Nieves] July 10 - 11:42 AM EDT | Hey Nieves,
This is copy and pasted from the UOBoards. Gamma_Zulu gets credit for this post.
The actual link to this post here
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been doing some experimentation while visiting on Pacific, trying to figure out how I'm going to manage my characters stats given the current coding with publish 16. There's some simple solutions here that I've been experimenting with.
First of all you don't gain stats on a skill that's marked down. For 7X GM's, you can point all skills down, and nothing will move. Now you don't have to worry about this problem anymore. So at least my 7X GM characters are set.
For 6X GM's or less, what you do is buy a skill that's high on the decay list (like anatomy, alchemy, arms lore). Then set all your GM skills down.
You'll decay from the purchased skill, and won't touch your other GM's.
You will still gain a stat or so here and there as you gain skill in the skills marked up, but to counter that you can set one of your GM skills that gains in the stat you want to either locked or up. Use that skill in the next hour mark.
For my bard, I'm going to have to use Arms Lore from time to time. So Arm's Lore will need to either be locked, or in the "up" state. One option I'm considering is setting up a macro that first uses Arms lore on a dagger in my backpack, then waits for 2 seconds and then uses the provoke skill.
That way the music (dex) and provoke (dex,int) skills will be checked always after a strength based skill. Using this macro, the net effect should be a gain in strength over time.
It's all a bandage until the stat locks. But it should be workable.
----------------------------------------
Get the word out.
Hasta.
-Skywise
Weeeeee! We get to play Stat/Skill games! Watch it though! Messing with the system like this could be an exploit!
BTW: Hasta is Copyrighted. My laywer will be contacting you briefly to discuss payment.
Hasta. |
^ top-Here, Have Some Gains
[Nieves] July 9 - 9:15 PM EDT | Publish 16 Changes-
There are a few fixes, but this 'fix' interested me the most.
GGS gains have been altered to allow players with higher skill values to gain at an appropriately faster pace.
So those uber gains are as intended.
Thank you OSI.
Hasta. |
^ top-Neverwinter Nights Support
[Nieves] July 9 - 10:03 AM EDT | Thanks to Prophet for this link.
Hasta. |
^ top-Enough said
[Lealla] July 9 - 7:16 AM EDT | | Happy Birthday Nieves! |
^ top-Love Thy Neighbor
[Boot] July 8 - 1:54 PM EDT | | Is it just me or is there a lack love and mutual respect in UO? Yeah, I know, another vet griping about how things used to be, but damn, its gotten so bad you cant turn your head without someone flinging feces at you. Continue the article over yonder. |
^ top-Feluccan Convert For Life.
[Nieves] July 8 - 1:46 PM EDT | A Born trammys perspective
Ok I know I'm coming late to the thread but maybe I'll get some feedback.
My account is currently 17 months old. My first chars were born and bred in Trammel. My first experiences with other players were with trammys.
I played in Trammel for about 7-8 months venturing to the "PK laden griever 12 year old lands"(As they were explained to me) if Felucca. By some twist of fate I was indeed PK'ed the first time I went to Fel, that at the time sealed it for me and I decided it wasn’t for me. Well turn the clock forward to the end of my 8 months as a trammy. I couldn't work one single high-level spawn without some bard, some tamer, or just some hapless archer looking for gains interrupting my sport. It was doubly nerve wracking when these bards/tamers would simply laugh at me and call me a newb for wanting one or two gold heavy monsters for my own self.
Long story short, these grieving idiots drove me to hate the game of UO, I mean literally hate, I did nothing but rant to people about how fucking stupid people in this game were.
So I get ready to cancel my account.
Before I did that I figured I might as well spend my last couple weeks in felucca, cause I got nothing to lose. So for a few days I gate hoped and watched the O/C and Factions and others duke it out, I became intrigued. So in any event I find myself standing in front of the True Brits Faction stone. I go ahead and join up. Naturally I died, allot. But I found that even the dying was more exciting than the days of unfettered gold farming in trammel. So I put a stay of execution on my account and continued on the factions tip, I made more respectable, helpful, and kind associates in one week than I had in 8 months in trammy land. Felucca was not the dismal place I had been told it was, it was chock full of mature and level headed players like me, yes of course there are allot of idiots, but I would wager there are 80% less grieving children in fel than in tram.
In any event I learned that the true interest in this game is risk vs. reward. UO is not sitting in destard in tram with a bard and Pwning the spawn, its not sitting at the west bank in daemon Armour with a glacial staff and a pure mare. No Uo is about getting out there, dealing death and having it dealt to you.
Dying to a player that is your better is what makes you want to be better. So you can kick their ass next time.
So even though I was born a trammy I understand the frustration of all the vets here. Trammel did ruin UO, it ruined it for me, and I nearly left without discovering the true heart of UO. I’m not here to talk about pub 16 that has been covered, I just want all the trammies posting to know that Trammel did do everything the vets claim.
My only regret is that I did not give in to joining this game back in 98. I knew my addictive RPG personality would kick in so I denied myself UO for a long time knowing it would destroy me. It has
Later,
Greyhame
Fellucian convert for life
Thank you to Grimhawke for showing me this reply to Frozenfire's write up.
Hasta. |
^ top-NWN, Hard Core Style
[Nieves] July 8 - 11:42 AM EDT | HARDCORE RULESET
by
Archaegeo Neosophy
The HardCore Ruleset is something that started on 20 June as an attempt by me to make DM's more capable, and to make NWN behave more like the DND3e rules. Its grown, with lots of help, into an open source RuleSet. Almost all of the Features are optional, able to be turned off by simple setting a variable in hc_inc to 0 instead of 1.
Get HardCore here. |
^ top-UOPG Publish Update July 7, 2002
[Nieves] July 7 - 7:48 PM EDT | July Archives page set up.
I want to thank everyone that donated to UOPowergamers.com. UOPG's financial position is secure now.
Hasta. |
^ top-Publish 16, take two
[FrozenFire] July 7 - 1:55 PM EDT | UO History repeats itself. With publish 16, the tradition that started with reputatation and murder counts will continue with the Trammelization of Felucca.
Oh, the motivation was reasonable enough: Trammel is overused and Felucca is empty. So why dont we figure out a way to give all those poor crowded Trammel players an incentive to venture back to Felucca. On the face of it I agree with that. But Trammel should never have happened in the first place, and now that it did, many things could have .
Yes I hear some of you. PK:ing was commonplace. Newer people had a tough time learning the ropes of the game. Player run cities and the events staged therein became disrupted by roving bands of PKs. The self policing that Raph Koster intended had failed spectacularly.
And so instead we have a tradition of patching in coded restraints, of which publich 16 is but the latest. But was it the only way to go?
Read the rest here. |
^ top-New IRC Chat Channel
[LadyGrania] July 5 - 1:41 PM EDT | Greetings one and all! It's been a long time since I had much to say. Today, though, I have an important announcement!
In conjuction with upcoming NWNPG site, there is now the #NWNPowergamers chat channel on stratics IRC.
Please come in to teach and learn the new addiction in gaming called Neverwinter Nights!
LuvYaBye! |
^ top-Dex Capped at 110?
[Nieves] July 5 - 7:32 AM EDT | That's what Thalen tells us.
Did anyone see this in a document somewhere? I didn't...
I will refrain.
Hasta. |
^ top-Allow Me To Retort
[Nieves] July 4 - 11:34 PM EDT | Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
That’s the sound my finger makes as I ponder this past week. Wondering why it is that some people just don’t get it. Tapping sounds that follow the sounds emanating from the woofer sitting just to the right of me.
Click me so you too can tap tap tap right along. |
^ top-The New Age PowerGamer
[Gator] July 4 - 11:01 PM EDT | With the advent of Patch 16 the entire way to gain skills as we know it will be changing. This is due to the new GGS, otherwise known as the "Guaranteed Gain System". By definition OSI describes it's purpose as:
The core of this system is the guarantee that if you play "normally," you will gain skill.
Of course, first glance at this system will send any "rookie" Powergamer to his knees. For us seasoned guys its just an issuance of a new challenge. Read on to get your Gains.... Guaranteed. |
^ top-myUO Redux
[Hennarr] July 4 - 6:06 PM EDT | I’ll try to, without profanity or attacks, explain why myUO is rife with problems, and in the worst state I have ever seen it. You can find it here.
-Hennarr |
^ top-Dungeons and Dragons Websites
[Nieves] July 4 - 10:45 AM EDT | I was looking over at NWN Stratics and ADND Downloads and noticed some very cool tools for your would be D&D Gamers.
Dungeon Crafter is a program you can use to build maps of areas. I am going to download it and play with it. If it's as functional as I think it is, I will use it to build the model to any dungeon or area I am going to build in NWN. When building something, you always start with a model. I think this tool will satisfy my modeling needs.
DND Adventures has a lot of neat little downloadable tools and files for your game playing pleasure. I especially like this tool they have linked to from the Wizard's game site. It allows you to create Adventure Hooks on the fly. Adventure Hooks are what drove my own personal AD&D campaigns.
Example, princess was killed, you walk in, pick up a dagger next to her body. The dagger is covered in blood and you look at your hands. Then the guards bust in. They look at you, you look at them, you notice the blood on your hands....
As you make your escape, you realize there was a new guy from the western heartlands visiting your village. He had disappeared that morning...
That little scenario started a 2 year campaign for Vasiliss and our gaming group. And little side "hooks" were spawned from that campaign. Like the time Vasilias and his partner decided to visit "Glenda" while her husband was away. Her husband was bigger than Vasilias thought he was...as was the big axe he carried.
We still cherish that campaign.
Anyway, check out those sites and I will continue to find more for you.
Hasta. |
^ top-Happy 4th of July
[Gator] July 4 - 9:09 AM EDT | My fellow Americans, happy 4th of July. Take the time today to reflect on how we are as a nation. Take the time to reflect on the men and women who have done what they could do to see thsi county strive. And by all means, treat each other with respect and dignity....
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
John Hancock.
GEORGIA, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton.
NORTH-CAROLINA, Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
SOUTH-CAROLINA, Edward Rutledge, Thos Heyward, junr., Thomas Lynch, junr., Arthur Middleton.
MARYLAND, Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton.
VIRGINIA, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Ths. Jefferson, Benja. Harrison, Thos. Nelson, jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
PENNSYLVANIA, Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross.
DELAWARE, Caesar Rodney, Geo. Read.
NEW-YORK, Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frank Lewis, Lewis Morris.
NEW-JERSEY, Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkinson, John Hart, Abra. Clark.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE, Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE, C. Step. Hopkins, William Ellery.
CONNECTICUT, Roger Sherman, Saml. Huntington, Wm. Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
IN CONGRESS, JANUARY 18, 1777.
Later and God Bless
|
^ top-What Have We Become?
[Nieves] July 4 - 5:30 AM EDT | 
Image, characters, and artwork the property of PvP Online.
Hasta. |
^ top-Publish 16 Has A Stat Cap?
[Nieves] July 3 - 8:17 PM EDT | [...] In other news I've been playing around with stat gain on Pac and it looks like they put the SP stat rules on Publish 16. You can only gain 1 point an hour and there's a limit of like 6 gains per 24 hours. Those numbers are still a little fuzzy, I'm not possitive about the max value being 6 but I think that's right. Anyway I don't know about you but in infuriates me that they "slipped" that in without mentioning it. Not that they would have paid attention to the feedback saying "GOD NO ARE YOU CRAZY" ... since they're going ahead with the patch anyway.[...]
-X
Thanks X.
Well son of a freaking beach monkey!
Thanks for telling us this one OSI!
Rumor is it could be reverted. Well REVERT IT. If I wanted to play by Siege rules, I would play Siege.
Hasta. |
^ top-Guest Piece By Blitz
[Nieves] July 3 - 5:39 PM EDT | I am sure everyone goes to UOPG for its information on howto gain skill effectivly. But sadly with the upcoming of Publish 16 the playstyle seems to be totally changed in a way that may make powergaming a problem , at first GGS was introduced a system to remove powerhour. Ofcourse this system looked interesting cause it influenced normal gameplay to make gains and perhaps help people to gain who don't like to powergame.
Somehow the Following doesn't add up:
"I made a brand new character to try out the GGS. In 45 minutes of playing, I gained 1.5 tactics and 8.2 swords. That isn't too bad but I had ZERO in both of those when I started. So that equates to 3-0.5 gains in tactics ie only 3 gains in 45 minutes and not a ton more in swords. Add in that it was my understanding that gains only came from successful using of the skills and I gained repeatedly from failed healing and I'd have to say there are issues with the gaining system at very low levels. Even after buying some swords and tactics I gained little. I tried NPCs, mongbats, gators and ratmen thinking it was difficulty baded and nothing helped. I even spent 10 minutes trying to kill a gator in Fel. I sincerely hope this isn't the norm for low level skill gain now or there will be very few total newbies continuing to play. at 50 or so skill I can see that kind of slow down, but at 20 - 30 yoiu can't even kill a gator. "
Posted By gardada on the Myuo BOards
http://boards.uo.com/cgi-bin/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=dev&Number=1358311&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&part=
First impressions of a system are important especially something that can swipe away the balance in a game as many people think, the purpose of GGS acording to OSI was:
"In essence, this modification would eliminate the need for "power hour" by providing opportunities for guaranteed skill gain during normal play"
Now im sure that sounds nice on paper but think about it 15 gains for 45 minutes? Please I thought we wanted to stimulate gaining through normal gameplay . I thought we understood powergamers where people who enjoy maxing out skills and stats in a minimum amount of time, and we are talking about 1-2 weeks not 1-2 years. OSI once stated they knew there where powergamers who like gaining skills and they where aware of the problems. Are they aware that a lot of people hate the publish?
The reason that the GGS will kill balance in this game is because we almost all have 7x GM charachters if not more. So anyone who just bought an Lord Blackthorne the R2D2 CD will be stuck with probably nothing and will never be able to get into this game properly without taking maybe MONTHS GM a skill. It may make you proud and it would have worked if the system hasn't been pampered for so long by OSI with powerhour changing something back. Usually means a lot of problems cause people who "abused" powerhour are now all GM anyways. Thinking that Statscrolls will fix the system is even more fun cause all it does is ruin it more . Its pixel crack trying to make people drop skills and train more and "implement" more templates which I like but dungeon crawling in felluca? Guys get real now we get the reds all happy again and the trammies shaking in their valorite plated TB mare glacial staff wielding whatever it is saying not fair. So trammies dont lose any loot when they die and get a nice trip back to town when they do die in a scary Dungeon that looks just like one in trammel except with some red players.
OSI promised to fix the economy all that OSI did was assbang the Fellucans without any thought. And even make the system WORSE , no loot loss means less armor being sold hence causing over supply etc . If you want to fix the economy beter start listening to the players cause they are in touch with the game, they PVP, Powergame, Sell Items, everything you name someone does it. They know the system they know how to improve things but lets be honest will Osi make the right decision if they never played the game for more then 2 months? The old Dev team got sacked and a new one was set up with new ideas. But these are not the ideas to help the game, merely ideas to make the game become more safe for the Trammelites. The Dev Team has no real insight on the code cause there have been so many others working on it that its impossible to track who coded what and what it affected unless the comments inside the code are sufficient. But seeing how bogged Pub16 is with those minor things people tend to forget its funny to watch OSI shut up on the boards until the pub16 has been chewed on and kicked to pieces and they scream we are making Punishment 17 now!.
PVP changes- now sure factions will have no more griefers but then again who needs them if you can kill a lot of people with 3 mages casting EQ. Insta hit its just a patch on the rip Felluca is getting, the anatomy + eval = Wrestling? I still do not understand why OSI did that, With my anat archer mage i kill people within seconds sometimes duels took 10 minutes and it was fun but now the person with anatomy who gets a lucky hit wins. I am dissapointed I only PVP in Felluca and those new changes are making me so furious. I would just like to make a red now and kill any blue trying to walk into a dungeon cause thats how frustrated I am with this system.
Now Housing: Bloody Hell the old System was fine except the buggy code made it inefficient with the houses going condemmed for no reason. So you thought why not rip another thing from the vets and give more to the fresher blood who will understand what the new UO is. But then again do you see a Newbie now make a good Warrior within a week? and start farming gold really fast to get an over inflated house in trammel.
Actually letme ask you this?
Why the hell Add Features while there are still Bugs?
A Game should never get upgraded without a solid base to work from. A game does not have to evolve or get new things to be good. What also makes the game good is when the developers listen to the Players make us feel like we are important. And not sheepiez that have 10 dollars on us, hell I would pay 15 dollars a month if I could only feel more content with OSI their handeling of things.
Mythic Entertainment has shown so far great interest in their player base and top notch Tech Support from what I heard. When will EA understand that a good game online also needs a good group of people who are not scared of admiting mistakes and are not scared to take the blame. Is it that hard to understand howto run a good company?
the following phrase should ring a bell "The Customer is King"
threat the Customers with respect and you will see your subscribers sour up. but the Lame asses we call Tech support are more usefull then a donkey trying to type "Hello how are you". Never have I seen so many dumb and idiotic tech reps we call the Advisors I tend to advise them to jump a frigging cliff cause I feel insulted being an Ex counselor I got replaced by someone who doesn't even know where the frigging Playguide is on the site AND GETS PAID.
I have thought about this for a long time now, if this Publish 16 is as much of a packed up creamy cake of bullshit then I really wonder how their 200,000 subscribers are going to stay in this game, we are here to have fun and not run into a game full with statistical BS instead of making compromises the whole system has to be revolionary and new to make it look cool while it SUCKS.
Sometimes I look at this list and wonder why the hell I still paly a game thats controlled by stupid idiots trying to draw in people with revolutionary changes that only in the long run screw the Veterans. Cause JohnyYoung) Didnt know what pre-pub 16 was or Pre UOR he players the game and loves it cause he didnt know how it all was before.
When will OSI understand this game is for players, and not a ground for testing people their patience in staying in what had to be one of the best games I ever played.
Hasta. |
^ top-Some People Are Just Fucking Stupid.
[Nieves] July 3 - 2:08 PM EDT | Someone decided they would share in IRC what happened to them after hacking UO.com's website:
[14:48] Service Terminated for Ultima Online Account - dhakab
[14:48]
[14:48] Your Ultima Online account has been permanently closed out the Ultima Online service for following critical violation of the Rules of Conduct. The account will no longer be accessible in any way, and all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.
[14:48]
[14:48] Critical Violation:
[14:48] Your IP was logged illegally accessing our website without our express permission and posting fraudulent and/or inappropriate information to our player base. This indiscretion is severely hostile, and as such, all U
[14:49] As the decision in this matter is final, please know that it is possible and quite likely that no further correspondence regarding this account will be acknowledged. This action was necessary due to the severe and blatant nature of the offenses on the account and the consequential damage on the Ultima Online service. We regret to have had to take this measure, but it is entirely necessary on behalf of protecting the Ultima Online comm
[14:49]
[14:49] We respectfully ask that you please do not phone or email Electronic Arts or Origin Systems regarding this matter from this point forward. We
[14:49] We also ask that you understand and respect all statutes within the Terms of Service and Rules of Conduct, as they still contractually apply to you as per the original agreement, especially the sections regarding terminated members of the service.
[14:49]
[14:49] Sincerely,
[14:49]
[14:49] Ultima Online Account Administration
Shedren=Hobgoblin=fucking stupid person.
Owned.
OH, and Goblin, I called up an old friend I knew while I was in the service that works at the Department of Defense .
Enjoy the Orange Suit he's going to bring you.
Owned.
Hasta. |
^ top-Back to Basics
[Gator] July 3 - 10:37 AM EDT | Some of you may have read my post yesterday on why vets complain and whatnot. This update will run along the same lines and my intention is to provide a little something to assist everyone here at UOPG.
One of the great solid foundations over the years here has been our forums. They always provided a solid foundation that glued the whole UOPG experience together. And that glue my friends is running away with the rain storms of patches and veteran losses. Read More and Discuss Here |
^ top-The Phantom UO.com Thread
[Nieves] July 3 - 7:08 AM EDT | Here it is.
It's huge and it's ugly but once you figure out how to read it, you will be fine. I was going to edit out the junk, but I didn't want anyone thinking I took the information and edited out what I didn't want people to read.
Enjoy.
UPDATE: The file was cleaned up by Fry Guy. Thanks go to him for his effort.
Hasta. |
^ top-Hacker Busted
[Nieves] July 2 - 10:24 PM EDT | You know UO.com got hacked right? Well his bitch ass got busted.
He attempted to get at UOPG as well but I managed to put a stop to that.
Who is this guy? He's Hobgoblin. The guy that ran Fight Club on Great Lakes.
And he's banned. Guess whose tower is going to fall come Publish 16? If anyone needs a rune, let me know. I will give you a gate for free to the place.
I leave you with this:
HobGoblin (10:01 PM) :
haha will u post somthing on ure site for me?
Sam (10:02 PM) :
what?
HobGoblin (10:02 PM) :
http://www.markeedragon.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=768&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
HobGoblin (10:02 PM) :
they have a fuckin story about me lol
Sam (10:02 PM) :
I know they do.
HobGoblin (10:02 PM) :
hes a little bitch
HobGoblin (10:04 PM) :
if i right somthing will you post it
Sam (10:04 PM) :
write?
HobGoblin (10:14 PM) :
yea
HobGoblin (10:14 PM) :
i dun like that 50 year old little bitch bad mouthing me
HobGoblin (10:14 PM) :
little fucking cocksucker
Sam (10:15 PM) :
I think, in this situation, you earned it.
HobGoblin (10:15 PM) :
thx
Sam (10:15 PM) :
no, thank you.
HobGoblin (10:15 PM) :
so if i write about markee will you post it/
Sam (10:16 PM) :
Hell, motherfucking no.
HobGoblin (10:16 PM) :
bah
Hasta. |
^ top-NWN Henchmen: Everybody Needs Somebody...
[Boot] July 2 - 5:59 PM EDT | | Who is your favorite henchman to date? With such a wide variety of sidekicks to choose from, how do you determine who is the perfect Tonto to your Lone Ranger? come discuss it Here. |
^ top-If you dont like it, why dont you just quit?
[Gator] July 2 - 3:36 PM EDT | Your right. And you know with how many times I have heard that I would have quit numerous time. But see, I don't want to quit. Mainly because there is alot about Ultima Online that I still do like. And that good outweighs the bad up to this point. But there will be a time when that good will no longer outweigh the bad, and when that happens...
READ THE REST HERE |
^ top-Thank you OSI for proving me right
[Hennarr] July 2 - 11:25 AM EDT | A short update related to my "fowl" mouthed and long-winded babble about the myUO boards yesterday. It appears someone created a link to it on those forums. Obligatory flames about my writing style aside, it was an actually good debate about different issues I brought up. I don't really care about good debate, when I write a rant it is generally to entertain or give OSI the finger, nothing more, nothing less. However, I am gushing with joy that OSI happily proved my points. After a fine discussion where people actually spoke intelligently about how things are on myUO for once, the thread vanished. Then when someone else posted wanting to know why the thread was deleted, Cynthe replied that linking to a site with vulgarity is against the rules and that there should be no public disagreement with moderation methods on myUO:
The original thread was unacceptable in that it linked directly (and repeatedly) to rants that were extremely profane, and contained pages' worth of personal attacks against posters and moderators here.
It's clearly stated that content linked from the boards is subject to the same rules as content on the boards, and that thread violated that in many places.
Please refrain from starting new public threads to complain about moderation. My email address is cynthe@uo.com, and you are welcome to bring this up with me - or Greywolfe at greywolfe@uo.com - privately.
Thanks!
__________________
Cynthe
Community Manager
ORIGIN Systems
Then she locked the thread. I love writing crap that gets proven to be right on target a day after I post it. Oh yeah, fuckety-fuck-fuck.
-Hennarr
Edit: Ah another delightful post was just made in response to my rant. Thanks for the clarification mom! Can I go out and play now? Hey Cynthe, how about the little fact that all the money spent on the myUO forums is the money given to you by us, the players! Seriously, even I didn't think I was so dead on when I said all the OSI community people do on the myUO boards is lock and delete threads and post damage control posts to keep the sheep in line. Read the responses before this thread gets deleted too. |
^ top-Well it never takes long...
[Gator] July 2 - 11:11 AM EDT | I am actually quite surprised that I only found one of these so far on Ebay. but dont worry, its still early...
How bout tradespot? Tell ya what go here and input "Power Scrolls" with "100 Results per page" and select the Pacific Forum.
GLAD TO SEE THESE PUPPIES ARE RARE!!!!!!!! WOOOT Thats what Im talking about Balance!!!! Good job OSI, you did it again. ::thumbs up::
Later |
^ top-What Is Going On With Pacific?
[Nieves] July 2 - 10:19 AM EDT | Galrahn tells us.
It's a good write up and tells it right on what's wrong with Pub 16.
I sit here thinking everyone has heard why I think Publish 16 sucks. And they concentrate on that. But has anyone really heard why I think there is SOME good in Publish 16? If not, kick back, listen....
The Taming and Bard changes are right on. With the exception of the over abundance of high powered weapons and items from Lizard Men, I think they did the right thing here. No more Tamers running around taking over the spawn with 5 White Wyrms. No more GM music/50 provoke bards making a killing in the Shadow Wyrm room. And the Bards didn't seem to take as big a beating as before. They are still effective.
Anatomy+Eval Int=Wrestling was an interesting change I didn't see coming. It allows for new and different templates. Choices. That's what I like about my game, and this allows me to have more choices. If they get the kinks out of this change, I think it will rock hard core.
Insta-Hit coming back will make the Wrestling change even better. You can have a 'true' Eval-Warrior kicking ass all over the shards now. Very cool indeed.
The spirit of the Felucca changes are good. No stat-loss allows Reds to be more active in certain areas.
Doubling the resource spawn truly is a good thing (thank you Martha!). My only concern is inside the town limits of Cove and Delucia....oops, sorry, no negativity from me in this post. Moving right along....
Farm resources in Felucca, get rewarded for it. Gotta love it.
Adding Evil In A Can to Felucca only truly forces Trammel only players to make a choice. In order to participate, I got to brave the wilds. Do I wanna? Will it be worth it? Only one way to find out right?
This just in: A very good thread was going on in the UO.com Boards today. I mean, people were actually discussing Hennarr post from yesterday. And people were discussing how it's ok to rant and share your feelings as long as it's constructive. I even threw in some of my own feelings in regards to some folk's posts. But, guess what? The thread is deleted. Here, look for it. Find it?
I guess Hennarr was right, eh?
It's ok, Jade of GuL saved it for me and is emailing it to me.
I will post it later tonight when I have time.
You all might find it interesting.
UPDATE: The uo.com board denizens are sharing their displeasure here and here. A quote:The entire thread was filled with intelligent discussion about a worthwhile and meaningful topic and you squashed it because it was critisizing you, Mods. While there were a few flame posts in it, the vast majority was meaningful and mature. There were no rants or open attacks. You have proved exactly what the essay in UOPG stated. These forums have degenerated inot nothing more than a place for you to advertise your latest changes to the game and to discuss them in a way that makes you and OSI look good. You did not even give a reason for deleting the thread. I am thoroughly disgusted with you all.
-DarkSeaFire
Also, something else interesting: "on a side note, Greywolfe PM'd me saying he removed my signature critising Publish 16. He informed me this somehow is against board guidelines, despite the picture I used fitting within the acceptable image limits."
Nice.
Oh, and those of you that don't like my use of the word "Fuck", I didn't in this post.
Oh, wait, I did. Sorry. It's an addiction. Kind of like reading a message board and posting to it all day. Or playing Ultima Online.
Anyway...where was I? Oh yeah, the Positives of Publish 16.
Sorry, lost my train of thought...and I forgot the rest of what I was going to say.
Hasta. |
^ top-Best Release In A Long Time??
[Nieves] July 2 - 7:11 AM EDT | Publish 16, released on the Pacific shard last Friday, is already one of the smoothest launches for a publish we’ve seen in quite some time – especially when you consider that we haven’t added this many major balances and changes since the launch of UO: Renaissance!
You GOT to be fucking kidding me? Ok, smooth release right? Let's see...
To see that Publish 16 is as smooth as possible before opening it up worldwide, we are working to eliminate as many
of the remaining bugs as possible this week.
Note: While our goal is to address most of these issues this week, we cannot promise that everything can be done in that time! We will post a notification as to what has been fixed later this week.
Translation: we will get to them when we can. We are too busy dealing with the hacker that owned us. For the record: I hate hackers. But....this is funny.
So, you say smooth release right??
The flaming head is not flaming while not locked down. (The fact that Vet Reward banners, Holiday trees, and Flaming Head are no longer able to be locked down is actually as designed. These items do not need to be locked down to keep them from decaying. The bug, however, lies in the fact blah blah blah.
Shut up and fix it.
Escorts are not going into gates properly.
Faction issues: Minax stronghold sigils are reverting to the original Minax location (we solved this manually for Pacific, but will solve the issue in the code before it’s released to the other shards).
The faction town of Vesper cannot be controlled correctly.
Um...what about all the OTHER Factions issues?? Mmm? Huh? WHAT ABOUT THOSE!? You ever going to get to them?
Runebook issues:
Some players are finding they cannot open their runebooks at all.
Oh, this is new to you? This has been happening for almost 6 months. Don't remember me telling you about this? Or the countless other players that probably have? My solution to the problem is easy. Log out, log back in, and the runebooks are fine. Or, an even better one, fix the fucking thing.
Some Felucca runebooks are not functioning properly. (This is the case with runebooks that have a default location set in the Felucca dungeons or Lost Lands servers. To fix this, simply set a new default location outside of the Dungeon and Lost Lands servers.)
Duh. You knew this from Test. Didn't you?
Ridden pets are not currently using follower points if you log out and back in while on the mount.
Tamed pets are not going wild after the appropriate amount of time.
Deep sea serpents currently do not have horned leather.
Big fish are stacking in backpacks when they shouldn’t, resulting in
problems with the fish.
The rate of players getting “Messages in a Bottle” is currently too high.
The rate of Guaranteed Skill Gain is currently too low, and will be
increased.
Oh yeah. SMOOTH PUBLISH PEOPLE! Very smooth. Should I tell you about the bugs you haven't announced publically yet? I mean, if they aren't announced, they aren't there right? Nah. I am not doing YOUR job for you. Fucking figure it out yourselves.
Yes, we are investigating the addition of Stat Locks!
Too you long enough. I mean, we have been talking about Stat Locks since the release of skill locks. You know, MONTHS before UO:R was even released.
Golly Gee Willickers Johnny, Publish 16 surely is a good release.
Eat me.
Now I know why Redrum went insane and had to be locked up for 6 months and under go 'therapy' 5 days a week.
I am going to go. I have a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles waiting on me. Thanks to you, it's probably soggy. Thanks.
While I go eat my soggy cereal, check it:
It's coming...
Hasta. |
^ top-The Official UO Forums? Officially a Depressing Cesspool
[Hennarr] July 1 - 8:36 PM EDT | Lately, something has been getting on my nerves. It's not all this Publish 16 crap, I've vented about it and feel better now. I'll adapt or quit, and so will you. I'm going to sit tight, wait for Publish 16 to hit Catskills, and then maybe log in and try it. Sure I'm having more fun with Neverwinter Nights than I think I have ever had with a computer game. I do recognize that if it wasn't for UO, I wouldn't have met some of the fine people who I've been playing NWN with and making adventures for. There just seems to be this odd sensation surrounding UO right now. I think we've collectively realized Publish 16 is really, really happening. Most players I know are just holding their breath and waiting to see the results of Publish 16 hitting their shard. Most players I know are also beating off to the orgasmic wonder that is Neverwinter Nights. I'm not leaving UO so soon though. I like a true persistent online world, I've got some friends still plugging away at the game, and I don't think I could be as attached to a computer game character as I am to my UO "main". It is true that I haven’t logged into UO since I bought NWN and if my characters were wiped tomorrow I wouldn’t be all that upset, after all, NWN Hennarr is really starting to grow on me – and he looks absolutely gorgeous in that custom +1 chainmail I designed for him. I am holding my breath about Publish 16 and praying against all rational thought that Publish 16 will make UO really fun again, and will stand up to the competition of all the new games coming out in this year of amazing software (you can stop laughing now). I am sick of holding my breath when it comes to one thing however. That thing is UO.com.
First off, you should read this. I’ll give you a moment to click the link, read Jade’s post, hit the back button on your browser, and get back to reading this shit. Okay, how fucked up is that? I have had it with the myUO boards. I don’t think there are any official boards within the sphere of computer gaming that are so disgusting. Well maybe the boards of the company that OSI appears to be desperately trying to copy for the past two years – Verant. They do really fucked up shit on their boards too. Apparently, back in the day, when OSI decided the best way to “fix” UO was to just steal design ideas from EQ and its clones, they also decided to slowly turn their website and official boards into a festering wad of textual flotsam, or a stinking pile of neon orange horse shit, whichever you think is a more “r33t” expression.
There once was a day when UO’s developers (different guys for the most part) used to do something utterly shocking. Something so unbelievable you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it. The developers actually fucking posted on their official boards. I don’t mean the type of shit that gets posted once in a blue moon, such as Evocare telling people where to gather so he can show off the super-“r33t” Publish 16 garbage, or after the meltdown that was one red/all red. The developers didn’t hide behind moderator spokespeople and “community coordinators”. They had the balls to talk to the people who pay for and play their game. What a fucking concept! Of course people would flip out when the dev team actually dared to be honest and some people didn’t like it. People would also flip out when a dev team member said something would happen that later didn’t. Instead of telling these players to chill the fuck out, the dev team, as new members got shuffled in, decided they didn’t need to talk to us. Instead, they fed everyone the bullshit that they would instead listen. “I feel your pain!” became the idea the dev team tried to push. OSI tried to make the case that they were a new OSI. A caring, feeling, listening OSI who would use their wonderful, dedicated community to provide them with insights about how to make UO better. The myUO boards became the bastion of this new philosophy, and I’m sure the optimists didn’t think the myUO boards would become the horror they are now.
Rants will be deleted, and may result in a warning or suspension.
A rant is defined as "violent or extravagant speech or writing that incites anger or violence." Posts classified as rants include:
Personal attacks and insults against OSI or EA
Rude or threatening posts
Conspiracy theories
Protest campaigns
Misleading and unfounded exaggerations
Posts made for no other purpose than to incite anger
Angry posts in all caps
WELL EXCUSE ME YOU OSI AND EA DOGS!!! YOU DON’T LIKE PEOPLE POSTING EXTRAVAGANT SPEECH?! WHAT THE FUCK IS EXTRAVAGANT SPEECH ANY-FUCKING-WAY, HUH? SO IF I POST SOMETHING THAT MAKES READERS ANGRY I AM FUCKING RANTING? Well maybe not, but delicious tidbits like these are the status quo on myUO. Rules, rules, rules. No longer does a poster just have to avoid calling people Trammie cunts and publicly demanding the death of OSI employees on their boards – you know, shit that should be obviously forbidden, but about 90% of the posts that were a staple of the myUO boards when they were worthwhile are now against regulations – and you can get banned for it. Golly fucking gee. Thank you ever so much for making such strict rules for your computer GAME board, everyone needs their hand held, everyone needs to be able to whine to idiotic mods whenever someone posts something they don’t agree with. I love all this OSI hand-holding. We get our hands held in Trammel, now Felucca dungeons, and even on the official fucking forums. Can you shake my dick after I take a leak while you’re at it?
You see, the myUO boards used to be much more chill even after the dev team decided they don’t need to communicate with us monkeys. Calling someone a retard once or twice wouldn’t even get a comment from a mod. The mods actually seemed concerned when people would post OSI IS RUINING THE GAME. People used to start large protest campaigns that let OSI know when a large number of the myUO readers were pissed off. As long as people didn’t post outrageous shit like OSI NEEDS TO STOP FUCKING GOATS AND GET RID OF STAT LOSS, most discourse was dandy. Then some fucking moron, I don’t know who, but I’m quite sure about the fucking moron status of the individual, decided that the UO community needed to be grabbed by the nuts, spanked, and told to sit down and shut the fuck up. Like most of OSI’s attempts to make sweeping changes with anything related to UO, a possibly good idea turned to total shit because OSI went completely overboard. It seemed to be in response to the grand situation that OSI created: the Trammel vs. Felucca war. Maybe it did get to the point where they needed to tame things down a bit. That’s what happens when you actually have the balls or stupidity to hard-code actual segregation into your game world, each side starts to fucking hate each other more than they did before.
The first sign of the apocalypse was the decision to hide the boards from the prying eyes of those who don’t have accounts. This really fucking rubs me the wrong way. Silly me, who would think someone could be whacky enough to actually check out a computer game website if they are considering purchasing the game. The same marketing geniuses who brought you the ever-so-compelling and smelly Blackthorn action figure to ensure UO:LBR went flying off the shelves must be in control of UO.com. It’s such a boring, drab site. I’m sorry, but UO.com isn’t getting anyone to buy UO. Maybe if potential new clients could see the wonderful discourse going on in the official boards, it would sway them. Oh wait, the board consists mainly of complaints, people complaining about the complaints and quoting board rules, and mods acting like assholes. Hence, it’s not for prying eyes. You would think that since it’s now closed to the public and everyone posting there is a paying customer they wouldn’t be such pricks, but that would be rational, silly me!
So the boards are behind lock and key and they got Sage’s wife, Cynthe, to try to control the mess. It’s my opinion that Sage’s development decisions destroyed a big chunk of the good parts of UO, and it’s also my opinion that Cynthe destroyed a big chunk of the community with her myUO decrees. Like a kindergarten teacher who just snorted six lines of coke, Cynthe came storming into the community and told all us children to behave ourselves with the most charming and delightful post I’ve ever seen on myUO. To paraphrase, “Hi, I’m Cynthe. It’s a pleasure to be in charge. Now all you sniveling children listen up, here is a huge list of all my new rules for the official UO community boards. If you don’t follow them, you’re outta here.” Then she posted the new board "guidelines", oh boy. Back then, when I read this post I was sure I heard cacophony of ghostly toilets flushing in the distance as the community swished its way to its current state in the sewers of online gaming. I wouldn’t go so low as to personally attack anyone for doing their job, but I just want to make something clear to Cynthe and her enchanting stable of moderators: I AM NOT A FUCKING CHILD, I AM A FULL-FLEDGED ADULT PAYING FOR THE ASTONISHING PRIVILEGE OF READING AND POSTING ON THE OFFICIAL BOARDS IN THE LUDICROUS HOPES THAT SOMETHING WORTHWHILE MIGHT BE POSTED THERE ONE DAY. Most of the people playing UO are not kids, please, please, FUCKING PLEASE stop treating us like children. It is really pissing a lot of people off. I know the argument is if people wouldn’t act like children, they wouldn’t get treated like them, but here is a newsflash: if you are playing games obsessively to the point where you are reading or posting on their official boards, part of you is immature – some call it being a kid at heart. Most of us are adults, however, and being treated like a child by a company we are clients of isn’t just disgusting, it is infuriating. All of this is about a game; people aren’t going to be in a particularly adult mindset. If the moderators and community coordinators of forums dedicated to a game can’t understand this, they need to start moderating and coordinating a different community. Considering how unfriendly and obviously overwhelmed by the situation the community coordinators and moderators are (as evidenced by lists and lists and now ESSAYS about board rules and guidelines that come off as total panic about the state of the myUO boards and not being able to deal with the UO community), it makes me wonder if they all go to bed praying for UO to be shut down and for EA to give them jobs related to the Sims Online community.
The boards have gotten to the point where only three distinct groups of people regularly read and post on them now. There are newbies to the board who don’t know any better. There are people still clutching to the glory days of the past when things used to be much better; the same mentality that keeps a huge number of accounts active. There are freaks consisting of the board sycophants and “grandmasters”. This last group is certainly the most troubling. I have read a lot of boards and forums in my day. From the good, old usenet to boards and forums about all different topics, I have never seen such a group of whacked out people who can post things that make me cringe or want to vomit all gathered together on one board. Some of these people drive me up a fucking wall, and the way they suckle at the teat of the board moderators drives me insane. Someone posts something they don’t like, they wail for mommy moderator to fix it and spank the bad posting man right off the boards. There is nothing on the myUO boards aside from people being ripped new assholes for attacking the game, people wearing their amateur mod hats telling people when they break Cynthe’s golden rules, and utter incoherence. The moderators do nothing but lock and delete threads and do damage control here and there. The locking of threads is utterly amazing and always chock full of smarmy moderation demanding more “constructive” and thought out posts. The funny thing is that I’ve seen very long, well thought out posts locked just as often as the short and to the point posts. Whenever the stars align and the moderators actually try to start a discussion about a skill or other game-related topic you sure as hell know that whatever is being discussed is probably up for an annoying change or a smack with the nerf bat. If destroying the official community wasn’t enough, the attitude of the official boards has trickled down to just about every UO fansite forum (aside from the blessed UOPG forums of course).
There are quite a few UO boards out there that have absorbed and implemented many of the mentalities of the myUO boards. Any honest debate about the facets is generally turned into a big whine-fest of people equating a dislike for the Trammel or Felucca ruleset as a form of racism. In the very least the guidelines of myUO have made this kind of debate in the community a guaranteed conversation stopper. Many people have been brainwashed into thinking that whining and complaining about UO is a mortal sin instead of the reality of a dissatisfied customer making his or her feelings known on a DISCUSSION forum. Debate, rants, and arguments are what make discussion boards worth posting on, as long as people aren’t out of control. There is a huge difference between a heated argument, debate, or rant and posts that we all know are not acceptable. Unfortunately, because of the new and improved official community, there is no difference as far as many people are concerned, and that leaves pretty much nothing to talk about unless you want to say that OSI is doing a dandy job puking on the game or you want to compare plant growing notes.
Fucking Christ, I am playing a game where my hand is now held in every aspect unless I walk around 65% of Felucca, 95% of which is utterly deserted. I can get banned for calling someone a “retard” on the official boards. I am playing a game that is quickly becoming the MMORPG of housewives with their shitty computers that can’t run anything better than UO. No more risk in the game, no more danger, and no more freedom at all, but we have really, really r33t horses in this publish! Apparently myUO is now just for the fucking housewives and scary freaks that have their gushingly “adorable” signature pictures at the bottom of all their 5,000 posts of telling people their comments are rants, that use of the term “Trammie” is a hateful, racist remark, and that PvP should be taken out of the game because it makes your heart beat faster than when you are fucking pouring potions on your plants. OSI, YOU CAN TAKE THE myUO FORUMS AND SHOVE THEM RIGHT UP YOUR COLLECTIVE ASS!!! How is that for violent and extravagant speech?
-Hennarr
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^ top-Some Positive Publish 16 News
[Nieves] July 1 - 5:55 PM EDT | Taming News.
It's some pretty interesting stuff.
I like that a lot of undeserving tamers are no longer in the way.
Hasta. |
^ top-Is It Fixed?
[Nieves] July 1 - 3:45 PM EDT | The following Publish 16 (currently on the Pacific and Test Center shards) issues have been fixed:
-Stabled pets with two names can now be retrieved.
-Thieves will no longer be flagged as aggressors.
Are you sure?
Hasta. |
^ top-Wow
[Nieves] July 1 - 12:55 PM EDT | I have never seen the Hansonian Institute before today. It's a site with GREAT content about Ultima Online.
For those of you wanting to read the history of our game and see the Tapestry of Virtues (I have seen it in person in Austin), go to the Hansonian Institute website.
Even if you are not into roleplaying in the traditional (i.e.-"RP IS GHEY!"), check the site out, I think it has value for everyone that plays Ultima Online.
This site also has great meaning for those of us that play on Great Lakes. There are a lot of familiar names but short of information. If the Institute is still active, and you see one of your character names, send in your information so it can be added.
Truly an enjoyable read for me.
Stratics would do well to link this site permantly (hint).
Hasta. |
^ top-DAoC Expansion
[Nieves] July 1 - 10:43 AM EDT | Arcadian Del Sol posted some news on the DAoC expansion. Something that caught my eye:
Reaver - this guy is a Necro-Paladin. He basically has chants like any Paladin, only instead of warm and fuzzy chants, they're nasty little things that have negative effects on enemies.
Own.
Thanks to Watts for taking the time to pull his head out of DAoC to share the news with me.
Hasta. |
^ top-Magic Armor Tweaked
[Nieves] July 1 - 10:38 AM EDT | OSI added a +5 modifier, across the board, to magic armor. So an invulnerable plate set gets 70AR and not 65. So magic armor retains value after the Publish from Hell.
Also, from what I am told, the MIB spawn rate is much higher.
Thanks to Skywise for the information.
Hasta. |
^ top-More Publish 16 Notes.
[Nieves] July 1 - 9:31 AM EDT | From
Adam Ant's message board:
BOD's:
Ah, the only customers we hard working mules have left. The higher end BOD's come more frequently to the GM level. Yup, that means more high end weps will enter factions, and O/C wars. Let's hope it doesn't. I'm currently gathering Tailoring BOD's, and got some great ones in just a few days, with one GM Tailor (imagine those that have 2-10 of them across various accounts).
Dungeons:
Woah momma! Ganksquad heaven! GUL will most definitely, and without a doubt, have to change to survive, and if not, then most of your stories will end with your death.
There will be no more solo adventures in dungeons ladies and gents. If you go solo, you will die, end of story, unless you can actually take out a 20 man gank squad by yourself.
Massive amounts of anti-pk squads will hug the entrances looking for reds to obliterate. Strangely enough, almost all of them are dexers
(pacific hates dexers), and most of the reds are mages (weird).
Trammel folks are indeed coming over to felucca dungeons (and coming to the cities!) to try their hand at getting scrolls. I think you may need to have groups hunt the dungeons in order to be successful, or change where you hunt heathens.
If you show up on a blue, even your friends will kick your ass! Come red, hehe. Also, expect certain Felucca guilds to betray their brethren. Yup, some don't care if you are red, and will participate in blowing you away. These same people try to play both sides, and will conceal their red character names. Once their facade is discovered they are marked by both sides.
Skill training:
I went to train Magery, like most of us do, on a boat. I still gained really well at lower levels (70's-80's). I then trained resist at 98.9, and couldn't gain one single .1 in over three hours of training. Perhaps it's just my bad luck. The GGS timer may be broken (would it surprise you if it was?).
Stats:
What OSI %&*^$# thought of this!? One of my mages still needs GM Magery, and my dex keeps dropping for over 100 Int gains. *disgusted* This isn't good for anyone. Trying to readjust your stats will only drive you insane .
Stat/skill scrolls:
I'm sure many of you heard that these would be very hard to obtain, and that is completely false. In only a few days Pac has enough to make you think NPC's are selling them like regs .
Goodluck when it hits your shard. I'm still in the middle, and will probably end up quiting soon.
::sighs::
Hasta. |
^ top-Publish 16 Status Update
[Nieves] July 1 - 7:18 AM EDT | I have an Update on the Stat issue for you that many will want to know.
You stats will go UP even if your skills are locked. So a 7x GM will gain in stats, and will have to sacrices GM skills to correct his stats once it is possible again. The only solution, ,if you do not want your stats to change is: DO NOT LOG IN THAT CHARACTER! Regardless if your skills are locked or not, you will gain stats.
Pathos (Pacific)
It gets better and better.
Hasta. |
^ top-Don't Ask My Why I Did But...
[Nieves] July 1 - 12:43 AM EDT | I read the Sims HoC Chat Log...
And I regret it. I am scarred for the rest of my fucking life.
Here are some tidbits. I gave the text a color I felt was appropriate...
CandiP: will there be weddings in the Sims Online unlike in the regular sims game?
Maxis_Tyrant: What he said. :)
SimPiglet: Let's just say we spent a lot of time on weddings... ;)
SimPiglet: We've got wedding furniture...
SimPiglet: wedding outfits...
MaxisJenna: Wedding flowers
SimPiglet: wedding accessories...
MaxisJenna: wedding chairs
SimPiglet: I've been married easily a hundred times so far! ;)
MaxisJenna: wedding officiate clothes
SimPiglet: bridesmaids dresses!
MaxisJenna: wedding cake
SimPiglet: plus lots of new kissing. ;)
MaxisJenna: and plenty of role-playing to boot!
Blue_Seed_Fan: ok, I was watching an interview on tech tv from Will Wright, he said there were components in "The Sims Online," that kinda allowed you to make mini-games within the game. How will these objects work?
MaxisJenna: Woohoo! my favorite objects!
MaxisJenna: these are individual objects in the catalog to create your own games
MaxisJenna: Objects like "dice" and "card decks" and "scoreboards"
MaxisJenna: and many many more
MaxisJenna: i'm currently using them to run a "Trivia" contest in my lot
MaxisJenna: but i've also built a backgammon board, mazes, and a miniature golf type game
MaxisJenna: the idea is to give the player flexibility to create their own designs
SimPiglet: Her mazes are hard! They make my brain hurt.
JjJjJjJoe: What are some new features/actions in The Sims Online?
PolarBearOnIce16: We have many new features in The Sims Online...Where do I start...
PolarBearOnIce16: You can send messages that will instantly be sent to your friends.
PolarBearOnIce16: You can send email to your friends.
PolarBearOnIce16: You can become roommates with other people and create many different environments.
PolarBearOnIce16: I could go on, but I'll leave you wanting more. :-)
DealerofFate: alright, my question is: In the video, a thief was shown sneaking into a house, will crime still be in the game?
MaxisJenna: Heh. We expect all kind of role-playing in The Sims Online! But griefing from thievery is not allowed.
::hands his girlfriend 1000 gold::
Who wants odds that UO goes bubye when the SIMs hits and kicks every other games fucking ASS when it comes to online ...fuck, I can't even call it a game! It's fucking sad! This game is a #1 best seller!! People play this thing!! I think the people that play the SIMs are cast offs from the days of AOL Virtual Flesh Markets. You know, those people that used to spend all their time chatting it up and trying to get virtually laid. Well NOW they get to play a game where they can actually have avatars to mingle and chat with, and then date, and then procreate....
Wait. That's a good thing. If they aren't procreating in real life, they are killing off their subset of the species!! That means no more fucking losers right!??
I play games to get away from real fucking life. If you can't seperate the two, box up your computer, take it back and tell them you don't need that shit! Pretending to have a real life? Jeesuz. Get a fucking Chia Pet or something!
Fuck.
Hasta. |
^ top-Hola!
[Boot] July 1 - 12:37 AM EDT | I figured since you (the faithful and many) will be at very least skimming the articles that I post here, (waiting for the next Nieves post) I owed you an explanation for my existence as a writer at UOPG. Since I really don’t understand it myself, I guess you’ll have to settle for a little story.
Once upon a time, there was a company who came out with a revolutionary product. The creators then sold their product to a much larger company and moved on to other more lucrative business. Sadly, the purchasers saw fit to add development team members who were more focused on output than QA. This should earn them (at very least) a spanking, as the latest patch is an utter abomination and should go the way of the dodo.
* Pulls out Kleenex *
I know, it’s a sad story and affects every one of us, but I assure you, its based on a true story. Anyway, I hope I can keep you informed, up to date, and even mildly entertained. Failing that, feel free to come to themessage boards and throw rotten produce.
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^ top-Not sure if NWN is worth 54 bucks?
[Boot] July 1 - 12:11 AM EDT | NWN, for those of you who haven’t done your homework, is the latest release from BioWare. It is a far cry from its predecessor, Icewind Dale, having not only a revolutionary world building system, but a much more intuitive approach to character control. Unlike the other games based on the D&D rules, this incarnation is the closest yet to the true spirit of the pen and paper version, with the addition of the dungeon masters client.
Its in full 3d, and has a similar inventory system to Diablo. It zooms in and out like the 3d client from UO, and has environmental effects that UO only dreams about. Potentially, a good dungeon master could make an entire module specifically role-playing, or make it into a frag-fest, whatever floats your boat.
Now, despite the fact that the world builder is built in, and ready for anyone to start working with it, you must bear in mind that all scripts require at least some knowledge of the C programming language. At the very least, you need to understand where command lines start and stop and have a basic understanding of what they do. Now, by no means am I on the high horse here, consider me a lowly non-programmer as well.
"But how do I run my games without having to mess with programming?" Ahh I’m glad you asked. All you need to be able to side step the programming angle is simply a good DM and an even better plan. With all of the tools at the disposal of the dungeon master, you should have little to no problems avoiding having to dredge through the scripts of others to find that boss monster script.
In addition to the standard planned encounters, you can add random encounters easily and quickly, and sprinkle them liberally throughout the map, providing anything from a chicken to an ancient red dragon. You can place traps, lock doors, and plant marks to keep your thief in a constant flurry of motion, create enough undead for your paladin to exterminate, and hide enough arcane items to keep your mage frothing at the mouth.
I’m sure some people are asking “what about the PCs?” well let me tell you, you have plenty to do as well. Instead of rolling stats, you get a number of points to allocate. Don’t worry, the game will recommend the perfect setup for you if you aren’t familiar with D&D. You are basically in command of every facet of your character, from start to finish. Your abilities, feats and other things are totally up to you, you need not depend on some silly template of what someone else things your character should be able to do. Now, I’m not saying that you can have a ranger who casts spells as well as a mage, but I am saying that you don’t have to be the a-typical bow wielding, dual weapon style ranger, either.
Once you get all of that selected, I would highly recommend playing the prelude of the campaign. You will learn a lot about how to do things such as attack, parry, cast spells, pick locks, and other such important things that you will be called upon to do in the course of your adventures. The menus are accessed through a simple tree system when you right click. You can do everything including move with this system. On top of that, your function keys have a quick bar that will make it easy to call your more commonly used skills or items into use, and holding ctrl and shift also allow for further quick slots.
Sure, it is level based. And usually people tend to avoid that like the plague, which is understandable. But this isn’t about the levels, and it isn’t about the treasure (ok, so if you’re evil, its all about the treasure) its about the quests, and the enjoyment of the game. The power gaming in this game comes not from gaining a l33t character, but from world building and using your skills to their most benefit.
If you play this single player, you are simply not playing NWN. It has been designed not only to support fully custom adventures, but also to allow for a dungeon master (who adds the necessary spice) and a massively multiplayer experience.
Dungeons and Dragons is based on the creativity of its players, not their technical expertise as exhibited here . It’s all about being imaginative. Neverwinter Nights is based on the players and the dungeon master and what they put into it, not what a dev team put into it. With some good friends, a good story and NWN as the vehicle, the sky is the limit. Anything you’ve ever done with the pen and paper version can immediately spring to life.
add to, gripe at, or just kick me in the nutson the boards.
-Boot
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