House of Commons from 1998-09-10

House of Commons from 1998-09-10

DenDragon	Greetings and thank you for attending tonight's Open House.
DenDragon	Tonight's topic is a continuation of the last conference: "Proposed Changes to UO". Please phrase your questions accordingly.
DenDragon	Glamdring will be our moderator for this evening. In order to submit questions please /msg or /query Aphrodite, Cironian, or Drax.
DenDragon	Please /msg different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load and speed this process up. Do not msg anyone from OSI, myself or Glamdring--these questions will be ignored.
DenDragon	Remember that we may not have the opportunity to answer all of your questions. In addition, some questions may not be answered if the people from OSI feel that it is not appropriate or that it has been better answered through some other question.
DenDragon	In addition, please do not submit any questions that have already been answered during past conferences. We encourage you to read the logs of the previous Open Houses, which are available at http://uohoc.stratics.com.
DenDragon	Thanks for coming, everyone. We will now begin accepting questions.
Glamdring	*Moon* With rumors of new buildings styles, will deeds purchased in today be valid in 2nd Age when it opens?
DesignerD	When the Second Age officially goes live, Lord British will not have declared it open for colonization yet. However, when he does declare itopen for colonization, current deeds will work.
Glamdring	*Neuro* What information can you give us about new servers both in Japan, Europe, and the US?
RVogel	We are going to try and open the Japanese servers at the end of the month and Europe a little later
RVogel	We picked a great ISP partner in both countries
Glamdring	*DarkHorse* When will the continuous harrasment,bank thieves, foul lanuage, & pking be stopped?
DesignerD	Actually a bunch of questions rolled into one, and they have different answers, SO here goes step by step:
DesignerD	For harassment: GMs take these calls as a top priority.
DesignerD	For bank thieves: we are looking at just making snooping a criminal act. We also have a fix in so that the solo bank thief will not be able to fuction (cannot open the bank while criminal)
DesignerD	For foul language, we supply the user-editable profanity filter. Foul language is often in the eye of the beholder, so we don't feel comfortable trying to enforce a speech code serverwide
DesignerD	For PKing, we are working on closing any and all loopholes in the rep system. We are also going to remove the fame requirement from order/chaos guilds in order to give pkers an easy outlet for PvP activity.
DesignerD	And if that isn't enough, we will toughen up on rep system penalties.
DesignerD	As far as blue PKs, most of the ways in which they operate depend on specific sneaky tactics. So those we have to tackle one by one. For example, we may make firefield only flag you criminal if you cast it ON someone, not if some jerk runs into it intentionally...
Glamdring	*Horror_Business_MDK* Howdy! Sort of a fluf question but... What ever happend to human jerky? Is there any plans to bring it back in any form?
DesignerD	Human jerky is gone for good, I fear. As UO expands into different countries, we run into new rules regarding what can be in a game... and cannibalism turns out to be frowned upon in many nations. :)
Glamdring	*Pilgrim[WP]* Why not let mana rise at 1.5 times the normal rate in the city of Wind and make this a place for higher level mages to practise their skill? As it was intended to be in the first place
DesignerD	We've got an alternate plan for increased mana regen which we've been developing with the Mage Tower at the UO Vault (http://www.uovault.com) which involves a Channeling skill.
DesignerD	We'd rather not do location-based benefits, as Wind would surely become amazingly crowded, and you wouldn't actually get most of the benefits people want from increased mana regen if yu had to go there
Glamdring	*Phelan* I heard there will be stat loss for those using UOE, and that the servers can detect people using it, is this true? If it is when will it be implements and if it is not, what is this "suprise" for UOE users?
DesignerD	We are not going to say what we are going to do. We are just going to say, very clearly, USE OF UOE AND UO PLUGIN IS CAUSE OF IMMEDIATE BANNING, FIRST TIME, NO APPEAL. So stop using those programs if you use them now.
DesignerD	Hopefully that is clear enough.
Glamdring	*Palom* Are potions EVER going to be stackable? With the new bank item limit, it will help out a LOT. DD said earlier potions of the same strength were stackable--they aren't.
DesignerD	won't make it into this update, but hopefully next one.
Glamdring	*Racalac* Any plans on changing the success rate for smithing? It's terribly low even at M & GM levels.. How about it's seeming random skill gain?
DesignerD	The new update fixes a bug in the skill advancement curve that should dramatically help "stuck" skills at high levels. Skills that were particularly affected inclue magery, healing, smithing, all three weapons proficiencies, and a few others. Details will be on the Update Cente rtomorrow
DesignerD	Once we have that fix in, we'll be able to see how much o the problems with success rates were attributable to that
Glamdring	*Tortoise* Because OSI wants to keep away from too heavy tones of religion in UO, would there be any eventual class/term of cleric, priest, or witch doctor and the like? Perhaps expand the titles more than what the current templates offer?
DenDragon	Once again, please do *not* /msg DesignerD or Glamdring--these questions will be ignored
DesignerD	No plans for the ones you mentioned, but we can certainly look into expanding the ranges of titles based on combinations of skills or as new skill abilities come into the game
RVogel	We are working very hard on both UO and UOTA. We are planing to release an update next, if all goes well and we are working toward home ownership and weapons balance fixes
Glamdring	*Fujur* How does the current T2A beta affect the planned improvements for regular UO in terms of time-frame?
RVogel	Home ownership is the fist priority and following that will be weapons balance
Glamdring	*JG-Vorg* is there going to be more skills added in the immediate future?
DesignerD	Define immediate. :) Channeling will be added in the near future... possiby with the combat update...
Glamdring	*MikeE_21* To Rich Vogel, Has OSI ever considered making a, "Anarchy" server or changing one over to this type. It would curb pking on other shards, and give people the choice to play in a PK/PVP environment. Many players would Jump at this opportunity, acually everyone I know would..
RVogel	We are looking into making an all PK world...that would be easier than a world that does not having any PKing. No decision has been made yet.
Glamdring	*Gray_Mouser* Is any consideration being given to a system for enchanting items (Like a GM Mage enchanting armor made by a GM Blacksmith?) I would think that such a system would promote character interaction.
DesignerD	Sure it ouwld... everyone would immediately make a mule enchanter. ;)
DesignerD	Seriously though, we HAVE looked into enchantinig items. Frankly, the potential for imbalance scares us... but it is still on the "list"
Glamdring	*XxennaGC* wouldnt it be a better idea to add small updates at frequent intervals with minimal impact than a large update that creates mass confusion?:)
DesignerD	ABsolutely. Which is why our new policy right after the update will be to do exactly that. Smaller, more frequent patches.
Glamdring	*Goldcard* How goes the discussions with the makers of third party programs? Will they be available for people to use again soon?
DesignerD	we are still awaiting word from the lawyers, so there is no new news on that front just yet...
Glamdring	*AudioCow* any chance of fixing the bank boxes to actually tell how many items are in your box instead of always saying 0 items? This will save the players lots of time and lost items with this new patch.
RVogel	Yes, it will be in this patch or the next one.
RVogel	We could not get into the game before this patch..sorry!
DesignerD	For now, you will have o count bank items by hand :(
Glamdring	*Necroscope* Why is the entire 8th circle being Nerfed? Mages have enough trouble using the few useful spells. Now, instead of making spells more useful you are enabling monsters to destroy the 8th circle? Magery already hits its peak at 6th circle with E-bolt,,, this will jsut make taht worse, so why do it?
DesignerD	Our intent is not to "nerf" 8th circle, but rather to give magic-wielding monsters more smarts. I don't think that the elementals were really competitive enough anyway... :( So we intend to take a look at the 8th circle spells and see what we can do to make it more worthwhile.
Glamdring	*Tanis-DL* Are we ever going to see robes with hoods for players? And when will we be seeing surcoats?
DesignerD	No plans for robes with hoods. Surcoats I will see if we can get in the next update (not this update but the one after)
Glamdring	*eldarguard* Sir, I would like to inquire in when the fix to the large forge trading over the counter problem will be fixed
DesignerD	Candidly, we haven't even had a chance to look at it yet. Sorry! :(
Glamdring	*Raoul{GSV}* When will a title switch be put in so that non-warriors (like blacksmiths) can advertise that they are Grandmasters?
DesignerD	The profile feature in T2A displays your highest skill title, with no fame restrictions, like it used to. We hope to eventually expand this to allow you to pick which skill you want to display your level for.
Glamdring	*Kyle* What do you think of this idea: How bout putting a pocket on people, you could put keys, books, other small items and would not lose them when you die.
DesignerD	Hmm, dunno about a pocket. I do know that we get a lot of requests to make keys unstealable.
DesignerD	One idea I tossed out recently was making it so that if you had a key and DIDN'T also have the master in your bank box, that it would decay awayquickly (so that thieves who get keys do not get to keep them for long)
RVogel	If you are playing UO now on your machine, you should be fine..
Glamdring	*Lorrac_TKB* the system requirements for UOT2A are higher than the requirements for UO, will someone who meets all the requirements for UO who wants to upgrade have to upgrade his/her computer? or will UOT2A run if UO runs?
RVogel	Again, if you are playing UO on your current machine and have no problems..you should be fine
DesignerD	The main thing about T2A is that it has a higher requirement because of a) increased disk footprint and b) the graphics requirements are tougher if you run big window, and also because of all the texture mapped terrain
Glamdring	*Gemini* DesignerD, First of all i would just like to say Hey.. Good job ;) Anyways cutting to the chase What items will exactly become craftable or purchased besides the ones on owo.com?? i understand from what i heard ALOT! can you give us a main idea.. a guess perhaps?
DesignerD	I'll see if w can get a fuller list posted on the website soon. :)
DesignerD	The goal though is to make, well, most everything craftable.
Glamdring	*RS155hWH1* Where do you stand on related skills effecting eachother, such as Anatomy effecting Healing, Veterinary effecting Taming, Taste ID effecting Alchemy And other such relationships?
DesignerD	We like it, as you can tell from the anatomy/healing combo currently on test center. We hope to keep doing that with more skills, to reinforce underused skills and to create new skills or specialties
DesignerD	This way, specialists in a given discipline who expend the skill points will gain significantly better abilities. On TC< a GM Anatomy/GM Healer can cure poison and resurrect with a bandage. :)
DesignerD	Also, btw, I think Animal Lore/Vet works the same way on TC
Glamdring	*SlothBoy* Is there any chance of letting players play as powerful creatures such as dragons? This would be an outlent for PVP and create a sense of danger. Plus if the person terrorized an area or town then it would create a sort of quest.
DesignerD	There have been several plans for letting players play monsters that have been suggested. None of them are easy to implement, and so far all of them have been a little scary abusewise (lemme make a mule dragon and go slaughter my enemies...)
DesignerD	we have it on the list for further investigation, but donn't lookfor it anytime soon. Player races are MUCH more likely to happen.
Glamdring	*Moon* Is there any word on the new design for Keeps and Castles?
RVogel	It is on our list...we just have not gotten to it yet..sorry ;(
Glamdring	*Kastagir* Will a house be craftable?
DesignerD	Not in the usual sense, but yeah, we have talked about converting "carpentry" to a "Construction" skill that would allow groups of players working to gether to build houses. Who knows when though, it's sort of a pipedream thing at this point. :)
Glamdring	*Creslin* Any chance magic wands and staves will do reasonable spell damage against monsters? Currently they are so weak as to be useless.
DesignerD	We can look into it, sure.
Glamdring	*Drago* Are there any plans to enable players to siege castles and guildhouses?
RVogel	Yes, that is on our list. We would love to have catapults in the game for instance
Glamdring	*Sir_Gwydion* is there any plan to make teleport tele anywhere (cept houses) not jes line o sight? if it was a real teleport, it'd be able to send ya anywhere
DesignerD	Nope, sorry, not gonna happen. :)
Glamdring	*Aras* any chance of tamed animals having usable skills(IE: dogs for tracking)
DesignerD	Well, we played with pets this past Friday actually (we made newbies and adventured with them for a while) and decided that it would be really cool if pets learned skills and improved in stats over time and such.
DesignerD	So yeahm stuff like that is probably coming someday :)
Glamdring	*Kidd_Vid* Are their still any plans to create new races in the UO world? Elves, Dwarves, and other world would be a welcomed sight in an otherwise human dominated society.
RVogel	Yes, we are planning on races within UO like Elves. * DesignerD doesn't like "elves" as a name though
DesignerD	Expect gargoyles for sure, probably half-orcs, and "something elflike with a different name because leves are tacky" ;)
Glamdring	*Wracu* Any thought given to making shrines, docks, bridges and the like and make their existence & upkeep the responsibility of the citizens of the region, No towns, no taxes no shrine?
DesignerD	Not possible with the current engine. :( The docks and shrines are actually burned on the CD and cannot be removed...
Glamdring	*Palom* Any chance of Wandering Healers actually healing, curing, and resurrecting instead of just resurrecting?
DesignerD	Probably not... now that we have given those abilities to players, we'd rather people depended on each othr and not on NPCs.
Glamdring	*Drago* Has Osi considered evening the money making skills so there will be more diversity in player proffesions?
DesignerD	Sure have. :) On the list.
Glamdring	*Racalac* What happened to that speech filter? The one that turns keWl-talk into britannian english? Any plans? Timeline?
DesignerD	No specific plans just now
Glamdring	*Sentinel* Will rain ever return? ;)
DesignerD	Yes, rain will return. And snow. With less performance hit.
RVogel	We are planning on adding weather to the game.
RVogel	It will have effects on your equipment like armor and you will need those fur coats..that seem to be useless now
Glamdring	*badger* Are LearnByWatching=off and AutoDefend=off switching being considered?
DesignerD	Actually, just plain turning off learn by watching is being considered. Nothing on the table for autodefend beyond the desire to make mages not turn into wrestlers. :)
Glamdring	*Kastagir* Is there EVER a chance of different graphics for humans being put in the game? For the paperdoll let's say?
DesignerD	For the paperdoll, it is possible, but would have to have exactly the same proportions as the current one in order for the clothes to fit... however, that's sort of how we poklan to do player races. :)
RVogel	We are looking into systems that would help reduce overcrowding on the shards..taxes is one of them. Nothing decided yet.
Glamdring	*Melk* Add taxes to the land! People would think twice before buying large houses, and this would help to save space in Britannia
RVogel	Opps..a little early on that one..
Glamdring	*`Stacey`* When will cows give milk
RVogel	We are looking into systems that would help reduce overcrowding on the shards...taxes is one of them. Nothing decided yet.
DesignerD	That's pretty easy to do, I will see what I can do :)
Glamdring	*Bainite* Would the other races have different stats / limits?
DesignerD	Yes, we would probably make it so that there were three nonhuman races and each had differing stat limits (so maybe halforcs can reach 150 strength but only 50 intelligence, for example)
FrostByghte	The conference will continue for a short time more.
FrostByghte	Fire any last minute questions off now.
FrostByghte	Uh....to the people in the topic, not me!
Glamdring	*NoRin* How about adding flower boxes to houses, as a place to grow regs?
DesignerD	Reagent growing and in fact growing plants in general is actually something that has been on our list for quite some time...
Glamdring	*HR* Would the nonhuman races have any special powers besides different stat limits? Like infravision (constant night sight) etc.
DesignerD	No concrete plans on that yet... we basically figured out a way to solve the technological problems, but haven't tackjled the design in great detail yet.
DesignerD	Night all...!