House of Commons from 2005-06-16

House of Commons from 2005-06-16

Brekkee	Good evening and welcome to another great Stratics House of Commons chat, tonight our guests are the developers of Ultima Online! Tonight's topic is Mondain's Legacy. Only questions relating to the topic will be answered.
Brekkee	Please send your questions to [QT]Phineus or [QT]Shoes - to do so type /query NICK and type in the window that pops up. Questions sent to me or the developers will not make it into the lineup. Full logs of the chat will be up on http://uohoc.stratics.com shortly after the chat.
Brekkee	We'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.
Leurocian	Howdy all! I'm Leurocian, Designer for Ultima Online
Cerdith	Hi hi! I'm Cerdith, Designer for UO.
Binky_EA	Hey all, Binky here - Community Manager. Thanks for joining us tonight!
Niobe	Greets! I'm Niobe, Designer on Ultima Online.
Saralah	Hey guys, I'm Saralah - Software Engineer for UO
Brekkee	*Lereia* My question! Is it true that the development team plans to drop the 3d client with or after Mondains Legacy or is this just another baseless rumour?
Cerdith	Mondain's Legacy doesn't drop the 3D client. I can't speak for our producer and the long off future of UO ... but, I know that what was discussed in Washington DC's town hall ...
Cerdith	Was that we were going to concentrate on making improvements to the 2D client specifically since most of you use the 2d version.
Brekkee	*jbear0000* Are the new ingredients that we can find in dungeons going to be insurable? It would be nice for us thieves to have some thing of value to steal in addition to power scrolls. Are there any other changes thieves can look forward to that will un-nerf us a little?
Niobe	During this phase of testing the new components that are dropping in the dungeons are not insurable. There are other new things that drop that are insurable (such as new armor and weapons).
Brekkee	*Winder* How many of the new dungeons will be in Fel? And how many of these, if any at all will be instanced?
Cerdith	There are a total of nine new dungeons. One in T2A, One in Ilshenar, Two in Malas, One in Tokonu, and four in Fel/Trammel. ...
Cerdith	The Fel/Trammel dungeons are ones that are mirrored ... meaning they exist on both facets ...
Cerdith	Of those four ... two have peerless boss fights ...
Cerdith	There is no true "instancing". Instead, we've done some coding that makes peerless boss fights work a bit differently than other fights ...
Cerdith	Basically, once you trigger the fight, you get to select who participates in the fight with you and then you cannot be attacked during the fight, nor can the boss be "stolen" from you.
Cerdith	You can, of course, be jumped before you trigger however. This way, whoever does the work to get the items needed to trigger has the best chance of getting to fight the boss.
Brekkee	*Narcissus* My Question is: Could you please tell us more info on the 'hint' EvilMantis dropped about 'armor sets'?
Leurocian	Here's how the weapon/armor sets work. Let's say that 5 pieces of armor make up an armor set. If all 5 pieces are worn, then extra properties will become present, imbuing the player character with more power. The weapon/armor set will also change hue and will periodically emit an animation like effect to show that the full armor set is equipped
Leurocian	If I'm able I'll post some examples on Stratics tomorrow. Stay tuned :)
Brekkee	*Darlene* for which crafter types are there recipes? if not for all, will recipes be coming for
Cerdith	I'm looking at the information right now. I see recipes for Smithing, Alchemy, Carpentry, Fletching, Inscription, Masonry, Tailoring, Tinkering ....
Cerdith	I also show a category called "misc" and can't remember what we put in that recipe slot. Some crafting skills have more recipes than others this time around.
Cerdith	I can't speak to whether more will be added in the future (after Mondain's Legacy ships). I sure hope so though!
Brekkee	*Narcissus* How many different 'types' of Player Made Artifacts are in the 'list' of craftable recepes? and will this 'list' be 'removed' and 'updated' with more later?
Niobe	I can't give you an exact number of Artifacts that are player made but there are quite a few!
Niobe	Because we're still testing and balancing the number may change and I don't want to give you the wrong information.
Niobe	Although there aren't any plans to remove items from the list, we'll continue to review and possibly update recipes as live takes over.
Niobe	It is possible to add more recipes over time.
Brekkee	*Darlene* will there be elven housetiles, that humans can not use?
Cerdith	There are no restricted tiles based on race ... only on whether you have the expansion pack.
Brekkee	*Nightcrawler* What is the plan regarding balancing PvP, and also updating factions with UO:ML?
Cerdith	There have been no changes for factions in UO:ML. With respect to balancing PvP, I'm really expecting a ton of feedback to assist during beta. We've got quite a few areas to check for possible imbalances ...
Cerdith	including Spellweaving, new armor sets, talismans, new elven special moves etc. We know we need to get this done and we're really counting on the beta community to give us great feedback.
Brekkee	*Hemisphere* Hi. During the DC Town Hall meeting, there was a mention of new house customization features, including, I think it was "natural customization". What sort of tilesets can we expect? Existing trees/flowers or even landscaping customization, or something new?
Cerdith	Actually, natural customization was probably intended to refer to the style of some of the elven housing items. They're naturalistic in the sense that they're based on plants and flowing forms.
Brekkee	*Aeris* Will there be any incentives for players who opt to do resource gathering, hunting, and Champing in the Felucca facets of the new dungeons?
Cerdith	Of course, the powerscrolls continue to be limited to Fel. And we're going to be working to make loot better in these dungeons when they're played in Fel vs. Tram. I'm still working on whether there will be some unique items that can only be gained in Fel, or if the difference will ...
Cerdith	be simply more of everything in Fel. So, I can't definitively say what we'll do ... but that we're sensitive to the need to make sure there's a good reason to draw people to Fel.
Brekkee	*LBeff* So eventually you are looking for this Craftsman quest system to possibly replace BODs completely, if people prefer it that is?
Niobe	The quest system involving crafting isn't a replacement for the BOD system as much as it is an additional way to provding crafting content.
Niobe	Some players still really like the BOD system and hopefully people will like the new additions as well.
Brekkee	*Cowgoesmoo* Question :: With lumberjacking being made more useful for resource gathering in the new expansion are there any plans for it in regards to its combat value? Is it more likely that it will loose the current bonus or that its bonuses will be increased?
Niobe	We added quite a few new resource items to gather with lumberjacking but we did not change the way lumberjacking acts in regards to combat in UO:ML.
Cerdith	I am still looking into a question raised in DC about hatchets specifically ... I am checking to see if any of the new axes going in with UO:ML will address the concern and I'm making sure I understand that concern. Just FYI for following up to D.C.
Brekkee	*LBeff* Will these quests be available on every facet from NPCs appropriate to the skill the quest is for?
Cerdith	Quests are available in all facets ... but most are clustered in Fel/Tram in either The Heartwood or Sanctuary. There are quest giver NPCs everywhere however....
Cerdith	Skill level isn't part of the quest engine ... nothing looks at skills or skill level so you may be offered a quest you cannot complete ... it's up to the player to opt not to take those quests they cannot handle.
Cerdith	Hopefully that makes sense.
Brekkee	*Jin-Roh* HI is mondain's legacy going to be put on the shelves or just for download
Binky_EA	Mondain's Legacy will be Download only. The new online store will take international payment and we are working with additional partners for other alternative forms of payment such as PayPal.
Brekkee	*glbanksitter* It says the Cu'Sidhe is only rideable by elves. Does it have to be tamed by an elf tamer, or can any tamer tame it and then transfer it to an elf?
Leurocian	The intent is to have the Cu'Sidhe only tamable and ridable by elves.
Brekkee	*LBeff* Can you give an example or two of what the quests will be like?
Cerdith	Sure! There are basically four different kinds of quests in the expansion ... kill, obtain, deliver and escort ... and there are some modifiers we can add ...
Cerdith	Things like kill in this specific place ... or obtain this thing in x number of seconds.
Cerdith	So, one example is a quest to obtain severed elven ears. There are some humans that really aren't happy about elves ... and they've got a bounty on ears.
Cerdith	If you bring them some number of them, they give you a reward. That particular quest is repeatable.
Cerdith	Another quest example is a chain of quests ... like in one dungeon there are three tougher named monsters that rule particular areas ... you are asked to kill the first ...
Cerdith	And rewarded for doing so, then asked to kill the next ... and so forth.
Binky_EA	I just wanted to add something about the download only. There will be an option to get a CD sent to you from the download partner for a few extra dollars. We don't know the pricing o that at this point though.
Brekkee	*LBeff* As with the Jewelery ingredients, Can you give us some examples of what these ingredients might be and where and how they are gathered please?
Cerdith	I can give some ... for example ... we have a new Brilliant Amber Bracelet. You acquire brilliant amber by lumberjacking. We have a Dark Sapphire Bracelet .. you mine sapphires ...
Cerdith	We have a white pearl bracelet ... you fish for pearls.
Brekkee	*NewThunder* I would liek to ask with the %20 increase in house storage, could there also be a %20 increase in the number of vendors allowed
Leurocian	We are pretty sure that number of vendors are also increased. I've made a note to have our engineers double check this and see.
Leurocian	No promises though :)
	* Cerdith does the no-promises dance *
Brekkee	*GD* Why elves and why not orcs or gargoyles (gargoyles from previous Ultima game storylines)?
	* Niobe taps on a bongo *
Cerdith	I wondered that too actually ....
Cerdith	I really really thought orcs or gargoyles ... but, we based the decision on two different requests from the community ... one over a year ago ...
Cerdith	When Binky requested email on different races people would like to play ... (which crashed the mailserver btw) .... where the resounding favorite by tons was elves ...
Cerdith	And a survey sent out around Marchish this year that asked again ...
Cerdith	Elves again were the resounding favorite of the community. So, we figured ... okay, elves it is :)
Brekkee	*ktorr* Concerning the Racial abilities for resources gathering. (Elves - Knowledge of Nature : increased chance to gain special resources) and (Humans - Workhorse : increased resources when gathering). Approximutely, in each case, how much of an increase ?
Cerdith	We're still fussing with these numbers so I don't really want to say anything yet. We've got a fair bit of tweaking to do still with all of the racial abilities.
Brekkee	*DJViceroy-Coverage-[UORadio]* Is there any plans to perhaps implement a donation box or tip jar system to where people can donate gold and checks but can't access it? If so, this would be awesome for receiving and collecting in-game donations at taverns and etc.
Niobe	We don't have plans to add tip jars that will allow individual players to donate to one another for UO:ML...
Niobe	[And some players really don't want anything that resembles the SIMS from what I read :) ]
Niobe	However we are adding cooperative collections that allow players to donate to select sites in Sosaria
Niobe	In return for their donations and efforts, they can earn some really cool rewards.
Niobe	And each shard (and even facet) will be tracked individually
Niobe	so, for example, the Zoo on Baja may have much more or less activity than the zoo on Cats.
Brekkee	*Lambana* will quivers have an actual % di or will it be fixed increase like old style exceptional?
Leurocian	The quiver adds to the damage increase of the bow. Say you have a bow with 40% DI and a quiver with 10% DI. It would be as if the bow had 50% damage increase
Brekkee	*Jin-Roh* Hi with the new expansion are we going to see any new vet rewards
Binky_EA	We are looking at adding new vet rewards to get the system up to date. If you have any cool neat outside the box* ideas for vet rewards, send them to [email protected]. NOTE: I'm not saying any will make it'I'm just looking for ideas 'and it wont be part of UOML'after.
Binky_EA	*cool marketing speak!
	* Cerdith watches the mail server melt down again *
Brekkee	*Willa* I was wondering will the quests to change your charactor to an elf be based on the skills of that char or will you need fighting skills. Like say my crafter wanted to become an elf?
Cerdith	The quest engine doesn't base anything on the skills of the character so instead the quests have to take this into account. We've tried to make there be a mix of activities that are necessary to make the transition and we'll be counting on beta input to see whether anyone is at a ...
Cerdith	significant disadvantage in changing from elf to human or human to elf. So, I hope we've got it exactly balanced right now so your crafter will be challenged in some phases of the quest but still manage ...
Cerdith	I am, however, realistic, and know we'll need to tweak during beta.
Brekkee	*Lone`Shadow* There is also several graphical art challenges on Uhall where players have done stunningly beautiful artwork for the paperdoll and other creatures in UO. Is there any chance we will be seeing some major overhauls to the graphics systems or even if EA might hire them to help improve UO's graphical details?
Cerdith	Beautiful work indeed :) There haven't been overhauls to the graphics engine for UO:ML and I'm not an artist so I don't know how complicated the technical side of putting art into the game actually is ...
Cerdith	I suspect however, that becoming an artist working for EA on UO is the best way for those talented folks to help out. jobs.ea.com usually lists openings :)
Brekkee	*Zim[I-C]* Is it true that in ML instanced dungeons are to be introduced to Felucca? In which case does this mean that for the first time in UO's history players will be able to pvm in Fel in complete safety from non consentual pvp?
Cerdith	Again, they're not really instanced. Let me be perfectly clear on how these work.
Cerdith	It is necessary to get certain items (which vary by dungeon) to trigger a peerless boss fight. Getting those items requires killing in the dungeon ... where you can, of course, be killed by another player ...
Cerdith	Once you have all of the items, you make your way to a spot where you trigger the fight.
Cerdith	Again, you can be killed by other players here ...
Cerdith	You have a short amount of time to turn in all of the items and in return you receive items back that you pass out to whoever you want to help in the boss fight ...
Cerdith	You can be jumped during this part too ...
Cerdith	At which point, you use those items ... before they expire (because they only work for a very limited amount of time) ... and are teleported to another area ... where the peerless fight occurs.
Cerdith	Now you can't be interrupted. Of course, if you want to fight each other here, you can ... so if you gave a transport item to someone you shouldn't have .. you can in fact, be jumped again ...
Cerdith	Assuming you win ... you exit the fight area, and can be jumped on exiting.
Cerdith	So, yes ... for the first time you can pvm against one specific creature in rare circumstances ...
Cerdith	with many many opportunities to get jumped repeatedly before doing so ... and jumped immediately afterwards.
Brekkee	*Itzik* Is it true there is going to be doom changes so that artifacts are distributed like they where in Tokyo lands?
Niobe	There are not any changes to doom artifacts associated specifically with the expansion.
Niobe	The expansion has added many new artifacts and ways to get them (crafting). Any/All changes to Doom would happen in live.
Brekkee	*Sir_Dingo* I take it Mondains legacy will be tram rules. Will there ever be a new land for us people who like fel? Maybe a land that only reds can go to?
Niobe	We talked a bit about this earlier but we'll add a bit more.
Niobe	Mondain's Legacy did not add any land mass. So there are no land areas that would exclude people
Niobe	There are, however, a lot of new dungeons added with the expansion.
Niobe	We specifically made it a point to mirror many of these dungeons on Felucca so people that enjoy playing there, red or not, can visit these dungeons on Fel.
Niobe	So we did not make a new land area only for reds but we did add a lot more gameplay for Reds.
Niobe	Also, the community collections are all mirrored on Fel, so reds can participate with those as well.
Cerdith	And we made a point of adding elves that aren't happy/friendly folks who aren't pleased about humans and who do give quests to anyone, including reds. We made a point not to place quest givers in places that would exclude reds. We read the feedback following SE and realized we needed to remember Fel.
Brekkee	That will wrap it up for tonight. I'd like to thank the developers for coming! The log for tonight's chat will be up shortly on http://uohoc.stratics.com
Brekkee	Thank you all for joining us! You can join #Ultima-Online to chat more about the game.
Niobe	Thanks so much everyone! Have a great night!
Saralah	Aww, once again the engineer sits in the corner for the whole talk :-)
Binky_EA	Thanks all! Have a great evening and look for a Town Hall Meeting near you!
Saralah	See you guys!!
Cerdith	They just didn't ask you anything engineerish Sara
Cerdith	Goodnight all, thanks!
Niobe	But we worship you :)