House of Commons from 2000-08-03

House of Commons from 2000-08-03

Jerrith	Greetings and thank you for attending tonight's UOHoC.
Jerrith	Tonight's chat topic is Recent Updates and In Testing and as such we will accept questions related to this topic.
Jerrith	Jerrith will be our moderator for this evening. In order to submit questions, please /msg or /query Kehleyr, Prescient, or Aesop
Jerrith	Please /msg different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load, and speed this process up. Do not msg anyone from Origin--these questions will be ignored.
Jerrith	Remember they may not have the opportunity to answer all of your questions. In addition, some questions may not be answered if they feel that it is not appropriate or that it has been better answered through some other question.
Jerrith	In addition, please do not submit any questions that have already been answered during past conferences.
Jerrith	We encourage you to read the logs of the previous UOHoCs, which are available at http://uohoc.stratics.com
Jerrith	Thanks for coming, everyone. We will now begin accepting questions.
Jerrith	*Symantec* Felucca-- Town guards were recently changed so that they teleported in a few spaces away from a criminal. This caused the guards to no longer "instant kill" criminals (the guards had to give chase). Then it was changed again so they do instant kill. The changes to guards' not instant killing and then instant killing again were not announced, why was that? Is there any chance that non-instant kill guards will be brought back?
Sage	Some of the new pathfinding changes affected guards in an unforseen way. We had to correct that issue, and then found that guards still did not respond appropriately. We try to announce all gameplay changes, but bugfixes like this sometimes are not announced. Basically guards should lay the smack down on you.
Sage	If you commmit a crime.
Jerrith	*C_Casey_Atl* Now that the lockdown changes have went in, are there any plans to allow changeing of an item's z-axis to help center it on tables, etc? Also, are the rules against lockdowns on/near indoor stairs/ladders/doors really necessary? It doesn't keep people from blocking walkways.
Sage	Yes. We are looking at ways to help all home decorators. The lockdown changes were done to prevent several exploits. However, it was determined that the changes were not adequate.
Sage	I am not satisfied with them, and we are currently rewriting the system to make it more sound, and better for players.
Jerrith	*Castoro-fan* Why don't you add the same system for stat raising as on Siege Perilous? This is more an advantage than an inconvenient, you just have to increase the amout of pt gained by hour for regular shards. (like 3pts/hour and 18pts/day)
Sage	Actually, I would like to get more feedback about ROT. Please e-mail me with how you feel about ROT versus the skill gain system on other shards.
Jerrith	*Merrik^Dragon* been reading about the UO rewards program and was wondering if it is in testing yet or not.. this doesn't need to be posted to channel but if you get the opertunity to memo me some more info on it i would apreciate it, (more info = info not covered on the uo website) thank you
Sage	It is not currently in testing. We are still getting the system design into shape. Once we are comfortable that we have a good system of delivery and rewards that are exciting, we will put the program into In-Testing.
Jerrith	*Twithead* Me know that many a time bowcrafting changes go hand-in-hand with smithy changes. Be there a menu with "make last item" and such for bowyers forthcoming? (shouldn't take too long as there is a very limitted amount that bowyers can make)
fieryice	It currently isn't scheduled to be updated, but updating the trade skill interfaces is something that I want to do.
Jerrith	*Hythlodaeus* Why not allow multiple faction characters on the same account/shard so long as they are all of the same faction?
Evocare	Basically, we feel the system is more interesting when players essentially have to "commit" to the faction system with one character. Any time a player is torn between a decision to make in the game (for example, not being sure of which character with which to join the faction system), it adds another layer of depth to the world as a whole.
Jerrith	*Klaitu* I got a question.. "Any plans on using some of the sounds, animations and other things that are in the UO client, but not used in the game? (differnt footstep sounds, etc)"
Sage	Yes.
Jerrith	*Skywise* I noticed Vendor Customization has been entirely removed from In Testing. What issues arose to remove this and can we expect to see it return any time in the immediate future? If the problem is with appropriate vendor names, would it be possible to simply have the entered name be checked against the same name list used to make random NPCs to determine an appropriate name?
Sage	Yes. I hope for it to return after the next update. We wanted a better filter put into place before releasing the name and greeting features, which I feel are good features... though abusable.
Sage	We also wanted to shore up some more pressing issues with vendors. Players should be noticing that vendors no longer reprice NFS bags as well as some important changes.
Sage	Note that Vendor Customization is in General Testing
Jerrith	Working* The enticement skill is a useful foil to taming. But, is there work being done to fix the pk bug that goes along with it?
fieryice	I am currently compiling a list of all barding issues (just check out boards.uo.com), and have had lots of reports about this.
fieryice	If you have any other issues with bard skills (enticement, provocation, peacemaking, and musicianship) please email me them. :)
fieryice	[email protected]
Jerrith	*Tree_Hugger* In regards to the looting chages. I would like to oppose what is posted on the webpage by saying that if I were to kill a red/grey out of town solo why should passer bys have the chance to loot my kill? Do you see any ways at all to improve this using the lawful damage system?
AdrickOSI	In regards to looting - The system was put in to prevent blue looting in guild wars and also for the faction system
AdrickOSI	I will talk to the team about criminals and murderers being looted by those that took no part in killing them
Jerrith	*Teela* Is the devteam aware that the proposed stable changes actually make spawn blocking even easier. You can block even on the dungeon server, and not even risk your pet, with the current testing version.
Hanse	We are aware of the issue. I'm currently testing it on Test Center.
Sage	Yep. We are looking into that on TC right now, but the results may be a little misleading. Although a player might be allowed to block, it might be easier to prevent this given the way the new changes are going in.
Sage	In the end, it might make those Frenzied Ostards a little bit more common. And who doesn't want to see a frenzied ostard?
Jerrith	*C_MikeTwo* In this new patch. UO Seers now have purple names. While this was not added to Companions, will the "ARRIVAL TEXT" for YOUNGS be fixed? (there is suppose to be text advising the young player that a companion is here to help).
Sage	I will talk to our support leads about the issue and see how they feel. Thanks for bringing this up.
Jerrith	*[EKC]Arch* since the last 1-2 (dont know which) updates things have been dissapearing (aperantly decaying) and been looted from secure chests and things that are locked down in peoples houses. Do you know what causes this and WHEN will it be fixed?
Sage	Anytime we hear about items disappearing it is of great concern. Right now we have not had a repeatable instance, and this is part of the issue. We are carefully looking at this, but if you have any information on this, please write me at [email protected]
Jerrith	Event* Any chance of fixing the profanity filter? The word "ass" appears in over 1500 words, including "Compassion"!
Sage	Yes, we are looking at a smarter filtering system server side. Client side filtering may still be affected, but you can always turn that off. If the server side filtering works out well, we may be able to use the algorithm for the client.
Jerrith	*gars* Will the faction system work on Siege Perilous in the same way as regular shards? SP has been up for a more than a year, will any changes be made to the shard soon?
Evocare	Yes, the faction system will work on Siege. In fact, due to the non-existance of trammel on the SP shard, many "hardcore" players will find that it more meaningful there. =]
Evocare	In regard to the siege changes, there are changes in the works!
Jerrith	*[SKE]Vedrex[Eu]* Are there any plans to add things like "last item" morter and pestels to alchemy or other similar trade features for tailoring and carpentry??
fieryice	You can do a "last item" type thing by targetting the mortar and pestel itself. And like I said earlier, updates for other trade skills are not scheduled, but I am wanting to update them all.
Jerrith	*hobbs-ches* Concerning the "dispel" spell, Do you feel that this spell is too effective against any summoned creature? And if so, what can be done to make summoned creatures more effective for mages?
Evocare	We feel the dispel is fairly well balanced. The counter-effect essentially always needs to be easier to pull off then the effect itself. One thing many players have a tendency to overlook is the fact that a summoned Daemon (for example) doesn't effecitvely cost 50 mana, its effective mana cost is 0 due to having been cast before a battle even begins.
Jerrith	*Tree_Hugger* Are there any plans to change the client/party system in where if im the party leader and I client crash my whole party crahses?
Sage	Yes. We want to fix all crashers.
Jerrith	*deVoca* Can we please have the "extra doors" bug when locks are changed fixed? GM's won't even help me anymore with this.
Sage	If you can repeat this, please write to me at [email protected].
Jerrith	*Twithead* If'n a player do be cause damage in self-defense against an aggressor, would this count also as "lawful" damage against the aggressor and open that defender up to be lootable?
AdrickOSI	you bet - even if you auto defend and lay smack down on em :)
Jerrith	*hobbs-ches* Back to the dispel spell, you answered my question from a player vs. player point of view. What about magic casting creatures that can dispel on the first try...every try?
Evocare	Well, we all saw what happened before monsters dispeled creatures right? =] One of the tradeoffs of summoned creatures is their high effectiveness against non spellcasting creatures when compared to their low level of effeciveness against spellcasting creatures who aren't "out" of mana.
Jerrith	*worker* due to some of the recent fix's gates no longer function correctly. Many a gate has been cast only to open on the "other side" but no "entrance gate" is this being worked on?
fieryice	This issue with gates should be resolved on test center right now. If you can duplicate this on test center, please email me!
Sage	Actually, the fix is on the public shards. ;)
fieryice	Am I always the last to know? :P
fieryice	:)
Sage	Everyone should be noticing a decrease in problems.
Jerrith	*Lugh* Would a special, permanent title be considered as a reward option? It can add much to roleplay and couldn't get bartered away. (as an additional option to the items)
Calandryll	Interesting idea. We are actually still discussing 3 year awards and beyond.
Jerrith	*Slim* Are there any plans to switch the current no log in/out based on aggressor to the system recalling uses, I'm very tired of not being able to logout because of monsters or animals.
Sage	Sounds like a good idea. Not sure when we would be able to get it in though.
Jerrith	And with that, we'll conclue tonight's UOHoC chat.
Jerrith	Thanks everyone for coming tonight, in particular
Jerrith	Adrick, Calandryll, Aesop, Sage, Evocare, fieryice, Hanse, and Oaks from OSI. :)