House of Commons from 2003-05-01

House of Commons from 2003-05-01

Lord‑Xanthor	Good evening everyone, thank you for coming to tonight's Ultima Online open house. This Stratics House of Commons chat is a direct connection between you the players and the designers and programmers of Ultima Online.
Lord‑Xanthor	This chat will be in a moderated format. To ask a question of the developers, please /msg or /query the question takers that will be listed in the topic of the channel and have [QT] in front of their names. These question takers will then present the questions to the Ultima Online development team here with us this evening.
Lord‑Xanthor	I will be the moderator tonight...I will post your question into the House of Commons chat channel and the Developers will answer those that they can. Please /msg or /query different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load and speed the process up.
Lord‑Xanthor	Please do not send the same question to multiple question takers, those that do will be ignored. Thank you =)
Lord‑Xanthor	And no, Im not a bot =P
Lord‑Xanthor	Please remember that your question may have been asked previously or may not be able to be answered in a public forum. Please do not message or query myself or anyone from OSI, these questions will be ignored. We encourage you to read the logs of the previous Open Houses, which are available at http://uohoc.stratics.com
Lord‑Xanthor	Enjoy tonight's chat...
Lord‑Xanthor	Tonights Topic is General Discussion
Lord‑Xanthor	Please /msg /query [QT]Gallahan, [QT]Kevlar, [QT]XenaDragon, & [QT]Rhayde
Lord‑Xanthor	LordChaos: How about making colored anvils useful, thus making BODs more attractive at all levels, like making them give a slight bonus to enhancing in the corresponding color (not enough bonus to make it unfair to those who don't have, but enough to make them attractive to own)
OSI-Vex	We are planning some cool BOD-related stuff for Publish 19, though it's too early to give out any details of exactly what it will be. :)
Lord‑Xanthor	*Rocky70* The UO world is quickly getting super-saturated with all kinds of magic items. Is it intentional that armor and weapons never wear out? Currently, they don't break when they reach 0 durability, and never lose maximum durability when repaired, so everything can effectively last forever.
OSI-Vex	Yes, it's intentional that the items never wear out. However, there will be items more powerful for quite a long while, simply because of the extremely low chance of getting items that:
OSI-Vex	Items that have high intensities in multiple desirable properties in combination. It'll be a long time before anyone is equipped with seven or eight "perfect" items -- and in the mean time, as players obtain more desirable stull, older items will probably be discarded or retired to collections.
Lord‑Xanthor	*Vulcin* Will you increase the overland spawn in the Sosaria and Malas? I don't want to hunt in land that is only for housing. It's boring.
OSI-Vex	I meant "stuff" instead of "stull" above...
OSI-Vex	We intended overland spawn to be very light in Malas, because the overland part of that facet was designed solely as housing space. Most people don't really like heavy spawn around their houses -- but for those who do, there are areas.
OSI-Vex	As far as Britannia goes, it's always possible that we'll tweak spawn rates.
Lord‑Xanthor	*Narcissus* Is there any chance we could get Artifacts randomly awarded to a member of the party who did the most damage to a doom champ, along the same lines of the way gold skulls are awarded?
OSI-Vex	Yes, that's a possibility. Right now some of the designers are taking a hard look at artifact spawn, to fix in a near-future publish, because it isn't working right. That is a suggestion we'll keep in mind.
Lord‑Xanthor	DrkShdw* Are there any plans to make necro spells able to be inscribed? possibly by a legendary or elder scribe (assuming there is also going to be a powerscroll)
OSI-Vex	I don't know right now what a reasonable timeframe for that is, or if we'll introduce an Inscription power scroll. However, this is something that we'd like to do and will probably lump it in next time we add new craftables.
Lord‑Xanthor	*Rocky70* Since armor and weapons are no longer supposed to wear out or break, why are durability ratings and repair contracts still in the game? And is there still a purpose to using powder of temperment?
OSI-Vex	Weapons still do wear out and need repair -- and if you abuse them then they'll be destroyed. However, items no longer become steadily weaker each time they are repaired, like before. So, as long as you take care of your magic armor and weapons, you don't have to worry about them breaking from becoming old.[02:32] <Lord‑Xanthor> * Asmodeus-A: "Are there any plans to compensate for the extreme amount of damage necromancers are able to do in PvP?"
Lord‑Xanthor	* Asmodeus-A: "Are there any plans to compensate for the extreme amount of damage necromancers are able to do in PvP?"
OSI-Vex	There are a lot of tweaks to combat coming in Publish 18, which is due out within the next three weeks or so. I don't know right now the details of all of those tweaks.
OSI-Vex	However, Pub 18 will become available on a public test shard sometime within the next week or two.
Sannio	We'll also have a list of the bugs that are being fixed with Publish 18. It's a fairly long list, and Cynthe's still working on the public version that will be appearing in UO.com's "Update Center" fairly soon.
Lord‑Xanthor	BUB* Is there any plans on getting the Character/Guild Information updated frequently again on my.uo.com?
Fertbert	Yes, MyUO should be 100% operational again soon.
Lord‑Xanthor	*SpookyT* Since this is general discussion... do you guys ever get discouraged by all the whining and complaining that go on in the stratics boards? I often feel for you guys.
Sannio	All feedback is good feedback, in my opinion, and as long as the feedback maintains a civil tone we'll consider the information that the player is trying to share.
Sannio	There's a few posts now and again that concern me sometimes, but those are more when someone tries to be personally insulting and not so much because they are expressing strong views about a game that they love so much.
Lord‑Xanthor	Just a reminder, to only send questions to eople with {QT] in their names. And please dont message the dev.
Lord‑Xanthor	Or me for that matter. THis has been a recording. *Beep*
Lord‑Xanthor	*ElvenCraft are there any plans to add bods for skills like carpentry, fishing, tinkering, etc? we wouldn't mind having some spiffy poles or special carpentry tools ;)
OSI-Vex	There are no solid plans for that right now, but it is something that is in our wish lists (and has been for a while). I'm almost certain more BOD types will be added at some point, but I can't say when or what.
Lord‑Xanthor	Will publish 18 contain the fix for the Solen hive quests?
OSI-Vex	Yes, fixes for the solen quest are in the list for Publish 18.
Lord‑Xanthor	*Onyx* There was a thread on the message boards not too long ago concerning improvements for vendors. Can you give us some insight into which of those suggestions, if any, look like good candidates for publishing?
OSI-Vex	Right now we're looking really hard at increasing storage for vendor houses, adding in support for vendor contracts, and some other items. I don't have the list in front of me -- Helios is working on that project. However, Sannio and Cynthe will also be making an "In Concept" post and soliciting community feedback on other features to prioritize for vendors in Publish 19.
Sannio	That "In Concept" post that we already have available will be updated soon with additional information/details.
Lord‑Xanthor	*`Templar`* There are persistent rumors about the Arms Lore skill improving chances to enhance blacksmithing items. Is this just a rumor, or does the Arms Lore skill actually affect success chances?
OSI-Vex	It's not true that Arms Lore skill has any impact on enhancing items.
Lord‑Xanthor	*Rumata* Q: It would be very nice to get a visual notification of some kind when paladin spells wear off. A message like "Your weapon is no longer sanctified", etc. Are there plans for this?
OSI-Vex	Yes, we'd like very much to increase game play feedback in many areas, and not just for the paladin abilities.
Lord‑Xanthor	*Rocky70* Player-to-player trading has taken a real nose-dive since AoS. Items are very plentiful and (as mentioned previously) never wear out, and even consumables like regs are often no longer needed. This is rapidly making it difficult to find customers for anything. What can dedicated merchants and vendor owners offer to the community, in this kind of environment?
OSI-Vex	How 'bout we get a discussion thread going on this? I've gone shopping two or three times a week since AoS, looking to boost the magic items I've found with other items people are selling. From my perspective as a buyer, nobody's selling anything I want.
OSI-Vex	So -- is there not enough good stuff being sold, or is nobody buying anything? If something is wrong, then what is really the matter?
OSI-Vex	I don't have an answer right now, but I'll look for threads on this subject on the Stratics boards over the next few days. :)
Lord‑Xanthor	Erdric: Are there any plans to add spells (like mark, nightsight, ect) or change spell requirements for the Chivalry skill? Right now it's not possible to gain beyond 115 skill.
Fertbert	I can't speak to the chiv part of the question, but we are examining skill gain, and plan to do some tuning. Mr. Tact is looking for feedback on this subject. Please see the news article at: http://uo.stratics.com/news/GeneralNews.shtml#newsitem1051827977,80160,
Lord‑Xanthor	*Friagrim* Can Felucca players expect new land/dungeons some time? Seems to me that all the new things are geared towards trammel rules. We could use some new stuff as well.
OSI-Vex	Ahh, wouldn't it be nice if we could find a way to have a single unified rule set? However, we will certainly offer new content for both facets as we move forward. :)
Lord‑Xanthor	*DrkShdw* Are there any planned changes to cartography? You can draw maps to 99.5, and due to GGS, you can GM it less than 10 maps.
Lord‑Xanthor	*ElvenCraft Is there a possibility of redoing the way smithing is gained? at the moment some people are gm'ing smithing in a day or less...which needs to stop
OSI-Vex	Bloods* Are soulstones going to be out any time soon?
Lord‑Xanthor	Bloods* Are soulstones going to be out any time soon?
OSI-Vex	Soulstones are still on the list, but they're going to be in Publish 20 or later at this point. Publish 19 is already full with nearly 200 more bug fixes, vendor changes, and the Bulk Order Deed stuff I've talked so nebulously about, plus some behind-the-scenes engineering things as well...
Sannio	Publish 19, by the way, is months off. Publish 20, therefore, would be months beyond that. :]
Lord‑Xanthor	Bizarrare we getting rewards in mid-may? i heard some rumors that osi is giving us special clothing, +5 to 1 skill and +5 to stats (choice of one per char)
Sannio	You're talking about the AoS Launch Gift, correct? That's coming up in Publish 18, which means it's not close enough to touch but it's almost close enough to hit with a rock.
Sannio	You can read the details about it at http://update.uo.com/design_434.html
Lord‑Xanthor	Fertbert: When ar eyou going to add ferrets and other house pets to the game?
Fertbert	Well FErtbert, who knows? As soon as they learn how to type?
Lord‑Xanthor	*Ryu_KnT* do any of the Dev members banksit at west brit or moonglow with uberl33t items?
OSI-Vex	Yeah. A guy sold me some really cool invisible clothes. It's hard to get 'em on the mouse pointer, though.
Fertbert	I prefer to banksit with newbie gear... makes me stand out all the more. :)
OSI-Vex	Hey, maybe one day I can bank sit riding a FERRET :)
Sannio	Although I own tons of rares of various types, my wearable items aren't l33t enough for me to be able to banksit. :]
Fertbert	Ridable ferrets.... what are you, a field mouse?
Lord‑Xanthor	I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight!
Lord‑Xanthor	And thanks to all of the OSI folks for spending their personal time talking to us
Lord‑Xanthor	Please join #ultima-online for continued, unmoderated chat
Lord‑Xanthor	the log will be posted shortly at http://uohoc.stratics.com
Lord‑Xanthor	THANKS
Fertbert	Thanks!
Lord‑Xanthor	Feel free to bring me a Pepsi too =)