Gimme 5 from 2002-08

Gimme 5 from 2002-08

This Q&A session was originally posted at the now-defunct IanStorm.com .

IanStorm	We have seen the recent dungeon changes and champion spawns prove very successful in bringing players to Felucca. Smaller shards like Oceania and AOL Legends are going out en masse to fight the spawns and having the time of their lives to boot! Are there any plans for further changes to Felucca, if so, can you give us a hint?
Tajima	It's great to see all the activity these changes have brought to Felucca. The number of players now traveling there has risen over 1000% since publish 16 was released, and the battles we've seen have been very exciting.
Tajima	However, we aren't currently planning to make any major changes to Felucca for some time. The Age of Shadows expansion is keeping us quite busy!
IanStorm	Do you feel that GGS has accomplished what you wanted in regards to the way that skill gain is now accomplished?
Tajima	Yes. The biggest benefit has been a more uniform and predictable advancement flow. Our players are also glad to be freed from the requirement to do nothing but work on skill advancement during their first hour of gameplay.
IanStorm	The changes to Barding have left some people unhappy, do you feel that the changes you have made are really better for barding, and do you plan to make more changes or tinker with it more?
Tajima	Barding has become a significantly more rewarding and balanced profession as a result of the work in publish 16. We've been seeing a great deal of very positive feedback from some of the people who were at first quite vocal in their opposition to the changes, in fact. We're very pleased with the changes in place, and don't plan on doing any serious tinkering soon.
IanStorm	In light of the recent changes to the power curve, from increased skillcaps, increased statcaps, and BOD changes, to making high-level runic weapons more plentiful than ever (which have continued a trend since the the orc scenarios that raised the bar of power readily available to everyone with tribal spears): What made the UO Live Team decide to make PvP more item-centric, and how far (and how quickly) will the UO Live Team decide to continue this trend in the next 6 months to a year from now?
Tajima	We're working hard to make PvP more exciting, and the next 6 months are going be very productive on this front.
IanStorm	Are there any other major changes that will happen before we see UO:AoS ? And, if so, any hints?
Tajima	Of course, Event 5 (that's the 5th story arc in our ongoing scenarios) is coming soon, and it's shaping up to be a lot of fun. We also have vet rewards and some other nice surprises coming up with our 5th-year anniversary. Aside from that, however, there won't be any changes like we've seen with publish 16 before AoS.
IanStorm	With Pub 16, do you see a better balance of people between Felucca and Trammel?
Tajima	Very much so!