House of Commons from 2000-01-06

House of Commons from 2000-01-06

Glamdring	Greetings and thank you for attending tonight's Open House.
Glamdring	Tonight's chat is about The Sixth Month Plan.
Glamdring	I will be our moderator for this evening. In order to submit questions please /msg or /query Destiny, Jerrith, Niobe or XenaDragon.
Glamdring	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, or myself--these questions will be ignored.
Glamdring	Remember that OSI may not have the opportunity to answer all of your questions. In addition, some questions may not be answered if the Dev Team feel that it is not appropriate or that it has been better answered through some other question.
Glamdring	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.
Glamdring	Thanks for coming, everyone. We will now begin accepting questions. or XenaDragon - The 6 month plan'
Glamdring	*chaos23* First I must say thank you for all the wonderful changes you have brought about in this game and are continueing to do, is there any room for minor changes in this 6 month plan of yours, like Bowcrafters FINALLY be able to repair bows like all other crafts? or getting the color palette from the creation kit availiable to dyes too, so you can get colors like pink?
SunSword	You may not see too many *tweaks* to systems outside the one's announced in the UO:Renaissance plan for the next few months.
SunSword	This is becuase there are going to be so many fundamental chagnes to the team that we don't think it would be wise to sidetrack ourselves at the moment.
SunSword	Changes to the game (not to the team :) )
Glamdring	*Djehuty_the_Scribe* Will there be any limitations on the housing types available in the new lands?
SunSword	There may be some minor or temporary changes to housing during the first phase of UO:R, expect to see offical plans for that and a feedback period where we can analyze what you think.
SunSword	One of the things I would really like to hear feedback on is this idea:
SunSword	remove small house deeds and replace them with deeds for a different house, one that is about the same size, but has two rooms (maybe too floors)
SunSword	The reason for this idea is to relieve the pressure players feel to have two houses, one public, and one private, becuase the small house only has one room.
SunSword	Send me your thoughts ([email protected]) on that.
Glamdring	*Stark* After the 1 house / shard rule comes in, do you plan to take out minor rules in the house placement requirements that are silly, such as grasses blocking placement?
SunSword	We're definitely examining the rules for house placement right now. We're looking at the possibility of modifying the rules. If we do find that this is possible, we'll announce it on the website.
Glamdring	*Kianne* Will the new PvP/non-PvP zones affect the existing Reputation system and if so, how?
SunSword	There's no short answer to this question. We will be posting a document on these changes for your feedback soon.
SunSword	Obviously, if there's an area with no PvP, then the title murderer won't neccessarily mean much
SunSword	So there are lots of changes to consider.
Glamdring	*hamlet* with UO:R being released with all the patches available for new accts, established players will have to download the new patches. This can be problematic if an established player has to reinstall. Has anything been set in motion yet to improve patching?
tOAD	We're looking at a way of making patches for brand new installs much smaller
tOAD	We're currently investigating this technology, and we're very optimistic about it.
Glamdring	*Stark* Is one of the things planned in the new monster AI the ability for monsters to move around rocks in pursue of the enemy?
tOAD	yes
tOAD	Certainly improved pathfinding is something that we will be looking at in addition to many other things to make monsters more challenging for PvM and players who aren't necessarily interested in PvP
SunSword	A) I can't answer that.
Glamdring	*orz* I'd like to know if the new housing lands is already on the map or if it will be totally new, like T2A. And in the latter case, won't it be to big to download, thus forcing existing players to buy a new cd
SunSword	I slipped :)
SunSword	A) I can't answer that.
SunSword	B) No it won't be too big.
Glamdring	*Onelist* #2: Is it known whether the 1 house per account will go in BEFORE or after the new housing land is opened, and if before are there plans in effect to allow veteran players to place a large structure in the new lands while still having one or more smalls in the old lands?
SunSword	As for the 1 house per account/per shard rules, it will probably happen during the transition period with the new lands. More on that later. As for allowing veteran players to place first, we will definitely post our plans for housing in the new lands well before it happens for your feedback. I believe we've come up with a good system and look forward to hearing your feedback on it.
Glamdring	*BaudDragon* Are there any open spots on Napa Valley for a house, if not, are you going to make any new spots at all?
SunSword	We're adding more land...if there isn't, that should do it (for a while anyway :) ).
SunSword	maybe a short while :)
Glamdring	*Erin_Cat* How will houses be placed in new lands? With the same rules?
SunSword	I would expect the physical rules for placement to be the same.
Glamdring	*farnik* Will new server hardware be added to each shard to run the new lands? If not, won't server lag increase a lot from the extra item load?
Runesabre	We are taking steps to ensure that server performance remains acceptable after the expansion.
Glamdring	*Dalnor* Will you need t2a to access the new lands? If not... there wont be any t2a monsters in the new lands?
SunSword	No, you won't need t2a;Therefore I expect that those art limitations will apply. We'll let you know if that changes.
Glamdring	*Stark* Roughly what is the ETA on the "UO Renaissance" that was announced? Do you plan to release it in less than 6 months, more, or around that time? Also, I'm assuming you are going to put the 1 house / shard rule in effect before you expand the land, correct?
SunSword	UO:R is roughly on schedule. I can't give you more detail than that. As I said before, the one house per acocunt/per shard rule will take effect at about the same time.
Glamdring	*From the Web Page* Will the housing in the new lands be pre-placed or just a free for all land rush?
SunSword	Probably neither. As I mentioned before, once the design document is ready for public consumption, we'll post it and get your feedback on it.
Glamdring	*chaos23* Will the new PvP/non-PvP zones go into areas already populated, thus forcefully relocating peacefull people from PvP areas, and visa versa?
SunSword	We believe our current plan ensures that players/communities that don't want to be in one area or another will have the opportunity to make that choice. We believe that both sides will be very happy with the result. Watch "In-Concept" for more details as the UO:R fiction continues.
Glamdring	*SerBrightblade* how will current house owners be able to safely upgrade under proposed system of 1 house per account....could there be a transition period of say 24 hours to move all stuff out of old abode?
SunSword	We're currently comparing several designs for secure house transactions and upgrades. This will definitely need to happen given the change of 1 house per account. Once again, we'll post it when it's being actively being developed (soon)
Glamdring	*VrinDrakus* Will the dungeons be expanded, the spawns revamped, unaccessible sections be made accessible, or any other dungeon changes be made as part of the 6 month plan?
SunSword	Because part of the world is going to be non-pvp we are definitely going to examine how we can improve the dungeons to limit "camping" and to make the spawn more enjoyable/challenging. I don't have details now, but look for them soon.
Glamdring	*C_Josh-Pacific* "A new party system will provide players with a vehicle that facilitates group adventuring" By vechicle, do you mean something like a carrige? Is there any way you can explain this in further detail?
SunSword	Umm...no
SunSword	the party system is a "means" for players to more easily adventure together...
SunSword	It is being designed to improve communication and coordination of small groups
SunSword	I've answered that one 3 times.
SunSword	:)
SunSword	"which one"? you're wondering
SunSword	The one about when the one house per account rule goes in :)
Glamdring	*Joshua_Rowan* #2 Will it be possible to recall between the new and old lands or will there be specific 'entrances' like t2a?
SunSword	We're currently working on a system of limited travel. We'll post the details. Obviously it would be uncool if a player could recall when threatened in pvp to the non-pvp area.
SunSword	As usual, more details to come.
Glamdring	that question is actually from the Onelist
Glamdring	*Rain-* This question is for Runesabre.. Earlier you said 'We are taking steps to ensure that server preformance will be acceptable after the expansion.' Im wondering what your idea of Acceptable is? Is it your t3 lines, or the everyday customer with an old 33.6 modem?
Runesabre	Your your play experience from a lag perspective will be as good when we expand the map is it is now.
Glamdring	*From the Web Page* In terms of housing in the new lands, will all new homes placed there have to be small homes only, or will any type of home be allowed?
SunSword	I touched on it before, but I doubt that the new lands wil lbe limited to small houses (the opposite would be more likely). See my comments on a new kind of small house.
SunSword	to everyone who's messaging me, I'm turning full ignore on...sorry, getting too much spam.
Glamdring	*From the Web Page* * Can you please give us a rough estimate on when we can expect these new lands?
SunSword	As I mentioned before, it's roughly on schedule with the original 6 month time frame. We'll let you know if there's a change in that.
Glamdring	*From the Web Page* Where is the Promised Evil...
SunSword	there have already been several events in relationship to the evil I mentioned in my comments
SunSword	If you are not aware of them, I would highly encourage you to consult the town cryer on uo.com
SunSword	Apparently, there are those who wish to do the citizens of Britannia harm in the name of their Mistress...
SunSword	Even now, some cities have been attacked...
Glamdring	*Fred* Won't the monsters decaying / killing themselves after time just create more server stress in areas? Like Covetous level 2, where nobody ever goes? Seems like alot of work for a small positive gain...
SunSword	It's not a lot of stress on the server. So no, it's not a lot of work for small gain. Especially if you've ever seen a moutain covered in birds...
Lord_Pall	its actually almost identical in terms of serverload
Lord_Pall	but the end product is a much more varied bunch of monsters..
Glamdring	I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight. In closing I must state that in losing a bet with Niobe I must admit that the Detroit Redwings rule and are currently in first place. BUT, the Blues are only ONE measly little point behind them and can tie them tonight with a win against Montreal. GO BLUES
Runesabre	Good night Britannia
Niobe	Night, thank you for coming