House of Commons from 2004-07-29

House of Commons from 2004-07-29

Brannoc	Welcome to our 100th House of Commons chat with the developers of Ultima Online! The topic will be the Samurai Empires expansion, so please limit questions to this.
Brannoc	Please send said questions to [QT]Brekkee or [QT]Gowel - to do so type /query NICK and type in the window that pops up. Questions sent to myself or the developers will not make it into the lineup, so don't bother. Full logs of the chat will be up on http://uo.stratics.com shortly after the chat.
Brannoc	So without further ado we'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.
OSI_speedman	Speedman here, programmer on Samurai Empires, and the speediest guy around
Binky_EA	Hello all, Binky ' Online Community Manager here.
Oaks	I'm Oaks, lead designer on the Samurai Empire expansion
Leurocian	I'm Leurocian, Designer for Ultima Online Live
Niobe	I'm Niobe, Designer on the Samurai Empire expansion.
Rugen	I'm Rugen, Samuari Empire programmer guy.
Fertbert	I'm the Live Team lead.
LadyLu	howdy, I'm the associate producer and team lead for Samurai Empire
Zilo	Hi again. I am Zilo, the Event Program Lead
Brannoc	*Brador* I would like to get more info on the guild stone changes that will be coming with the new expansion, specifically if we will be able to do away with the trammel guild war restrictions
Oaks	There are a lot of very cool guild features coming with the expansion, none of which we can explain in detail. We've taken a lot of player feedback from years past (and current)... regarding trammel guild war restrictions, we have not made a final decision on that.
Brannoc	*Voltron* Will the new tameable dragon actually be able to fly?
Fertbert	um, the new dungeons are like NEW and stuff
	* MrTact gives Fertbert his medication *
Niobe	You will not be able to fly on the new dragon - (the name is Hiryu)
Niobe	but you can ride it and it can be a pretty mean guy to take with you into battle
Niobe	the Hiryu's wings are mostly vestigial
Brannoc	*Nerf* Will the new expansion have a place like doom?
LadyLu	And you can tame the Hiryu
OSI_speedman	The new expansion will have several new places to visit and explore, but many of the details are still in limbo.
Oaks	Our new dungeons will be full of monsters, monsters collect fantastic and cool treasure, ... you get the picture.
Brannoc	*Voltron* Will the new ninja and samurai abilities be mage and warrior friendly, or just warrior?
Oaks	They are more geared towards your traditional warrior "class", but there are abilities than any character will want. =)
Brannoc	*Narcissus* Any Word on an EM for Atlantic? Although no one could really replace Nikademus.
Zilo	You're correct Narcissus when you say that no one can replace EM Nikademus, he was awesome. We will however be getting a new Event Moderator for Atlantic. When this new arc of events starts in a couple of weeks, you will see a new face on Atlantic. I will make sure they roam around and say hello first.
Brannoc	*Warder* My question: Do the developers of UO ever regret their decision to ignore and disregard established lore from the Ultima singleplayer series?
Niobe	One the first things we looked at when discussing the expansion was how it tied into the Ultima Lore..
Niobe	There is quite a bit of debate about what is true Ultima fiction and which game started the 'real' fiction.
Niobe	However, a mainstay of Ultima is that it is a vast and complex series of worlds and societies.
EvilMantis	OK, I'm catching grief for not introducing earlier, I'm EvilMantis...programmer on Samurai Empire
Niobe	And even later Ultimas, like Ultima VII had spacecraft in it.
Niobe	So, we did not ignore the lore. We enveloped it and embraced its diversity.
Niobe	:)
Brannoc	*Drahcir* Does the ninja's smoke bombs allow him to walk while hidden? If so, won't this ruin the hiding/stealth skill combination?
OSI_speedman	Smoke bombs basically cause an instant hiding check
OSI_speedman	even in the heat of battle
OSI_speedman	And there are lots of interesting things coming up for stealth
OSI_speedman	It won't ruin the skill combination, it'll enhance it
Brannoc	*Dryzzid* Will the new custom housing additions be asian-based only, will there be any general additions as well? Will the new art work well in conjunction with the current stuff?
	* Leurocian drools over the stealth changes... *
LadyLu	The new housing is heavily Japanese themed. We made some minor/general UI updates to the tool. And the new art *is* designed to work well with current UO art.
MrTact	Plus we are integrating several of the existing roof tile sets in the new roofs tool.
Brannoc	*Richard* Is the EM team going to be involved in bringing about the fiction to introduce the expansion?
LadyLu	(Be prepared for some really cool housing decorations, too!)
Zilo	Yes the events will be geared towards the expansion, and introducing many of the themes and characters. We are also going to step up in the event program, and run 2 per week, per shard soon. Hopefully we can have a central theme going, and then for the other event per week, a shard specific storyline (that may or may not relate to the main theme). It will be an exciting few months.
Brannoc	*Voltron* Will the Hiryu be a tamer only thing, or like the beetle where a tamer will be required to get it, but anyone can own and operate one?
Niobe	There are two versions of Hiryu planned
Niobe	The first is going to take some pretty intense dedication to taming to control the creature
Niobe	The Lesser Hiryu can also be controlled by those dedicated to either the taming or samurai professions.
Brannoc	*wilki24* When can we expect to see some of the lore and fiction surrounding the new expansion appear on uo.com?
Binky_EA	Pretty soon. Probably with in the next month or so.
Brannoc	*Voltron* Will the Honorable Execution ability apply to melee weapons only, and is it going to be effective in PvP? One hit wonder kills tend to upset balances.
OSI_speedman	We've rephrased the Honorable Execution description:
OSI_speedman	An ability with great rewards if the enemy is eliminated with your next melee attack, but severe penalties upon failure.
OSI_speedman	It's NOT a one-hit kill
OSI_speedman	It's a "finishing move" so to speak
OSI_speedman	So you use it if you think you can kill your enemy with the next hit
OSI_speedman	It will be useable in PvP
Brannoc	*Iocus* Question: Will honor play any role with the samurai?
EvilMantis	Samurai are certainly an honorable class, I would think they would also act honorably
Brannoc	*Drahcir* Is there any new 2D art planned? I don't mean to insult anyone, but the 3D art that seems pasted into the 2D client doesn't fit.
MrTact	Well the art wasn't running inside the client when we had to create those visuals for the EA press event.
MrTact	They look a lot better now :-)
Brannoc	*Swang* Might there be any changes to wrestling in the expansion, such as enhancements making it a true fighting style?
MrTact	There is some unannounced stuff that interacts with wrestling -- not to the degree you suggest.
MrTact	We will talk more about it when it's, um, announced.
MrTact	Whoops
MrTact	I lied.
MrTact	The entire team just threw stuff at me.
MrTact	Apparently that has changed since last I was aware of it. Sorry.
Brannoc	*Nos* What will the required taming level be for the new creature, the Hiryu?
Oaks	It'll be higher than a dragon. =)
Brannoc	*Salt_FoamBreaker* Question, will ships be allowed in the sea between the islands?
OSI_speedman	Hmm.
OSI_speedman	Sure, why not
OSI_speedman	Actually yes, they are allowed in the Takuno Islands facet
	* Leurocian is pleased to here about the boats being allowed in the seas! *
Brannoc	*wilki24* Question From CitizenKane in Uhall: Is there any news about the lack of EM events on the Formosa shard?
LadyLu	I think you mean Tokuno Islands ;)
OSI_speedman	um, yeah... can't spell. sorry :)
Zilo	Formosa, along with Arirang and Balhae have had less events than the NA and European shards. We are finalizing details to kick off a separate event program for those 3 shards. It will start in August.
Brannoc	*Tal_is_Working* Unified PvP was highlighted in February PR release regarding SE, but nothing has been mentioned since then. Is it still on the boards?
LadyLu	Unfortunately, unified PVP is not on the boards for Samurai Empire.
Brannoc	*Brador* when will we start seeing details of the new features of the expansion?
Binky_EA	We will be launching an official site around the end of August with details and all the juicy info and fiction you could ever want. And also keep an eye out for some contests coming up on uo.com.
Brannoc	*Tal_is_Working* We know there will be the two new profession in SE, but should we expect to see any new item properties as well for magical armor/weapons/jewelry?
MrTact	No new item properties in the expansion.
Oaks	Except for the property: "Being Totally Sweet"
Brannoc	*Voltron* Will the new ninja and samurai abilities work in conjunction with necro and chivalry? Can I have a samuninjanecrodin?
Oaks	The new skills don't specifically prevent you from using our exising skills like Magery, Chivalry or Taming, but you'll still be limited by your total skill points.
Binky_EA	Just wanted to remind those of you within driving distance of San Francisco. This coming Monday we will be having an Ultima MeetUp, check uo.com for more details.
Brannoc	*Caelan* Will the Samurai and Ninja professions be available via the advanced character system?
LadyLu	We haven't decided yet.
Brannoc	*Salt_FoamBreaker* Question: Will reds be allowed in the new land (I assume without PvP)?
MrTact	Tokuno will be a Trammel ruleset facet.
Brannoc	*Voltron* I meant will they possibly compliment each other. Right now it is not very feasible to have a character with necromancy AND chivalry. Will it be feasible to have a ninja with necromancy or a samurai with chivalry?
Oaks	Yes they will. There are several interesting templates that will come out of the new skills. Ninja Mage, Ninja Tamer, Samurai Paladin, ... =)
MrTact	Ninja Gardener . . .
	* Leurocian wonders about the possibility of a Ninja Bard *
Brannoc	Ok folks, that's it for this one! Thanks for joining us, the logs will be up shortly on http://uo.stratics.com
Binky_EA	MeetUp! Dont forget!
OSI_speedman	Bye all!
LadyLu	Please stay tuned, we'll be releasing more info soon. Thanks!
Oaks	Tokuno Matada everyone!
OSI_speedman	Thanks for coming!
Niobe	Bye! Thanks everyone!
	* Sienna waves to all the Aussies! *
Lev	bye!!
Binky_EA	Bye everyone, thanks for hanging out with us!
	* Niobe stealths away *
Leurocian	Y'all come back now! You hear?
EvilMantis	See ya!
Rugen	Chao!