Posted to uoherald.com's Five on Friday:

FoF: Fiddly Bits
Jeremy Dalberg
29 Feb 2008 13:39:03

Join us this week as we dig into accuracy calculations, enhancing, perfection, and more! And don't forget - the Jacksonville Town Hall is tomorrow!

"Why do I seem to miss so often when using Archery?"

I've seen several variations on this question, so Leurocian scoured the accuracy code for me, and we did not find anything that would specifically affect Archery accuracy (with one exception, covered below.) Accuracy in general is a fairly complex topic with many variables, so it's a tricky thing to test at the best of times. Here's an explanation of the different factors - if anyone sees any results that aren't consistent with this, please let us know!

Attacker's stats: Weapon skill and Hit Chance Increase are the stats the formula uses on the attacker's side. HCI is increased by HCI items and decreased by the defender's Hit Lower Attack, if any.

Defender's stats: Weapon skill and Defense Chance Increase are the stats the formula uses on the defender's side. DCI is increased by DCI items and decreased by the attacker's Hit Lower Defense, if any. (Exception below.)

Barehanded defense: If the defender is not using a weapon, "weapon skill" will be EITHER Wrestling skill OR (Anatomy + Evaluating Intelligence + 20) / 2; whichever is greater (which means that if you have none of these skills and are barehanded, you'll have a functional weapon skill of 10.)

Mage Weapons and Use Best Weapon Skill: UBWS uses whichever weapon skill is highest, and Mage Weapons use Magery (with whatever penalties listed on the weapon) assuming it's higher than the appropriate weapon skill for that weapon.

The minimum chance to hit is always at least 2%. If both attacker and defender have the same weapon skill and HCI/DCI, the chance to hit is 50%.

But wait, there's more!

Attacks can be parried or evaded - those are completely different calculations that happen after the hit chance is calculated. If you're trying to track your accuracy, make sure you're taking parried or evaded attacks into account.

Archery has one more caveat - if you move, it resets the swing cycle. There's only one place where this might break the swing - between the "swing" and the "hit" calculations - and we couldn't make it break in a few minutes of testing, but it's possible that a move could break the swing and it would look exactly like a miss, when in fact the attack was simply aborted. Archers, hold still!

The actual formula is conveniently listed in the question below!

"The formula for Hit Chance on Stratics is: Hit Chance% = ( ( [Attacker's Combat Ability + 20] * [100% + Attacker's Hit Chance Increase] ) divided by ( [Defender's Combat Ability + 20] * [100% + Defender's Defense Chance Increase] * 2 ) ) * 100

Does HLD lower the defender's combat ability by 25%? Does HLA lower the attacker's combat ability by 25%? Or are both applied to the DCI and HCI portion of the calculation?"

HLA/HLD are directly applied to the HCI/DCI portion of the equation - when the HLA/HLD effect goes off, it reduces HCI or DCI by 25 (and yes, it can make that value negative.)

"Is the change of colored ore spawning a straight 100% calculation or is it 50/50 to be colored and then a second roll for the type of ore?"

Each ore type has a different percentage chance to be chosen, but it is a single random roll.

"Is there any difference in the success chance between enhancing wooden items or leather and metal?"

Not necessarily - success chance is actually a function of the intensity of the properties you're changing and the number of properties on the item, not which skill you're using. Of course enhancing armor with gold, which affects six properties (bonuses to four resists, luck, and lower requirements) is, in general, more likely to fail than enhancing a weapon with bloodwood, which only affects two (hit point regeneration and hit life leech,) but if that weapon already has near-max intensity on either of those properties, or has several other properties, it may have a smaller chance of success.

In short, while determining the actual success chance of enhancing is complicated and depends on several variables, all the crafting skills use the same formula.

"Why does perfection, step 9, always return the same or less damage than step 8? I have verified this over a run of 200 honors, and step 9 is ALWAYS less than or equal to step 8."

There are a couple of things happening here - first of all, the size of the damage bonus increase is dependant on your Bushido skill. Second, it's capped at 100%. Third, it's a percentage boost to your damage, so the total damage is dependant on the base damage of your weapon, which is variable.

With Legendary Bushido, you'll be at a 96% damage bonus at step 8, and you'll hit the cap of 100% bonus at step 9 - with only a 4% increase, the extra damage will likely get lost in rounding even if your base swing is the same (decimals get truncated, so the base damage would have to be at least 25 to see even a 1-point increase.) And weapons have a variable damage per swing - it's a random roll within a range - so it's absolutely possible for your actual damage to drop.

Playguide Update Roundup:

No Playguide updates this week, but more are on the way once I'm back in the office next week.

What's To Come:

A few more confirmed bug fixes for the next publish:

Greater dragons are visibly named "Greater dragons"

Fixed a couple of worldbuilding trouble spots (places where folks would get stuck - one in Wrong, one in Magincia.)

Made several fixes that we ain't telling you about until they're live on all shards ;)

Jacksonville Town Hall

The Jacksonville Town Hall is tomorrow! Looking forward to seeing all of you there!

For our mid-Atlantic players, the May Town Hall meeting is also posted - you can get details on the Town Hall Page and RSVP for that one as well. If you're in the neighborhood, don't miss out!

Heading out to Jacksonville now - if I don't see you, have a great weekend!

Jeremy

• Greater dragons are visibly named "Greater dragons"
• Fixed a couple of worldbuilding trouble spots (places where folks would get stuck - one in Wrong, one in Magincia.)
• Made several fixes that we ain't telling you about until they're live on all shards

- Jeremy

The Revitalization Of Luna

For many months now, Luna has been a mostly quiet place, with merchants' houses sitting empty, idle. Shopping was a painful task; finding what you needed difficult.

Recently, though, something has changed ...

Some shops have traded hands, and others have re-opened their doors to renters with wares to sell. Even as the homes of those branded traitors burn in silent warning, a walk around the city shows new vendors cropping up everywhere.

Today, in the northwest quadrant of the city, there is a bustle of activity with the re-opening of Joanna of PvB's shop. The spaces are filling up quickly and a large variety of goods is available - there seems to be something for everyone!

Turning the corner and heading east you come across the Grand Opening of Nabin's newest house, The Fire Robe Vendor House. Here you can find armor of all sorts, artifacts, and supplies, as well as a few other interesting and useful good.

Right next door to the east, Shop Til You Drop has opened for business, stocking Peerless Ingredients, recipes, repair deed and more. While it is a mere open aired dirt plot, the goods available make it worth a stop.

Into the northeast quadrant, the Imperial Fortress of BDE has began stocking with tokens and a few other high end items. While the vendors here are still a bit scant, there is hope that they will be fully stocked soon.

Directly in the northeast corner of town, there has been alot of new activity, with the opening of Mudd's Market selling many different weapons and armors, as well as most artifacts imaginable. Tucked away right in the corner you will find the newly revitalized Vendor House selling nearly everything imaginable and often renting out new spots at very afordable prices.

Turning the corner and moving south you see that The Foundry has re-opened its doors to business. While today shows many of the vendors on the steps sold out of items, inside you find newly stocked vendors selling wares of all sort.

Moving into the southeast quadrant, again many new vendors are found. Here you find that Joanna has re-opened the PvB Vendor Mall & Auction House. While there is only a single vendor here at this time, I am told that we can expect to see more in the coming weeks. Across the way is The Happy Rose, owned by Acacia Rose with many interesting goodies for sale.

Tucked deep in the corner, and easy to miss if you are not looking for it, is an unnamed shop selling quite a few items including high-end rubble and ingredients, Marks of Travesty and even a Crimson Cincture. Right next door, Vampy's Garden Party Vendors is seeing a new flow of goods, with Runic Hammers, whole sets of resist armor and even some Powder of Fortifying and Pet Balls.

To the west, Medieval Merchants is slowly coming to life selling armor.

Finally, in the southwest, next to the burning rubble of the house of a traitor, you can find Dawn's Vendors, where many crafted goods are to be had.

Yes, it definitely appears that Luna is coming back to life! Perhaps this is only a snapshot of what is happening in the fine Napa Valley ... having seen with sadness the fall of too many homes, we can hope that new friends are arriving and that old friends are coming home.

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

FATE Auction

Date:  Wednesday, February 27th

Time:  6:45 CST

Location:  Road West of Umbra by Orc Fort

Contact:  Dosa Ravengard - ICQ 302871673

YGV Auction

Date:  Thursday, February 28st

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

BEC Auction

Date:  Friday, February 29th

Time:  8:00 pm CST

Location:  BEC Auction House - South of Luna

Contact:  Lady Tia - ICQ 23944805

The Phoenix Rises (by Cat Crimson)

It started as a whisper... a quiet voice... a few words dropped here and there, about the emptiness of the Moonglow Royal Britannian Zoo on Drachenfels. Newly returned to the lands of Sosaria after long weary journeyings elsewhere, I decided to see for myself. A nice leisurely stroll from the moongate to stretch my legs was just what I needed. Cuffing the odd cheeky anklebiting mongbat out of the way, I arrived and wandered about to find that the rumours were true... the Zoo was empty and desolate. Not an animal to be seen. Only bare pens, ornately engraved but fading plaques describing the long forgotten occupants and the sound of the wind ruffling the nearby trees.

It might have stayed this way forever... except for a few hardy souls who were determined to revive the Zoo, not to let it be a parable for Drachenfels' supposed deadness. After a little hesitation, I joined them, knowing there was not much I could do to help but that even a little time and money was worthwhile in a joint effort. There were indeed some enticing gifts to be had for those that accumulated enough points but the real reward would be seeing the Zoo filling up again once more.

As the days went on, I saw more and more people come and go, donating money or stray animals to the cause. The word was spreading, through many different and mysterious ways - including the hundreds of runes Lady Jessica Goldfox dropped throughout Sosaria during her tireless taming sessions. There were some incredibly generous donations, some from old friends, some from new, and some from strangers who we did not even get a chance to find out who they were. The sight, sounds and even *coughcough* the smells of the varied species of returning occupants were a joy to the senses.

Not only was the Royal Zoo coming back to life, but there was so much pleasure to be found in the people that hurried to and for helping. More congenial conversation in a few days than I have had in Sosaria in many a long year. People from all kinds of places speaking different languages but all giving unstintingly of their time and their money. Assistance, advice, laughter and kindnesses exchanged left right and centre. The sadness I had felt at returning to these lands and seeing so many places I knew altered or people gone began to lift.

I was also highly amused at the response from my unicorn when I pondered aloud as to why so many animals who often prove too haughty or unwilling or downright aggrieved when us feeble mortals try to persuade them to share our lives, were so meekly agreeing to trot along in such great numbers to the Zoo. She let out a noise that was halfway between a silvery snort and a choking laugh, and whispered in my ear that the blue box at the Zoo, unbeknownst to the taming populace, acted not only as a collection for gold but as a magical transporter for animals, birds and reptiles - once "transferred" to the box, they were teleported exactly back to where they came from and therefore had no fear in stepping up to it when taken there... she knew she could trust me with this great secret... As I would not tell the other humans... OOPS! Sorry, Feste!

But the best was yet to come. Late Wednesday night, I arrived at the Zoo wearily leading yet another secretly snickering unicorn up to the blue box… I could not believe my eyes... 13'795'103 points... Tier 11! My mouth fell agape wider than any village idiot's... I rushed inside... yes... there was the Sphynx... and best of all... the Silver Steed! I could hardly see this rare and beautiful creature for the tears running down my face.

Later I found out that this amazing creature was there due to the generosity of one André von Saxon, who donated all his hard and honestly earned cash partly as a gesture against those of dubious honesty in our lands whose greed eats away at our community and economy, partly as a devoted tribute to someone very dear to him. Thank you Adam Randall for not only telling us of your friend but also your own contribution and your spreading the word about the Zoo across other worlds. Thank you EVERYONE for helping, whether it be with a couple of wolves or a handful of loose change or with hours of taming and millions of gold donated, to all of you with great hearts and deep pockets. From 0 – Tier 11 in less than two weeks, and to be Number One in the Madam Tina Small’s Zoo point by Shard scroll, is a wonderful achievement, but from a shard that has a smaller population and has been derisively called “ dead “, it is outstanding. Let us keep not only the Zoo collection but the community spirit going!

~ Cat Crimson

*

Der Phoenix aus der Asche (von Cat Crimson)

Es begann mit einem Flüstern... einer leisen Stimme... wenige Worte hier und da, die die Leere im königlichen Zoo von Moonglow auf Drachenfels beschrieben. Erst kürzlich zurückgekehrt von einer langen anspruchsvollen Reise, die mich müde und abgekämpft werden liessen, wollte ich dies mit eigenen Augen sehen. Eine erholsame Pause um meine müden Beine zu strecken war genau das, was ich brauchte. Ich schubste den aufdringlichen Mongbat aus dem Weg, der sich mir anschliessen wollte, als ich beim Zoogelände ankam - es lag trostlos leer und verlassen da. Kein Tier war zu sehen. Nur nackte Käfige mit Schildern, auf denen die einst vielbestaunten Bewohner beschrieben waren, während der Wind die Blätter in den nahestehenden Bäumen leise umwehte.

Es hätte auf immer so sein können... wären da nicht ein paar wenige ausdauernde Seelen gewesen die den Zoo wiederbeleben wollten, um die Gerüchte, die sich um Drachenfels' Leblosigkeit rankten, zu zerstreuen. Nach kurzem Zögern schloss ich mich ihnen an, in vollem Wissen, dass ich selbst nicht allzuviel ausrichten konnte, aber dennoch mit ein wenig Zeit und Gold meinen Teil beitragen wollte. Für die Anstrengungen lockten verführerische Belohnungen, aber die grösste der Belohnung war für die Teilnehmer wohl im Zoo wiedereinmal volle Käfige betrachten zu können.

Die Tage vergingen und ich sah mehr und mehr Leute beim Zoo vorbeikommen, die Gold spendeten oder Tiere für den guten Zweck vorbeibrachten. Die Kunde vom Einsatz für die königlichen zoologischen Anlagen hatte sich verbreitet, wie immer auf mysteriöse und geheimnisvolle Art. Hunderte von Runen hatte Lady Jessica Goldfox in Sosaria ausgelegt, während sie gleichzeitig stundenlang Tiere zähmte. Es gab unglaublich grosszügige Spenden, zum Teil von alten Freunden, aber auch neuen - und natürlich diverse von anonymen, leider unbekannten Spendern. Das Betrachten, die Geräusche und sogar *husthüstel* die Gerüche der neu im Zoo eingetroffenen Spezies waren eine helle Freude für all unsere Sinne.

Der Zoo war zurück ins Leben gerufen worden und es war einfach nur grossartig, bei diesem Vergnügen mit dabeizusein. Die dabei entstandenen Gespräche waren allesamt von sehr sympathischem Charakter, mehr als ich in manchem langen Jahr in Sosaria erfahren hatte. Leute aus allen Schichten, Leute mit verschiedenen Sprachen schlossen sich zusammen und stifteten grosszügigst Zeit und Gold. Unterstützung, Ratschläge, Lachen und Güte wurden rechts und links ausgetauscht. Die Traurigkeit die ich gefühlt hatte, als ich in die Länder zurückkehrte, und sah, wie Land und Leute sich verändert hatten, begann von mir zu weichen.

Ich amüsierte mich ebenfalls königlich, als ich die Antwort von einem meiner gezähmten Einhörner erhielt, als ich, in Gedanken versunken, mich wunderte, warum sich die Tiere oftmals stolz und unwillig gaben, wenn wir schwachen Sterblichen versuchten, sie zum Mitkommen zu bewegen - hin zum Zoo sie dies aber ohne zu Murren auch taten. Das Einhorn schnaubte in einer Mischung von silberfarbenen Schnaufen und einem fröhlichen Lachen, und verriet mir, dass die blaue Box im Zoo nicht nur zur Sammlung für Gold gedacht war, sondern auch als eine Art Transporter für die abgegebenen Tiere fungierte: Wurden die Tiere dort eingelöst, kamen sie augenblicklich an den Ort ihrer Geburt zurück, weshalb sie diese Reise nicht zu fürchten brauchten. Das Tier wusste, dass es mir dieses grosse Geheimnis anvertrauen konnte, und dass ich es meinen humanoiden Zeitgenossen nicht verraten würde... OOPS! Sorry, Feste!

Aber das Beste stand uns noch bevor. Am späten Mittwochabend als ich am Zoo mit einem weiteren zahmen Einhorn ankam und zur blauen Box lief, konnte ich meinen Augen fast nicht trauen: 13'795'103 Punkte, Stufe 11! Meine Kinnlade klappte herunter und in diesem Moment muss ich wie der grösste Dorftrottel vom Donner gerührt dort gestanden haben... ich rannte zu den inneren Gehegen... ja... dort war die Sphinx... und das Beste von allem... das silberne Pferd! Ich konnte dieses wundervolle Geschöpf kaum sehen, denn die Freudentränen rannen mir in Bächen über die Wangen.

Später erfuhr ich, dass dieses fantastische Wesen auch dank der Grosszügigkeit von André von Saxon dort war. Er hatte all sein hart und ehrlich erworbenes Gold gespendet, als Zeichen für jemand ganz Besonderen, und auch als Zeichen gegen diejenigen, die in unserem Land mit dubioser Energie zugange waren und täglich dem gemeinschaftlichen Zusammenhalt und der Wirtschaft auf Drachenfels ein Bein zu stellen versuchten. Ein Dank sei auch Adam Randall ausgesprochen, nicht nur für die Geschichte über deinen Freund, sondern auch für deine eigene Mitarbeit um dem Zoo wieder zum Leben zu verhelfen. Ein weiteres Dankeschön gilt natürlich JEDERMANN da draussen, der/die tatkräftig mitgeholfen hat, ob mit ein paar Wölfen oder mit dem restlichen Taschengeld oder mit stundenlangem Zähmen - einfach an alle mit grossem Herzen und tiefen Taschen. Von Stufe 0 bis Stufe 11 in weniger als zwei Wochen und zur Nummer eins in Madam Tina Small's Zoo-Datensammlung - das ist eine wundervolle Leistung! Und dies auf einem Shard, der nur eine kleine Population aufweist und der gerne wiedermal als "tot" bezeichnet wird.

Lasst uns nicht nur den Zoo sondern auch den Gemeinschaftsgedanken wiederbeleben!

~ Cat Crimson (translation by Medea)

The Moonglow Royal Zoo, as it was one year ago (06/02/03), and is again today
Der königliche Moonglow Zoo, vor einem Jahr (03.02.06), und aktueller Stand heute

• Jacksonville, FL - next weekend
• Rockville, MD - May 10
• San Diego, CA - summer
• Seattle, WA - later summer
• Austin, TX - fall
• Chicago, IL - winter

• Weapons should no longer lose properties when runic- or exceptionally-crafted. This should apply to everything, including ML recipe weapons
• ML recipe bows will be able to be exceptionally crafted and get the Arms Lore bonus as well
• Greater Dragons will give scales and barbed leather
• Armor that doesn't have a meditation penalty - like leather armor - won't lose properties when runic-crafted
• Runic-crafted elven armor won't roll Night Sight as a property
• Parasitic, Darkglow, and Invisibility potions can be placed into kegs

- Jeremy

"Crazy Carrie didn't even know she had kids, let alone grandkids...."

Thanks to Charlie for sending this is to us!

An image of the note that was received

It is unknown to whom the note was addressed to or for whom it was meant to be delivered, or how it managed to be delivered in the first place. Se'an told me he has met Lady Hester, but does not know her well, so he thinks it unlikely that the letter was intended to be delivered to him. *CH* is a PaxOku guild, though, so perhaps it was meant to be delivered to someone else in the city. That may be the best place for those interested in helping her to look.

More details will be posted as they become known.

Posted to uoherald.com's Five on Friday:

FoF: Asked and Answered
Jeremy Dalberg
22 Feb 2008 17:14:44

Another round of questions out of the feedback pile, plus a slew of Playguide updates and a QA-tested sneak peek at the next publish!

"While Discorded, do your skills gain as if you were your actual skill level or the level that your skill drops to?"

Your Discorded skill level is used to calculate your skill gain chance - so for difficulty-based skills, you can gain skill by using abilities or spells that would normally be too easy. This isn't capped at all. There's an explanation of difficulty-based skills Here - keep in mind that moderately difficult (50% success rate or so) abilities have the best chance to earn you skill gains.

"How do you recharge the Jacob's Pickaxe when it says Uses Remaining : 0?"

Wait! It recharges uses over time - one charge every 5 minutes. You don't have to be logged in to recharge it, although it may take a few minutes to "catch up." (It also will only recharge to its max of 20 charges.)

"Are there tameables that have skills that don't appear on the Animal Lore gump? If so, which ones are they and what skills do they have that we can't see? Any chance you guys can add these skills to the Animal Lore gump?"

Leurocian says,

"Yes - Parry and Lumberjacking immediately come to mind. It would be nice at some point to revamp the Animal Lore gump to include more information. No promises!"

(The fact that there can be "invisible" skills is why it's impossible to calculate the barding difficulty by hand, and why Animal Lore does it for you. We don't have a convenient way to look up every possible critter, but revamping the gump has gone on my Nag List :) )

"How, exactly, does the talisman bonus % to success and exceptional work?"

It's additive - so if you have a 50% chance of success (or exceptional) and put on a +25% talisman, you'd have a 75% chance of success (or exceptional.)

The altered percentage should be displayed in the crafting menu - however, if you are looking at an item's page and you add or remove a talisman, you will have to refresh the page (by going back to the main menu or closing/reopening the window) in order to see the change.

"Where are the other Town Halls going to be this year?"

I'll have specific dates and locations as we get confirmation, but here's the broad overview:

Jacksonville, FL - next weekend

Rockville, MD - May 10

San Diego, CA - summer

Seattle, WA - later summer

Austin, TX - fall

Chicago, IL - winter

Playguide Update Roundup:

Got the equipment info in slightly better shape, and I'm working my way through old publish notes - slowly, but surely!

Item Properties : Rewrote the Mana and Life Leech bits several times - they may even be accurate now.

Runic Properties : Edited explanatory text to match new intensity changes.

Sheilds : Brought back this page, added strength requirement, and rewrote the text to be accurate post-AoS.

Armor : Added SE and Elven base armor set details. (Note - haven't added the new helms yet.)

Artifacts : Redesigned page to accomodate future updates - if you haven't seen the artifact screenshot Submission Request , go check it out!

Seige Perilous : Added Siege Blessing info

Damage Types : Added a brief note on direct damage.

Skill and Stat Caps : Added individual stat caps.

Necromancy : Clarified Vampiric Embrace life drain, added correct duration and damage for Poison Strike.

Ninjitsu : Added melee-only restriction to Ki Attack.

Spellweaving : Corrected Word of Death's damage type.

Bushido : Added Honorable Execution not applying to PvP and weapon skill bonus for Evasion duration.

What's To Come:

I've got a list of confirmed bug fixes for the next publish back from QA - we're still a couple weeks out from getting it to test, but here's what's done so far:

Weapons should no longer lose properties when runic- or exceptionally-crafted. This should apply to everything, including ML recipe weapons

ML recipe bows will be able to be exceptionally crafted and get the Arms Lore bonus as well

Greater Dragons will give scales and barbed leather

Armor that doesn't have a meditation penalty - like leather armor - won't lose properties when runic-crafted

Runic-crafted elven armor won't roll Night Sight as a property

Parasitic, Darkglow, and Invisibility potions can be placed into kegs

Jacksonville Town Hall

The Jacksonville Town Hall is next weekend! If you haven't RSVPed yet, now would be an excellent time to do so.

For our mid-Atlantic players, the May Town Hall meeting is also posted - you can get details on the TownHall Page and RSVP for that one as well. If you're in the neighborhood, don't miss out!

Next week's Five on Friday will probably be on Thursday, as I'm flying to Jacksonville Friday night. Have a good week, folks!

Jeremy

Last Wednesday, we had the pleasure to meet Adida and her advertised Scavenger Hunt (for Valentines Day). It was a short event, but none the less a welcome distraction from the daily life on Drachenfels. The rules were different than before because there was some confusion about items and participants earlier on other shards. Adida managed it very well, and after thirty minutes and a second draw for a last winner - four were chosen in the first round already - she announced the winners on Drachenfels (in no particular order): Nina Luna, Rob Woodcraft, New Frarc, Fiona and Ronja. Each winner received a blessed Rose with a special title ("2008 Valentine Hunt Champion"). It was short fun, hopefully more coming soon to our shards!

Adida appears and the crowd is cheering - Scavenger hunt time!
Adida erscheint und die Leute freuen sich auf die bevorstehende Schnitzeljagd!

Everybody is listening to the game-rules
Die Regeln werden vorgelesen, jedermann hört gebannt zu

Letzten Mittwoch durften wir Adida und ihre angekündigte Schnitzeljagd (zum vergangenen Valentins Tag) begrüssen. Es war ein kurzer Event, aber nichtsdesto trotz eine willkomme Ablenkung vom täglichen Leben auf Drachenfels. Die Regeln wurden im Vorfeld geändert weil es vorher auf anderen Shards zu Verwirrungen betreffend den Items bzw. der Teilnehmer kam. Adida hatte die Sache gut im Griff, und nach rund einer halben Stunde und einem zweiten Durchgang nach dem letzten Gewinner - die restlichen vier wurden bereits in der ersten Runde ermittelt - konnte sie die Gewinner auf Drachenfels bekanntgeben (in zufälliger Reihenfolge): Nina Luna, Rob Woodcraft, New Frarc, Fiona und Ronja. Jeder Gewinner erhielt eine geblesste Rose mit einem speziellen Titel ("2008 Valentine Hunt Champion"). Es war ein kurzes Vergnügen, aber weitere werden hoffentlich bald auf unseren Shards folgen!

After ten Minutes, the submission chest appears for the first time
Nach rund zehn Minuten erscheint die Kiste zur Abgabe der Items das erste Mal

Adida is leaving us with pink bunnies and a flaming pink heart!
Adida verabschiedet sich mit pinkfarbenen Hasen und einem riesigen Feuer-Herz!

Farewell, auf bald!
~ Medea

We have received this news item from Nick Yee at the Daedalus Project which collects information and responses from the gaming community for purposes of tracking the virtual world and looking at the psychology, culture, and outlook of individuals who play online. Its an exciting project with fascinating stories and surveys! Here is the announcement of the latest issue.

The Daedalus Project: New Findings and Surveys

The Daedalus Project (http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus) is an ongoing online survey study of MMORPG players that has surveyed over 40,000 players. Some highlights of the current issue's findings:

• Are short people more likely to make tall avatars? Who prefers to be an Elf and who prefers to be an old dwarf? In this article, we'll take a look at the intersection of physical bodies and virtual bodies: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001613.php


• Can MMOs be therapeutic? In this article, we'll take a look at the many different ways in which people use MMOs as a coping mechanism and consider how MMOs provide an outlet for many psychological stressors. We'll also explore both positive and negative consequences of doing so, and in particular discuss the gray area between therapy and dependency: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001610.php


• What happens when people who know each other face-to-face reverse roles when they play an MMO together? Do these reversals change their face-to-face relationship in any way? In this article, we'll consider perspectives from friends, romantic partners, parent-children pairs, and boss-employee pairs: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001611.php

All this and more at The Daedalus Project.

Scavengers from every corner of the realm gathered earlier this evening at the magnificently redesigned
Yew Waterfall Garden in anticipation of the Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt. Mixed reviews
had reached us from other shards, but ever optimistic, the citizens of Pacific
showed up in droves for their chance at the coveted prize.


It was a beautiful day as I made my way by boat to the Waterfall garden. Despite my
narcoleptic tillerman's uncanny ability to run my boat aground every chance he gets,
we made it in one piece... aside from a slight incident with a rock in the river,
that is. I disembarked and secured the News Cruiser as my tillerman
nodded off once more, oblivious to the roaring falls nearby.


It was not long before seats filled up and it became standing room only.
Right on time, our host Adida appeared from the ether and announced the rules.
The next thing I knew, a chest had materialized on the dais next to Adida
and a mad rush for the contest books ensued.


For a chance at one of only five 2008 Valentine Hunt Champion roses,
the list proved quite easy to accomplish. I quickly calculated that
Britain would be an ideal location to find all but one of the items required.


Once I recalled to the abnormally quiet streets of Britain, I shifted into the swifter form of a wolf
and darted in and out of various establishments across the City of Compassion.


For the large vase, the last of the items on my list, let's just say
I called in a favor and err... "borrowed" one from an old friend...




I scurried back to the Waterfall Garden and found Adida explaining the way it would work.
Not on the platform, you say? I started pacing around, eyes peeled for the drop.


Which ended up all of a few feet away...
As you can see, several people were none too happy about missing their chance.


Congratulations to the winners! And check out the fancy gear on Adida!


As swiftly as she had come, Adida bid us all adieu but not without her trademark
sense of style in a dazzling display of pink and purple explosions.


And a gift of pink bunnies!


There's always one, isn't there? Squire of Light, indeed!

-Ryan "Sheridan" Smith.

Tonight we had the pleasure of Adida visiting our new picnic area to host a scavenger hunt.

I myself, never having the chance to hunt Scavengers, was very excited for the danger that was sure to come with this hunt of a new creature. Adida was carrying her Boomstick and wearing a Cloak of Invisibility so for sure this would be dangerous. I was excited to see this beast they called "Scavenger".

Adida then gave us directions explaining that we would be given a bag with 2 books. One book would tell us what items to collect and the other we would sign with our name.

The first 5 people to bring back the items would win the trophy.

2008 Valentine Hunt Champion Engraved on the vase.

I was perplexed at this but thought these items must be needed to conjour this beast called Scavenger.

There was a nice crowd in attendance when Adida announced the winners.

Stryder , Muse DeDannan , Viola , Dametri , and myself Paul Harvey.

I was given a trophy but alas I didn't get to see the elusive creature they called Scavenger. . . .

Congo Rats to the winners !! ! !

This has been Paul Harvey

Goood Day!

Today at 4pm EST, the 'Romantic Garden' at the waterfall north of the Shrine of Justice was the site of a Valentine Scavenger hunt held by the mysterious Adida. Many eager citizens gathered around the gazebo long before the event was scheduled to begin, waiting for her arrival.

Slightly after 4pm, a woman dressed in pink appeared astride a hot-pink steed. Upon closer inspection of her clothing, I noticed she was wearing a Cloak of Invisibility and Boots of Escaping…most unusual attire. Adida introduced herself and told those gathered about the Scavenger Hunt. She then plunked down a garish pink chest filled with bright pink bags. Everyone was instructed to take a bag and follow the instructions listed in the red book inside.

The chest was quickly swarmed, and the bags snatched up. Travel spells were hurriedly cast as people raced off to gather the requested items - For only five people would win this day. The items we were asked to gather were quite mundane, and easily attainable. Adida wanted: a harp, a lute, a diamond, a bow, and a slice of bacon. We were to place these 5 items along with a signed book into the bag and return them to a 'Submissions Chest'.

I quickly gathered these things from merchants in Britain and raced back to the garden. After a few minutes the Submission Chest appeared, and was hastily swarmed. Alas, the chest would not accept our submissions. Adida determined the culprit was the magic linking the chest to the books, and thus a new list was swiftly created and we were off once again. As before, she wanted five items: a pen and ink, a bottle of wine, a pan of cookies, a slice of bacon, and a book of poetry.

Once more, Britain was my destination of choice and I gathered all the items and returned to the garden. Another mad dash for the Submission Chest ensued, and this time people were able to submit their bags. Unfortunately, those who followed the instructions in the list book perfectly were unable to submit their bags, as the chest wanted the original list as well! (The book explicitly stated the bag should only contain your 5 items and a signed book) Several people voiced their dissatisfaction as Adida verified the contents of the five bags submitted.

Fortunately for those paying close attention, Adida announced that two of the bags were duplicates from certain people and the Submissions chest was plunked down once more. I darted for it and managed to drop my bag in first. After another verification process, Adida announced the winners. Each winner received a rare pink rose in a vase engraved with "2008 Valentine Hunt Champion."

Adida thanked us all from coming to participate in the hunt, and bade us farewell by summoning a herd of pink bunnies before disappearing from sight.

Lucian Starfire Geepers Zartan Liesha Martyna Z'muir

Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria

Posted to uoherald.com:

All Shards to be Published
Jeremy Dalberg
19 Feb 2008 17:21:05

All shards will be published with the following during thier next regular maintenance:

Salvage Bags should now return the correct amount of leather and cloth

Fixed an exploit

Posted to uoherald.com:

2D Client vers. 6.0.6.1
Jeremy Dalberg
19 Feb 2008 13:26:35

At 1:30PM EST (6:30PM GMT) the 2D client will be updated to version 6.0.1.6. Notes after the jump:

Fixed an issue that could cause rubberbanding and/or movement lag

Posted to uoherald.com:

Get Your Name In Links!
Jeremy Dalberg
19 Feb 2008 11:48:13

In my quest to update the Playguide, I discovered that the images on the Artifacts Page are out-of-date - we've changed how we display Swing Speed, among other things. So I need new pictures! Want to help? Details below the jump:

need pictures in the same format as the current ones ( example 1, example 2 ) Here are the specs:

640 x 480 resolution

jpeg format

Image of the item on a paperdoll (KR or 2d - either is fine) plus easily readable tooltip

solid black background

Player names must not be in violation of the RoC

Tasteful outfits are preferred :P

For the moment, please just send me the artifacts currently listed - if this goes well, we'll do it again for the newer items.

I'll collect the images for a week and see where we are - please send them to jdalberg AT ea DOT com with the subject line "Artifact Pics". Multiple submissions will be accepted, although a variety of different models are preferred. The more closely you follow the above guidelines, the more likely your picture will be used!

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

FATE Auction

Date:  Wednesday, February 20th

Time:  6:45 CST

Location:  Road West of Umbra by Orc Fort

Contact:  Dosa Ravengard - ICQ 302871673

YGV Auction

Date:  Thursday, February 21st

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

BEC Auction

Date:  Friday, February 22nd

Time:  8:00 pm CST

Location:  BEC Auction House - South of Luna

Contact:  Lady Tia - ICQ 23944805

Tonight, I write with a heavy heart. For as I write this article, I sit on a makeshift cot amongst the Feluccan runes in the Nameless Rune Library. Why you might ask? I'll tell you why... Today my home, the Library of Sosaria, suffered a cowardly attack by the depraved disciples of Nosfentor.

While I was out marking runes for the Nameless Rune Library, which I recently acquired from an overworked Lord Evilice, followers of the Shadowlord snuck into my office above the Library of Sosaria and blew up a magically protected bookcase. Since the last High Council meeting, the Triad of Evil [T-E] has been seen skulking around other libraries allegedly looking for tomes on banishing rituals. The bookcase they affixed their bombs to contained powerful books of magic and darkness not meant for consumption by the general public.

When I returned to the Library, to my horror, a column of black smoke rose from the northwestern corner of the building. I rushed into the main chamber to see a gaping hole blown in the side of my life's work. The bodies of my staff lay amongst the rubble and debris, their grotesque burns barely masking the obvious signs of torture.

My friends Llewellyn, Jennettia and June are dead. My Library, my office, and my home lay exposed to the elements. The only piece of 'good news', if it can be deemed such, is that their use of explosives was not as excessive as when Kazola's Treetop Keg and Winery was destroyed by Nosfentor's hand. To add further insult, a Valentine from Harry Plotter of [T-E] was skewered to my desk by a bloody dagger.

I have tried to remain calm, tried to give each 'side' a voice in the public arena, but now that the chaos has literally struck at my doorstep... The damaged portion of the Library can be rebuilt; copies of the damaged books are kept at a secure location... But lives... Lives I can neither rebuild nor copy. I have had enough of Nosfentor's murderous rampage; she will receive no quarter from me.

I call upon each citizen of Britannia to rise against the Shadowlord of Cowardice! Don't do it for me, or the Library. Do it for the children of Britain and Cove. Do it for Llewellyn, Jennettia, June, and Justicars Illidan and Woodrow Call. Do it to rid the Kingdom of evil. Do it because it is the right thing to do!

I urge you to Contact the Britannian Armed Forces to lend your swordarm or spellbook to the cause. Any Yew Militia member, Royal Knight of Redemption, or Highland Light Infantryman can help you.

Keep Sosaria safe! Down with Nosfentor!

Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria

*Lady Lava takes a respite in her Luna Manse as the flames flicker outside, results of revenge on a traitor.*

Rubble is old news......or is it? Dragons and purple bunnies seem to be the hot topics these days but rubble made a big impact in our realm, especially in design. The first great design I witnessed using rubble was on Great Lakes in the MOA library. A shipwreaked, beached ship scenerio was masterfully done.

Since that day I have seen some truly great design with rubble and many were/are on Catskills. The MOP Museum and its large rubble tables make it hard for anyone to be more impressive with rubble. (If you make a trip there be sure to check out the rooftop with its wonderful perfectly placed large rubble trees giving the garden a shady place safe from the harsh rays of the sun). However I have no doubt Leigh on Catskills could outdo the best. Several months ago she gave me a tour of her Catskills creative endeavor and her power room and kitchen are the best I have seen in years and I have seen hundreds of those types of rooms.



The owner of the Temple of Zento on Great Lakes was redesigning the temple shortly after rubble appeared in our realm and he actually used rubble in support beams and walls.




* a vignette of the Temple as it stands today *

It seems plants had a revival with rubble. I have fond memories when horticulture first was made available to us. The new plants gave new ideas and enhanced many a garden. Ren's Vesper Shore Shops on Catskills is a perfect example of that as well as The Peaceful Garden on Great Lakes. CanaCabana on Catskills showcases a log and stumps nicely.







If you have a design using rubble you are proud of please send a screenshot my way for a future article and happy designing !

*Lady Lava takes a respite in her Luna Manse as the flames flicker outside, results of revenge on a traitor.*

Rubble is old news......or is it? Dragons and purple bunnies seem to be the hot topics these days but rubble made a big impact in our realm, especially in design. The first great design I witnessed using rubble was on Great Lakes in the MOA library. A shipwreaked, beached ship scenerio was masterfully done.

Since that day I have seen some truly great design with rubble and many were/are on Catskills. The MOP Museum and its large rubble tables make it hard for anyone to be more impressive with rubble. (If you make a trip there be sure to check out the rooftop with its wonderful perfectly placed large rubble trees giving the garden a shady place safe from the harsh rays of the sun). However I have no doubt Leigh on Catskills could outdo the best. Several months ago she gave me a tour of her Catskills creative endeavor and her power room and kitchen are the best I have seen in years and I have seen hundreds of those types of rooms.



The owner of the Temple of Zento on Great Lakes was redesigning the temple shortly after rubble appeared in our realm and he actually used rubble in support beams and walls.




* a vignette of the Temple as it stands today *

It seems plants had a revival with rubble. I have fond memories when horticulture first was made available to us. The new plants gave new ideas and enhanced many a garden. Ren's Vesper Shore Shops on Catskills is a perfect example of that as well as The Peaceful Garden on Great Lakes. CanaCabana on Catskills showcases a log and stumps nicely.







If you have a design using rubble you are proud of please send a screenshot my way for a future article and happy designing !

Posted to uoherald.com:

Test Center 1 Has Been Updated
Jeremy Dalberg
15 Feb 2008 14:35:17

TC1 has been updated with the following:

The Salvage Bag should now return the correct amount of leather when salvaging multiple leather items at once

Posted to uoherald.com's Five on Friday:

FoF: What a Week!
Jeremy Dalberg
15 Feb 2008 17:47:11

Publishes, chats, bunnies, and explosions - just another week in UO! This week's Five on Friday covers some info about the recent publish, details about item properties, and more!

"When I'm crafting an item with a runic tool, do all properties have an equal chance of being used??"

Not necessarily - some properties are more common than others, and it depends on the type of item. Here's a general overview of the weighting:

Shields and wands - all properties have an equal chance to be rolled

Fishing poles - Spell Channelling is twice as common as everything else; all others are equal

Jewelry - All properties are equal, with two exceptions: Night Sight is quite rare, and skill bonuses are grouped - see the note below.

Talismans: Slayer, Crating bonus, crafting exceptional bonus, and creature resists are all weighted equally - all others are substantially more rare.

Melee weapons - DI is quite common, HLA is uncommon, Hit Area is quite rare - all others are equal

Missile weapons - Same as melee, except DCI is quite rare as well.

Armor (non-elf) - Night Sight is uncommon and hp regen and stamina regen are rare; all others are equal

Elf armor - as above, except night sight isn’t even an option

Property "groups": Certain types of properties are rolled as a group - slayers and creature resists on talismans are rolled for as a property, and then the sub-type is rolled. All the references to them above refer to the chances of these types being rolled as a group - any specific element of the group will of course be much more rare. This also means that you can't get, say, more than one slayer type on a particular item.

Elemental resists are slightly different - the math works out such that rolling any resist is the same chance as rolling another of the "regular" properties, but they are actually treated as five separate properties - so you can roll bonuses to more than one resist on a single item.

Skill bonuses on jewelry are a little bit different - the available skills are divided up into five groups of five or six skills apiece and then the subtype is rolled. It's possible to get more than one skill bonus, because they actually are treated like five different properties.

Missing patch note + explanation:

Some folks have noticed a change that didn't show up in the patch notes - the omission was intentional, as it was a fix for a particularly nasty exploit. However, it does have some gameplay impact, so we'll explain it here. The note itself:

- Commodity item prices changed so that the sell price is never greater than the base price, and the buy price never drops below the base price

What this means is that vendors now have a "base price" for commodities - they won't sell those items for less than that base, nor will they buy the items from players for more. Prices will still fluctuate depending on how many of those commodities have recently been bought or sold, but players won't be able to make a profit by finding a vendor with a low sell price on, for example, arrows and selling them to a vendor with a high buy price.

We are aware that this impacts the Doom vendor and healer rather more than the others, and we'll be looking into tweaking them for the next publish.

"The Life Leech and Mana Leech properties seem to be outside of the proper Intensity Range when I use a runic weapon. What's the deal?"

The chance to hit on Mana and Life Leech (but NOT Stamina Leech) are scaled based on the swing speed of the weapon. First, the SSI, if any, is run through an equation to create a modifier. Then that modifier is divided by 4 and multiplied by the intensity to get the actual proc chance (capped at 100%, of course.) Then, if it's a ranged weapon, the chance is cut in half. Faster weapons will have a smaller chance, and slower weapons will have a larger one, at the exact same intensity value. (The tooltip, as near as we can tell, is correct as to the actual chance for the effect to go off. It's just not at all representative of the intensity.)

What this means is, short of running some wacky math on every weapon you create, a crafter can't really tell what intensity he's rolled on a given weapon. I've updated the Item Properties page with a note to that effect :P

(Again, none of this applies to Stamina Leech - its intensity is simply its chance to hit / 2.)

"So, what with all the Exploding Houses in Luna, I'm a bit worried about my own stuff. Should I be?"

Not if you're not cheating! We're dead serious about banning people who violate our Terms of Service, but we are also committed to careful research and thorough investigation. If you're in danger of getting your house blown to smithereens, trust me, you know about it.

There is one caveat, though (isn't there always?) If you have a vendor on another person's house, and that house gets blown up, your vendor will also suffer a gruesome fate. Vendor contracts are buyer-beware - make sure you know the reputation of that Luna vendor you're about to tie your name to, and be cautious if you don't know them personally. Customer Service will not restore a vendor lost in this manner, nor will they reimburse for losses.

"When did the jwilson slimes return?"

Those vile critters reappeared with the most recent publish. Consider the return of this Historic monster part of Wilki's final gift to you - no creature, from the mighty dragon to the lowly slime, escaped his glance.

Playguide Update Roundup:

This week's changes were all about integrating Pub 50 into the documentation, plus some bonus updates as I work my way backwards through patch notes of yore:

Item Properties : Added the note about the Arms Lore DI bonus and how it can cause an item to exceed the DI cap, added note about intensity ranges of Life and Mana Leeches and corrected their effects, clarified Self Repair, and added a bunch of whitespace because the page was giving me a headache.

Runic Properties : Changed all the min/max intensities to match the current publish

Bulk Order Deeds : Added the bonus high-level blacksmiths now get to receive colored BODS. (Note, this page is iffy at best at the moment - don't rely on it.)

The Facets : Added info about double meat resources in Felucca. (Thoroughness is my watchword! No patch note too trivial! :P)

The Artifacts : Added info about the new Doom artifact drop system.

Skill and Management : Updated with stat cap and management info.

Guarenteed Gain System: Updated with new stat gain info.

Necromancy : Clarified Vampiric Embrace garlic damage.

Parrying : Added info about Dex penalty.

Animal Lore : Added Base Damage as one of the items Animal Lore reveals.

Detect Hidden : Clarified mechanism of determining success.

Bushido : Added weapon skill requirement for Evasion.

What's To Come:

Next week the Valentine's Day Scavanger Hunt is the big story, plus we'll have a fix for the Salvage Bag bug and the weird rubberbanding y'all have been seeing this week.

The following week is the Town Hall in Jacksonville, then a week or two after that we are planning to get the next publish to Test Center, chock-full of eventy and bug-fixy goodness. Stay tuned for more details!

Jacksonville Town Hall

Remember, the first Town Hall of the new year will be March 1 in Jacksonville, FL at Dave and Busters. Please do RSVP so we know how much salsa to order!

For our mid-Atlantic players, the May Town Hall meeting is also posted - you can get details on the Town Hall Page and RSVP for that one as well. If you're in the neighborhood, don't miss out!

Fansite News

If you missed out on the Stratics House of Commons chat this week, you can read the transcript Here!

Into PvP? Like factions, but want more people to fight? Check out the Factions War teaser movie. This looks like it's going to be a truly epic event :)

Bunnies, bunnies... it must be BUNNIES!

Jeremy

Posted to uoherald.com:

The Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt is coming!
Overview: Held at the Yew Waterfalls garden, the Scavenger Hunt will be held on each shard. Come join the fun, hang out with your friends, and maybe win a prize!

Schedule:

* Australia:
o Oceania: Saturday, Feb. 16th, 6PM EST (11am local UTC)
* Europe:
o Europa: Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 1:30PM EST (7:30pm local Western European Time zone)
o Drachenfels: Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 1:30PM (7:30pm local Western European Time zone)
* United States:
o Great Lakes: Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 4PM EST
o Legends: Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 5PM EST
o Atlantic: Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 6PM EST
o Sonoma: Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 4PM PST
o Origin: Tuesday, Feb. 19th, 5PM PST
o Lake Superior: Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 4PM EST
o Catskills: Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 5PM EST
o Chesapeake: Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 6PM EST
o Baja: Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 4PM PST
o Lake Austin: Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 5PM PST
o Siege Perilous: Thursday, Feb. 21st, 5:30 PM EST
o Pacific: Thursday, Feb. 21st, 4PM PST
o Napa Valley: Thursday, Feb. 21st, 5PM PST

Posted to uoherald.com:

Scavenger Hunt Schedule is Up!
Jeremy Dalberg
15 Feb 2008 10:26:21

The Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt is coming! Check out the Event Page to see when it will take place on your shard!

Last week, the Temple of Mondain [ToM] made a somewhat cryptic announcement that their new leader Marka Sythiox would address all those willing to hear him at 9pm on Tuesday. The invitation was kept mainly within political channels to avoid confrontation with the homicidally inclined denizens of Felucca.

My travel to the Temple in Compassion Desert was uneventful, nary a sociopath to be seen. A..diverse.. group had assembled in the Temple's main gallery. Seating the curious was the priest Veritus of ToM. Already sitting in the crowd was a disturbingly large group from the Triad of Evil [T-E], Nosfentor's followers: Absu Maal, Temptation, Harry Plotter, and Magus. A contingent from the Blue Lotus Clan [BL] warily watched their former allies [T-E]: Bishimi, Masaaki Hatsumi, and Solar maid. Governor Locke of Britain stood quietly in the corner, having once been amongst the Temple's membership. Dot Warner of the Order of the Etheral Ankh [OEA] sat behind me and represented the interests of Minister DaKaren and the High Council. Slightly late, three Royal Knights of Redemption sat in the back row: Ariakas, Pierre, and Arzakon Smash. Fortunately everyone managed to maintain their calm, regardless of being surrounded by political enemies.

Veritus introduced Marka, who stood on the altar to give his address:

Questions from the assemblage were somewhat banal, and most had been attended to during the speech. Several questions about the Magincian Convoy were asked, mainly relating to the reaction from the citizens, and how the Temple would respond if they were rejected. Marka responded by saying “We will only go where we are welcomed, if they ask us to leave, we shall depart..."

The members of R.K.R., members of the Britannian Armed Forces, remember the Temple's bloody history well, and find it hard to believe that such a force of evil could change – literally overnight. Marka took that in stride and said “We understand you have no reason to trust us, so we will give you reason to with our aid to Magincia."

With the questions over, Marka left the gathering after turning the crowd over to priestess Scarlet Pimpere for a tour of the keep. The tour itself was fascinating, especially the library; however, it is obvious that this new Temple of Mondain will have a long uphill struggle to change their public image.

Can they do it? And should we believe them? Only time will tell.

A jailhouse interview with Mordain the deposed High Priest of Mondain will be coming shortly...

Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria

Posted to uoherald.com:

Salvage Bag Issue
Jeremy Dalberg
13 Feb 2008 19:17:40

We've found an issue with the salvage bag - we have a fix coming, but in the meantime, please don't use it to recycle stacks of leather!

Posted to uoherald.com:

All Shards to be Published
Jeremy Dalberg 13 Feb 2008 18:07:59

All shards will be published with the following during their next regularly scheduled maintenance:

Changed all Blacksmithing and Tailoring runic intensities. Runics will now better match up to higher end loot. Maximum intensities are now 100% for all tailoring and blacksmithy runics, minimums are as follows:

Blacksmithing:

Dull Copper: was 10, now 40

Shadow: was 20, now 45

Copper: was 25, now 50

Bronze: was 30, now 55

Gold: was 35, now 60

Agapite: was 40, now 65

Verite: was 45, now 70

Valorite: was 50, now 85

Tailoring:

Spined: was 20, now 40

Horned: was 30, now 45

Barbed: was 40, now 50

Increased chance for GM smiths to get a hued BOD: +20% at 110 skill, +40% at 120 skill

Increased chance of receiving a Valorite BOD

Large footwear BODs should now be available in hues

BODs now have a 10 second wait time between turnins

NPCs now vocally acknowledge a BOD turnin

Creatures now give double meat resources in Felucca (except Siege and Mugen)

Frenzied Whirlwind now does more damage: 20 - 50 per strike

Certain Dragons have been buffed; they are now more powerful than Cu-Sidhe, Reptalons, or Hiryus but take 5 control slots

Ancient Wyrms now even more dangerous and powerful

Harrower resists and weapon skills slightly lowered

Bag of Sending fixed to handle items' weight ranges properly:

1 - 10 stones cost one charge

11 - 20 costs two, etc.

Broken quest chains can now be resigned from properly

Fixed bug where NPCs at the New Haven dock could block escort quests

Fixed bug where player can become stuck when trying to leave the Dark Knight challenge

Salvage bag: No longer creates overweight situations

Salvage bag: Recycles cloth without problems when multiple items exist in the bag

Salvage bag: Recovered resources will now stack appropriately

Removed monster firecrackers and particle effects on death

Blackrock elementals will not be a factor in your Valentine's Day mining activities

Disabled Halloween trick or treating

Disabled pumpkins from spawning

Magincia: Travel spells reenabled

Magincia: Permanent teleporters set up between Trinsic and Magincia (near the docks on each), both on solid ground

The New Haven moongate (southwest of the city) received worldbuilding updates, and a guard zone

Fixxed an exploit where Champ Spawns can be guardwhacked

Fixed an issue where the Damage Increase property on runic-crafted weapons was occasionally being dropped

Valentine's Day Content:

Gift box spawns on characters older than 30 days

Added three new books of poetry

Added new NPC to sell books of poetry, called "Francis the Chapman" inside the Britain Conservatory

Rare pink bunnies will now spawn in a few hues throughout the land. Extremely rare purple bunny may make an appearance

Added four new "Stuffy Animals" that can be snuggled with at home

Added new Valentine's Day cards, in softer pastel pinks and whites. Several new messages

Added dark, milk, and white chocolates

New park area built around the Yew Waterfalls

Added a new Chocolatiering branch to the Cooking skill (Known Issue: the new chocolates only appear on the Cooking menu in 2D)

Added new chocolate ingredients that spawn on paragon monsters

Live event content

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

FATE Auction

Date:  Wednesday, February 13th

Time:  6:45 CST

Location:  Road West of Umbra by Orc Fort

Contact:  Dosa Ravengard - ICQ 302871673

YGV Auction

Date:  Thursday, February 14th

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

Late this evening I received a soot-covered pigeon from Renenutet of The Howling Voice. Unrolling the slightly singed scrap of parchment the bird carried, I learned that two homes stood in ruins - having been unexpectedly ravaged by intense fires. One home stood in the northeastern quarter of Luna, and the other in the northwestern quarter of Zento's suburbs. I swiftly retrieved my mount CythRi and rode for the scenes of destruction.

I had heard earlier in the day, through extra-planar means that the God of Conflagration, Draconi, had targeted his wrath at the home of citizens who had 'turned traitor' to the Sosarian way of life. The 'Traitor' label has not been assigned to these people lightly; inflammable effigies have been magically erected within the ruins. Apparently, these people are responsible for the destabilization of the shard economy and an influx of rare powerful artifacts.

Similar infernos rage across other shards, showing that this blight on our society is a widespread problem. Many thanks to Draconi for ridding us of these scoundrels!

Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria

UO is taking action against scriptors as we have hoped for.

It is certain that there are many out there still, but this is a good start, just outside the center walls of Luna.

The Scarcrow in the middle says, "Effigy Of A Traitor."

Burn baby burn!!!

Last evening's 289th meeting of the High Council of Britannia was presided over by the Minister of Virtue, Lord DaKaren as Chancellor von Bayer and Vice-Chancellor Willa were unavailable. The meeting started off normally enough; however, Councilor Maelmordha of Newcastle accused the Temple of Mondain of conspiracy with the Empire of Tokuno. Apparently, several Temple members were seen during a tour of Zento. Seldane, a priest of Mondain, refuted the accusations as preposterous, although, he admitted that a tour of the city did indeed take place. He stated that it was merely a cultural exchange and nothing more.

Unfortunately, during this exchange, members of the Yew Militia Fel Brigade chose to act disrespectfully towards Seldane. This caused Seldane to leave the Civic Center in disgust, and drew criticism from Marthulius of the Council of Light who was seated in the gallery. Minister DaKaren apologized for the rude behavior, and stated that "This was not the normal state of affairs." Marthulius and a companion then left the Civic Center. Eventually, Councilor Akela, second in command of the Yew Militia, used his authority to quiet his troops. Chancellor von Bayer, when reached for comment today, had this to say, "I wish to add to the Minister's apology to the newcomer Marthulius... The Council does not condone disrespectful behavior, and we hope that you will return in the future."

Arzakon Smash of the Royal Knights of Redemption was the next to address the Council. He told of a meeting between R.K.R. and the Blue Lotus Clan at the Dojo in Zento. They revealed that the cargo that the 'monks' had been transporting through Britannia a few weeks ago had actually been the hearts of the children of Cove. Nosfentor had slain them and planned to use their hearts as some sort of cure. The prophecy received by Bishimi indicated that the hearts would help save the Tokuno people from a great catastrophe. Two books were retrieved by R.K.R. as well, but their contents have yet to be released to the public.

Minister DaKaren, upon learning of the heart's provenance angrily summoned Bunshichi, Emissary of the Empire of Tokuno, from the gallery. Bunshichi admitted that the Blue Lotus Clan was in possession of the hearts of the children of Cove, and that they were 'needed by the Empire.' The Minister expressed extreme displeasure that once again the Empress's 'honorable word' had failed to protect Britannian children. Bunshichi stated "The children had been protected to the best of the Empire's ability. They only had the best of intentions..." The Minister replied sarcastically with "The road to the Abyss is paved with 'good intentions.'"

The heated exchange continued for a while, resulting in the Minister's call for 'the end of Nosfentor.' This was met by approval from the crowd. He went on to caution "While we cannot destroy her by conventional means, we can banish her essence from the vessel she currently corrupts."

The B.A.F. will be searching out Nosfentor with the intention of capturing her. The Minister has ordered a search for rituals of banishment. If you see Nosfentor anywhere within the Kingdom, report her whereabouts to any B.A.F. member, or Council representative. Help shine the light of Virtue on the Shadowlord and drive her from our realm!

* OOC Note: I would have had pictures to go with this story; however, the screenshot feature of KR appears to be broken since the last patch. *

Martyna Z'muir, Library of Sosaria

Suddenly, the sky in Luna darkened.

Posted to uoherald.com:

Origin to be Published
Jeremy Dalberg 07 11 Feb 2008 15:00:22

At 4PM EST (9PM GMT) Origin will be published with the following

Changed all Blacksmithing and Tailoring runic intensities. Runics will now better match up to higher end loot. Maximum intensities are now 100% for all tailoring and blacksmithy runics, minimums are as follows:

Blacksmithing:

Dull Copper: was 10, now 40

Shadow: was 20, now 45

Copper: was 25, now 50

Bronze: was 30, now 55

Gold: was 35, now 60

Agapite: was 40, now 65

Verite: was 45, now 70

Valorite: was 50, now 85

Tailoring:

Spined: was 20, now 40

Horned: was 30, now 45

Barbed: was 40, now 50

Increased chance for GM smiths to get a hued BOD: +20% at 110 skill, +40% at 120 skill

Increased chance of receiving a Valorite BOD

Large footwear BODs should now be available in hues

BODs now have a 10 second wait time between turnins

NPCs now vocally acknowledge a BOD turnin

Creatures now give double meat resources in Felucca (except Siege and Mugen)

Frenzied Whirlwind now does more damage: 20 - 50 per strike

Certain Dragons have been buffed; they are now more powerful than Cu-Sidhe, Reptalons, or Hiryus but take 5 control slots

Ancient Wyrms now even more dangerous and powerful

Harrower resists and weapon skills slightly lowered

Bag of Sending fixed to handle items' weight ranges properly:

1 - 10 stones cost one charge

11 - 20 costs two, etc.

Broken quest chains can now be resigned from properly

Fixed bug where NPCs at the New Haven dock could block escort quests

Fixed bug where player can become stuck when trying to leave the Dark Knight challenge

Salvage bag: No longer creates overweight situations

Salvage bag: Recycles cloth without problems when multiple items exist in the bag

Salvage bag: Recovered resources will now stack appropriately

Removed monster firecrackers and particle effects on death

Blackrock elementals will not be a factor in your Valentine's Day mining activities

Disabled Halloween trick or treating

Disabled pumpkins from spawning

Magincia: Travel spells reenabled

Magincia: Permanent teleporters set up between Trinsic and Magincia (near the docks on each), both on solid ground

The New Haven moongate (southwest of the city) received worldbuilding updates, and a guard zone

Strangle should now be 12 seconds at 120 SS, instead of 11

Valentine's Day Content:

Gift box spawns on characters older than 30 days

Added three new books of poetry

Added new NPC to sell books of poetry, called "Francis the Chapman" inside the Britain Conservatory

Rare pink bunnies will now spawn in a few hues throughout the land. Extremely rare purple bunny may make an appearance

Added four new "Stuffy Animals" that can be snuggled with at home

Added new Valentine's Day cards, in softer pastel pinks and whites. Several new messages

Added dark, milk, and white chocolates

New park area built around the Yew Waterfalls

Added a new Chocolatiering branch to the Cooking skill (Known Issue: the new chocolates only appear on the Cooking menu in 2D)

Added new chocolate ingredients that spawn on paragon monsters

Live event content

DenDragon - Has any consideration been given to trash cans? Or a method for players to delete unwanted items?
Stormwynd - that's a neat idea
Stormwynd - Maybe a player house only feature?
DenDragon - I see your point... Maybe in towns and houses only?
DesignerD - Lord knows we'd love to add ways to reduce item count ;) We're just very... uhh... "cautious" (read "cynical") about the ways which players will use features
v - as in it requires a player house like a vendor or guild stone?
DenDragon - heh, I understand
DesignerD - Our first rule for a design is, "OK, how will they exploit it?"

Ahh yes... 1998. I yearn for such simple times when the hot topic was getting trashcans!

HellBoyEC - ..are there any event/plot specific questions I can answer?
DenDragon - HellBoy--I guess I'll throw forward the obligitory Necromancy question. :)
DenDragon - Are we close to seeing it implemented, or has it been set on the back burner?
HellBoyEC - I think Storm can field that....
HellBoyEC - The Liche's who are making waves currently
HellBoyEC - are some of the earliest examples of necromancy in the game
Stormwynd - It has been on the backburner for a while, but I hope to get time to work on it real soon now.
Stormwynd - There is already one spell implemented, but I haven
Stormwynd - oops... haven't had a chance to continue on them lately.
DenDragon - I take it Necromancy will be considered a new skill.. Along with other possible new magicks?
Stormwynd - Possibly.... :-)

DenDragon - One more question on my part: The dungeon Doom--will that be completed within the current UO world, or will an expansion CD be necessary?
DesignerD - Can't answer that :) Sorry!

(As a sidenote, both Necromancy and the Dungeon Doom were released (unleashed?) in the Ultima Online: Age of Shadows expansion in early 2003! Should we be calling DenDragon "NostraDenmus" instead?)

• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.gamers-irc.org port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta

This just in from our friends at UOGuide.

What an exciting time for UOGuide. The first month of this new year has been a flurry of activity, adding well over 1,000 new pages to the site. Due to in large part by the merger of UOStuff, UOGuide now has well over 3,000 web pages of UO information. Not only did the amount of content explode, but the merger was also fully completed in January.

The Main Page has a brand new look, adding three new features. Two of them are ideas taken from the old UO website. The first is Featured Establishments. Players of houses which serve a public function can submit their building for featuring. It is rotated on a weekly basis and is a great way to advertise a location. To submit an establishment click here. The second feature is the Skill of the Week. Each week one skill will be featured. The third feature is all new, featuring different points of interest in the world of Britannia. This weeks featured location are the Meer Catacombs

We are also continuing to feature screenshots on the main page. A new method of submission has been setup. Email your screenshots to [email protected]. Be sure to include a little caption about what is going on in the picture.

There is so much new content this month it is hard to choose only a few to highlight.

• New Player Quests - Almost every skill has a quest in New Haven. These quests are the quickest way to train up to 50.
• Slayer Information - All you could ever know about slayer weapons and their types.
• Quests - The UOStuff merger has added a wealth of detailed quest information. Search for quest information either by area or by NPC.
• Recipes - Almost every recipe has been added with crafting information and item properties.
• Artifacts - Hundreds of artifacts are listed with detailed properties and where they come from.

As always, UOGuide is seeking new people to contribute. While 3,000 pages may seem to cover nearly every possible aspect of UO, nearly another 3,000 are waiting to be created. Absolutely anyone can help build UOGuide, all it takes is a few moments to register an account. In seconds you will have access to edit almost any page or create one on any UO subject you wish to write about. I hope you will come help us out.

Posted to uoherald.com:

TC1 Has Been Updated
Jeremy Dalberg
08 Feb 2008 18:07:24

Test Center 1 has been updated with the following

The changes to Strangle from the previous test build have been removed

Fixed an exploit where Champ Spawns can be guardwhacked

Fixed an issue where only one pitcher of milk (of two) worked for Chocolatiering

Fixed an issue in crafting using runic tools for damage increase

Posted to uoherald.com's Five on Friday:

FoF: Spring Has Sprung!
Jeremy Dalberg
08 Feb 2008 17:33:25

Or at least it feels like it, anyway. For those of you who don't have lovely sunny weather to enjoy, we have answers to some questions instead! Check out info on curing poison, making bows, and more.

"I've noticed that it takes very little mana to cast the Spellweaving spell Summon Fey (like 1 pt of mana). I was reading that it was suppose to be like 31 pts of mana. Is that intentional?"

Yes - the Guide for Spellweaving has old data (and Leurocian, in his copious free time, has volunteered to get me all the new data, so stay tuned.) However, Summon Fey costs 10 mana, not 1 - that's how it's listed in-game and that's what my quick test showed. I'm assuming this was just a typo in the question, but if anyone's seeing data to the contrary, let us know!

"Mondain's legacy bowyer/fletcher recipe weapons (non-artifact) have 0% chance of exceptional with 100 fletching. To my understanding, a crafting talisman will not give exceptional chance unless you have at least 1%. Is that true?"

The reason those recipe weapons have a 0% exceptional chance is because they are considered minor artifacts, and aren't intended to be exceptionally crafted. It's hard-set, rather than a function of their difficulty, so talismans won't help. (It's not a reflection of how talismans work, just a function of those particular items.)

Now, the argument could be (and has been) made that they're not powerful enough to be worth it without a way to boost their stats. It's certainly something to look into - it's just not technically a bug.

"On hit spell damage question. What level of magery/eval is the damage of the on hit spell calculated ( lightning, magic missile, fireball, harm)?"

The Evaluate Intelligence used for calculating the damage of on-hit spells is 80. The base damage is determined by the spell's circle - so Magic Missile has a base damage of 1d4 + 10, and so on. (For non-PnP folk, that means roll randomly between 1-4, then add 10.) Magery doesn't come into it at all, actually.

"What is the formula to calculate the chance for Cure and ArchCure to detoxify poison?"

The Cure formula is as follows: Chance to Cure = (10000 + (Magery * 75) - (poison strength * 3100) / 100. This means that at Legendary Magery, you have a 35% chance to cure level 5 poison.

The Archcure formula is as follows: Chance to Arch Cure = (10000 + (Magery * 75) - (poison strength * 1750) / 100. This means that at Legendary Magery, you have a 100% chance to cure level 5 poison. On everyone within a 2-3 tile radius of you. And you only need 63 Magery to successfully cast it 100% of the time. Hmmm...

"Ok why the HECK would you Remove the clouds from KR?"

Our Lead Programmer Supreem says,

"Ultimately it was my decision to remove the clouds. *puts on flame retardant suit*

The clouds as they were implemented didn't achieve the desired effect. They made the game significantly less bright which doesn't fit with the style of Ultima Online. We plan to bring them back in the future once we bring them in line with the overall feel of the game."

Playguide Update Roundup:

A few more edits and tweaks this week:

Item Properties : The Table now distinguishes between Melee and Missile weapons (there are some differences,) Velocity and Balanced are listed in the table, and their effects are described with the others. Also, the exceptions to property ranges for Runic-crafted bows are listed.

Runic Properties : Removed last week's incorrect statement about stacking properties and replaced it with the correct info about property ranges on Runic-crafted bows.

A little thin, but then, it's been a Very Busy Week .

Jacksonville Town Hall

Remember, the first Town Hall of the new year will be March 1 in Jacksonville, FL at Dave and Busters. You can now RSVP , so if you're planning to come, please do so!

Alert readers will also notice that the next Town Hall is listed there - in Bethesda, MD, on May 10th. Feel free to RSVP for that one, too - it's going to be fun, because it's nice and close to the office :)

I'm off to snuggle my Stuffies ...

Jeremy

This just in from our friends at UOGuide

Look for more exciting news coming soon on the Epic Factions Event!

Thanks JCTheBuilder!

Posted to uoherald.com:

Valentine's Day Content on Test Center!
Jeremy Dalberg
08 Feb 2008 11:45:42 Valentine's Day 2008 Overview But love me for love's sake, that evermore Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

The season of Love is upon us, and my how we're celebrating! Our loyal fans will be receiving special gifts, a new romantic venue, and everyone is welcome to participate in a live scavenger hunt!

Check out our patch notes here! Content

A special gift box for characters older than thirty days, containing several wonderful treasures:

The newest addition to this special day are Stuffy Animals - a tailor's name for these adorable, cotton-stuffed creations. Coming in four different designs and a variety of hues, they're simply a delight to snuggle with (double-click) in the comfort of your home.

Chocolate - a smooth, edible treasure to delight every waiting mouth. Enjoy your Dark, Milk, or White chocolate treat!

Valentine's Day Cards

A variety of old and new sayings

Players double-click card and target a player of their choice to fill in the appropriate names

Each card can only be used once

Chocolatiering

The talented chefs of Britannia have finally unlocked the secrets of cocoa, and new recipes await! Is that enough milk? Or vanilla? White or Milk chocolate? Perhaps Dark? All we know is that they're all delicious!

Paragon monsters in Ilshenar are hoarding the ingredients necessary for these tasty confections - so chefs, send your most adventurous customers to collect them!

New Books of Poetry

Francis the Chapman is an enterprising scribe that sells books and other stationeries inside the Conservatory in Britain. He has recovered a number of poems from the archives of Castle British; apparently from Lord British's personal collection! They contain many strange and beautiful references to lands unknown and places unseen. Struck by their romantic beauty, Francis has created a collection of the poems, and published them himself in three volumes.

Yew Waterfalls

Southeast of Justice Island on the Trammel facet, next to the waterfalls, a romantic garden has been carefully cultivated for the enjoyment of young couples and lonely poets alike.

A new bridge spans the falls, giving unprecedented views of the shimmering cascades of water

The area is now a guard zone to protect the safety of picnickers.

The Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt is coming!

Stay tuned for details and the schedule for your shard!

Click Here! to send in feedback about this event!

Posted to uoherald.com:

Test Center 1 Has Been Updated
Jeremy Dalberg
07 Feb 2008 18:11:04

TC1 has been updated with the following

Changed all Blacksmithing and Tailoring runic intensities. Runics will now better match up to higher end loot. Maximum intensities are now 100% for all tailoring and blacksmithy runics, minimums are as follows:

Blacksmithing:

Dull Copper: was 10, now 40

Shadow: was 20, now 45

Copper: was 25, now 50

Bronze: was 30, now 55

Gold: was 35, now 60

Agapite: was 40, now 65

Verite: was 45, now 70

Valorite: was 50, now 85

Tailoring:

Spined: was 20, now 40

Horned: was 30, now 45

Barbed: was 40, now 50

Increased chance for GM smiths to get a hued BOD: +20% at 110 skill, +40% at 120 skill

Increased chance of receiving a Valorite BOD

Large footwear BODs should now be available in hues

BODs now have a 10 second wait time between turnins

NPCs now vocally acknowledge a BOD turnin

Creatures now give double meat resources in Felucca (except Siege and Mugen)

Frenzied Whirlwind now does more damage: 20 - 50 per strike

Certain Dragons have been buffed; they are now more powerful than Cu-Sidhe, Reptalons, or Hiryus but take 5 control slots

Ancient Wyrms now even more dangerous and powerful

Harrower resists and weapon skills slightly lowered

Bag of Sending fixed to handle items' weight ranges properly:

1 - 10 stones cost one charge

11 - 20 costs two, etc.

Broken quest chains can now be resigned from properly

Fixed bug where NPCs at the New Haven dock could block escort quests

Fixed bug where player can become stuck when trying to leave the Dark Knight challenge

Salvage bag: No longer creates overweight situations

Salvage bag: Recycles cloth without problems when multiple items exist in the bag

Salvage bag: Recovered resources will now stack appropriately

Removed monster firecrackers and particle effects on death

Blackrock elementals will not be a factor in your Valentine's Day mining activities

Disabled Halloween trick or treating

Disabled pumpkins from spawning

Magincia: Travel spells reenabled

Magincia: Permanent teleporters set up between Trinsic and Magincia (near the docks on each), both on solid ground

The New Haven moongate (southwest of the city) received worldbuilding updates, and a guard zone

Strangle should now be 12 seconds at 120 SS, instead of 11

Valentine's Day Content:

Gift box spawns on characters older than 30 days

Added three new books of poetry

Added new NPC to sell books of poetry, called "Francis the Chapman" inside the Britain Conservatory

Rare pink bunnies will now spawn in a few hues throughout the land. Extremely rare purple bunny may make an appearance

Added four new "Stuffy Animals" that can be snuggled with at home

Added new Valentine's Day cards, in softer pastel pinks and whites. Several new messages

Added dark, milk, and white chocolates

New park area built around the Yew Waterfalls

Added a new Chocolatiering branch to the Cooking skill (Known Issue: the new chocolates only appear on the Cooking menu in 2D)

Added new chocolate ingredients that spawn on paragon monsters

Live event content

Posted to uoherald.com:

2D Client Patch vers. 6.0.6.0
Jeremy Dalberg
07 Feb 2008 17:05:12

At 5:30PM EST (10:30PM GMT) the 2D client will be updated to version 6.0.6.0. Notes after the jump

Added live event content

added worldbuilding updates to New Haven moongate

Updated clilocs

Posted to uoherald.com:

KR Client Patch vers. 2.50.0.3
Jeremy Dalberg
07 Feb 2008 17:00:01

At 5:30PM EST (10:30PM GMT) the Kingdom Reborn client will be updated to version 2.50.0.3. Notes after the jump.

NOTE: this is a VERY large (800 meg) patch. We are working on getting a new executable for download up at all the usual sites, as well as updating the Swift CD option. We also have a background downloader in the works - stay tuned for more news in the next few days.

KR: Removed clouds from the daytime display

Various localization updates for text

Default tab name is now Chat instead of System

Fixed hueing in the Paperdoll

Treasure maps fixed KR

Shopkeeper window revamped.

Now supports click and holding on + or -

• Free repairs and enchanted apples!
  
• A grand raffle to be held at 8:00PM EST.
  
• Many great prizes to be given away: Gold skulls, rare cloth, sets of runebooks to quests, cities, and unique locations, and much more.
  

Oceania Olympic Games: Summary 29th Jan - 6th Feb

It's been another week or so of fun and games in Oceania as the Olympic Games have continued with the Track & Field, Survival, Tailoring and Stealing Events. The medal tallies have sure changed a lot, and it's looking unmistakably like a foregone conclusion at this late stage of the game.

It's not to late to join in, though, to see if you can win a medal for your favourite City, or for yourself! So without further ado, here are the latest results...

Medal Tallies as at 6th February:

And the individual events...

The Track & Field event was essentially a Cross-Country footrace. Contestants were given Olympic-Grade Running Shoes, dyed to match their City Colours, and were then taken to the beginning of the track. The track was to be run on foot, and contestants had to traverse dirt road and swamp terrain before they would arrive at the finish line in Britain. There were invisible checkpoints along the way, where hidden OPEN staff would check all contestants were on foot, on track and not recalling.

Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Walter/Ereon (Minoc), Lord Lionheart (Britain), Don Quan (Trinsic), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia).

The Survival event was fairly simple. Contestants had to duplicate a campsite setup, in traditional here's-one-we-prepared-earlier style. One at a time, Competitors laid out the items as supplied, to match the adjacent site. Once complete, contestants lit their campfire, signalling they were done. Any errors in their design cost them a 30 second time penalty.

Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Chivato (Trinsic).

Here, the five entrants were led to their sewing rooms via holes in the roof, and once settled, set up their own vendors to display their soon-to-be-made outfits. The instructions were to create six items, with the following attributes:

They could only craft leather items from the "Leather Armor" menu of the Sewing kit, or Cloth hats from the "Hats" menu. Naturally, they were given sufficient leather and cloth to craft with. Chief Y (on A.D.I.D.A.S) was first to finish, after having great difficulty with his final piece, and the three others that were left (Lady Kat had to leave early) then had a mini "sew-off" to decide Silver and Bronze.

Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Lord Lionheart (Britain), Lady Kat (Skara Brae), Dar (Magincia)

It was the first test of the Feluccan Olympic Arena and contestants were gated directly inside the heavily-fortified walls. Registrations were taken, and the rules were explained. The thieves had to follow an overloaded pack horse, named "Victim of Theft" and steal as much as they could in ten minutes. At the end, the total weight stolen by each contestant was added, and the heaviest weights stolen overall took the medals.

Competitors: Chief Y (Skara Brae), Lord Lionheart (Britain), Dar (Magincia), Queen Aglaranna (Magincia), Takami Tuyarruum (Moonglow).

Thanks to everyone who has supported and continues to support OPEN and the Oceania Olympic Games! There are only four more Events to go, so stay tuned for the final report!

Sad news [Originally by Busty Wench - photos Seriya De Lacey and Busty Wench] I'd long hoped that I would never have to write this post. Most of you will have varying levels of familiarity with Chris Turner, known to most as Laton or Choma. For just over a year, Chris has been struggling to beat a rare form of Lymphoma, which has taken him through seemingly endless bouts of chemotherapy, countless drugs and more recently a stem cell transplant. Just before Christmas, the doctors discovered that the Lymphoma had returned and that there would be nothing more that they could do for him. Its my sad duty to tell you all that Chris passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of saturday morning (19th January). He will be very sorely missed by many of us. __________________   Old Darkcloaks never die...they just get noticed by fewer people!   I've just scoured my hard drive and found a few more pics which I'd like to share.   Not to forget this little gem, taken a few years ago when we had a meet in Leeds.

I didn't copy and paste all the comments but believed that Chris/Laton/Choma deserved to be remembered here.

Photographs always make someone so much more real - this was a man some of us were lucky enough to know either virtually or really.

Rest In Peace

For all the posts please go here : http://www.f4g.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6498

[The news as contained in this post you can take as IC knowledge. However any posts it links to are purely OOC information, unless you happen to have a good explanation why you would know about them IC.] Today’s Edition is brought to you by Amber “The Wicked Witch” De’Crowley Guardsmen Narrowly Escape Poisoning! Free Ale Found To Be Not So Great! Last evening the Yewish guardsmen were enjoying drinking a rather dodgy load of “free ale” they found in their tavern. Apparently this free ale was snapped up by the eager guardsmen but soon after they found them selves feeling sickly. Thankfully two higher ranked guards noticed something wasn’t right with this “free ale” and stopped the free for all as quickly as they could. It was later found that the Yewish rebels were behind the entire thing! One wonders what tactics these rebels will use next! Guardsmen capture a rebel!   ---------------------------------------------- Rumours Sources from Cove claim a courier from one of its colonies arrived a few days ago bearing the following message from its absent Baron... Rumour has it that Van has the hots for a Trinsic woman named Maddy. He was apparently kneeling down and offering her a ring! One wonders where he got that from! I’ve been hearing worrying reports that Captain Kaelyn is using rather underhanded tactics on prisoners these days. Better watch out all you criminals who consider entering Trinsic!   Adverts Jern Fretting, tinker and fully qualified blacksmith with arms lore, will be travelling the highways and byways of Sosaria, at odd hours during most days but never after 8pm. He will be available for making items free, if provided with the necessary raw materials and equipment. He will also provide basic free farrier services (horses only, both mounts and sumpters): simple sprains, sores, removal of stones and the like. Shoeings can also be done where there is a forge and anvil. In addition to chance meetings on the road, appointments may be made either by notes left in the mailbox outside The Trinsic Rose Tavern or at the garden gate of Fretting Cottage in the Village of Silverleaf (postcode Slf) or by mail-carrier to 322791984. ---------------------------------------------- What’s on? Tonight - Get your Free Repairs from 7 to 8 pm gmt from the Trinsic Rose Repair Team Thursday - The legendary Marshall Drakan's Boxing Ribbon shall be on the line in a bare-knuckle boxing bonanza in Stonekeep at 8.00pm Gmt/3.00Pm Est. Friday – Trinsic Rose Tavern open from 7.00pm Gmt/3.00Pm Est onwards

Original Post by Amber De Crowley - old issues of Ye Morning Poste can be found here http://www.f4g.net/forum/showthread.php?t=92

*a ragged page blows down the breezy streets of your town*   REBELS RE-EMERGE AS GUARDSMEN ARE HURT! Shocks this week for the guardsmen militia as remnants of the Yewish rebel movement reappeared to cause grief to members of the Guardsmen Militia. Whether or not the small gangs were what remains of the Free Yew Volunteers is yet to be known, but the armed pockets of rebel activity have stung a number of patrolling guardsmen around our Northern township. While an initial disturbance in the King's Deer Tavern was eventually repelled, a number of lone guardsmen have been caught up by disaffected citizens still frustrated in the wake of the "O'Gara Uprising." The latest victim of such an assault is reported to be new Marksman Corporal, Ffion Derwyn! A pair of celtic men were spotted dragging the fallen petty officer to the sheep pens West of the Keep. The group exchanged an array of colourful language before the senior guardswoman was deprived of her uniform basics! Stripped of the colours of Yew, the rebels even demanded Ms. Derwyn's parade arm as they stood in judgment. "You can have these back, when you are fit to protect Yew!" one of her aggressors shouted. Whatever her 'test' was meant to be, it is apparent the markswoman refused and was pushed to her knees and restrained, as another of the gang took her beloved golden arms. This assault was not the first, a recent string of similar offences have left a number of more junior guardsmen fleeing back to their garrison home shy of kilts and sashes. Beyond the symbolic, the purpose of these assaults is unknown. Whether or not such incidents are crimes of angry frustration, or a more co-ordinated series of assaults remains to be discovered; though it should not be disputed that these happenings represent a return to confidence in Yew's dissenting rebels.

Original Post by Hedlyn and the full story can be found here http://www.f4g.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6149