Brannoc - Welcome to our 100th House of Commons chat with the developers of Ultima Online! The topic will be the Samurai Empires expansion, so please limit questions to this.
Brannoc - Please send said questions to [QT]Brekkee or [QT]Gowel - to do so type /query NICK and type in the window that pops up. Questions sent to myself or the developers will not make it into the lineup, so don't bother. Full logs of the chat will be up on http://uo.stratics.com shortly after the chat.
Brannoc - So without further ado we'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.
OSI_speedman - Speedman here, programmer on Samurai Empires, and the speediest guy around
Binky_EA - Hello all, Binky � Online Community Manager here.
Oaks - I'm Oaks, lead designer on the Samurai Empire expansion
Leurocian - I'm Leurocian, Designer for Ultima Online Live
Niobe - I'm Niobe, Designer on the Samurai Empire expansion.
Rugen - I'm Rugen, Samuari Empire programmer guy.
Fertbert - I'm the Live Team lead.
LadyLu - howdy, I'm the associate producer and team lead for Samurai Empire
Zilo - Hi again. I am Zilo, the Event Program Lead

Brannoc - *Brador* I would like to get more info on the guild stone changes that will be coming with the new expansion, specifically if we will be able to do away with the trammel guild war restrictions
Oaks - There are a lot of very cool guild features coming with the expansion, none of which we can explain in detail. We've taken a lot of player feedback from years past (and current)... regarding trammel guild war restrictions, we have not made a final decision on that.

Brannoc - *Voltron* Will the new tameable dragon actually be able to fly?
Fertbert - um, the new dungeons are like NEW and stuff
* MrTact gives Fertbert his medication *
Niobe - You will not be able to fly on the new dragon - (the name is Hiryu)
Niobe - but you can ride it and it can be a pretty mean guy to take with you into battle
Niobe - the Hiryu's wings are mostly vestigial

Brannoc - *Nerf* Will the new expansion have a place like doom?
LadyLu - And you can tame the Hiryu
OSI_speedman - The new expansion will have several new places to visit and explore, but many of the details are still in limbo.
Oaks - Our new dungeons will be full of monsters, monsters collect fantastic and cool treasure, ... you get the picture.

Brannoc - *Voltron* Will the new ninja and samurai abilities be mage and warrior friendly, or just warrior?
Oaks - They are more geared towards your traditional warrior "class", but there are abilities than any character will want. =)

Brannoc - *Narcissus* Any Word on an EM for Atlantic? Although no one could really replace Nikademus.
Zilo - You're correct Narcissus when you say that no one can replace EM Nikademus, he was awesome. We will however be getting a new Event Moderator for Atlantic. When this new arc of events starts in a couple of weeks, you will see a new face on Atlantic. I will make sure they roam around and say hello first.

Brannoc - *Warder* My question: Do the developers of UO ever regret their decision to ignore and disregard established lore from the Ultima singleplayer series?
Niobe - One the first things we looked at when discussing the expansion was how it tied into the Ultima Lore..
Niobe - There is quite a bit of debate about what is true Ultima fiction and which game started the 'real' fiction.
Niobe - However, a mainstay of Ultima is that it is a vast and complex series of worlds and societies.
EvilMantis - OK, I'm catching grief for not introducing earlier, I'm EvilMantis...programmer on Samurai Empire
Niobe - And even later Ultimas, like Ultima VII had spacecraft in it.
Niobe - So, we did not ignore the lore. We enveloped it and embraced its diversity.
Niobe - :)

Brannoc - *Drahcir* Does the ninja's smoke bombs allow him to walk while hidden? If so, won't this ruin the hiding/stealth skill combination?
OSI_speedman - Smoke bombs basically cause an instant hiding check
OSI_speedman - even in the heat of battle
OSI_speedman - And there are lots of interesting things coming up for stealth
OSI_speedman - It won't ruin the skill combination, it'll enhance it

Brannoc - *Dryzzid* Will the new custom housing additions be asian-based only, will there be any general additions as well? Will the new art work well in conjunction with the current stuff?
* Leurocian drools over the stealth changes... *
LadyLu - The new housing is heavily Japanese themed. We made some minor/general UI updates to the tool. And the new art *is* designed to work well with current UO art.
MrTact - Plus we are integrating several of the existing roof tile sets in the new roofs tool.

Brannoc - *Richard* Is the EM team going to be involved in bringing about the fiction to introduce the expansion?
LadyLu - (Be prepared for some really cool housing decorations, too!)
Zilo - Yes the events will be geared towards the expansion, and introducing many of the themes and characters. We are also going to step up in the event program, and run 2 per week, per shard soon. Hopefully we can have a central theme going, and then for the other event per week, a shard specific storyline (that may or may not relate to the main theme). It will be an exciting few months.

Brannoc - *Voltron* Will the Hiryu be a tamer only thing, or like the beetle where a tamer will be required to get it, but anyone can own and operate one?
Niobe - There are two versions of Hiryu planned
Niobe - The first is going to take some pretty intense dedication to taming to control the creature
Niobe - The Lesser Hiryu can also be controlled by those dedicated to either the taming or samurai professions.

Brannoc - *wilki24* When can we expect to see some of the lore and fiction surrounding the new expansion appear on uo.com?
Binky_EA - Pretty soon. Probably with in the next month or so.

Brannoc - *Voltron* Will the Honorable Execution ability apply to melee weapons only, and is it going to be effective in PvP? One hit wonder kills tend to upset balances.
OSI_speedman - We've rephrased the Honorable Execution description:
OSI_speedman - An ability with great rewards if the enemy is eliminated with your next melee attack, but severe penalties upon failure.
OSI_speedman - It's NOT a one-hit kill
OSI_speedman - It's a "finishing move" so to speak
OSI_speedman - So you use it if you think you can kill your enemy with the next hit
OSI_speedman - It will be useable in PvP

Brannoc - *Iocus* Question: Will honor play any role with the samurai?
EvilMantis - Samurai are certainly an honorable class, I would think they would also act honorably

Brannoc - *Drahcir* Is there any new 2D art planned? I don't mean to insult anyone, but the 3D art that seems pasted into the 2D client doesn't fit.
MrTact - Well the art wasn't running inside the client when we had to create those visuals for the EA press event.
MrTact - They look a lot better now :-)

Brannoc - *Swang* Might there be any changes to wrestling in the expansion, such as enhancements making it a true fighting style?
MrTact - There is some unannounced stuff that interacts with wrestling -- not to the degree you suggest.
MrTact - We will talk more about it when it's, um, announced.
MrTact - Whoops
MrTact - I lied.
MrTact - The entire team just threw stuff at me.
MrTact - Apparently that has changed since last I was aware of it. Sorry.

Brannoc - *Nos* What will the required taming level be for the new creature, the Hiryu?
Oaks - It'll be higher than a dragon. =)

Brannoc - *Salt_FoamBreaker* Question, will ships be allowed in the sea between the islands?
OSI_speedman - Hmm.
OSI_speedman - Sure, why not
OSI_speedman - Actually yes, they are allowed in the Takuno Islands facet
* Leurocian is pleased to here about the boats being allowed in the seas! *

Brannoc - *wilki24* Question From CitizenKane in Uhall: Is there any news about the lack of EM events on the Formosa shard?
LadyLu - I think you mean Tokuno Islands ;)
OSI_speedman - um, yeah... can't spell. sorry :)
Zilo - Formosa, along with Arirang and Balhae have had less events than the NA and European shards. We are finalizing details to kick off a separate event program for those 3 shards. It will start in August.

Brannoc - *Tal_is_Working* Unified PvP was highlighted in February PR release regarding SE, but nothing has been mentioned since then. Is it still on the boards?
LadyLu - Unfortunately, unified PVP is not on the boards for Samurai Empire.

Brannoc - *Brador* when will we start seeing details of the new features of the expansion?
Binky_EA - We will be launching an official site around the end of August with details and all the juicy info and fiction you could ever want. And also keep an eye out for some contests coming up on uo.com.

Brannoc - *Tal_is_Working* We know there will be the two new profession in SE, but should we expect to see any new item properties as well for magical armor/weapons/jewelry?
MrTact - No new item properties in the expansion.
Oaks - Except for the property: "Being Totally Sweet"

Brannoc - *Voltron* Will the new ninja and samurai abilities work in conjunction with necro and chivalry? Can I have a samuninjanecrodin?
Oaks - The new skills don't specifically prevent you from using our exising skills like Magery, Chivalry or Taming, but you'll still be limited by your total skill points.
Binky_EA - Just wanted to remind those of you within driving distance of San Francisco. This coming Monday we will be having an Ultima MeetUp, check uo.com for more details.

Brannoc - *Caelan* Will the Samurai and Ninja professions be available via the advanced character system?
LadyLu - We haven't decided yet.

Brannoc - *Salt_FoamBreaker* Question: Will reds be allowed in the new land (I assume without PvP)?
MrTact - Tokuno will be a Trammel ruleset facet.

Brannoc - *Voltron* I meant will they possibly compliment each other. Right now it is not very feasible to have a character with necromancy AND chivalry. Will it be feasible to have a ninja with necromancy or a samurai with chivalry?
Oaks - Yes they will. There are several interesting templates that will come out of the new skills. Ninja Mage, Ninja Tamer, Samurai Paladin, ... =)
MrTact - Ninja Gardener . . .
* Leurocian wonders about the possibility of a Ninja Bard *

Brannoc - Ok folks, that's it for this one! Thanks for joining us, the logs will be up shortly on http://uo.stratics.com
Binky_EA - MeetUp! Dont forget!
OSI_speedman - Bye all!
LadyLu - Please stay tuned, we'll be releasing more info soon. Thanks!
Oaks - Tokuno Matada everyone!
OSI_speedman - Thanks for coming!
Niobe - Bye! Thanks everyone!
* Sienna waves to all the Aussies! *
Lev - bye!!
Binky_EA - Bye everyone, thanks for hanging out with us!
* Niobe stealths away *
Leurocian - Y'all come back now! You hear?
EvilMantis - See ya!
Rugen - Chao!