Lord-Xanthor - Good evening everyone, thank you for coming to tonight's Ultima Online open house. This Stratics House of Commons chat is a direct connection between you the players and the designers and programmers of Ultima Online.
Lord-Xanthor - This chat will be in a moderated format. To ask a question of the developers, please /msg or /query the question takers that will be listed in the topic of the channel and have [QT] in front of their names. These question takers will then present the questions to the Ultima Online development team here with us this evening.
Lord-Xanthor - I will be our moderator tonight...I will post your question into the House of Commons chat channel and the Developers will answer those that they can. Please /msg or /query different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load and speed the process up.
Lord-Xanthor - Please do not send the same question to multiple question takers, those that do will be ignored. Thank you =)
Lord-Xanthor - Please remember that your question may have been asked previously or may not be able to be answered in a public forum. Please do not message or query myself or anyone from OSI, these questions will be ignored. We encourage you to read the logs of the previous Open Houses, which are available at http://uohoc.stratics.com
Lord-Xanthor - Enjoy tonight's chat...Tonights Topic is AGE OF SHADOWS! =)
* Lord-Xanthor changes topic to 'UOHOC 5pm PST Thursday 2/6/2002. || Please read previous logs at http://uohoc.stratics.com || Tonights Topic is Age of Shadows! || Question Takers will be [QT]ELM, [QT]Kehleyr, [QT]Rhayde..' *
Lord-Xanthor - *FrostMerchant[Pac]* Will 2D Dragon Armor get corrected Paperdoll images while worn, since they changed the looks in the backpacks?
Hanse - Wearables for 2D were not modified.
Hanse - The only new artwork we have added for 2D are weapons.
Hanse - So, your dragon armor will look like it does now.

Lord-Xanthor - *Hilana* my question is : if you pre-ordered AoS, you get the robe of shadows, is it blessed ?
Evocare - yes

Lord-Xanthor - *Xerxes* Hi, Here is my question, Is it true that bursting pouches will now do 15 damage? If so, will there be an alternative to breaking the paralyze spell?
Evocare - Pouches now do a noticable amount of damage, however it does have a fairly significant random range
Evocare - this was done so as to make it a usable option to get out of a bad situation in an absolute emergency
Evocare - but it isn't necessarily something you do *anytime* you get paralyzed, since it does have a risk now (the random damage)
Evocare - also
Evocare - it's important that the resisting spells skill greatly reduces the duration of paralyze
Evocare - so it gives you a viable option to wait out the time
Evocare - since it isn't rediculously long when you have high resist

Lord-Xanthor - *Thomas* How will the +2AR robes and cloaks convert in AoS? Will they offer resistances instead and if so how much?
Hanse - We converted them to 3% physical resistance.
Hanse - So, if you wear a robe and a cape, you will get a whopping 6% physical resistance (and yes, that is considerate). :)
Hanse - considerable...I'm tired...smack me please

Lord-Xanthor - *Azlen* Are any of the new AOS monsters immune to barding?
Gromm - A few of the higher end monsters are immune to barding, others you're going to have a tough time getting yout barding skills to affect
Gromm - But there are a good number that you can still have fun with, bards aren't out by any means. :)
Evocare - The majority are quite bardable

Lord-Xanthor - *scralings* Are any changes coming to the blacksmithy or tailoring Bulk Order Deeds systems?
Lord-Xanthor - [20:18] <Evocare> post Azlen
Hanse - Hmmmm, anyway...
Hanse - Yes, the BOD systems have changed.
Hanse - The blacksmithy system had its valorite hammer increased to be tougher to get.
Hanse - We had complaints that the verite and valorite hammers were random. So, verite and valorite hammers are no longer in the same category to be randomly chosen from.
Hanse - Also, we introduced runic sewing kits to Tailoring.

Lord-Xanthor - *Darlene* A long time ago we were promised to be able to choose from different faces for our chars in UO3D when the new art would be released. We havent heard something about this recently, hast it been canceled?
Hanse - This means we had to shuffle around the difficulty points to fit them in.
Hanse - I'm not done yet!
Hanse - heh
Hanse - Also, the runic hammers changed and now craft magical properties/resistances...
Hanse - The tailoring rewards shuffled downwards, actually.
Hanse - So, bless deeds, flower tapestries, etc are slightly easier to get.
Hanse - That about sums it up!

Lord-Xanthor - *Darlene* A long time ago we were promised to be able to choose from different faces for our chars in UO3D when the new art would be released. We havent heard something about this recently, hast it been canceled?
Evocare - One other BOD thing... LBODs now give you better reward chances then before! =]
MrTact - It has not been cancelled.
MrTact - I'm not started yet!
MrTact - heh
MrTact - As I was saying
Evocare - I think you were done... ;]
MrTact - Not cancelled -- there will be publishes after AoS, surprise surprise

Lord-Xanthor - *Jediman* Just a question for them.... Will any of the unused art/items such as the ninja articles, amazon armor, etc, be used with AoS at all?
Evocare - no

Lord-Xanthor - *Fear|-* on the aos site it says there will be 2 new boss creatures, are these creatures new champions like rikktos and baracoon?
Evocare - As a matter of fact, there are seven new boss monsters =]
OaksOSI - And not a single one is cute and fluffy, like Lord Oaks.
Evocare - That's "cute and weak", Oaks...
Helios__OSI - There will actually be more than 2 boss monsters in Dungeon Doom. A little something we like to refer to as "The Gauntlet" around here. If you like champion spawns, you'll love the gauntlet.
Evocare - You heard it here first ladies and gents ;]

Lord-Xanthor - Please message only people with [QT] intheir names. All otehrs willbe ignored. Thank you =)
Lord-Xanthor - *Guest2* Will castles have any kind of addable teleporters since they can not be built on to or the looks changed ?
Vex - Non-customizable house types will not have access to teleporters, sorry.

Lord-Xanthor - *Keri* What kind of creatues will we be able to use the animate dead spell on? Will it work on something as strong as a dragon or will there be some kind of cap? Also, how will animating a dead creature change its appearance?
OaksOSI - You can animate most creatures, and they will create some form of existing undead based on the type. Elementals tend to create ghosts and banshees, orcs and trolls would make bone knights, and a really powerful dragon might just make a skeletal dragon.
OaksOSI - The more fame the creature gives, and more spirit speak you have, the more powerful the animated undead.

Lord-Xanthor - GreyPawn* What is a "soulstone" and how does it work?
Evocare - You do not yet comprehend the mysteries of soulstones. :P

Lord-Xanthor - <Gdelddria> will there be powerscrolls for the new skills?
Gromm - Oh you don't want soulstones, brother! I passed one of those things once and sprained my religion!
Evocare - yes

Lord-Xanthor - *Xanthio* Ilshenar and some of it's dungeons have great asthetics / atmosphere, but little to make them unique and interesting ... is there any chance that with or after AoS we might see Quests that utilize these areas, giving them some air of uniqueness?
Gromm - The best part about any area that's currently lacking in content is that we can use it as a blank slate in the future to create new things
Gromm - The quest system in the last scenario was massively popular and we're certainly going to look into using it again
Gromm - So really any area that's sparse is a candidate to get something interesting placed there. :)

Lord-Xanthor - *Krump* question: We've talked alot about changes for pvp, crafters, and etc.. Does AOS have any 'changes' for Tamers, (hopefully for the better?)
OaksOSI - There are no major revisions for tamers, although with the introduction of damage types you may find yourself using many pets that weren't as useful before.
OaksOSI - I'd like to add that legacy pets will be fully converted to have all the resists, stats, and damage types.

Lord-Xanthor - *StoneDuck* In AoS will telekinesis as far as dungeon chest are concerned be a thing of the past? will pure rogues still have to compete with mages who have lockpicking?
Evocare - Telekenesis isn't changing in AoS. However, if your pure rogue has stealing, they'll have quite a bit to do that mages can't do.

Lord-Xanthor - *Thomas* Will there be a method for bowyers to create magical bows or enhance them with elemental properties in AoS?
Hanse - AoS only allows blacksmithed and tailoring craftables to be created with magical properties. We don't have special wood in the game...
Evocare - However, now that we have more bows with AoS, it opens the door to more bowcraft enhancements for the future.

Lord-Xanthor - *Goo* How is mindblast going to work? Will it still punish unbalanced stats?
Evocare - Mindblast will no longer punish unbalanced stats (you are clear to do what you want with your stats now). However it now deals damage based upon the casters Magery and Intelligence
Evocare - (note that I didn't say Eval and Intelligence)
Evocare - so it makes it a bit different in that respect from other spells
Evocare - also
Evocare - it is a cold damage spell, and it now has a delay before the damage is dealt similar to that of the explosion spell
Adrick-OSI - it will punish those who skimp their cold resist :)

Lord-Xanthor - *FrostMerchant[Pac]* Where are we going to be able to get the Spells and Books in game for Paladins, Necromancers, and Special Skills?
OaksOSI - Necromancer spellbooks will be available from mage NPCs, Paladin books from paladin NPCs (surprise!), and the Special Moves book is built in (i.e., everyone has it).
OaksOSI - Necromancer scrolls can only be found on monsters in the beginning. Happy hunting!
Evocare - The books will become available once the AoS server code has been published to your shard.

Lord-Xanthor - *Nostradamus* Where are we going to be able to buy the new house placing tools?
Evocare - Note that to use Necromancy or Paladin abilities, you will need an upgraded AoS account.
Vex - You'll buy them from Architect NPCs. They'll sell those instead of deeds.

Lord-Xanthor - *LadyTygress* I have seen mention of a secure method to store your belongings while you customize your house. Will this box still be accessible while we are customizing our houses?
Vex - Items are packed away in a moving crate to get them out of the way while you edit your house. However, while you are actually in customization mode, you can't have any impact in the game world. You are basically an invisible ghost that can't manifest, use skills, talk, interact with objects, etc.
Vex - This means you can't access your items while customizing. Once you exit customization mode, your items will unpack automatically if you didn't commit a new design. If you actually changed your house design, you have to unpack manually.

Lord-Xanthor - *Paxicon[CF]* With the advent of UO:AoS can we expect some AI improvements? PvM as it is now is drudgery in extremes for many 'veteran players'.
Evocare - many AoS monsters use special moves
Evocare - also, I believe you'll find it more interesting to kill monsters efficiently due to the resistances in the combat system
Evocare - you won't necessarily use the same tactics versus everything =]
Evocare - also, the new champions use a variety of attacks to enhance their deadlyness
Evocare - is that a word? ;]
Gromm - Badassity, I think.
Evocare - right

Lord-Xanthor - *Guildenstern* Will there be any Power Scrolls for Alchemy, as the pictures of the character, on the AoS site, with the "Legendary Alchemist" title would seem to indicate?
Hanse - When we type a command "maxstats", it makes all our stats go up to maximum.
Hanse - So, for those screenshots, since alchemy is at the beginning of the list, you saw a legendary alchemist... :)
Hanse - But, we did not add alchemy powerscrolls to Age of Shadows...
Hanse - We apologize for the confusion.
Hanse - And we'll be logging to see who all types "maxstats" over the next few days... ;)
Evocare - haha

Lord-Xanthor - *Riptyde* With clothing also bearing resistances, is it possible for a player crafted robe to yield better resistancces than the reward robes?
Evocare - No, only the "normal" armor slots will have resistances (the only exceptions are the vet reward robe/cape, and as described earlier those don't have a high amount)
Evocare - otherwise, most players would feel compelled to wear every piece of clothing at once
Evocare - being a fashion-consious dev team, we wouldn't want our players to feel that way

Lord-Xanthor - *Jingo* Will we be able to use the Animal Lore skill to determine a creatures elemental resistances? or will it be trial and error learning a creatures weakness?
OaksOSI - The Animal Lore skill has been updated to show both resistances and damage types. Additionally, the loyalty rating is now shown on the first page of the Animal Lore gump.

Lord-Xanthor - *ShyaDawn* Will marking runes and recalling to various places within Malas be permitted?
Adrick-OSI - yes
Adrick-OSI - recall and gate are also allowed across facets in AOS as well :)

Lord-Xanthor - *knifey* I read on the aos website that spirt speak will compliment necromancy. I was wondering how it will do it since most necro spells are summon spells. Will it increase the duration of the sumons and creature transforms and curses? or will it just increase the damage of the direct dmg spells the necro has.??
Evocare - It's really very convenient...
OaksOSI - Spirit Speak affects the different familiars you can summon, the strength of your animated dead, the duration and damage of your spells, and even the mana steal percentage you get in wraith form. There's probably a few others I missed, but it's definitely crucial to have Spirit Speak to get the most out of Necromancy.

Lord-Xanthor - *JAck[BoH]* In the event of a nuclear strike by Iraq, how well protected are the UO server computers? =P
Evocare - Incredibly, word is the missiles are terribly inaccurate.
MrTact - Which, given our luck, means they will hit our data centers directly
Helios__OSI - I've got some spare faraday cages i can set the server boxes into. We should be good to go from the EMP at least...

Lord-Xanthor - I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight!
Lord-Xanthor - And thanks to all of the OSI folks for spending their personal time talking to us
Lord-Xanthor - Please join #ultima-online for continued, unmoderated chat
Lord-Xanthor - the log will be posted shortly at http://uohoc.stratics.com
Lord-Xanthor - THANKS
OaksOSI - No, Thank YOU!
Maleki - gnite