Brekkee - Good evening and welcome to another great Stratics House of Commons chat, tonight our guests are the developers of Ultima Online! Tonight’s topic is Samurai Empire so please keep your questions related to the expansion.
Brekkee - Please send your questions to [QT]Calelena or [QT]Gowel - to do so type /query NICK and type in the window that pops up. Questions sent to me 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.

Brekkee - We'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.
Oaks - I'm Oaks, Lead Designer for Samurai Empire.
wilki_EA - Hi, I'm Wilki, Online Community Rep.
Niobe - I'm Niobe, I'm a designer on Samurai Empire.
MrTact - I'm MrTact, engineering lead for Samurai Empire.
Leurocian - Leurocian here! Designer Ultima Online Live
Ogel - I'm Ogel, one of the designers on Samurai Empire.
Fertbert - I'm Fertbert, Live Team Lead.

Brekkee - *Lone`Shadow* With it taking 300 skill points to have Ninjitsu, stealth, hiding... Giving people very limited heal and mana regen/stam regen options. Is there any consider of something like 100ninja/100 stealth will grant a gm hiding bonus. Since you still have to train hiding up to 80 in order to stealth, or is there other plans to fix the issue?
Oaks - As the beta continues and we playtest internally, we are considering ways to address the healing issue for the cramped Ninja template. We are well aware of the issue and will address it as necessary.

Brekkee - *Giger* Will there be any updates to the game play interface with UO:SE?
Niobe - We did not focus on dramatic changes to the interfaces on UO:SE. However, the guild system changes includes quite a few improvements to the guild system interfaces.

Brekkee - *Ravenspyre* We know that there are going t be stealable artifacts for SE, but will there be minor or major arties for SE like weapons and armor, such as a daisho?
Oaks - We don't have any minor or major artifacts planned with the release of Samurai Empire... just rares of the new items.
Leurocian - However, the live team just might have to add some really cool....:)
Leurocian - After Samurai Empire release.

Brekkee - *Snippa* Last I read, there was a samurai ability that increased damage by 100%, if I'm correct... under the right conditions, this could allow 1 hit kills... has this been tested at all? also, was this intended? and if not, are there any plans to change this before, or perhaps shortly after UO:SE is released?
Oaks - There are several of the new abilities that give impressive damage bonuses, even more than 100% when combined with other abilities. However, a character with good resistances (50+) will not be in danger of a one-hit kill unless they have unusually low hit points.

Brekkee - *Lyria* Will you let Hanse, Oaks and the others out of the dungeon once UOSE is out the door?
Niobe - I'm not sure they want to be let out, they seem to enjoy the gruel.
Niobe - :)
Oaks - This dungeon is fun!
Leurocian - I want in! I want in!
Oaks - We've pretty much cleaned out the rares though...
Niobe - hahaha

Brekkee - *Ktorr* It was mentioned when listing the abilities of the Ninja, that in SE, a player would be able to begin Stealthing immediately after Hiding, that there would no longer be that 10 sec delay before he could use another skill. Will this ability be available to all Stealthers, or only the Ninja Class ?
Oaks - It will be available to all Stealthers! AWYEAH!

Brekkee - *Ktorr* Will there be any new player Quests, (ie. Hag, Naturalist, etc.) associated with SE ?
Niobe - We have a new player directed experience quest for each of the new professions.
Niobe - We also have a small quest that starts in the city of Zento.

Brekkee - *BluGnome* What plans and additions are there for Tinkers in the Samurai Empire expansion?
Niobe - We have added craftable items for just about everyone in this expansion, including stuff for tinkers! (and tailors and cooks and smiths and etc)
Ogel - Tinkers can now enhance their metal weapons with special metals (like the blacksmiths ;)
Ogel - And tinkers can craft weapons with special metals

Brekkee - *Nevyn_UOPG* Are there any plans to remove the ability for Emissaries to promote people from Ronin to Member? Letting them give people the ability to vote (completely circumventing the GM) lets one rogue Emissary flood a guild, taking over even if the rest of the Members strongly like the Guildmaster.
Oaks - If there is an overwhelming need for this, we'll definitely consider it. For now, however, you'll have to invest great trust in your Emissaries.

Brekkee - *unified* Will there be any enhancements to other skills in UO:SE other than new craftables?
OSI_speedman - Yes.

Brekkee - *Bethel_Rose* Speaking of cramped templates, is it true that recalling via runebook will no longer take any mage skill to do successfully if you use a charge? (rumor)
Niobe - You will no longer need to have magery to sucessuflly use a runebook. You will need to have enough mana to cast the spell.
Niobe - Runebooks will still use a charge each time you use them. However, the number of charges has been doubled.
Niobe - [number of charges a book can hold I mean]

Brekkee - *Rob_D* With the new client for UO:SE, will there be just an improvent of performance, or will some models (player avatars especially) be modified as well?
OSI_speedman - There isn't really a "new" client for UO:SE
OSI_speedman - Users of the UO:LBR and UO:TD 3D clients will noticed that the avatars have been changed to the UO:AOS avatars

Brekkee - *JoO* It was said a while back that to fix the Instant disarm/stun bug with wrestling it would take a major overhaul of how damage was given and taken. With the upcoming expansion is there any chance this will be addressed.
Fertbert - It has not been addressed in the expansion, but we may address it in a Live publish. We've been looking into our options for addressing that issue.

Brekkee - *Him* Will there be, as part of guild changes, any guild chat system or even better guild chat and alliance chat triggered with /gu and /al to help bring players together in an easier way than icq and uomap
MrTact - Not as part of this expansion, although that's obviously something we would like to improve.

Brekkee - *Kuja[OES]* I've heard of animal forms for the Ninja that let you run at mount speed off a mount, and even stealthed at these speeds. Will this be looked into? Also, what will prevent people from quickly casting these and running away? Maybe, you cant go into animal form if there are people watching?
OSI_speedman - Yes some higher level animal forms will let you move at mounted speeds without actually being on a mount.
OSI_speedman - And you can stealth while in an animal form
OSI_speedman - And you can even run while stealthing for short periods of time
Oaks - Running in stealth will always reveal you if you run out of steps, however.
OSI_speedman - It'll be challenging :)

Brekkee - *Teip* Will there be anything done for people coming back to the game, for instance abilty to play old characters? Also will there be more housing areas available?
Oaks - On top of that, we think the Samurai abilities that add a 100% damage bonus will also prevent people from stealth running. Because they'll be dead.
Fertbert - Returning players should generally find that their old character still exist. I'm not certain when the last character wipe occurred, but it was many years ago. There are new housing locations added with the expansion.

Brekkee - *Raven_Lodare* What of new champion spawns, will there be new rewards as well?
Ogel - There's a new Samurai-themed champion spawn with a powerful boss and Samurai-themed rewards
Ogel - and ninja-themed too, of course ;)

Brekkee - *Red_Falcon* Will bowcrafters finally be able to enhance bows/crossbows/etc in UO:SE?
Niobe - We were not able to add enhancing to bows in this expansion unfortunately.
Niobe - However we did add a new type of bow in UO:SE.
Leurocian - However, this is definitely something I would like to see the Live Team tackle when able. Crafting in general needs some love :)

Brekkee - *C_Talanithus_UOLS* Is there any hope of seeing a toggle switch for blue healing in the new guild system. While some guild wars would hate having blue healing, for most Tram guilds who want to participate in PvP only occassionally... it is a must have!
Fertbert - We are stongly considering adding that toggle in a future Live publish. That feature was a part of the initial guild redesign that just didn't make it into UO:SE.

Brekkee - *Lone`Shadow* Are they are new bows for archers? Anything with shadowstrike or anything cool? What about shurikens are they archery related and what's so special about them?
EvilMantis - Shuriken are not going to be archery related but useable projectiles.
EvilMantis - Using them will count as a swing though, so use wisely

Brekkee - *Bethel_Rose* Will people without the UOSE client be able to see/ride the new tameables?
OSI_speedman - Players who don't upgrade to UO:SE will be able to see the new rideables
OSI_speedman - But they won't be able to ride them
OSI_speedman - Or own them as pets
OSI_speedman - And that Hiryu is powerful!

Brekkee - *BigPapaPeanut* is there anything in SE that we haven't heard before that you can reveal to us today?
Oaks - Maybe there is, and maybe there isn't...
Niobe - One of the things we may or may not have mentioned before are the new origami kits
Niobe - if you find origami paper you'll be able to transform it an interesting shape.
Niobe - Another may be the craftable musical windchimes.
Niobe - And there's probably a ton of things like that you'll just have to discover by playing :)

Brekkee - *pingo* Is there any changes in the skill gain systems planned? Is the team aware that the guaranteed gain systems does not work?
Leurocian - We have plans to address skill gain in general for an upcoming publish.
Leurocian - And yes, we are aware that GGS is broken passed 115 skill. Speedman has corrected this internally.

Brekkee - *Nevyn_UOPG* When running while stealthed, do you get the same amount of steps you normally would? (i.e. 20 at GM skill)
Oaks - You consume twice as many steps if you run while stealthed.

Brekkee - *Devil_Woman* About running in stealth, is this just in animal form, just for ninjas, or is this just stealth after SE?
OSI_speedman - anyone with stealth can run while stealthed now
OSI_speedman - keep in mind that you cannot auto-stealth when you run out of stealth steps while running
OSI_speedman - You automatically try to use stealth again when you are walking though

Brekkee - *Ktorr* I remember haring something about "Smoke Bombs" that allow you to insta-hide. Could you give us more on these ?
Niobe - Smoke Bombs and Egg Bombs are craftable items you've heard a little about.
Niobe - They both require 50 ninjitsu to use and perform a check to your hiding skill on use.
Niobe - If sucessful, you will be able to hide, even in combat.

Brekkee - *C_Talanithus_UOLS* The new tinkering menu has an "enhancement" option... what exactly can we enhance, and why? Is this just teo let us add luck and ruability to our jewelry?
Ogel - The enhancement option is only for the metal tinkering weapons (cleavers, etc.).
Ogel - You can now create these weapons or enhance them with the special metals (valorite, etc.).

Brekkee - *BluGnome* Is it possible that we could see poisoned ranged weapons in UO:SE?
EvilMantis - The projectile weapons that we added for SE can in fact be poisoned
EvilMantis - Have fun with that, but watch your fingers!
Oaks - That's the throwing stars and blowgun by the way... the new bow is not poisonable.

Brekkee - *Hyperion* Can we expect any new changes to fishing, or improvements to the sailing aspect of UO with Samurai Empire or follwing publishes?
Leurocian - Yes. I've made some Ancient SOS tweaks to make them a little less rare. We will be adding variable weights for Big Fish as well as the fisherman's mark. Example: a big fish, n stones, caught by character name
Leurocian - The Live Team is also currently evaluating other possible future additions as well.

Brekkee - *Toki* will the new skills offer massive advantages over old skills in pvp
Oaks - We try very hard to balance the new abilities both numerically and through our own playtesting. However, players are often a heck of a lot more clever and come up with combinations we didn't even dream of. We are still seeing new imbalances come from the Paladin and Necromancers a year an a half later. So, honestly, there will probably be some -- but we'll try to address them as quickly as possible.

Brekkee - *Nevyn_UOPG* Can smoke bombs be looted off of monsters? And if so, is the amount gotten small? It would be a shame to kill off a crafter bonus because something can more easily be gotten through PvM
Niobe - A very few new Samurai Empire creatures do have a few smoke bombs, but only because they kind of need to use them.
Niobe - However, you'll have a lot more luck and fun getting them from your friendly crafting friend.

Brekkee - *Hyperion* When AOS released, there were the secret areas of Malas(Find the bag, drop a rune). Can we expect to see similar things in Samurai Empire?
OSI_speedman - Easter Eggs in a game?!
OSI_speedman - Nah.......
OSI_speedman - ;)

Brekkee - *C_Talanithus_UOLS* Can the new bows (or any ranged weapons) be used with Ninja abilities, like the suprise attack?
Oaks - They sure can. As we've been playtesting, we found we *may* need to scale damage down slightly based on range for these abilities.

Brekkee - *Snippa* with smoke bombs, would it be possible to use them while running? so if you get revealed, you can insta hide and stealth-run again right away?
Oaks - The smoke bombs do not require you to be standing still.

Brekkee - *Nevyn_UOPG* Is the noninclusion of Order/Chaoso toggles in the new guild system intentional?
Oaks - It is indeed intentional.

Brekkee - *[DJ]psycho* Will Item Insurance change in UO:SE? and insurance money in PvP?
Niobe - We did not make changes to item insurance or insurance money for UO:SE

Brekkee - *BluGnome* Are there any changes to mining in UO:SE?
Oaks - Nope.

Brekkee - *C_Talanithus_UOLS* Will the new SE Asian themed items (green tea, Samurai/ninja armor) only be purchaseable in Tokuno (SE land), or will they be added to NPC shopkeepers on every facet?
Niobe - The NPCs in Tokuno are quite distinct from other areas in Sosaria, including what they wear and what they sell.
Niobe - UO:SE themed items will be purchasable only from vendors in those lands.
Niobe - You will be able to sell the items anywhere, so they will crop up in the other area vendors from time to time.
Niobe - And players are welcome to add the items to their personal vendors.

Brekkee - *Garaba* For each of the developers, what is your favorite feature in UO:SE and why?
Oaks - Ninjas. Because they are Ninjas.
wilki_EA - Ninjas, cause they flip out and kill everyone...
Niobe - Ninjas are mammals
Ogel - I like all the new housing decorations/add-ons.
Ogel - And ninjas
wilki_EA - Did I mention we got Ninjas in SE?
Niobe - I can't ever pick just one thing. I think our new cows (the Gaman) are really interesting.
Leurocian - I would have to say the new stealth changes because I like being stealthy. And of course there is the ability to poison shurikens and blow gun darts because I like to assasinate other PCs...er, I'll stop there. Only one favorite feature is allowed.....Oh, and I love Ninjas ;P
Leurocian - PCs = player characters
EvilMantis - Ninjas, because being different is bad
Oaks - By the way... there is a change to mining that may be my favorite feature (sorry I forgot about this) -- the fire beetle!
Niobe - It is dreamy!
wilki_EA - Don't forget the Ninjas!
Oaks - Portable smelter for one, please. Thank you.
Leurocian - How dreamy is it?
Niobe - hehe
Fertbert - I like the ferret racetrack because it will give Sosaria's ferrets a place to get some exercise.
Leurocian - Curses! I wanna prairie dog race track!

Brekkee - That will wrap it up for tonight. Thanks for coming! You can join #Ultima-Online to chat more about the game.
Brekkee - The log for tonight’s chat will be up shortly on http://uo.stratics.com