 Guten Tag, Damen und Herren!
I'm gonna start this week by giving you some advice: don't get sick. Seriously! being sick really sucks.. I should know, I've been sick the past 4 days. This wasn't the "mommy I dont wanna go to school today" type sickness.. nosir, this is the "please please let a comet hit the earth and end my misery" sickness. It was like a Celebrity Deathmatch in my brain! Well, except there was no Johnny Gomez.. come to think of it, there werent any celebrities either.. hmm.. Okay, so maybe it wasn't anything like a Celebrity Deathmatch in my brain.. but it sure felt like it!
In case youre wondering my ill-timed illness is why the TDU is late this week, and also why this weeks monday music is nonexistant. So without further to do, Let us see if we cant get caught up!
First on the platter.. possible leather changes psoted to FYI just today (see, if I hadn't been sick, you would have had to wait a full week for this one):
The idea of adding new types of leather to the game has been discussed on and off between players and the development team for quite some time as something that could not only add more diversity to the game, but also be a boon to crafting and to those that rely on leather for protection. Many are wondering if this is still a possibility.
If you've been reading the UO Boards lately, you may have caught this interesting tidbit dropped by Evocare on the Development forum:
Second, there are still changes going into publish 16 that haven't yet been announced that will help with the balance issues. For example, warning: spoiler! you'll soon see new types of leather that tailors can convert into better leather armor... something that might help mages against the awesome damage of unlootable vanquishing axes in the hands of players with 120 tactics. ;]
Could it be true? Will players finally be able to adventure the lands of Britannia in their finely crafted mongbat-leather armor? Well, perhaps not mongbat. Hanse stopped by the Trade Skills forum and offered some more details on what it is the development team has been considering in regards to new types of leather.
Actually, a new leather/hide system is being introduced to give Tailors more depth. This allows a system much like what blacksmiths have with different ingot colors.
It also gives the bulk order system for tailors (for publish 16) rarer large bulk orders. :)
For fishermen and tailors:
As for sea serpents, we added one of the special leather types to them (Evocare dropped the earlier quote in another thread about the new leather types that this thread is about). It's not gold, but you can convert the resource into gold, if you wish.
For tailors:
The four types (at this moment) are leather, spined leather, horned leather, and barbed leather. No visible artwork, but the names will change when you craft with them (ie: "exceptional barbed studded leather armor"). This puts a new twist on the tailoring skill and uses resources that are semi-unique to Ultima Online. :)
Of course, the disclaimer... the changes mentioned here are for Publish 16. We can change any of these at our discretion. The implementation will be visible on Test Center (when? I don't know...). I'm sure you'll have interesting feedback when you have worked with it.
The ideas are not definite, but the possibility of this addition is alive and well. Thanks to Hanse and Evocare for the exciting update!
Now if they can only make some exceptional domanatrix studded leather corsets for the misses.. oh.. yeah.. where was I? ahh thats right, game updates.. okay, heres one about purple sigil items:
We announced back in August that we would be taking a stronger stand on illegal purple-hued sigil items. As of that time, and continuing today, any players found selling these items, either in-game or out-of-game, will receive an automatic 72-hour suspension from Ultima Online, a final warning on their account, and the items will be deleted. Any accounts that have already been placed under final warning will be terminated.
Players were urged at that time to dispose of any remaining items that were illegally dyed through this exploit. As of now, any of these items found will be deleted, whether it’s in a player’s pack, bank, or house, and a mark will be placed on the account of the player who had the item in their possession (or the owner of the house if the item was in a house).
Just as a reminder, anything that can be dyed through use of a normal dye tub, including clothing, metal kite shields, and all footwear (excluding sandals) can be hued this shade legally. If an item is purple, and cannot be dyed through the use of a normal dye tub, it is a result of the sigil exploit, and should be disposed of immediately. It is vital that we enforce a NO TOLERANCE rule against exploits in Ultima Online.
Thank you for your understanding,
Ultima Online Support
Fairly straightforward.. I thought they were already doing that, but I must have been mistaken. Better bump all those purple items, folks! In the same spirit, here comes a doozy!
It's that time - the Britannian Housing Association has decreed that as of Thursday, February 28th, all condemned houses will once again be subject to decay! So it's moving time for all owners of condemned houses - please make sure that you've moved all items of value into your main house (the most recent one that you acquired). We are not responsible for any loss of items due to decay in a condemned house!
The length of time for a condemned house to decay is approximately 10 days. The earlier you take action, the better. You can redeed your condemned house, or transfer ownership of it to a player that does not currently own a house. It’s important to note that GMs cannot remove the condemned status of a house, so please do not page them about the matter.
Yowzah, thats gonna hit some people hard! For you newer folks, it used to be that you could have as many houses as you wanted with no penalty. This lead to people owning 5-10 houses in some cases, which greatly cut intot he housing market. When the Renaissance came along, they instituted the one house per account rule, and all those other houses you owned were "condemned". So, uif youre looking for a house, nows the chance to grab some real estate in Felucca (as there are no condemned houses in Trammel).
Next up, a gutsy OSI move regarding bards:
Bard Skills Revamp
For an upcoming publish, the Ultima Online Live Development team plans to make some substantial changes revolving around the game's Bard class. Our goals in making these changes are these:
To fix skill balance issues. This includes the relatively extreme power of the Provocation skill and the relatively weak power of Enticement. Provocation allows characters with minimal skill points to single-handedly kill some of the most powerful monsters in the game, while Enticement has very few worthwhile uses.
To improve the play experience of bards. As they currently stand, the bard skills generally do not require much interaction from the player. For example, once two creatures are provoked to fight each other, the bard need no longer interact with those creatures until one of them dies. As such, combat with a bard character isn't as engaging, exciting, or interesting as it could be.
To increase the versatility of bards. Currently, bards have a very small number of simple abilities, many of which have very limited use in Ultima Online. We wish to ultimately give bards a collection of different abilities that are individually not overbalancingly powerful. As a corollary goal, some of the new bard abilities added will be unique to bards and new to Ultima Online.
With those goals in mind, we have in mind a basic play experience planned for the new bard class. In general, it will work like this:
Bard songs. Bard songs will be an amalgamation of magic and music, voice and instrument. There will be no actual initiation time for a song, but bards will be limited to using bard abilities once every 10 seconds. After initiation, the duration of the song is open-ended, depending on numerous factors. For example, bards must pay a continuous but small upkeep cost in Stamina while the song continues, but bards with the Meditation skill will pay up to 75% of the upkeep cost using Mana. The Stamina/Mana upkeep costs will generally be very small, on the order of 1 per second. Maintaining a bard song won't stop the character's normal Mana or Stamina regeneration. It will to be a very slow but noticeable drain — an additional factor to take into consideration in combat. Also, bards are somewhat vulnerable to interruption by taking damage while a song continues.
While continuing a song, some events will have a chance to abort the song. First, if the bard initiates a new song, hides, casts Invisibility on himself, recalls, or steps through any kind of moongate, his or her bard song running will be cancelled. If a third party casts Invisibility on the bard while the bard is playing a song, the bard will become visible again within 5 seconds. Attacking, taking damage, casting spells, and actively meditating all have a small (normally 10% chance) of interrupting a bard's song. If the bard has Meditation skill, this chance scales downward to 5%. Moving; equipping/unequipping; using potions, wands, and staves; mounting/dismounting; using bandages; and any other activity will not interrupt the bard. (This list, along with this entire design, is subject to change.)
Song effects. The bard songs will have a mixture of effects. Some will be geared toward solo adventure, while others will be more useful with the bard assisting and supporting an ally. Some will be geared toward actively affecting combat, while others will have passive effects that modify rewards gained from many different types of activities. The Provoke, Entice, and Peacemake songs will have the ability to affect multiple targets.
Once a bard has successfully started one of these effects, he can add an additional target by re-initiating the same effect (it won't cancel the existing effect) and selecting different targets. Each additional target increases the difficulty of the skill check (lower chance of success) and if successful increases the Stamina/Mana upkeep cost. The bard must still remain fairly close to all targets of these effects. Also, when interruption checks are made, each target involved is checked individually for interruption. Note that provoking two creatures to fight counts as two targets. Additionally, once a bard has stopped a song or been interrupted, the effect of the song will continue for 5 – 10 seconds.
Targeting and Flagging. Most bard abilities will be considered "beneficial" or "negative" acts. This means that some of them will be unusalbe in Trammel outside of consentual PvP (like guild wars). Others may be used in non-consenting PvP in Felucca, but will give the bard and Aggressor and/or Criminal flags. For example, performing a beneficial song (like a health regeneration buff) on a monster in Trammel will be impossible, but simply flag the bard criminal in Felucca. Passive abilities that do not require explicit targets will have their effects limited as appropriate and not result in flagging.
Bard skills. The existing bard skills (Musicianship, Enticement, Peacemaking, and Provocation) will continue to exist, though their roles will change. All bard abilities will still require a Musicianship check. Furthermore, each ability will require skill checks in one or more of the other three skills. Generally, the more powerful the ability, the more skills will be required. Some abilities may receive very small bonuses for having non-required barding skills; for example, the Provoke ability will require the Provocation skill, but will receive small bonuses for bards who also spent points on the Enticement and/or Peacemaking skills. Furthermore, other skills besides the bard-specific ones will grant bonuses to some bard abilities.
Bard templates. There will be many possible bard templates available. Bards may choose not to raise all four of the bard skills (though at least Musicianship and one of the other three will be required to be effective). Doing that will limit the repertoire of songs available, but free up skill points to be used elsewhere. Bards will also be able to be effective without achieving Grandmaster status in all the bard skills, allowing still more flexibility. Since some bard abilities will receive bonuses from additional non-bard skills, bards will have many opportunities to specialize. And finally, since some skills will have additional effects on the bard (like Meditation offsetting Stamina costs with Mana), the potential variety of bard templates becomes very large indeed.
And finally, here are our ideas for actual bard abilities. With this list below, it is particularly important to remember that this is just in concept and is very subject to change!
Provoke. Requiring just the Provocation skill, the core of this ability remains unchanged. The bard provokes one creature to attack another creature or a player (but cannot provoke a player to attack anything). However, in addition to the basic bard spell restrictions listed above under Bard Songs, there are a few differences. First, Provoke becomes difficulty-based, meaning that the more powerful a creature is, the harder it is to provoke. The tougher the target, the less willing the creature is to fight it, making the provoke attempt more difficult. While the exact difficulty and success rate calculations have not been finalized, here is a general idea of the dynamics of this ability: For a bard with 100.0 Provocation and 0 in Enticement and Peacemaking, the chance to provoke one dragon to attack another will be approximately 20%. With 100.0 in all 3 skills, the chance will increase to approx. 40%. Also, it may become possible to find a magical musical instrument that could further increase this chance by an additional 20%.
Provoking another pair of dragons to fight would probably be impossible, but with the additional skill bonus and the magical instrument, it may be possible to provoke a third dragon onto one of the two already being provoked. Provoking even more powerful creatures (like Balron or Ancient Wyrms) will be possible only when weaker creatures are involved. Provoking a single daemon onto a Balron would be possible but unlikely. Also, once a creature is provoked, it will no longer switch targets (because the effect is continuous).
After the effect ends, the creature will immediately re-target the provoking bard if possible. Bards will be able to provoke creatures onto players in PvP but will not be able to provoke players to fight creatures or other players. And, of course, a player who is the victim of a provoke can run out of range, go invisible, or do other things to break the effect and cause the monster to re-target the bard.
Entice. The only skill this ability takes is Enticement. This ability changes slightly. Rather than a one-time effect that draws a single target to the bard, it will become continuous, causing the target to continue to follow the bard so long as the song is being played. It, too, will become difficulty based. In general, it will be much easier to entice a creature than to provoke it. This ability cannot be used against players on either facet.
Peacemake. This requires only the Peacemaking skill. This ability is now targeted, difficulty-based, and continuous, with difficulty similar to Entice. The target of Peacemake will stop fighting anything it's fighting and not fight back so long as the song remains in effect. If used on a player, the player will leave War Mode and lose their target. If the player starts fighting again, after a few seconds the effect will repeat (so long as the bard is still maintaining the effect). Like provocation, once a monster is released from this effect it will try to target the bard if possible. In Trammel, it will have no effect on players.
Stamina Regen. Rate Buff. The bard selects a single target, and that target's Stamina recovery rate is increased based on the bard's Provocation skill. This is an actively targeted ability and is considered a beneficial act, making it impossible to use on a monster in Trammel. Using it on a murderer, criminal, or monster is a criminal act in Felucca.
Health Regen. Rate Buff. This ability works almost identically to the Stamina buff, except that the skill required is Enticement and the targets' natural healing rate is increased while the song is in effect. Furthermore, the bards' Healing skill will provide slight bonuses to this effect.
Mana Regen. Rate Buff. This ability works almost identically to the Stamina buff, except that the skill required is Peacemaking and the targets' natural Mana regeneration rate is increased while the song is in effect. Furthermore, the bards' Meditation skill will provide slight bonuses to this effect.
Increase Spawn. Skills used are Provocation and Enticement. This ability allows the solo bard or troupe of bards to have slight effects on the spawn rates in "Champions of Evil" (aka "Boss Monster" aka "Evil in a Can" quests, which are themselves heavily based on variable spawn regions. The cumulative effects of multiple bards will not be enough to severely impact the gameplay of others. However, due to the potential for abuse, this ability actually making it into the game is very much in question. The Increase Spawn ability is considered neither negative or beneficial.
Decrease Spawn. Works like Increase Spawn, but in the other direction. Skills required are Provocation and Peacemaking.
Karma Decrease. Requires Provocation and Enticement skills. This ability works against a single target. The actual effect of this ability is to decrease the magnitude of the target's Karma temporarily. This means a target with negative Karma has less negative Karma while under the effect of this ability, and one with positive Karma has less positive Karma. This ability cannot cause a negative Karma target's Karma to become positive, or vice-versa. This effect is considered beneficial.
Karma Increase. This is the reverse of Karma Decrease. The skills required are Peacemaking and Enticement. Targets with negative Karma lose Karma temporarily under this effect, and targets with positive Karma gain karma. This is considered a negative act.
Fame Decrease. This effect requires Peacemaking and Enticement. The target temporarily loses an amount of fame. This is considered a beneficial act, but cannot be used in a guard zone on any facet.
Fame Increase. Requires Provocation and Peacemaking. Target temporarily gains fame. This is a negative act.
Attack Ability. This ability requires Provocation, Peacemaking, and Enticement . This ability is the only direct-damage bard song. It works by delivering damage over time based on the bard's skills. This is a negative act.
Teaching Song. This ability requires Provocation, Peacemaking, and Enticement, plus an additional skill. The bard can use this ability to temporarily increase a target's skill level in any skill the bard possesses. For example, a bard with Mining skill can temporarily increase the Mining skill of a target. The bard can target himself with this ability. The maximum skill bonus will be 10 points of skill for crafting and resource gathering skills, and 20 points for all others, including combat skills. Lumberjacking will fall into the 10 point bonus category. The maximum bonus will be extremely difficult to achieve by requiring the bard be close to Grandmaster in the bard skills and the skill being taught.
FAQ
In a previous version of the bard changes, I read that I had to stand still and prepare my song before I "cast" it. Is that gone, now?
Actually, the initiating "casting" time was never meant to mean that you couldn’t move at all, but that “initiating” casting time has been completely removed from this version of the changes. The small-but-continuous cost in Stamina (and partial offset with Mana for those with Meditation skill) will be sufficient as a built-in "time-limitation" control.
If someone attacks me while I am playing my song, my bard song shuts off, right?
Here's how it might work, with the rules described in this concept document (and please keep in mind, as with any such design concept, it is subject to possible change): some events will stop your song immediately-starting a new song, hiding, casting Invisibility on yourself, recalling, or using any Moongate (including facet gates).
Engaging in combat, casting spells, and using Meditation all have a chance of stopping your song, about a 10% chance.
Moving, equipping or unequipping, using potions, wands, staves, and bandages, and mounting/unmounting will not interrupt your song.
So if you're the sort of bard who likes to play it safe and stick to the edge of a combat-heavy area, you might be able to play your song and still safely take the occasional hit from attackers and possibly heal yourself with bandages, all the while still being able to move around.
Will I be able to Entice a creature at the same time as I Provoke another creature?
No. If you Entice one creature, you can attempt to Entice a second, but once you begin the second song (in this case Provocation), the previous song(s) will be stopped.
How many creatures will I be able to Provoke (or Entice or Peacemake) at one time?
That will depend on several factors. You will be able to have multiple Provocation songs playing (with the difficulty increasing with each additional target), and each successful playing of a given song will have its own Stamina/Mana upkeep cost-perhaps 1 per second, per song. It may not be unlikely that you will have 3 creatures Provoked at one time, but it's probably unrealistic to imagine that you'd be able to provoke two dozen monsters for even a few seconds.
What happened to the concept of groups of bards having cooperative abilities?
Bonus abilities for troupes of bards is no longer a part of this design concept. Bards will of course still be able adventure together, but there will be no special bonuses for "bard troupes"
Will I be able to stack my healing buffs?
No. Only Provocation, Enticement, and Peacemaking will be able to be used on multiple targets. All other abilities are one target at a time only.
Considering the new upkeep costs for bard songs, how are people actually supposed to ever finish a fight with no Stamina or Mana? Combat usually lasts more than 30-45 seconds, and a bard would be drained and helpless at that point-they couldn't swing, run, sing or cast.
Bards will be able to regain Mana faster than normal by targeting themselves and playing the Mana Regeneration Rate buff, or could even use Meditation if they choose.
Bards will be able to regain Stamina faster than normal by targeting themselves and playing the Stamina Regeneration Rate buff, or they could drink a red Refresh potion.
Two bards will be also able to cast their songs on one another as well, at which point an effect perhaps not too dissimilar to two combatants cross-healing each other might occur.
Is it intended for Bards to only be effective in groups now?
We know there are many bards who enjoy their ability to play the game solo, and it is absolutely our intent to see that that remains a valid playstyle. But at the same time, a single character should never be able to take out the toughest creatures in the game single-handedly, and that has historically been well within the bard’s capabilities.
Any time we’re faced with the prospect of having to take something away, or in this case, reduce the Bard’s power, we feel that it’s important to give something back that is new. In this case, we decided to add to the Bard’s flexibility by adding in completely new abilities that benefit others. If we’d focused only on adding new abilities that benefited single play, we’d likely run into the same problem of bards simply being too effective in single PvM combat.
Also note that in this revised iteration of the design, bards can now use some of these new abilities to assist themselves as well as others, which we hope will enhance solo as well as group play.
Interesting note, after I snagged this from UO.com, everything is suddenly in french! I don't know how this happened, but its tres odd, mon amis. At any rate, a little french wont stop me from bringing you the latest scoop on all the poop.. Heres more gutsy stuff from OSI with PvP and felucca changes.
This is a completely revised version of the changes previously proposed for treatment of stat loss and murderers, as well as a proposal for enhancing PvP in Felucca's dungeons and Lost Lands. This document also details some new rewards that may be found in the Felucca dungeons and Lost Lands areas. There is also a FAQ that we hope might clear up some questions!
Felucca Changes
NOTES:
- These changes apply to the non-SP/IGR shards only!
- These changes are an independent set, not to be combined with any other Felucca change proposals listed previously.
Intent
As a brief preface, we’d like to explain the essential goals of the changes listed in this document.
The below changes should…
- Establish an area where non-consensual pvp can thrive for a significant number of UO’s players.
- Create a risk versus reward model that encourages non-consensual pvp based around resource control rather than profit from the deceased.
- Provide meaningful and compelling rewards for players that successfully adventure in the specified areas.
Changes to the Dungeons and Lost Land areas of Felucca
In order to establish an area where players can engage in a meaningful struggle for the control of resources without drastically impacting the current play patterns of Felucca’s citizens, the Dungeon and Lost Land areas of Felucca will be modified.
- When a non-Murderer is killed in the Dungeon/Lost Land areas of Felucca, all of the character’s items other than gold, gems, ingots, ore, leather, hides, wool, wood, boards, and cursed items will remain on their ghost (unlootable).
- When a Murderer is killed in the Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca, 50% of the character’s items (random result per item) other than gold, gems, ingots, ore, leather, hides, wool, wood, boards, and cursed items will remain on their ghost (unlootable).
- Any player that dies in the Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca will immediately be given a mandatory “stuck player” option (forced to leave the dungeon and lost land servers). During this process, the player will not be able to hear spoken words (they can send/receive party messages as normal).
- A player that dies in the Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca will not be able to return to those servers for 30 minutes.
- Ghosts will be unable to enter the Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca.
- Players will no longer be able to recall or gate into or out of the Dungeon/LostLand areas of Felucca.
- The various dungeons of Felucca will be linked to each other via teleporters to help alleviate crowding and bottlenecks.
- When a player reports a murder, only the long-term murder count will be incremented.
- If a murderer dies in the Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca, they will not take stat loss upon their next resurrection.
- When stealing from innocents, thieves will only be able to steal gold and gems in the Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca. Thieves will continue to be able to use the full range of their thieving abilities against consensual-pvp opponents (guild wars, order/chaos, factions).
- Many Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca will contain “champion regions” (a.k.a. “Evil-in-a-Can”).
- The various champions of evil and “The Harrower” itself (a new champion monster, not to be confused with the mere “tentacles of the Harrower”) that spawn in Dungeon/LL areas of Felucca will carry special Scrolls of Power (detailed further below).
- The Minax faction stronghold will be relocated from the lost lands to another location in Felucca.
- The city of Delucia will no longer be a “faction city”. However, the city of Vesper will become a faction city.
Changes to the consequences/conditions of the “Murderer” status
- The “bounty system” will be eliminated.
- The “murderer” paperdoll title will be eliminated (although players with 5 murders will still highlight red and be considered “murderers” in this document). This does mean a red character can be titled as “Dread Lord” again, assuming they have enough fame and karma to warrant it.
- Red characters will not be able to gain Virtue, or use any Virtue abilities.
- When a red character takes stat loss, all short term counts will be wiped.
Changes to the conditions of the “Criminal” status
Innocents (blues) will no longer be able to negatively affect other innocents through the following area effects indirectly: purple potions, mass curse, meteor swarm, chain lightning, earthquake, fire field, poison field, paralyze field, blade spirits, or energy vortex. This applies to all of Felucca.
Changes to the consequences/conditions of being a “Thief”
Stealing will no longer be considered an aggressive act, although it will continue to be a criminal act (players will not be able to report a thief for murder if they attack the thief but lose the fight). This applies to all of Felucca.
Increased reward in all of Felucca
In order to provide incentives for some of Britannia’s braver citizens such that they have reason to spend more time in Felucca, we will institute several measures that are intended to increase the reward for adventuring in Felucca.
- Felucca will have much of its spawn modified to include fewer monsters overall, yet a much higher percentage of medium to high-end monsters (liches, daemons, ancient wyrms, blood elementals, etc…), and far fewer low-end monsters (slimes, rats, snakes, headless’, etc…).
- Mines, trees, sheep, will produce double the normal resources in Felucca, as will all creatures that produce leather or feather resources.
- Monsters in Felucca will provide more fame and karma.
“Cursed” items
- Some new items that are available exclusively through adventures in the Felucca dungeons and lost lands will be “cursed” (the opposite of “blessed”).
- Cursed items will always drop to the player’s corpse upon death, regardless of any other looting rules.
Scrolls of Power
Scrolls of Power are significant new items that allow veteran players to continue the development and/or specialization of their characters.
Skill Scrolls:
- A new type of scroll will be added that allows players to raise the limits of their possible maximum skill values beyond 100.0 (up to 120.0).
- The player’s skill will not actually be raised upon using the scroll, but the cap on that skill will be raised to the appropriate level, depending on which scroll was used.
- These scrolls will only be found on “Champions of Evil” that spawn in the Dungeons and Lost Lands areas on the Felucca facet.
- For each eligible skill, there are 4 different types of scrolls:
- +5.0 (raises the appropriate skill’s limit to 105.0)
- +10.0 (raises the appropriate skill’s limit to 110.0)
- +15.0 (raises the appropriate skill’s limit to 115.0)
- +20.0 (raises the appropriate skill’s limit to 120.0)
- The skill scrolls are not cumulative (you must use one +20.0 skill scroll to reach a maximum value of 120.0 skill, that character cannot use four separate +5.0 skill scrolls to achieve the same result).
- Once a scroll of a given type and value has been used, scrolls of lesser or equal type and value can no longer be used (ie: if you use a +10.0 Magery skill scroll to raise your Magery skill limit to 110.0, that character can no longer use any +5.0 or +10.0 Magery skill scrolls).
- The more powerful scrolls will spawn less frequently than less powerful scrolls.
- Once a player uses the skill scroll and raises their skill limit, they will then be able to gain in that skill (through normal means) until they reach their new skill limit.
- All skill points gained above 100.0 continue to count against the player’s skill cap (if the player is a “7x GM” and wants to raise 5 skills to 120.0, they would have to lower 1 of their gm skills and eventually become a 5x 120, 1x 100 character).
- Skill scrolls are “cursed” items (explained further below), but are consumed upon use.
- Players may trade and/or sell skill scrolls to other players (it is not required for the player that found them to use them).
- Only the following skill scrolls will spawn as of Publish 16:
- Swordsmanship
- Fencing
- Mace Fighting
- Archery
- Wrestling
- Parrying
- Tactics
- Anatomy
- Healing
- Magery
- Meditation
- Evaluate Intelligence
- Magic Resistance
- Animal Taming
- Animal Lore
- Veterinary
- Musicianship
- Provocation
- Enticement
- Peacemaking
- Stealth
- Stealing
The interface for skill scrolls will function as follows:
- Player “uses” the skill scroll (double-click).
- The appropriate skill now has a “cap” of 100.0 + the value according to the type of scroll (i.e.: 105.0 for a +5.0 skill scroll).
- The player may view their maximum skill value in the skills window (this will be patched as a publish 16 client change). For example, a player might see: Magery 92.1/115.0
Stat Scrolls:
- Stat scrolls can only be found on “The Harrower” (a new “arch champion” that will also be found in the dungeon and Lost Land areas of Felucca, and will be described in more detail in the near future… not to be confused with the mere “Tentacles of the Harrower”).
- When used, stat scrolls increase the character’s actual stat cap, thereby allowing players to gain stats beyond the normal 225-point limit.
- Stat scrolls can be found in 5 varieties: +5, +10, +15, +20, and +25.
- The stat scrolls are not cumulative (you must use one +25 stat scroll to reach a stat cap of 250, you cannot use five separate +5 stat scrolls to achieve the same result).
- As of Publish 16, the new limit on any one stat will be raised from 100 to 125. This is independent of the stat scroll additions, and will be applied to all players.
- Once a scroll of a given type and value has been used, scrolls of lesser or equal type and value can no longer be used (ie: if you use a +10 stat scroll to raise your stat cap to 235, that character can no longer use any +5 or +10 stat scrolls).
- The more powerful scrolls will spawn less frequently than less powerful scrolls.
- Once a player uses a stat scroll and raises their stat cap, they will be able to gain in any stat (through normal means) until they reach their new stat limit.
- Stat scrolls are “cursed” items, but are consumed upon use.
- Players may trade and/or sell stat scrolls to other players (it is not required for the player that found them to use them).
The interface for stat scrolls will function as follows:
- Character “uses” the stat scroll (double-click).
- The character now has a stat cap equal to 225 + the value according to the type of scroll (i.e.: 240 for a +15 stat scroll).
- The player may view their stat maximum status window (this will be patched as a publish 16 client change). For example, a player might see:
Stat Maximum 230
FAQ
What does this mean for the other changes – one red, all red, the 30% looting thing, etc?
These changes are the new proposal that will completely replace the old proposal. This is INSTEAD of the other changes, not in addition to them.
What about the rest of Felucca – is it changing?
The mainland of Felucca will, for the most part, retain the same rule set with the following exceptions:
- Stealing will no longer be considered an aggressive act (although it’s still a criminal act).
- Felucca spawn changes will affect all of Felucca, except the Hero spawn will only occur in the Dungeon/Lost Lands areas.
- Resource levels, along with fame and karma, will be raised in Felucca.
- Vesper will become a faction town.
- The Minax stronghold will be relocated to a mountainous area of Felucca.
- Blues can no longer indirectly damage other blues through area effect spells.
- Increased stat cap on individual stats for all characters (from 100 to 125).
- Skill and stat scrolls will be able to be used in Trammel or Felucca, and their effects will remain constant across all facets.
“Fewer monsters overall”? What’s up with that?
Large quantities of monsters in Felucca will be swapped with lower quantity, higher quality monsters. For example, is that there won’t be as many hordes of rats, but you might instead see a few large rats or ratmen, or perhaps even something single, more powerful entity, like a lich lord.
Any changes to Trammel or Ilshenar?
- Increased stat cap on individual stats for all characters (from 100 to 125).
- Skill and stat scrolls will be able to be used in Trammel or Felucca, and their effects will remain constant across all facets.
Why double the ore in Felucca where miners and resource gatherers can get ganked?
Since there’s nothing in these resource spots you can’t get in Trammel, this change isn’t intended to persuade resource gatherers to mine/gather in Felucca. However, we feel that anyone who braves the greater risk should get a greater reward for their trouble.
Why are you changing both the dungeons and the Lost Lands? Why not one or the other?
There’s two main reasons for this. One is that all these areas are on the same sub-server, which will make the change in rules much easier; and two, this creates a larger area with more variety for the new Hero spawns.
Can’t return to the dungeon server for 30 minutes? Why?
In order for the challenge of fighting the Hero spawns and surviving in these areas to really be a challenge, we need to be sure that people can’t just keep dying and immediately coming back indefinitely. By keeping people from coming right back into the fray of the fight after dying, players are able to establish some kind of control over the resources and territory they’re fighting over. It will also be a greater challenge to groups – it will be highly beneficial to keep your group members alive, thus keeping your group as powerful as it can be.
Blues can’t hurt other blues? Anywhere?
This change affects all of Felucca. Blues can still harm other blues with area effect spells if they target them directly, but they won’t hurt other blues who are accidentally caught in the area effect radius.
So is there any change to how long it takes to work off a murder count?
No, there are no changes.
If I steal from someone in Felucca, or from someone I am in a guildwar with in Trammel, will I get a murder count?
If you steal from anyone, in any situation that allows stealing, you will “go grey” to that person and he may attack you in return, but you will not gain a murder count.
So I can still go grey by stealing?
Yes, but you aren’t going to be considered the aggressor, so you can’t be given a murder count after stealing from someone and being attacked. This applies to any situation on any facet where stealing is allowed, such as guildwars.
You mention a “stuck player” option when you die in Felucca’s dungeons/Lost Lands. Is this the same as the one from the Help menu?
It is similar, but there will be some small, important differences. This new type of “stuck player” option will allow the dead character to immediately move to the town chosen from the “stuck list,” while the Help menu version will continue to have a 2-minute wait before teleporting to town. The new menu will also not be able to be “cancelled”—players must choose a target city or one will be chosen at random for them within a few seconds.
So what about people who get hurt in the Lost Lands area, then go back to Felucca to die, thus giving their aggressor a short-term murder count?
This is something we’ve thought about, and we do have some ideas worked out to prevent this.
What about the PKs who will camp the Hero spawn areas to get the scrolls?
It will most likely take at least 6-10 players to get the champion to spawn, and only one will have the scroll, making it difficult for PKs to know who is carrying anything valuable. Not to mention the fact that potential PK’s will also have to deal with monsters as well!
There will also be 17 different areas in the Felucca dungeons/Lost Lands where the Heroes will spawn, so it will be difficult to camp all of them – as well, the spawn areas in the LL will rotate, making it that much harder.
When do murderers take stat loss and when do they not?
In the main land of Felucca, short term and long-term counts will remain just as they are now. Stat loss is still based on having 5 or more short term counts. The difference is that people who murder others in the dungeons/LL of Felucca will only take long-term counts (which only determines whether or not you are red, and does not lead to stat loss).
So I can’t take stat loss in the Felucca dungeon/Lost Lands?
Nope! Even if you have short term murder counts and would typically take stat loss in the main Felucca area, you can die in the dungeon or Lost Lands server and be resurrected (somewhere outside Felucca's dungeons or lost lands) with no stat loss.
Red characters will no longer gain Virtues. What happens to my existing virtue points?
You will not be able to gain in any Virtue, and your existing Virtue points will decay as normal.
If my murderer dies in a Feluccan dungeon, will I be able to go back and get my stuff?
The corpses of players’ characters decay within a few minutes. The proposed system prohibits that character from returning to the dungeon server for 30 minutes, so obviously your corpse (and any items contained within) will have long decayed. After teleporting to town, if you think your items may still be recoverable, you have the option to try switching characters or asking a friend to recover your items for you.
If I get a +20 skill scroll, does that mean all my skills can go up to 120?
No, only the one skill that relates to the skill scroll. If you found a magery skill scroll, only your magery will be allowed to exceed normal limits and achieve 120.
Note also that your total skill points will not exceed the current cap of 700 points. A “maxed out” character currently can achieve 7xGM (a score of 100 in each of 7 skills). With the skill scroll system, a character can achieve 5x120, +1xGM (a score of 120 in each of 5 skills, with a score of 100 in a sixth skill).
So can I raise my total skill cap with these scrolls?
No, the skill cap remains the same, at 700 points. The increased skill limits will count towards that same skill cap.
Why are there only skill scrolls available for certain skills?
Those are the only skills that continue to give an added benefit once they’re over 100 – we could enable you to raise other skills over 100, but there would be no purpose to it.
Isn’t the ability to raise skills over 100 going to imbalance combat?
We’ll be modifying the effects of skills over 100 and will be introducing new items that help maintain balance for all characters.
Can cursed items be stolen?
Yes, but not in Lost Lands areas, since the only things that can be stolen there will be gold and gems.
Will all heroes drop scrolls? Currently the idea is that they will, but we will be doing extensive playtesting to determine the best rate that won’t be unbalancing.
Why do I have to fight PKs to get the good stuff?
These items will be sold in Trammel, so people who do not wish to risk being killed can buy them from other players. Since players cannot use these scrolls cumulatively, and cannot use any scrolls lower than one they’ve already used, not all scrolls found will be usable by the person who found them, and will undoubtedly be sold.
Won’t characters who use skill scrolls be better than me?
Characters currently cannot gain skill points beyond a combined total of 700, and this will not change. Both your character and the character that uses skill scrolls will still have that same “cap” on total skill points achievable.
Your character will not necessarily be better or worse than the one that uses skill scrolls, although a player that does use skill scrolls will have more options opened up to him as to how to tailor his character, in that he can raise certain skills higher than the current standard of 100 (Grandmaster).
Player response this week is all over the map.. some people like the changes, some hate them, some don't care. It'll be interesting to see what rabbits OSI pulls out of their hats on this one.
Thats about all I have for this week, if you would like to discuss the changes, you may do so on our Article duscussion boards here.
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I was taking a stroll the other day when I realized it was time for me to go make my daily prayer to the Mother. I started trotting in the direction of the Mother, but then I heard the voices of a group of men. I stopped and tried to sneak closer to see who it was, but evidentally they heard me, because as soon as I got where I could see the Mother, there was no one to be seen.
Do you like paying for free E-mail? Apparently Yahoo thinks so. The company pland to cut all POP3 access by April 24th. What is POP3 access? It allows you to access your Yahoo mail via Outlook, Eudora, or Netscape Messenger (among others). After April 24, you'll only be able to check your Yahoo mail via their specialized web interface. that is, unless you want to pay Yahoo for a service that others provide for free. So, whats a Yahoo to do? Perhaps try one of these free providers:
By now, most of you have noticed that Stratics has pretty much disappeared off the face of the net. The Stratics gurus have not been terribly forthcoming about what the trouble is, but they did say that it is a problem that they are waiting for their prodiver to fix. They do plan to continue their operations once the problem is solved. 
Special thanks to Nattrim Amory for submitting the following:
From Talyesin Ap Hwne – Herald at Large 
At Last glimpse we were introduced to the young Khan. An aspiring archer/mage full of awe and wonderment for this pixeled world we live in. His skills advancing through hard work and adventure. Lots of advice is obtained from those veterans willing to stop and share their experience. New friends are found creating memories. So off we go into another day in the Life of Khan:
I was walking around Caelum Mortuus today after stopping by the Sandlewood Box when I noticed a note on the steps of Raistlin's house. It intrigued me, so I traveled to the house of Boromir, where I found the same note, except addressed differently.
Greetings!!
From Gem of the Fishing Council of Britannia:
Gathered in the quiet beauty of the forest, whispers of the waterfall nearby, the Sisters of Enchantment prepared to practice the ritual in celebration of *Ostara. 
Everything has been going smoothly, been having fun. Only problem is I have been extremely busy in real life, going out with friends and studying for mid terms. So.. we will skip a few Days, because on some of them I didn't even log on.
I went to the only other source I knew of, I went to General Nero. Nero immediately showed up and asessed the situation. He ruled that Jasmine was to be placed under house arrest in Skara Brae until she could be properly questioned.
But I do have good news. Lord Stonesoul of Skara Brae and House Stonesoul has taken Lady Jasmine under his wing. At this very instant she is being trained on how to defend herself and the ring.
