January 18, 2008



"Are Necro and Spellweaving affected by intelligence or inscription?"

Leurocian says,

"No, just magery."

--

"Do monsters ever have HCI or DCI effects or is their hit chance purely based on weapon skill?"

At first glance, it looks like no, NPC hit chance is solely based on weapon skill. However, that's not *quite* the whole story.

A few NPCs have attacks that debuff hit chance or defense chance - Lady Mel's "Aura of Nausea" does both, and NPC ninjas can use "Surprise Attack" which lowers defense chance. NPC samurai can use "Lightning Strike" which gives themselves a hit chance buff. So in those cases, it's not pure weapon skill determinining their chance to hit.

Here's a completely random factoid that turned up while Leurocian was researching this, too - monsters that use breath attacks (dragons, hydra) suffer a huge defense chance debuff while using that attack. It only lasts about half a second - just long enough to shoot an arrow into their open mouth, I guess - but it's a neat thing to be aware of.

--

"How is Concussion Blow's effect determined?"

Concussion Blow's damage is the absolute value of the victim's current mana percentage minus their current hit point percentage, divided by four, plus ten. (Absolute value means that the result is treated as positive - see examples below.) However, the damage bonus will be at least ten and not more than 30.

Example: Your opponent has 90% of their mana remaining, but only 40% of their health. Concussion Blow subtracts 40 from 90 to get 50%, divided by four is 12.5. The decimal value gets dropped, plus ten is 22. That's within the allowable range, so your move will do 22 extra damage.

Example: Your opponent has only 40% of their mana remaining, but 90% of their health. Concussion Blow subtracts 90 from 40 to get -50%, converts that to absolute, divided by four is 12.5. The decimal value gets dropped, plus ten is 22. So the end result is exactly the same as above - it's the difference between HP and mana which matters, not which one is higher.

--

"Are Blackrock Elementals ever going away?"

Draconi says,

"Blackrock Elementals will be seen less and less in the coming future, especially around Valentine's Day - who'd want a romantic evening out mining ore to be interrupted by such an obstinate foe?

Know as well that soon their secrets will be revealed, and victory assured for the wary and attentive."

--

"I have x as my profession title and I really want y - how do I change it?"

This is one of those that old-schoolers probably know and non-old-schoolers had no chance to ever learn. Here's a brief explanation of profession titles and how to change them:

The profession title displayed on your paperdoll is your highest skill in "real" or unmodified skill. This part can't be changed - if you're a GM Blacksmith, and you have 50 Tinkering, you can't get Tinkering to display on your paperdoll.

In the event of a tie, however, you have more control. The displayed title will be the first skill in alphabetical order that is marked "up" in the skill window. If they're all locked or set to "down," the displayed title will simply be the first one in alphabetical order. For example, if you have 100 Blacksmithing and 100 Tinkering and you want your title to be "Grandmaster Tinker," lock Blacksmithing and leave Tinkering set to rise.

(Yes, it's a rather arcane system - as I recall, it was implemented when skill locks were. Back in the day, skills rose or fell based on use or lack thereof, and you had no actual control over them - being a GM was usually temporary, because if you used any other skill it'd go up and knock your GM skill down. Trying to maintain a template was... well, uphill, in the snow, both ways. )

--

Fansite News

UO Toolbar announces their '08 Safety Menu!

"The UO Toolbar Safety menu has been updated for 2008! This is no little update... this is a major revamp.

In the new Safety menu you will find many new additions including anti spyware, anti phishing/spam, anti virus, browser & email alternatives, firewall/intrusion protection, instant messaging protection, Internet security suites, online security testing, password managers, PC support services, Wi-Fi protection, Windows Update, and more.

Many of the products in the Safety menu are commercial, but there are also many that are free. With the new year here, now is a good time to re-evaluate your PC's security protection and update/replace those that are out of date. Protect your PC and your Ultima Online account!"

--

Our Newest Designer Introduces Herself!

"Hello everyone!!!

I wanted to pop my head in to give a big wave to everyone!!! Some of you may or may not remember me I was previously a gamemaster for Ultima Online a little over a year ago. I was GM Adida. When the GM support was moved to Virginia I stayed in California and was promoted to a senior game master for Pogo.com. Yes, Pogo.com people can get rowdy . Now, I am back working with Ultima Online as a Game Designer.

I’m sure you want to know a couple more things about me. I was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. Go Tampa Bay Lightning!!! I guess from that statement you can tell I like hockey. As far as console games I play a lot of Rock Band and Guitar hero. For online games I play UO, DAOC, Pogo.com, and dabble a little bit in WOW (my highest character is 30). I am also addicted to casual games for the PC such as Diner Dash Flo on the Go.

I am very excited that I have the opportunity to work on Ultima Online again.

Chrissay "Adida" Zeeman
UO Associate Game Designer"

--

I should totally know better than to promise that someone else will do something by "next week," and I apologize - we're still hashing out the details of our larger-scale plans for the year, so it's going to take a bit longer. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

- Jeremy

Does this mean we can expect a mini-storyline and perhaps some mini-content as the blackrock elementals are phased out? I hope so!

That's how I would take their statement. I hope so too!

It sure looks that way *rubs hands*

Or maybe even SA ?!