Log below

<@Brannoc> Welcome to today's House of Commons chat with the developers of Ultima Online!
<@Brannoc> To submit a question type /msg Brannoc My question here! - questions sent to the developers will not be answered! We'll be doing a general chat today so any questions on the game are welcome.
<@Brannoc> We'll begin with a brief introduction from our guests and then jump straight into the questions. The full logs will be available at http://uo.stratics.com shortly afterward.

<@Jeremy_EAMythic> Hey all! I'm Jeremy, your friendly Community Coordinator. I can't begin to express how cool it is to be here at the ten year anniversary of the House of Commons

<@Draconi> Hi everyone! I'm Draconi, Lead Live Designer, and pyromaniac

<@Kilandra> Good evening everyone! I'm Kilandra, UO's Assistant Development Manager

<@Adida> Hello everyone!!! Chrissay here keeper of the pink bunnies!!!

<@Tad> Greetings!

<@Maledicta> Evening all, I'm Robert, Community Relations Director

<@Tad> Hello, Tomi Ajayi-Dopemu here, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a content designer here at EA mythic

<@RicTheHippy> hey this is Cal, recently named Ric Flair for reasons that make me cringe, and the Development Manager of Ultima Online,


---------------------------------------------------------------

<@DenDragon> Hey everyone, I'm Den Dragon, founder of Stratics, and I'd like to welcome you to tonight's very special occasion

<@DenDragon> Ten years ago it would have been hard to believe that we would be here, now, celebrating the tenth anniversary UO House of Commons developer chat.

<@DenDragon> This all started as a handful of like-minded players who wanted to improve communication between player and developer in order to better the world of Britannia which we all share.

<@DenDragon> I hope that, over these previous ten years' worth of chats, we've made some headway toward that goal.

<@DenDragon> Enjoy the 114th UOHoC chat! ;)

------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *Noxin* I just logged in to UO and my house had turned to rubble with scattered fire, is this part of the blackrock event? What happened to all the barbed kits I had stored in there?

<@Draconi> Noxin, noooooooo! Not you!

<@Draconi> But seriously. Many of you may have also, like Noxin, noticed that quite a few homes around Britannia have spontaenously caught fire. While, as with all Customer Service actions, we can't comment on specifics, we'd like to remind you that cheating will not be tolerated.

<@Draconi> The recent actions were the result of work by the community, CS, and designers

<@Draconi> Note: Adida was a former GM.

<@Draconi> Note #2: I like fire

<@RicTheHippy> lol

--------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *deadite* When will we get a proper State of UO address with reasonably detailed plans for 2008?


<@RicTheHippy> I have this one ... give me a mo

<@RicTheHippy> We are still actually discussing the plans for 2008. I am a huge procrastinator, but there is very little to add

<@RicTheHippy> now other than what was in my post. The next 5 months are on a tight schedule to get Mad Mage out and running,

<@RicTheHippy> bit of fun in the Spring and then the Epic Event in ... late Spring *wink* I'd be upset if this was all I keep hearing,

<@RicTheHippy> just know I read the boards ALL day long, so we're paying attention

<@RicTheHippy> will let you know more when the plans are concrete

<@Maledicta> Let me add that keeping the community informed is mine and Jeremy's top priority. It's something we constantly bring up and we will get the word out to you all as soon as we can.

------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *Admiral_Ruffie* Well it's another year in UO, with - somewhat - another new team in another new location. I ask again, as I have for the last decade - anything new for ships and sailing coming up?

<@Draconi> Admiral! Well met.

<@Draconi> So, as you said, it's another year, and I don't want to make promises we can't keep. There's a lot going on though, and ships will be kept in mind, especially for the coming live events.

<@Draconi> Because hey, I like pirates more than ninjas.


* @RicTheHippy firers a stealth arrow at Draconi
* @Draconi crawls out of the hedges, having been pwned by some ninjas for earlier, unrepeatable comments

------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *kittykat* Will gardening every get any love, like new plants, resources, or even the fabled 5th generation?

<@Draconi> Well, one fun addition in the next publish will be cocoa trees, including appropriate seeds - this should go nicely with the coming additions to chocolatiering as well! (What, you thought we'd spoil everything at once?)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *kittykat* How soon will the valentine's stuff go all the shards? And will they be around past valentine's day or is this a limited event?

<@Draconi> The publish is slated for tomorrow, Wednesday. Some of the items, like the gift box, will be limited. Other items, including chocolates and books of poetry, are permament additions to the game

<@Draconi> Get your pink bunnies while you can!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *Sergulzan_SP* Is there any planning going on with regard to factions? When can we expect to see some information on this?

<@Supreem-EA> Hey everyone! Just got home, roads were pretty gross =(

<@Draconi> Hi Supreem!


<@Draconi> Meanwhile, on factions

<@Draconi> Factions is getting a look right now for *some* changes during the
next publish, but this will not be a revamp or full design pass

----------------------------------------------------------------
<@Brannoc> *nixonbest* Hello, my question is regarding the upcoming PvP player event on Atlantic. I was wondering how big a bearing player feedback will actually have on potential changes, specifically regarding factions which has had its issues which have gone untouched over the years. Thanks

<@Jeremy_EAMythic> The Player-run event on Atlantic sounds VERY cool, and we will be watching it with great interest. I am a huge fan of collecting player feedback - as much as possible - and we are

<@Jeremy_EAMythic> perpetually interested in trends and patters in it

---------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *uded_nou* Hail to thee, there are rumors circulating that players who transfer for the atlantic faction event may find themselves unable to login due to increased traffic to the server. I command one hundred men and don't want them all to pay for transfer codes if they won't be able to join in the fun. Can you ease our concerns? Regards, uded.

<@Supreem-EA> We don't expect any problems with increased traffic on Atlantic. The Atlantic server has a much larger capacity than it currently supports. There is always the possibility that a problem could arise....

<@Supreem-EA> If so, we will work our hardest to get it resolved! Cause we are awesome like that


---------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *Sergulzan_SP* Is there any way we can get craftable 1/2's and 1/3's, possibly via tinkers. Maybe even Tinker runics to add properties?


<@Draconi> Can't say it's out of the question; there's some very interesting crafting plans in the works

--------------------------------------------------------------

<@Brannoc> *Demonous* will players be able to place houses over burnt down ones?


<@Supreem-EA> NOOO THEY WILL BURN FOREVER!

<@Draconi> Well, as soon as we're done sowing salt into the earth so that nothing may ever grow again...

<@Supreem-EA> oh right

<@Draconi> *nods*

* @RicTheHippy nods emphatically

<@Draconi> So! You won't be able to place on top of these houses until the next publish, which will roll in fixes for house scripting exploits. We want you to have a fair shot at the nice spots

* @RicTheHippy ducks

<@Draconi> Oh, right, when I say "next publish" I mean the one *after* Valentine's

----------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> Is there any hope Cooks will get tools that can be used as weapons ? I'd love to be able owhack a monster with my frying pan or rolling pin.

<@Jeremy_EAMythic> I want a 50% DI fire damage runic crafted frying pan!

<@Draconi> Okay. The idea of a Jeremy wielding a runic frying pan just...

<@Draconi> Yeah, no plans at present I'm afraid

<@Jeremy_EAMythic> *pouts*

----------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> Will the 10 second delay for Bod turn in's stay as is?

<@Draconi> No, Wilki had already planned to have it reduced to 5, and it'll be changed in the next publish. Also, the system itself is being evaluated.


----------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> my question is, will Magincia ever be rebuilt?

* @RicTheHippy mouth agape

<@Draconi> I can't tell you what will happen to the remains of the once proud Magincia, but perhaps it will one day become a more humble place, befitting of the virtues.

<@Sprite> And the followup: my question is was the magincia event the start of something bigger in coming UO evens?

<@Draconi> Yes. In fact, Ric already mentioned "Epic." It's worthy of the title

<@RicTheHippy> awww shucks

--------------------------------------------------------------
<@Sprite> is there any plans to do more with dragons besides the new buff dragon

<@Draconi> As a matter of fact, yes. Kilandra is researching and contributing to the design for the dragon lore of UO.

--------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *jelinidas* my question is will the past events ever be cleaned? (Edos ghost, dragon in covetous keeper of flame in emmpath abbey etc)

* @RicTheHippy sips something strong and sneezes

<@Adida> We have visited each shard and cleaned up Ricardo wanted posters, EDO and the Sherrif

<@Draconi> Well, "we." I tricked Adida into it

<@Adida> If you notice any remaining pieces please let us know

<@RicTheHippy> we don't trick

<@RicTheHippy> we encourage

<@Adida> BTW it killed me to remove EDO he was my friend

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *white* is ther any plans to bring dif typs of dragos to uo green blue def breth wepos ect

<@Sprite> They'll come back to that question in a few minutes.

<@Sprite> In the meantime!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *Lariat* Can you tell us anything about the upcoming content involving Blackrock? Will it be related to the crafting plans, by chance?

<@Draconi> Hi! Have you been hoarding blackrock? Do you hear voices? Talked to any wisps lately? Well, now that you've helped rip a few holes in the very fabric of reality, be sure not to miss the Mad Mage event, where we'll be trying to find even more!

<@RicTheHippy> [insert mad cackling and sounds of lightning here]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *Adam_UOForums* Fansite program, any possibility of getting that back?

<@Maledicta> Will we bring back the old fansite program as it was previously implemented? Probably not.

<@Maledicta> We are, however, currently assessing what could be done with a new fansite program.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *Gamlin* any plans of a fix for the Zeefzorpul (Griselda the Hag Quest) map locations blocked by Ricardo & Magincia events?

<@Draconi> Yes, bugs for the hag quest and NPC escorts to Magincia are known issues and will be addressed in the future. Apparently some of those Brides and Adventurers missed out on rubble

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *NBG* are there any future plans to be done concerning event items that were obviously duped?

<@Draconi> Event items, or any item, really, that have been duped or exploited, including certain blaze colored clothes, will be investigated. The issue on the whole is broad, and we won't comment on timing or actions we'll take to rectify cheating. It should be noted though that any item flagged as an exploit has no guarantee, regardless of how it was obtained. Remember the monk's robes!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> *kittykat* Now that we've been getting gifts for Xmas and Valentine's, will there be gifts and/or events for other hoildays as well?

<@Adida> We do plan on having different events for different holidays or special days like April fools. So if you see a trick in the game check the date it might be April Fools!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<@Sprite> That will wrap it up for tonight. I’d like to thank the developers for coming! The log for tonight’s chat will be up shortly on http://uo.stratics.com/

<@Sprite> Thank you all for joining us! You can join #ultima-online to chat more about the game.

<@Supreem-EA> Bye everyone! I'm gunna go eat some cake.

<@RicTheHippy> bye! thanks for coming out

<@Draconi> Bye everyone!\

<@Adida> Bye everyone Thanks for coming out!!!!

<@RicTheHippy> in ...
<@Maledicta> Thanks all

<@Kilandra> Bye!

Too many faction questions. Should have talked about something more relevant, such as when house placing will open in Trammel.

Funny how they never got back to this question..

<@Sprite> *white* is ther any plans to bring dif typs of dragos to uo green blue def breth wepos ect

<@Sprite> They'll come back to that question in a few minutes.

<@Sprite> In the meantime!

Well... that was another !!!!ing waste of time...

Got to go for the hard hitting questions
Like why does dragon scale armor suck so hard you don't need a shop vac for spring cleaning.

PS dragon scale BODs for the win.

Well, they answered !!!! all... I half expected this chat to be special.
Yet all those devs tried to prove is that they are just slightly cooler than the nerd sitting next to them (and they failed even at that).

But let's say at least they tried.

Have in mind that factions been broken for... i dunno longer how long.. its that long.

This is one of the best chats in a long time. I don't see what there is to complain about.

I thought they gave some good info:

- Mad Mage news - this is the first we've heard of this, correct?
- Blackrock will be useful again
- FINALLY cleaning up loose quest ends
- Rolling out a fix for house placement scripts
- At last, new gardening stuff (although I doubt we'll see another gardening crossbreed tier, sad)

Incidentally, it seems to me that more houses are exploding than just those 'owned by OSI.' That is just based on the verbiage above, though - can anyone confirm?

I'd love to hear someone post on this board, "WTF, like, I logged in and my house was totally pwned by a scarecrow. I are not a cheater. WTF WTF"

So what's up with all this housing stuff?
I noticed some houses disappear in my neighbourhood. What's up with that?
mind you, I haven't been much in UO recently so I have no real clue what's going on

The ones exploding? Cheaters houses

I haven't seen any houses exploding, but my neighbourhood is all cleaned up (Vesper, Europa, Gnomy should know it ) - the houses are simply gone as if they had never existed I'm not complaining though... actually it's nice to have less neighbours