Tabbitha

On the 27th DVI posted

So, I havent tested the changes myself yet, but several of my friends from Japan who play on Japanese shards have recieved 3-4 artifacts an hour each in doom.

Now I know that Japanese pvm playstyle is much different from American pvm playstyle, as it is much more efficient and effective, but was the drop intended to be this high?

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Having received no respone a half hour later ,DVI asked

no one is the least bit bothered or concerned about such a high drop rate?

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Fran Fury decided

Everyone will wait until they get their good share before complaining to have it fixed.

At the moment the focus is more on the bags of sending.

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GalenNighthawke had a different response.



Umm. Most of us aren't on to try it out.

Such a high drop rate would concern me. Would really shock me too, as none of the changes they actually announced would increase the drop rate, would just kind of even out the drop rate we already had, make it more predictable.

As you recognize in your other post, Doom on the Japanese shards has always been rather different. They have particular systems and they are NOT kind to you if you do not follow them.

So they always had a higher drop rate than we did.

Just for discussion's sake though....If they drop 3 to 4 per hour there, let's say they drop 1 per hour here. Would that also be of concern to you?

For my part...Damn, I just don't know, dude.

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and Prince Caspian thought

I am concerned about it, but I don't think there's much we can do about it. The current dev team seems to have this arties for everyone mentality.

On one hand, it's great that the best items in the game are readily available to the casual and poorer players who don't have the in-game money or the RL time to farm for the arties.

On the other hand, it's a big middle finger to those of us who wasted hours and hours of our lives trying to get these arties over the years.

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DVI came back to answer a question put to him.



It would depend...is it intended for there to be variance in the drop rate for each artifact, or is it the same across the board for a bone crusher to an ornament of the magi?

If there is no variance in the drop then yes I'ld be very concerned. If there is a significant difference say for instance something along the lines of if you recieve a artifact there is a high percentage chance of reciving a low end artifact, and a much lower percentage chance of reciving a high end artifact then I would be much more inclined to accept the change as a positiv one.

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while onthefiftyhad a totally different aspect on the subject.

i think all these changes are a big middle finger raiser to the 3rd party websites that hawk these arties for rl dollars. hence the staff of pyros which is essentially a som with undead slayer capability.

i dont think this nerf's the veteran player. i've only been playing 7 mos. now and there are many true rares that you have acquired over the years that have not been nerfed, probably never will be and still hold considerable value in game.

these changes are intended to help the casual player for sure. also understand that this game being 10 years old has matured from a marketing standpoint. there are many players in game in there 30's, 40's, hell i even have a guildmate in her 60's. point is these people have rl responsibilities that don't enable them to sit and play for 8 hours a day. so in this sense i can see ea marketing this game to an older crowd, and a core group of veterans who are not 17 years old anymore.

just my two cents. thanks.

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Prince Caspian note his concern to the above post.

Well, I am concerned to hear this but not terribly concerned until I see it actually happening.

You see, I've been doing Doom weekly with my guild for 2 years now. In ALL that time, I only got ONE arty. Just one. That's what made me laugh when the devs said that the drop rate was like 1 in 30. Yeah right. I got a lovely beach summer cabana on Hoth for sale for you, too.

As retarded as it sounds, the abysmal drop rate kept me interested in doing it. There's still that modicum of excitement when a DF falls -- is this the time I finally get another one?

I expect once they start dropping like crazy, I'll lose all interest in Doom. The hunt won't have that element of suspense any more.



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The news pleased Dol'Gorath though ,who says


Good. About time they make these easy to get for the non-rich broker types.

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The original poster DVI scolded Dol'Gorath

Now thats just a foolish comment, not every player who can afford artifacts is a rich-broker type.

Caspian has a point though, why go to doom now other than for the hope of getting an artifact? There is no other point, and if they start to drop as fast as the 10th anniversary artifacts are dropping then the market will quickly be flooded with them, prices will drop, people will lose interest and no one will go anymore.

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Leurocian decided to step in and put the facts down

Hello there,

The general intent is if a group of 5 players adventure through the entire Doom gauntlet at various luck values, each one of them would hopefully receive an artifact by their 4-5th run. It could be a little sooner than that. It could be later.

Now if this feels like players are receiving artifacts too frequently, we can easily adjust this frequency. We will continue to monitor your feedback for the next day or so and see what you all think.

Thanks everyone!

Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Systems Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic

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What do our members here think ? If you want your opinion to count please respond.

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Tabbitha

JCB asked Leurocian

Are you calculating how long it takes to finish a room or defeat a boss? Because we were averaging 2-5 minutes per room with 10-15 people. I was there for about an hour and we ran the entire gauntlet at least 4 times.


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The response being


Keep in mind if 10-15 people are doing the gauntlet more bosses will probably spawn which means more points for everyone participating. And yes, more players helping equals less time to complete the gauntlet. So we expect initially there will be a bunch of players excited to try out the new loot changes.

However, not all shards will have 10-15 players adventuring in the gauntlet, so we decided on assessing the drop rate based on a group of 5 players.

We will definitely keep an eye on everyone's feedback and adjust accordingly if need be.

Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Systems Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic

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Neural Damage thinks hes got the answer

Haven't you guys figured out the high drop rate is on purpose?

1) PvP used to be based on skill (and a fast connection).
2) AoS came along and PvP became based on items.
3) Lo and behold did the bitching ever come.

So now how do the developers move us towards a skill-based game?

Take away all the artifacts and gadgets that people have spent hours farming or millions of gold to buy? Yeah, see #3 above.

Or flood the world with items so EVERYBODY has the same items and PvP can move back to the players' skill and not the players' possessions.

Seems pretty simple to me.

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zenthias

I think it's a pretty good arguement either way.

Your going to make several people mad. Some of these are farmers, but some are legit players that ran doom for years for an arty or two.

On the other hand, if everyone has access to these items it could very well level out the whole PvP thing.

Hmm....

LadyCarlinUO

I absolutely love the new drop rate. I have been a subscriber of UO since early 1999. When AOS came out it took me months to get my first artifact. And it wasn't even a good one.. I have spent imaginable hours thereafter and have only received THREE in how many YEARS? I LOVE THIS DROP RATE!! I don't feel cheated at all. The time I spent in doom previously was a conscious choice. I could have just spent gold or cash on artifacts instead of getting some of my own. But now that's not a problem, I can legitly suit up a few more characters and it's awesome. Keep up the good work! Arties for Everyone!

The people who are complaining need to stop being so greedy!! I have 3 ornies, a few hat of magi's, and numerous smaller artifacts from doom. How many mills was THAT wasted, and I am here trying to get more!

I'm lovin' it!

Merc

I love the new drop rate. I have never got any good arties.

LadyCarlinUO

The ONLY thing I would change to this new doom artifact change is when an artifact drops in your pack, the message be any other color BUT white. It is so hard to see when you are crosshealing between 3-5 other dexxers and getting constant mana messages. I'd love for my heart to skip a beat to something say.. light purple? hehe