"Will Kingdom Reborn still have the occasional Energy Llama?"

Oh, ye of little faith...

The Energy Llama Reborn

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Kingdom Reborn Pic of the Week:

Our testers have taken some awesome shots of the Ant Lion. Someone on the art team sure likes bugs...

The Ant Lion - side view
The Ant Lion - front view
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3D Client Update:

The April 2nd date has been pushed back - we are now projecting that the patch that will turn off the 3D client will go live on April 11th. (This does NOT mean that KR as a whole has been pushed back a week - we've just rejiggered the schedule a bit. This actually means that, theoretically, 3D players have a week less to wait before they get a proper replacement for their client.) Again, after this patch, the only clients that you will be able to log in with are the 2D client and, if you're a beta tester, the KR client.

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More Item Properties Cap Details:

Last week we posted the simple ones - the caps that don't change in different cases. Of course, y'all want the hard ones too...

Fast Casting: This property is capped differently depending on the skill you're using. The list below:

Magery: 2
Necromancy: 2
Chivalry: 4 (unless your Magery skill is 70.0 or higher - then it's 2)
Ninjitsu: 4
Bushido: 4
Spellweaving: 4

Fast Cast Recovery: FCR is capped at 6 for all skill types.

Spell Damage Increase: A couple of you asked if SDI varied between PvP and PvM - it does. SDI is capped at 15% in PvP only - it has NO cap in PvM.

Resistences: As several of you pointed out, Elves actually have an Energy Resist cap of 75, not 70.

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"Why is the drop rate for the Scrolls of Alacrity so low? Will they be spawning somewhere permanently after this event ends?"

The drop late is low for several reasons.

- The item is pretty powerful for certain skills that are more difficult to gain in.
- The item can be used anywhere. So with this version of the scroll, there can be lower risk (unlike the blackrock area).
- All invasion mobs can possibly drop them. And there are 6 locations of invasion mobs (i.e., 3 in Trammel, 3 in Felucca).
- We didn’t want to flood the world with these scrolls. We wanted to err on the side of not spawning a lot of these.

With all this stated, we will certainly continue to monitor the spawn rates of these scrolls. We're also gauging the popularity of these scrolls to see if we wish to reintroduce them in the future - nothing has been decided one way or another.

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UOGameCodes Change Clarification:

The update about uogamecodes brought up a couple of concerns:

- This change ONLY applies to uogamecodes- NOT to phone orders or to PayByCash.

- This change shouldn't affect your favorite gametime-for-gold broker, as brokers (and players) are welcome to call in orders for transferable game codes. And just as a reminder, we DO NOT offer bulk discounts for game time. If you encounter a website that claims to have gotten such a discount, they are not telling the truth, and their motives are.. shall we say, highly suspect?

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I asked you for feedback and boy, did I get feedback.

If you haven't sent in your opinion on something UO-related yet, get to it! Remember, we're doing a drawing from all the valid feedback forms submitted this month to pick one person to get a KR beta slot!

Forms submitted must be received before midnight, March 31 (CDT) in order to be eligible. Spam will be deleted, and while "I want a beta slot" is feedback, of a sort, it's not what we're looking for. I won't disqualify previous entries on that basis, but if you haven't sent something in yet, pick a topic and tell me how you feel about it - balance, crafting, PvP, whatever. Make a suggestion, a complaint, a rant - whatever is on your mind.

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Beta Status Update:

Time to give you all some news about where we are and where we're going with the KR beta. Some things have changed since the last time I posted - check it out:

First Stage: Internal testing. This stage is done. (Insofar as internal testing is ever done, of course. Our QA team is still hard at work.)

Second Stage: Small-scale beta. This is where we are now. Over the next weeks we're going to be going from 25 or so external testers to several hundred. (If you've won a beta slot at a Town Hall, you'll be getting your invite during this phase.) We're getting the last of the major systems in, and things are going really well.


Third Stage: Live Shard Test (was Origin Test.) It turns out that an "Origin-only test" is not really possible for a bunch of technical reasons, so we'll be doing a medium-scale test on all the servers at once in this stage. This is where we make sure that KR and 2D play nice together. This is also where legacy 3D will go away. The NDA will be lifted somewhere around here.

Fourth Stage: Large Scale Beta. I have five-digit numbers on my "beta testers" plan for this, so if you haven't gotten in by this stage, here's where you'll most likely get your shot.

Fifth Stage: Launch! KR will be free to download for everyone.

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Wow, what a week. Tons of stuff going on, here - the Candle of Love, lots of new KR stuff, approximately eleventy billion bits of feedback to read... I need a nap. Have a good weekend!

Jeremy

Someone go ask over there...

If Chiv is capped at FC2 with 70+ Magery, do the same rules apply to Ninjitsu/Bushido/Spellweaving with Magery?

Thanks Tabbitha!!

I dont usually check back on the FOF thread over in Stratics,as its usually just normal comments for and/or against whats been written.

HOWEVER,it kept getting flagged up on my developers post list so I went to see what was being adressed.

During my search I found a post,that when i followed the responses I had to agree,made a lot of snse on the whole.[I didnt agree with all that was posted.]

I thought folk who dont get over there might like to follow it too. So I am setting it down here.

I like to provide stuff for debate,so if you have any VALID points to make ,please do.

Just dont use it to whine/flame etc


*finishes watching the slide show*

So.. now... where are the fixes to make it a real MMORPG?

Its pretty now.. awesome.... *scratches self* But...




Fix the game.. not the graphics.

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I think what you're wondering about has been emerging more and more over the past year +.
You want massive multiplayer online right?
Well they've geared up the game-wide quests to hit nearly every week.
The game is already rich in content and depth.
Step next: They enrich the graphics and User Interface; which definitely looks to be including better cheater detection methods.
Step the SA: They embrace the new graphics engine with a new expansion.
Step the near-future: They bring about a more desirable form of and/or balance to PvP.
Step the always: Value consumer feedback.

You want more people? Because that's all I get from your post.
- Well, they are and have been working on that.

What is your definition of "beef"; what's your beef?
Because the only description I'm getting is an emboldened focus on MMO.
Yet they have already been showing distinct signs that they are working on improving the subscription v quality game -ratio; as easily witnessed by the storyline and KR/SA projects, not to mention the tons of good UO info. that can be gleaned from skimming the past 50 something Five on Fridays.


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Quote:

I think what you're wondering about has been emerging more and more over the past year +.

And you'd be wrong. Its more like, what I've been wondering about, has been slowly removed from the game over the past 4 or 5 years.

Quote:

You want massive multiplayer online right?

Yup.

Quote:

Well they've geared up the game-wide quests to hit nearly every week.

Canned events which remove the need for our EM's which have become a part of each shard's history.

Quote:

The game is already rich in content and depth.

If one were brand new to the game, I suppose I could roll with that comment.

Quote:

Step next: They enrich the graphics and User Interface; which definitely looks to be including better cheater detection methods.

Why?

That's where I have a problem. The existing player base has been content with the UI for years. I can count on one hand how many people have stated on the forums or elsewhere "I'm quitting UO cause its graphics aren't pretty enough". Yet, I'd need a BOD to keep track of the thousands of players over the years who have quit because the game mechanics are broken.

As for the cheat detection methods.. please. Every game has cheaters. Even the games that are less than two years old, using the latest game engines, have scripters and exploiters. One can not toss out the "UO:KR will prevent cheaters" card as a plausible reason to spend all that money on a new interface.

Quote:

Step the SA: They embrace the new graphics engine with a new expansion.

Again.. Why?

The word is out there already. People don't quit any of the existing MMORPGs to play UO because of new expansions. Players that reactivate accounts for the expansions blow through the content in 3 to 6 months, quit and go back to whatever game they had left for in the first place.

People who don't play UO (ever or anymore) are in games right now that may lack the history of Ultima.. but embrace the mechanics of Factions, Diplomacy, and much more. Why would they choose a 10 year old game off the shelf that hasn't updated any of the basic game mechanics in years over another game that has it all?l Just because it has a brand new UI?

If they re-released the Ford Pinto with all new leather interior, GPS & satellite radio, but with the same 1974 engine and suspension.. I doubt many would toss aside their Escalades and Hummers to get their hands on one. [wink]

Quote:

Step the near-future: They bring about a more desirable form of and/or balance to PvP.

Here's where I call BS.

Luc himself has said that ideally he'd like to see changes made to balance PvP and add some purpose to Factions, but doesn't see it happening in the near future or at all. So, those of us who've been waiting years for these changes, paying our $15/month/account based on promise after promise from developers long since or recently gone.. sit back and watch every other aspect of the game get a new paint job.

Then they realize that other games out there offer all of the above. Nice graphics, working factions, working PvP, an elaborate and necessary crafting system, etc.

Quote:

Step the always: Value consumer feedback.

*snickers*

If UO.Hall = Consumer... then you're absolutely correct. In my opinion, the "consumer" should be the people who aren't buying UO.. or have quit. Their feedback should be valued as well.. probably more so than those that are left playing the game. Because a new interface will not bring back old players who quit cause of broken game mechanics or outdated game play or an unnecessary crafting system. Nor will it entice new players to try it out instead of other games that have these already in place. UO has been around long enough that everyone except the person who just got their first computer, has read the reviews and knows exactly what's wrong with the game. Making it prettier only retains the existing player base.. it does not, contrary to what people believe, draw new or retired player to the game.

Quote:

You want more people? Because that's all I get from your post.

I could care less about the population to be honest. The servers are long past due for a merger anyways. If there were 10,000 or 100,000 people playing UO it wouldn't matter to me. I want a UO that works. I don't want it prettier (yet).. I want it to function. In the end.. what UO has become is a retirement home for people with old computers or those that enjoy a Sims style game with little or no challenge. Its been headed downhill for years.. people have left in great numbers since AoS and other upgrades/expansions that have only worsened the game. What's left of the player base is a bunch of people who have pretty much mastered the game from the inside out and are content with doing the same thing day in and day out. More power to them.. but, come on..

Quote:

- Well, they are and have been working on that.

How?? By letting antiquated parts of the game.. parts that people have been begging to be upgraded/fixed for years, fall to the road side?

Look at Factions for example. Its nothing but a score board at a high school football game these days. There's no purpose to it except to gain the ability to farm more monsters solo with monster ignore. Instead of Factions being the core of the game, its become an exploit within itself. *shakes head*

Quote:

What is your definition of "beef"; what's your beef?

The Beef is really irrelevant now. KR is going in to beta. At this point I'm really just in the Vet stage that I'm poking the bear out of spite. Ironically, I was one of those people who swore they'd go down with the servers on the last day of UO. Even criticized those who quit and wore my fanbois hat proudly.

Then KR was announced.. and the last of my faith was lost.

I don't want a classic shard. I'm not looking for a revert back to 1999. I love the features currently in the game with the exception of some bandaid fixes that were meant to correct previous developer's mistakes but in turn destroyed the game further..

Its pretty much too late for the "beef".. and that was the point of my original post. EA/Mythic hit a fork in the road.. and chose the path which will keep most of the current player base content for the next year. Unfortunately, at that fork in the road, they've left behind a lot of people who were hoping that much of the game would be repaired before they took on this new venture. Because, lets face it.. with SA coming out this summer.. its going to be a long, long, long time before any of it is addressed.

Bottom line.. People don't quit UO because of ugly graphics.. nor will they play UO because of pretty graphics. And that is where all of the develop money has been sunk. Adding more recipes to the broken crafting system does not fix crafting. Adding more items to the game does not fix PvP. A prettier UI does not give somebody a "reason" to wander around aimlessly in the lands of Britannia.

Eventually, the "new car smell" will be go away. Unfortunately, most people who gave it a second chance or hung on a bit longer will bore once again and walk away before the dev team/producers get around to the stuff they've put at the bottom of their priority list. The "beef" so to speak. And, the "beef" is what people have been paying subscriptions month after month, year after year, waiting for while believing the words of developers past and present...

"We have every intention of getting to that once the next expansion is out".

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So thoughts ?

I can understand being upset about something.

But really, there needs to be a definition for his/her "beef". Without having a "it should be like this" then there really is no reason to say anything about it going to be like "that".

Start your gripe about wanting it to be more of a MMORPG and then later come back to say "I could care less about the population to be honest. The servers are long past due for a merger anyways. If there were 10,000 or 100,000 people playing UO it wouldn't matter to me. I want a UO that works." tells me, that this person likes to complain. It doesn't matter what it is, this person will complain. Then when you point out that what he/she is complaining about IS being fixed/was fixed/isn't the way he/she sees it, he/she jumps to something else to complain about.

I will complain about some things from time to time, but will have a REASON to.

Like right now...

I'm complainer about a complainer...

because I just wasted my time.

I just beleive these sort of posters are in the minority,and really have nothing better to do. YES there are 'things' need fixing,but why do they still pay and play a game that they feel is SO bad in comparison to the other games around.I love the concepts that you get in UO that the 'other games' dont give and thats why I play the game ,and enjoy it so much .

UO's game system is broken? Hmm... I probably should do factions or PvE more.

Nah... can't be arsed.