Happy New Year Everyone!
 
Hope everyone had a fun and game filled holiday break with friends and family. 2012 is upon us and for Ultima Online it’s time to celebrate our 15 year journey. UO to me is the MMORPG that kick started this genre and we have so much to be thankful for it. I have much respect for the original Origin crew who got this ball rolling. UO would be nothing without the fans and passionate community it has. You guys and ladies are the best and longest supportive group of creative players I know of. You continue to amaze me with how you play within our little sandbox world. So many great stories to be shared, and new stories yet to be written. To all the players who have walked the lands of Sosaria I encourage you to join us this year for the celebration. An epic story arc has begun that will carry us till September when a new…. (Mesanna just gave me the evil eye again.) Well you’ll just have to play and see. 😉
 
The team is hard at work to do everything we can to make this year a year to remember. Thanks to everyone for all the constructive feedback from pub 73. Pub 74 has now gone worldwide and if you haven’t had a chance yet to check out the patch notes you can do so here. Pub 75 development is already well underway. Lots to do in support of the anniversary arc and a handful of long overdue bugs we plan to attack. Let us know what you think of the recent revamps to Wrong and Shame dungeons. We’re planning to continue to revamp the rest of the sins dungeons every other publish, so let us know which one you like to see next. Other items on the table for discussion this year (insert typical disclaimer here 😉 is finding more creative ways to deal with our hackers, improving our enhance and legacy clients, putting the challenge back into champ spawns and bringing value back to plate are just a few examples of what we like to get done. Revitalizing the old, celebrating 15 years and aggressively knocking out bugs is a major focus us over the coming months. Now I’m sure several of you are wondering what about the high res art for EC that was mentioned before. Well I just got a preview of it and it’s not ready for primetime yet. I know many of you are really looking forward to it, but we need this to cook a little longer. The highres art should look better, not different, so it’s turning out to be more challenging than originally planned.

On other news, keep an eye on the UO Herald for upcoming EM events tied to our anniversary story arc. You won’t’ want to miss it. Speaking of the herald, we are planning to relaunch UO.com later this year with an all new look. More details to follow on that in future posts. We also will start doing spotlight articles on some of our most passionate fans and their love for Ultima Online. It’s amazing what some of you have done and I’m happy to share it. On our Origin.com store we will continue to roll out a several new offers over the coming months. 30 day game time codes and a reincarnation token (gender, race and name change) are up to bat first. We hear you loud and clear about wishing for the ability to buy codes in quantity and are working with the Origin to get that functionality as soon as possible. For those having issues connecting to the Origin store in their region I urge you to check out PayByCash for another method for meeting all your UO shopping needs.

Before signing off I wanted to say one last thing… thank you. Thank you to all current UO players for helping us mold Britannia into what it is today and thank you to all the previous players who helped defined what Ultima Online will be remembered as for generations to come. Lots going on in 20-12, so buckle up and we hope you enjoy the ride with us!

Cheers,
 
Jeff Skalski
Ultima Franchise Producer
Tweet me anytime @jeff_skalski

Due to an EA-wide maintenance that will affect our game and others, we will be bringing down our account center at 11:45pm EST (4:45am GMT).
During the maintenance you will not be able to change subscription or redeem game codes.

At this time we expect the servive to be back up no later than 8am EST (1pm GMT).

See you in the game!

Greetings,

We will push Publish 74.0 to all shards during the next maintenance cycle, in the early morning of January 31.

Here are the complete notes for your reading pleasure, enjoy and see you in the game!

Publish 74.0

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Yes, love is in the air so please celebrate this day with our gift to you to remember it. You will find a cupid statue in your packs and a cupid arrow. Use the arrow by double clicking and targeting anything mobile. The arrow will then retain the name of your true love. Use it wisely because this arrow will only work in the month of February. You will get your gift the first of February.

Live Arc Started

You will be noticing we have added town loyalty, please pick the town you are the fondest of, you can only have loyalty to one town. Starting this month and continuing thru September the UO Team and the EM Team have worked together to create something we are very excited about. So keep your ears and eyes open for the next phase in this adventure as we prepare in the coming months for our 15th Anniversary!

Bulk Order Revamp

• Bulk Order Caching
  • NPCs will now allow cache up to 3 bulk order deeds for players
  • All BODs are limited to one every six hours; this is no longer dependent on crafting skill level
  • The system will “cache” up to 18 hours worth of BOD give outs
  • Players may claim all 3 deeds in quick succession
  • Turning in a BOD adds a new deed to the cache (up to 3)
  • Example: Log in after 18 hours and receive 3 deeds
  • Example: Receive 3 deeds, then turn in 3 filled deeds, and immediately receive 3 new deeds
• Bulk Order Bribery
  • Players may now grease the palms of NPCs that give out Bulk Order Deeds
  • The NPC will accept a bribe from the player in order to upgrade a BOD to a better one
    • Upgrades: Quantity, Quality, Material
    • Can only upgrade completely empty deeds
  • NPCs will become more greedy over time and ask for higher bribes
    • Higher level deeds also require higher bribes
  • NPCs who are bribed frequently will come under Guild scrutiny, and stop accepting bribes for a short time
  • To start the process, select the Bribe context menu option on the NPC, and follow the instructions!

If you want to do normal runic crafting then be near a regular forge, if you want to use the Reforging Tool then you must be near a soul forge. To use the Re-Forging option of your runic tool you must have a minimum of 65 Imbuing skill. The higher your Imbuing skill the more options available to you.

• Runic Re-Forging
  • For Stygian Abyss accounts, players may now use Runic Hammers to “re-forge” items
  • Re-Forging requires that the user use a Runic tool near a Soul Forge
    • Soul Forge bonuses DO NOT apply to Runic Re-Forging
  • If a Runic tool is used away from a Soul Forge, or by a non-entitle account, it behaves as a classic Runic crafting tool
  • Re-Forging Basics
    • Re-Forging requires a non-magical craftable item that is not made from special materials
    • Re-Forging will consume one or more charges from the runic tool to add magical item properties to the item
    • The user choose from a number of options to affect the results of the re-forging
    • Each option selected increases the charges required to perform the action
    • If no options are selected, the tool will add item properties randomly to the item, similarly to classic Runic crafting
    • The following options affect the result:
      • Powerful Re-Forging: causes the item to have slightly more magical power
      • Structural Re-Forging: causes the item to have more magical power, but the item will be Brittle
        • Fortified Re-Forging: causes the brittle item to have higher durability
      • Fundamental Re-Forging: causes the item to have significantly more magical power, but the item cannot be repaired. Its durability will be increased.
        • Integral Re-Forging: further increases the durability of the “cannot be repaired” item
      • Grand Artifice: guarantees that the resulting item will have one name, either a prefix or a suffix
        • Inspired Artifice: allows you to choose which name will be added to the item.
        • Exalted Artifice: guarantees that the item will have two names, both a prefix and a suffix
          • Sublime Artifice: allows you to choose a name to be added to the item. You must use both Inspired Artifice and Sublime Artifice in conjunction if you wish to choose both names to add to the item
    • Some options require other options to be set:
      • Fortified Re-Forging requires Structural Re-Forging
      • Integral Re-Forging requires Fundamental Re-Forging
      • Inspired Artifice requires Grand Artifice
      • Exalted Artifice required Grand Artifice
      • Sublime Artifice requires Exalted Artifice
    • Higher-level tools:
      • Have higher budgets for adding item properties
      • Grant more properties
  • Runic tools can be combined together if they are exactly the same type
    • Their charges will be combined into one tool
    • Only works if the resulting tool has 100 or less charges
    • To combine tools, double-click one tool while near a Soul Forge and target the other tool

Wrong Dungeon Revamp

• Loot items from this dungeon now use the New Loot Generator
• Mobs in Wrong can drop Mondain’s Legacy items, but not Gargoyle items
• New and tougher mobs
• Prisoner Escort: gain Compassion more rapidly by escorting prisoners out of Dungeon Wrong
• Bedrolls: Search prisoners’ bedrolls to see what they’ve been up to
• The Prison of Nightmares
  • You start in a cell in the center
  • Can you find your way through a maze of vanishing walls?
  • Watch out for the Jailor – he will put you back in your cell!
  • Find the treasure room and steal some enchanted items
    • Watch out, these items have a security enchantment
    • You must escape with the item to lift the enchantment that binds it to the treasure room
    • New Item Property: Assassin Honed (found on items in the treasure room) – A successful hit with a weapon will provide additional bonus damage based on the attacker facing the same direction as the target. The percentage of the damage is based on the weapons original swing speed. Ranged weapons have a 50% chance to proc.
• New Stealables

Clean up Britannia – 4 new dyes

•  Aura of Amber Pigment
• Murky Seagreen Pigment
• Shadowy Blue Pigment
• Gleaming Fuschia Pigment

Looting rights distribution change

Healers, Tanks, and DPS will all be equally counted when receiving looting rights throughout the game.

Bard changes

Context menu updates:

• Will now display the mastery path you are currently on.
• Will allow you to switch masteries without having to re-do quests, once every 10 Minutes.
• Initiating any mastery ability will update your mastery book with the new context menu.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the issue with the Dream Serpent not spawning in Ter Mur
• HP, Stamina and Mana of duelist in the arena will be completely restored after the duel
• The Christmas mats are now dyable with the standard dye tub, the furniture dye tub, natural dyes, tokuno dyes, and the clean up britiannia pigments. Please remember the square mat can only be dyed when in deed form.
• Fixed the issue of the Christmas greeting card changing their from and to values
• Fixed the issue of welcome mats blocking players from entering their homes with a single door.
• When trading a pet the pet will now become frozen, an animal lore gump will be displayed and the pet has to be within 10 tiles of the owner.
• Special Titles were added to the arena system.
• Fixed the issue with how the garland hangs in the EC client
• Siege should now have arena stones
• Balanced will no longer  be given to throwing weapons with the new loot generator
• Removed the Fireworks wand form the clean up items accepted
• Immolating Weapon fir damage will now apply to each weapon hit instead of killing blow.
• 10th Anniversary sculpture can now be turned with the interior decorating tool.
• Mannequins will no longer be ejected from a house when the house private/public settings are adjusted.
• Green Thorns can no longer be used in champ spawn areas containing sand terrain.
• Players are no longer able to enter a negative balance in Sacrifice
• Fixed an issue with SA Goblins spawning in stuck locations
• Fixed an issue with the Lava Proof Hook, it should now attach correctly to the pole.
• Owners cannot eject co-owner placed Mannequins from a house.
• Magic Reflect will no longer flag you for reflecting non damaging spells.
• Spectators can no longer invite duel participants to a party.
• Removed a rogue cobblestone tile from the middle of the ocean.
• In chat players can now use the players ID number to submit a harassment appeal
• The Blood Drinker property will now spawn on items that are spawned with the new loot generator.
• You will no longer lose compassion if you fail to rez a pet.
• Bolts of cloth will auto stack in your inventory upon creation.
• Fixed the issue with Transferring/copying gargoyle characters  losing racial flight ability.
• Buff/debuff scripts will remove themselves properly when you stable/claim a chicken from their coop.
• Players can no longer recall to their ships over loaded.
• Spellbooks, runes, books etc will no longer be sent to the Cavern of Discarded when disposed of in a container.
• You can now dye the following with Tokuno Dyes:  Slither, Night Eyes, Venom, Cloak of life, Cloak of Death, Cloak of Power, and the Conjurer’s Garb.
• The general hotbar will default to cursor target instead of current target
• Changed out the barstools in the Fisherman’s Brew Inn/Tavern
• Scrolls of Alacrity have localized text for the Japanese players.
• Players can now cancel an appeal that has been submitted.
• In the EC client the scissor sound effect was fixed
• Players on Siege and Mugen will no longer have to wait for mobs to spawn after using the valor virtue.
• Draconic Orbs and Rare Serpent Eggs will no longer become stuck on the appropriate alters
• Gardeners can now open the plant gump when the plant is in secured containers.
• Players can now dry dock their ships when the deck is cluttered with bones that do not decay.
• The reward from the “The Honor of the De Boors” quest is now labeled correctly “The Goblet of Celebration”.
• Faction Town Sigils should now provide silver to the correct thief when it is returned to the Faction Town Sigil Monlith.
• Evil Omen will now work with melee damage
• If your criminal warning gump is off it will no longer appear when using the CurrentTarget macro.
• With the New Loot Generator, weaker mobs now have a chance of producing unusually powerful items, rarely
• Luck now has more influence on the power of items created by the New Loot Generator
• Slayer item properties will now spear with greater frequency on items created by the New Loot Generator
• Unraveling items looted from medium-level creatures in Shame will more often produce relic fragments

Classic client  7.0.23

• Cliloc Changes

Enhanced Client  4.0.23

• Cliloc Changes

   On Friday’s eve January 20th,  The Gold Diggers of Legends layed claim therein to the title and trophy of the cross shard treasure hunting championship; besting the Purple team and defending champions of Great Lakes. In a landslide victory the diggers won in grand fashion finishing well over ten minutes ahead of their rivals. With furious teamwork and precise tactics, the diggers took advantage of miscues and disconnects amongst their competitors en route to victory!
 
   Team Great Lakes ever gracious in defeat, resolved to finish their maps to the applause of all in attendance. Finishing the competition, the former champions congratulated those newly crowned, and wished them well in their first defense. Team Purple also requested the honor of a rematch if Legends is fortunate to hold onto the title for the forseeable future.

   All in all the night was a grand event to behold, win lose or draw everyone had a great time showed impeccable sportsmanship and represented their shard with great honor and humility. Both Legends and Great Lakes should be quite honored to call each team their respective representative! The Diggers of Legends enjoy the moment for now, for they know stiff opposition is forthcoming. They welcome any who wish to step forward and challenge their swiftness and cunning and look forward to the opportunity to showcase their skills, their team, and their home shard.

Hail Fellow UO Adventurers,

I wanted to take a few minutes, clear up some things I’ve been reading, and post my thoughts on Ultima, UO and our recently announced new title, Ultima Forever. I’m sure for many it was exciting to see we have more things in store for Ultima beyond just rereleasing the classics through GoG, setting up a history site for all things Ultima, and continuing to support UO as it hits a major milestone next month –its 15th anniversary. I’m sure for others though, questions were raised. Why is BioWare not putting more development effort into UO instead of wasting time on U4E? Why are they doing U4E instead of UO2?

Well, let me do my best to explain and assure you UO has exciting things to come with a passionate team behind it. First, it’s important to know that U4E was never built to compete with UO. In fact, they are two very different projects run by two different teams. We have a phrase here in the office that every generation deserves an Ultima game. It’s been far too long, and when we looked at the gaming landscape of today, and more importantly tomorrow, we birthed the concept behind Ultima Forever — an online RPG adventure game you play with friends as you quest to save Britannia and uphold the eight virtues to prove your Avatarhood.  Just as the classic Ultima titles of the past differ from UO, so is the same for U4E. This doesn’t mean either title distracts attention from the other. Mesanna and her crew of henchmen are driving towards some fun things for the upcoming 15 year anniversary. We have some new merchandise anniversary items in the works. See below for a sneak peek. Shhhhh… don’t tell marketing! 😉 

Lastly, for those interested in seeing a UO2.  No surprise announcements on that today, but what I will say by everyone continuing to support UO and Ultima Forever this is the kind of ammunition I need to convince the high level execs that the market is ready for more Ultima. So keep playing UO, follow us on Facebook, and show support for all things Ultima. If you get a chance, sign up for U4E at ultimaforever.com. 

See you online,

Jeff “Gryphon” Skalski  

Greetings,

We will bring back ReForging to Test Center and Origin today, along with the mandatory Classic Client patch 7.0.23 and Enhanced Client patch 4.0.23.

These are the additional Publish notes:

• If you want to do normal runic crafting then be near a regular forge, if you want to use the Reforging Tool then you must be near a soul forge.  To use the Re-Forging option of your runic tool you must have a minimum of 65 Imbuing skill.  The higher your Imbuing skill the more options available to you.
• Concentration and Focus were removed from the options of the ReForging tool

Please note, that you are not able to transfer characters from or to Origin until the Publish is on all shards.