The Herald

UO Status Update

Greetings everyone,

We will be publishing 108, Tuesday March 24th to all shards. All updates will be active after normal scheduled maintenance.

We know many of you are asking us to turn off Housing Decay. We will not be doing that at this time due to the fact there is a 90 day grace period after closing an account for the houses to fall. After 2 months we will review the status of where everyone is at due to the virus and make our decision at that time.  Please understand when we turn off housing decay this makes it so no one can place a house, resize a house or customize a house in any ways. So please understand we have to be very careful when we make this decision.

With many of our players confined to their houses we are going to be turning on Treasures of Tokuno to give everyone an old favorite that has been requested many times. Enjoy!!

Thanks for your understanding,

Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong


Publish 108 coming to Origin, Izumo, and Baja

3/16/2020

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce the Origin, Izumo, and Baja release of Publish 108 will be available following each shard’s normally scheduled maintenance beginning March 17, 2020!  Publish 108 brings new Veteran Rewards, new Ultima Store Items, updated house decay rules and more!  Please check out the publish notes for full details!

See you in Britannia,

UO Team


UO Herald - Special Announcement

Publish 108 IDOC Update Felucca Testing

2/27/2020

Greetings,

We will be restoring a previous backup on TC1 today to prepare for Felucca centered testing of the latest IDOC changes.  You may need to recreate your characters.  Hop on to TC1 this evening at 8pm ET and come try your luck at some Felucca loot!  Come one, come all!

See you in Britannia,

UO Team


Publish 108 Release 2 Comes to TC1

2/26/2020

Greetings,

As of 5pm ET we are pleased to announce Release 2 of Publish 108 will be available for testing.  This phase includes an update to House Decay Rules,

  • Condemned houses will go through six stages of decay which will take at least five days,
    • Like New -> Slightly Worn -> Somewhat Worn -> Fairly Worn -> Greatly Worn -> In Danger of Collapsing
  • When a house goes into the condemned status the house will become private and all access will be removed.  Friend and Co-owner lists will be cleared.
  • Houses with rental vendors will become OSI owned and have to go through a cycle for the second time to notify vendor owners.
  • The house collapse timer will appear on the house sign as it nears the “In Danger of Collapsing” stage.  This timer will indicate how long until the house collapses.
  • Information regarding the whereabouts of structures that are in danger of collapsing can be obtained by visiting City Trade Ministers.  City Trade ministers will bark this information when approaching, similar to how Krampus’ location is relayed.
  • When the house drops the housing area will be fenced off while the contents of the house are packed into barrels within the housing area.  No players or pets will be able to enter the fenced area while the contents are being packed.  Players may not teleport into the fenced area while the contents are being packed.
  • Once all contents have been packed away players will be able to punch their way into the housing area for a chance to break into the barrels. Barrels can only be attacked by non Endless Journey Accounts and players must be unarmed.  Unarmed damage is the only damage that will break barrels.
  • Players may not damage barrels unless they can hold 50 items  and 100 stones in their backpack.
  • Mounts and Pets are restricted from this area. Barrels will remain until attacked or next server maintenance.
  • The following items will be deleted during house collapse,
    • Account Bound Items
    • House Only Items
    • Commodity Deeds
    • Stackable Items
    • Goza Mats
Test Center Specific Notes:  For the purposes of efficient testing, the decay cycle has been sped up on Test Center only.  This is not representative of how the decay cycle timing will work on production.  Decay cycle timing will remain as it is now on production for Origin etc. and WW release.  As of TC1 being published with the latest update, it will take approximately 9 hours before houses begin to fall on TC1.  See the notes above on how to identify the location of these structures and how that process will play out.
Be sure to check out the full Publish 108 notes.  We look forward to your feedback.
See you in Britannia,
UO Team

Publish 108 TC Release 1

2/20/2020

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce the first Test Center release of Publish 108 will be deployed today.  Some of the highlights included in this release are,

  • Veteran Rewards
  • Ultima Store Items
  • Combat Updates

Be sure to check out the full publish notes and head over to the forums to provide your feedback.

See you in Britannia,

UO Team


UO Herald - Special Announcement

Ultima Store & Account Center Maintenance

2/18/2020

Greetings,

We have identified an issue with the Ultima Store & Account Center.  We appreciate your patience while we work through the issue and will update you as we make progress to restore these services.

Update 2:30pm ET – The issue impacting these services has been resolved and both should now be back online.

Thank you,

UO Team


UO Herald - Lore

Grim Moments

2/18/2020

We are pleased to bring you our next fiction series, Grim Moments which continues where our epic adventure left off following Jolly Roger.  We invite you to sit back and enjoy Omens & Flicker,

By EM Malachi

Omens

The flames consumed the parchment, the blackened edges echoing the paladin’s mood. After five failed attempts to write down his thoughts, Dupre had given up and finished packing his kit.

The soldier had done his duty. The ship he was responsible for had returned to port with all hands. Despite his own injuries and fatigue, Dupre had been part of the detail to move the critically wounded to the city’s healer. He had made sure he was not needed elsewhere. Vesper was safe. The threat of the Eventide had passed.

Dupre was on his way out of his room at the inn, when he bumped into the last person he wanted to see. Geoffrey gave his friend a surprised look but then held up a roll of bandages and a bottle.

“I’d heard you’d returned to your room. I was worried you might have an injury you’d refused to let the healer see to.”

Adjusting his pack, Dupre frowned. “I was about to head out.”

“Leaving town after a battle without rest or even a celebratory toast isn’t like you. We won, didn’t we?”

“We did the job and came back.”

“What’s wrong? What did you see out there?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. You can read my official report.”

“We all know things are left out of those. As your friend, I want to know what really happened.”

Dupre sighed and put down his pack. Taking a seat, he accepted the bottle from Geoffrey and took a swig. “Where to begin? The sea was dark with Jack’s ships. It was hard to tell where the decks and bodies began, and the whole bloody fleet screamed. Some of the younger sailors seemed ready to flee, but there was nowhere to go. I let them borrow the flask of liquid courage I keep for just such times.”

“I know such magic is terrible, but you must have seen worse during the fall of Trinsic. I remember how you rallied people even as we abandoned the city.”

“Necromancers make my skin crawl, but I stayed focused on the job. We did our best to fight off the bloated swimmers that tried to board, but we knew we needed to scuttle the ships. We were in position for a broadside against the flagship when I saw the face of Shamino. Our friend’s head, propped up on the prow like a trophy!”

Geoffrey grimaced but let him continue.

“Shamino’s head didn’t scream like the others. It spoke in a rasping voice. It said my name! It knew things only the ranger would have known. When our cannon blast knocked the head into the water and the head was sinking beneath the waves, it gave a final ill omen: ‘Do not be sad, not with a thread so short.’”

“It was a necromancer’s trick, to upset and confuse.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. These are uncertain times for the entire world, but I can’t be ruled by doubt. I need to know. Even if my life is near its end, I must know where I am needed.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“There was a seeress I met years ago, Penumbra. The Daughter of the Eclipse might have answers, so I will find her.”

“I don’t suppose the lone paladin needs allies on his quest?”

When Dupre shook his head and stood up, Geoffrey said, “Safe travels to you then.”

 

Flicker

The druid caught her friend before the mage fell into a thorn bush. Jaana knew these forests well and had chosen suitable boots for the hike. Mariah wore shoes popular on the streets of Moonglow, and the mage seemed more distracted than usual. The short journey had taken twice as long as planned.

The wisp hung in the air like a sad rain cloud. The normally brilliant light was a dull grey, and the other parts of Xorinia nearby seemed to avoid the defective wisp. “What’s wrong with it?” Jaana asked.

Mariah caught her breath and studied the creature. “If I had to guess, it’s been separated from the whole for too long. Even with magic, some injuries cannot be repaired.”

“But I got help to deactivate one of the generators affecting them. The rest of the wisps seem fine.”

“And some wisps have attacked people without provocation. There may be subtle differences between Xorinian wisps that we can’t see.”

“Can you do anything to help this one? It looks like it’s dying.”

“I could try to mend the connection to the larger whole, but it will be difficult. I’ll need an hour just to prepare.”

“Are you sure you want to attempt something so involved? You look tired.”

Mariah had already removed her spellbook from her bag. “We have to do something.”

While Mariah set up for the ritual, Jaana consulted with the other wisps in the area. They were very upset about something called “sharp ethereal waves.” Had the Xorinite wisps been able to leave Sosaria, there would have been a mass flight back to their home dimension.

When Mariah had finished drawing an ornate ritual circle around the wisp, the mage started chanting, “Ort Lor In Grav Vas Wis.” She began to glow, and a pattern of sparkles appeared around the wisp. The creature’s own inner light began to intensify and blink in tandem with the sparkles.

Then the wind shifted, and everything stopped. The energy in the air exploded, throwing Mariah across the clearing. Every wisp gave a scream, like glass breaking. Jaana ran over to help her friend. “Are you all right?”

Mariah sat up, visibly shaken. “No. My magic, my connection to mana, is gone.” She looked over at the wisp. It shuddered slightly, and its lights went out completely.


UO Herald - Community

Happy Valentine’s Day! A Special Gift For You!

2/12/2020

Want to show that special someone you care this Valentine’s Day?  This cuddly little cupid bear is the perfect way to say, “I Love You!”

Visit the Britain Commons to claim yours today!

The dispensers are being built manually and we appreciate your patience as we place the dispenser on each shard.  Each dispenser will be available for 5 days following placement.