The Herald

Publish 102 TC Release 1

10/11/2018

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce Publish 102 will be available on TC on October 12, 2018.  Publish 102 introduces new content for the Huntmaster’s Challenge along with some other updates you can read about in the publish notes.

We will be hosting a public play session all day on October 12th, so hop on and say hello and give some feedback.  Let’s see who can hunt the largest of the new trophies!

Due to the accelerated publish schedule of Publish 102, we will not be wiping Publish 102 for a new castle & keep design contest, as a result look forward to a new contest in Publish 103!

There is a mandatory client patch associated with this release.  Please make sure you patch up your client to the latest version before logging into any shard.

See you in Britannia,

UO Team


UO Herald - Special Announcement

Publish 101 Update

10/9/2018

Greetings Everyone,

We have made the following adjustments to Publish 101 that will be released on the shards during normal maintenance time beginning with the Japanese shards this evening, 10/9/2018:

  1.  The  Khal Ankur and the Dragon Turtle  champ spawns located in Felucca have been adjusted to spawn upon morning maintenance and can only be reactivated with valor after the first spawn.
  2.  Cultist’s Ritual Tomes will no longer be spawning as a blessed item on Siege and Mugen.
  3.   The information for the Felucca Khal Ankur Champ Spawn in the Wiki regarding the guaranteed 120 Power Scroll drop has been corrected, it now states 4 instead of 8 scrolls.

We appreciate all your feedback and look forward to more in the future.

UO Team

 


UO Herald - Lore

The Oldest One

10/8/2018

To shepherd in the Treasures of Khaldun we have a series of short pieces of fiction to supplement the events in-game.  We present the next installment,

The Oldest One

By EM Malachi

When Mordea had yet again recounted the Line of Blood that granted her primacy over Tempestry, the Master Sorcerer Malchir threatened to brand her with his fire magic. Even stranded far from their world of Pagan, the Sorcerers and Tempests were bitter rivals. Both cult leaders wanted to strike again at Britannia, but neither wished to cede authority.

Lothian ignored them all. The blind necromancer ran her finger along the pages of the rotting tome that was even older than she was. A screaming Britannian mage had surrendered the book and all he knew about Khaldun. The Tempests and Sorcerers had lined up to kill each other when Lothian slowly stood up. The withered crone had not left her chair in years, carried from place to place in a palanquin lifted by skeletons. All the cultists stopped bickering and watched Lothian. Even Mordea turned her head slightly, knowing that even the thickest blood could grow thin when a follower of Lithos was angered.

Lothian spoke, “We are only allies by the cruelty of fate, but we all serve something greater. The Titans may be gone, but the darkness still exists.”

“How can you be so sure?” asked one of the younger sorcerers. One of his fellows desperately tugged at his sleeve to silence him.

Lothian gave him a stern look, and necromantic rot started to spread up his arm. At the elbow, she stopped, letting him keep the rest of the limb. Lothian continued, “We have an opportunity, but we must act now. We can use the secrets of this world against it.”

As many in the crowd nodded in approval, Mordea herself asked, “What must we do?”

Lothian handed the arcane text to a skeleton, who carried it over to the other cultists. “I have knowledge of the King of Seven Deaths and how to wake him. He sleeps until four great powers join him in the shade.”

Malchir was now focused and asked, “Does this mean we should kill four of their leaders?”

Lothian clucked her tongue. “Years ago, four humans were sacrificed, as if that were meaningful at all. No, something greater is needed. We together have the means to summon this undying mage king: the remnants of the Titan we served.”

There were whispers of doubt in the crowd, so Lothian continued, “Yes, yes, we will lose access to much of our respective magics, but most of you would lose that in death anyway. We no longer have the means to wage a direct war against Sosaria, but that doesn’t mean we can’t break the back of this world before the darkness comes. Work with me, and we will wake Khal Ankur.”


UO Herald - Special Announcement

Log In Server Maintenance & New Ultima Store Items

10/1/18

On Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 beginning at 10 am ET the login servers will be unavailable for approximately 1 hour. During this maintenance time, players will be unable to log in. Thank you and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are also excited to release two new items in the Ultima Store, the Undead Cat Mount & Potion of Glorious Fortune.  Veteran players may claim a complimentary Potion of Glorious Fortune from the Generous Alchemist located at the Khaldun Camp.

See you in Britannia,

UO Team


UO Herald - Lore

Seven Deaths

10/1/2018

To shepherd in the Treasures of Khaldun we have a series of short pieces of fiction to supplement the events in-game.  We present the next installment,

Seven Deaths

By EM Malachi

The bone fingers wrapped around a stone and began scratching the words again onto the crypt walls. The skeleton did not see the blasphemy it was writing. The Sun had never touched the dark tunnels, and the skeleton’s eyes had long ago decayed to dust. It didn’t matter. The story itself was part of the spell that kept it moving, and it would continue to etch the words over every stone surface for eternity, as it waited for the return:

There was once a powerful mage named Khal Ankur whose glory demanded tribute from all those around his domain. The leaders and sages in these lands grew to resent this high price and looked for a way to end the mage’s reign.

One lord sent an assassin to cut out Khal Ankur’s heart. In the night, the killer came with blades sharp enough to split hairs. The mage woke when the blades pierced his chest, and Khal Ankur spoke to the killer, “For the gift you have given me, I give equal measure.” When he was done, Khal Ankur returned the assassin’s heart to the lord who had sent him.

Another king saw an opportunity, and offered Khal Ankur his daughter’s hand. While the young bride was sweet, the poison she carried was not. As the newly married couple raised a toast, Khal Ankur drank deeply from his cup. As his lips turned black, he spoke to his bride, “For the gift you have given me, I give equal measure.” Then he kissed her.

One nation sent their greatest witch-hunter. The zealot pulled Khal Ankur from his sanctum and covered him with flammable oils. As the roaring flames tore at his body, Khal Ankur laughed at the hunter. “For the gift you have given me, I give equal measure.” The wind brought the zealot’s ashes home.

Confident from drink, a mob of young princes thought to take care of what their elders could not. They managed to corner Khal Ankur at a feast and bludgeon him unconscious. Covering his head with a sack and binding his feet with heavy irons, they drowned Khal Ankur in the deep sea. Khal Ankur’s voice was heard from beneath the waves, “For the gift you have given me, I give equal measure.” They spent the night celebrating on the edge of the tide, and a sudden surge claimed their drunken forms.

A settlement of miners decided to stop paying the golden tribute demanded of them, sending instead one covered in pox and pestilence. The leper died at the gates to Khal Ankur’s domain, and the sickness spread through those who served the mage. As the pox marked Khal Ankur’s flesh, he made the journey to the mines. His voice rumbled down the tunnels, “For this gift you have given me, I give equal measure.” No gold ever left those mines again.

An alliance of kingdoms sent their armies to surround and lay siege to Khal Ankur’s fortress. Without food or supplies, those inside consumed insects and rats before dying of hunger. On the final day, the mage walked out of the fortress, withered from hunger. Khal Ankur bit into his own arm for a taste of meat. Collapsing to the ground and with his own blood dripping from his mouth, he offered this retort, “For this gift you have given me, I give equal measure.” Locusts destroyed the harvest that year, and all food stores spoiled. Those kingdoms became known as the lands of gnawed bones.

With the pathetic rabble crushed and utterly alone, Khal Ankur grew melancholy and retreated to the crypt under his sanctum. He lay on a slab of stone and mark his forehead with a powerful glyph. As his life drained away, the bodies of his servants and enemies started to move. The horde came to his side to listen to his final words: “I will sleep until four great powers join me in the shade. Give me this gift, and I will give equal measure.”


UO Herald - Special Announcement

Future Publish Schedule Update & More!

9/28/2018

Greetings,

Publish 101 has been live for a little over a week and already Britannian’s have demonstrated their wit and resolve in defeating the latest threat to the realm. Crafters have been outfitting her armies with Caddellite infused weapons, magical items, and treats and are ready to seize the Treasures of Khaldun, while rogues have gotten an early taste of the riches to be had.

The remainder of the Treasures of Khaldun content, including Artifact of the Cult drops from the Khal Ankur Champ Spawn, Puzzle Box artifacts, and bonus power scrolls will go live on October 1st. Also going live on October 1st are the pumpkin patches, trick or treating, and zombie skeletons. You’ll have plenty of time over the next two months to experience all this great content, so get out there and have some fun!

We also have some new items coming to the Ultima Store in October!  The first of which is a new skeletal cat vanity mount.  The second is a “Potion of Glorious Fortune” that gives a bonus to points earned from creatures in the Treasures of Khaldun.  As a special thank you to our veterans, all veteran accounts will be able to claim a complimentary potion from the camp outside Khaldun.  Keep an eye on UO.com for updates when these items are available.

Looking ahead to Publish 102 we are aiming for a world wide release sometime around the end of October. This is an accelerated publish cycle and will include new additions to the Huntmaster’s Challenge, both new prey and rewards, as well as new hairstyles and beards in the Ultima Store.

There is currently an active discussion (Undress/Dress Macro Addition to Classic Client) related to proposed changes as they relate to a new undress/dress macro being added to the classic client. We encourage you to head over to the forum to learn about and participate in the discussion.

Don’t miss our next Dev Meet & Greet on Sonoma on October 1st, 2018 at 9pm ET.

Looking ahead to Publish 103, the elves have been busy getting this year’s Artisan Festival goodies ready as well as some great vet rewards, and a new seasonal encounter we are excited to share with you in our upcoming newsletters.

See you in Britannia,

UO Team


UO Herald - Lore

The Detective

9/24/2018

To shepherd in the Treasures of Khaldun we have a series of short pieces of fiction to supplement the events in-game.  We present the first installment,

The Detective

By EM Malachi

Chief Inspector K. Jasper considered the stone relic and the blood that covered it. He understood why the town guard of Trinsic had wanted his help. This was the third collector of mystical artifacts who had been killed in the last week. This clearly was not a coincidence. While the fresh blood was obviously from the relic’s final owner, Jasper didn’t know what to make of the strange occult symbols covering the stone mosaic. It appeared to be a fragment of a crypt wall, but which one? Jasper made a note to speak to someone at the Lycaeum.

He started reading the victim’s notes on the collection. Most of the baubles and trinkets had pages of lore and history, but the victim’s research on this particular relic was missing. There was just a scrap of paper with a single name written on it: Leoric Gathenwale. The name immediately brought the details of the case to mind: the madness, the rituals, and the monstrous spider.

The Inspector went to the door and motioned to one of the town guards. “I need you to send a message. We require more help on this.”

The guard looked confused, so Jasper stressed the importance. “It relates to an old case: Khaldun.”


UO Herald - Special Announcement

Ultima Online Celebrates 21 Years!

9/24/2018

21 years ago Ultima Online changed the video game landscape forever.  Sosaria spawned a virtual world where people could adventure together and forge friendships that would last a lifetime.  Today we celebrate that legacy by wishing UO a very happy birthday and thanking all those Britannians who have left their mark on our humble virtual world.

Long live UO!


Publish 101 World Wide Release

9/19/2018

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce Publish 101 will be released with each shard’s regularly scheduled maintenance beginning September 20th, 2018.  Publish 101 is full of features that you can review in the notes.

Please note the following,

  • The new quest & caddellite crafting will be activated manually following each shard being published.  Please be patient as we work through each shard.
  • The Treasures of Khaldun, Trick or Treating, Pumpkin Patches, and Zombie Skeletons will not be active until October 1st.
  • The classic Keep design has been adjusted to accommodate current and planned changes.  Please review the notes for more details.

This is a mandatory patch, please update your client before trying access any shard.

See you in Britannia,
UO Team