Tomorrow morning October 8th Great Lakes will be down for an extended maintenance period of 3 hours between 6 am est and 9 am est for scheduled network maintenance. 

We are bringing down Lake Superior at 10:30 am EDT this morning for a force maintanence.  This should fix the issue of the shard not preforming its daily scheduled maintenance.  It should be down no longer than 30 minutes.

UO Team

Tomorrow morning during maintenance (September 25th,2013) we will be extending the down time for a few hours to update some outdated hardware on Lake Superior.  We do not expect the shard to be down more then 3 hours maximum and expect to have it up and running no later than 9 am. 

Thanks in advance for your patience!

UO Team

Good Morning 

    Houses that have been placed in the new Deep Sea Quest area are being deleted.  The ability to place houses there will be corrected today.  Game Masters are in the process of going to each shard and deleting all houses they find in this area.  Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

UO Team

Good afternoon Everyone,

  We discovered an issue with the Account Management Center this morning that has been fixed.  If you were having difficulties renewing your accounts please try again.  If you are still unable to complete your transaction please contact us so we can take another look at the problem.

  Thanks everyone for giving us a heads up on this problem.  We look forward to seeing you this Saturday and helping us celebrate our BIRTHDAY!!!

UO TEAM!!!

The Character Transfer Issue has been resolved and the warehouse as been turned back on.  You should have any issues with a character transfer unless you began it in Publish 82.  If you log in squelched, frozen and unable to interact with the world please page a GM to fix your character.

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

    As some of you have discovered we are having some issues with Character Transers.  For the time being we have disabled the Character Transfer Warehouse.  We are working on fixing this issue and as soon as its resolved it will be turned back on.  We should have it back up by tomorrow. 

UO Team

Publish 83 will be released to all shards during your next maintenance cycle.  On the 15th of September you will receive your Anniversary gifts in your back packs when you log into the game,.  We  hope you enjoy the first part of the Global Arc and look forward to your feedback.

UO Team!

During the normal maintenance cycle tomorrow  we will be publshing  both Origin and Izumo, below are the changes made from TC1.

Exploring the Deep

A New Quest & Encounter have been added.  Visit Hepler the Salvager Master at the Sons of the Sea in Trinsic. This is the first part of a three part content Arc which will be developing over the next few months.
• Luck plays an influence throughout various portions of the quest, including the chance at receiving an artifact from the final boss encounter

New Item Property Bane is  found on certain weapons. This on hit property will only trigger when the targets health is below 50%. As the targets health decreases the chance for the property to fire will increase along with the damage inflicted.  Bane has the potential to damage the target for up to 30% of the targets max hit points in physical damage. This damage cannot exceed 350 physical damage.

Added a new title upon completion of the Exploring the Deep quest.

Ultima Online’s 16^th Anniversary Party

Date: September 21^st, 2013

12:45 till 5:00 pm CST

Location: TC1 – Luna Fairgrounds

Agenda

12:45 pm CST – Opening Ceremony at the Luna Fair grounds

1:00 to 2:00 pm CST – Hedge Maze Scavenger Hunt (see details below)

2:00 to 2:15 Return to Luna for announcement of winners for the Hedge Maze Scavenger Hunt

2:15 to 3:00 pm CST – Fool Hardy –Join us to preform and show how creative you are

3:00 to 3:30 pm CST Award prizes for the judging of the Cultural Center Design Contest and Story Contest

3:30 to 4:30 pm CST Trivia Contest

4:30 to 5:00 pm CST Magic Show

Details and Rules of Events

Hedge Maze Scavenger Hunt

• Teleporter located at the Luna Fairgrounds to location of the event
• Location is in Tram
• Books with hints as to what objects to look for will be provided
• After all items are recovered turn in all items to Lady Tia at the Fairgrounds in Luna (use gate to return)
• There will be a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place winner (awards given on shard of your choice)

Fool Hardy

• Prepare a 6 minute skit – this can be a monolog, skit, or just tell jokes. Please remember to be tasteful and respect the diverse audience members.
• This will be judged by three (3) devs
• There will be a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place winner (awards given on shard of your choice)
• Location is at the Luna Fairgrounds on TC1
• Pre enter via email to LadyTia@stratics.com

Cultural Center Design Contest

• Send designs to LadyTia@stratics.com or barmstrong@ea.com before Sept 21^st.

• Winner will have their design built on the shard of their choice with your name as the designer
• Location to be built is in New Magincia
• Winner announced September 21^st.

Story Contest

Mesanna’s Ascension
In the third and final chapter of the Mesanna Trilogy you will decide how this once servant girl from the Twin Oaks Tavern becomes one of our lands most famous and deadly goddesses.

• Submit story to LadyTia@stratics.com or barmstrong@ea.com before Sept 21^st.
• There will be a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place winner (awards given on shard of your choice)

What you need in the story:

• Characters: Mesanna and anyone you want (Be careful not to offend anyone)
• Setting: Ultima Online, any shard you wish
• Place: She can go anywhere, but one location must be a unique area on the shard. (Any player town, establishment, NPC building or EM Building can be used)

Other Information:

1. you may use pictures

2. you must stay true to the first story

3. Original story link:
http://stratics.com/community/threads/ne…er.196697/ The Golden Age Story Winner (Book 2 of 3)
http://stratics.com/community/threads/me…st-1814705

4. Should take place 10 or more years after the first story.

5. -You must leave it open ended. This will be book (3 of 3)

6. -Mesanna cannot die or lose any limbs but she can be scarred.

7. Contact submission email: ladytia@stratics.com

8. Contest ends: 9/15/2013

9. Winner Announced: 9/21/2013

Trivia Contest

• Pre sign up required
• This will be a bracket type event using this program http://challonge.com/tournament/bracket_generator
• Be prepared to answer trivia questions, if you answer it correctly you move forward.
• This will last till there is only one winner …reward announced after contest is over.
• Location is at the Luna Fairgrounds on TC1

     The waves lapped against the side of the BSV Menagerie as they made their way across the ocean, but Isaiah had eyes only for the storm front that cast shadows across their intended destination. It’d been two long months since he’d last seen Isabelle, and the ring he was twirling inside his pocket had taken most of his pay to buy…but he knew it was the perfect ring for her. It was everything he’d ever wanted to give her and knew she’d love it. The only problem was the look of the storm ahead…if it was as bad as it seemed, it could delay them from being able to use the pillar. “Waterspout to starboard! Hard to port, lads, and work them sails!” Isaiah’s voice rang strong out from the bow where he stood, and he turned to see the other crew swiftly moving into action to put them in a safe path.

    Their journey towards the pillar was filled with strange sights…sea life seeming to be fleeing away from it, and the weather getting increasingly worse…darkening the afternoon skies to the dimly lit air of dusk in but a moment, and causing the once gentle swells to slam against the boat. “We’re almost there, boys, don’t slack now!”

     “Isaiah, we’re not going to make it past that typhoon a-brewing! We have to call this off, and try to make for shore!” The captain’s voice had a pleading quality instead of an ordering one…being one of the few who knew Isaiah’s reason for wanting to get back so desperately. 

     “We can make it, Captain!” His reply was ripped away by the wind though as the storm suddenly surged to new heights. All the crew clung to whatever was closest to try and hang on, when a tremendous tearing and shredding noise ripped through the air, raising the hackles on their necks. An instant later the worst of the storm was gone…the typhoons had vanished…but the rain still pounded down and the waves crashed against their ship. As Isaiah worked to clear his vision and tried to catch sight of the Serpent Pillar again something caught his eye with a shock.

     Ahead and to port was a vessel similar to many he’d seen before, though a few of the adornments were new to him; but that wasn’t what caught his attention…instead a splash of blood on the deck and the massive hole in the hull that was sucking in water did that. A moment later, however, it was seized by the sight of the dead body on the deck, and the realization that there may still be someone else inside.

     There was no hesitation on Isaiah’s part, and he leapt to the edge of the decking, and dove towards the other boat. Pumping his arms through the water, he had a vague thought for the safety of the ring in his pocket, and quickly thrust his hand inside and grabbed it…slipping it onto one finger as far as it would go, and clenching the hand into a fist to protect it. He thought he heard voices shouting for him from the Menagerie, but he shoved them aside and focused on the task at hand as he came alongside the unknown ship.
 
     With effort he managed to get onto the ship during a large swell, but it was already listing heavily…it would only be a matter of minutes before it threatened to sink beneath the ocean. He spared a glance to the bloodied body being pressed against the deckwall  and shuddered as it looked as if it was not incidental damage, but some sort of blunt weapon used against it. He made his way to the cabin and swept the door open, to find yet another body…no, two more inside. They looked as if they had somehow been slammed against the walls and possibly even ceiling repeatedly, leaving it smeared with their blood. Blanching, he managed to close the door and prevent himself from retching with effort. With only one place left to check, he ran for the hold, even as the entire vessel tilted treacherously beneath his feet.

     It took a massive effort to get the door to the hold open, and his eyes boggled at the sight…inside was an absolute horde of crates and treasures, but amidst it was one man, and though he had blood on him…he appeared to be breathing as he floated on his back in the shallow water starting to fill the hold. He began to head down into the hold when the entire vessel lurched in a sickening manner, and started to tip on end.

     In a panic, Isaiah quickly reached for the man, extending his one hand down and grabbing for him desperately, but unable to haul him up with a single hand. Isaiah quickly grabbed him with both hands, the ship turning as he dragged him out. His own vessels crew was fighting to keep their ship from being swamped…and a cheer went up as they saw him emerging from the doomed vessel.

     Gripping tightly, he hefted the unconscious and bloodied passenger of the ill-fated ship, pausing only at feeling a strange sensation along his finger…before realizing too late that it was the ring meant for Isabelle sliding off. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched the glittering emerald ring drop through the air, to be missed by his attempt to snatch it, as it dropped into the sinking ships hold. For what felt like an eternity he held his gaze upon it, for a moment even considering dropping the unconscious man…but the Isaiah that Isabelle fell in love with wasn’t that kind of man. With a bitter fist seeming to hold tight to his heart, he scrambled across the ship into the water, carrying the one living passenger up to their own boat, and trying not to think about the loss of the ring.

     “Who do ya suppose it is, Isaiah?”

     Isaiah had hardly said a word since he’d returned and the BSV Menagerie had docked in Papua. As the healers looked over the unconscious man, Isaiah found himself staring at the strange clothes…trying to figure out the fabric. He’d never seen it’s like before, and the color was a new one as well… “Probably some sort of noble or merchant…hopefully we’ll get a reward for saving them. But let’s find out…there’s only one place it could have come from.”
Standing up, Isaiah headed onto the docks and shouted, “You there, Lad! Lad…how many ships left by way of the Serpent’s Pillar this eve?”

     “Err…none, mate. There ain’t been a ship that wanted to brave the storm…frankly surprised yer all came out here as well.”