The extended downtime of Oceania today is supposed to have fixed the issues this shard encountered in the previous weeks.

We want to thank you for your patience during that time and will continue to keep a close eye on your shard.

Update 2:45pm EDT: Oceania is back online, too.

Update 1:45pm EDT: All shards except Oceania are back online.

Greetings!

We will be bringing all shard offline tomorrow, Wednesday April 18, at 11 am EDT (3pm GMT) for maintenance to improve the login process. This maintenance will replace the regular morning maintenance; it includes TC1.
At this time we anticipate that the shards will be back online no later than 2 pm EDT (6 pm GMT).

Please be sure to check the Herald for updates regarding this downtime.

Written by the EM Team

    The key was clenched tightly in his hand as he made his way to the ruins that were left of his masters once great castle; the ramparts had been shattered and burned wreckage lay everywhere, but in his mind’s eye it was all still as it had been, and he found his way towards the area he sought. As he approached he could tell that despite the crazed and lunatic nature of the mobs that had destroyed, sacked, and burned his lords home to the ground, none were able to pierce the heavily ensorcelled and locked compartment that he found underneath a pile of blackened stone. After a few moments of effort, the jester managed to clear the debris from the locked door that once lay hidden beneath an ornate rug, now no doubt adorning some peasants floor. Heckles looked to the lock as he lined up the key, and the glowing runes around it shone brightly for a moment before going out as the similarly enchanted key broke down their own magic. With a rough turn, the deadbolt clacked and he pulled the door open, and he descended into the dark depths of the cellar. As his footsteps echoed along the stairs he withdrew a night sight potion and quaffed a bit of it to allow him to see what still lurked in his masters wine cellar.

    His eyes adjusted, but it was just a bit too slowly as the minstrel tripped over an empty bottle. His fall was heralded by the stream of invectives that flew from his lips. His scathing curses did little but echo along the mostly emptied cellar that he’d steadily been doing his best to consume. He dusted himself off and approached the mostly emptied racks until he neared the final row of bottles, stopping to look over the few bottles remaining. There were only a half dozen or so bottles left in this spot, and he noticed that one had a peculiarity to it that drew his attention. He removed the sealed bottle, recognizing it instantly as one of his masters favorite vintages, as his enhanced vision caught a glimpse of something hidden behind it…a small hole that the bottle had concealed. A keyhole, to be precise. With a curiosity that required satiation, he dug the key back out of his pocket and thrust his arm into the crevice that the bottle had once occupied, and turned it as the creak of old and unused hinges strained as the wall rack slowly swung open before him. It took Heckles but a moment to realize what he’d uncovered, and as he walked in he drank the sights instead of the wine he’d initially set out for.

    The room would have sparkled as only the finest gemstones do had there been any source of true light to catch the gleaming golden accents of the hidden vault that lay here. Along with various relics, tomes, and personal mementos of his lord, ensconced within were countless examples of fine jewelry, gold coins, and enchanted armor and weaponry. Most eye-catching to Heckles, however, was the golden strongbox centered upon a small table in the back of the room, a key laying in front of it. As he opened it, he found it filled only with deeds and drawings, papers with the runic language written on them and old experimental spells. Amidst it all were numerous currency markers for very large sums being held by the Britain Bank, and a set of intricate designs that looked to be architectural drawings. Despite his inexperience in the matter, he could recognize the cartographical symbols enough to realize where and what it was that detailed upon it…as well as the cost estimates hand written along it. He recounted the checks that he’d found, and an idea came to his head. Perhaps it had always been his lord’s intention that if he didn’t return, Heckles would find this room and these drawings, and act on them in his stead. And even if not, it would at least be a more fitting use of the area than continuing to let the wreckage sit atop it in ruins.

    A roguish grin played its way across his lips as he did a few brief calculations in his head, thinking to himself. Well, it must also have been my lords intention that there’s enough left over to keep me from that fate worse than death…sobriety.

One of the most important persons at our partner site UO Stratics celebrates her 3rd anniversary today. Petra shows an incredible dedication and helped to make UO Stratics what it is today. Our whole team congratulates Petra and wishes her all the best for the next years – 3 years might be not as long as the 15 years UO faces this year, but we are sure she is working on it.

Why don’t you head over to their forum and congratulate her, too?

Written by the EM Team

     Buzzards circled high in the sky above the inland roads that led away from the ferries of Skara Brae, their lazy paths taking them in loops above whatever carcass lay beneath. Artemia took notice of them as she crept silently through the forest, hot on the heels of the hart she’d spied an hour earlier. The old stag was a crafty one and had kept out of any clean shots so far, but she knew that ahead lay a clearing before the land gave way to the road. If she was going to get a clean shot, that would be her opening. With swift and sure motions she indulged herself in the hunt, and she broke into the clearing and sighted on the great stag for only a brief moment before a scowl rose to her face. It seemed that the object of the vulture’s attention was here. The stag made its way back into the brush as she stalked closer to the carcasses in the clearing, and began to check through them.

     The packhorses were clearly dead, and though they bore a mix of wounds, the feathered hafts of spent crossbow bolts spoke to what appeared to be an ambush. Their packs were empty as she’d suspected from the first, but she didn’t see any trace of their owner…until she noticed a light spattering of blood across trampled grass. She quietly nocked an arrow and stalked along the trampled grass until she found its end, where a fallen branch of dead leaves covered a man’s body. She kept her bow trained on him until she noticed no reaction, and stowed the arrow back into the quiver attached to her sash. Moving around the branch she took a moment to admire his face before shaking her head. She slung her bow over a shoulder and moved the branch off to see if she could identify him, or if there was enough left to take back with her. As she took stock of his wounds, she noticed a few shafts emerging from the side of a leg, and it looked like one of his arms was out of the socket. She knelt for a moment and closed her eyes before she became aware of a sound so soft she hadn’t noticed it until now. She looked down and laid her head atop the man’s chest for a moment to see if she wasn’t mistaken, but sure enough there it was; the slightest hint of life still ran through him. She set to work immediately, taking a flask of yellow liquid from a pouch at her side and pouring a bit of the potion down the man’s throat, following it up with another flask of cloudy white liquid. The man’s breathing seemed to strengthen, and Artemia put an arm under his head and scooped the man up with a grunt of effort, making her way back to Skara Brae.

     The extent of the trader’s wounds only became apparent when they had time to examine him at the healers. Artemia stayed in the room until the healers urged her to wait outside, but even that was enough to see that he had a half dozen other wounds from various weapons. Cuts and bruises, a missing ear, broken hand, seven crossbow bolts, dislocated shoulder, broken leg, and Virtues knows what kind of internal injuries. It was shocking that he’d lived after it all, and Artemia wasn’t holding her breath on his continued survival. After a brief wait she began to get restless, and peeked her head inside once before heading towards the Ranger’s Guild. Live or die, the trader’s life was in the healer’s hands now.

     Making her way through town she avoided a few of the roads and ignored the trash that littered the streets. The stench of the city had never held any appeal for her, but the rotting refuse that lay scattered amongst the town definitely wasn’t helping improve her disposition. As she traversed perpendicular to one of the main streets she stopped, feeling her body tense, and she crept to the corner of the next building and peered down the road.

     A small group of citizens were outside one of the businesses, shouting and screaming something she couldn’t make out over the tumult of their combined voices. Their demeanor was clear, and she could tell it was yet another of the riots that had been happening lately, but there was something different about this group. She looked more carefully, and that was when she noticed the one in the center with a heavy satchel. As she watched, he opened the satchel and pulled out an improvised explosive, and started his attempts to light it. As quietly as she could she unslung her bow, nocked an arrow, and fired at the man. The arrow whistled across the distance in an instant, piercing through the rioter’s arm and causing him to drop the bottle, and the others fled in all directions. Artemia nocked another arrow as she approached, and kept it aimed clearly at the would-be arsonist’s face.

     “Give me one good reason the next one doesn’t go through your eye.”

     The man seemed to be in a state of minor shock at the arrow in his arm, but he managed to stammer out a response. “W-we aren’t trying to h-hurt anyone, b-but we have to s-send a message!”

     Artemia scowled darkly, but removed the arrow from the bow and drew the short sword at her side, as well as a coil of rope from her bag. “Well I’m sure the town guard will like to have a few words with you, then. Give me any trouble and that arrow in your arm becomes the least of your worries.” The man didn’t resist as Artemia bound him, and she got him onto his feet. Marching him through town she got a mixture of responses, but ignored them all equally until she’d handed the man over to the guard on duty. With a sigh she headed towards the docks before anything else interrupted her.

     She took a final look back to the city before boarding the ferry and tossing the sailor a few crowns, and they swiftly crossed the bay to the mainland. She could already tell as she approached that someone unfamiliar was at the ranger’s guild, if the shouting from the guildmaster was any indication. She stepped through the door in mid-tirade, closing it quietly behind herself and standing patiently as her guildmaster argued with the woman.

     “…dumb enough to go on a wild goose chase! And for what you’re offering it’s hardly worth my time to even talk to ya! If ya want to drag someone off to die with ya be my guest, but it ain’t gonna be me or any o’ mine! Now take ya blasted maps and get out of my building.” Artemia stepped aside to let the visitor leave, noting the shock of bright blonde hair the woman sported as she passed, and looked towards the guildmaster for a moment. The old man sighed and rubbed a hand across his head, reaching for the drawer that she knew contained his flask. Noticing this, Artemia shook her head and returned out the way she came in. Artemia searched the nearby area to see if there was any salvaging her stag hunt…Even though she knew it could only be a brief, momentary respite from the reality that was unfolding around her.

We have re-activated Housing Decay on Tuesday. If your account has been inactive for more than 90 days, you have 2 days left before your house is gone. After your have reactivated your account, it can take up to 24 hours for your house to be refreshed and display the correct status.

If you have reactivated your account and your house status hasn’t updated after these 24 hour, please contact us.

Update 4:40pm EST: Origin is back online with the fix.

Greetings,

Due to an issue with players dropping their robes discovered on Origin, we are forced to do a revert of the shard back to this morning.

At this moment you are no longer able to log in to the shard; we’ll take it down later this afternoon to fix the issue.

Keep an eye on the Herald for updates.

Thank you for your understanding.

We would like to acknowledge the hard work of UOGuide and all the support they have given UO in the past and the future.  Due to their hard work and dedication we were able to speed up the implementation of Item property classifier system by using the UOGuide site as a reference.  Special thanks to the UOGuide team for doing such a great job! And our apologizes to them for not calling this out weeks ago.

The UO Team

Greetings,

Publish 74.0 comes to Origin tonight. The Publish 74.0 Notes remain unchanged with one exception:

• Runic Re-Forging – This is being removed for this publish to Origin due to a few issues we encountered on TC; we will be re-publishing it to TC and Origin later before we go World Wide.

See you in-game!