Ultima Online Publish 77 – on the Test Center

Ultima Online Publish 77 hit the Test Center earlier today, a few weeks ahead of various predictions. Full information is on the Herald or you can read on after my comments.

My Observations:
– Surprised it was out on TC this fast
– Not all new NPC shops are available on the TC just yet, but it’s not a big deal, the NPCs are there and this is the beta test after all.
– Good moves on alternatives for city loyalty. Very good moves on the part of the team. I still strongly disagree with the login requirements to maintain city loyalty, but they did listen to those who wanted alternative means to gain points. It may also increase activity within some cities.
– Was hoping that the Communications Crystal changes were more signs of a more significant upgrade in the in-game communications in the form of in-game mail, which are desperately needed, and while they can be used by players for some communications, the context is that it helps the EMs, according to this Stratics post by Mike Moore, UO Systems Designer:
Don’t read too much into it. We basically built a new public-address system for use by Event Moderators, because existing com crystals have some problems and they’re a pain to set up and maintain. It was all about making sure everybody can see all the important text at large events, and building something that would be fast and easy for EMs to use.

At the very least, it’ll give some new deco options because you can craft them in metal hues.
(In regards to a comment about the spy mode: They’ll pick up speech from inside a container or when being held by a player or a pet. Or a vendor (they can be set “not for sale” for this purpose).

I am curious to see what creative uses people will find for these. 🙂

As for faction changes, honestly I don’t play that part of UO – I barely have time for anything within UO right now, but it’s a lot of changes. Below are the official publish notes:

Publish Notes

In this publish we are having an issue with our patcher which increases the size of the patch. Please do not be alarmed. You are going to see a 411 MB classic client patch and a 112 MB patch for the Enhanced client. We are working on a fix for the patcher so it will reduce the size of the patches you will be receiving in the future. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

City Loyalty
In addition to assisting to quell the still ongoing unrest throughout Britannia three new ways to gain City Loyalty have been added:

1) Participating in Champ Spawns will award City Loyalty to the City you have chosen to declare citizenship to. The more difficult the level of the champ spawn, the more love you will receive.

2) Turning in BoDs in a Loyalty City will award love to that City depending on the difficulty of the BoD.
New Magincia, Minoc, and Yew are proud to announce the opening of new Smithy and/or Clothier shops to serve the needs of the citizens!

• You may visit the “Sand in Ya Britches Tailor Hut” and “The Sandy Smith” right next to the Modest Damsel Inn located on the Isle of New Magincia.
• You may visit the “Tinderbox Smithy” and “The Elves Thimble” located within the center of Yew.
• You may visit the “Survival Threads” clothier in Eastern Minoc.

3) City Trade Ministers have begun accepting a variety of basic resources to assist in rebuilding and providing for the citizenry. City Trade Ministers will accept goods across a variety of Professions including, Lumberjacks, Miners, Hunters, Cooks, Fisherman, Archers, Alchemists, Tamers, and Herders.

• Trade Ministers can be found at the major shipping hubs within each City. These include the Docks in most Cities, Great Oak Vessels in Yew, and the Stables in Minoc.
• To donate a single item or stack of items drop them into the crate.
• To donate a bag of items, drop the bag into the crate. A gump will appear with the quantities of each of the item groups you are donating. Make sure to check your donations, as all donations to the City are final!
• To donate a tamed or herded animal double click the hitching post and target the animal you wish to donate. A confirmation gump will appear making sure you wish to donate that animal.
• Double click the Trade Minister NPC to see a full list of items accepted. Basic resources are all that are necessary for donation.

Farspeakers (Improved Communication Crystals)

• 4 Listen Mode Settings – off, public, personal, and spy
• 4 Volume Settings – off, private, dual, and loud
• 4 Output Mode – Normal, Show my name, show sender, show both
• Crafted by Tinkers
• Improved user interface
• Can link up to 10 speakers
• Work across subserver lines
• Rechargeable with gem stones
• Higher maximum number of charges – 5000 max charges or if exceptional 10000 charges

Faction Artifact Changes
– All faction artifacts have their Rank requirement changed to 1
– The price in silver for Faction Artifacts depends on the buyer’s rank:

• Tier 1 artifacts cost 2,000 silver for Rank 1 players; and 1,000 silver for all higher ranks
• Tier 2 artifacts cost 8,000 silver for Rank 1 players; 6,000 silver for Rank 2; 4,000 silver for Rank 3; and 2,000 silver for Rank 4 and higher
• Tier 3 artifacts Cost 18,000 silver for Rank 1 players; 15,000 silver for Rank 2; 12,000 silver for Rank 3; 9,000 silver for Rank 4; 6,000 silver for Rank 5; and 3,000 silver for Rank 6 and higher
• Tier 4 artifacts cost 32,000 silver for Rank 1 players; 28,000 silver for Rank 2; 24,000 silver for Rank 3; 20,000 silver for Rank 4; 16,000 silver for Rank 5; 12,000 silver for Rank 6; 8,000 silver for Rank 7; 4,000 silver for Rank 8 and higher
• Tier 5 artifacts cost 50,000 silver for Rank 1 players; 45,000 silver for Rank 2; 40,000 silver for Rank 3; 35,000 silver for Rank 4; 30,000 silver for Rank 5; players; 25,000 silver for Rank 6; 20,000 silver for Rank 7; 15,000 silver for Rank 8; 10,000 silver for Rank 9; and 5,000 silver for Rank 10 players

All faction artifacts have a maximum lifespan of 30 days

• The remaining life displays in the item tooltip
• This lifespan is in real time

Faction artifacts have a new Item Property: Moonbound

• Moonbound items are Indestructible when in a Felucca ruleset area. They will frequently repair themselves to maximum durability, and will not lose maximum durability.
• Moonbound items are Ephemeral when in a Trammel ruleset area. They will lose 1 point of maximum durability per six minutes spent in active combat.

– All existing faction artifacts will convert to this new system with this publish
– Note that faction consumables are not affected by this change

Faction Artifacts for Gargoyles
– The faction reward sellers now sell gargoyle versions of all rewards except: Kasa of the Raj-In, Spirit of the Totem, Hunter’s Headdress, Inquisitor’s Resolution, Stormgrip
– The reward seller will not list any non-alterable artifacts on the menu for Gargoyles
– Gargoyles who purchase faction artifacts receive gargoyle equivalents
– Faction Artifact Alteration

• Gargoyles may hand faction artifacts to the Faction Reward Vendor. If the artifact can be altered into a Gargoyle version, the item will be altered and returned.
• In all other cases, the item will be returned un-altered.
• Special conversions:
• Fey Leggings (chain pants) alter into Garg plate legs
• The Robe of Command alters into a standard robe which can be worn by gargoyles

Faction Point Distribution Update:
– Faction kill points will now be distributed based on involvement in faction fighting. Players can earn points through dealing damage, taking damage, and healing damage when opposing faction members successfully kill someone in an opposing faction.
– Points are awarded based on rank of the victim killed:

• Ranks 1 – 3 are worth 4 points.
• Ranks 4 – 6 are worth 8 points.
• Ranks 7 – 9 are worth 12 points.
• Rank 10 is worth 16 points.

-The amount of kill points taken from the victim is based on their faction rank when killed or 10% of their current points whichever is highest. Players in stat loss will be worth 1 point or 10% of their current points whichever is highest.
– Awarded points are divided between the participating characters in the kill:

• The killer will receive 40% of awarded points.
• The remaining 60% of awarded points is divided amongst the killer and all assisters. Max 3 assisters
• Eligible participants will receive 40 silver for each kill.

– The most deficit points any faction member can have is now 12.
– Siege – Faction kill points will now be awarded on all facets in addition to victims receiving stat loss penalty.

Bug Fixes
– Resolved the issue which was causing equipped items, mounts and even backpacks from disappearing in dungeons.
– Fixed the issue involving healers getting looting rights properly.
– Fixed the issue with altering the Quiver of Infinity into Gargoyle Wing Armor
– An adjustment has been made to Cora’s Mana Vamp range

Classic Client 7.0.26
– Classic Client Patcher Update
– Cliloc Changes

Enhanced Client 4.0.26
– Cliloc Changes
– The “Target by Resource” feature has been fixed and works with Fishing
– There is now a way for players to reset their enhanced client UI elements (hot-bars, main menu bar, backpack gump location, etc.) to their default location.