Producer's Update - June 2010 Submitted by UO_Herald on June 27, 2010 at 5:55 PM CDT Originally posted 24 Jun 2010 18:22:34 by Calvin Crowner on the UO Herald: The developer/player relationship is an interesting one.  There is a delicate balance between the developer as player, developer as psychologist, and developer as creator/annihilator.  We have to balance each one of them in order to maximize what each of you think is acceptable. As players of our own game, we have a passion and interest for the legacy of Ultima Online, and how we interpret that and convey it through story, or prioritizing what systems and bugs to fix.  We then think about what the player wants.  Next, as creators and annihilators, we remove and add as necessary.  Not unlike chefs, sometimes the mix of ingredients is acceptable, sometimes bitter and unpleasant.  However, if we want you to return we’ll keep improving our skills. This summer we’ve chosen to take the story arc a different direction. So often it’s been easy to show you good, and say “Hey, this is good, we are all good-natured at heart, this is obviously what life is about … “ To read the full article on the forums, click HERE.

Publish 66.2 Update - 06/24/10 Submitted by UO_Herald on June 23, 2010 at 5:39 PM CDT Originally posted 23 Jun 2010 18:19:19 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: Greetings! The following changes will go live to all shards during tomorrow's scheduled morning maintenance, thank you. Publish 66.2 Update - 06/24/10 Bane chosen soldiers are now vulnerable to Repond slayers Hell hounds from event will no longer be tameable.  Existing hell hounds from the event that are tamed will be removed from the game. Disbanding a party will now work correctly in all situations [Discuss This Article]

Player Notice - Abyss Hell Hounds Submitted by UO_Herald on June 23, 2010 at 1:49 PM CDT Originally posted 23 Jun 2010 14:16:36 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: Greetings! The Hell Hounds from the Abyss are currently tamable.  This was not the intent of the creature protecting the Bane Dragon.  Later this week we will be correcting this over sight and deleting all tamed hell hounds tamed in the Abyss preventing them from being tamed in the future. [Discuss This Article]

In the Shadow of Virtue: Good Neighbors Submitted by UO_Herald on June 22, 2010 at 3:50 PM CDT Originally posted 22 Jun 2010 16:21:27 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: In the Shadow of Virtue: Good Neighbors Today was the first Ter Mur/Britannia summit since the completion of the Stygian Abyss outposts and Queen Zhah was saddened that she already had bad news to share.  She studied the soft, non-distinct face of her guest trying to decide how to proceed.  Humans are very hard to read, she thought.  Queen Dawn was sitting across from her and staring into the reflection pool, watching the fish swim.  The beauty of this indoor palace garden was blurred in Zhah’s mind by her melancholy.  It was at once a meticulously preserved artifact of the once-great Gargoyle Empire and a constant reminder of everything they had lost.  My people have lost so much, have paid such a high price. I wonder if we will ever have good news again. To read the full article on the forums, click HERE.

Publish 66.2 - Available on all Shards! Submitted by UO_Herald on June 22, 2010 at 3:33 PM CDT Originally posted 22 Jun 2010 15:36:53 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: Greetings! Welcome to Publish 66.2 - The following changes have gone live today during daily maintenance, thanks and have fun! Endless Decanter of Water To obtain, throw a full water pitcher at a water elemental (non summoned) there is a slight chance the elemental will throw back to the player a Endless Decanter of Water.  The Decanter can then be linked to a water trough, as long as the player is within 5 tiles outside of a house or anywhere inside a house the Decanter  will continuously refill itself. Live Event: In the Shadow of Virtue: Rise of the Bane Chosen Bane Chosen forces are battling the Ophidians in the lost lands.  Players may join either side and the faction will reward them for their help.  Both sides are most appreciative of players who push back the front line of the enemy (look for the army battle flag to find the front line).  Speak with the recruiters in each faction camp to find out what they are fighting about.  For each point of loyalty that you gain with a faction at war, you will lose 3 points of loyalty with their enemy so it does not pay to switch sides often.  “Peril bonus” is a bonus to loyalty gain (and loss) when other players are assisting the enemy army.  Double clicking the flag at each faction’s front line will tell you the progress of the spawn.  Special quests are available at the faction camp when players reach 2000 loyalty to that faction.  Special rewards are available if players assist a faction in routing the other faction from the field, but be warned, these armies are stubborn and will return! Quests are not available while a faction is routed. Additional Changes Bane dragon's special attack is now capped at 200. Healing stones now correctly track which stone is in use. Items with limited lifespan can no longer be altered [Discuss This Article]

Test Center - New Changes Publish 66.2 Submitted by UO_Herald on June 15, 2010 at 1:20 AM CDT Originally posted 15 Jun 2010 00:41:47 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: Greetings! The following changes are now live with the new client on Test Center, have fun and we look forward to yourfeedback! Endless Decanter of Water To obtain, throw a full water pitcher at a water elemental (non summoned) there is a slight chance the elemental will throw back to the player a Endless Decanter of Water.  The Decanter can then be linked to a water trough, as long as the player is within 5 tiles outside of a house or anywhere inside a house the Decanter  will continuously refill itself. Live Event: In the Shadow of Virtue: Rise of the Bane Chosen Bane Chosen forces are battling the Ophidians in the lost lands.  Players may join either side and the faction will reward them for their help.  Both sides are most appreciative of players who push back the front line of the enemy (look for the army battle flag to find the front line).  Speak with the recruiters in each faction camp to find out what they are fighting about.  For each point of loyalty that you gain with a faction at war, you will lose 3 points of loyalty with their enemy so it does not pay to switch sides often.  “Peril bonus” is a bonus to loyalty gain (and loss) when other players are assisting the enemy army.  Double clicking the flag at each faction’s front line will tell you the progress of the spawn.  Special quests are available at the faction camp when players reach 2000 loyalty to that faction.  Special rewards are available if players assist a faction in routing the other faction from the field, but be warned, these armies are stubborn and will return! Quests are not available while a faction is routed. Patch 4.0.7.5 (Enhanced Client) Bug Fixes Fixed animation issues with female Gargoyles 7.0.7.3 (Classic Client) Bug Fixes Fixed animation issues with female Gargoyles Updates to Gargoyle Wearables and Weapons Community Collection NPCs: The Treasure Hunter and Thief NPC gumps do not open when players have an item in their inventory that can be turned in to them [Discuss This Article]

Test Center - Publish 66.2 Available Today! Submitted by UO_Herald on June 9, 2010 at 5:19 PM CDT Originally posted 09 Jun 2010 17:35:19 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: Greetings! We have the following changes coming to Test Center today. Please note that we are not doing a client update with this publish so those on Test Center may receive client errors while playing over the next week. Other than that have fun and we look forward to your feedback! Publish 66.2 Notes Endless Decanter of Water To obtain, throw a full water pitcher at a water elemental (non summoned) there is a slight chance the elemental will throw back to the player a Endless Decanter of Water.  The Decanter can then be linked to a water trough, as long as the player is within 5 tiles outside of a house or anywhere inside a house the Decanter will continuously refill itself.   Live Event -  In the Shadow of Virtue: Rise of the Bane Chosen Bane Chosen forces are battling the Ophidians in the lost lands.  Players may join either side and the faction will reward them for their help.  Both sides are most appreciative of players who push back the front line of the enemy (look for the army battle flag to find the front line).  Speak with the recruiters in each faction camp to find out what they are fighting about.  For each point of loyalty that you gain with a faction at war, you will lose 3 points of loyalty with their enemy so it does not pay to switch sides often.  “Peril bonus” is a bonus to loyalty gain (and loss) when other players are assisting the enemy army.  Double clicking the flag at each faction’s front line will tell you the progress of the spawn.  Special quests are available at the faction camp when players reach 2000 loyalty to that faction.  Special rewards are available if players assist a faction in routing the other faction from the field, but be warned, these armies are stubborn and will return! Quests are not available while a faction is routed. [Discuss This Article]

Publish Notes - 6/5/10 Submitted by UO_Herald on June 4, 2010 at 5:24 PM CDT Originally posted 04 Jun 2010 17:29:32 by James Nichols on the UO Herald: Greetings! The following change will go live during regularly scheduled server maintenance. Thank you and have a great weekend! Publish Notes We have disabled the grid swapping feature for the Enhanced Client due to stability issues. We plan to reintroduce this feature in a future publish once these issues have been resolved. [Discuss This Article]