Valentine Event a day early(feb 13th) + some info for those that has missed.

[GM NollKoll]

Ok, gotten a request todo a rare slasher event, never witnessed one in the actual slasher room myself, but i will take a guess on how its done, and perhaps make it even more awesome ^^, and add a few heart slashing valentine slashers aswell. Saturday night that is, which is roughly 5-6pm EST.


Also, i know there is alot of questions mark and annoyences out there.
And for those that did not know, im kinda in the end phase of the thesis im writing, so my irl is hell atm.

And yea, i had also a HDD crash, which set me back alot regarding a patch i was doing, which included alot of goodies (which i thought i'd patch before part 2 comes out)
But it included a variety of things, like increased dropchance of alot of things, especially infested peerless and infested doom.
But also ALOT of normal droprates aswell, where having a high luck would help you, even with getting more imbue resources! (but yea, alot of loot fixes where its needed, even though i got atm trouble finding the cause of the strange RNG runs, i.e. getting the same arti several times in a row.)

Also, there will be alot more infested artifacts in the future.. Just havnt got the time atm..

But im'a bake it in, with "my part" of the part 2, which i will hurry to do as fast as i can after im done with the corrections in my thesis.

From what i can see it, upon arrival of part 2, there will be mobs and lands, and the champion itself. (remember, we still need to spawn the mobs and stuff after its been patched in, but ill whip king kong into action if needed to stress it, and that the champ and mobs itself might not be 100% osi like, since i will put my own touch on the champion for example, and the various tribes in the lands.. Dont worry, just some cool abilities et.c.)

If the dragon turtle eggs n pets aint coming directly in part 2 arrival, i will try get it in asap, since it looks pretty sweet and i know there are various players that really wants em aswell!

The skill masteries i cannot promise anything about, since it is a tremendous amount of work, and there is v v little information regarding these abilties out now. But i will try get em into the game. But the main focus is the new lands, the mobs n champ.. And loot ofcourse ^^ (apart from dragon turtle eggs if it aint ready, it aint ready =P )


Also, need to do a poll regarding the new lands, trammel or felucca. (If its been stated somewhere in earlier notes, please tell me.. Since i think it kinda suxs to have a new cool champion spawn in trammel ruleset)

So we could either do whole area felucca or trammel ruleset (i would prefer fel) or just the champ area!

But that is a poll for a future thread ^^

[zaxarus]

First of all, like i said it before, i hope you'll get your thesis done to your satisfaction (and the ones who will judge you^^)!
Real life can be painful, so don't waste your energy on us unless you can...^^

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Also i am really looking forward to that event, it's been a while. Thanks for this in advance!

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Most important though:

I am very thankful reading about the upcoming patch(es) and what is there to come. Thank you for the information about the new stuff!

Considering drop rates (in general) it's nice to hear that this will be addressed.
If the skill masteries are too complex now it can always be done later. Most important (imho) are the new map and its inhabitants. I think all of us will be extremely happy and pleased with this for a long time.

So a huge THANK YOU for this information. Makes me feel way better than i should on a Monday. ^^

Also, need to do a poll regarding the new lands, trammel or felucca. (If its been stated somewhere in earlier notes, please tell me.. Since i think it kinda suxs to have a new cool champion spawn in trammel ruleset)

So we could either do whole area felucca or trammel ruleset (i would prefer fel) or just the champ area!

But that is a poll for a future thread ^^

Without having an early debate about this (in the end it's yours and Kon's decision anyways) and w/o a poll being in place:
Personally i want the whole area to be a Fel facet. There are enough Trammel locations on Pandora. The risk vs reward thing could really apply to the new map, including all locations there. Especially the champ spawn.
This is just my personal opinion but i am sure i can find players who will second that.

Thank you, Noll.

[treefer1]

Right on Noll, It's up to you guys in the end, though I do know there are some that don't want Fel rule set and don't do Fel even though I've told them the chances of getting attacked here are real low on this shard. There really isn't any tram rule set spawns. There is Sleeping Dragon which is always infested and hard for newer people to do even if it wasn't infested. Then there is Bedlam, which really isn't tram rule set if a red shows up when it comes to AOE attacks. Bedlam gets infested as well by people not wanting to run 5 whole lonnnnng screen lengths to make injectors at Ilsh Valor. Besides, the loot at Bedlam is crap anyways as you will never get a PS above 110 there. So, I guess if I had a say in the matter I'd make the new spawn tram rule set just to try and even things out ever so slightly in this respect. There is probably 20 fel rule set spawns and basically no tram ones to do for newer people when it comes right down to it. I'll hit the new spawn reguardless of what rule set it is..just saying

[Des Sanct]

I vote Fel ruleset. Pvp is virtually non existant right now. The lack of pvp largely plays a role in the shard economy. Both player based and for the shard itself. Most of your donations on free shards are due to the fact that people want to be able to jump right in and compete. Lets face it, there is far more of an adrenaline rush in pvp whether you win, lose or draw, rather than a tram ruleset where most of the playerbase runs their macro and walks away from the pc.

[zaxarus]

Well, since we're on it now...^^:

1. That:

I vote Fel ruleset. Pvp is virtually non existant right now. The lack of pvp largely plays a role in the shard economy. (...) Lets face it, there is far more of an adrenaline rush in pvp whether you win, lose or draw, rather than a tram ruleset where most of the playerbase runs their macro and walks away from the pc.

2.:
The Tokuno Champ is Tram. Yes, it's infested. And: Who would do the Tokuno Champ anyways. You don't get anything good and for "newer players" it's too difficult anyway (last wave + Champ).
Bedlam is Tram. The AOE thing: Maybe that's a small risk compared to a Fel Champ. I think it is. (And is this even happening or has that been changed that Reds can use the AOE there?)

3.:
Do we really want another spawn where you only get 105's or 110's? It's a new area. People will go there. Perfect chance to bring PvP over there. What do you really lose? Your stuff is insured or blessed. Maybe you might lose Powerscrolls and what you've looted there. But that has always been part of the game and should not worry anyone by now.

4.:
Bedlam, Doom, Tokuno, Yomutsu Mines, Fandancer Dojo (incl. Malas / Umbra), Stygian Abyss, Underworld.. this is all Trammel. Even Paroxysmus Palace (T2A) has only a Tram Side (a fact that has been used like 1000 times by certain guilds).
Should i say more?

5.:

the chances of getting attacked here are real low on this shard

Perfect reason to make the new area Fel.

6.:

There is probably 20 fel rule set spawns and basically no tram ones to do for newer people when it comes right down to it

Because that's way it's supposed to be. There should be risk vs. reward, has been like that forever. And the fact that this works shows that it's good.
Also: "Newer people" aren't supposed to do champ spawns - if they are THAT new. Atleast not by themselves. And if they do they should take the same risk everyone else does.

7.:
Who knows what kind of loot we might find in the new area. If this is highly valuable cool stuff... then it would make perfect sense to make this a Fel ruleset.

(I know, i said i don't wanna start a discussion about it. But since this is now being debated i think it's the perfect chance to gain some votes for an upcoming poll.^^)

[treefer1]

Yeah, you are pretty much reiterating what I was saying.. nothing really for trammies. most the Tram areas you mentioned aren't really champ spawns and the 2 that there are as you and I said ..crap loot and/or not worth doing unless you are just tiering items.

    And yeah, fel rule set in the new area would be fun for the first few deaths. 20k gold per death isn't much for some people, though it is for others. As long as people aren't sitting there farming people and controlling the new area and goodies as seems to always happen on every shard with new stuff.

   I mean yeah, it would be fun for YOU of course..you guys are great at pvp and like doing it. It's not like you will be the ones dying constantly. So.. not so much fun for the rest if we are just getting farmed.. 

   I can also see the risk versus reward part as well too as you said... though why does there truly need to be risk at least in one single spawn in the game. It's not like having 2/3's of the game being Fel rules isn't enough? Can't it just be fun to get goodies without being killed? Sounds like PK reasoning to me. In the end...not up to me. I'll go there either way here and there. Just wanted to state the obvious for this debate.

  And Just happy to have something new come a long. I know we've all been looking forward to this for a while now. Hopefully there can be some sort of happy medium for all. Like maybe make it Fel rule set and you can lose PS's, potions, insurance,  etc.  but major drops could be pre-insured or blessed (even if they kept you rez killed).. idk, just a thought. That way you guys could farm us at 20k gold a pop but the rest of us would still have a slim chance at a decent drop for our efforts and gold. That would seem best of both worlds scenario for all to me. You'd have your fun and well as everyone else.

    Also, not to mention; as most people use bows on this shard...when someone else attacks you, your bow auto fires back at them and then you cannot recall away as YOU are labeled a criminal. It's happened to me twice on Corgul Isle now. It isn't like that even on any straight up pvp shard out there that I've played. Even on ones with no Trammel. Which also makes this shard pretty messed up for pvp in this new area. It hasn't been much of an issue as I have only been attacked 6 times in 10 months but with a new pvp spawn that will surely change.

    And I'm sure why YOU guys want it pvp. Obviously for some non-consentual killing action where people will come right to you to try for new items and check the new lands. No effort on your part there. I can understand that, as that is what is fun for some people. I pk'ed the 1st three years the game came out and it was fun... till 3rd party programs like we use to get connected with completely ruined pvp in this game in my opinion. Probably why I use no scripts to this day.

  But... it would just be nice if EVERYONE could enjoy the new lands and have the area and it's new items not controlled by player killers. I think what I have suggested is one viable option to remedy that for all. Even if it just slightly helps.

[zaxarus]

I just think that there is a good reason that everything above 110's isn't dropping in a Tram Facet. And someone who wants something cool has to go to Fel. It's what you agree on, i know.
But do we "NEED" another Tram Champ that doesn't drop 115/120/125's? I don't think so. It's a waste of space and time (hehe). So make it Fel. It's a new area, so it should be thrilling and exciting on many levels.

About the fun:
Exactly that. Fun. It can be interesting and exciting for all parties if it doesn't involve grieving and dry looting - i can say that WSF doesn't do that (that is as long as you don't do it to us^^). So i couldn't care less about loot or the gold i get.
So i am strictly against "farming" players. What i am for is some new excitement that ALSO can involve PvP.*

If there has to be a compromise (either by votes or decisions by Kon and Noll, whatever it will be) i'd suggest to make the champ spawn and other cool locations Fel and A FEW others Tram.
Tram only would be a major mistake in my opinion. You wanna get new players on the server. And some of them might prefer PvP (or atleast like to PvP sometimes). So you need to present PvP zones to them.
The reasons have been stated by Des in his post.

About artifacts:
There is insurance and bank stones (if you have one that is)... just have to be quick.^^

* Afaik your guild is in an Alliance with a PvP guild. I am sure they will assist if there is some action going on.^^

[GM NollKoll]

also, this might seem like a end to this convo (which issnt the intention)..

But forgot to mention, will add a timer to infested aswell, where they will just dissipear (and possible leave a pile of infested goo on the ground), until i figure out a better way (which cannot be exploited et.c et.c.)

This will make life alot easier for new folks, where seeing untouched stuff being infested.
The timer i will have in the beginning will be 2h.

[Clairity]

I am a Trammie in that I don't really PvP. I will defend myself if necessary, but I will die if my attacker is competent. I can see both sides of this issue in that the Humility and Valor Camps on Pandora are Fel rule set spawns. The are Tram rules on EA shards. The flip side is that I play in Fel all the time and am mostly left alone. There is rarely any danger from other players. I think I would vote Fel rule set for the new lands if pressed.

[treefer1]

Yeah,  true and Ilsh map is huge and is tram rule set on OSI unlike here. And I Haven't been attacked much either, though that would surely change with finally some new lands and new decent drops though. As far as a strong economy largely coming from pvp I'd have to disagree completely, as an easy 60% of the maps we have here are fel as well as basically 100% of the doable champ spawns. Has it helped any? I'm not seeing it whatsoever...how about you?

The one and only thing this game IS actually 100% lacking is a decent loot tram spawn. Maybe try that for once and see if it helps, as obviously more pvp lands truly hasn't. Most people looking for quick pvp action go straight to shards that don't even HAVE a trammel facet.

I know someone that has recently stopped playing that didn't like fel and would just do Bedlam over and over and over and over as that is all that was out there for him(when not infested), even though yeah... no so great of loot.  Mayyyyybe...if there was one single solitary meezly azz decent loot tram spawn for him to do he would have stayed. Just a thought...

Couldn't hurt to try at the very least...

[zaxarus]

And I Haven't been attacked much either, though that would surely change with finally some new lands and new decent drops though.

Yes it would. And i still think it would create more activity all around the server.

As far as a strong economy largely coming from pvp I'd have to disagree completely, as an easy 60% of the maps we have here are fel as well as basically 100% of the doable champ spawns. Has it helped any? I'm not seeing it whatsoever...how about you?

To your question: Has it harmed the server? No. So has it helped the server then? I admit, not recently. But know that in the past - when MUCH MORE areas were FEL - we had an active community of 100 - 150 players.
(Means: I think making more areas TRAM - for example Dojo and Yomutsu - had the opposite effect of what it was supposed to do. Just an observation. But this would be a much bigger and general discussion. I guess we don't want that here.^^)

The one and only thing this game IS actually 100% lacking is a decent loot tram spawn. Maybe try that for once and see if it helps, as obviously more pvp lands truly hasn't. Most people looking for quick pvp action go straight to shards that don't even HAVE a trammel facet.

Of course the staff could do this (if they want to) and try this out for some time. Although personally i think that wouldn't change anything. Only one thing: Good stuff is even more easier to get (no risk at all) and therefore cheaper than some things already are. Which doesn't help the economy but break it even further.
"Most people looking for (quick) PvP action" (quote) are also here and have been here. Pandora has both, other servers have both. There's no problem with that.
The reason you don't get attacked on Pandora is because 1.) Many people here rather go to Tram Spawns (for whatever reasons...) and 2.) Dozens and dozens of Fel champ locations don't make it easy to find you (^^) and 3.) The global kill messages have the effect that some players don't even go to Fel or switch locations after each champ BECAUSE of the messages (they should be off).
In a new area, yes, that would be different cause we'd all go there. And as i said before: There is friendly (not necessarily consensual) PvP and there is grieving. These are two different things.
I think whoever plays this game for some time should be used to the risks and take them if he wants nice loot and scrolls. It is part of UO. Why destroy it on purpose if you can fix it?

I know someone that has recently stopped playing that didn't like fel and would just do Bedlam over and over and over and over as that is all that was out there for him(when not infested), even though yeah... no so great of loot.

I don't know who that is. Guess i missed that.
But if he or she really was THAT frustrated... i am wondering why he disliked Fel so much and same time should have known that better stuff is waiting there? Weird...

Mayyyyybe...if there was one single solitary meezly azz decent loot tram spawn for him to do he would have stayed. Just a thought...

Sure... if this makes it better...?
I don't know...
So everyone goes there then, place always crowded, set macro and watch TV? Instead of having to keep some attention because someone could raid your spawn.
Do we want activity or half AFK zombie players?

If the stuff we can get in the new area is WORTH taking a risk... i think people go there, regardless that it's Fel. Maybe it's just time to learn to defend yourself or how to get away from a dangerous situation.
(And this is not to offend anyone. Also.. just another thought.)

[treefer1]

Yup.. always two sides to every coin. It's just food for thought. New area doesn't HAVE to be tram rule set maybe just fix the criminal aspect of auto firing your bow back at someone attacking you would suffice, but SOME area of the game I truly do think that would be nice for many if it was retooled for tram rule set and still have decent loot.

And I'm not sure why they were so set against going to fel. Just didn't want to deal with possibly getting attacked I guess..idk. pvp  obviously doesn't hurt the server; plenty of room for it on any shard.

Definitely agree on the notifications with you, but mainly for another reason. As I've said before (and why other shards don't do pop-up windows for it).. obstructs gameplay constantly. Always getting in the way of running westerly, or grabbing stuff from bank or bags., or when crafting, or targeting mobs  or literally dozens of other things we do in the game. Pretty dang annoying for most. Probably the most constant complaint by new people I hear in global other than sea movement.

Though I wouldn't go as far as to say stuff would be easier to get with tram rule set and thus cheaper, drop rates just the same so wouldn't truly make one bit of difference in that aspect. Just means nobody would be looking over their shoulder is all.

Things could definitely change for the better I think on most all champ spawns in general. you are 100% correct there. I click one button while watching T.V. till boss is dead LITERALLY..., as once we are skilled up and imbued up we are so OP the champ spawns are a bit silly really. With drop rates being increased maybe it's just time to raise the mob damage or something as well. Something...

[Flint Fireforge]

Fel Tram?? Why not both?? Its all on a region controller so why not go both? Go 2 weeks tram 2 weeks fel. This way " ALL " can enjoy the new area. Its Just a simple click of a switch. And the easy way to let everyone know what rules are in effect is to go to a town crier type news and let the crier say for example from Feb 1st through Feb 14th New lands are under Tram Rule set. As far as the champ my suggestion is while under Tram Rules drop the gold rate.

[Des Sanct]

Fel Tram?? Why not both?? Its all on a region controller so why not go both? Go 2 weeks tram 2 weeks fel. This way " ALL " can enjoy the new area. Its Just a simple click of a switch. And the easy way to let everyone know what rules are in effect is to go to a town crier type news and let the crier say for example from Feb 1st through Feb 14th New lands are under Tram Rule set. As far as the champ my suggestion is while under Tram Rules drop the gold rate.

Because half tram would defeat the purpose. People will just wait it out until they can farm freely. It would be no different than farming Tot's. The shard doesn't care about the gold, they only care about the rare/unique item drops. As it is now, there is no benefit to anything in fel. You can donate for powerscrolls, eliminating the need to go to fel. Anything off of a peerless can be farmed in tram, same with Doom (tram ruleset).
I don't think many of you realize how strong this shard was as far as population is concerned. The amount of donations it was bringing in when pvp had a purpose. Yes we may field 45 on a high day, but we all know most of those chars logged in are bots for farming resources/bods. The reason we have lost all of the player base....we lost PVP! Whether you like it or not, that is a factual statement. I am sure Kon can even attest to the declining numbers, since all of the fighting has diminished.
So many of you spam about voting. I vote almost every day. The sites we vote on generally have Pandora listed as Top 1 or 2. Guess what? Our playerbase isn't growing. Some old players of the shard peek in on occasion and then leave for 6 months or more because there is ZERO pvp. THEY ARE ALL GOING TO SHARDS THAT ARE PVP HEAVY! So.. those players are still spending money on items to play, THEY SHOULD BE SPENDING IT HERE, but they're not. The reason pvp died is because, Archery got nerfed to help those that favor trammel compete. The pvpers abused the nerf. This in turn caused the non pvpers to stay in tram. Now we all have 400-500 hp and elite armor/weps, and we still cant seem to get any fights.  We have our own version of factions and NO ONE participates.
So yes, lets make the new lands follow the trammel ruleset. Because the last 50 implementations we had on Pandora had all of the players flooding in to get some of the action right?
You can give all the elite items/mass currencies you want, but your original UO players remember the real UO. Trammel was never a factor. They came to work in teams to get items, TO BATTLE other teams. Pandora has pvp for free, between the dailypvp and the battles and we cant even get that. It's time for a change on this shard. We have been catering to the wrong crowd. Am I wrong? Look at our events, "NO PVP" or in tram rulesets, so we can farm the hell out of items that will be worthless in a month.

Look at the big picture. Eventually the shard will die if we don't start supporting it financially.  Very few people donate.  I send across $30-$50 every couple months just because I feel responsible to help pay for the server. That doesn't even compare when you consider time and effort for all the staff involved.
I'd rather you guys prove me wrong, than keep continuing to prove me right. All those "neat rares", won't mean jack, when the day comes that you can no longer log into the shard. Just let that sink in for a bit, then continue to tell me how you are going to increase the player base on Pandora. Because again, either I am a blind idiot, or we haven't been very successful lately.

[treefer1]

Yeah pvp'ers are a fickle bunch for sure, even on OSI whole guilds would get transfer tokens moving shard to shard constantly looking for the ever elusive good battles of old. Their moneys nice as they leave a trail of stench and decay across the lands and eventually drive non pvp'ers back to tram or to other shards or games... then move on. Far as I'm concerned pvp'ing died for me with scripting 3rd party programs as well as the implementation of Trammel. I just play for fun killing mobs and getting neat items any more myself.

So.. this debate could rage on and on, back and forth for a millennia. Guess the GM's will just have to decide for themselves what's best for their own shard in the end. As they say.. It's their world and we are just playing in it..=)

Anyways.. can't wait either way for sure. Great to see some new lands and goodies to fill my pack and trophy houses with. Thanks for all the hard work guys, can't say enough about this shard and your awesome events to others. Played some real doozie shards in the past. This ones definitely home for me.