Concerns

[Octavius Thorn]

Please love yall and your work and this is very much constructive criticism and nothing else do not take it any other way...

We have 2 highly popular and important aspects that are in mechanical limbo.. Trinsic raffles and grand auction.. just completely killing these things has not been fun for a player like me who has come of age in the last yr.. grand auctions for instance use to be quite common, not anymore.. raffles completely dropped... but we couldn't wait to fix the coding on vet mounts after +C vacation(I don't take any issue with that) it just seems priority is always on mechanics..

Mechanics... I'm completely floored by so much work being put into mechanics of various crafts yet 11 yrs of shard history and we are still stuck with early uo graphics from the early 2000s yet there are thousands of graphics that have been available for years.. graphics... we get yarn ball changes but we cant get new craftables?? the mechanics are the least of every ones concern and the least popular of the last year.. Recently +A asked for help with tailoring machine testing??? more mechanics?

Please don't take this in bad way love yall and what you do, +Nyx and +R u do amazing work that I love +C u are super patient lol love your shard and I'm not going anywhere, love the work you all have done.. I don't know the overall picture I'm just going off what ive seen please understand I have only best of intentions

[Octavius Thorn]

and this was based on a *Dungheap* being created I felt it was time for what ive thought for quite a while hehe

[Octavius Thorn]

I didn't make this its own thread but ok..

[+Nyx]

First, please don't hijack other threads with posts that aren't on the topic at hand. I've split your posts into their own thread to keep the original thread on topic.


To your concerns,
Grand auctions aren't in limbo, they happen roughly quarterly, as my rl schedule allows. Generally speaking the auctions are entirely organized by me, it takes a big chunk of time to prepare them and then host them. Last year the schedule slipped a bit because I was deathly ill all year, but largely over the years we've stuck to the generalized schedule. When we have a larger gap between them, the auctions are much larger, with many more (and usually, brand new) items than back in the days when we had them more often. I'm not sure where the statement comes from that they have been "completely killed".

I'm not sure how much you run my seasonal quests, so perhaps you haven't noticed that this year I have completely overhauled the rewards for every quest. This takes immense amounts of time, and I prioritize it over grand auctions because the seasonal quests can benefit and be enjoyed by everyone. Grand auctions are mainly of interest for vets with excesses of gold, and while an important aspect of our economy, they shouldn't necessarily take priority over other things that benefit more people.

The trinsic raffles are loosely +R's domain and he has been busy working on spectre dungeon for awhile now. They frequently have lengthy gaps between runs, that's just part and parcel of the fact that the staff aren't always on and available. They're also not necessarily meant to run 24/7. One shouldn't expect that.

As for graphics our shard cannot be upgraded to a newer version of uo (and thus newer graphics) without completely wiping it and starting from scratch. We aren't going to do that. Yes there are lots of old world uo graphics not currently in use. Why not ask specifically for what you want? Someone just asked me two days ago about the closed barrels, and they're going into the fall quest reward rotation this year. Patch graphics, I've said it dozens of times and it's on my facet wiki and probably dozens of threads on the forums- they are for facet use. Until those are done we can't go releasing the graphics for other uses, because doing so then limits our ability to use them for special purposes in the facets. I understand the wait is frustrating, believe me. But that doesn't negate the very valid reasons why these items haven't been incorporated as craftables yet.

[Octavius Thorn]

Thank you +Nyx wasn't meaning to hijack of course sorry for that.

You haven't always been the one to do Grand Auctions now right? if they were more frequent wouldn't need to be so complex, prolly it adds to work load the more time that passes in between them. For now its been 8 months or so, more then quarterly? You do a great job with the quests as I am very much involved with all of them outside of the holiday specific ones for personal reasons. I have all the totems outside of certain ones I think. love your quests, that Is not my issue.. The trinsic raffles have been completely dropped for now.. +C has said there was a new system coming for it... meanwhile they are vacant for quite some time.. All I meant was between both of them they are mechanics that are holding them both back and that is not good thing is all I'm saying.. there is a new system for auctions that seems to be in limbo as well..


As far as what I would like to see??? There are graphics in shard I would like to see made available by some means.. tailoring, blacksmithy, ect. U have personally shown many of us an avalanche of item art already ingame maybe many you want for the new facets but there is more to it then that..
I just want to see some attention given to craftables and not quest outfits that only use for an npc

[+Nyx]

You haven't always been the one to do Grand Auctions now right? if they were more frequent wouldn't need to be so complex, prolly it adds to work load the more time that passes in between them. For now its been 8 months or so, more then quarterly? You do a great job with the quests as I am very much involved with all of them outside of the holiday specific ones for personal reasons. I have all the totems outside of certain ones I think. love your quests, that Is not my issue.. The trinsic raffles have been completely dropped for now.. +C has said there was a new system coming for it... meanwhile they are vacant for quite some time.. All I meant was between both of them they are mechanics that are holding them both back and that is not good thing is all I'm saying.. there is a new system for auctions that seems to be in limbo as well..

Since.. hrm.. 2013? Or so, the auctions have been handled by me. Before that, +C. It was delegated to me because his own schedule is too busy for them and an admin has to host them, so that's pretty limited. The new auction system is being further upgraded and tested, it isn't in limbo. Please keep in mind that just because you aren't aware what's up with these things doesn't mean they're not on our radar and being worked on, assuming otherwise isn't productive.

Now, regarding auctions being easier if they're more frequent - that's actually not true. Think of it like baking six cookies vs baking six dozen. The amount of work is basically the same either way, because the basic process is the same. You spend a little more time processing the extra cookies through the oven, but it's much more efficient than just baking a few. The basic process for making an auction is the same every time, and it takes ages. At a rough guess, maybe 20 hours all told for hunting up all the items to sell, pricing them, updating the documents, making new stuff, etc. Doubling the items only adds a little bit of time to the length of the actual auction and maybe an extra 30 minutes of set up for the auction display room. So, it's more time efficient for me to host huge auctions than to host frequent small ones. I've also noticed overall satisfaction and excitement about them has gone up since the schedule has gone into longer breaks between them. Before, each auction brought in roughly 600-800mil, 800-something being the previous all time high. Hosting one less auction a year, we were seeing auctions bring in 1-2billion. That is partially to do with the scheduling.

It's possible that in the future the auctions could be more automated, but I'd actually be sad to see that and I hope that doesn't become mandated. It would be, to use your word, mechanics over content. I enjoy seeing everyone show up for auctions and especially when people wear fun costumes or get dressed up. It's more personal and more fun to have the staff there and interacting with the players. It's a shard tradition and I'd hate to lose that and see them become automated unattended auctions run by the machine, just for the sake of slightly more frequent auctions.

As for graphics, I asked for specifics, so why don't you take some time and come up with a list of the old world graphics that aren't currently in use and which you think should be, and either post it here or send it to me in email ([email protected])? I'm working on updating the fall quest currently as well as getting addons and things ready for the other holiday quests, I'd be happy to implement some of your ideas if possible. I'd rather have an open line of communication than for you to be feeling so worked up over these matters which have easy answers and resolutions

[+Colibri]

I actually upgraded the raffle stone for automation 2 weeks back but didn't manage to configure these stones yet, hopefully today.

As for the auctions, a monthly smaller one would be cool, but there's a risk some things would become a bit too common and price drop, less of a goldsink... not to mention they are quite some work for preparation, and the actual auction part (though that's now simpler thanks to the upgraded auction stone). I have on my todo list a reorganization of all auctioned items, so we know their frequency and so it would be then easier to set them up.

[+Requiem]

I'd also like to throw in I've known about the raffles automation, which is one of the reasons I haven't been updating them. If I set them up, it delays +Cs ability to re-configure them by however long that auction lasts. When he didn't have time I set up the last one, and he had to wait 30 days for it to finish. It's been a bit longer than that now, but If I set it up again, it would be another 30 days.

Although we didn't discuss it, I just didn't update it.

[Octavius Thorn]

Thank you Nyx, Requiem and Colibri for your comments and clarifications


@Nyx Pretty much what I would like to see art wise is already ingame

With Carpentry, is it possible for those items that were removed from deco room be added to carpentry? Bookshelves, kitchen cabinets( I remember seeing somewhere you made granite counter top cabinets), there is a raffle kitchen deco right perhaps this can be in maybe in sections added to carpentry or quest. work benches/tables saws addons ect have seen some of them on shard, were they auction items at one point? you have made some really killer addons for auctions some carpentry centric ones would make great recipes.

Bows-Some cool bow art already ingame there was a really cool one in raffle building in ExHalls, Yumis are really the only bows that get used, perhaps keeping with the one use recipe for a change for appearance only, prolly that has been floated before
That goes for all wep art, swords, shields, A lot of cool shields in old world uo art out there, Viking, Templar looking stuffs (paladin shield, auction?) With relayers we have so much possible customization with the left hand, it was awesome to see the Dr who shield layer and could be sampled items.
Saying all this obviously not knowing what Touria and Elysium might bring with art as I know there is a lot there art wise that is for those facets.
Saw the masquerade ball items and thought wow could we get some of those for tailoring? hats, boots, belts cloaks actually being able to craft neat new items like that with perhaps hard to get ingredients/recipe tailoring gear to make. Have an actual tailored item that is worth selling and part of the economy.

Royal Hive Robe, new players eventually make enough to get one and in many cases end up using it for years. At any given time you can go into brit or TC and see 5 or 6 players with RHV and a BoD heh Currently with so few choices there isn't a whole lot of incentive to appearance change but there could be.


Overall Love the shard, it is very much appreciated all the effort and time that ALL our staff put in. Great place to be! I will work on some specifics and email you. Thank you very much for the time and consideration

[+Requiem]

Perhaps a bit ironic, but there are new craftables that drop from the Spectre Queen.