Rivalwatch: UXO-Newsletter #1

[esion]

Okay well Ultima Online just put out thier first newsletter and it was filled with a bunch of cool info. (I tried to link the newsletter but I cant...and its not on the main site...but here is the link for those who want it UXO (http://www.uxo.ea.com/intro.html))

The first thing I would like to point out (because most people all they care about is this) is that beta will be starting soon, but no announcement on when.

The second thing that really caught my eye was a statement on the side of the newsletter talking about linking your characters.
Q. Are there any benefits for making additional characters?
A. The Ascension System rewards you for making additional characters, allowing you to create tremendously powerful characters over time. In most games, when you create new characters, they are totally unrelated to your main character. However, in UXO all of your characters can be related to each other!

In the process of attempting to ascend your main character, you can actually develop eight "Disciple" characters. As each Disciple masters a Virtue and completes a special Virtue quest, your main character will benefit as well. Not only will your main character (who we refer to as the "Hero") increase in overall power, but he can also embark on a special Ascension quest. So the time spent playing multiple characters actually helps build your main character.
I thought that was a really unique idea, a way to not make starting over a burden but rather useful.

Another thing that I really liked was a walk thru on how a mob was developed from drawing concept to wire model to completion.
Check it out here. (http://www.uxo.ea.com/newsletters/exclusive_12-03.html)

I really like that, I was hoping that the Devs at Mythica might be able to walk us through some mob creations, or character models. They have shown us thier wire meshing but not a complete walk thru.

Some other basic things that interest me in UXO are interactive combat, where its not just lock and load...its more click to swing and dodge here. (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_combat.html) Items that level with you here (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_intelligent-items.html), and of course thier questing system is going to rockhere. (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_adventure.html) Another thing I like, and I have been harping Mythica about...the LOOT BIN! I am a big fan of that, and I loved it in FFXI, and the loot bin in UXO is better than all of them, allowing you to see the stats just by hovering over the item...
check it out here. (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_loot.html)

That is it for now, this is my little update on UXO, and lets see if we can convience Mythica to bring us some cool stuff like this in our next newsletter :)

[Azgorath]

They have a few innovative features, but these are the people that RAPED my favorite MMORPG! *tears rush forward* I'll see those bastards in hell. :mad:

[Elvis]

Heh. Someone coded in personal rank mules. Wootzor! ;)

[Scarne]

UXO seems to have some neat ideas. Right now, Mythica, UXO, and Guild Wars seem the most interesting to me of whats in development.

[esion]

Okay well a few things have been announced on UXO since the last time I posted, so I wanted to share some of thier cool ideas with yall for discussion...

First, Questing: Quests come to you or you seek Missions!
Quests
The Odyssey Adventure System is radically different from other massively-multiplayer online game (MMOG) questing systems in that quests come to you. Here's how it works …

While you're exploring Alucinor, NPCs and creatures approach you. An exclamation icon above their head indicates that this character has a quest for you. Click on that character to run the Quest Cinematic and see what adventure awaits you.

You choose the general direction of your quest after creating your character in UXO. Visit gypsies in town to select which of the eight Virtues you want to pursue. The Odyssey Adventure System then modifies and customizes quests based on your choice. Then, as you set off on your adventure, you encounter quests that allow you to gain Virtue points in your selected Virtues.

For example, if you are one who seeks Justice, you may come across the body of a slain innocent and be given the opportunity to avenge his death. Similarly, if you're seeking Compassion, you may be asked to help rescue a kidnapped priestess. Moreover, most quests have multiple branches, allowing for a variety of outcomes and opportunities for you to gain points in more than one Virtue. The Odyssey Adventure System also dynamically customizes the quest to suit you or your party's level by adjusting the length, difficulty, and number of different tasks assigned in each quest.

So that is pretty cool, not everyone's quests are going to be the same based on the virtue that you pick. I really like that idea, its also going to make spoilers harder to get, because there are so many different directions for it to be completed (granted in a year all will be spoiled).

And this caught my eye as well..
At launch, the game is slated to feature more than 200 unique quests, lasting from 30 minutes to 8 hours.
So at the start there are going to be enough quests to really have fun and not beat them all and wait for more in the next patch.


Second, Death: Several different Death Modes...
The Unconscious State
Stabilizing
Ghost
Auto-resurrection
Bind Points
Penalties for Death
Dying in a Private Area
Penalty Without Punishment

The coolest is ghost mode, allowing you to explore the world with no real penalties...(Ghost Pic (http://www.uxo.ea.com/images/adventure/death_s.jpg) )
As a ghost, your character will become ethereal, and you'll have the freedom to move away from your corpse and continue to observe things happening around you with no risk of being attacked or affected by monsters or NPCs. Being a ghost isn't a complete party, though; there are some limitations! You won't be able to zone as a ghost, or go places you wouldn't normally be able to go, such as through walls or locked doors. You'll also be unable to trade with other players, or use Special Abilities or objects, such as levers or triggers. There is no time limit to how long you can stay in ghost form, and you'll always have the option to stop waiting to be resurrected and use the auto-resurrection option instead

Other than that the system is pretty similar to all other death systems that have been implemented. Die, resurrect at bind stone, lose exp and skills for set time, etc.

The thing that really catches my eye is the death in PRs. They say this...
If you die while questing in a private area, you can be stabilized or resurrected in the normal manner, but if you choose to auto-resurrect, you will not be able to return to the private area. If your death occurs while you're soloing, or if all members of your party die in the private area, you will have two minutes to choose a bind point. If you don't choose a moongate within those two minutes, you will be automatically teleported to the last public map you visited before entering the private area.

I really hope that the part about not being able to return is a bad play on words. That means if you go out and die in a PR you cant ever complete the PR ever again. You better believe there is going to be a lot of grieving there.

In any case I dont just bring these up to say how cool UXO is, I hope that we can share our opinions on them and let Mythica know what to do or not do...what do you guys think of these features?

[JonnyG]

The ghost mode ruins exploration unless controlled.

By not being able to return I think they mean to that version of the private realm. So you'd need to rekill monsters and stuff to get to where you were unless you choose to go to a moonstone.

This brings up what I keep saying. We're getting details on UXO, why not Mythica? :(

[esion]

Well they do say that while in ghost mode you cant zone, or go through doors, or touch triggers...so basically it is controlled, but in open areas you will be able to wander to the hardest areas and see all the monsters at lvl 5 rather than actually experiencing them at lvl 50...so yes it kinda does ruin the fun.

[esion]

Okay cool I got some info from the Lead Designer on UXO on how the death in Private Areas works...

Here is how it works:

If you die during a quest in a private area you can still be ressed as normal. If nobody can res, then you can run around as a ghost with the party. The party will be at a disadvantage because the quest scales based on the party size when you enter the map. So if you have 5 people and 2 die, the remaining 3 will have to try to win the quest against very tough odds.

If you release to a moongate (thus leaving the map) then you can't get back into the private area. That's one of the penalties for dying.

If the entire party is killed, then everyone is automatically removed from the map and the quest is failed. You can attempt to redo the quest, but you have to purchase it from the gypsy. You can only purchase quests from the gypsy after that quest has been delivered to you.

So there ya have it...you can run around as a ghost with your group as they try to beat the PA without you...you can wait to be rezed, or you can release, but you cant go back in, until either everyone dies or you buy the quest again.

Personally I dont understand the "buying" quests...but I guess whatever works...kinda like buying the ability to port in to the PA.

[esion]

Some more interesting things...this time about loot...

Once again the lead designer came through with this to say about a "loot all" option.
Loot: If you click the "loot all" button you only get the loot that is assigned to you. So lets say you are in a group with three people and a monster drops 3 items. One of those items would be assigned to you. Clicking "loot all" would ony give you that item. That assumes you have "party order" loot distribution set. I imagine this will be the most used option. If you have free for all set then you would get all of the items. Keep in mind though that you have to click the chest to open it and then click the loot all button. So you can't just hit a key to loot everything in the chest.

So it seems that in "party order" loot distribution the loot on the monster will be given to each person individually. I guess this all depends on how much is dropped versus amount of people in the group. This could be another option to put down on the looting page. (http://www.mythicahq.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1604)

And this next quote is on macroing...and goes out to DX_Mage because I know he would love this...
Macros: Most of the game isn't really macroable in that sense. You have to interact during combat and questing, there is no real way to set up a macro to fight for you or choose the options during a quest. If a system is macroable, then it's usually an indication that the choices aren't meaningful and/or that the system is too repetitive. That's something we have gone to great lengths to avoid.

Feel free to add to the great macro debate (http://www.mythicahq.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=864) we have going here at MHQ. I love that bolded statement...its what everyone has been thinking and saying for so long now.

[JonnyG]

Yeah since it's called "party order" I'd think its just distributed 1st item to 1st member, 2nd to 2nd member, and so on. So if you have 5 people in the group and loot something with 3 items, the 1st 3 people get it, if the next box has 3 items as well, it would go to 4,5, and 1. And so on.

[esion]

Here is from the UXO's FAQ about party order...
Party Order
This is UXO's innovative new item distribution system. Each player in the party has a Loot Value which tracks the Assigned Items that they receive. The party member with the lowest Loot Value receives the next Assignable Item to appear.

This reminds me of my loot distribution idea which uses scaling factors to determine who has received loot and who still needs to get loot...here. (http://www.mythicahq.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=18230#post18230)

[JonnyG]

Sounds like a good concept for pick up groups. But if grouping with people you know, I think the loot bin is better. Even with pick up groups, I think its better. The ability to choose what you want.

[JonnyG]

OKay, I saw that Gamespy (http://www.gamespy.com) had a few new screenshots (http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/screenshots.asp?id=5613):
http://www.gamespydaily.com/screenshots/5613/uox4a.jpg (http://www.gamespydaily.com/screenshots/index.asp?id=20776)http://www.gamespydaily.com/screenshots/5613/uox5a.jpg (http://www.gamespydaily.com/screenshots/index.asp?id=20777)
Those two show a little user interface. Very Diablo 2 like. I like it a lot. The weapons both have virtue slots and underneath it virtue ratings. Since their slots I wonder if we can choose virtue items to put in them and customize them to what we want.

I also like that they tell you the damage, type of damage, speed, a magic stuff at the bottom. Pretty cool.

[JonnyG]

A new dev diary (http://www.gamespy.com/devdiary/january04/uxo3/) is out on Gamespy (http://www.gamespy.com). Really good stuff.When you create your character, you'll choose one of four "paths" (Blade, Arcane, Nature, and Balance). Each path has a list of abilities associated with it, broken into three groups called "disciplines." Disciplines are similar to what most games call classes, except that they are grouped into the four paths. Once you choose a path, you'll have access to any ability in any discipline within that path. Path of the Arcane, for example, includes tinker, sorcerer, and mage disciplines. Each discipline has 18 abilities associated with it, which gives you access to a total of 54 abilities. As you earn ability points, you'll be able to choose abilities from any of those three disciplines. This is really interesting. So each of their 4 main class types will have 3 skill paths, sounds pretty familiar, except Mythica has 8.

They also mention that they were going to use skill trees but decided not too, because it forced you to choose skills you might not want to get higher level skills. Sounds like good logic to me, I hate picking a skill that I know I'll never use. Instead of trees, each skills are broken into tiers, so you'll be able to pick any tier 1 skill or any tier 2 skill.

They also mention that all skills are unique, no fireball 1, fireball 2, etc. Thats good. I think Mythica will work this way as well as they've said that the skills grow more powerful as you do, so you wouldn't need to use another skill point to get the more powerful version. UXO skills will have 10 levels, so they'll grow more powerful as well.

They have another level of skills called virtue abilities that are tied to your virtue and offer further character customization.

A good read, its interesting to see how many similarities exist between Mythica and UXO.

[esion]

Did you watch the new trailer? (http://www.uxo.ea.com/images/screens/video_s.jpg)

Its amazing...the game looks to be pretty fast paced, I really like when he is being chased out of the cave and jumps over the fence thingy...looked awesome. The graphics are a little too cartoony for me, but I still think the game has a lot of potential. The fighting looked really fast paced, and running around didnt just look boring but it looked fun to do. I would love to beta this one, but i guess i could wait to see what the verdict is.

[JonnyG]

I'll let you know how its goes, depending on the NDA. Gamespy was describing UXO as an action oriented MMRPG so the fast gameplay goes along with that theme.

I hear the NDA on Wish is very open, you can talk about everything except for a small list of items. Hopefully we'll hear more on the Wish beta soon. (thats a hint man)

[JonnyG]

More website updates, with some skill info (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_shepherd.html) for the Shepard class.Claws of the Chimera - Strikes at the foe with savage precision and force.

Target Type: Hostile, single
Required Weapon: Any
Base Power Cost: 15
Range: Short
Blockable: Yes
Interruptible: Yes

Execution Effects:

Deals heavy [very heavy] physical damage
Gains bonus damage based on Beast Form Mastery AL

Combo Effects:

Primal Howl: Interrupts target's abilities
Call of the Wild: Adds one AL They also released information on travelling (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_travel2.html) around the realm.Entering a moongate will provide a list displaying all moongates in the game, noting which ones are available to a character of your level. You can then choose your destination from all eligible moongates. For example, if your character is level 50, you'll be able to enter any moongate level 50 or under, and you'll be able to teleport to any other moongate level 50 or under, regardless of whether you've visited that zone before.

In addition to moongates, we've also added a feature that will allow you to not only move between maps easily, but to join up with friends in an instant just by contacting them and asking them to send you a teleport invitation. By using the hyperlink menu accessed by right-clicking on a character's name in chat or in your friends list, they can invite you to teleport directly to them, provided your character is either in their guild or on their friends list (you can learn more about name hyperlinks here (http://www.uxo.ea.com/feature_chat2.html)). I can say right up front I don't like the moongate idea. I do like what it accomplishes, but I think you should need to activate each moongate by getting there some other method before being able to use it. But I'm an explorer, what can I say. :)

I do like the friends teleport idea though. They go on to say that if you have 30 minutes to play you can get invited by friend, teleported, join a group all in the 1st minute. This allows you to spend more time playing. Mythica has stated that you'll be able to invite people into your private realm from afar. But they haven't stated if that means that they'll be teleported to it, or if that just means that when they come to the entrance in the public realm and enter it, they'll be entering your version of it.