I've read that the target date for the emulation of the legacy that was UO, is late 1999. Quote from http://www.uoguide.com/Publish_5 Publish 5 "The following is a list of changes deployed as Publish 5 on April 27, 2000. This publish was known as the Renaissance Publish." This puts the whole renaissance after the target date, so in reality, the target date is of the T2A era. Now after the Renaissance, came the 3rd Dawn, which is a whole new age in of itself. So truly, a Renaissance period should only consist that which existed from April 27, 2000 'til March 27, 2001. 3rd Dawn was the beginning of something new, as defined here http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dawn?s=t Third Dawn "Released on March 27, 2001, Third Dawn changed the way player saw UO by adding the 3D client. It also introduced a new land mass (Ilshenar); several new dungeons; numerous new creatures; several new armors (e.g., samurai, ninja); as well as four new weapons. " ->(The last section of this statement is wrong, samurai and ninja armor and 4 new weapons did NOT become part of the game 'til 2005, with the expansion "The Samurai Empire") Now, I've read people comparing this server to a publish 16 style server, and in regards to a couple of minor game mechanics, that is true. Publish 16 added followers, bonded pets, champion spawns, and much more. But publish 16 came in June of 2002, which is grossly outside of the T2A or Renaissance era. I feel that the staff of this server, should strive for keeping the game in a pre 2000 era, following the rule set of the time. Only adding, those changes, which they feel necessary to keep the nostalgic feeling balanced with an enjoyable game-play.
You are probably very much correct that there is a mish-mash of things from outside the Renaissance era here. But is UOR intended to be a strict era accurate shard? I dunno. The front page says its based off of Renaissance era mechanics. Judging from the changes that have happened since I started here, I'd say it takes the old, adds some spice to keep it fresh, all while not going off the deep-end towards total customization and neon mounts. Hence the subtitle 'history perfected'. So far, I'd say I like it that way. The staff has done a good job thus far of making sound decisions for new content.
One thing is you can't just lock a shard into a static date, that creates a ton of problems. There are also some changes they omitted and kept some T2A era mechanics I believe. Don't forget that 50% of the game is GONE.... (trammel)
UO Relevant Publish Archive The design mentality of Renaissance is based on Publish 1 on November 23rd 1999. This was the first Renaissance publish, and was before the addition of trammel. When reviewing any item added after this time we follow a few simple steps. 1. How did the item function on 11/23/1999. 1a. If this is unknown, how does it function in the UO Demo. (08/1998 OSI Code) 2. What patch notes show the item changing from 1999 to 2002 or later. 3. What effect did trammel have on this item. 4. Is this a balanced and functional mechanic that suits the overall goal of Renaissance? 5. What changes or improvements can be made which retain the classic feel of the Renaissance era, while addressing the flaws in the item. Several examples of this are Pet Bonding, The Fortress, the Large Keep, Ancient MIB's, Stone Crafting. As you can see with each of these changes from known Renaissance era mechanics the overall feel is the same, however we have addressed issues which OSI failed to. You could easily assume if there was never a trammel, these changes could have easily come from OSI. Another good example is our current housing mechanics. Generally players agree that the T2A housing mechanics were the best example of risk/reward true to a Felucca only server. That system was meticulously re-created and a few Renaissance era mechanics were worked in to achieve a perfected system.
I was looking for a similar topic before posting my own, so I'm glad this thread is already here. I'm still pretty new here (just a little over a month in). I love the shard so far, and dig the Felucca Renaissance era that exists here. I guess I would like to have some fears put to rest though - this isn't going to be a shard where everybody is riding around on neon polar bears in a couple of years, is it? I only ask because I see some non-Renaissance things getting implemented based on player requests (like the bone mask and orc helm mask patch from March, which I don't think were available during Renaissance, but correct me if I'm wrong) and buildings that I don't recall existing (stables in Moonglow), and I just wonder where the line will be drawn on non-Renaissance era and player-requested items. I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way, because this shard is now getting the bulk of my free time and I really enjoy playing here. Thanks in advance, and keep up the good work!
The staff here have been very meticulous in reviewing all of the hues and dying options available to our players. This is the only server to have reviewed the hue palette of every dye tub to make sure that our players are not presented with offensive colors while playing the game. So there will be no neon green furniture, dyed mounts or blazing orange sandals. While we do have some custom elements available from the platinum rewards system, we took the time to make sure any color choices were aesthetically pleasing. As for the bone/orc masks we simply created a secondary version of the helmets that provide no protection in battle, similar to a deer/bear mask. Players may bless/dye these items as well allowing guilds that role play as orcs/undead more options. You are correct these were not available in this form, however since masks existed, we didn't see the reason why they couldn't exist as armor and a vanity item for our players. For Moonglow, when trammel was added on a variety of OSI servers the gamemasters placed a stable master either in trammel or felucca due to player requests. Rather than go the OSI route of a wandering stable master, we created a small stable in the space available for our players. If you visit Occlo you can see that we have converted/built a variety of new buildings there to support our new player program. While we don't go around randomly constructing new buildings with no purpose, we have no issue with improving the functionality of the existing towns in Ultima to better the experience of our players. As a staff member this is one of the areas I think OSI greatly got wrong. Rather than keeping players focused on the lore and history of the classic towns, they began creating new lands and new towns further driving the players apart and degrading the community. As I listed above, for any change we take the time to do the research, check the demo, check the patch notes and understand how it existed on OSI at the time. We take great care in making changes and believe server stability is very important.
Chris - thanks for the prompt and well said response. I think you guys are doing a great job, and I really appreciate you clarifying things for me. It's nice to know that things are being carefully thought through. Again, keep up the good work!
I like this very much and hope what has been said stays true. I like that the staff is willing to consider content change, however I do not want every request to be implemented, even if the "current majority requests it. The majority isn't always right (take lemmings for example). I hope the staff will consider some of my own requests, yet I trust they will reject them if they are not in line with their "ultimate" purpose. - Jupiter
