I recently placed several new homes, and re-read the housing guides to make sure I didn't make any simple mistakes in securing from home invasion. With entryways blocked to limit access, it was now time to test safety for the characters left afk inside. From what I've read "stay in the center of your house" seemed to imply that you would be fairly safe in the middle from spell damage as long as you are out of line of sight. Well, that's not the case at all. The first spell I tried (Earthquake) rocked both afk characters inside for 54-60 damage. This test was done on a Large Tower with a 16x14 footprint which is safe east/west, but not north/south. So is this supposed to work this way, or is it something that needs to be addressed? I have been on UOR since late January this year and haven't been attacked or griefed this way, but I have seen several people say in IRC that they were being killed or had been killed in their home only to be answered with silence or stay in the middle, or block line of sight. In my opinion, this isn't a good way to retain a new player base. Yes it is Felucia, but we already use up several entrance tiles to guard against home theft, and have to be careful to lock doors and detect hidden. Shouldn't you at least be safe enough to macro skills afk or just be unattended in the middle of your home? If that is too Trammel, then what is Keep to Fortress size homes that are safe from earthquake and have courtyards to enter from safe from any outside dangers. (aside from a cy marked rune which I think is being worked on?) The reason I made this post is not to attack the wealthy/lucky Vets who happen to own Keeps/Castles and Fortresses, but to try and do something about basic home safety so people don't say screw this and rage quit. You actively discourage bank bombing afk banksitter/macroers because that threatens new player retention, The only difference is a few weeks from that bank player to a house player. Griefing and Death are a part of UO, and it will always be that way, but earthquake to any house smaller then a Keep is far too open for abuse. One mage with tracking and a bag of regs or scrolls could wreak havoc overnight on afk macro/plat farmers, or just the off screen afk's of people that may be on. According to the "Fighting Gold Inflation Thread" there are 221 Houses that are Keep or Larger and 1519 Tower and smaller, that's a lot of room for abuse. Basically, I think a house smaller then a Keep should be safer then it is now from area spell damage, even a 50% reduction in damage so you could at least add a heal macro in your afk that could hope to keep up with damage output. If you want to leave it as is, then the Housing Guide should warn players if your a poor s.o.b. that owns a smaller home, your just potentially screwed! If I am wrong on anything factual posted here please correct me, it wont be the first time. The opinions of house safety are mine, you are welcome to post yours.
Every vet with a fort was once a new player with naught but a small house (or no house) to their name. So clearly it's possible to survive and thrive without such comforts. Regarding Earthquake, it can damage you greatly, but it cannot kill you (it always does a percentage of your remaining health in damage, never a fixed amount). However, if your macro is damaging yourself - for example, Flamestriking yourself to gain Resist - a well-timed Earthquake or two can let your Flamestrike finish the job. Meteor Swarm, Chain Lightning, and Purple potions can only damage someone against their inside wall, or the next space over. Every house, including 7x7's, has a safe spot from this.
Yep. Always include an if HP = whatever in your macros and you should be ok 90% the time even if attacked
Dalavar, you are correct. I just tested 10 EQ's with one mage and it reduced damage each time, also tested 2 mages with same result. Thanks for the info. Thank you Captain Morgan for your info as well. I guess I will have to test better before I post again on game mechanics, lol
As well, the safeguards here on uor are such that it really does require quite a bit of energy to house kill someone even if they stand within 2 tiles of the wall. So many people are saved from their own stupidity simply by the fact that most would be griefers don't want to put the energy into getting all 3 of their characters gated over to the house to EQ the guy a few times then whittle them down with 1 dmg meteor swarms.
I have mixed sentiments about this thread. Yes, it would be nice to be 100% safe within your house. Honestly, though, I came from good old days when houses were not safe at all, or very little. If nothing else, you could cast on a target through windows or shoot arrows through them. lol So I believe the staff of this server has done a fantastic job with home security. 100% safe would be Trammel, I think. With all the safety features here, I think our level of safe is good enough. Thanks for the thread, it's a good one. Westra/Marjo Governess of Wispfelt
I agree Westra, it is good enough. It was my error by only casting one EQ and taking 50-60 damage( 54 on one character and 60 on the other) and then coming here and posting the original post without further testing it. The house I was in was a Lg Tower with a 16x14 footprint, and my initial thought was anyone in a smaller house is screwed! Once Dalavar pointed out my mistake I found out the damage was reduced by half each casting which is survivable unless you are damaging yourself when a well timed cast goes off. Any good afk macro will include a if HP < X then heal, so I'm ok with the way it works. Small houses still suck, but that's what most start off with and we all look to upgrade as soon as possible.
