Age of Valor News (April 2011)
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 10:41 am
Greetings AOV!
As we move into April of 2011, players will begin to notice more changes around AOV. All the work we have been doing behind the scenes is now moving towards player access. Players are now free to use the test centre to test the upcoming changes. Here's a bit of what to expect:
Test Centre Central Hub:
There's a new 'central hub' for players. This area is available for players to stock up on items and resources as well as to access different areas for testing:
1) Players can access resource stones to spawn whatever they require for testing. Skill deeds, artifacts, resources etc. There are also forges, anvils, looms and other skill related items so that you can make supplies.
2) Other services are available here such as an arcane circle for max arcane focus, a banker and a stable master.
3) You will notice different "moongates" around this area. These gates bring you to areas you can test. Right now, there are red moongates where players can snoop around the areas of the Stygian Abyss expansion. There are also locations to some of the new, unreleased locations and content. There will also be custom things to test such as demon pillar puzzles.
NOTE: An addition to TC1 does not determine or guarantee its existence on live. Many custom items are 'experimental' and will change on the test server. Your testing helps progress things along and your feedback is encouraged and appreciated.
There is no set time line for TC1 releases to live. The time spent from tc1 testing to a live release depends on numerous variables such as the number of testing done, any revisions necessary and other planning done by the AOV staff, AOV devs and player feedback.
Test Centre Updates:
The test centre will frequently be updated over the course of months. This is not expected to stop, even once big patches are released to live. TC1 will remain accessible to players to test most new updates and changes.
TC1, is what will become the live server. When there is enough testing done on TC1 and enough progress has been made, the live AOV server will get the updates. These updates include many of the things players have been wondering about and asking for.
First on the list is a complete introduction of UOML quests. Many quests are complete and are undergoing revisions for accuracy and revisions on the dev server (restricted to dev's of aov). They will be moved to tc1 in a few weeks. Other ML additions will also be added once primary tests are done, such as the community collections. Everything in the ML expansion is beginning to reach the end of development. Once they are complete, then we can move on to other things.
Secondly, UOSA is currently in the process of development as well. Players are encouraged to snoop around Ter Mur, the gargoyle homeland. The land will, of course, be empty for some time as we concentrate on more immediate implementations. However, players who snoop around may bump into a few 'curious' monsters or discover some interesting items.
Thirdly, on the back end, the saving engine is being constantly tweaked and nudged. It has been showing a great deal of promise with a few minor issues. We ask those on test centre to be patient with a few lag "spikes" as it is a known issue that is being investigated and resolved. Feel free to provide constructive feedback on your playability.
Live Server and Current Events:
What about the live server and players, have we been neglected?
No, of course not. Although all our resources have been put into getting TC1 ready to become the live server, the actual live server and players will be getting some much needed attention.
There will be a posting addressing player concerns and frequent issues that are brought up. The staff and dev team will be doing our best to give an answer to these issues and inform players of our awareness to these issues and what we are/intend to do about them. For those of you who know about official OSI servers, this is a combination of "Five on Friday", "Ask the Devs" and "House of Commons" questions. This is intended to start off as a posting with the hope of becoming a permanent forum where players can ask their questions and get answers.
We apologize for the delay in the Christmas gift launch fix. We have been concentrating on getting the test centre up and available for player access and have been hit with numerous delays from getting UOSA tiles and packets to work. It has been a difficult task to get these things to work, but now that it's working, we can continue on with our previous plans.
The Slime Researcher event is now over, but players can continue searching around for acid slimes. This event has been designed to be a permanent quest available on the live server. Those who participated in the event during its 5 week launch have had the opportunity to hunt a wide variety of acid slimes. Lydia the slime researcher will still collect your full slime basins and give you an empty one when you accept her quest. Acid slimes will still spawn around the facets but their numbers will be less common. There are also no longer any hints to their locations, you gotta find them all by yourself.
The live server will also be getting an event for Easter. It's too far away from Easter right now to give many details but the event will be sure to entertain and will offer unique rewards to those who participate.
Also, we are working on creating a better environment on live. We are looking into making the world more interactive and dynamic. Sosaria is a large world with many different people and cultures. There will be familiar faces from UO's history as well as some newcomers with histories of their own. In the scenarios that follow, you will be able to immerse yourself in Ultima's history and roots, with an AOV spin to things. The end goal is to make the world feel more "alive" with characters who go about their lives in Sosaria.
Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:5638, old post ID:34908
As we move into April of 2011, players will begin to notice more changes around AOV. All the work we have been doing behind the scenes is now moving towards player access. Players are now free to use the test centre to test the upcoming changes. Here's a bit of what to expect:
Test Centre Central Hub:
There's a new 'central hub' for players. This area is available for players to stock up on items and resources as well as to access different areas for testing:
1) Players can access resource stones to spawn whatever they require for testing. Skill deeds, artifacts, resources etc. There are also forges, anvils, looms and other skill related items so that you can make supplies.
2) Other services are available here such as an arcane circle for max arcane focus, a banker and a stable master.
3) You will notice different "moongates" around this area. These gates bring you to areas you can test. Right now, there are red moongates where players can snoop around the areas of the Stygian Abyss expansion. There are also locations to some of the new, unreleased locations and content. There will also be custom things to test such as demon pillar puzzles.
NOTE: An addition to TC1 does not determine or guarantee its existence on live. Many custom items are 'experimental' and will change on the test server. Your testing helps progress things along and your feedback is encouraged and appreciated.
There is no set time line for TC1 releases to live. The time spent from tc1 testing to a live release depends on numerous variables such as the number of testing done, any revisions necessary and other planning done by the AOV staff, AOV devs and player feedback.
Test Centre Updates:
The test centre will frequently be updated over the course of months. This is not expected to stop, even once big patches are released to live. TC1 will remain accessible to players to test most new updates and changes.
TC1, is what will become the live server. When there is enough testing done on TC1 and enough progress has been made, the live AOV server will get the updates. These updates include many of the things players have been wondering about and asking for.
First on the list is a complete introduction of UOML quests. Many quests are complete and are undergoing revisions for accuracy and revisions on the dev server (restricted to dev's of aov). They will be moved to tc1 in a few weeks. Other ML additions will also be added once primary tests are done, such as the community collections. Everything in the ML expansion is beginning to reach the end of development. Once they are complete, then we can move on to other things.
Secondly, UOSA is currently in the process of development as well. Players are encouraged to snoop around Ter Mur, the gargoyle homeland. The land will, of course, be empty for some time as we concentrate on more immediate implementations. However, players who snoop around may bump into a few 'curious' monsters or discover some interesting items.
Thirdly, on the back end, the saving engine is being constantly tweaked and nudged. It has been showing a great deal of promise with a few minor issues. We ask those on test centre to be patient with a few lag "spikes" as it is a known issue that is being investigated and resolved. Feel free to provide constructive feedback on your playability.
Live Server and Current Events:
What about the live server and players, have we been neglected?
No, of course not. Although all our resources have been put into getting TC1 ready to become the live server, the actual live server and players will be getting some much needed attention.
There will be a posting addressing player concerns and frequent issues that are brought up. The staff and dev team will be doing our best to give an answer to these issues and inform players of our awareness to these issues and what we are/intend to do about them. For those of you who know about official OSI servers, this is a combination of "Five on Friday", "Ask the Devs" and "House of Commons" questions. This is intended to start off as a posting with the hope of becoming a permanent forum where players can ask their questions and get answers.
We apologize for the delay in the Christmas gift launch fix. We have been concentrating on getting the test centre up and available for player access and have been hit with numerous delays from getting UOSA tiles and packets to work. It has been a difficult task to get these things to work, but now that it's working, we can continue on with our previous plans.
The Slime Researcher event is now over, but players can continue searching around for acid slimes. This event has been designed to be a permanent quest available on the live server. Those who participated in the event during its 5 week launch have had the opportunity to hunt a wide variety of acid slimes. Lydia the slime researcher will still collect your full slime basins and give you an empty one when you accept her quest. Acid slimes will still spawn around the facets but their numbers will be less common. There are also no longer any hints to their locations, you gotta find them all by yourself.
The live server will also be getting an event for Easter. It's too far away from Easter right now to give many details but the event will be sure to entertain and will offer unique rewards to those who participate.
Also, we are working on creating a better environment on live. We are looking into making the world more interactive and dynamic. Sosaria is a large world with many different people and cultures. There will be familiar faces from UO's history as well as some newcomers with histories of their own. In the scenarios that follow, you will be able to immerse yourself in Ultima's history and roots, with an AOV spin to things. The end goal is to make the world feel more "alive" with characters who go about their lives in Sosaria.
Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:5638, old post ID:34908