Veteran reward system revamp

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+Colibri
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Veteran reward system revamp

Post by +Colibri »

Happy 11th anniversary!
The shard was first booted up on February 1st, 2006. For this our little project, our game, our community to have lasted all these years is a great accomplishment. Thank you all for supporting Excelsior, in so many ways. :goodsuprise:


We prepared something on-topic with the title above. New content that is mostly for those of you who have been with us for a long time.

Introducing a revamped Veteran Reward system.
To see all the possible rewards, open up the achievements menu. (type [achievements or [ach).
Basically, this is an almost completely new system, almost entirely coded from scratch. Rewards currently go up to 15th year (our oldest still active player will be 10 this year, so there's rewards in stock for a few more years :D). The rewards differ in how much veteran points they cost.
There are basically a few categories of rewards:
- ethereal mounts,
- decorations (banners and statues),
- titles
- decorative footsteps
- tubs from the old system, and a few new ones too.

Good to know:
You can get 1 reward point every month. The new system calculates your age correctly[1], to the exact date of the year (instead of 1 month being 30 days and a year being 360 days). But keep in mind, you will only get a point if you have been active within the last month. [2]
Special note regarding old-vs-new system. The old system started with 3pts after 1 month, and gave you one point per month until 6 months, and two points per month after that. Many of you may have spent those points on useless stuff, maybe even just to stop the gump from showing up. There was the idea for the buyback program, or everyone (depending on age) to start with some minimum amount of points on the new system... basically no perfect solution. So I've decided, since this is a pretty much a completely new system, that everyone gets completely fresh points (if your account is 3 years old, you now have 36 points to spend).

Notable changes from the old system:
- No more monster statuettes, they are planned to be available through stone crafting.
- No more robes/cloaks, maybe they'll be available in tailoring.
- A few mounts were moved around, for example the unicorn is now a 12-month reward. Sorry to those who might have just had a week or two until you'd reach it by the old rules... don't worry, time can run really fast so that 1 year anniversary is actually just around the corner :wink:
- The charger and polar bear, which used to be 0 slot, are now 1 slot. Mounts starting at the 5 year point are all 0 slot.


Things that didn't make it in yet, but are planned:
- preview area for the gumps - will likely be available in the next few days.
- A deed to make your own veteran ethereal mount zero-slot. (available at 5 years, probably 6 points) age.
- House with such addons placed could not be traded to a player who's too young.
- Tub to make an ethy pet opaque or transparent. Probably available on the token stone.
- Footsteps for pets. Same ones as for players, costing a bit less.
- (low priority) Addons to be tradeable, but could only be placed by a player with sufficient account
- nicer preview of the addons (would come in handy elsewhere on the shard too)
- Probably missed something here, we'll figure this out in the next few days and weeks.


With thanks to +Nyx for putting together all the ideas, and might I add in an organized and easy-to-read spreadsheet, as well as sacrificing some of the reserved graphics. And to +Arden, for coding most of it – the menus, footsteps, title system and I'm probably forgetting something.



[1] Same day of the next month, not 30 days later. Or same day next year, not 360 days later. Some more extreme cases: if you joined on Jan 31st at 3PM, your first point will be on Feb 28th at 3PM. If you joined on Feb 29th, your first point will be March 29th, first year will be Feb 28th, and 4th year will again be Feb 29th four years later.
[2] If you joined on March 17th, you would be eligible for the first point on April 17th. But if you don't login during that »first point window« which would be April 17th <-> May 17th, you would not get that point.


Leaving this topic open for comments, suggestions, etc. We'll likely do a few tweaks in the coming weeks & months.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard

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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by +Nyx »

:) I'm so excited to see folks with their new statues and banners and mounts, oh my!

The only graphic that was hard to sacrifice was the storm drake but it'll be awhile before anybody gets him :lol:

Thoughts:
- Players need a way to toggle the footprints on/off, if this exists I haven't found it yet
- Titles section should be moved and/or renamed, it's confused a couple players already thinking that is where they browse for titles to purchase. Maybe "Unlocked Titles" or "Your titles"?
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Alex »

Cool addons and revamps.
+Colibri wrote:- A deed to make your own veteran ethereal mount zero-slot. (available at 5 years, probably 6 points) age.
Quick question: If I have for example a elven note ethy Reptalon (currently 1 slot) or auction daemon mount (currently 1 slot), can these be changed with the deed to 0 slot, or does this apply only reward mounts? I am assuming no, since it applies to "veteran" reward mounts.
+Colibri wrote:- The charger and polar bear, which used to be 0 slot, are now 1 slot. Mounts starting at the 5 year point are all 0 slot.
Quick question: If I had multiple 12 month reward Chargers (from pre-current change) would these stay 0 slot, or would these change to 1 slot?

Thanks.
Last edited by Alex on Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by AcidBern »

Question on the Charger and Polar bear mounts changing to one slot. Will the ones acquired through the old system remain 0 slot?
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Legendaries »

Where do the titles go? Would it be before our name or would it take the place of a title we already have paid ED for?

Example:

Currently it is "The Glorious Overlady Legendaries, The Hero" the colored portion was what I paid for.

Would it turn into, " Toddler at Arms Legendaries, The Hero" or " Legendaries, Toddler at Arms"

EDIT:

I saw someone who purchased it. It show like this,

Legendaries, The Hero
:4 Year Veteran:
Last edited by Legendaries on Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by +Nyx »

Neither, it goes below:
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Legendaries
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Legendaries »

+Nyx wrote:Neither, it goes below:
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i was just typing the edit after i saw! I didn't have the guts to purchase to find out ;)
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Legendaries »

One more question, the Gaman for example, says any player can use this. Does that mean only 4 year old accounts can buy it but anyone can use or do you have to be on a 4 year old account to ride it? I assuming you need to be that age but I want to confirm.

I guess a better question is, are all the vet rewards tradeable? If so does it require account age to use.
Last edited by Legendaries on Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aster
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Aster »

The new dye tube are only for the house gates?
Btw i love the new reward, thanks a lot :dance
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brhanson2
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by brhanson2 »

Very well done.

Now....what to spend my 61 points on :)
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Gaara
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Gaara »

Are the titles character specific? Also do the 25 use tubs work like uni tubs? Could you guys set up a display room for the rewards in the near future, would be cool.

Great stuff, been waiting for that sphynx mount :) Still got 1,5 years to it hehe
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by +Colibri »

Footprint toggle and issue with the achievement gump not showing up (if you clicked global stats) fixed in the 2nd server restart yesterday.

The zero-mount deed will work only on the new ethereals, bought from the new menu.

Regarding old ethereals: this part also didn't make it in yet, but basically if you were an owner of such an ethereal (0 slot, or a unicorn that used to require less account age), the unicorn will still work for you in the old style. If you trade it, should upgrade to the new system.

The issue with the ethy mounts saying "any player can use this mount". Oops, looks like a bug. Will likely have to restart again today so we don't get into a big issue with players trading these.

New tubs only for housegates: also a bug, or just a wrong message. Will check. Unitub rules should apply (can dye anything, except stackables and items that are specifically restricted from being dyed.

Characters are account-wide. As you log on to any character, go to the titles menu to apply a title.

We'll set up a display area for all the banners and statues in a few days.
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Melkor »

+Colibri wrote:
Regarding old ethereals: this part also didn't make it in yet, but basically if you were an owner of such an ethereal (0 slot, or a unicorn that used to require less account age), the unicorn will still work for you in the old style. If you trade it, should upgrade to the new system.
Do you mean by this, if I have a 0 slot charger and I trade it to another player, it will become a 1 slot charger?
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by +Nyx »

Reward display building is now open. It is still under construction, and some things will be updated as their corresponding rewards get bug-zapped. But, rather than keep it closed until everything is perfect, I've opened it now so y'all can see the bulk of the rewards "in person". :)

To visit the display, go to Excelsior halls and follow the path east. The building is just inside the city walls, on the north side of the road.
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Re: Veteran reward system revamp

Post by Pek »

Just had a look and the mounts and statues are amazing. I especially like the Undead steeds and Storm drake. As a WoW player, I have them in that game too so it's awesome I'll be able to ride them here too (in time).

Thank you for all the hard work you guys do.
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