Disclaimer about lending money to other players:
Over time we've had our share of complaints that a player didn't return the borrowed money. I would just like to say for the record that there is no rule about lending other players money and them having to return it. If you lend someone money, it's considered that you have simply given it to them, and if they are going to give it back it's entirely up to them.
I suggest you only lend money to those whom you trust.
The main reason for this is that there is simply no way for staff to know all the debts between players.
If however an item has been stolen, then we will investigate and most probably return the item back to you, and deal with the thief accordingly. But keep in mind that you have a bank box to safely store items in, and secured chests at home.
(At this time i would also like to refresh the details of locking down and securing a container. If you say "i wish to lock this down" and target a container in your home, then anyone will be able to take from the container. Only if you secure it, you will be able to set who is able to look into and take from the container)
EXCELSIOR DAILY
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
Information on the new AFK macroing system.
We've found that manually checking for AFK players is a quite a time consuming task, and I've finally ironed out all the problems in my theory of automatic checking, and have coded it over the past couple of days (millions of lines of code, lol just kidding).
The automatic AFK check currently applies only to Mining and Lumberjacking. Over time it will be added for other things that are not ok to do if you are away from keyboard. Check the Codex for the full list.
HOW IT WORKS
If you mine or lumberjack, after a while you will be given a gump (an in-game window), giving you some basic information about what the gump is about. There will also be 3 characters (letters or numbers) that you need to type into a text box, and then press Okay.
The gump is made so that it will keep coming up until you enter the correct combination, so just in case your macro involves closing gumps, you don't need fear that the gump would close on you and mark you as AFK.
You have 10 minutes from the time the gump first came up, to enter the correct combination, before you get marked as AFK. (this might change, but I believe it's an alright amount of time)
If you enter the combination correctly, you will be able to continue to mine.
If you don't enter the combination in the alloted time, you will be marked as AFK. In which case you will be given a restriction from mining/lumberjacking for a certain time.
The system counts how many times you were AFK in the last 30 days, and the penalty is as follows:
No previous AFK: 1 hour restriction
Were already once AFK before in the last 30 days: 24 hours
AFK twice before in the last 30 days: 48 hours
AFK three times before in the last 30 days: 72 hours.
The penalty starts running from the time you were caught AFK last time.
There's also several things I've added in hope of preventing this to be annoying for those who actually are at the keyboard all the time. I won't disclose these details though
The system has been thoroughly tested, but the true test comes when it's actually being used by players on a duration of days or weeks, so just in case anything goes bad I can disable it without restarting the shard. I've embedded some diagnostic tools, so we would be able to inspect any strange behavior that might be caused by a bug.
We've found that manually checking for AFK players is a quite a time consuming task, and I've finally ironed out all the problems in my theory of automatic checking, and have coded it over the past couple of days (millions of lines of code, lol just kidding).
The automatic AFK check currently applies only to Mining and Lumberjacking. Over time it will be added for other things that are not ok to do if you are away from keyboard. Check the Codex for the full list.
HOW IT WORKS
If you mine or lumberjack, after a while you will be given a gump (an in-game window), giving you some basic information about what the gump is about. There will also be 3 characters (letters or numbers) that you need to type into a text box, and then press Okay.
The gump is made so that it will keep coming up until you enter the correct combination, so just in case your macro involves closing gumps, you don't need fear that the gump would close on you and mark you as AFK.
You have 10 minutes from the time the gump first came up, to enter the correct combination, before you get marked as AFK. (this might change, but I believe it's an alright amount of time)
If you enter the combination correctly, you will be able to continue to mine.
If you don't enter the combination in the alloted time, you will be marked as AFK. In which case you will be given a restriction from mining/lumberjacking for a certain time.
The system counts how many times you were AFK in the last 30 days, and the penalty is as follows:
No previous AFK: 1 hour restriction
Were already once AFK before in the last 30 days: 24 hours
AFK twice before in the last 30 days: 48 hours
AFK three times before in the last 30 days: 72 hours.
The penalty starts running from the time you were caught AFK last time.
There's also several things I've added in hope of preventing this to be annoying for those who actually are at the keyboard all the time. I won't disclose these details though
The system has been thoroughly tested, but the true test comes when it's actually being used by players on a duration of days or weeks, so just in case anything goes bad I can disable it without restarting the shard. I've embedded some diagnostic tools, so we would be able to inspect any strange behavior that might be caused by a bug.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
We are recalling all shire horse DNA. If you have a DNA sample of a shire horse (looks like a charger of the fallen), put it in your bank and PM me directly. I will exchange the DNA vial with a fresh one.
Shire horses were never mean't to be sampled, so it's considered a bug/exploit.
Shire horses were never mean't to be sampled, so it's considered a bug/exploit.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Auction Oct 4th 2009
I will be holding a mini-auction this Sunday at 9PM Shard Time (3pm EST).
Alright Excelsior I will be selling mostly your items, so get them in so we can have a nice auction.
**note** please remember to read the rule book when you drop an item in so its not lost or thrown aside.
See you all there!
Alright Excelsior I will be selling mostly your items, so get them in so we can have a nice auction.
**note** please remember to read the rule book when you drop an item in so its not lost or thrown aside.
See you all there!
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
We're in need of a new staff member (or two), so here's the applications again!
This time we're going to do it differently, there won't be the application emails and quizzes, but rather we'll just interview each applicant.
In the past there's always been 10-15 applications, and it needs to be narrowed down because interviewing 15 people can be a lengthy process. Please only apply if you meet these criteria:
- Honest, responsible, knowing right from wrong
- Finding happiness in the fact that you've helped a fellow shardian
- Able to be online for at least a few hours a day.
- At least 2 months account age and a good standing reputation.
- Although officially you should be at least 18 years of age to apply, please note that your chances are slim if you're under 25.
- Some experience or the wish to learn about any of the following: XMLspawner syntax, server scripting, making events, making quests (xmlspawner is the basis for most of all advanced work on the shard, but the basics aren't hard to learn)
We will of course teach you the basic things you need to know, so even if you haven't ever met with a RunUO system you should be all set, but there's lots you will have to learn yourself from misc sources on the internet (as well as intuition hehe). Especially as a counselor, and even later on, there's lots of newbie touring involved, so before you apply please know it's not all sparkles with a magic wand, it's also a lot of newbie questions, welcoming and touring newbies, monitoring the chat... things that need to be done but aren't all that magical (well they are but you shouldn't be the type of person that gets bored after a few days).
If you are applying, I hope you are considering to stay for a very long time. It's not nice to spend a month teaching someone, after which they would get bored.
Also we're aiming at keeping the team small and effective, so candidates who can be online the most will have a much better chance at being picked.
The fact that you're applying is a secret, so don't tell anyone
To apply send me a message directly. I will write your name down and reply with a confirmation. I will close the application process very shortly, so don't delay sending that message
This time we're going to do it differently, there won't be the application emails and quizzes, but rather we'll just interview each applicant.
In the past there's always been 10-15 applications, and it needs to be narrowed down because interviewing 15 people can be a lengthy process. Please only apply if you meet these criteria:
- Honest, responsible, knowing right from wrong
- Finding happiness in the fact that you've helped a fellow shardian
- Able to be online for at least a few hours a day.
- At least 2 months account age and a good standing reputation.
- Although officially you should be at least 18 years of age to apply, please note that your chances are slim if you're under 25.
- Some experience or the wish to learn about any of the following: XMLspawner syntax, server scripting, making events, making quests (xmlspawner is the basis for most of all advanced work on the shard, but the basics aren't hard to learn)
We will of course teach you the basic things you need to know, so even if you haven't ever met with a RunUO system you should be all set, but there's lots you will have to learn yourself from misc sources on the internet (as well as intuition hehe). Especially as a counselor, and even later on, there's lots of newbie touring involved, so before you apply please know it's not all sparkles with a magic wand, it's also a lot of newbie questions, welcoming and touring newbies, monitoring the chat... things that need to be done but aren't all that magical (well they are but you shouldn't be the type of person that gets bored after a few days).
If you are applying, I hope you are considering to stay for a very long time. It's not nice to spend a month teaching someone, after which they would get bored.
Also we're aiming at keeping the team small and effective, so candidates who can be online the most will have a much better chance at being picked.
The fact that you're applying is a secret, so don't tell anyone
To apply send me a message directly. I will write your name down and reply with a confirmation. I will close the application process very shortly, so don't delay sending that message
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
Staff positions are now closed (no point in accepting more applicants, already pretty filled up).
If you haven't had a chance to apply, then better luck next time (in a few months probably)
If you haven't had a chance to apply, then better luck next time (in a few months probably)
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
Grand auction this weekend!
First auction will be on Sunday at 1AM Shard time, which is Saturday 7PM EST, 4PM PST.
Second auction will be on Sunday at 9PM Shard time, which is Sunday 3PM EST, Noon PST.
(Note that although technically the first auction is on Sunday at 1AM shard time, it will still be Saturday afternoon for those in the states).
Both auction will feature same items when it comes to staff submissions. The player submissions will of course be different.
As there was a rule with previous auctions: If you buy something at the first auction, you cannot buy it at the 2nd auction. Sure, you could give the money to a friend or family member to buy the item for you, but the idea is that one person doesn't buy both things, and rather lets others have some fun too.
Inactive account wipe this weekend!
Following the 2nd auction, there will be an about 30 minute break (the exact time of the wipe will be announced at the end of the auction). After that, all the inactive accounts will be deleted from the server.
An account is considered inactive based on how many gametime hours it's been played and how long it's been since last login:
0-1 hours gametime: after 1 month since last login.
1-10 hours gametime: after 2 months since last login.
10-100 hours gametime: after 3 months since last login.
over 100 hours gametime: after 6 months since last login.
In other news
The limit of how many personal spawners a player can have it now 10. All the staff has been informed of this change to avoid any mixups
About the item collectors and those NPCs not giving out the gems:
Both me and +Rayne, with her knowledge of XML and my knowledge of the overall system, we don't think that it is possible to happen. Still, I have no reason to believe those claims are made up, but we can't just be giving the gems to anyone who claims that they didn't receive one.
If you want to be 100% sure to receive the gem, first page for a staffmemer - one of us will go in with you and watch the contents of your backpack as you receive the gem. If you don't get the gem, we will see what to do about it then, but at least we'll have definite proof that you didn't get it.
In case you have a filled collector, but it didn't get turned in or you walked out of the room, please page for staff and we will move you in, so that you can have it exchanged for the gem.
First auction will be on Sunday at 1AM Shard time, which is Saturday 7PM EST, 4PM PST.
Second auction will be on Sunday at 9PM Shard time, which is Sunday 3PM EST, Noon PST.
(Note that although technically the first auction is on Sunday at 1AM shard time, it will still be Saturday afternoon for those in the states).
Both auction will feature same items when it comes to staff submissions. The player submissions will of course be different.
As there was a rule with previous auctions: If you buy something at the first auction, you cannot buy it at the 2nd auction. Sure, you could give the money to a friend or family member to buy the item for you, but the idea is that one person doesn't buy both things, and rather lets others have some fun too.
Inactive account wipe this weekend!
Following the 2nd auction, there will be an about 30 minute break (the exact time of the wipe will be announced at the end of the auction). After that, all the inactive accounts will be deleted from the server.
An account is considered inactive based on how many gametime hours it's been played and how long it's been since last login:
0-1 hours gametime: after 1 month since last login.
1-10 hours gametime: after 2 months since last login.
10-100 hours gametime: after 3 months since last login.
over 100 hours gametime: after 6 months since last login.
In other news
The limit of how many personal spawners a player can have it now 10. All the staff has been informed of this change to avoid any mixups
About the item collectors and those NPCs not giving out the gems:
Both me and +Rayne, with her knowledge of XML and my knowledge of the overall system, we don't think that it is possible to happen. Still, I have no reason to believe those claims are made up, but we can't just be giving the gems to anyone who claims that they didn't receive one.
If you want to be 100% sure to receive the gem, first page for a staffmemer - one of us will go in with you and watch the contents of your backpack as you receive the gem. If you don't get the gem, we will see what to do about it then, but at least we'll have definite proof that you didn't get it.
In case you have a filled collector, but it didn't get turned in or you walked out of the room, please page for staff and we will move you in, so that you can have it exchanged for the gem.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
Donation bonus is here!
For one full week you will receive bonus rewards for your donation.
- Double the amount of universal dyetubs
- If your donation is 30$ or more, you will also receive an Enchanted runebook. It can hold 32 runes (double the amount of a regular runebook) and it never runs out of charges. So you can recall directly from the index, without using any reagents. Please note that you can only get one per person. If however you will make a donation in behalf of a friend or family member, then the runebook can still be rewarded to the person from who the donation originally is, but please let me know beforehand.
For one full week you will receive bonus rewards for your donation.
- Double the amount of universal dyetubs
- If your donation is 30$ or more, you will also receive an Enchanted runebook. It can hold 32 runes (double the amount of a regular runebook) and it never runs out of charges. So you can recall directly from the index, without using any reagents. Please note that you can only get one per person. If however you will make a donation in behalf of a friend or family member, then the runebook can still be rewarded to the person from who the donation originally is, but please let me know beforehand.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
Three important things i'd like to remind you all about, all of them are equally important:
Exploiting.
We the staff have heard about people using pets in the no-pet-area at the halloween dungeon. Now, just because you know of a neat trick that let's you go in with a pet, that doesn't make it OK to use it. You should report such a bug/exploit (and you may also be rewarded, if you are the first to report it and depending on how serious the exploit is).
For the specific case of the halloween dungeon no-pet-area, if one of us staffers sees anyone in there with a pet, well... let's just say you don't want to do that
Exploiting is a serious thing, don't do it if you don't want to get into serious trouble.
Keep your account secure.
We've just had a case when a player's account was hacked into. I would just like to state that if your password is relatively strong, and if you don't give it out to anyone, then there's virtually no chance of someone breaking in.
A strong password is a series of letters, numbers, and symbols. Your password should contain all 3 types of characters, for example: passw0rd1! or mickey=mouse.10 ... Don't use these two examples though
We will try our best to undo the damage on the hacked account, but there's definitely a limit on how much we can retrieve... trades need to be reversed and people who have the items now need to be informed why those items were taken away... items need to be identified that it's really the ones from the original player.
So if this happens again, if time permits we would help with the recovery, but officially we wouldn't do anything (because it's a very lengthy process, and also each person on their own is responsible for the security of the account).
Play nice, share with others.
I have got several reports from people who have decided not to enter the Halloween dungeon anymore, because people are stealing their kills and also stealing things from monster when they're still alive.
Let me remind you all that it's not ok to steal someone's kill. Also if there's more people trying to kill a monster, and they don't want to share, then each should get a turn at killing the monster (first come, first served).
If this were the case with one individual player we would probably deal with it differently, but I see that this has become a common practice in the Halloween dungeon (probably because we all know it's going to be closed in a bit over a week) so people are trying to grab as much as they can, while they can.
Let me just remind you that by ruining the game for someone else, you are also ruining the game for yourself (instead of typing a full paragraph explaining why it's so, I'll let you do the math).
Exploiting.
We the staff have heard about people using pets in the no-pet-area at the halloween dungeon. Now, just because you know of a neat trick that let's you go in with a pet, that doesn't make it OK to use it. You should report such a bug/exploit (and you may also be rewarded, if you are the first to report it and depending on how serious the exploit is).
For the specific case of the halloween dungeon no-pet-area, if one of us staffers sees anyone in there with a pet, well... let's just say you don't want to do that
Exploiting is a serious thing, don't do it if you don't want to get into serious trouble.
Keep your account secure.
We've just had a case when a player's account was hacked into. I would just like to state that if your password is relatively strong, and if you don't give it out to anyone, then there's virtually no chance of someone breaking in.
A strong password is a series of letters, numbers, and symbols. Your password should contain all 3 types of characters, for example: passw0rd1! or mickey=mouse.10 ... Don't use these two examples though
We will try our best to undo the damage on the hacked account, but there's definitely a limit on how much we can retrieve... trades need to be reversed and people who have the items now need to be informed why those items were taken away... items need to be identified that it's really the ones from the original player.
So if this happens again, if time permits we would help with the recovery, but officially we wouldn't do anything (because it's a very lengthy process, and also each person on their own is responsible for the security of the account).
Play nice, share with others.
I have got several reports from people who have decided not to enter the Halloween dungeon anymore, because people are stealing their kills and also stealing things from monster when they're still alive.
Let me remind you all that it's not ok to steal someone's kill. Also if there's more people trying to kill a monster, and they don't want to share, then each should get a turn at killing the monster (first come, first served).
If this were the case with one individual player we would probably deal with it differently, but I see that this has become a common practice in the Halloween dungeon (probably because we all know it's going to be closed in a bit over a week) so people are trying to grab as much as they can, while they can.
Let me just remind you that by ruining the game for someone else, you are also ruining the game for yourself (instead of typing a full paragraph explaining why it's so, I'll let you do the math).
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
A few things to note...
New server
If you haven't noticed, the save times are approx half shorter This is due to the fact that we have a new server, it's an Intel i7 processor with 6GB of 1600mhz DDR3 RAM. We also have a new UPS system (in case of a blackout... I was actually planning that the old one would live for 10 years but seems like these days no matter what quality you buy, all things go sour after the warranty expires).
All the credits for this new hardware, and for the advertising, go to all the players who have donated.
In behalf of all the Excelsior I thank you for your financial support!
I'll be on vacation from 24th till 28th
Leaving Saturday morning and I will probably be back Tuesday evening. Going away to a thermal resort about an hour drive from my town. Although I will check my email daily for any uber emergencies (shard going down, or an exploit found that makes a billion gold check in your bank...) but overall I am hoping to have a true Internet timeout.
I am also hoping to come back and not having to handle&reply to 100 messages, so I have decided to completely turn off the ability to receive a message. If there's something specific you need me for, please wait until Wednesday (when it will be possible to message me again).
I hope you all also have a great time
General guidelines for contacting the staff
It seems to me that I have been getting more and more messages that should otherwise be sent to staff via a Page. For most playerservices, if i get a message, I can usually make it in a minute or two, so it's not a problem. But then when i get more and more, this becomes more of a problem.
If you need the help of staff, click the Help button on your paperdoll and contact us through there. I know we aren't online 24/7, but still this is the most correct way to contact us. Even I, when I login, i first handle the pages and then see what's in my inbox.
Only send a private message to a staffmember if it's about something specific.
For example:
- Got a suggestion for the next +Veritas' event? Message +Veritas directly. You can also send a page, but a PM would be more appropriate in this case. Also, don't PM me about something and ask that I relay the message to +Veritas
- Got a suggestion for +Hina's halloween house contest? As you can see on the forum post, she is the author of the post about the contest, so I'd say it's best to message her directly, because it's a specific thing. Don't PM me and write "I have a suggestion for +Hina's contest".
I enjoy doing everything & anything, but unfortunately the lack of time does not permit me to be the central hub for all messages.
New server
If you haven't noticed, the save times are approx half shorter
This is due to the fact that we have a new server, it's an Intel i7 processor with 6GB of 1600mhz DDR3 RAM. We also have a new UPS system (in case of a blackout... I was actually planning that the old one would live for 10 years but seems like these days no matter what quality you buy, all things go sour after the warranty expires).All the credits for this new hardware, and for the advertising, go to all the players who have donated.
In behalf of all the Excelsior I thank you for your financial support!
I'll be on vacation from 24th till 28th
Leaving Saturday morning and I will probably be back Tuesday evening. Going away to a thermal resort about an hour drive from my town. Although I will check my email daily for any uber emergencies (shard going down, or an exploit found that makes a billion gold check in your bank...) but overall I am hoping to have a true Internet timeout.
I am also hoping to come back and not having to handle&reply to 100 messages, so I have decided to completely turn off the ability to receive a message. If there's something specific you need me for, please wait until Wednesday (when it will be possible to message me again).
I hope you all also have a great time
General guidelines for contacting the staff
It seems to me that I have been getting more and more messages that should otherwise be sent to staff via a Page. For most playerservices, if i get a message, I can usually make it in a minute or two, so it's not a problem. But then when i get more and more, this becomes more of a problem.
If you need the help of staff, click the Help button on your paperdoll and contact us through there. I know we aren't online 24/7, but still this is the most correct way to contact us. Even I, when I login, i first handle the pages and then see what's in my inbox.
Only send a private message to a staffmember if it's about something specific.
For example:
- Got a suggestion for the next +Veritas' event? Message +Veritas directly. You can also send a page, but a PM would be more appropriate in this case. Also, don't PM me about something and ask that I relay the message to +Veritas
- Got a suggestion for +Hina's halloween house contest? As you can see on the forum post, she is the author of the post about the contest, so I'd say it's best to message her directly, because it's a specific thing. Don't PM me and write "I have a suggestion for +Hina's contest".
I enjoy doing everything & anything, but unfortunately the lack of time does not permit me to be the central hub for all messages.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
"Crystal Fragments" Trees
For those of you who have had these trees, they are actually an error. Pieces of Crystal obviously do not look like trees, therefore they have been fixed, and will be fixed manually until the change is made in the script itself.
If you have owned one of these "Pieces of Crystal" trees, and you used a Universal Dye Tub on it:
1. Please send in a page, stating that you are paging about your crystal tree.
2. Make sure that you have the crystal in your backpack.
3. If you have more then one tree you have hued, state this in your page, and make sure to have all of them in your backpack.
4. A staff member will reimburse your Universal Dye Tub(s) accordingly.
For those of you who have had these trees, they are actually an error. Pieces of Crystal obviously do not look like trees, therefore they have been fixed, and will be fixed manually until the change is made in the script itself.
If you have owned one of these "Pieces of Crystal" trees, and you used a Universal Dye Tub on it:
1. Please send in a page, stating that you are paging about your crystal tree.
2. Make sure that you have the crystal in your backpack.
3. If you have more then one tree you have hued, state this in your page, and make sure to have all of them in your backpack.
4. A staff member will reimburse your Universal Dye Tub(s) accordingly.
[Administrator of Excelsior]
I'll look to like, if looking liking move:
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent to give strength to make it fly.
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
I'm back!
Explanation about the 1-hour lag on the 25th.
The time here changed from the summer to the winter daylight savings. Technically, on Sunday at 3AM, the time was moved back to 2AM. A lot of things in the game have internal timers. For example, to prevent monsters moving like crazy, each monster has a built in time when it should move next. At 2:59:59, it has been changed that for example the next time this animal should move, would be 3:00:02. But since the time was moved back, that time didn't occur 3 seconds later, but 1 hour and 3 seconds later.
This has been an issue every year. Last year I was around at that time and I've made a restart just 1 minute before the time changed. This year I have turned off automatic DST change in Windows, but it seems that the RunUO server or .NET framework keep track of DST on their own.
Since there are a lot of things that would need to be changed in the code to fix this, and since this only occurs once a year, it's something that's probably not going to be fixed. However if I'm around next year at 2:59 AM, I will restart the server so that it will all go by with a 3 minute downtime, instead of a 1 hour lag.
I have wanted to warn about this in my previous announcement, but it slipped my mind.
Warning about the different timezones!
There is a 1-4 week period when Europe (the shard) have already switched to Winer time, and the US have not (vice versa in the spring.
Ordinarily, the difference between ShardTime and EST (eastern standard time) is 6 hours. When it's 9PM shard time, it's 3PM EST.
From 25th October till November 1st, the US is still 1 hour ahead, so the difference is 5 hours. When it's 9PM shard time, it's 4PM EST.
So, this is just for this week.
EDIT:
US: DST starts on the second Sunday of March, and it ends on the first Sunday of November.
EU: DST is starting on the last Sunday in March and ending on the last Sunday in October.
Explanation about the 1-hour lag on the 25th.
The time here changed from the summer to the winter daylight savings. Technically, on Sunday at 3AM, the time was moved back to 2AM. A lot of things in the game have internal timers. For example, to prevent monsters moving like crazy, each monster has a built in time when it should move next. At 2:59:59, it has been changed that for example the next time this animal should move, would be 3:00:02. But since the time was moved back, that time didn't occur 3 seconds later, but 1 hour and 3 seconds later.
This has been an issue every year. Last year I was around at that time and I've made a restart just 1 minute before the time changed. This year I have turned off automatic DST change in Windows, but it seems that the RunUO server or .NET framework keep track of DST on their own.
Since there are a lot of things that would need to be changed in the code to fix this, and since this only occurs once a year, it's something that's probably not going to be fixed. However if I'm around next year at 2:59 AM, I will restart the server so that it will all go by with a 3 minute downtime, instead of a 1 hour lag.
I have wanted to warn about this in my previous announcement, but it slipped my mind.
Warning about the different timezones!
There is a 1-4 week period when Europe (the shard) have already switched to Winer time, and the US have not (vice versa in the spring.
Ordinarily, the difference between ShardTime and EST (eastern standard time) is 6 hours. When it's 9PM shard time, it's 3PM EST.
From 25th October till November 1st, the US is still 1 hour ahead, so the difference is 5 hours. When it's 9PM shard time, it's 4PM EST.
So, this is just for this week.
EDIT:
US: DST starts on the second Sunday of March, and it ends on the first Sunday of November.
EU: DST is starting on the last Sunday in March and ending on the last Sunday in October.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
Get your Halloween Costume!
If you go to the Town Center, at the very center of it (by the Halloween centerpiece) you will see a red stone, this is where you can get your costume. Simply doubleclick it, and pick what you want to be.
Note that you can only get one costume per account, also the costumes are binded to the account. So pick wisely
The red stone will be there for another day or so... I am planing on disabling the costumes sometime on Monday.
If you go to the Town Center, at the very center of it (by the Halloween centerpiece) you will see a red stone, this is where you can get your costume. Simply doubleclick it, and pick what you want to be.
Note that you can only get one costume per account, also the costumes are binded to the account. So pick wisely
The red stone will be there for another day or so... I am planing on disabling the costumes sometime on Monday.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
- Noble steed spawn has been moved. They can now be found in certain dungeons in Trammel, but I won't tell which
- Abomination spawn has been moved. They can now be found in certain dungeons in Felucca, but I won't tell which
Both of them are spawning somewhat faster, but since it includes so much luck finding them, it should even out with the previous rate.
- Halloween costumes have now been disabled, it's also no longer possible to get a costume (for those that haven't yet gotten theirs).
This will be available next year as well (though, probably a few days earlier, this year i couldn't get it coded any sooner).
Not yet clear whether these costumes you obtained this year will be wearable next year.
- Abomination spawn has been moved. They can now be found in certain dungeons in Felucca, but I won't tell which
Both of them are spawning somewhat faster, but since it includes so much luck finding them, it should even out with the previous rate.
- Halloween costumes have now been disabled, it's also no longer possible to get a costume (for those that haven't yet gotten theirs).
This will be available next year as well (though, probably a few days earlier, this year i couldn't get it coded any sooner).
Not yet clear whether these costumes you obtained this year will be wearable next year.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up!
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Re: EXCELSIOR DAILY
We are currently having issues with the shard and not sure what is going on. Please be patient with us as +Colibri is working very hard right now at fixing it and getting it to run smooth again.
Thank you and we will be back up as soon as possible :>
Thank you and we will be back up as soon as possible :>