Here are some ideas that i have had for some time, decided to write them down here. I might add more.

Cooking

Bring cooking skill out of the dust. Available to crate foods and beverages that grant some form of benefits, be it time based or something else.
Maybe hunger thirst system to add little more to the economy.

Yes we have enhanced cooking and is useful, but we did remove the hunger/thirst on purpose. We have created consumables that add buffs and it is something we have worked on, just not a priority atm.  Hunger was never very popular, but we may revisit in the future for consideration

Veteran rewards

Some players have been here for more than 5 years, so they should be able to have more rewarding items available for them through the reward system.
Items that can't be gotten otherwise.


Yes we have considered this now that we are at our 6 Year Anniversary!  We have given out presents each year for the vets, just not through a system.  Rewriting an old system, for a few players is not a good use of time and money.  We are working on many projects that benefit the entire shard, rather than a small segment

More ways to earn evolution dollars

Currently it seems that most of the economy is based on ED (evolution dollars). It would add more options for new players, so they don't feel isolated and forced to donate.

No one is forced to donate, you can earn all the items in-game, with hard work and time...donations just make it faster and helps pay the expenses of running the server

Yes, everyone would love to earn more ED in game:)  We do have several ways to get ED in game, but is intended to be slower.  NO OTHER SHARD has ever allowed a way to earn donation dollars without donating, except for UO Evolution.  Many players have never donated, but have earned plenty of ED and gold and are able to obtain everything in game

A stone to convert BOD-s

Currently there is a nice system to spend evolution coins for slot machine. There can be a stone where you can drop in your useless BOD with some coins, tokens or something else received from monsters, quest, to receive new random BOD with same number but different item kind deed.
This would enable to use hundreds of our useless BOD-s to fill those countless waiting large BOD-s to be filled.


We want you to interact with other players and swap the BODs, so probably not at this time. There is also a new Contract System that will be better and is in testing

Job boards

A marketplace where you have job boards where more advanced players can post jobs. Any player can take the job as a deed which they have a time limit to complete and then drop it in the deed stone near the job boards. Collecting resources with deeds makes it relatively easy.

Contract System will be like this, or you can use the forum to ask players to help with tasks.  I do like the idea, but the New player guild already does keep new players busy with tasks to learn the shard and gather resources.  The staff will discuss this

Shipbuilding

Something that can benefit lumberjacks, carpenters to make those boats move faster

If we to expand into the High Seas or adapt a custom system for ships, this may be considered, but is not a priority at this time

Party hunting bonus

This would encourage more player to player communications and teamplay to have some bonus to hunt in a party.

No sorry, we used to do this and it was highy exploited afk and with macros, so we just removed it
Seeds

Add seeds for cotton, flax and vegetables. So we can grow them on world fields. Maybe place a house spot that can be a dirt field, and can be grown on to be harvested. Each pant gives 10 harvests and some skill is used to specify it. Harvest 1 at a time, then 5 at the time...


We have looked at the Harvest System and is under consideration

Thank you for the detailed questions and the input!

Levelable armor


It is bugging me and I know a lot of others too that blacksmiths and tailors cannot compete with the endgame armor that is currently dominating the shard. I had a few ideas about armor crafting and I want to lay some of them out here.


When crafting there is a possibility that armor piece is levelable, this could be rare, and would encourage people to focus on crafting rather than farming on quest spots/boss spots that is a problem and will be even a bigger problem as more players come in every week.


To spice things up there can also be a chance for the item to be cursed or on some cases even blessed. (Cursed having negative luck and blessed positive) Like Cursed pirate/Fortune armor. So when crafting a masterpiece there is a chance for it to have negative luck, so crafters could not grab 2000ED right away.


Who else has any ideas regarding crafting? Right now it seems that we can profit only by crafting custom artifacts.

A lot of what you have talked about I have on a list.. and slowly add details and flesh out those items until I get to the point where I think we have something good to offer the players.  I have enough half done projects in place at the moment that I need to get back to..  I have a list of many things I would love to see.. or just simply love to code but at the end of the day, I am but 1 person.  We are always looking for others to help code but I will be blunt as of yet we haven't found anyone who can stick with it for more then a few days or just create a bigger mess then what is being solved. 

As far as crafting goes.. easy to say.. We need to do this but actually design it, code it.. make it unique and balanced enough to where it makes sense and playable?  Not as easy as it may sound. Levelable Armor I do not see the answer.  That is just me.  I do have 2 craft systems already designed out completely, 1 of which is half way coded to where I can test it. 

I do want to state a lot of the "ideas" you list require taking UO beyond where the original concept lets it go and that takes time, effort, resources, testing.. and more of the above.  In a lot of the items listed you have to have something of value to put there so therefore have to create the value as well.. an interesting balance. 

As far as ED's go, we have quite a few players here that have never donated not a single dollar ever to the shard and yet do just fine.  They buy the items they want at auction, trade and sell with players in the course of the their normal playing and never seem to have a problem.  I don't have everything on the donation page available in game but getting closer however.. I also won't have everything in game available in every way, that isn't world design and that is a wrecked world.  I don't think many know how close I watch this economy, what goes in it or out of it.  I am equally concerned if we get to much gold off the server in an auction or not enough.  If the player base's behavior shifts then I see a reason to make changes with regard to the economy, just know I am very cautious about the changes that effect it directly.

I do like some of the items on the list, they are on my list as well...  Just haven't had the time to flesh them out, design it to a workable system that adds value to the shard and then code it yet.

Thanks! I appreciate the long and informative answer Kane. I do understand that your hands are full and I don't want to burden you in any way. I think its great that you and other staff members take things and make them happen and that there is always something new to explore and room for new ideas and concepts.

Here Here!  I'll second that notion.


  Kane is a wizard. What he does, is always brilliant.

I only wish he would show me the Tomb of Vecna... I have been waiting patently Santa Kane. (crosses fingers)



--Sturger--