Latest "Treasures Of" Lessons Learned

Hopefully this can be used to improve the next dungeon event with some things we ran across for the Archlich event. There were a few things I liked but also didn't like so you will see them on both lists.

Please keep it constructive so maybe we can actually help improve the next event.

What I liked:

• There weren't many unreachable monsters at all (ie behind walls we couldn't get to)
• The reward prices were all very good (wish the boots of escaping remained 30pts like on TC1)
• The rewards themselves were pretty good. Bringing back some older stuff is good with some new unique  (like SDI belt) & "best in slot" (SDI robe / gloves of archlich) gear
• Spawn difficulty was spot on. Much of the spawn was very solo-able but the paragon ram / PE was just tough enough that with some effort higher level players could take them out (without needing multiple accounts)
• Spawn rate on ATL (after the first few weeks) was excellent this time around. There were quite a few times that I started to become overrun by spawn and would get close to death
• EJ accounts getting account bound drops only was a major step in the right direction IMO
• I liked the "AFK penalty" they instituted this event; it did seem to weed out the campers (like in the Ram room). I played a sampire/tamer/archer/thrower during this event and was never hit with this penalty

What I think needs improvement:

• Felucca was only opened for a single weekend which wasn't enough. I think it should be open 24/7 start to finish but I understand the potential issues there so I'd be fine with a compromise on opening Fel up every weekend
• Dev team communication on the event and being open to feedback. Perfect example is the Expor Malas weapon for gargoyles was made a sword without any actual consideration with feedback about making it a throwing weapon. Another example was everyone on Origin complaining about the spawn rate being too slow; if everyone agrees it's too slow I'm not sure why the Devs wouldn't just increase it
• The drop rate when not under luck statue / luck potion. I think the drop rate was atrocious if just walking in to kill stuff without any limited time effects. With no statue / potion I would get maybe 9-15 drops an hour (depends on shard spawn rate) but each limited time effect would essentially double the rate (ie give an extra 9-15 drops) so the few times I used both statue & potion I was around 40-45 (which I think is good)
• The spawn rate on low population shards (ie Origin) versus the kill rate. It only took 3 or 4 players to basically deplete all major spawn in Deceit on all 4 floors which is frustrating when I only have an hour of a luck statue/potion and I'm spending 20min of that looking for spawn to kill. I think the spawn rate rate should be based on the kill rate and based on each floor
• The response to people that are obviously botting (ie 3-5 players trailing a single player while targeting the same thing) was improved but still needs work 
• The "AFK penalty" was a step in the right direction and while I never was hit by it, I do think there were some innocent bystanders hit with (but less than actually claimed it). This should be further tweaked
• The length of time (3 months was too much IMO); it became very stale after a while. I wish they would have added a dynamic champ spawn in that time frame (either concurrent or end one for the other) to switch things up

What are some other things people liked or disliked?

Reading over the list above, most of it I agree with and think it hits all the major points. I do have some adjustments and things I disagree with which I'll list. 

EJ accounts getting account bound drops only was a major step in the right direction IMO

• I understand the desire to encourage people to subscribe their account, even for a short time to get items unflagged, but really the flag which is earned should stick. Meaning that if you receive an account bound drop it stays that way - otherwise you have to subscribe before deciding how many drops you have. 

Felucca was only opened for a single weekend which wasn't enough. I think it should be open 24/7 start to finish but I understand the potential issues there, so I'd be fine with a compromise on opening Fel up every weekend.

• Not everyone can play on the weekend or other set times, Felucca should be open, if not 24/7, at various times during the week to allow everyone a chance to play there, not just those with free weekends. Also, there is no reason to limit it to certain shards or to rotate between them, all shards should simply be on the same schedule.

The response to people that are obviously botting (ie 3-5 players trailing a single player while targeting the same thing) was improved but still needs work 

• This I fully agree with, and it can't be emphasized enough that stopping botting, scripting should be the highest priority not only for these events but throughout the game. 

The "AFK penalty" was a step in the right direction and while I never was hit by it, I do think there were some innocent bystanders hit with 

• I liked the idea but had problems with the implementation. There should be some sort of review or appeal process, especially if the punishment is going to escalate beyond a short lock out. These types of penalties should not be implemented covertly either. While the detection method employed has no reason to be released, people should know the exact penalty and further consequences of their actions. Something as simple as, "if we reasonably believe that the player is AFK, that toon will not be allowed to damage things in the event dungeon for 15 minutes the first time, each subsequence offence the penalty will be increased 15 minutes, until one hour is reached. At that point your account will face a temporary suspension of 3 months. The offending toon must stay logged into the game to count the time toward this penalty.  In an attempt to avoid confusion, we will send a notification to the email listed on the account, with the step the account is on, and instructions on how to appeal of our decision to suspend the account."

The length of time (3 months was too much IMO); it became very stale after a while. I wish they would have added a dynamic champ spawn in that time frame (either concurrent or end one for the other) to switch things up.

• This I completely disagree with. The length of the event meant that I could. First, pace myself to get a set number of drops a day and still have enough time to get everything I wanted. Secondly, I could enjoy other aspects of the game without compromising my success during the event. Third and perhaps most importantly, it meant that people whose schedule was limited due to real life pressures, such as the holidays, increased workload, family matters, etc. could still take part and find success during the event.  

Overall, I loved the event, good dungeon, decent drop rate, excellent rewards. If this can be learned from and improved upon, I think we are definitely on the right path forward! Thank you for such an enjoyable event. 

100% with everything i do still feel Fel drops should be cursed

Overall thought the spawn was well managed getting more difficult the deeper you went.  Lesser players could concentrate on levels more consistent with their level of play and so could better players.  Think the drop rate of about 9 to15 an hour is about right.  Event should not just be about how many drops you can get.  Nice selection of rewards to.

AFK penalty was administered in an arbitrary and capricious manner.  Penalty struck without warning for no apparent reason and players were not informed of it being applied.  Penalty lasted for an indeterminate time from 15 minutes to the rest of the night with no clue being given to the player regarding it’s length, and players were not informed when it was safe to play again.  Players that wrote to a gm received a message that stated they should not contact the gm and that the gm would not talk to them about the afk penalty, and then, of all things, asking the player if they could be of further assistance when in fact they had none to give.

i did not mind so much being flagged by a prototype afk program that was being tried out for the first time.  Unexpected results are common the first time out.  But UO’s response to players being flagged did not even meet the arbitrary and capricious standard.  I can’t think of a legal term that uses the word oblivious but that word perfectly describes their attitude towards the needs of those players that were flagged.

Sorry UO.  The left hand managing the event did ok but apparently it was oblivious to the right hand’s managing of the afk penalty.  UO’s lack of any response to innocent players being flagged is irresponsible by any standard.  Really starting to seriously wonder about UO’s future.

Needed house decorations on the NPC.

Make a gorget that matches the stats on the vambraces for the next one please. 

Pawain said:

Needed house decorations on the NPC.

Make a gorget that matches the stats on the vambraces for the next one please. 

100% agree about the gorget 

I need the wildfire ostard please, or change the color based on dungeon, e.g. red for Balron.

Classic dungeon size was designed in 1997 and is now too small. Pls expand Treasures event to entire facet like Tokuno and increase the spawn rate.

In Tokuno, we can pick the dungeons to go for hunting. We were not restricted to 1% of the entire game space.

Watch RMT botting evaporate with this one weird trick! Doctors hate him!

1. Dump shard bound in favor of account bound.
2. Reduce point cost of rewards due to inherent no-market value of the items.

Let me use my items that I earned thank you very much.

The AFK system was one of those things that while good in theory turned out incredibly horrible/disastrous in practice. Handing out permanent account violations for an automated (ie, buggy) system without investigation is DANGEROUS. I spent quite a long time gathering data, paging on myself, receiving actual account violations, etc., towards the end of the event trying to figure out what was going on and have a whole thread planned on this... let's just say you'll be shocked. HINT: It's not working as intended.

Riner said:

• This I fully agree with, and it can't be emphasized enough that stopping botting, scripting should be the highest priority not only for these events but throughout the game. 

As long as there are best in slot items that are tradable from these ToTs this is impossible and will not happen.

Pawain said:

Needed house decorations on the NPC.

Make a gorget that matches the stats on the vambraces for the next one please. 

The gorget is definitely a great idea and needs to be implemented!

I enjoyed the event, when you look back at the list going back a few years now, of different style events, and more up to date rewards, it is actually getting quite impressive in my opinion.

I like the chance to go back and get old stuff - for example, Tears of the Ice Dragon Locket/Talisman - not a major item - it was an Ice Slayer with nice art, but it was the first item I farmed with my boys, we enjoyed it, then I accidentally let 3 out of 4 houses fall down, and I lost them... My own fault, but due to being shard-bound, they are pretty irreplaceable (as not so many other players got them, or got spares), and my best chance would be if they appear in a future event.

The Biggy for me - I would love these events to be in Felucca, I play in Felucca, and do not really enjoy going to Trammel, it takes away from my playstyle. Felucca adds more variety, randomness, interaction good and bad. I get bored quicker in Trammel - but you have to persevere. I enjoyed the length of the event - I understand it was too long for those who have massive farming abilities - Sampires and those with more time - but those with more normal templates, and busy lives appreciated it, it was just right. I don't care what has to be done to put these events into Felucca - Cursed drops, whatever. I also don't think the ability to be able to Champ spawn throughout an event, on top of farming drops is a negative - we like to achieve as many things as possible at the same time - and many complain there is always a powerscroll shortage and prices are too high - these events slow down our champ scroll farming ability when it could all be combined - we would enjoy it a lot more.

a

Riner said:

Pawain said:

Needed house decorations on the NPC.

Make a gorget that matches the stats on the vambraces for the next one please. 

The gorget is definitely a great idea and needs to be implemented!

Gorget & legs please!