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December 1, 2000

OSI: Ultima Online Rewards Program

I read the following on the General Testing page, specifically here, of the Ultima Online Web site:

Ultima Online Rewards Program

The Ultima Online Rewards program is designed to reward you, our long-term players, for your loyalty to the UO community. It is our way of thanking you and showing our appreciation for your long-term support of UO, and for your contribution to making UO the most popular virtual world in existence today. Screenshots for most of the rewards can be found at the end of this update.

Determining Account Age
The age of an account will be determined in the following manner:

• Any account created before November 30, 1999 will automatically be credited for all of the time from the date it was created until November 30, 1999. In other words, if you created your account on October 30, 1998, your account would be credited for 13 months of time, regardless of whether your account was inactive during part of that time.
• Following November 30, 1999, only the months in which you had an active account will contribute to the total count of months qualifying you for rewards.
• You can check your account age by logging a character into the game. (Note: Until the Rewards Program has been released, this method may not work, or may return an error message.) To check your account age:
  • Double click your profile scroll.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the scroll window.
  • A horizontal bar will be at the bottom of the profile text. Your account age in years and days will be displayed under that line. The account age will display the same value for all characters on the same account.
    
• Updates to your account (such as reactivations) are updated every Sunday, but may not be displayed for several days.

Reward eligibility is determined on a per-account basis. Multiple accounts may not be "combined" to increase eligibility.

Rewards
There are three categories of player reward levels currently identified as part of the program: players who have been in the game for 12 to 23 months, players who have been in the game for 24 to 35 months, and those who have played for 36 months or more. Each of the three designated categories of long-term players will be offered a different selection of in-game rewards. All reward options are ‘no loot’ and ‘no steal’, and clothing items will never wear out.

12 - 23 Month Players may choose two of the following rewards:

• Black dye tub
• Bronze cloak
• Bronze +2 AR robe
• Copper cloak
• Copper +2 AR robe
  
• Furniture dye tub
• Choice of one of 14 mini-monster statues:
  • Dragon
  • Skeleton
  • Troll
  • Orc
  • Deamon
  • Ettin
  • Earth Elemental
  • Gargoyle
  • Gorilla
  • Crocodile
  • Lich
  • Lizard Man
  • Ogre
  • Ratman
• Special Dye-tub
  • Using normal dyes on this tub (double-clicking the dyes then targeting the special dye-tub) will bring up a menu listing special colors not available through a normal dye-tub.
  • After selecting a color, the dye-tub will then have that hue.
  • Double-clicking the dye tub and targeting an article of clothing will dye that clothing the special color.

24 - 35 Month Players may choose three reward options (two for being a one year player plus one more for being a two year player) from the list of one-year rewards above and the additional two-year rewards listed below:

• Agapite cloak
• Agapite +2 AR robe
• Golden cloak
• Golden +2 AR robe
• Banners
  • Banners can be placed in houses and have areas that can be dyed using a dye-tub.
  • When selecting a banner as your reward, you will receive a banner deed.
  • To place the banner, double-click the deed. A targeting cursor will appear.
  • Targeting a wall inside a house will place the banner on that wall. The banner cannot be picked up once placed.
  • To remove the banner, the owner or co-owner of the house can double-click the banner. After clicking the confirmation window, the banner will be removed and a banner deed will be placed in the character’s backpack.
  • Using a dye-tub on a banner will dye portions of the banner. Each banner has a different are that can be dyed.
• Flaming Skull
  • The flaming skull is a house decoration that can be placed on the walls of a house.
  • When selecting a flaming skull as a reward, you will receive a skull deed.
  • To place the skull, double-click the deed. A targeting cursor will appear.
    • Targeting a wall inside a house will place the skull on that wall. The skull must be placed on a south-facing wall. The skull cannot be picked up once placed.
    • To remove the skull, the owner or co-owner of the house can double-click the skull. After clicking the confirmation window, the skull will be removed and a skull deed will be placed in the character’s backpack.
  • When a character walks near the skull, it will begin spewing flames. The flames do not cause any damage.
• Leather Dye-tub
  • The leather dye-tub can be used to dye leather or studded leather armor.
  • Using normal dyes on this tub (double-clicking the dyes then targeting the special dye-tub) will bring up a menu listing the colors available to use on leather armor. The colors are similar to the colors currently available for metal armor (copper, shadow, etc.) with the addition of some other hues such reds, blues, greens, etc.
  • After selecting a color, the dye-tub will then have that hue.
  • Double-clicking the dye tub and targeting a piece of leather or studded leather armor will dye that clothing the color.
• Any of the 12 - 23 month reward listed above.

36+ Month Players may choose four reward options (two for being a one year player another one for their two year reward, plus one more for the third year) from among the one and two-year reward choices as well as those additional rewards listed below:

• Ethereal mount (horse, ostard, or llama; one per reward choice)
  • Transparent hue.
  • Appears as a statue in your backpack.
    • Double clicking the statue will cause the statue to disappear and create the mount and your will automatically mount it.
    • Once on the mount, double clicking yourself will dismount you and automatically transform the mount back into the statue which will reappear in your backpack immediately.
  • Ethereal mounts never lose loyalty and can't be transferred.
  • The mount can never appear without being mounted, therefore it cannot attack or be attacked.
• Verite cloak
• Verite +2 AR robe
• Valorite cloak
• Valorite +2AR robe
• Choice of one of three mini-monster statues
  • Zombie
  • Cow
  • Llama
• Any of the 12 - 23 or 23 - 35 month rewards listed above.

It is important to note that characters on an account with less than the appropriate amount of time will not be able to use some of these items. For instance, if another player gave you a golden cloak, but your account is 20 months old, you would not be able to wear it until your account reached 24 months. This only applies to clothing items and the ethereal horse. Other items such as dye-tubs and monster statues will be usable by any character.

Players who fit into one or more of these categories will have the option to receive their rewards when they log into the game after attaining a reward level. Rewards are given on a "per account" basis, but may be divided among characters on an account. It is very important to make sure you have the correct character logged on before choosing a reward. Game Masters and other OSI personnel will not be able to transfer rewards from one character to another. For example, a player who has a 24 month old account may choose to accept two rewards with a character on one shard, and may choose the remaining reward with a different character. The option to collect rewards will appear each time you log in to the game until you have chosen the total awards for which you are eligible. You will be given the option to collect any rewards for which your account is eligible upon release of the program, regardless of account anniversary date. Thus, for example, if your account is 23 months old, you will be eligible for the 12-month rewards on the day the program is released, and will be eligible for your 24-month rewards as soon as your account reaches 24-months.

If you make a rewards program selection during a final backup or before a server crash, the system may not have adequate time to save your choice. When the shard returns to service, it may take a few minutes for the server to recognize that you have not gotten your reward. The system will account for this however, and after a few minutes you will be able to select a reward.

Screenshots
Special Dye-tub colors
Leather Dye-tub colors
Flaming Skull
Ethereal Mounts
Cloaks and +2 AR Robes
Banners (note that the top banners are un-dyed, while the bottom ones have been dyed. This will allow you to see which parts of the banner are dyeable.)

Posted by Keith at December 1, 2000 1:01 AM