Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss, High Seas on Sale! Today Only!


April 21st – 24th there was a nice sale going on, on EA.com, with Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss upgrades selling at around $10 US.

Now we have another sale going that covers 180+ EA titles, and among those titles are, you guessed it, Stygian Abyss. It’s $8.99 plus tax, which makes it slightly cheaper than last week’s sale.

But also included is the High Seas booster. Yes, you are reading that right. The High Seas booster is included in this sale. For $8.99, $9.73 with tax. It’s rare to see the High Seas booster in my opinion.

It’s only applicable to today, April 29th, 2011.

More information:
* EAStore.EA.com – Spring Blow Out
* Also EAStore.EA.com – Ultima Online
* or EAStore.EA.com – High Seas

If you are outside of the US, I don’t know what to tell you in regards to whether this applies. If you are within the US, and you have problems, follow the link I provided above that says “EAStore.EA.com – Spring Blow Out”, and then select 41-50 for the Stygian Abyss account upgrade, or 121-130 for High Seas.

You might also try this direct link to High Seas on EAStore.EA.com.

Some people on Stratics have indicated that they are having problems seeing the sale prices and that they are having to keep trying or refreshing, or going through the Spring Blowout Sale banner. If the prices are still $14.99, keep trying. There are a lot of other titles up for sale, including BioWare titles – Dragon Age, Mass Effect, etc., as well as other EA titles like the Sims Medieval.

It does look as though a lot of people are hitting this sale, as Ultima-Registration.com is constantly timing out for me. You might try different browsers if you have problems.

Between last week’s sale that had Stygian Abyss, and this week’s sale that included both, I’ve updated all of my accounts for High Seas and Stygian Abyss. The prices really make it worthwhile, and don’t forget, with High Seas, you get a 20% storage increase on your bank box and housing storage.

Multiboxing and Macroing in UO – Don’t Do It

Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong also posted this earlier today on UOHerald.com:

Multiboxing is not illegal but Macroing is, and this is considered macroing in UO. If you observe a player using multiboxing please report them and CS will investigate the report, per the TOS.

This message functions as the global reply to the recent discussion we saw on the boards.

Everything from here on out is my view of it, and if it’s wrong, feel free to contact me and correct me.

What’s being discussed is due to a thread on UOForums.com where some players were discussing the means, or rather the outcome, of having multiple accounts logged in to UO and keyed to a single keyboard and mouse, and being able to have multiple characters actively engaging in certain in-game functions all at the same time.

It’s not about you or me having one account logged in and then using a Virtual Machine (VM) or another computer or laptop and logging in with a second account and switching back and forth for reasons like swapping items or swapping houses.

It’s about somebody having multiple accounts active and keyed to a single keyboard and mouse and having those accounts automatically do something like attack another player or tough monster, something that definitely falls into the realm of scripting or macroing of an illegal nature. It’s usually pretty easy to pick up on and you are asked to report it if you see.

From the Stratics and UO Forum threads, there seem to be basically 3-4 groups of people posting about it.

1) People who genuinely don’t understand multiboxing.

2) People complaining about multiboxing.

3) People who are playing word games and trying to twist Mesanna’s comments around. Whether these people multibox or they just want to troll other players or the devs doesn’t matter. Most of them are making posts that indicate they know full well that what they are talking about and they see it as a great way to troll others, or they are just wanting to take jabs at the devs for one reason or another. Some of them were saying it was legal, and now that a public statement has been made by the devs, they’ve shifted the argument to try and drag down legitimate uses such as house swapping or they are trying to create doubt among those who don’t understand the issue. There is playing devil’s advocate and there is playing word games to either defend something you or your friends do or to antagonize others.

To help clarify: In order to multibox, you have to use third party software to control the other UO clients that you are not directly controlling, and that software is not approved of by EA.

New Magincia – Better Place Your Plots or Get Help

Next up, earlier this morning, Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong posted this on the UO Herald

If you are having issues with placing your house and need help from a GM please put your call in before May 9th. If you have a call pending and we are waiting on your housing placement timer to expire we will honor those placements, so you have 11 days to seek help if you need it.

What this means is that those of you having problems getting a 15×15 to place properly on your New Magincia plots, you better start doing something about it quickly.

Restoration of New Magincia, Upcoming Additions to UO

A lot has been happening in the world of Sosaria over the past 5 days, so let’s quickly catch up. First off, over at UOHerald.com there are some conceptual drawings of upcoming items that are being added to UO.

These include Goblin and Llama topiaries, along with gargoyle statues.

There is also more information about the distilleries that are being added, that were recently mentioned in the producer’s update:

Due to sometimes less than legal history of distributing liquor throughout the U.S., we have brought a small element into the design of the distillery. There will be one component in its crafting that will require … shall we say a thief’s touch in order to acquire it.

That component will be in lesser supply throughout the world. So keep a thief friend close when the distillery becomes available this Spring.

I’ve got to say that I’m worried about whatever this component will be. It would not go over well to have a system that interests a lot of people and then have some component be in short supply and unavailable to many people. Some on Stratics and elsewhere are bringing up the specter of the Academic Bookcase and that’s a valid concern.

There are systems and deco items in UO that would be used a lot more and by a lot more people if they weren’t such a pain to either acquire or maintain. The Academic Bookcase is one, hitching posts are another. For the love of UO, don’t implement a new system that interests everybody and then make it off-limits to many of those that are interested.

Ultima Online Stygian Abyss Upgrade – $10.04

No, you are not reading that wrong.

Right now there is a sale going on through April 24, 2011.

I got an email earlier today that EA has a lot of their RPGs on sale for 33% off. This is the official EA Store and not UOGameCodes.com. For whatever reason, the official EA store sometimes has new Stygian Abyss accounts plus 30 days game time as $19.99 and account upgrades at $14.99. It’s another one of those EA mysteries. They even have The Sims Medieval on sale for $25 or so, which is weird given that it just came out.

Prices:
Ultima Online Stygian Abyss – Account Upgrade = $10.04 (US)

Ultima Online Stygian Abyss – New Account + 30 Days Game Time = $13.30

Depending on your location, there maybe a sales tax. I’m also not sure about people outside of the US.

Go here: EAStore.EA.com (Stygian Abyss).

If you have some extra accounts, now is the time to upgrade them. If you have never upgraded your main account, do so, now. Don’t wait around. Once you go through and finish the payment process, you’ll get the typical unlock code that you apply at the UO account management website.