As promised, Ultima Online is gearing up for its fall update, Forsaken Foes, part of which hit the test server this week. As we’ve been covering, Broadsword’s been focused on a “High Seas” theme all year long, from March’s Rising Tide update to June’s Forgotten Treasures release. Forsaken Foes will dominate the fall season.
So what can players expect? In testing right now is the update to the aquarium system and SOS chests, tithing and secure house container tweaks, and the 22nd anniversary rewards – not many MMOs get this far, folks! It looks like the theme of this year’s rewards is copper, with wings, portraits, sunflowers, and ship art destined to clog up your storage houses in the near future.
What caught my eye in the patch notes, however, is the brand-new commission vendor. Traditionally, player-run vendors charge hourly based on the prices set for the vendor, which makes them a poor deal for very expensive and rare items (and for mundane items on smaller shards with less vendor turnover). The new commission vendor will skip hourly fees and instead merely take a 5.25% commission fee when items are purchased. I can’t even tell you how awesome this is.
There’s more coming in the patch, including an overhaul for Blackthorn’s dungeon and high-end encounter loot drops, plus Halloween content and (we assume) new vet rewards, but those will apparently be rolled out later in the test phase.
