Patch goal 1.69 and Old Realm Abilities


Dear Uthgard Players!
We as Uthgard Staff would like to make this news post to clarify some ongoing issues that will create changes in your life here on Uthgard. First and foremost, we'd like to state that we understand that change, good or bad, can always be difficult. While it would be easy to keep with the status quo, that is not our intention and we will move forward from where we are today. What does that road look like? First, some history.
First announced in 2010, Uthgard Staff announced that we would implement Old Realm Abilities to match a newly established 1.69 patch limit for features. This patch limit was decided after fierce consideration as it is the last patch before New Frontiers. As part of this patch limit includes ToA content, it should be stated that ToA content will not come.
After the announcement, it became clear that we lacked many significant information to be able to successfully recreate a number of abilities that would lead to a system based mostly on guesses from website descriptions and forum posts (and worse: memory). Time and time again, our research into the mechanics of DAoC has shown that memory often leaves out key details and that what "sounds logical" often doesn't pan out with regard to how these things interact with complex systems in DAOC. As a result, we moved Old RA to the low end of the priority scale as it was almost impossible to implement. But as some of you noticed NF RA's don't fit nicely to a server which lacks ToA content. That created a difficult situation for Uthgard.
However, recent breakthroughs in our research have provided more in-depth knowledge and historically accurate representations of a number of abilities that we did not previously have. Therefore, we are announcing that we are going to re-focus our efforts on implementing Old RA's along with our 1.69 patch target.
In addition to Old realm abilities, there are a number of "difficult to swallow" class enhancements that came after 1.69 until 1.80 (or even later) that we have on Uthgard. Many of these changes are listed in our "Downpatch" section of the bug report forum. Most of these changes represent a small change for an overall class but often impact balance in some meaningful way. The change of these abilities will mean you may need to adapt your playstyle or learn to live without a specific comfort that was introduced beyond 1.69.
Some may ask, "But what about customization X, Y, or Z?" For these changes, you should review our "Custom stuff on Uthgard" thread. Generally speaking, if something isn't on this list, it is either an omission or can (and should) be set to be within our patch limit of 1.69. We will further attempt to keep this list minimized. Uthgard will still host own events and offer some custom created content but we will make sure it doesn't interfere with original DAoC as much as e.g. Tajendi items did.
So in short, Uthgard will move to classic DAoC at 1.69 and will leave the rest of New Frontiers stuff behind. It can be a rocky road so be prepared.
Thank you for your continued support. We will see you on the battlefield!
Warm regards,
Your Uthgard Staff.