UO Blog - Pirate Expansion, A Concept - Feb 20th, 2009

Being a big fan of the realm of Britannia, I have been regretting for a long time that the naval content always was neglected. Just look at the map of Britannia! It consists more of water than of land. In this column I will rant a bit about ideas that sprang into my mind while thinking of what seems to be the players' most anxiously awaited and desired game expansion in UO history: The Pirate Expansion.

The object of a Seafaring Expansion would be to breathe life and adventure into the seascape, and to add new features encouraging voyages by boat.

Content:

• Player-run Docks
• Enhanced Ships
• Cannons and Sea Battles
• General Thoughts about Sea Warfare - Letters of Marque
• Dangers on the Sea (Weather)
• Seafaring Adventures
• Merchant Quest System
• Other Features of the Pirate Expansion

Player-run Docks

• Ships anchored anywhere will still decay after 3 days. Only player-run docks would allow ships to be anchored without decaying.
• Houses built not more than 7 tiles away from the shore can be enhanced with docks. (The house can be enhanced with the docks-feature through a token that can be bought online, smiliar to the storage increase.)
• Docks cannot reach futher than 15 tiles out into the sea. Their minimum width is 3 tiles. The surface area of the docks cannot be bigger than half the size of the house (i.e. at a house of the size 8x10 you could build docks taking up 80 tiles. Which, for example, could result in docks of the size 10x4 tiles). The docks cannot be broader than the house.
• The dock owner has to place bollards (object called "pier") on his docks. They are needed to safely anchor a ship.
• If you own docks, a certain amount of gold will be regularly deducted from your bank box (similar to stabled animals). The amount will depend on the size of the docks. Probably 10gp per tile would seem fine. Docks of the size of 10x4 tiles would cost 400 gold coins per day (roundabout 150k per year).
• If the fees for running docks are not covered by the owner's bank balance, no new ships can anchor at those docks. Existing docked ships will not be destroyed! If no ships are docked and no fees are paid, the docks will fall after 7 days. This will make sure that docks are only built where they are needed and used.
• In order to anchor a ship by the docks, the captain of the ship needs to be "Friend" of the house. If friendship is revoked at a later time, the captain's ship will not decay, but if he raises anchor he will not be able to dock it there anymore.
• Similar to renting vendor space, the dock owner can determine a docking fee that will be deducted from the captain's bank box for each day his ship is anchored there. This way, he can cover the running costs for his docks. If the captain runs out of gold, the ship will not have the safe-docking status anymore and will decay after 3 days.
• When a friend of the house anchors his vessel near the docks and double-clicks a bollard, he will be asked if he accepts the docking fees. If he agrees, he will receive a message saying: "Your ship has been safely docked. The amount of xxx gold coins will be deducted from your bank box for each real-life day. The ship will not decay as long as the docking fee is covered."
• Ships can only be repaired when anchored at any player-run docks. (More about ships needing to be repaired in the next chapter "Enhanced Ships".) This means, docks will become an important haven for people who utilize vessels to engage in combat against pirates or sea monsters.
• Docks can be decorated with lockdowns and (secure) containers, similar to houses. Those items will count towards the total item count of the house.

Player-run docks with safe-docking feature

Enhanced Ships

Ships will be completely remodeled. The whole server code will be updated to improve ship movement and ship handling. This will allow players to choose from a wide variety of pre-designed ships of different size, speed, storage and features.

Available ship types:

• Schooner. Small-sized traveling ship. (Price: 80,000 gold)
      High speed. 1 cannon. 100 items/500 stones max storage. 20,000 hit points.
• Clipper. Small-sized merchant ship. (Price: 80,000 gold)
      High speed. 0 cannons. 500 items/2500 stones max storage. 25,000 hit points.
  
• Viking Ship. Small-sized warship. (Price: 80,000 gold)
      High speed. 2 cannons. 50 items/250 stones max storage. 20,000 hit points.
• Brig. Small-sized warship. (Price: 80,000 gold)
      High speed. 4 cannons. No storage. 20,000 hit points.
• Djunk. Small-sized Tokuno warship. (Price: 80,000 gold)
      High speed. 4 cannons. No storage. 20,000 hit points.
   
• Caravel. Medium-sized research ship. (Price: 200,000 gold)
      Medium speed. 2 cannons. 200 items/1000 stones max storage. 30,000 hit points.
• Barque. Medium-sized merchant ship. (Price: 200,000 gold)
      Medium speed. 0 cannons. 1000 items/5000 stones max storage. 35,000 hit points.
• Brigantine. Medium-sized warship. (Price: 200,000 gold)
      Medium speed. 6 cannons. No storage. 30,000 hit points.
   
• Galleon. Large armed merchant ship. (Price: 500,000 gold)
      Slow speed. 4 cannons. 1000 items/5000 stones max storage. 45,000 hit points.
• Carrack. Large merchant ship. (Price: 500,000 gold)
      Slow speed. 1 cannon. 2000 items/10,000 stones max storage. 50,000 hit points.
• Frigate. Large armed warship. (Price: 500,000 gold)
      Slow speed. 8 cannons. No storage. 45,000 hit points.

Ship features:

• There can be only two ships per account. Only one ship can be in the water at the same time. The other one has to be dry-docked.
• You can dry-dock your ship only at your home port, and if the hull is empty. If you use a ship-deed and place the ship into the water, the docks from which you do that will automatically become your home port.
• The ship's ownership is not determined by a key anymore. It is organized similar to house ownership. You can even add Friends to the ship.
• The owner can configure access to the hold and to the cannons to "Owner only" or "Friends". However, only the owner can control and navigate the ship. Like a house, a ship can be opened for public access, or it can be made private so only friends can enter your ship.
• Recalling onto a boat will not be possible anymore. You still can recall off a boat.
• As you may have noticed, ships have hit points. Which makes them destructible. However, destroying a ship will be quite difficult and take some time.
• A ship can take damage from: Sea battles (cannons), big sea monsters (Kraken etc.), storms and bad weather. Similar to pets, the hit points will go down when the ship takes damage. However, they do not automatically restore over time.
• Maintenance will be recommended when you have been attacked by players or creatures, or if your ship takes damage in a storm. If you don't maintain a ship, there's a danger that one day its hit points will go to zero, the ship will sink, all items on board will be lost and the players on board will die and be washed ashore at the closest beach.
• Ships can only be repaired (i.e. its hit points restored) when anchored at player-run docks. Repairing a ship will take time (6 hours of docking), cost money (10 gold coins per hitpoint) and require resources (1 board per 100 hitpoints). When anchoring at player-run docks, the captain of a ship can select "Careen Ship" from the ship menu. The required gold and resources will be automatically deducted from his bank box. The ship cannot be used again for 6 hours. It is recommended to careen your ship at the port you're "Friend" at, cause then you will not run danger to lose your ship after 3 days.
• Ships cannot take damage when anchored at the shore or at player-run docks.
• If a ship's hit points drop below 50%, its speed will decrease.
• When a ship is down to 1000 hit points, it can be entered and and the ship's hold will become accessible to anyone.
• When a ship is down to 500 hit points, the ownership can be claimed by anyone who is still alive on board of the ship. If a new owner has been determined in such a way, ha has 5 minutes before the ownership can be re-claimed by any other living person on board of the ship (as its hitpoints are still low). A ship with 500 or less hit points cannot be safely anchored. The new owner should try to sail to some player-run docks to get his new ship repaired as soon as possible. Once the ship is docked for careening, the ownership cannot be re-claimed by anyone else anymore. The docks where the ship is careened will become the ship's new home port.
• Each ship will have a certain draught, depending on its size (small, medium or large). The depth of the water can be determined by its color. About 10 tiles along the shore, and in certain reef areas, there will be shallow water. Only small vessels can sail there. Docks have to reach at least to the border of the shallow water in order to allow the docking of medium and large ships. 2 screens away from the shore, there is the deep sea. Large ships can only sail in the deep sea, and in medium water if there are docks in that exact direction. Apart from that exception, the area between shallow water and deep see can only be accessed by small and medium-sized vessels.
• Ships will be flagged to other players exactly like their captain. This means, ships can be attacked in guild wars, if the captain has a relation to that guild. In Felucca, ships can be attacked by anyone.
• There should be no items lying around on the deck while sailing. Those items can easily get washed overboard and vanish forever (which makes the hold somewhat important).
• Animals will get nervous when standing on a non-anchored ship. They will eventually jump into the water. So, no pack animals on a ship to circumvene the storage limit!
• You can abandon ship, jump overboard and drown. When you drown, you will be washed ashore at the closest shore.

Schematic picture of player-run docks

Cannons and Sea Battles

• Change in ship navigation: The ship cannot anymore turn around with a single move. Instead, turning around will take 4 moves. The faster the ship, the faster the moves.
• Most ships can be equipped with cannons. Cannons have to be built by players with GM skill in blacksmithing, carpentry and tinkering. Building a cannon will require 5000 ingots and 2000 boards.
• Depending on the ship size and type, you will have 0-8 cannon slots. Ship cannons will be much smaller than the veteran reward cannons so they won't take up too much space on the ship.
• Cannons have to be charged with barrels of explosion potions (one barrel equals 20 shots). After firing a shot you have to wait 10 seconds before you can fire the next one.
• To fire a cannon, you simply double-click it. You then will get a target cursor, and you can target any object on the side of the boat where the cannon is mounted, in an angle of 120° and up to a distance of 20 tiles. This means, you have to position your ship correctly in order to fire at a target. You also have to avoid being blocked by obstacles and other ships. It will require an experienced captain to navigate a vessel in sea combat.
• A cannon ball will take 1-3 seconds to reach the target (depending on its distance). If the target moves, this has to be calculated into the shot or you will miss.
• Cannons can be used to damage ships, players or monsters. Cannon shots do area damage similar to explosion potions. If directly hit by a cannon ball, a player will take 70 points of damage, the boat will take 200 points of damage.
• Being successful in a sea battle requires a skilled crew, an experienced captain, and having the right boat for the right situation. Due to different ship speeds, it will be possible to outmaneuver your enemy. Cannons and ranged attacks can decimate the crew of an enemy ship. Bringing down a ship's hit points can result in entering and looting the ship.
• Also, docks can be equipped with up to 2 cannons (similar to those from the veteran rewards). These cannons have to point towards the sea.
• The cannons placed on docks will work in the same way as the cannons on the boats do. However, docks and dock cannons cannot be destroyed. This way, there can be exciting sea-land-battles.

Range of cannons

General Thoughts about Sea Warfare - Letters of Marque

It is pretty obvious that Trammel ruleset would limit sea battles to guild wars only, which would be a pity. Abolishing Trammel ruleset for the deep sea areas would have unwanted consequences for all players. A solution to this dilemma could be a "Letters of Marque" feature: Each captain would have the option to sign the Letters of Marque at an Naval Office in Lord British's castle. If he does that, his vessel will receive a flag (he can choose from a list of flags, even from several pirate flags). This will have the following consequences:

• If the captain has signed the Letters of Marque, his ship can fight other ships sailing under the Letters of Marque. Only boats anchored by docks or by the shore cannot be attacked.
• All players who come aboard such a ship will be flagged for sea combat, as soon as the anchor has been raised. This means, they can be freely attacked by any other crew that is also on board of a ship sailing under the Letters of Marque.
• This way, each captain and crew could decide individually whether they want to participate in global sea warfare. The Letters of Marque feature will not at all affect the adventures on land, and it is totally independent of guild wars. As soon as you get off the boat, you are no longer flagged for sea combat.
• Guild wars will still work on the sea.
• A captain signing the Letters of Marque will have a few advantages. These advantages will be granted if the captain spends at least 6 hours per real-life week in deep sea with his vessel.
  - Faster careening (3 hours instead of 6)
  - Lower maintenance costs (30% less gold and material)
  - Increased chance to fish up special items (see "Seafaring Adventures" below)
  - Option to mount a foresail to the vessel. When activated, it increases the sailing speed for 30 sec.
      (can be used only once every hour).
• As the law cannot control the sea, it will have no consequences when you kill other seafarers or sink other ships sailing under the Letters of Marque (i.e. no murder counts).
• The name of the captain and the ship, who's cannons destroyed the most ships, will be listed on a special Privateer bulletin board at the Britain Bank.

Dangers on the Sea (Weather)

• If you venture to the sea, there is a chance you will experience storms and bad weather. If you get into bad weather, the light will go dark, rain may fall and lightnings may strike.
• In a storm, your ship will take damage over time, as long as the storm lasts, or until you manage to sail out of the storm. The amount of damage dealt to your ship will depend on the type of weather and the size of your crew. The more people on board, the less damage will be done (in a heavy storm it would be good to have a big crew).
• There are strong breezes, storms, heavy storms and thunderstorms with lightnings. The stronger the weather, the more damage your ship will take.
• If hit by a lightning (which can happen in thunderstorms) the ship will lose extra hit points.
• If you sail alone and your ship is not fully repaired, there's a risk that your ship will be destroyed in a thunderstorm. However, if everything is shipshape, your ship may take serious damage, but it will not sink. If your ship has been severely damaged in a storm, it is recommended you anchor at some player docks to get it repaired.
• There are certain areas on the sea that are known for their bad weather. Sailing there will be more risky. However, going there may also be more rewarding... (See chapter "Seafaring Adventures" below!)
• In a storm, your ship will drift off course. Navigation experience will be required to correct the course.

Seafaring Adventures

• The triangle between New Haven, Serpent's Hold and the Isle of Fire is known as the Dead Sea. This area is almost windstill. The speed of all ships will be reduced by one level. Slow ships will thus hardly move at all. This place is often haunted by pirate ships (both NPC and player pirates) and strange deep sea creatures. Due to the lack of wind, it is almost impossible to escape those, and the threat has to be faced! Ghost ships and deep sea monsters sometimes carry valuable treasure or rare reagents needed for crafting special items (see this column for suggestions). To board and loot a ghost pirate ship, its hit points have to be taken down below 1000 (just like other player ships) and the ghost pirates have to be killed. After its hit points have been decreased below 1000, you have 3 minutes to loot the ship before it will sink and pull everything and everyone who is still on board down into the depth of the sea.
• The Ghost Pirate Sextant can be found as rare loot on certain sea creatures. The sea creatures carrying this sextant will surface only at bad weather, so they can only be caught by fishermen during storms. If you have such a sextant in your backpack while standing on a sinking Ghost Pirate Ship, you will be pulled down but not die. Instead, you will travel to an underwater cave (together with your party members, who have to be standing on the ship as well) with strange and dangerous creatures, unknown treasures and new adventures. Make sure someone stays on the surface to guard your ship until you return!
• A lucky fisherman can pull special maps to underwater areas out of the deep sea. However, they usually pull up a few dangerous creatures with it. If decoded by a grandmaster fisherman, this map will lead to a certain location in the middle of the ocean. Make sure each of your team members is equipped with an underwater breathing potion, one of the new craftables. It will allow you to survive underwater for a limited amount of time (20 minutes). When carrying the map in your backpack, you and your team members can drink their potions, walk the plank, jump into the water and explore a secret underwater area. You will find yourself in an actual underwater area, similar to a dungeon, but underwater. Sharks, kraken, poisonous crabs and other dangerous fish can attack you. Sometimes, a shipwreck can be found, and if the group has a lockpicker with them, they may find some rare ingredients and artifacts in the wreck. If you have to fight underwater, mind that only light one-handed weapons will work (dagger, skinning knife, darts [for archers]). Also, fire- and energy-based spells and summons will not work underwater. Stealthing won't work either. When being underwater, you may not carry more than 20 stones, otherwise you will quickly drown. Thus, wearing heavy armor is not recommended. Also, mind the weight limit before stuffing your pockets with loot!
• A whole sunken city can be explored! Fishermen can fish up certain nautilus keys which you need to enter a sunken city. This place is home to underwater goblins who sell special underwater ressources which you need for certain crafting jobs. You will find mermaid healers down there. New and exciting quests. Sometimes, the city is attacked by a group of sharks or krakens. Help to defend this underwater realm! Neptun the Sea King may reward you for it. Pick up special reagents growing by the reef, but mind the dangerous giant crabs, reef sharks and stingrays! Maybe you will even find rare urns, ship wrecks and lost treasures while exploring the more dangerous outer reefs...
• Pirate ships and new sea monsters will haunt certain areas of the sea. Seafares will have to be careful, well-armed, or need a fast ship. You better think twice before you decide to sail the deep sea with a half-wrecked Clipper and no crew!
• Sometimes, pirates can be seen along the coastline. They sneak along the shore in search for prey. Slay their dangerous captain, and you may find a hint directing you to their anchored vessel! The anchored pirate ship can be entered when carrying that map in your backpack, and it may hold extra loot in locked chests.
• New giant fish like whales, orcas and great whites can be caught! It will require at least two fishermen fishing simultaneously and a portion of luck to catch such a fish. Eventually, such a fish will carry the items of drowned adventurers in their belly. New quests can be found. Items inside the belly of a whale or great white shark may lead you on an exciting treasure hunt with special rewards.
• In the deep sea south of Skara Brae, the Graveyard of Ships can be found. It is a dangerous area to sail in. You will need a small vessel due to the dangerous reefs under the surface. Still your ship may take damage if you run aground. A ship run aground cannot be moved for one minute. Which can be fatal in this area, because giant barnacles have been sighted in this area, which can attack the ship and do more damage to it. Have your weapons ready! The Graveyard of Ships is full of rotten shipwrecks, ghosts of ancient mariners, dangerous kraken and other unnamed monsters. Some live on the shipwrecks, which have to be entered to fight them. Some shipwrecks contain dangerous traps and lost treasures. If you are lucky, you can also find some bones of the ancient mariner there, an ingredient which is needed to craft new items.
• Lucky fishermen have a chance to discover sunken ships. Whenever a player ship is destroyed and sinks, its contents will not just vanish. They will remain in the area where the ship has sunken for 3 real-life days before they decay, but they will not be visible (as they're under water). If a gandmaster fisherman goes fishing in exact that location, he may be able to discover that wreck. He will receive a message saying that his fishing hook was caught in an underwater structure. The fisherman then can use an empty scroll to write a map to the shipwreck. He then has 2 hours to get a crew and recover some of the items. The recovery will work similar as the "underwater area" adventures described above. If you dive, you will find the shipwreck with the items in the hold. Probably along with some dangerous sea creatures. Mind that you cannot carry more than 20 stones though! (A captain who lost his ship could even try to recover some of your lost items with the help of a fisherman.)

There could be areas on the sea with Champion Spawns, much like the Champion Spawns on land. However, team work will be more important here, as the success will depend on the captain and his crew.

Merchant Quest System

• Special merchant quests are established. You can pick up a merchant quest from a harbor master in any city. By accepting the quest, you will get the assignment to transport certain wares from one city to another. You can either do that by boat or by land.
• Therefore you will have to buy certain commodities off the quest giver (For example, 5000 boards for 10,000 gold coins). Those items will have the same weight as the real items, but they cannot be used for crafting. They are special quest items. you can accept several quests at the same time, if your ship has enough storage.
• By using pack animals you transport these items to the ship and store them into the hold. (You could also transport them by land.)
• Once you accepted the quest, you are flagged as a Daredevil Merchant and you and your ship/pack animals can be attacked by anyone. However, the same ruleset applies as if you were a "blue" player in Felucca (i.e. attacking you in a guarded zone will get the criminal guard-killed). If you are further than 2 screens away from your quest wares, the quest will automatically be canceled and your gold will be lost (to avoid abusing the system).
• Quest wares can ONLY be transported by pack animal or ship, and they CANNOT be transported by means of recall or gate travel.
• If you safely deliver the wares to the destination, your gold plus a 30% profit will be returned to your bank box. You are no longer flagged. (For example, by delivering the 5000 boards you will receive 13,000 gold coins.)
• Merchant quests starting or ending in Buccaneer's Den will be called Smuggling Quests, and they will yield an extra reward due to the risk of being attacked in Buc's Den.
• On your way from the start to the destination, you could pick up more quests from other harbors, to be more efficient. Other players can try to track you down on the sea and attack your ship.
• Keep in mind that pack animals cannot be aboard a ship after the anchor is raised!

Other Features of the Pirate Expansion

• New artwork and animations allow players to add a peg leg, a hook and an eye-patch to their character. This change can be made once per character and cannot be reversed.
• New items and clothes are added to support the pirate and seafaring theme. Examples: Certain craftable items could be used to make the appearance of a ship more individual. Different colored sails, different colored wood for the hull and the masts, different steering wheels, and a handful of artwork items to enhance the deck. New artwork for house decoration.
• Muskets as new ranged weapons, requiring an new fighting skill: Gunnery. Muskets have to be loaded with bullets, which can be crafted by a tinker by smelting lead (that can be mined) and sulphurous ash. If you add certain rare ingredients, you could make bullets with special features (like area damage, poison bullets etc.)
• A new dungeon added to Britannia: A dungeon that can only reached by boat. You have to sail into a cave and enter a labyrinth of underground rivers and lakes, where you can only proceed by boat.

Addition July 2010: Statement from Draconi, former lead designer of Ultima Online.
"Ow! Funny story. Before the elves, the original plan was to make a pirate expansion - the code branch is still called 'High Seas' internally for Mondain's Legacy. Object lessons in how quickly decisions at higher paygrades can alter a development cycle! [...] This was before I joined the team, but it was more like this:
Senior Engineer: Hey, I have the estimates for improving the boat systems and revamping how movement works in the game. *hands to the Lead Designer and Development Director*
*everyone freaks out that it might take 6-8 months worst case scenario*
DD and LD: We'll get back to you.
One emergency weekend later.
DD and LD: We're doing Elves. Elves were in the early Ultimas. Sure, that's the ticket. Look, a World Tree, it was always there! Heh. Yeah...
We can even do a new race just by changing the ears on humans!"

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