According to the one they just received

Note: the “Thursday, August 30, 2006″ is a typo - we believe they meant August 31.

Full details:

On Thursday, August 30, 2006, at approximately 6:30pm PDT (August 31 - 1:30AM GMT), we will be deploying a Publish 42 update to the Origin shard.

The update will contain the following changes to Publish 42:
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UO.com - FYI - Origin to Receive Publish 42 Update

On Tuesday, August 29, 2006, at approximately 7:00pm PDT (August 30 - 2:00AM GMT), we will be deploying a Publish 42 update to the Origin shard.

The update will contain the following changes to Publish 42:
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Over on the FYI section of UO.com, information was posted about a client patch that was deployed today.

On Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at approximately 6:30PM PDT (August 30 - 1:30AM GMT ), we will deploy client patch 5.0.4c

Details for the patch are as follows:

* Fixed a display issue with the Red Soulstone animation
* Improved the error message players see when they try to recharge their Weapon Engraver and don’t meet the requirements to do so
* Updated text strings and localization
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In a thread at UO Stratics’ UO Hall, we find Draconi discussing the various properties of Blackrock:

Blackrock

Blackrock is one of the most dangerous naturally occuring substances known to Britannia. Its capability to block and channel the ether is poorly documented, yet known, as are its unstable properties. Many lives have been lost already in events surrounding this terrible material.

There are no guarantees for this substance. It could explode, disappear, multiply, shrink, increase, become permeable, or tear holes in the very fabric of reality at any time, with or without any provocation. Or, it may just sit nicely on your shelf, inert. We don’t know. We can’t promise anything.

Be wary.

UO Forums is staging a Tropical Decoration Contest.

Do you think you can make your home into a tropical paradise? Have what it takes to make a place to sit in a hammock and sip a pina colada? Then enter our contest!

Full details in this thread.

According to a post by Draconi at Stratics’ UO Hall, there will be a re-enactment of the Blackrock Pillar Battles.

Hello everybody!

For those who missed the epic battles upon their own shards, or perhaps would like a second chance against the unknown foe that guards it, Test Center will be hosting several battles throughout today, Sunday, August 27th.

Scheduled times (All PST):

* 12:00 PM
* 3:00 PM
* 6:00 PM
* 9:00 PM

These events will occur at the Umbra arena, and is open to both spectators and participants. A black moongate is available in Luna for anyone who would rather teleport and utterly fear walking through the woods outside Umbra.

Mages should remember that “An Sanct Flam” will bring down the barrier flames if spoken aloud by a Grandmaster+.

Note: The blackrock pillar battle does not generate any loot except blackrock pieces, which can be found scattered on the ground after the battle.

Get out there if you missed out on this event - Draconi is taking time out of his weekend to put this on.

Techarin’s MP3 Music Hall, hosted on UO.Stratics.com, has added two musical numbers, Forest Theme and Ocllo Special Edition, in MP3 format. Both can be downloaded from the above link. These are musical numbers from the MIDI days of UO that have been converted into MP3 format by Dinaris Techarin (a very labor intensive project, as they point out).

UO.com has been updated with this week’s Five on Friday from August 25, 2006 - questions and answers for and from the UO Development Team.

1. Can you tell us more about the 9th Anniversary box?

Darkscribe: Just a bit. It will contain Mondain’s Legacy, cost $19.99, and even though it ships in late October, you probably won’t see it on shelves until early in November. And there is a very special surprise early buy anniversary gift, and it doesn’t involve the word “soul” or “stone.”
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Mages Discover Source of Ophidian Secret
Saax Pannae Aug 25 2006 12:48PM

The sudden and complete failure of teleportation spells near invaded cities, as well as the magical protection spells and various barriers, has confounded the finest minds from Britain to Moonglow these past weeks. Those adept with the mystic arts reported a sense of interference, as though the very ether itself had been twisted and bent.
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A major gaming site, FiringSquad, has an interview with EA Mythic’s Mark Jacobs about Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn. Not to long ago, major gaming sites/publications showing an interest in UO was fairly rare. It seems things are picking up. It sounds like UO is falling under EA Mythic umbrella, with the UO dev team remaining in place (and staying where they are at and not moving to Mythic’s current studios).

Quote:

FiringSquad:Finally, why do a revamp of UO at all when the team could work on a full sequel to the game which might have better graphical features and more content than the original?
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