Official Publish 43 information has been released today.

To read the full list of changes, please see this page.

If you’d like to see our previous page of information we gathered about Publish 43, leading up until now, please see this page.

As expected, it contains the information/changes for the 9th Anniversary Collection, as well as the +5 stat cap bump for accounts older than six months, quite a few PvP/PvM/Combat changes, and changes affecting hiding/stealth.

This is available for testing on Test Center, or as of now, Origin.

The Britannia News Network is reporting an interesting story:

Imperial Proclamation
Imperial Press Oct 18 2006 5:08PM

Take heart, oh those who dwell upon these most glorious of isles. Your Empress has heard you, and seen the work you have wrought in recovering the treasures once lost upon the ocean floor.

Know that the Empress is pleased, and that even though the number of monsters carrying her treasures is dwindling, urges you to continue standing vigilante. The protection of the Empire will rely upon the training and experience you have received in your latest battles. We would that you learn the ways of your enemies, and of your friends, and test yourself often against them.

May peace be with you, but if not, may you find reward in your victories.

From the Update Center:

On Monday, October 16, 2006, at 5:30PM PDT (October 17 - 12:30AM), we will be deploying a publish to the Origin shard. All other shards will be published with this update during their next maintenance time.

The update will contain the following changes:

* Fixed an exploit with mouse holes
* Fixed a cliloc error displayed when Sherry was sleeping
* Added a tag to Sherry’s name to make it more noticeable when she was sleeping
* Made improvements to Sherry’s pathfinding and AI
* Polymorphed slimes can now use the mouse holes in the castle

This publish should not cause any additional downtime on any shard except for Origin.

I look forward to seeing some of the things the devs/designers have done with Sherry and her pathfinding/AI to crop up elsewhere in UO…

From the UO.com Update Center:

We are aware that Sherry the Mouse may be expressing some MegaCliloc issues. The Royal Veterinarian has investigated the situation and has assured us that she will be feeling better in very near future.

For more on Sherry, follow this link.

The Britannia News Network brings you more information about Sherry’s Return to Britannia.

World News :
Current Event : A Heroine’s Welcome Home
A Heroine’s Welcome Home
Saax Pannae Oct 13 2006 5:56PM

Yesterday’s problems at Castle British came to a swift and eventful end after a surprise appearance by Sherry the Mouse, who managed to almost single handedly chase off the horde of rats invading the castle grounds. For all her bravery she was quick to thank all the assembled citizens and guards who helped defend what she considers her home.

She seemed as surprised as anyone about the sudden incursion by the rats, but attributed it to weaknesses in the castle foundation. She even went so far as to explain that the rats seem to have broken into old underground vaults, something that would account for the strange coins several of the rats seemed to be carrying.

The Royal Commander, who seemed most enthused that Sherry had returned, asked her what sort of reward she wished for aiding in the defense of the castle and its treasures. Sherry explained that she had meant to return for good, and asked only the boon of a pillow to sleep upon! Taken aback, the Commander was happy to have the arrangements made, and we at the BNN look forward to more formal welcoming ceremony in the near future.

Note: Our readers may remember that Sherry, long missing from the intrigues of court and the castle environs, was the purported author of a famous book entitled “My Story.” A fascinating tale of the events surrounding Lord Blackthorn’s detachment from Lord British’s council, it was long regarded by many scholars to be mere fiction, as the veracity of the author’s work could never be verified. When questioned by the BNN, Sherry was quick to point out that she was, in fact, the rightful author of the work.

For more on Sherry, see this story.

New runes have popped up on UO.com:

Translation: HONEST DEBT NEEDED THIS

If you’d like to translate them yourself, see the runic libraries listed here.

She’s appearing here and there on all of the shards, and she’s made an appearance at UO.com (left image from UO.com/Ultima games):

Sherry the Mouse is Britannia’s famous talking mouse, featured as an NPC in Ultima VI and Ultima VII. In U6, the Avatar would often find her scurrying around the castle and popping through mouseholes to reach difficult destinations. It was even possible to add her as a party member, so you could retrieve a Rune of Virtue from a small cramped space only she could fit in!

In Ultima Online, Sherry the Mouse is responsible for writing the book “My Story,” one of UO’s more important books about the in-game fiction. She overhears the events surrounding the Time Lord’s visit to Lord British, and even exposes the true motivations of Blackthorn in rebelling against the Eight Virtues.

As you follow Sherry around you might notice that she:

* Talks to you, and answers questions about the Castle and Britannian history
* Has relationships with the NPCs in Castle British (She loves the cook, especially)
* Follows a daily schedule that includes: waking up, wandering about the castle grounds, eating meals, and going to bed
* Enjoys using the convenient mouseholes the rats who invaded Castle British leave behind
* Can squeak *really* loudly when she wants to!

- Tim “Draconi” Cotten, UO Designer

She can be very talkative at times, and at other times, very quiet. Keep that in mind when you visit. She’s also appeared at different parts of Castle British tonight.

Yes, my user name is a play on that - while I have seen Sherry and Sherri as spellings, my actual name is Sherri, it seemed natural.

The Britannia News Network has this newsflash:

Current Event : Castle British Under Siege!
Castle British Under Siege!
Saax Pannae Oct 13 2006 5:52PM

What is it this time, you ask? Ophidians? Orcs? The twisted denizens of Despise or Despair? Perhaps some sort of political problems amongst the nobility?

No, the Britannian News Network is amused and slightly befuddled to report that Castle British has a pest problem! In all my years as a reporter I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. Hundreds and hundreds of rats have invaded the castle grounds!

The guards are making a valiant effort to quell the tide of vermin but seem to be making little headway. There appear to be a number of cracks in the foundation from which the horde of rats continues to poor forth. To add insult to injury, it already looks like they’ve done serious damage to the interior walls of the castle - tearing away at the mortar between bricks to make themselves small passages.

Castle British would like to invite any and all concerned citizens to aid the castle staff in bringing an end to this pesky pest problem. A few of the nobles have managed to lock themselves away in their rooms, and may also need assistance.

The October 13, 2006 edition of the Five on Friday has been posted on UO.com.

All Five on Friday questions organized by category here at UOCodex.com

1. From looking at the new screenshots, it looks like we be getting horse blankets, saddles, and horse armor. Is this true?

Andrew “Ando” Woodruff, Assistant Producer: While this is certainly a possibility, the horses shown in the new screenshots are faction horses. The color of the horse is wearing represents the faction it belongs to.

2. Will you please extend Treasures of Tokuno II a bit longer?

Aaron “Darkscribe” Cohen, Producer: Since so many of you have asked nicely… YES!

3. I see that Leurocian is back! What is he working on?

Patrick “Leurocian” Malott, Designer: I’ve been working on additions and bug fixes for the heritage items such as adding fruit on the apple and peach fruit trees and allowing the curtains to open and close. I’m also working on design documents for UO: Kingdom Reborn as well as collaborating with our other designers on resolving ‘hot topic’ issues such as Evasion balancing.

4. We’re finding some new kinds of coins on the rats invading Castle British, what do they do?

Tim “Draconi” Cotten, Designer: Actually, they’re really *old* coins, from before Britannia switched to the simple gold piece system that we all know today. It looks like the rats managed to get into an old vault beneath the castle, because these have never been seen in the history of UO! They’re rather nice for coin flipping though. (Double click when they’re outside of a container, works when locked down as well).

Be careful though, I’ve seen quite a few merchants who are more than willing to accept them as legal tender. If you need to buy something, make sure you tuck these rare coins safely away first!

5. Who is Sherry the Mouse? What does she do?

Tim “Draconi” Cotten, Designer: You can read all about Sherry here: http://www.uo.com/sherrythemouse.html

The special event that was delayed last week is apparently still on today.

Quick reminder (quoting Darkscribe from the article last week):

Happy birthday to us! Ultima Online is nine years old, nine history-filled years. This game has defied expectations, pioneered new ideas, and built one of the most devoted, passionate communities in the MMORPG universe. To celebrate, a character from the Ultima single-player games will be making her first true visit to the worlds within the shards. That event begins October 6th (PDT). If you are a fan of Britannian history, you are in for a treat.

If you’d like some spoilers about tonight’s event, you can read this Stratics thread that reveals some of the changes with the latest client update.

If it’s true who the mystery character is, it’s ironic that I’m the one posting the thing.