Over all the testing is going on nicely I think, I've found a few bugs but were all minor. The server runs smoothly for me considering my comp is a total pos.

Everything looks Pre-Alpha or is damn close so I give props on that.

Drac and I have spoken about First Dawn's long term goal briefly but I believe we share similar views.
First Dawn should be as close to Pre-Alpha as possible while going on the aspect of what if UO continued on with the Pre-Alpha map and look/style of game play but made some changes and etc to make the game long term and even more enjoyable, as they would have if they had continued.

Everyone knows Pre-Alpha was just for testing to see if the concept would work, testing the game engine, lag, and also the peer to peer aspect.
Pre-Alpha was only up for around 2 months, and then soon Pre-Beta was released which had majority of the final game elements. Basically Pre-Alpha was never really completed, and that's why a Private Server that is 100% like Pre-Alpha won't work. Things need to be added to fill in the holes and please fans on both sides of the fence in order to draw players in.

If some additions are not added I think First Dawn will always remain a 2nd Server to some players, meaning it will always be a players server they goto when they are bored with their main. They will come and play for a few days, but once they get tried of not owning much and the slash n' bash they will go back to their main. Which will continue for however long until it doesn't entertain them anymore. That's what happened to a server called Divinity set pre-t2a uo. Eventually that server went under after being online for about 2 years.

It'll be a test server to some people, and that is not what we want. We want First Dawn to be peoples main server, while still not selling out with flashy add ons and stayin for the majority part true to Pre-Alpha! That's the goal am I right?

Also I am curious as to how the server will hold up once public if the client/feature mix isn't just right. First impressions can mean everything to some people, it would be a tragedy to have people come try and not like or have thought it was something else, that's why its important to try and get it as close to right as possible from the start. And I know Draconis is aware of all this, hes no dummy.

I'd like to state some additions I would like to see and express why I would enjoy them, and why I think others would as well.
These are just my personal opinions and please feel free to comment honestly in reply with what you think and how you feel about the server and its direction

New Skills:

Smithing - Not all but A few more weapons able to craft (nothing over-powering like a haly or bard).
The ability to make a weapon that the NPC doesnt carry, and the ability to craft exceptional items. Making the world come alive by being even more hands on.
(Possibly add a mountain with a section of it accessible for mining, or just add a few small rock patches threw out the map that are mine able)

Tailoring - Add a couple more pieces of clothing able to craft, just like smithing the ability to create items the NPC doesn't have, and able to create them exceptional. If added add cotton spawns so players can gather, also add a spinning wheel and loom in brit to create cloth, also add scissors in game.

(only if housing is allowed) Carpentry - Able to create some types of furniture, containers, looms, spinning wheels, anvils & forges all for crafting at home.
Seems like a useless skills, but it brings the world more into color.

Tinkering - Just like Carpentry, allow some types of misc. items, able to craft exceptional items and also allow for deadly traps. I love trapped boxes!!
(This gives the skill more of a purpose, able to create such a powerful griefing device)

Bowyer/Fletching - Archery is a skill since early Ultima it totally should be here allow bows/crossbows & arrows/bolts. Fletching kits some people can create arrows.

Add Factions:
order/chaos. or something from old ultima lore. - allowing players to have a side to choose, good or evil, british or blackthorne. War is a key element that interests players to continue playing.

Allow Housing:
Either by allowing homes to be placed out of the city or in specified housing areas, this allows for guilds and gives the player the ultimate sense of RPG, the ability to earn something that saves. This will make players keep coming back.
(Preferably classic homes only, include tents, set houses to be lootable like early uo.If you get someones house key, they can be looted dry)

Add Guilds:
Players get to form brotherhoods forming irl friendships and in-game bonds which will keep players logging in.

Quests:
Not a ton of them, but a couple quests would be really cool.

Other Additions:

Ability to cut up body pieces into jerky, brains, bones, etc organs.

Orc masks for RP (original tan hue)


I don't except or have my hopes up about these additions so feel free If anyone likes or dislikes any of these ideas to please reply, and also state why you don't approve.

Thanks for reading my super long ramble guys !!

Denaro, you have show to be what every shard owner wants, a dedicated player. I thank you for this. As well as the other folks who also login regularly as well. (curly, robot, ioilo, mr.red etc...)

Your vision on the shard and my plans for it are spot on. I can confidently say that in the future there will never be a time where we will start saying "it just is not what it used to be" or "it went to far". I plan to keep the originality and bare-bone classic approach as long as First Dawn is around.

I find that currently most players who have come to First Dawn already knew about the pre-alpha. Once they login and see the transformation a first impression is hardly the issue. However, for someone who does not know about the pre-alpha could be confused or turned away by it. Reasons of obvious UO history conditioning. This is why im currently testing, get the ones who know about whats going on here, come together and help setup a universal shard for all player types but inside the pre-alpha realm.


Additions:

I currently cannot say if i will add new skills. But im definitely not saying i wont.

Crafting skills: I currently do have a full crafting system which is a replica of the "pre-beta or alpha" era. Its currently sitting out because i feel the important thing right now is to get the original things in place first.

Guilds:
Oddly the pre-alpha did have guilds, now whether or not they were controlled by guild stones or npcs, i do not know. I had actually planned on having guilds in the testing phase, this can be a thing to come soon.

Quests:
Next update youll start to see them appear.

Other:
I try to be careful about what i type on this subject, but when it comes to RP,PvP and PvE i tend to be mostly attracted to PVP. However, this does not mean youll see more attention to one aspect over another. I plan to give every single type of player a home and equal share of attention here.


Speaking of trammel is a bannable offense here and youll never see a blonde with purple slippers riding by on a blessed unicorn. You also wont see Sosaria as you have seen it since 1997.

Great!

Thanks Drac honestly, and the same applies for yourself. I've played alot of different Private Servers, and I've seen some of the worst staff aswell as some of the best. And in all honesty your probably the most down to earth and dedicated host that I have met. You care about your players and you listen, the players have some say here and I love that. On Hybrid they ignore people and their ideas, that staff disgusts me, they don't appreciate their players for playing, they act as if they are tired of their volunteered responsibilities, and that everyone logged in is a child, you slip up and spam they jail you for an hour and speak to you like your 14 in jr high school. They will ban people for retarded crap, and some people they ban have donated hundreds of dollars. I've lost 3 UO buddies over it, and all 3 either donated or earned the money. And don't get me wrong I'm not against punishment for excessively annoying people who exploit, but these guys didn't deserve the outcome they received, all minor first offenses..

Feel like a GM speaking to you is being excessively rude ( when they are not allowed to be ) and you tell them, " wow your an adult? odd.. " *POOF!*
There goes your Pure White Blessed Polar Bear Mask, rare as hell, total 1 of a kind item.. Deleted by GM Lynn because you argued with her.. This actually happened to my friend, he had it filmed with Hypercam, I'm on my last leg with that server, I barely log on anymore other then to refresh my houses n vendors, they ruined their in-game economy by flooding it with handouts all the time. Then they started ripping players off to attempt to balance it back out, literally scamming them out of gold and stuff.

They have a history of crooked staff members, one looted peoples homes for his friends, another made duplicate rare items.
Robot-x on hybrid was given a 24hr jail sentence for advertising off the platform (a pier set up for advertising vendors), he was 1 tile away from it, literally one left click too many got him a 24hr jailing, if you lose connection while in jail the sentence restarts, basically he was in UO jail unable to use his main char for like 3 days due to crashing and etc.
What's sick is this all sounds so far fetched, and sadly is the complete truth.

But anyways thanks again Draconis really!

And I'll continue to do what I do