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Dante Darkheart · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:31 pm Post subject: This Time

So last night while RPing I (a vampire) was asked how old I am. Now I try to stick to UO times and dates when referencing past events and real time when asked about time during a current logged on session. The Uo Year today is 388 and UO was launched in 289. I said my age was around 390, so if i can i'd like to retract that statement and replace it with at least 90-ish since Dante was turned after the launch of UO, I think September-ish of 1998. Though now I want to o back and do may math again.

UO time is an interesting subject for me. I've gone so far as to make up a calendar lining up UO days to every real life day since the launch of UO. I'm kind of proud of it and if you'd like to see it I can email a copy to you. I'm trying to update it with all the major events OSI/EA has done as well as major life events for my characters.

So I'm a little curious as to how all of you handle time, especially already established vampires.

So a 16 UO year girl is actually around the age of a 35 real life year old woman.

Judas D'arc · Journeyman Joined: 27 Nov 2011 Posts: 140 Location: Yew

This is actually a pretty interesting topic that I've seen debated for years, but have never seen definitively resolved, (and for obvious reasons) probably never will.

I remember on Catskills, different people in the community used different time frames. Some people used a time ratio of one day of real time = one Britannia day. Some people used the 2 hours of real time = one Britannian day that you use. I even remember some people playing where one real month = one Britannian year, wherever that came from.

Personally, I just prefer to use real time because it keeps it simple. It means if I don't play for a week, my character doesn't vanish for weeks, or doesn't see his friends for months. It makes it easier to schedule plans -- "I will see you tomorrow night." rather than "I will see you 12 days from now." And it saves my character's liver the damage that would come from remaining at a tavern night for a full day straight. For human characters, which I almost exclusively play, it means that I don't have to worry becoming an old man any time soon, and likewise, it explains how human characters that have been around since a shard's opening are still around. I know there are a lot of elf/vampire/etc. characters that this isn't an issue for, or might even appreciate/gain from a more rapid rate of time. I also realize that this approach completely ignores the day/night cycle in game.

As I said at the beginning, this isn't an issue I've ever seen there be a consensus on, and don't expect there to be. Back when I was on a private shard, we changed the day/night cycle to reflect real time in order to standardize it. But on commercial UO, I just play it how I like to play it, try to handle inconsistencies in a respectful way, and am glad that it doesn't ever seem to be a major issue for the people I play with regularly.

Lady Avella · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:10 pm Post subject:

Time: what an intriguing concept.

When someone asks Avella how old she is (something a gentleman should never ask a lady anyway) she usually says she’s twenty-six years old but has been twenty-six for a very, very, very long time. Like Judas, my pet, I tend to go for one day of real time and pretty much ignore the day/night cycle in game, besides fifteen minutes of night just doesn’t cut it; give me 30 Days of Night and I’m there.

Cezanne Abella · Seasoned Veteran Joined: 24 Apr 2009 Posts: 475

Wait....You're a VAMPIRE?!

......Or you could've just lied. Wink

Cerys ab'Amudosa · Adventurer Joined: 05 Jul 2012 Posts: 25

Dante Darkheart · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:06 am Post subject:

Judas - I completely agree that a consensus will never happen. And furthermore if we were to stick to one method of time or another it would damage the way one character or another is played for many of the reasons you mentioned above.

Cerys - I've seen similar time tables and that was more the type of reply I was trolling for. Though I usually steer clear of these types of time tables since they ignore the time table set by OSI/EA and Stratics cannon.

And yes there is a 25 year difference between OSI/EA and Stratics' calendar and I was told by a stratic reporter and a former OSI developer that the 300th anniversary released in September of 1999 was actually Mondains first defeat at Not the Avatar's hand but Lord Britishs' hands in Aalkebeth commonly and unofficially referred to as Ultima 0. And then the other

The calendar I created breaks down each Real Life day into a 12 UO day week. Also a UO month being 73 UO days comes out to being 7 Real Life days and 2 Real Life hours. It ends up squeezing approximately 4.75 UO years into a real life year. And at the end of the day it's cannon. So if you use OSI/EA year of 289 as UO's launch year then you're following the calendar that began in reference to Mondain's first defeat. If you contend that stratics is right and do the math you will come up with a year of 314 as UO's start date as Stratics suggests then you're using the calendar that began with the shattering of the gem of immortality. On a fun side note I once took the calendar back to the Shattering and it was something like 1926 or something to that effect. Which really shows that following a set time is a waste of time unless it interests you.

Cezanne - No, there is no such thing as Vampires. In all honesty though Dante is going to eat you. Its a matter of time.

Judas D'arc · Journeyman Joined: 27 Nov 2011 Posts: 140 Location: Yew

On a side note, here's another take on the time line issue, and 300 years post-Shattering vs. 300 years post-Akalabeth.

http://uo2.stratics.com/lore-and-history/historical-background-of-the-shattered-worlds
http://uo2.stratics.com/lore-and-history/historical-background-of-the-shattered-worlds/time-line

This document has an interesting history. I don't remember how I first learned about this document, but some of us on Catskills were involved in the Seer program during the first few years of the game, and I assume the link came from there. Anyway, I do recall that at the time, it was intended to be a definitive historical background and time line for UO. I haven't read it thoroughly in years, but I don't think it discusses the passage of time specifically in there. When I came back to UO last year, I found it on a disc, and forwarded it to SunWolf, who started posting it on the Stratics boards. I then forwarded the original zip file to Petra from Stratics, who did a great job of identifying the original author, Seer Adamantyr from Pacific.

Whether it's still considered any sort of canon, I don't know, but I don't think anything has been released that contradicts it. And it's an interesting read for those who like such things.

Dante Darkheart · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:42 pm Post subject:

I just checked out the link Cerys posted and the two links Judas just posted. Pretty interesting stuff. It looks like I have some work to do to incorporate all that into my calendar but I'll do what I can.

Cal Hurst · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:45 pm Post subject:

Oh boy, this topic again. It's really one of the things that people are going to have their own view on. Let me throw mine into the pile.

While playing for extended periods, we'll often see the day/night cycle two, three, maybe four times. I've always interpreted this as just the speed at which the world is turning. Now, ignoring basic laws of physics because it's a game (and because MAGIC.. just look at Malas...), there's no saying that your character has to age any faster than Earth. Sure, 4-6 Sosarian Days may go by in 1 Earth Day, but you're still "aging" just the same, but the measurement may be off.

For example, again, ignoring physics, let's say you spend 3 Earth years on Mercury. It takes Mercury 88 days to go around the sun once, making that, technically, one year. 365*3 = 1095 for the amount of years on Earth. Now, let's divide 1095 by 88, and we get 12.4, we'll just say 12. So, you'd technically be on Mercury for 12 "Mercury years." Now, despite the fact that the years go by quicker, this doesn't mean that you're aging any faster.

... I hope that made sense. Generally, my assumption is that the worlds in UO do not have the same rotation on its axis as Earth, nor the rotation around the sun. While "years" may pass by quicker, your body does not age faster, as a Sosarian year is significantly shorter than an Earth year.
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Molly · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 9:38 pm Post subject:

Well I started playing in 303 so if you go by cronological (1 month to 1 year) I would be 180 but I am an elf so I am still a young woman.
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Grand Duchess Molly Kaldhel
Oracle of Truth
The House Gauntlet
Sanctus, Luna, Malas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXoGDbJ5nLU
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