Uses for blank books

So... there were blank books in UO that really had no use to them. You could write in them and all for notes and stuff but what good is that when you got paper in real life. Or an automatic journal like in ultima 9. Ive heard rumors that if you type up a novel enough times or something in UO that it will start appearing in random places in game. I remember you could duplicate written books in UO with inscription. Im mainly hoping for non-magery uses for these books I think becoming an in-game author could be interesting. One player told me they wanted to start a library or something in UO, sort of like a rune library but with just random written stories and stuff on shelves. Problem is, public wouldn't have access since the public cannot read locked down books. Another problem with this was there was no way to make a book "read only" for other players. This idea came to mind when I saw the book shelf being moved in the house decorating video. I just looked at the bookshelf and all the books on it and thought "hmm so what is the purpose of all those books in this game?? Anyone got any ideas to throw in on how blank books could be put to good use in SOTA?

 

There's a couple threads where people want to be able to write in and lock the content of books, but still allow others to read them. I think it'll make it into the game at some point.

 

Personally I thought a personal notebook was convenient. Sure you can use a pad of paper but that takes up physical space.

There was a good discussion about books and publishing but I think it was in the dev+ areas. Blank books could be used for.. anything a book could be used for. The real question is how said books could be distributed and details surrounding the writing and editing of those books.

 

We also talked about adding images as well as text to them. Of course, you always have to look out for wieners.

 

and maps.. don't forget maps. (was part of the adding images).

 

They added the ability to read locked down books in UO pretty early on. Both in containers and the open. They also eventually added that plant item that let you seal books so the content became uneditable. I ran the biggest player run library on Oceania at one point so these features we pretty important to me.
As for their usefulness it comes down to player creativity. We often saw them used for player run events, particularly treasure hunts. We even had a reference circle/riddle quest built into the library. There's a riddle that points to a specific book which gives you a clue somewhere in it (without telling you it's a clue) that leads to another book that leads to another book and has you explore in a circle around the library looking for a keyword our barkeeper NPC (who wasn't a barkeeper, he was named the curator) would respond to and give you the coordinates to a second vendor we ran out of a different house hidden in the woods that sold all the same stuff as our main vendor at a discounted price (Our big sellers were recall scrolls, runebooks, spellbooks and potion kegs). You also regularly saw people using them as signs with extra directions. I had a friend who ran a rares museum that used them as plaques. Other used freely editable ones as in game bulletin boards for their guilds. Even just as they were they had a lot of potential to the player community.
Not that I wouldn't like to see them be even more functional.

 

Sad. =( I thought I brought up a new topic.

 

I thought it was a good thread! I plan on using blank books if they are available to scatter clues into the game world concerning a riddle.... The first one who comes to me with all the books and the answer to the riddle will get a prize!

Don't know what it is yet, but it will be fun!

 

Were player run libraries all about finding a player made easter egg? Or did any involve being mainly an outlet for a person's creative storytelling to other players?

 

I Think During A Dev Chat, It Was Said That Players Will Be Able To Write Short Stories, Poems And Novels.. Then Publish Them In Game. I Suppose That May Mean Those Books Would Randomly Appear On Bookshelves. It Was Also Mentioned That Players Could Paint And Create Their Own Artwork For Sale In Game. Meta-cool!

 

What if they paint pictures of cars, busses, trains, spaceships, and robots??

 

The latter. The prior was just an extra we worked in for the fun of it. It involved like 8 books out of 230, and only one of those books made it clear it was actually a clue book rather then a work of fiction.

 

Our Avatars Are From Earth, After All.

 

That final feature was a stretch goal we never reached and didn't make the cut for episode 1.

 

Bummer.

 

every world needs its fantasy

 

Anyone ever sell their in-game typed up stories for in game gold in UO?

 

The Best use for a blank book is to fill it with useful info!

 

Insults, dirty limericks, fictitious rumors and fabricated secrets..."signed" by persons other than the actual author.

Auto-biographies that may or may not be "Auto"...

 

Yep a couple. Mostly sold transcripts of books from earlier ultima games though. Lyrics for song parodies sold well too.