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Vendor search is a broken feature in active need of repair.

Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
edited October 13 in General Discussions
I'm prepared to accept a certain amount of jank, but as far as I can tell this feature is almost completely non-functional. You can search for things using text strings, but once you start using any of the buttons to try to home in on anything specific, there's almost a zero percent chance of getting any results.

You can sort of get it to work, sometimes, if you attach as long a text string as possible. IE, searching the string "platemail tunic" while checking some properties might get a result, whereas checking "chest armor" but not including any string would not.

Other times it works better with no string at all. Searching a set of properties plus the word "ring" fails, but removing the text and letting it search every item in the game with those properties might work. Or it might not, who knows?

This kind of crap is completely unacceptable in a product people pay for. Freeshards would be embarrassed by this performance. This is a significant game feature that is completely borked and there doesn't seem to be any urgency to fix it.

Either fix this trash or admit you lack the competence and just yank it. It's comical having this whole complex array of buttons and crap that don't actually do anything useful. I'm trying to upgrade my suit and it's just impossible, the functionality I'm getting is insulting as someone who pays money for this game.
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Comments

  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    edited October 13
    Search 15 HCI. 15 DCI, +20 bushido. Get results. Search the exact same thing but swap the bushido out for LRC, search takes too long to complete. There's just no logic to this trash whatsoever. I guess I'm off to mouse through jewelry vendors by hand, this piece of crap game doesn't actually have a vendor search feature.
  • Arnold7Arnold7 Posts: 1,413
    Believe EC vendor search drop down menu allows you to search on all three of those parameters without typing anything into the vendor search text box.  Think UO limited vendor search text box strings to just three terms.  For your type of search I usually use the drop down menu.  Agree vender search rarely works consistently two days in a row, but generally find using the drop-down menu to work pretty well for this kind of search.

  • MerlinMerlin Posts: 230
    I use Vendor Search dozens of times each day (sometimes hundreds!) - and I simply do not experience any of the problems of the OP.  Yeah, sure - there are days the queries run very slowly and will timeout without producing results, but those issues are usually temporary and resolve themselves within an hour or so. 

    Vendor Search was a huge game changer and was one of the best updates made to UO in recent history.  It changed the economy for everyone's benefit.  The suggestion that it be 'yanked' is an absurdity. 
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    edited October 14
    As far as I can tell, the only searches for armor and jewelry that actually go through are those that are only searching for one stat. As soon as you add any second stat, it will fail 100% of the time. Unless one of the properties is a skill bonus, in which case it will suddenly go through no matter how many other properties you search. This has been consistent over the course of several days.

    This is complete garbage. Entire categories of equipment are totally unsearchable unless you filter for only one stat and then mouse over a hundred items to seek your other criteria manually. This should be considered a minor emergency. Instead it's just sort of a given that this game is quasi-abandoned and will pretty much never be fixed.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    edited October 14
    Seriously, anyone else on Atlantic go try to search... say...

    • Equipment: Ring
    • DCI any amount
    • HCI any amount
    • DI any amount

    And tell me whether it goes through or not. This times out 100% of the time for me.

  • KroDuKKroDuK Posts: 402
    edited October 14
    Merlin said:
    I use Vendor Search dozens of times each day (sometimes hundreds!) - and I simply do not experience any of the problems of the OP...
    Personally I've experience some hiccup and wtf moment... but try for example to go on ATL and search for good 30% talisman.. the only 30% talisman showing off; the vendor need to type it in text 30% in the description..

    If u try to do very specific research using the in game tool; i can understand the OP problem.
    So rather than recognise the effort the botters went to, to set all that up - for the benefit of the players, to help get certain items, something you could never be bothered to do, you would rather drag people backwards to your neanderthal world?
    -UO official forums, brought to you by BoardSword studio
  • Victim_Of_SiegeVictim_Of_Siege Posts: 2,102
    edited October 14
    Seriously, anyone else on Atlantic go try to search... say...

    • Equipment: Ring
    • DCI any amount
    • HCI any amount
    • DI any amount

    And tell me whether it goes through or not. This times out 100% of the time for me.

    Yep pretty much this. Tried 10 times searching this and then i add Swordsmanhip and it instantly pops up. Definitely some type of issue with this.


    A Goblin, a Gargoyle, and a Drow walk into a bar . . .

    Never be afraid to challenge the status quo

  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    Yeah it's busted, it's screwed, it's non-functional. This isn't some trifling bug they can keep ignoring for eternity, this is a significant game system that just does not work.
  • Arnold7Arnold7 Posts: 1,413
    edited October 14
    On your search, UO does not look for 15 HCI.  It searches first for every 15 regardless of what letters precede or follow it.  Then it does the same thing for letter grouping HCL.  It does that for every letter or number grouping in your search string.  It’s a non intelligent primitive way of searching that is probably all that was available in the 90’s.  The drop down search menu in EC has the capability of limiting its search to 15 HCI.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    edited October 14
    Bro I'm not typing "15 HCI 15 DCI 20 DI" into the text box. I'm using the buttons. Also the guy above us just got the same negative result using the EC. Seriously WTF are you talking about?
  • Victim_Of_SiegeVictim_Of_Siege Posts: 2,102
    Arnold7 said:
    On your search, UO does not look for 15 HCI.  It searches first for every 15 regardless of what letters precede or follow it.  Then it does the same thing for letter grouping HCL.  It does that for every letter or number grouping in your search string.  It’s a non intelligent primitive way of searching that is probably all that was available in the 90’s.  The drop down search menu in EC has the capability of limiting its search to 15 HCI.
    i also put nothing so it would show 0 in the search box (as in 0 dci) Same results. Nothing showed until I put a skill. There is definitely an issue 
    A Goblin, a Gargoyle, and a Drow walk into a bar . . .

    Never be afraid to challenge the status quo

  • Arnold7Arnold7 Posts: 1,413
    Victim_Of_Siege just tried this search just like you have your’s setup except without the weapon skill on GL and it worked just fine.  Either they fixed it, or it’s simply one of the game’s quirks.  It worked without the word ring too.  If I typed in the word ring it also brought up splintering weapons.  I also tried using lower reagent cost instead of damage increase without the word ring, and it brought up rings and bracelets that met the criteria.  Really odd it works here but not there, but that is UO.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    Yeah I hopped over to another shard and everything works okay there, presumably because the database of indexed items is so much smaller everywhere but Atlantic. It's possible that if searches were allowed to go on for longer before timing out, things would work on Atlantic too. It's also possible that if searches were allowed to grind on for ten minutes each, the volume of them would collapse the system. Who knows?

    All I know is that this is a fat sack of crap. All I want is to search for gear using the game's interface for doing exactly that, but I'm not playing a professional piece of commercial software or anything. If I were playing one of those, the game's primary economic interface being utterly broken on its largest server would be a low-key emergency worthy of ramming through a fix for.

    No, I'm playing Ultima Online, a semi-abandoned game with like maybe two actual programmers left. So I'm going to have to stink up the forum more or less indefinitely waiting for someone to eventually notice, hope they even possess the technical capacity to fix the problem at all, and then wait god knows how long for them to get around to it.

    I miss search sites. At least they worked.
  • McDougleMcDougle Posts: 4,080
    Lord_Nythrax said:
    Yeah I hopped over to another shard and everything works okay there, presumably because the database of indexed items is so much smaller everywhere but Atlantic. It's possible that if searches were allowed to go on for longer before timing out, things would work on Atlantic too. It's also possible that if searches were allowed to grind on for ten minutes each, the volume of them would collapse the system. Who knows?

    All I know is that this is a fat sack of crap. All I want is to search for gear using the game's interface for doing exactly that, but I'm not playing a professional piece of commercial software or anything. If I were playing one of those, the game's primary economic interface being utterly broken on its largest server would be a low-key emergency worthy of ramming through a fix for.

    No, I'm playing Ultima Online, a semi-abandoned game with like maybe two actual programmers left. So I'm going to have to stink up the forum more or less indefinitely waiting for someone to eventually notice, hope they even possess the technical capacity to fix the problem at all, and then wait god knows how long for them to get around to it.

    I miss search sites. At least they worked.
    Can you mention Halloween contest winners every time you post 
    Acknowledgment and accountability go a long way... 
  • Victim_Of_SiegeVictim_Of_Siege Posts: 2,102
    Arnold7 said:
    Victim_Of_Siege just tried this search just like you have your’s setup except without the weapon skill on GL and it worked just fine.  Either they fixed it, or it’s simply one of the game’s quirks.  It worked without the word ring too.  If I typed in the word ring it also brought up splintering weapons.  I also tried using lower reagent cost instead of damage increase without the word ring, and it brought up rings and bracelets that met the criteria.  Really odd it works here but not there, but that is UO.
    It works fine everywhere except Atlantic. I'm assuming it's due to the large inventory of items for sale on Atlantic, making the Database time out as @Lord_Nythrax stated. It's just odd that searching it just as they stated it fails, but adding that skill quickly fixes it, likely due to there being less items with a skill but who knows.

    Lord_Nythrax said:
    *snip* It's possible that if searches were allowed to go on for longer before timing out, things would work on Atlantic too. *snip*

    I do know that the search continues on past the point that you get the "failure message" Many times on Atlantic I have gotten the timeout message and then 2-5 minutes later i get the results i was searching for. so it last's longer than what it appears to, but not long enough to find that search you put in. at this point I'll just "It's Atlantic" and wait for the Devs to figure it out.
    A Goblin, a Gargoyle, and a Drow walk into a bar . . .

    Never be afraid to challenge the status quo

  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    Victim_Of_Siege said:

    at this point I'll just "It's Atlantic" and wait for the Devs to figure it out.

    Not me, I'm the crankiest of forum cranks. I'm going to fart up the board about this until the team acknowledges that the game's primary tool for economic engagement is totally borked on its largest server, and tells us that they're planning to fix it with the high priority such a problem deserves.

    I'm waiting to upgrade my gear, devs, make your game work.

    Also give the Halloween contest winners some prizes already. Like a pumpkin that says "God whatever, just stop bothering me!" when you click on it. That'd be fun.
  • KroDuKKroDuK Posts: 402
    edited October 15
    I miss search sites. At least they worked.
    I don't.. how many time I spotted something good that was already sold (the site was refreshing every 4-6 hours) or bug items that would have been sold months ago.

    It was brit bank, luna square or advertise vendor for me, mostly.

    The site was good to know the value of things, more than anything, imo.


    PS: for your last message.. I totally feel you but.. this is "the" day.. the dev team of 2 been very busy on NL.. but yeah.. even ATL with NL release going to be on ice for a couple of weeks/months... years? -.-
    Your timing couldn't be worse.. the best we gonna have in 2024 on prod. is what a GM can do.. like vaping NPC's
    So rather than recognise the effort the botters went to, to set all that up - for the benefit of the players, to help get certain items, something you could never be bothered to do, you would rather drag people backwards to your neanderthal world?
    -UO official forums, brought to you by BoardSword studio
  • UrgeUrge Posts: 1,276
    I can confirm the VS for this specific search is broken. 

    Even adding SS it timed out multiple times before i gave up and went about my day. 

    Also confirm it's blazing fast on Origin.

    Conclusion: VS cannot handle the sheer amount of sh!t for sale on Atlantic. 
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    edited October 15
    KroDuK said:

    Your timing couldn't be worse..

    True enough, but now that they've given in on "let us use a real client" I have a lot of forum crank energy that's suddenly been freed up.
  • Victim_Of_SiegeVictim_Of_Siege Posts: 2,102
    Lord_Nythrax said:
    Victim_Of_Siege said:

    at this point I'll just "It's Atlantic" and wait for the Devs to figure it out.

    Not me, I'm the crankiest of forum cranks. I'm going to fart up the board about this until the team acknowledges that the game's primary tool for economic engagement is totally borked on its largest server, and tells us that they're planning to fix it with the high priority such a problem deserves.

    I'm waiting to upgrade my gear, devs, make your game work.

    Also give the Halloween contest winners some prizes already. Like a pumpkin that says "God whatever, just stop bothering me!" when you click on it. That'd be fun.
    I get it, and support you in this endeavor. it is an issue that needs addressed.
    A Goblin, a Gargoyle, and a Drow walk into a bar . . .

    Never be afraid to challenge the status quo

  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    I have a feeling the back end of this feature is a total amateur trainwreck. Like if you search "120 resist" in the search box, it'll return a bunch of items that all have... say... 120 luck and at least one elemental resist. Meaning that when you put something in that box, it's searching the entire body of text for every single item looking for a match, not just the names.

    Why on earth would you design it to work that way? The text box is even labeled "item name" so why would there even be an expectation that it would scan beyond the name? If someone wants to search for specific properties that's what the buttons are for. Imagine how much extra work this represents, going through every bit of text on every item.

    It gets even better. Once you scroll through enough random tunics and stuff on your "120 resist" search and hit "search for higher priced items" it times out, presumably because it now has to search for multiple properties, both the text string and the price. You'd think searching within a specific price range would narrow things down.

    Dude I'll bet the entire database is just a big undifferentiated text file or something.
  • KroDuKKroDuK Posts: 402
    edited October 15
    Are were going after Boardsword studio bad design?

                                        

    So rather than recognise the effort the botters went to, to set all that up - for the benefit of the players, to help get certain items, something you could never be bothered to do, you would rather drag people backwards to your neanderthal world?
    -UO official forums, brought to you by BoardSword studio
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    If they can't optimize their way out of this mess, they should just let it run longer. Have it throw up a minimized notification when it pops, which you can open to see the results. That way you can do other things while you wait without being suddenly blinded when the window pops up.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    So anyway, it's still impossible to meaningfully search for jewelry or equipment on the game's most populated server. Maybe someone should look into that.
  • A_ScribeA_Scribe Posts: 28
    I can't even do simple 1 word searches on VS currently. I know the dev team is busy with NL and the new live event launch, but VS needs some love soon.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    Yeah this isn't just "it's a little slow if you search too many properties" or "it times out now and then at peak times" or something. It's totally borked. People effectively can't shop jewelry or armor on Atlantic.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    edited October 25
    Hey so me and other friends of mine need to buy armor and jewelry, and the game's primary economic feature is just totally broken on its largest server. Hello? Has anyone involved with this derelict game noticed?

  • marcmarc Posts: 11
    At least for the commodities and items that stack in general there should be a central exchange. It takes an absurd amount of time to search simple ingredients. A 16th century Italian merchant had an easier time buying commodities than i am in this game. A central exchange with bids and offers for non unique items should not be too diffucult even with the resources this game has.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    Since there aren't search sites indexing Luna anymore and vendor search is broken on Atlantic, we're actually worse off in terms of shopping for armor and jewelry than we were before they added anything at all.
  • Lord_NythraxLord_Nythrax Posts: 404
    Just stinking up the forum some more because both myself and a friend of mine are trying to overhaul suits and it's a complete nightmare trying to make this thing work.
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