Is this the right shard for me?

[Kalvasflam]

Hi there,

I have played Ultima Online for about 10 years - more or less. Starting out on Drachenfels, then moving to Europa, switching to Freeshard Defiance, and finally moving back to Europa. In 2008 I quit because I somehow got burned out and wanted to try some of those shiny new MMOs out there.

Well, I tried WoW, Warhammer, LotRO, Runes of Magic, Archeage Online, Mortal Online, FF XIV, TERA etc. And although spending some time in WoW, they all were a great disappointment! They all felt like shallow games with no substance! Each one of them pales in comparison to UO (even to EAs UO as it is nowadays!). Well perhaps with the exception of Wurm Online, which is quite nice. But it also lacks certain mechanics I loved in UO.

So, to cut it short: I miss UO! I really really really miss it! And before wasting another single minute with modern wannabe MMOs, I plan to return to UO.

By accident I stumbled about this shard. Would anyone please answer some of my questions?

- Where is the server located (as I am from Germany, I would have a hard time logging to an US-Server)?
- As I have not played UO for about 7 years, can anyone please point out the main differences between T2A and Renaissance?
- What custom items etc. does this shard feature? (are there certain powerful items sold by Cash Shop etc.?)
- How does this shard differs in comparison to UO Gamers or UO Evolution?

What is the population of this server? I think the biggest one would be UO Gamers, right?

Thank you very much!

And what about t

[Drunk'n Disorder]

Yes, this is the right shard for you. Although I'm a little biased...

I'll let someone else cover all your questions except for the connection one. The server is located in Texas and I connect to it from Japan. My connection quality is pretty good and consistent. On rare occasions the lag is something that seriously affects my game play, but most the time i'm good to go.

[Rothbart]

Hello, i am also new to the shard. Used to play on Europa and quit shortly after mondain's Legacy. I'll try to answer your questions.

-afaik server is located in the US but being from europe myself i have a pretty good ping and no lag at all. Actually it's much better than other freeshards out there.

-The main difference is that with Renaissance they introduced the new facet, Trammel. There is only Fel here.
Other differences are that there are no bulk order deeds, some of the housing options like small tower and marble patio are missing. There is house looting, weapon cycling, colored armors give no extra armor, you can have unlimited followers (no pet slots) and a few other things..

-There is 0 custom content on this shard. This is as closer to OSI as it gets.

-Dunno about UO Evolution, never checked it out but hybrid is a custom shard based on Ren era.

[Rothbart]

Also this shard appears to be the only one that had the balls to not remove magic jewlery!!!

[Galendae]

Hi there,


- What custom items etc. does this shard feature? (are there certain powerful items sold by Cash Shop etc.

What is the population of this server? I think the biggest one would be UO Gamers, right?

Thank you very much!

And what about t

No cash needed. No freebies given. Can't buy anything. You have to earn it.

Population is constantly in flux, we are in a down trend, but plenty of action if you want it.

This is as close to the UO you remember from back in the day.

[Boomland Jenkins]

Hi and welcome to the UOSA community, I hope you'll give us a try. UOSA has over 7 years of history in itself and there's no plans on us stopping.

If you're looking for a "true" UO experience, this is one of the few options out there. We aren't 100% accurate (nor do we claim to be) to the OSI t2a era but we're as close as they come. If you want to play Ultima Online "like it never was" - there are many shards out there that create their own content. I won't say who they are, but they are easy to find.

I will let the players do the talking from here though

[killaboy]

Lets see...

We have a decent amount of PvPers and a decent amount of PvMers.
PVP guilds- TG, FoN, PEE, N-F, D-M, EnD,NIP etc...
PVM guilds- NEW, LAW, <EX, etc...

Keep an eye out for PK's! You may think you're safe but you never know, so always have an escape plan.

Plenty of friendly, nice, and helping people out there you just gotta find em or maybe they'll find you. We have players who do gold payment plans for housing so you don't have to spend all of your gold in one shot.

Take a look around the forums and check out the rules. Anyways hope to see you around good luck with your adventures and if you need anything feel free to ask.

-Ursulaa

[VideoMonkey]

I too am fairly new to the shard and love it!

The main thing you will find here is a more "true" UO experience.

So many other free shards ruin (in my opinion) their shards with "Pay to win" donation shops. Super fast leveling and custom items/monsters that never existed.

If you want to play the game you used to love then this is the right place for you.

There are also lots of players who are happy to help you get started.

Post in this thread and Ashborn will help you with some starting items:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=38059

Good luck!

[morgan1109]

Our guild has quite a few European, Middle East, and Aussie players. I feel being US based, I am in the minority some days. You shouldn’t have to worry about ping at all from Europe.

The shard was based on a specific point in time, and they adhere to that time stamp pretty tightly. They let a few things in after, for ease of play but very little. It’s as close as I could find to my original UO experience by a long shot.

There’s nothing free, and there’s nothing outside the normal UO experience for the most part. You can store and buy gobs of silver to get a unique decorative item for you house, but’s that’s about the only thing you can “buy” that you won’t find on an OSI shard. They really have no game play value just bragging rights, heh heh.

Even though there is nothing free, there are lots of people looking to help out new people. As mentioned above people rent-to-own on a house to help you get started. People like me will happily outfit you and toss some cash your way to ease the suffering (this game is very unforgiving on beginners). My IRC handle is “eomin”, look me up and I’ll find something to give you, heh heh. Speaking of IRC it’s a good place to ask questions. Just let people know you are new and they’ll help out (in between to fart and epeen references). If you type “/nick [eomin]” without the brackets it will change your qweb name to eomin so people can identify you much more easily. Ash usually beats me to the punch when it comes to giving stuff away, grumble grumble. Stupid 9-5 job and kids Don't be afraid to look ashborn up though. he's a great guy and he'll help you out. Worst case scenario is he gives you a lot of good advice.

The population stands between 150-200 during peak hours most days. There’s enough people to meet and hang out with, but not enough that you have trouble hunting. Most shards I’ve seen have a much lower population. You need a decent headcount for any MMO. The whole point is interaction.

If you want some PVP hit the brit GY (yes it is still the place to get attacked for some reason). If you want to get PK’d hit the Lich Lord. Someone will be along in 15-30 minutes to oblige/loot you. If you want to become a merchant find someone with a vendor house near the Yew Bank and make nice. If you want to make a thief, Britain Bank is still the grifter spot of choice.

There are tons of guides here to get you started right. Always macro your stats first for a couple hours, then skills. Mainly so you can survive in the world. Do some searches. I prefer the macroing a bard in moonglow (and starting a resource gatherer) approach. Bards are cheap, fast, and easy to build plus they are powerful early. Resource gathering is a good way to earn a few gold during the first days of boring macroing. Starting a fighter at a GY (not Brit) with your third account if you need to beat on stuff with little risk while your earner is macroing.

Lastly don’t feel like you need to be a 5X GM to leave town. If you took my advice and macro’d up some stats first, you can survive a lot of places with your skills in the 60’s and 70’s. I was macing elemental’s in shame with no skills above 70 except herding (for strength), heh heh. I needed healing and anatomy in the 60’s so I could cure poison, but the only other thing I needed was obstacles to stop them which Shame has a lot of. Related to that, Bards GM music in a couple hours and a night of macroing provo will have it in the 80ish area. That gives a (100+80)/2 = 90% chance to provoke something. That’s good enough to start farming Dragon’s and drakes in destard (if you like running into the occasional PK). Don’t be afraid to take a break from macroing for some fun here and there. It’ll make the first few days a little more tolerable.

[Kalvasflam]

Just wanted to thank all of you for your efforts! Very much appreciated!

I started playing on Saturday, and so far I love it! Although I do miss certain house types and brit bank could be more crowded!

Nearly cried after creating a new char and seeing brit bank for the first time in 7 years... Feels like I'm home!

Best game ever!

[Capitalist]

An Ex Por

[Narcissic]

Related to that, Bards GM music in a couple hours and a night of macroing provo will have it in the 80ish area. That gives a (100+80)/2 = 90% chance to provoke something. That’s good enough to start farming Dragon’s and drakes in destard (if you like running into the occasional PK).

I'd like to note that this formula is incorrect. Provocation first checks your musicianship skill for success. At 100 music, you always succeed. It then checks your provocation for success. At 80 provoke, you have an 80% chance to succeed.

To prove this, test it on a character with 100 music and 0 provoke. If you use that formula, you should have a 50% chance to succeed. This is not the case. You will fail every time.
Try it with 50 provoke, and you will succeed 50% of the time.

[morgan1109]

Doh! Thank you for the correction.

[Kalvasflam]

Farming Dragons in Destard? Yeah, why not!

Everytime I get back to UO and start from the scratch I always start with farming Earth Ellies in Shame. Once the char gets stronger I usually move to Wind (?) for farming Lich Lords. But I can imagine farming Dragons could be much more efficient. And btw: I never made a provoker till now.

Good idea! Thank you!

[morgan1109]

Shame is actually a fun spot for a provoker. get down low and find a poison elemental and make him your personal pet by having it attack everything on that level. Make sure you have gold on your scavenger so you don't have to stop and pick it up. The second the poison ele doesn't have anything to attack it will turn on you. That's why you don't want to waste time picking up gold

My favorite place for a provoker (moneywise) is the fire temple. Lot's of great loot. You need to be GM hide, or good enough to cast Invis 100% of the time. You'll need to hide in between provokes because some stuff there likes blue meat even more than a fight. They will still come after you even if provoked. Hide/Invis gets their attention back on mob they are supposed to be attacking.