Is this the game I've been looking for?

[Sterling]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

If it is, here's some questions!

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?

 

[MalagAste]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

If it is, here's some questions!

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?

There is an enormous amount of skills available along with crafting, fishing, Treasure hunting, and Role-play.

Death Penalties..... well if you kill too many folk you turn red and can't leave Fel unless you play on Siege then it's PvP most everywhere all the time. If you die too often you lose too much gold your stuff becomes uninsured and you lose it. As far as death penalties unless you are in factions you do NOT suffer any skill or stat loss. There are many carebears and most of us do not necessarily like that term. Mind how you use it.

Monthy depends on how you want to pay for your account. If you pay by the month with a 30day game time card or monthly bill to your CC then it runs about 12.99 a month depending on where you live... and you may or may not have to pay taxes on that.... if you pay by 3months with a 90 day gametime card or by CC then it runs about 32 per account.... If you decide to bill every 6 months is about 9.99 a month and you can pay by CC.

End Game would depend on the template you roll with...... how well you learn the game... I will say it has a rather high learning curve since NOTHING is spelled out for you... You'll need to frequent this website and others to learn WTH is going on...... where to find things.... how to get gold... about your bank box, housing, storage, getting and building a character template.... ect... Since there really isn't a new player questing system or anything available. Or if you are lucky you run into some good folk in game willing to take the time to show you the ropes and help you out.


Player Base is rather dependent on what shard you chose to play on...... Atlantic is rather populated but then housing is harder to come by.... Great Lakes is a mid level shard where housing is more plentiful but finding a lot of folk on can sometimes be a challenge if all you are looking to do is PvP.

Hope that helps.

 

[Berethrain]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

If it is, here's some questions!

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?

1. Yes

2. No death penalties unless in factions. They took out the murderer/red penalties a long time ago. Carebear side is pretty accurate. You lose nothing except for maybe a few bandages for healing and potions for cure/heal etc.

3. 12.99 per month.

4. Skills aren't had to train. End game will cost gold though. It takes gold to buy the scrolls to cap your skills, for magery as much as 20 million gold. The amount of time to bring a skill set to 120 points can vary from a day to several days depending how much time you can dedicate.

5. Atlantic has the highest playerbase, few are medium population, rest are little - dead. However most shards have a good group of people willing to help a new player start and get them gear etc.

 

[Prawn]

Sign on for a trial and run around Atlantic, if you've had fun with all the carebear sights and sounds... renounce your young player status and check our felucca (where the pvp is)

Game is definitely worth a month of trying... if it isnt right for you move on.

 

[AirmidCecht]

Yes wide variety of skills, huge variety in fact.
death penalty is not what it used to be and with insurance never will be again but still has challenging aspects like getting back to your corpse for uninsured items
this is UO, there is no end game. that part you need to get down like a mantra. max skills don't take long at all but its what you do with those skills and building the best suits for those skills that keeps you going
straight pvp needs population. go Atlantic. For a REAL Felucca (there is no trammel, so its open world pvp style but not a 'pvp' shard) experience go Siege.

 

[dupapa]

renounce your young player status and come to one of the only two "NON" carebear shards, Siege Perlious!,

where you can be killed anywhere, and there is no insurance. also some templates that are not so viable (crafters) on other shards are worth their weight.

imo all other shards cater to 5 year old's in terms of holding their hand. i was just about to quit uo again as i got bored of the no risk factor, i stopped by siege and hell have never looked back.

plus the community on Siege is top notch!!

 

[DJAd]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

If it is, here's some questions!

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?

1. Yes! Loads of skills. From animal taming to ninja!

2. If you die or get killed you will loose some money from insurance. (Unless your hardcore and playing Siege). You will also loose "fame". Not really a big thing though.

3. $12.99 a month (maybe cheaper if you buy like 6 or 12 months in one go).

4. Depends on what skills you are training. If you mean item wise, the high end stuff can be bought from other players etc. Armour etc you can buy or make yourself also.

5. A lot of shards have seen a declining playerbase. Atlantic seems to be the busy shard.

 

[Warpig Inc]

You would have to play for many years before you could even pass off the lie of knowing everything/done everything that is UO. If you think after a year you can be/have everything a 10+ year vat has. You'll end up sitting on floor banging your heels on floor having a fit. If you can't enjoy hours of mining or fishing and just looking for increased heart rate in PVP, you're not getting your moneys worth. We "Grumpy Ol' Vets" relive our younger days through new players. You could find the right mentor that wont suck the fun out of the game. Better finding a group of other new players and exploring the game together.

Best way to enjoy UO is to just play the game and use General Chat for ingame spoilers. Avoid cheets, shortcuts and info sights and just experience UO as a micro world. Dropped in a new land with it's own language, economy and culture. Best way UO is described is their is no endgame. Don't try to outdue the next player and just fill your time with what you find fun.

 

[Wolfman]

1. Yes! Loads of skills. From animal taming to ninja!

2. If you die or get killed you will loose some money from insurance. (Unless your hardcore and playing Siege). You will also loose "fame". Not really a big thing though.

3. $12.99 a month (maybe cheaper if you buy like 6 or 12 months in one go).

4. Depends on what skills you are training. If you mean item wise, the high end stuff can be bought from other players etc. Armour etc you can buy or make yourself also.

5. A lot of shards have seen a declining playerbase. Atlantic seems to be the busy shard.

If you come to Siege you CAN be looted by the player that killed you (or anyone else in which case he/she becomes criminal) or the monsters (happens at certain spawns very frequently). If you kill the mobs (without your equipment kinda hard sometimes) you can loot your stuff back. If a player kills you, you can either try to buy back your stuff or just reequip. Noone must loot you and in your early stages noone will realy loot you, since your items will not be worth it (maybe a killer will take a token item).
I have tried many other games, but I have been playing UO now for 15 years and still enjoy it every day! This game is everythng other games stife for.

P.S.: The playerbase is only a slight fraction of what it used to be, but if you join up it is +1 in the right direction!

 

[Orgional Farimir]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

If it is, here's some questions!

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?

There are more skills in this game than in any game I know

Sadly there are no "death penalties" like there use to be, but on the bright side that can cause longer fights. It use to be fights would last 20-30 mins because one everyone died they had to go get regs/armor/weapons/bandages and so on. Now because of insurance I have been involved in 3-4 hour fights because people keep their armor and weapons when they die and the can loot everything else they need.

Other people have answered this, but it costs $12.99 + tax per month, unless you buy in advance then you get a discount.

In UO there really is no "end game". But to be able to PvP you can have a mage ready in a few days if you get help with the scrolls and suit.

Sadly the playerbase, even more with the PvPers, is pretty small. I am seeing a few vets come back and even some new players trying the game out so I am hopefully the player base will start to increase. The PvP player base is a small overall percentage, but play multiple shards. Personally the guild I am in we play 3 shards. Our home shard is Great Lakes, our secondary shard is Atlantic, and our third shard is Lake Supperior. Usually between the 3 we can find some constant PvP.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I will attempt to answer as objectively as I can.

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?
Yes. And no class system.

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?
In most instances, the penalties for death are monetary (if you use a mechanic called insurance, which most use, to keep most but not all of your stuff when you die) and inconvenience (you have to get back to your corpse to retrieve some items, sometimes getting back to full health is difficult in the middle of a fight, sometimes you can't get back to your corpse and thus cannot return to full effectiveness, etc.).

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!
If you pay 6 months in advance costs like $10 or so. If you pay month to month it's like in the $12 or $13 range.

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly?
Oh definitely not. Exactly how quick you advance depends on many factors.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?
We don't know numbers, but have no obvious indication it's unhealthily low, regardless of what you read here. If you want hard core PvP, however, and you've been explicit that you do, be aware that PvP has always been a niche market in UO. The only reason it didn't look like it was for the first year or year and a half or however long it was, was that you didn't have a choice. As soon as people had a choice, they took the non-PvP route and never looked back. Having said that, other PvP-oriented games such as Darkfall or Shadowbane tend to fail or disappoint, so people end up back here. The current US-based shard most PvPers wind up on is Atlantic, for sheer size.

-Galen's player

 

[Schatzi]

@Op
Out of curiosity how did you hear about us?

 

[Picus at the office]

Playing and PvPing since 1998, there is no better game.

 

[Orgional Farimir]

Of course coming to a UO forum and asking if UO is a good game is kind of like going to an AA meeting and asking the people there if they like beer

 

[MalagAste]

Of course coming to a UO forum and asking if UO is a good game is kind of like going to an AA meeting and asking the people there if they like beer

LOL Too true! But in my opinion there is no other game out there that even comes CLOSE to UO. The depth of play on UO is WAY better than any other game. Maybe because it's 15 years in the making but I think it had more depth from day one than anything else since. Other games may have all the pretty pixels but UO really has what counts... NO Leveling..... NO preset paths..... NO endgame.... It is what YOU make it. It has TRUE community.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

If it is, here's some questions!

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.?

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side?

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere!

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase?

1) HUGE variety of skills/spells and crafting. IMO no other game can even come close to the depth UO provides in any of these area`s.

2) Hardly any death penalties outside of factions. With insurance you even get all your stuff back when you get resurrected so one can be very lazy and not have to go back to their corpse to retrieve their belongings.

3) 12.99 a month but runs cheaper if ya buy in 6 month or a year increments. Think its $10 if ya buy a year ata time.

4) There is no end game. If there were,we wouldn`t have 15 year vets that`s played since it began.

5) If a high playerbase is your style than Atlantic all the way.

UO has a high learning curve,so give it time and it will consume you. Try it,give it an honest chance and you will be very impressed in the depth this game provides. Also you have a choice of clients. I HIGHLY suggest using the Enhanced Client and than google Pinco`s and install that UI/Add on. The other client is the original thats been around since 97. Its good,but will not give a new player a very good experience,especially when new players are used to WoW/DAoC type UI`s.

 

[FrejaSP]

To start on Siege Perilous, you need to logon on a normal first and cancel your young status. Just say “I renounce my young player status”, after that, you can see Siege on the shard list.

On Siege, you may find alot of, what you are looking for, open PvP, crafters, roleplayers, PK's, thieves, resource farmers, tamers, treasure hunters, pirates, you can be anything you want.

You are not limit of levels and classes.

UO is an old game, so it have 15 years of context, it will take loooong time to try out it all. I have played 15 years and there is still stuff I don't know about.

Is it hardcore? I don'y know, you can get killed everywhere, some may even success it in towns and you can be stolen from everywhere.
If you die, you risk to lose anything on your body, it all depent of the killer and your reputation, If the killed dislike you, he may punishe you with heavy looting. On the other hand, if you are well known and most like you, you may get to keep most or get to buy it back cheap.

The community on Siege is very mature and even with open PvP, it's a very friendly helpful community.

Come join us

 

[Sterling]

Digging the responses; the answers, opinions, facts, and reasonings behind it all.

@Op
Out of curiosity how did you hear about us?

I've heard of "UO" and "Ultima" since 2005ish through games like WoW, Runescape, and on various forums. I've only recently taken a strong interest into hardcore MMORPGs (atleast, i just realized how interested I was) and decided to delve in deeper. Even went as far as to go on the Steam Forums and inquire about their suggestions regarding the "best" hardcore mmorpgs.

I tried Mortal Online and it's buggy as crap, and I'm contemplating giving Darkfall, this, and/or Dark Age of Camelot a shot.

 

[Orgional Farimir]

Digging the responses; the answers, opinions, facts, and reasonings behind it all.



I've heard of "UO" and "Ultima" since 2005ish through games like WoW, Runescape, and on various forums. I've only recently taken a strong interest into hardcore MMORPGs (atleast, i just realized how interested I was) and decided to delve in deeper. Even went as far as to go on the Steam Forums and inquire about their suggestions regarding the "best" hardcore mmorpgs.

I tried Mortal Online and it's buggy as crap, and I'm contemplating giving Darkfall, this, and/or Dark Age of Camelot a shot.

Well if you decide to give UO a shot and want to play on Great Lakes let me know and I will try and help you out.

 

[Lord Nabin]

I asked a similar question 15 years ago.

I play daily and am sitting at work reading stratics. Not the best example to my company but heck, It's my company.

I think that answers the questions.

Every game with a community is what you make of it. Get involved, be active, help build the community and you will have a wonderful time

Sit back and let everyone else do everything, Well its an easy way to get grumpy, disappointed, and leave.

 

[funkymonkey]

There is no better game, however you have missed the boat for this game by a good few years, and if you did start to play only play Atlantic you will get a better feel for UO.

 

[Don't Tread on Me]

If you want to be in an MMO, this is the one if you can a) get over the original learning curve -- it's rough, b) come to grips that the game was born in 1997 and still has some features/graphics, etc from that era, c) not need to "win" the game. this game is like life, you don't win, you just try to do better every day (or log in)

 

[G.v.P]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

You probably want something like Darkfall.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

Definately not Camelot. IMHO ya missed the hayday of that game as well. As far as Darkfall,I can only say alot of people who left UO for DF came straggling back to UO after some time which leads me to believe it is sub par. Mortal Online and comparative f2p mmo`s are just a grind factory WITH an endgame. People piss and moan about UO being a grind,but if half of them tried some of the true grinders out there....they would change their tune.

There are several nice games out there. Mortal is one of them,so is Soul of the Ultimate Nation and Atlantica to name just a couple I have played (along with DAoC/WoW/Warhammer and several others) All of them shared one thing. Lots of bells and whistles and eye candy until you reach a certain level and realize it is just the same thing every day. Kill X amount of those,run from this NPC quester to that one.... In the end even I come back to UO.

 

[Sterling]

You probably want something like Darkfall.

That's what I'm kind of leaning towards due to the apparent lack of death penalties and player base, though I hear Darkfall isn't doing so well in regards to the quantity of players as well.

 

[Demonous]

That's what I'm kind of leaning towards due to the apparent lack of death penalties and player base, though I hear Darkfall isn't doing so well in regards to the quantity of players as well.

i played UO for 11 years and quit last April, the game is just nothing like what it was when it came out, especially if you're looking for hardcore pvp

I played Darkfall for 3 years until it got shut down, and now im playing Darkfall Unholy Wars closed beta, which you can play if you buy it for $30 and you get the first month free when the real game comes out, true there are not a ton of players at the moment but thats because the company that makes the game is located in Greece, is small, and does not advertise too much, however, Darkfall Unholy Wars has been greenlit on Steam which i guarantee you will attract a lot more players, the actual game should be released in a month or 2

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.? There are many types of skills in the game, here are some videos to check out about DFUW http://www.darkfallonline.com/media/videos

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side? Ultima Online was hardcore at one time where u lost everything when u die, now u just insure your armor and lose a little bit of gold when u die instead. In DFUW, if u die, u lose anything you're carrying, there is a bank to keep things in for safekeeping.

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere! I believe it will be $14.99 a month

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on. There are no levels in UO or in DFUW, its all skill in both, if you max out skills in different things like 100 greataxes or 100 greatswords u kill things a lot easier, end game content like fire dragons in DFUW are very tough to kill will take a group of people, certain creatures are impossible to kill alone.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase? The playerbase in DFUW is growing, but the majority of players are rude and obnoxious, many of them played UO from 1997-1999 until the "carebear" world called Trammel was created in UO, SO a lot of the DFUW players are extreme griefers and will stop at nothing to make other players experience miserable. Personally i like people like that because i like the fact that theres a risk in everything i do, u can be mining ore peacefully and a guy comes up and starts attacking you, you die and lose all the ore, i like risk vs reward type of system.

Darkfall Unholy Wars is the Ultima Online Old School 3-D type of game i always wish had existed

I highly recommend you give it a shot and see what you think http://www.darkfallonline.com/

 

[Apetul]

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

Don't try Siege. Atlantic is the only shard you should choose.

 

[Frarc]

UO = Freedom in Everything you like to do.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

[

The playerbase in DFUW is growing, but the majority of players are rude and obnoxious, many of them played UO from 1997-1999 until the "carebear" world called Trammel was created in UO, SO a lot of the DFUW players are extreme griefers and will stop at nothing to make other players experience miserable./

Hilarious.

Sounds like an AWESOME game. I bet that will surely outlive UO.

 

[Sauteed Onion]

I 've been flooding theforums with lots of pictures and videos, I should probably stop, but I'm a glutton for shiny crap.




there's solo content, (takes time to get barrel chested and masculine enough to do some of that though), there's pvp content, there's open world everything. Steal stuff from people (needs to be looked at and reconsidered. Seriously. Maybe put a cap on the amount of crap you can insure per person I dunno). Steal stuff from monsters. Kill people. Granted the exposure to the non consensual pvp areas is almost completely optional now, the pve and other aspects of the game are entertaining enough to get involved in and still come away with meaningful game experience. Despite all the bickering and cynical remarks you may see me getting into, I was actaully quite fond of Ultima Online for a many many years. I still am. I wouldn't be such a whiney animal about it if I wasn't.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

i played UO for 11 years and quit last April, the game is just nothing like what it was when it came out, especially if you're looking for hardcore pvp

I played Darkfall for 3 years until it got shut down, and now im playing Darkfall Unholy Wars closed beta, which you can play if you buy it for $30 and you get the first month free when the real game comes out, true there are not a ton of players at the moment but thats because the company that makes the game is located in Greece, is small, and does not advertise too much, however, Darkfall Unholy Wars has been greenlit on Steam which i guarantee you will attract a lot more players, the actual game should be released in a month or 2

1) Are there a wide variety of skills, spells, crafting, etc.? There are many types of skills in the game, here are some videos to check out about DFUW http://www.darkfallonline.com/media/videos

2) What are the death penalties within the game, I heard they used to be hardcore but now are more on the care-bear side? Ultima Online was hardcore at one time where u lost everything when u die, now u just insure your armor and lose a little bit of gold when u die instead. In DFUW, if u die, u lose anything you're carrying, there is a bank to keep things in for safekeeping.

3) How much does this game cost monthly, I can't find this information anywhere! I believe it will be $14.99 a month

4) Is "end game" content achievable quickly? How long would it take for Bob to get from level 1 to the max level, or to have a substantial amount of currency going on. There are no levels in UO or in DFUW, its all skill in both, if you max out skills in different things like 100 greataxes or 100 greatswords u kill things a lot easier, end game content like fire dragons in DFUW are very tough to kill will take a group of people, certain creatures are impossible to kill alone.

5) All in all, how's the playerbase? The playerbase in DFUW is growing, but the majority of players are rude and obnoxious, many of them played UO from 1997-1999 until the "carebear" world called Trammel was created in UO, SO a lot of the DFUW players are extreme griefers and will stop at nothing to make other players experience miserable. Personally i like people like that because i like the fact that theres a risk in everything i do, u can be mining ore peacefully and a guy comes up and starts attacking you, you die and lose all the ore, i like risk vs reward type of system.

Darkfall Unholy Wars is the Ultima Online Old School 3-D type of game i always wish had existed

I highly recommend you give it a shot and see what you think http://www.darkfallonline.com/

A poorly written and extremely biased advertisement for DFUW. A crappy game that will be non existent in 2 years. Have fun

 

[Demonous]

[



Hilarious.

Sounds like an AWESOME game. I bet that will surely outlive UO.

actually a lot of people like the risk vs reward type of gameplay, you wouldn't believe how many people quit the game when Tram came out, if EA ever made an old school UO server, a lot of people would come back to play on it and they would make a lot of money, never understood why they don't do this, really not that difficult if thousands of free UO servers exist

 

[Demonous]

A poorly written and extremely biased advertisement for DFUW. A crappy game that will be non existent in 2 years. Have fun

Have you tried the game sir? I didn't think so, you being an old school player would be stupid to not be interested in Darkfall, does anyone from current UO even remember you from back in the day? probably not... If you don't think that UO has changed for the worse over the years than you and many others are very very wrong. Also, if the first Darkfall game survived for over 3 years with zero advertising, I'm sure the second, better version of a Darkfall environment with a lot of advertising including being greenlit to be released on steam (something UO has never even thought of) will be very successful with a pretty large player base including all those that never wanted to see a Trammel.

 

[Berethrain]

Well if you decide to give UO a shot and want to play on Great Lakes let me know and I will try and help you out.

Ditto, I got a 50 M gold to help you get started and whatever else you need.

 

[Varrius]

renounce your young player status and come to one of the only two "NON" carebear shards, Siege Perlious!,

where you can be killed anywhere, and there is no insurance. also some templates that are not so viable (crafters) on other shards are worth their weight.

imo all other shards cater to 5 year old's in terms of holding their hand. i was just about to quit uo again as i got bored of the no risk factor, i stopped by siege and hell have never looked back.

plus the community on Siege is top notch!!

It'll only take him a week to find someone on Siege.

 

[Berethrain]

It'll only take him a week to find someone on Siege.

lol. I tried Siege before and actually there were more people on that you would expect. They helped me get started, but then I got tired of the skills grind and the lack of soul stones I had.

Good group of people there.

 

[Corpin]

I can speak from a purely PvP point of view. For years, I did NOTHING but pvp.. I only started branching out into pvm in the past 6-7 months. PvP has died down, but it often will die down and come back with a vengeance, and it repeats that pattern often.

I will say this, and I'm sure any PvPer worth their salt and that has played other games will highly agree, you will NOT find a game that is as skill based as UO pvp. Look up some mage duels on Youtube. Mages and specifically mage duels are so complex it will take you a long time to compete with all but the worst. With the exception of most Dexer PvP builds, this is not a point and click PvP experience. It requires skill, knowledge of game mechanics, constant awareness and just sheer experience to know how to handle most situations. It will not come easy, but you will love it when you start getting it.

I'm partial to mage duels obviously, its the ultimate test of skill and competitiveness. Some duels will last only a few seconds, and some for an hour or more.. I have been in many duels where we both just quit because our eyes were burning so bad from dueling so long. I'm trying to come up with a way to put into words that may give you an understanding of the game without using a seemingly foreign language to you, but its just impossible. If you want the ultimate hardcore PvP experience albeit hard to find at times, You have found a home within Ultima Online sir.

 

[Berethrain]

YEAH! SO PACK A LUNCH BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO GET SCHOOLED!!

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

actually a lot of people like the risk vs reward type of gameplay, you wouldn't believe how many people quit the game when Tram came out, if EA ever made an old school UO server, a lot of people would come back to play on it and they would make a lot of money, never understood why they don't do this, really not that difficult if thousands of free UO servers exist

I was one that hated the day Tram came out.I remember the early days very fondly but I`m smart enough to know that more people continued playing UO because of the introduction of Tram than the few that quit because of it. Matter of fact, we would not be sittin here talking anything UO today if it were not for Tram. Trust me,I am not a Trammy by any means but it was the one thing that saved UO from the only true threat of dying that ever existed.

Imo there will never be (has there ever been?) a wildy successful open world pvp anywhere/everywhere game. While I value the risk/reward thing I also know that there are people out there that just play a game to see how much they can grief another player. Players that go out of their way to ruin gameplay for another. Those people are the reason why Tram was needed and is also the reason any such games are doomed to failure.

As far as free shards go,if they were so good and so populated,I wonder why it takes thousands of them. You`d think if so many were driven to them for this pure pvp need.... it would only take a few and those few free shards would be super populated and very popular.

Not really the case.

Good luck to the OP in whatever ya choose to play. UO`s a great choice,so is all the others you have mentioned. If ya go with something else,great!

Just keep UO in mind for when ya find yourself on that quest/gear/xp treadmill.

It'll only take him a week to find someone on Siege.

That made me laugh. You obviously don`t have a clue.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

Have you tried the game sir? I didn't think so, you being an old school player would be stupid to not be interested in Darkfall, does anyone from current UO even remember you from back in the day? probably not... If you don't think that UO has changed for the worse over the years than you and many others are very very wrong. Also, if the first Darkfall game survived for over 3 years with zero advertising, I'm sure the second, better version of a Darkfall environment with a lot of advertising including being greenlit to be released on steam (something UO has never even thought of) will be very successful with a pretty large player base including all those that never wanted to see a Trammel.

You do realize that you are a complete joke correct?

You are a scary "Rares Fest Host" trying to tell people to play another game because UO is no longer hardcore enough for you since Trammel.

Thats laughable

 

[Zosimus]

Lets do it this way. If you really want to sell UO to the OP then you are going to have to sell UO strong points. So far I haven't really seen much of it. Then again it should be coming from more of the PvP posters UO Stratics have because thats what the OP is really looking for.

Finally the little bickering on this thread is sure not going to help bring in a new player that is seriously considering the game.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

Lets do it this way. If you really want to sell UO to the OP then you are going to have to sell UO strong points. So far I haven't really seen much of it. Then again it should be coming from more of the PvP posters UO Stratics have because thats what the OP is really looking for.

Finally the little bickering on this thread is sure not going to help bring in a new player that is seriously considering the game.

............... waiting..................

 

[LordDrago]

This is the game you are looking for

 

[Viper09]

If you want a game where you can really do whatever the heck you want, then UO is for you. There is no pointless leveling that leaves you bored of this game once you've reached the max, there is nothing forcing you to do anything. But instead of trying to make heads or tales of the constant bickering from people in these forums...just create yourself a trial account and find out for yourself. If you want someone to show you the ropes just say so and I'm sure someone will shoot you a private message (unless someone hasn't already).

 

[Leilyn]

Stay away unless you like having your cc randomly declined, account locked until you can update your cc info, which you can't do because the wonderful EA mythic master account give you an error when you try to log in to it. Don't bother requesting a password change because that gives you an error too. Then you'll sit for the weekend wondering if everything you've worked for will be lost because of an error on their part.

 

[Rhiannon]

If you want a game where you can really do whatever the heck you want, then UO is for you. There is no pointless leveling that leaves you bored of this game once you've reached the max, there is nothing forcing you to do anything. But instead of trying to make heads or tales of the constant bickering from people in these forums...just create yourself a trial account and find out for yourself. If you want someone to show you the ropes just say so and I'm sure someone will shoot you a private message (unless someone hasn't already).

I have to agree with this comment, especially the part about "leveling". Yesterday, I was rotating through a few of my "sisters" as one was collecting items while out hunting some nasties and ended up with some colored granite, which I have never seen before. I found out that at 100 mining and 100 carpentry, I can use it to make some cool stuff. I wondered "how high are my mining and carpentry skills". So I pulled up the screen and guess what: 97.9 on both skills. So today, my miner/carpenter is going to head out to mine and chop wood. The family is low on wood anyway.

And that is how it's been for me for 15 years (not counting the breaks I've taken through the years). Skills have risen naturally just by enjoying the world I live in.

And in my opinion, that's the way it was intended. Obviously with PvP being your main focus, your experience in the world will be different. But raising your skills will be the same. Listen to YOUR peers who play that way and they will guide you in what you should be doing to get where you want to go. And don't be afraid to jaunt off in different directions. Sometimes, my fisherwoman wants to sail on the seas and gets real excited when she finds a message in a bottle. Other friends of mine like to take off and go attack other ships and loot them.

The world is what you want it to be and that is the unique thing that UO is that no other game that I'm aware of comes even close to being.

 

[popps]

That's what I'm kind of leaning towards due to the apparent lack of death penalties and player base, though I hear Darkfall isn't doing so well in regards to the quantity of players as well.

If you are interested in PvP with penalties for losing a fight then UO is a good game when you pick Siege Perilous as your preferred shard of play.

Siege Perilous as harsher death penalties then the other shards like there is no insurance, no safe facet t0 play on and on death the character's contents can be looted by the winner of the fight.

Besides, on Siege only 1 character is allowed thus one needs to make choices on what type of template to set up although with Soulstones which can store skills this limitation has been toned down a lot.

The thing is, the vastity and depth of Ultima Online in many aspects is just enormous. It is not just a PvP multiplayer game, there are also many types of crafting, collecting things, being a merchant, House designer and on and on and on. I have not been able to find another game with the depth that Ultima Online has.

 

[Berethrain]

Stay away unless you like having your cc randomly declined, account locked until you can update your cc info, which you can't do because the wonderful EA mythic master account give you an error when you try to log in to it. Don't bother requesting a password change because that gives you an error too. Then you'll sit for the weekend wondering if everything you've worked for will be lost because of an error on their part.

 

[Boba]

Looks like everyone's got their rose-colored glasses on tonight. I'm gonna do you a favor and keep it real.
Of all the different people that have responded thus far, only 3-4 of them actually pvp.

I've been in search of an open world PvP Hardcore MMORPG with a large playerbase, is this what I've been looking for?

Absolutely Not -- The Ultima Online you are describing died a very horrible death exactly 10years and 6days ago with the inception of Age of Shadows. The game has been trying to rectify this disaster ever since, but has been in constant decline up until very recently.

About a year ago, something must've clicked and they realized their careers were in jeopardy as the game finally got some much needed attention after years and years of neglect (Did you see our fancy new website? Did you know it took them almost 15 years to make that?) These changes give me hope, however, which is the only reason i'm sticking around.

Also, the developers have made it crystal-clear that they have ZERO first-hand experience with anything related to pvp. This is very very bad when they finally do make changes. Any changes they make to pvp stems from:

- a whim with zero preventive measures to stop the inevitable oversight (how can they know with zero experience?)
- the 5% of UO players who post on these forums

If it is, here's some questions!

It's not, so I won't answer the rest of your questions.

 

[Demonous]

I was one that hated the day Tram came out.I remember the early days very fondly but I`m smart enough to know that more people continued playing UO because of the introduction of Tram than the few that quit because of it. Matter of fact, we would not be sittin here talking anything UO today if it were not for Tram. Trust me,I am not a Trammy by any means but it was the one thing that saved UO from the only true threat of dying that ever existed.

Imo there will never be (has there ever been?) a wildy successful open world pvp anywhere/everywhere game. While I value the risk/reward thing I also know that there are people out there that just play a game to see how much they can grief another player. Players that go out of their way to ruin gameplay for another. Those people are the reason why Tram was needed and is also the reason any such games are doomed to failure.

As far as free shards go,if they were so good and so populated,I wonder why it takes thousands of them. You`d think if so many were driven to them for this pure pvp need.... it would only take a few and those few free shards would be super populated and very popular.

Not really the case.

Good luck to the OP in whatever ya choose to play. UO`s a great choice,so is all the others you have mentioned. If ya go with something else,great!

Just keep UO in mind for when ya find yourself on that quest/gear/xp treadmill.



That made me laugh. You obviously don`t have a clue.

the problem is a lot of people that make these free servers all want different things so a lot of them are from different time frames of UO and certain people want certain time frames, the one i play has about 700-800 people on at all times

on a side note, i hear EVE Online is a very successful open world pvp game, and has been for years, just saying