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If you are going to have to start off fresh, think about starting up on Siege 
-Val'lyn
-Val'lyn
Its worth it! Starting with 0 stuff makes it even more challenging and fun! By the way you may be interested to know that a new expansion has been announced
UO is still a blast for me. Come on back and check it out. Stay for a week or maybe multiple years. There is much to do.
If you want population, go to Atlantic. If you are ok with a quiet shard, I would pick one in your local timezone that you ping well to.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If you want population, go to Atlantic. If you are ok with a quiet shard, I would pick one in your local timezone that you ping well to.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Every shard save Atlantic is basically dead, and the developers haven't added anything worth doing since Stygian Abyss.
I personally think it's worth it. There's tons of different things to do and no other sandbox like this out there. Yes Atlantic is the only one with a high population left but there are groups to be found on each shard just yell at them in general chat they will yell back at ya. =]
My answer would be did you love this game at one time, if you answer yes then come back. It has lost a lot of the population but its not dead. Depends on the shard and time of day of course other than Atl. I think depending on how long you've been gone you will find lots of new things to do. I was gone for 7 years and it was a completely new game to me. I've been back 2+ years and am not sorry I came back. I've been playing on LS, Great Lakes , Atl and now Siege. I am loving every minute of it.
No not worth your time and effort, nostalgia is a wonderful thing and it won't be how you played it last time.
apart from pockets of players atl is the only busy server and even then it's a shadow of its self years ago.
apart from pockets of players atl is the only busy server and even then it's a shadow of its self years ago.
My own experience of returning after a long break wasn't really a positive one. The game is a ghost town compared to what it once was unless you play on Atlantic. Training skills or attempting to complete collections for gear are heavily grind-based; there's no real fun or enjoyment to be derived from doing either. The game's armor properties and crafting/imbuing systems are ridiculously complex now to the point where it would be comical if it were not such a core aspect of the game. To cap it all off, most things you can do in this game don't really reward you with anything worthwhile for your efforts. I spent quite a long time fishing and t-hunting and pretty much the only benefit of the time investment was receiving lots of trash items to break down into imbuing materials to train imbuing.
Having said that, I enjoyed the nostalgia of returning briefly. It just made me realize that gaming has moved on a long way since UO and I'd rather play other games for a few hours here and there and have fun doing so whilst feeling as though I'm still making progress as opposed to spending time grinding in UO which I don't find fun. UO seems populated largely these days by people who derive fun from OCDing about collecting every single one of whatever boring "gifts" the devs spawn in people's backpacks, decorating houses or those with enough time (or willingness to buy gold) to build uber armor sets and templates to solo bosses which were intended to be group encounters, but are rarely ran by actual groups anymore. There's very little incentive for people to actually group up or even join/recruit for their guilds. UO seems to reward being selfish/solo play the most (as do many other MMOs, to be fair) which is frustrating as it sorta works against the whole principle of what a Massively Multiplayer game should be about. The community aspect of UO certainly isn't as strong as it could have been these days because of it.
Factor in a 20 year old client which hasn't changed much and an "enhanced" version that is still pretty buggy, plus being one of the few MMOs these days to still demand a monthly subscription fee, with that fee being one of the most expensive on the market for a nearly 20 year old game, and I wouldn't say returning was worth it. At least if listening to your brain. I know the heart will keep desiring to return though in an attempt to recapture the UO experience of old and there's no real way to satiate that unless you actually do so and experience what it is like these days for yourself. You may either find yourself still enjoying the game, and that would be great, or you will be able to put that desire to bed once and for all after fully understanding what the game has become.
Good luck.
Having said that, I enjoyed the nostalgia of returning briefly. It just made me realize that gaming has moved on a long way since UO and I'd rather play other games for a few hours here and there and have fun doing so whilst feeling as though I'm still making progress as opposed to spending time grinding in UO which I don't find fun. UO seems populated largely these days by people who derive fun from OCDing about collecting every single one of whatever boring "gifts" the devs spawn in people's backpacks, decorating houses or those with enough time (or willingness to buy gold) to build uber armor sets and templates to solo bosses which were intended to be group encounters, but are rarely ran by actual groups anymore. There's very little incentive for people to actually group up or even join/recruit for their guilds. UO seems to reward being selfish/solo play the most (as do many other MMOs, to be fair) which is frustrating as it sorta works against the whole principle of what a Massively Multiplayer game should be about. The community aspect of UO certainly isn't as strong as it could have been these days because of it.
Factor in a 20 year old client which hasn't changed much and an "enhanced" version that is still pretty buggy, plus being one of the few MMOs these days to still demand a monthly subscription fee, with that fee being one of the most expensive on the market for a nearly 20 year old game, and I wouldn't say returning was worth it. At least if listening to your brain. I know the heart will keep desiring to return though in an attempt to recapture the UO experience of old and there's no real way to satiate that unless you actually do so and experience what it is like these days for yourself. You may either find yourself still enjoying the game, and that would be great, or you will be able to put that desire to bed once and for all after fully understanding what the game has become.
Good luck.
Captn Norrington
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The expansion is supposed to come out in about 5 months if everything goes according to plan, judging by what the developers have said. If anything happens that causes a delay it could take longer though.
Not holding my breath on seeing it in 2015. And honestly I agree about the sentiment... Nostalgia I suppose keeps me playing... in hopes that one day the magic and the glory will return.... though I'm slowly losing faith.... and having more fun in other games.
Currently playing Arcane Legends (Because I can play it on my phone/tablet and work), EQ Landmark Closed Beta....(Because I like deco and design and the game is super pretty), and now Diablo III because my son and his friends play it and it's a lot of fun to play together..... though I'm starting to find that doing the same game over and over and going thru the same "quests" again and again is getting to be somewhat of a grind... I'm enjoying the difficulty of it all... Too easy just raise the difficulty level again... too hard turn it down a notch... Kinda nice. Love the pretty looks of things hate the lack of character customization... Has good and bad things... But so does UO.
Currently playing Arcane Legends (Because I can play it on my phone/tablet and work), EQ Landmark Closed Beta....(Because I like deco and design and the game is super pretty), and now Diablo III because my son and his friends play it and it's a lot of fun to play together..... though I'm starting to find that doing the same game over and over and going thru the same "quests" again and again is getting to be somewhat of a grind... I'm enjoying the difficulty of it all... Too easy just raise the difficulty level again... too hard turn it down a notch... Kinda nice. Love the pretty looks of things hate the lack of character customization... Has good and bad things... But so does UO.
Whether to come back is a tricky one, depends on what you want from the game on your return...
Populations everywhere are lower, and so activity can be harder to find - the community is mostly really helpful, many good folks will do all they can to being you back up to speed on all that has changed. If you want to 'optimise' characters, it's much more complex than you would remember from years back - items, their properties and interrelations are far more important now and have many more variations. To simply get good enough stuff to do most things is not that hard, but you will need a lot of reading and advice if you want to go much further than that for top-end PvM, and especially if you wish to be more involved in PvP. RP is scattered a lot now, smaller communities on most shards (and on some sadly almost none) but again small pockets can be found if you ask around in-game and on the shard forums. The game still has a lot to offer and a lot for people to enjoy.
However .... the nastier element in the game - the scammers, cheats, event disrupters and so on - are allowed pretty much free reign nowadays, and for all the words you may hear from the developers, there is no genuine or effective response from 'support' - and apparently it is 'too hard' for the existing company to ever provide. Similarly, the account management pages are sometimes almost impossible to navigate and use, and the availability of things from the Origin store (the replacement for the UOGameCodes site you might remember from way back) is hopelessly variable depending on which region their automated systems decide you 'live' in, and frequently we see incorrect codes being given out by the site, or reports of people being billed for failed transactions. Again, despite endless promises these issues will be resolved, it's been literally years of no progress on them and we're still being told 'improvements are coming'. Many old bugs remain, despite endless reporting of them - to the point where it's more usual for players to invent workrounds than to see things actually fixed.
Simple answer - if you can ignore the shortcomings of the company who own the game, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had from it. If you want professionalism, well written code, and proper in-game and out of game support for your money - look for a different company and game.
Populations everywhere are lower, and so activity can be harder to find - the community is mostly really helpful, many good folks will do all they can to being you back up to speed on all that has changed. If you want to 'optimise' characters, it's much more complex than you would remember from years back - items, their properties and interrelations are far more important now and have many more variations. To simply get good enough stuff to do most things is not that hard, but you will need a lot of reading and advice if you want to go much further than that for top-end PvM, and especially if you wish to be more involved in PvP. RP is scattered a lot now, smaller communities on most shards (and on some sadly almost none) but again small pockets can be found if you ask around in-game and on the shard forums. The game still has a lot to offer and a lot for people to enjoy.
However .... the nastier element in the game - the scammers, cheats, event disrupters and so on - are allowed pretty much free reign nowadays, and for all the words you may hear from the developers, there is no genuine or effective response from 'support' - and apparently it is 'too hard' for the existing company to ever provide. Similarly, the account management pages are sometimes almost impossible to navigate and use, and the availability of things from the Origin store (the replacement for the UOGameCodes site you might remember from way back) is hopelessly variable depending on which region their automated systems decide you 'live' in, and frequently we see incorrect codes being given out by the site, or reports of people being billed for failed transactions. Again, despite endless promises these issues will be resolved, it's been literally years of no progress on them and we're still being told 'improvements are coming'. Many old bugs remain, despite endless reporting of them - to the point where it's more usual for players to invent workrounds than to see things actually fixed.
Simple answer - if you can ignore the shortcomings of the company who own the game, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had from it. If you want professionalism, well written code, and proper in-game and out of game support for your money - look for a different company and game.
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The game is well worth coming back to play. I've been back 3 years (after a 10 year hiatus), and I am still quite enamored with the game.
If you come back to Atlantic, and are in need of a guild or looking for people to get started playing with, don't hesitate to send me a private message. There are plenty of people out there still willing to lend a helping hand and play together
If you come back to Atlantic, and are in need of a guild or looking for people to get started playing with, don't hesitate to send me a private message. There are plenty of people out there still willing to lend a helping hand and play together
I am back after years of absence and I regret it on some levels.... This game is a waste of effort until they make the required changes.
I see a lot of negative post here for coming back to Ultima. I need to expand on what I have already said. If you were a pk you won't find people who are running around on Fel waiting to get pked, but you can find a couple of shards with decent amounts of PvP. LS, Atl and Great Lakes are a couple that I know have decent PvP most nights.
If you had a little house and loved messing around in it, then you will be thrilled with the new housing. You can customize houses and build them into something amazing if you have that talent. Lots and lots of deco to be collected or rares if thats your thing. Of course that takes gold which is easier to come by yet harder to have enough to match what people who have played all along have.
If you like events EM's hold them pretty regularly on all shards even empty ones. You could make a char on each shard and just do events.
If you are into fishing, wow what changes they have made to that. You can fight pirates and fish up some pretty crazy stuff.
They have trade deals, that I haven't done any of but some people find them a lot of fun.
If you like to hunt, monsters there are any number of cool monsters where you can actually get great armor and jewels. You can make a suit fairly easy if you go that route. Plus you can make yourself some nice gold selling the high end pieces.
Finally what makes this game for me is the people. If you like having a group of people to hang out with Vent or other voice programs make it so much fun and different. You will become friends with the people you play with. At least for me that is the best part.
I think in closing I will add the game is what you make it. I would also say what can it hurt to give it another try, I mean 13 bucks to see if you find it fun, not to much to invest in my humble opinion.
P.S. If you like the old game give Siege a try its close, just doesn't have as many people as you had in the past game. Good Luck and let us all know what you decided and why you either came back or didn't.
If you had a little house and loved messing around in it, then you will be thrilled with the new housing. You can customize houses and build them into something amazing if you have that talent. Lots and lots of deco to be collected or rares if thats your thing. Of course that takes gold which is easier to come by yet harder to have enough to match what people who have played all along have.
If you like events EM's hold them pretty regularly on all shards even empty ones. You could make a char on each shard and just do events.
If you are into fishing, wow what changes they have made to that. You can fight pirates and fish up some pretty crazy stuff.
They have trade deals, that I haven't done any of but some people find them a lot of fun.
If you like to hunt, monsters there are any number of cool monsters where you can actually get great armor and jewels. You can make a suit fairly easy if you go that route. Plus you can make yourself some nice gold selling the high end pieces.
Finally what makes this game for me is the people. If you like having a group of people to hang out with Vent or other voice programs make it so much fun and different. You will become friends with the people you play with. At least for me that is the best part.
I think in closing I will add the game is what you make it. I would also say what can it hurt to give it another try, I mean 13 bucks to see if you find it fun, not to much to invest in my humble opinion.
P.S. If you like the old game give Siege a try its close, just doesn't have as many people as you had in the past game. Good Luck and let us all know what you decided and why you either came back or didn't.
This is the best answer so far
. The OP and anyone else interested in coming back should read it! We do not need all these negative posts...The game is really fun for me! I've been back after a 2 year break and I am having more fun than before - Not due to new content or more players but due to the fact that I have found a playing style that I enjoy!
What she said. I've been pvp'ing exclusively for more than a month, but I also got frustrated with the same **** every day, so I "took a break" from UO (started playing League of Legends, and even games against the AI are more fun.)
I logged in UO for about a minute yesterday, went to Yew hoping for some pvp, and saw 6 people. All of them were in the same guild. I ran in my house (which is directly south of the gate), said "**** this, I'm going back to League", did an empty vvv town, and logged out in Luna.
Atl is the only shard with highest populous by a country mile .....after that maybe LS, Chessy in the usa .... even GL as dropped of late in the usa....
if u are european then europa is just keeping afloat..
if u ping well in the east...Asuka and Yamato.....with Hokuto good for english speakers
and yes there is a new expansion out ''sometime'' this year!!! awseome
if u are european then europa is just keeping afloat..
if u ping well in the east...Asuka and Yamato.....with Hokuto good for english speakers
and yes there is a new expansion out ''sometime'' this year!!! awseome
All I can say, from been playing since 2000, is after being away for about 6 years, I am having fun and it helps me enjoy my off times. I am always willing to help any returning player to at least get them started. I pretty much now the major templates lined up except for taming. I have my sampire, treasure hunter/fisher, Legendary crafter/imbuer, bard/mage/spellweaver/mysic, then just a couple extra for support. I enjoy everything from mining, to fishing, crafting, hunting etc... so any of you taht are thinking of returning, come to atlantic and hit me up on here or icq 696561037
I came back after 5 years. Didnt want my multi million gold, loads of rares account back. I wanted to start from scratch. So first 3 days i was playing on my old shard Europa. It was completly dead. So i switched to Atlantic. There it at least feels like a living game. Even thoe they messed up all dungeons and made them 100% imposible for anyone starting over or coming as new player. Not sure what is that all about. I had to grind bulls and cows first days just to raise my stats.
What i am hoping for UO to go live on steam. I think that would bring in alot of players. There are plenty of worse looking and less advanced games on steam that a have huge million plus following. It is the only thing i see saving UO.
Allso i hope they make that 14 days trial, unlimited days trial. That would allso bring in tons of players. And alot of them would start paying. Took me 4 hours of free trial before i tried to place a house and was unable and just went and bought game time.
What i am hoping for UO to go live on steam. I think that would bring in alot of players. There are plenty of worse looking and less advanced games on steam that a have huge million plus following. It is the only thing i see saving UO.
Allso i hope they make that 14 days trial, unlimited days trial. That would allso bring in tons of players. And alot of them would start paying. Took me 4 hours of free trial before i tried to place a house and was unable and just went and bought game time.
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Hahahaaha those damn houses suck us all in. Welcome back!!
So I decided I will come back in a couple weeks, just have to get my computer desk setup. I think I have a started character already on atl, though not sure what he has. I will probably transfer over someone from Sonoma. I will let all the people that offered to help me a message when I get back. Thanks everyone for the replies.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hey, I just came back a couple days ago and I love it...
UO will never be "The Same", we know... UO:R is ancient history, T2A, AoS... the game has changed over the years..... I just appreciate the game in a different way now.. I enjoy it in a different way... We are also all adults now.....
It's always fun... I visit my old hunting grounds... Collecting awsome loot and gold, PvP with friends and anyone else, craft, smith, imbue, deco...... Try new things and skills... just run around and have fun in the game I love. A lot of the players are gone... but a lot of us are still here...
I'll see you in game. I'm on Atlantic hanging out around Skara Brae.
UO will never be "The Same", we know... UO:R is ancient history, T2A, AoS... the game has changed over the years..... I just appreciate the game in a different way now.. I enjoy it in a different way... We are also all adults now.....
It's always fun... I visit my old hunting grounds... Collecting awsome loot and gold, PvP with friends and anyone else, craft, smith, imbue, deco...... Try new things and skills... just run around and have fun in the game I love. A lot of the players are gone... but a lot of us are still here...
I'll see you in game. I'm on Atlantic hanging out around Skara Brae.
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Lord Nabin
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Welcome home friend
Absolutely is worth comming home
Absolutely is worth comming home
I came back a few months back and would like to add my opinion to whoever else is contemplating coming back. The prevailing sentiment seems to be that all the shards except Atlantic are dead and the game is boring/grindy by modern standards. I disagree on both counts. I am on Pacific, which is not even the second tier population-wise. The numbers could be higher, but the shard is definitely alive and there are tons of things going on. There is PvP. You always can tell from the mutual accusation of hacking in gen chat. There are weekly auctions. I generally have no trouble finding people to do bosses with. The people on my shard from one of the best communities I've seen in any MMO, and definitely do not feel lonely here.
Could the numbers be higher? Definitely. But at the same time I rarely have to compete for spawn with other people and there are plenty good spots for housing.
As far as the game being grindy - it certainly can be if you make it that way. The beauty of the sandbox is that you set your own goals. UO has bore content that most MMOs out there, and so far I have yet to be bored. I also love the the crafting system. It's the only one that requires you to have a real player skill, as opposed to in game one, to create a good suit. Yes, it is complex and it is deep, but I much prefer it to pushing a button and getting something that is identical to everyone else.
Overall, I am pretty happy to be back.
Could the numbers be higher? Definitely. But at the same time I rarely have to compete for spawn with other people and there are plenty good spots for housing.
As far as the game being grindy - it certainly can be if you make it that way. The beauty of the sandbox is that you set your own goals. UO has bore content that most MMOs out there, and so far I have yet to be bored. I also love the the crafting system. It's the only one that requires you to have a real player skill, as opposed to in game one, to create a good suit. Yes, it is complex and it is deep, but I much prefer it to pushing a button and getting something that is identical to everyone else.
Overall, I am pretty happy to be back.