Considering Coming Back to UO

[FoodStamp [GL]]

Hi,

I played for about 1 1/2 years, right up until the time Samuri Empire was released. Frustration and boredom with the skill gain process was why I left. I was thinking about coming back to check out all the new stuff, but I've got some things I'd like to know first:

1.) Skill Gain: skill gaining was slow and SUCKED when I left, is it any less aggrivating to gain skills now? I remember trying to get to 110.0 Animal Taming, and GM Poisoning - it was horrible. Also, do I need to do the 8x8 thing to gain in Magery and other like skills still (God I hope not). If all the negative stuff I described is still here, are there any plans to revamp the skill gain system in the NEAR future to make it less aggrivating & time-consuming to train skills?

2.) My old account: it was in good standing when I left. Can I get it reactivated? How do I do that - call, write, email?

3.) How do I find out what shard would give me the lowest ping? I played on Great Lakes when I was here before & it was a bit laggy?

4.) Is UOAssist around/allowed still? What about UOAM?

5.) There seems to be an overwhelming amount of stuff with everything from Samuri Empire, Mondain's Legacy, and Stygian Abyss - this makes me a little nervous. I don't know if I'll be able to succeed (in both PvP and PvM). How is starting from scratch in this new UO that's in existance now?

6.) What is a good character to make to begin with for making money and establishing myself on a shard?

Well, thanks for your time. I hope to hear from some of you on these questions.

 

[curlybeard]

Come back to UO! Lots of new content to keep you from being bored and still plenty of great people. The most populated shards are Atlantic, Great Lakes, and (i think) Pacific.

1) Skill gain is a lot better than it used to be. That said, Animal Taming is still a painful skill to raise. With imbuing, it is fairly easy to gain +35 skill from items (+15 from imbued ring and bracelet each and +5 from the Library Collection talisman). Also, the "Crystal Ball of Knowledge" is easily obtainable, it will tell you if what you are doing is optimal for skill gain. Poisoning gained much faster once I started using one of these, I had switched to deadly poison too soon. This tool is also helpful as many of the skill gain guides are a bit dated and there may be better (in terms of both time and resources) methods available.

If you are set on a Tamer an advanced character token may be the way to go.

They did away with the movement requirement for skill gain, so no 8x8. And with poisoning you can gain by using infecting strike or by poisoning the same dagger (with appropriate strength poison) over and over and over ...

2) Use the same account management menu at uo.com you used to quit the game, just enter a valid credit card number for your old account and you should be all set to start where you left off (minus anything that was left in your house). The tricky part is you need to remember your UO username and password, if you have forgotten those and don't have access to the email you had listed on your UO account you may need to call customer service.

3) Lag comes and goes based on the ebb and flow of traffic and network outages on the internet. Some of the more popular events on the more populated shards may cause lag, but in general there has been a big improvement in this area.

4) Assist is still around, your old UOAssist key should work provided you reactivate your old account. UOAM has been updated and much improved with UOCartographer (check around on UHall). UOCartographer will recognize all your old UOAM waypoint files.

5) There is always something to learn, you will constant be tweaking your template. Try something, see how you like it. The information is there, but you can definitely start with what worked before. It will still work, but over time you may find that changing out certain skills (soulstones!) makes your template more effective.

6) Can't go wrong with Bushido, Swords, and a big freaking Ornate Axe. It's a fairly trivial matter to have someone make you a 100% LRC suit with all resists above 60, now that we have imbuing. So, if you prefer a mage then go for it.

Me, I prefer a Mystic Necro Ninja.

 

[omgmir]

1) Skill gain is a lot better than it used to be.

Yeah? When did skill gain get faster between Samurai Empire and now I must have missed that memo.

 

[Tazar]

1.) Skill Gain: skill gaining was slow and SUCKED when I left, is it any less aggrivating to gain skills now? I remember trying to get to 110.0 Animal Taming, and GM Poisoning - it was horrible. Also, do I need to do the 8x8 thing to gain in Magery and other like skills still (God I hope not). If all the negative stuff I described is still here, are there any plans to revamp the skill gain system in the NEAR future to make it less aggrivating & time-consuming to train skills?

Some skills (taming?) are still on the slow side, but others (Resist spells and even Magery) can be a breeze if you know what you are doing. 8x8 is long gone. In addition, there are some old Scrolls of Alacrity and the new Scrolls of Transcendence to work with. Alacrity Scrolls give you 15 minutes to train that skill like you were a noobie (each .1 gain awarded multiplies into a .2 to .5 gain). Scrolls of Transcendence come from champ spawns and some of the new SA monsters and will give you an instant .1 to 5.0 will gain when used. They are a little on the expensive side, but if you have gold - you can train pretty quickly.

2.) My old account: it was in good standing when I left. Can I get it reactivated? How do I do that - call, write, email?

Go to The UO Account Registration Page and edit your account to reactivate it. If you do not remember your account information, call EA at (866) 543-5435 and they may be able to help you. Specific info like your original account code-key, original e-mail address, credit card number used for billing, etc. will help.

3.) How do I find out what shard would give me the lowest ping? I played on Great Lakes when I was here before & it was a bit laggy?

There is a way to "ping" the shards, but I am not sure exactly how. Hopefully someone else can answer better on that. Internet speeds have increased in the last few years so it may be better than it was.

4.) Is UOAssist around/allowed still? What about UOAM?

UO-Assist is still around and working on the old 2D client. I am not sure if it works with the new enhanced client or not. UOAM is still functional - if you are good enough to patch things together manually - though it is pretty much dead. There is a replacement in development that can be found in this Stratics Thread.

5.) There seems to be an overwhelming amount of stuff with everything from Samuri Empire, Mondain's Legacy, and Stygian Abyss - this makes me a little nervous. I don't know if I'll be able to succeed (in both PvP and PvM). How is starting from scratch in this new UO that's in existance now?

There are tons of new artifacts out there - but do not get overwhelmed by them. By flooding the market with arti's and with the new imbuing skill, it should add some balance to equipment between players.

By reactivating your account above - you will not be really starting from scratch. Many of the old Doom artifacts still see use. With the new Imbuing skill, Armor can be crafted to suit your needs (even to specific properties) so I do not think it will be too hard to get up to full speed.

6.) What is a good character to make to begin with for making money and establishing myself on a shard?

It really depends on what you already have developed on your old account. Tamers still do well for cash-flow, but most any reasonable developed character can find a niche to work within.

I hope those answers help some and welcome back! There is a lot of new stuff to do and enjoy in game.

 

[Tazar]

Yeah? When did skill gain get faster between Samurai Empire and now I must have missed that memo.

1.) Addition of spectral spellbinders and other "specific skill training" things to fight.
2.) Scrolls of Alactity.
3.) Scrolls of Transcendence.

Others?

 

[Lady Laurel]

3.) How do I find out what shard would give me the lowest ping? I played on Great Lakes when I was here before & it was a bit laggy?

There is a way to "ping" the shards, but I am not sure exactly how. Hopefully someone else can answer better on that. Internet speeds have increased in the last few years so it may be better than it was.

There are probably other ways to do it, but this is the way I use (for windows)

Goto Command prompt
then type tracert Greatlakes.owo.com (ex. c:\tracert Greatlakes.owo.com)
You would use the same extension, but replace which ever shard you are interested in
You can also ping the login server by typing tracert Login.owo.com
and patch server tracert Compassion.owo.com

Welcome Back

 

[curlybeard]

Yeah? When did skill gain get faster between Samurai Empire and now I must have missed that memo.

Yep, you sure did.

 

[Lorax_Pacific]

Hi,

I played for about 1 1/2 years, right up until the time Samuri Empire was released. Frustration and boredom with the skill gain process was why I left. I was thinking about coming back to check out all the new stuff, but I've got some things I'd like to know first:

<snip>

6.) What is a good character to make to begin with for making money and establishing myself on a shard?

Well, thanks for your time. I hope to hear from some of you on these questions.

I think you should start by going to the different profession forums and reading the template guides. This will help you decide under the various class types how people have combined various skills. UO is very flexible in what kind of character you create. Also, when you get on I would either spam or chat that you are looking for someone to make you a suit.

I'm sure most crafters that have mastered the art of building suits can make you an awesome suit with a few extra properties for your characters just to be nice at no charge or a few pieces of leather or something.

I would start a crafter too if you like that, but don't spend all your time trying to craft because it can be a lonely profession. Don't make your new entry a lonely adventure...Too many people play shy characters.

-Lorax

 

[shulginist]

If you get your old account back and play Great Lakes I will toss some gold your way so you can place a house.

 

[omgmir]

1.) Addition of spectral spellbinders and other "specific skill training" things to fight.
2.) Scrolls of Alactity.
3.) Scrolls of Transcendence.

Others?

None of which apply to the greater majority of returning players unless they happened to stash tens of millions of gold before they quit.

SoT aren't contributing anything meaningful to skill gain unless you have a fortune to spend.

 

[Tazar]

None of which apply to the greater majority of returning players unless they happened to stash tens of millions of gold before they quit.

SoT aren't contributing anything meaningful to skill gain unless you have a fortune to spend.

??? Training with the spectral spellbinders is something ANYONE at Any level can do. How does that not apply?

As to the other two - that would depend on whether or not the new/returning player finds a good guild/friends or not. Either way - gold is not that hard to come by these days.

 

[Lorax_Pacific]

None of which apply to the greater majority of returning players unless they happened to stash tens of millions of gold before they quit.

SoT aren't contributing anything meaningful to skill gain unless you have a fortune to spend.

Agreed.

To the OP: Gaining skills still has some time consuming aspects to it in this game. However, with the Crystal Ball of Knowledge you can play the game instead of trapping polar bears in a house or having two people heal you while you train parry on a wisp.

The main thing a new player should do is not worry so much about their skill level, but learn the aspects of the game that contribute to their character. During development is a great way to learn the limits of the character so the person finds and tweeks the skill combination to fix their template.

If someone copies and "macroes" to the final character stage without learning the aspects how to add primary or secondary weapon attack or defense posture or a particular weapon for example into a battle then you actually won't understand why the skill combinations work well together. Playing a character at all levels during skill gain is paramount to understanding the class of character you create. For instance, don't macro a Sampire to force the skills, but take a character out for an adventure.

Build an adventure to build your character. Remember in a way you are the game master.

-Lorax

 

[curlybeard]

None of which apply to the greater majority of returning players unless they happened to stash tens of millions of gold before they quit.

SoT aren't contributing anything meaningful to skill gain unless you have a fortune to spend.

There are ways that skill gain has been improved since SE, not just SOTs and Scrolls of Alacrity. Since you don't seem interested in contributing to a returning players enjoyment or knowledge of the game, I will leave you to battle your straw men.

 

[omgmir]

There are ways that skill gain has been improved since SE, not just SOTs and Scrolls of Alacrity. Since you don't seem interested in contributing to a returning players enjoyment or knowledge of the game, I will leave you to battle your straw men.

He didn't ask you to contribute to his enjoyment or knowledge he asked you to answer his questions which would decide whether or not he would return to the game.

Specifically he asked about taming magery and poisoning which like I said earlier unless you're going to dump a bunch of money into SoT's (which technically shouldn't even be called skill 'training') function the exact same way they have for years.

Taming is still the exact same slow wander around taming/releasing massive amounts of animals and poisoning is the exact same spam poison weapons from 0 all the way up. The actual speed of skill increase while training by conventional methods hasn't changed in the least.

Losing 8x8 has actually made magery slower, maybe counter-acted by equipping a -29 spell channeling weapon but even that way it's not the guaranteed gain that 8x "forward one" was.

I'm glad you enjoy the game, I do too, but that doesn't mean lie through your rose-colored glasses about skill gain. It's still the same as it's always been for people that aren't filthy rich twinking arties buying SoT's and scripting.

 

[Tazar]

No lies... Magery is not that hard to train with a little knowledge and a basic LRC suit. Between using a mage weapon and getting discorded in the twisted wield - it is rather easy.

In fact, the discord training makes most any skill go faster. Poisoning Included. There are ways if you seek the knowledge.

 

[curlybeard]

I'm glad you enjoy the game, I do too, but that doesn't mean lie through your rose-colored glasses about skill gain. It's still the same as it's always been for people that aren't filthy rich twinking arties buying SoT's and scripting.

Leave out the personal attacks they don't add weight to your argument.

 

[omgmir]

Leave out the personal attacks they don't add weight to your argument.

You don't know what a personal attack is if you think that was one. rolleyes: