European Shards

[Beeble]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me a rundown of the shards mainly used in European areas? I know there’s obviously Europe, though is there others? Im in the UK, and was just interested to know. I was also wondering what sort of population they have, say, if you compare them to Atlantic that is listed as ‘Medium’ population.

I have an account on Atlantic, and its great, awesome guild, friendly peeps, though I was thinking of making and alt character just for times where the lag is too much for me in Atlantic and then got to thinking about whether its viable. Do the European Shards have a good population, which ones are the most popular (probably a bad question to ask, I may start a war) or can someone give me a rundown of the general feel to the different shards?

I’m more curious than anything else really.

 

[DJAd]

Europa and Drachenfels. I would just make a character on both and see for yourself. They are both very quiet compared to Atlantic.

 

[Beeble]

Yeh il prob try that this weekend. Give it a run about.

Do they both have active guilds or is it more like everyone knows everyone so just 1 or 2. Guilds?

Thanks

 

[Slayvite]

I don't think the Lag is due to the location of the server, it's more likely due to too much activity on screen (ie particle effects) and the fact that the client is in such a bad patched up state now that it cannot handle the traffic.
I live in UK and play Europa but all it takes is for a mob to use a new particle effect spell and everybody lags. Or get like 10 people in the same place and a mob (EM events) and the client lags to high hell unless your stood out on the side lines.
Most connections should be eating UO for breakfast as it was originally designed to run on 28kbps (might have been 56kbps) it's the client that needs a serious overhaul ...or they need to invest in some proper architecture and not just a server from Mesanna's garage.

 

[Lord Gandalf]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me a rundown of the shards mainly used in European areas? I know there’s obviously Europe, though is there others? Im in the UK, and was just interested to know. I was also wondering what sort of population they have, say, if you compare them to Atlantic that is listed as ‘Medium’ population.

I have an account on Atlantic, and its great, awesome guild, friendly peeps, though I was thinking of making and alt character just for times where the lag is too much for me in Atlantic and then got to thinking about whether its viable. Do the European Shards have a good population, which ones are the most popular (probably a bad question to ask, I may start a war) or can someone give me a rundown of the general feel to the different shards?

I’m more curious than anything else really.

Europa is defo ur best pick, much more active than drachs. And they are both located in Dublin Irland.

Let me know if your looking for a pvp guild.

 

[ShriNayne]

Come to Europa, the community is lovely! We have a meeting at Brit Bank every evening at 6pm UK time, some nice people there will try to help new/returning players with advice and information. Also free repairs if needed! All new and returning players are welcome so come along any evening. We look forward to meeting you! [bcolor=rgb(16, 16, 16)][/bcolor]

 

[Beeble]

Thanks. All sounds good. I'm more a PVE side of things myself.

I will drop by sometime and check them out.

 

[Cailleach]

I don't think the Lag is due to the location of the server, it's more likely due to too much activity on screen (ie particle effects) and the fact that the client is in such a bad patched up state now that it cannot handle the traffic.
I live in UK and play Europa but all it takes is for a mob to use a new particle effect spell and everybody lags. Or get like 10 people in the same place and a mob (EM events) and the client lags to high hell unless your stood out on the side lines.
Most connections should be eating UO for breakfast as it was originally designed to run on 28kbps (might have been 56kbps) it's the client that needs a serious overhaul ...or they need to invest in some proper architecture and not just a server from Mesanna's garage.

Or the middle of nowhere afer a patch. Or when you're fighting something nice and big, just you and it on the screen and bam, disconnect!

 

[Slayvite]

I'd be interested to know what Server architecture they are actually using.
As we know there are different levels of connection available at server farms.
I think the fact they still need a save/reboot each night in this day and age shows the level of investment given.
We joke about it but you probably could run UO from a server in your garage with very little overheads.

 

[DJAd]

I'd be interested to know what Server architecture they are actually using.
As we know there are different levels of connection available at server farms.
I think the fact they still need a save/reboot each night in this day and age shows the level of investment given.
We joke about it but you probably could run UO from a server in your garage with very little overheads.

I think they are using Amazon cloud.

 

[Beeble]

What sort of numbers of people would you say are on each shard? Well, more like how many you think run on Atlantic and how many you think are on Europe?
I know it's hard to tell, but at a guess?

 

[Mervyn]

well put it this way, there were about 20 oranges at destard the other night for harrower on Europa.

 

[Alex"Drake Iron Heart"CS]

Most people that play in Europa also have chars in Atlantic, mainly for selling arties purposes or EM events.
From the European shards, probably best to go to Europa, as its seems to be more busy than Drachs and also most people speak English, while Drach seems to be more German spoken.
If you looking to PVM there is a couple of nice alliances you can join, everyday active and hunting.

 

[Beeble]

Thanks Alex , that's really helpful . I will definetley drop by and look around then.

Great

 

[DJAd]

I play Atlantic and Europa as my main shard. I am based in the UK so get a much better connection to Europa.

When its quiet on Europa I will just login and play Atlantic.

These days its so easy to have characters on multiple shards I find that is the way to go.

 

[Beeble]

Yeh that's true. Best of both really I guess.

 

[The Craftsman]

I played Drach exclusively for about six years before transferring 3 full accounts worth of characters to Europa as the population in Drach was just disapeering at a rate of Knots.

Europa definately is the busiest of the two shards by a country mile, but if you want to experience UO as a single player experience you might want to give Drach a try. Its a ghost town.

 

[Beeble]

What sort of times is Europe busiest? Just from 6pm onwards most days I would assume right?
Is general chat used much, just trying to work out how il know if people are around if I come for a drive by sometime. Usually general chat is good way to see if place is busy....though obv it's not always full interesting chat .... or eloquent lol

 

[The Craftsman]

Yeah, normal evening hours as you'd expect. Not sure what general chat is like these days as when Im active Im mostly on Siege this past year or two.

You might want to check out the Europa forum here on stratics and chat with some of the folk there ...

UO Europa

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

6 to7 UK time we are a small bunch of ppl meeting at Brit W bank . Its a meet and greet for new and returning people and anyone that wants to migle for a bit. We repair, answer questions, discuss thigs..and eat pizza! Come and see us !

 

[Beeble]

Cheers guys, that's awesome.

 

[THP]

you can place a keep in trammel on europa....loads spots in feluuca...no castle spots lay free on europa

you can place a easy castle on drachs in feluuca...maybe even odd trammel spots to choose from

just a comparissin of the populations for you

 

[Beeble]

Thanks for the welcome Guys and Gals. Was a great visit.

One question, reading up theres no way to send gold to another shard from your main shard without having to send a character transfer with gold in the character transfer account is there?

 

[Petra Fyde]

No, but sometimes people offer to take/bring stuff when they transfer. There are one or two trustworthy folk who regularly transfer between Europa and Atlantic.

 

[Beeble]

Ah ok thanks

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

I happen to be on Atl till tomorrow evening..

 

[Beeble]

Minerva what time you transferring back over?

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Around 10 PM CET. The char has to spend 24 hours on Atl before she can take off from Atl, thats why.