I am considering joining the UO community. I have a few questions though before I commit. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated, thank you.
1- Which shard should I choose? I am in NE Minnesota.
2- What content is included in the 14 day free trial? I see there are expansion packs, are these included?
3- Is there a known guild that helps new players?
There are 2 good points in all the messages here ...
As a new person, you have the ability to be tagged as [young] meaning that for a decent portion of your early days you will NOT be attacked by normal mobs as you travel the lands - unless you attack them first. Thus your best bet to get used to the game mechanics, learn the lands AND with little serious issue from attackers is this.
On production shards (not Siege or Mugen) you start in a "facet" named Trammel where non-consentual PvP (thieving, PK, etc) cannot take place.
Once you REALLY feel comfortable with the game, Siege Perilous (and Mugen) is for the
experienced person who is willing to brave the dangers of PvP, etc. This is the original game with some different rules in skill gain, NPC shops and so forth. As others have noted the guild [NEW] on that shard is an active one and will help you.
On production shards, the facet of Felucca is the non-con PvP area.
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As to where you are and best shard ... I'm in NY, on cable and play Lake Austin which I think is a West Coast shard. It really depends on the stability and speed of your connection.
I hope you do join us ... and despite the woe-is-us folks, UO is alive and the game has lots to offer or it would not have been around for 10+ years.
Be well!