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new player shard recommendations?

i figured out making my first thread which bubble do i want to click

  • Chocolate Milk

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • Bacon

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • Do not push

    Votes: 5 38.5%
  • Bubble Trouble

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • Total voters
    13

Flak Jacket

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
where do i go for a active shard? i have been playing baja but rarely see people out of luna. all the ones in new haven just mine or cut trees and dont ever respond. never really explored to many places very far from the blue moongates because i have no direction and get lost alot. i been paying for multiplayer but dont see much of the multi part
 

GalenKnighthawke

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
The two largest shards, per conventional wisdom, are Atlantic and Great Lakes, in that order. (I think you can get the shard selection thing you have on login to arrange the shards in population order but honestly I've never done it in 12 to 14 years.)

This week and this coming week are atypical; there's a multi-shard event called Rares Fest being held on Great Lakes. While I doubt the rares community is enough to really impact population in any kind of serious way, they might be active enough to create a kind of magnifying effect on the other shards.

EDIT: You also mentioned not knowing how to work Global Chat on the Enhanced Client; once you get that working (there's many active EC users here so someone'll be able to help I'm sure), you are likely to find that of great use.

-Galen's player
 

OvenBird

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
where do i go for a active shard? i have been playing baja but rarely see people out of luna. all the ones in new haven just mine or cut trees and dont ever respond. never really explored to many places very far from the blue moongates because i have no direction and get lost alot. i been paying for multiplayer but dont see much of the multi part
Those loggers might be scripters, in which case there's no one at the wheel.

I've heard Baja isn't as populated as it once was. As Galen said Atlantic is the most populated. Your're not likely to find anyone you'd want to run into in Felucca, so for the moment I'd stick to Trammel. Check the shard specific boards, you might find some Baja specific content there.

Luna is by far the most active town on any shard, but players still have favorite banks to use. I've found that if you make the effort to stay in another city, you'll find like minded folks. Britain was once flooded with people, there are still a few folks who use the West Britain Bank (brit is split in two by a river, east and west). Head north and east from the Brit Moongate to head into the city.

I have a feeling Skara Brae, Jhelom and Moonglow are more popular these days because they're small island towns, the right size for a current event. Folks might stop to listen, but they might also be busy grinding for this event. At least you won't have to run very far to find them. The hedge maze in the middle of Moonglow has teleporters to different areas as well, making getting around that city a bit easier.

You should def get a runebook if you don't have one, as that way you can venture away from the moongates and still get back to wherever you came from. Have folks mark runes for you, or raise your Magery a bit and use Mark Scrolls.

A fun run, one that lets you explore the world without taking you into territory with too dangerous spawn, is to take the road west out of Britain, then a bit south to Skara Brae or then North to Yew. (say 'Cross' at the docks near Skara to cross back and forth from the mainland.) Open your map and just head out. There's a Brigand camp on the way to Yew that will yield decent skill gains as well, but its poor gold if I remember correctly.

Once you gain some skills and some parts for a suit, Shame and Deceit are fairly popular dungeons, Shame for the loot and Deceit for the skill gain.

Def give a shoutout in general chat if you're looking for someone to get you started, in the EC you can find it by clicking on chat and selecting General, then click the speech bubble in your journal/system log and select "Chat" from the list "as oppose to say/shout/guild/party." Let me know if you make it to Atlantic, I'll try and help out. Welcome :)
 

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Welcome to UO sugar.
Every shard has its off moments even Atlantic...
That said, the places mentioned are great jump points and will be more populated and best for joining a guild. I wont undercut a few shards that have populations but at key times of the day. Lake Superior, Pacific, Napa, Catskills, and a good handfull are populated. Even Origin has a hidden population! I even saw a (young) yesterday! Originally shards were time based on the area of the country or time zone. Shards like Atlantic, Chessapeake, etc. are east coast shards, Pacific, Napa, Baja, Sonoma etc are west. The Asian and Oceania shards are timed for them. IF your a night owl some of them might be better. Europa and Drac are european shards and there again the players there are of a different time zone as well. Your not limited to a single shard and your more then welcome to try them all.
 

Tina Small

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Flak Jacket, depending on the time of day when you log in, I think the shards with the most well-populated Haven areas are Atlantic, Yamato, Sakura, Hokuto, Europa, Asuka, Mugen, Izumo, Mizuho, and Wakoku, in more or less that order. Atlantic may well be the busiest shard in the game. However, it also likely has the biggest share of jerks who will try to ruin your day as you run around training in New Haven. If that happens to you on any shard, just be prepared to shift gears and explore a bit to find other places to train, at least temporarily.
 

Ludes

Babbling Loonie
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Welcome to UO and to Stratics!

Catskills has the perfect population IMO... not too light, not too heavy.
And one big plus.. I play there.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
Well being a bit Biased now aren't we Ludes...

I myself remain on GL's ... my home. Now full of activity with Rares Fest. Though if I wanted to travel in Fel which I do on occasion... it's possible... just prefer to leave Fel to the little kiddies that reside there most the time. Sometimes I'd rather not be in Gen Chat since it's often filled with the little kiddies discussing their exploits in Fel and whatnot... it is a good way to find out the pulse of the community... and at least on GL's you can often find folk doing a Corgul run or heading to Medusa or somewhere willing to allow others to tag along.

Hope you find a nice group and best of luck to you.
 

Don't Tread on Me

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Campaign Supporter
You might want to check out Chesapeake too. I know that there is a new player town called OASIS that 6 or 7 guilds have representative counsels there to help new players and guide them into the game. I personally haven't checked it out, but I know a couple of the people who are in charge and their great peeps! Chessy's forums have more information on it (ref: eyes of sosaria's posts). Chessy does provide good playing for all different types of players (but then, I'm partial cause it is my shard).
 

Lord Frodo

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
where do i go for a active shard? i have been playing baja but rarely see people out of luna. all the ones in new haven just mine or cut trees and dont ever respond. never really explored to many places very far from the blue moongates because i have no direction and get lost alot. i been paying for multiplayer but dont see much of the multi part
Welcome to UO. Get into Gen Chat and give a shout-out to the Baja players and you might be suprised to how many replys you get. I am not on as much as I used to be but shout-out for Lord Frodo(Baja) in Gen chat and if I am on I will help you as much as I can. Just let peps know you are new and looking for peps to show you around.
 

Ludes

Babbling Loonie
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Well being a bit Biased now aren't we Ludes...

I myself remain on GL's ... my home. Now full of activity with Rares Fest. Though if I wanted to travel in Fel which I do on occasion... it's possible... just prefer to leave Fel to the little kiddies that reside there most the time. Sometimes I'd rather not be in Gen Chat since it's often filled with the little kiddies discussing their exploits in Fel and whatnot... it is a good way to find out the pulse of the community... and at least on GL's you can often find folk doing a Corgul run or heading to Medusa or somewhere willing to allow others to tag along.

Hope you find a nice group and best of luck to you.
Lol... Yes I admit to being a little biased.. In my own defense I did put the IMO in there.
 

Roland Of Gilead

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
where do i go for a active shard? i have been playing baja but rarely see people out of luna. all the ones in new haven just mine or cut trees and dont ever respond. never really explored to many places very far from the blue moongates because i have no direction and get lost alot. i been paying for multiplayer but dont see much of the multi part
Atlantic is defo the most populated shard but its can also be one o the toughest to get going on unless u get lucky and make some good freinds,which helps on any shard ofc.I play on many shards and travel between shards alot and Lake Superior ,Great Lakes,And Europa are all Very Well populated shards with many active players and vendors and yet u can find a spot for a house.I live in USA but i play mainly on Europa shard cuz the people there are just awsome seemingly much more patient and willing to help out new players an make new freinds and its not a hard shard to get going on fairly quickly.Ive also had Lake superior and Great Lakes as my main shards at dif times and they are great too but Atl i treid hard several times and it just never got "fun" there for me.Much to hard to get going and too many people competing for the same stuff/hunting spots and i met a few cool people there but many more that werent.Anyways u ever get bored an wanna try Europa or LS gimme a shout i'd be more than happy to help u out and/or get u guilded so u have a group of freinds to learn from/work with.-Keenan Europa
 

Goldberg-Chessy

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Well being a bit Biased now aren't we Ludes...

I myself remain on GL's ... my home. Now full of activity with Rares Fest. Though if I wanted to travel in Fel which I do on occasion... it's possible... just prefer to leave Fel to the little kiddies that reside there most the time. Sometimes I'd rather not be in Gen Chat since it's often filled with the little kiddies discussing their exploits in Fel and whatnot... it is a good way to find out the pulse of the community... and at least on GL's you can often find folk doing a Corgul run or heading to Medusa or somewhere willing to allow others to tag along.

Hope you find a nice group and best of luck to you.
Nice job Malagaste trying to project your pathetic bias onto a new player. You dont like or cant comprehend Fel? Thats all good but maybe keep it to yourself since you seem incapable of backing anything you say Fel-related with recent experience or facts. Dont you have a floor tile or out of square wall to obsess over anyway?
 
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