Potential Recruit!

[Acalanthis]

Hello,

I have been playing an MMORPG for abut three years now but am thinking of making a change. I have a fondness for all things Ultima having played the RPGs years ago. When I retired, Lord British was very pleased with me - though I say it as shouldn't! Wonder if he will remember me?

One thing I remember hearing about UO when it started out was that more experienced players were waiting at the zone in point for new players - and killing them! Don't know if this was true but it was a touch off-putting at the time. I didn't want to die so young!

Some questions then:

1) I have been looking at some of your pictures on various server threads and you all look so young. I am not against young people and you all look very friendly but am just wondering whether many older people put their sword arm at the dispoal of Lord British (is that guy still alive?)?
2) I live in England so thought a European Server would probably be best but prefer one that suits my playstyle etc. Any ideas on this?
3) For various reasons, I feel that maybe I would solo play for a while. Any ideas what class/profession I might take up?
4) I enjoy tradeskill quite a lot and my favourite alts in my current MMORPG are a necromancer (good for solo play + good DPS for groups) and an alchemist (excellent way to make a fortune!). What's this I read about being a shopkeeper?
5) Is the player base here friendly over all? lol What can you say to that?
6) The graphics look very similar to the "block" graphics that I remember from way back when. I am used to a slighly more "real" look. How does it seem in play?
7) I see that you can buy experience points from EA to boost your character up to 200 points (I think). How long does it take to get 200 points? Is it worth buying?
8) Obviously, many many poeple have been playing forever and have castles and empires etc etc. Will that be a huge disadvantage to me?

Disclaimer: None of the above is meant to imply critisicm - just interest!

Many thanks for your time.

 

[T_Amon_from_work]

Greetings! Thanks for the interest in this most ancient of gaming areas ... I too hail from the Ultima days of yore when Apple II, C64 and Atari800 were the systems of the day! And I am 60 YO as of this past March ... we are not all as young as you may believe.

Lying in wait for new folks ...
They did that in The Realm, I can tell you. And death there was real ... had to make a new character.

UO shards (servers) have facets. Felucca (Fel) is the original game environment - non-consentual PvP, thieves, etc. Trammel (Tram) is the same landmass as Fel, but thieving and non-con PvP are not allowed. Malas, Ilshenar and Tokuno Islands are different landmasses and are under the Trammel ruleset.

All new characters (new account and old account) will start in New Haven. It is a rough analog to Occlo of the Ultima games of yore. Slightly different in layout than Occlo of UO and the main training ground for new characters of many professions. Trainers are there, quests to be had for skill raises and so forth.

1) I have been looking at some of your pictures on various server threads ... Lord British (is that guy still alive?)?
I think I tackled the age thing. Lord British (aka Richard Garriot) has moved on to other ventures ... I think Tabula Rasa was where he was last I knew.

2) I live in England so thought a European Server would probably be best but prefer one that suits my playstyle etc. Any ideas on this?
Europa or Drachenfels shards are Euro, altho East Coast US might also be feasible if you have good internet connection. You'd have to experiment some to determine your best bet.

Playstyle will determine things that could or could not work for you. PvM (PvE in some venues) or PvP. These determine skillsets, armor, buffs and so forth.

3) For various reasons, I feel that maybe I would solo play for a while. Any ideas what class/profession I might take up?
The warrior classes are decent early cash collectors, little cost to train up. Due to reagent costs and so forth, magery, alchemy, necromancy are rather costly when funds are little. Tamers are a difficult path as it requires much patience to gain in the skills ... but they are (to me) welcome battle partners in many instances.

4) I enjoy tradeskill quite a lot and my favourite alts in my current MMORPG are a necromancer (good for solo play + good DPS for groups) and an alchemist (excellent way to make a fortune!). What's this I read about being a shopkeeper?
Trades are available ... and one can establish vendors upon which their crafted goods are sold. So yes, one can establish themselves in the mercantile community as well as the taverns spinning yarns about the latest battles.

5) Is the player base here friendly over all? lol What can you say to that?
There will be idiots in every crowd, but they really are the minority as far as I can tell. Yes, folks are downright bend-over-backward friendly much of the time.

6) The graphics look very similar to the "block" graphics that I remember from way back when. I am used to a slighly more "real" look. How does it seem in play?
There are 2 clients - 2D which is isometric view and dated. KR (Kingdom Reborn) which is an updated UI and graphical improvements. I prefer 2D as KR still has many issues that I refuse to "accept", but KR also has its good points in how some process work. The choice is yours to make ... try both.

7) I see that you can buy experience points from EA to boost your character up to 200 points (I think). How long does it take to get 200 points? Is it worth buying?
Advanced characters ... double-edged sword on this. You cannot have a character you will do this to over 200 points in skills. You receive an ingame token when you claim a redemption code ingame. When you click the token, your character gets upgraded in stats and skills to whatever it was you purchased.

Will it get you going faster than training skills up from 30 or 40 points? Yup. But in the process you miss the challenges and learning of the skill itself. Basically you are in the deep end of the pool without knowing how to really swim well.

I do not recommend this for any new account or character until you have at least 1 established character somewhere with a minimum of 4 GM skills. Then you at least have had the ingame experience sufficient to realize what would be missed/skipped in Adv Char setups.

Any Adv Char I used was simply to garner skills that would then get distributed to other characters via soulstones. That allowed me to make a Mage I would never use but shift the Resisting Spells to a Paladin that was having a rough go. <shrug>

8) Obviously, many many poeple have been playing forever and have castles and empires etc etc. Will that be a huge disadvantage to me?
The only "empire" I have is the Keep I own in a low-spawn area of Trammel. Guilds may establish "towns" of their own where members all have housing in the vicinity of guildmates. The game has several established towns/cities (some form the Ultima games ... Yew, Skara Brae, etc) where NPC shops and so forth are located.

Depending on the shard you play, land may or may not be scarce. For example, Atlantic (East Coast US) is one of the older shards, little open housing witrhout extensive searching. Lake Austin (US Central or Western depending on who you read) is a small shard with much open space for good-sized domains.

===
My suggestion ... drop into the shard forums for Europa or Drachenfels and also ask questions there. You'll get a sense for the community and perhaps pointers on locating the game in your area (if you have not already gotten it!)

Thanks for the questions ... it broke the monotony of the workplace! rolleyes:

 

[Nenime]

Well met, potential new citizen of Britannia

You asked some very good questions and you deserve to be answered.

1. No, we're not young. The pictures you've seen are the ones of our grandchildren. They just type for us.
I think the player base is pretty much adult compared to other modern MMORG's. I can't speak for every shard but on Drachenfels e.g. the mayority of players are playing for several years. And they were adult when they started.
Lord British is... well, he's kind of alive. He's not in game anymore but the spirit of Richard Garriott is still around. At last when use Necromancy. (He had just released Tabula Rasa, another online game. But he isn't involved in the developement process of UO anymore.)

2. Which shard to play... Hmm... that's difficult one. According to the ping-time you should prefer Europa or Drachenfels. But I know some Europeans which prefer US-server and vice versa. You will find friends on any shard (and some few morons, too ). I play on Drachenfels myself and can tell that players here are mostly very helpful and open-hearded. But almost no Roleplaying .

3. Wow, another VERY difficult question Depends whether you prefer action or not. You may start with a crafter (smith, tailor, carpenter...) or some sort of fighter (melee, archer, mage, ...). Or maybe a bard or a tamer. They all can be played solo very well. Choose a rough direction and you will be bombed with suggestions

4. UO has a good trade feature. There are sooo many way to make money by trading. But, of course, to make your first milllion from selling basic goods like bread or milk would take some time. It's just as in real life: analyze the market, make a good product, find a good selling location...

5. Well, I might be an exception but... yes, the player base is awesome! Very loyal to the game and passionate.

6. There are two offical clients. The elder, but stable one and a fairly new one - but they are both isometric. Compared to other modern MMORG's (I must stop using this therm), on the first look, the graphic seems outdated. But once you play... I tell you ...

7. In my opinion: definitivly no! You will miss a lot of fun. Some of our fondest memories are from starting UO. See this ... http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=5904

8. Oh my... NO! rolleyes: I tell you: Your first little cottage will look even bigger than Buckingham Palace to you. You know... size doesn't matter

From what I've read between the lines, you would feel comfortable in Sosaria. Go get a trial account and just have a look.

My disclaimer: If your feel offended by the absence of intelligence, then don't read my post.

Hope to see you soon, Acalanthis

 

[Acalanthis]

Your posts are really helpful - and encouraging. I will give it a try. More research though first on the issues you raised. I won't be buying my 200 XP points (whatever it is called) because I don't really want to miss anything!

Thank you.

 

[T_Amon_from_work]

And I really forgot two very important things!

First ... Skills are NOT in defined "trees" as many other games have them. It is perfectly allowed to mix & match skills to what YOU want and not someone else's idea of what it should be.

Second ... it's a game! Have fun but above alll else walk away for a bit if you catch yourself getting too frustrated. Always have another game to go to - even Windows Solitaire.

 

[Nenime]

Great! Just continue asking if you have any further questions about the game. The knowledge base is utter madness.

And like T'Amon said: It's a game, just a leisure time activity. So having fun is the goal. If it doesn't work for you, never mind. But I think it will...