From uo.com FYI on November 20, 2003 :
Over the years, players have often requested the return of a more persistent test center shard—one that would allow them to establish their characters and a community just like on the regular production shards, while being able to be one of the first to try out new features, improvements, and fixes. Well today, November 20th, at approximately 1pm CST, we'll be introducing Test Sosaria, which will combine some of the more common aspects of regular shards with an environment suitable for testing purposes. Since this will not be like any shard you're currently familiar with, it's important to explain the differences you'll encounter when playing on this shard.
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[*]You won't be able to set your stats or skills as you can on standard test centers, but you will be able to use Advanced Character gates (similar to the ones used by our PowerUp! service) that will give your stats and skills a little boost.
[*] New characters will start out with the normal sets of items available on regular shards. No extra resources or gold will be placed in your bank box.
[*] Houses placed on Test Sosaria will not affect houses placed on regular shards.
[*] Veteran Rewards picked on Test Sosaria will not count against the number of choices you get on regular shards.
[*] Development team members will be using this shard for testing purposes, so you may run into them from time to time. All UO Live Team members will have "OSI" as part of their names.
[*] Game Master support will be limited. Only physical and verbal harassment issues will be addressed by GMs.
[*] Test Sosaria will be brought down for daily maintenance with the East Coast shards.
[*] While it's considered to be a permanent shard, Test Sosaria will be subject to periodic resets—all characters and items will be deleted from the server. However, these periodic resets will not be as frequent as those on normal test center shards. [/list]
As with other test shards, any bugs that you may discover on Test Sosaria should be reported to our Quality Assurance team by emailing
[email protected]. Keep in mind that if you post a bug to the forums, it can easily be lost in a sea of other posts. To make sure these bug reports are seen and addressed, please send them directly to our QA team at the aforementioned email address. When submitting a bug, remember to include the following information:
[*]Your UO account name (do not include your password)
[*]The time, date, shard, and facet of the occurrence
[*] What steps you took that led up to the bug
[*] Whether or not you tried to repeat the bug, and if you succeeded
This information will help our QA team reproduce the bug and take the
appropriate steps to correct it.
We're hoping this new test shard will more closely simulate a regular production shard, allowing us to catch issues that are often dependent on having a stable community and an environment that follows normal game play rules.
You can read more about this new shard by visiting our Playguide here. Keep an eye on your shard list for the new Test Sosaria—we look forward to seeing you there!
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The Advancement Gates</center>
The gates include : Paladin Gate, Necromancer Gate, Bard Gate, Tamer Gate, Alchemist, Mage, Blacksmith, Treasure Hunter, Swordsman, Fencer, Macer, Archer Gates. They are located in any city you start in...just have to look around.
Many Many Thanks to Illithreal for posting the following to our forums :
Necromancer:
• 85 Necromancy
• 85 Spirit Speak
• 85 Resisting Spells
• 70 Fencing
• 70 Meditation
• 80 Strength, 70 Dexterity, 75 Intelligence
Paladin:
• 85 Chivalry
• 85 Resist Spells
• 85 Swordsmanship
• 70 Tactics
• 60 Focus
• 85 Strength, 85 Dexterity, 55 Intelligence
• Title set to trustworthy
Treasure Hunter:
• 85 Lockpicking
• 85 Cartography
• 85 Peacemaking
• 70 Magery
• 70 Musicianship
• 100 Strength, 100 Intelligence, 25 Dexterity
Mage:
• 85 Magery
• 85 Resist Spells
• 85 Evaluate Intelligence
• 70 Inscription
• 70 Meditation
• 80 Strength, 110 Intelligence, 35 Dexterity
Warrior:
• 85 Swordsmanship/Fencing/Mace Fighting/Archery
• 85 Tactics
• 85 Anatomy
• 70 Healing
• 70 Resist Spells
• 110 Strength, 80 Dexterity, 25 Intelligence
Blacksmith:
• 85 Blacksmithing
• 85 Mining
• 85 Armslore
• 70 Tinkering
• 70 Tailoring
• 100 Strength, 90 Dexterity, 25 Intelligence
Bard:
• 85 Provocation
• 85 Musicianship
• 85 Peacemaking
• 70 Discordance
• 70 Resist Spells
• 85 Strength, 55 Intelligence, 85 Dexterity
Tamer:
• 85 Taming
• 85 Animal Lore
• 85 Veterinary
• 70 Magery
• 70 Meditation
• 80 Strength, 80 Intelligence, 55 Dexterity
Alchemist:
• 85 Alchemy
• 85 Poison
• 85 Taste Identification
• 70 Carpentry
• 70 Tinkering
• 50 Strength, 44 Dexterity, 111 Intelligence (?)
You can only choose ONE, so choose wisely.