Underrated Shards

[canary]

I'll go with Baja.

I spent some time there and it appeared there is a family like atmosphere on that shard. Very nice people, most seems very willing to chat and interact.

The only thing that made me sad is that it is pretty dead, even in places other shards might see high traffic. I have seen the most players during EM events, but on most shards, that is a given. There is a TON of open housing.

They have a bit of pvp and from what I saw they had some very dedicated role players on their shard and want to branch out their numbers. There are a number of very intriguing characters on the shard I've noticed, adding a lot to the general dynamic of the shard... more than just your stereotypical fare in terms of characters and characterization. Flamboyant dead guy? Check. Brooding dark sorcerer-warrior? Check. Talking chicken? Check. Breezy, floozy elf maiden? Definite check. I was pretty impressed with what I saw, and think that its a shard that deserves higher numbers in its population that what it has, if not just for the RP.

What do you find to be the most underrated shard?

 

[Chardonnay]

I'll go with Baja.

I spent some time there and it appeared there is a family like atmosphere on that shard. Very nice people, most seems very willing to chat and interact.

The only thing that made me sad is that it is pretty dead, even in places other shards might see high traffic. I have seen the most players during EM events, but on most shards, that is a given. There is a TON of open housing.

They have a bit of pvp and from what I saw they had some very dedicated role players on their shard and want to branch out their numbers. I was pretty impressed with what I saw, and think that its a shard that deserves higher numbers in its population that what it has.

What do you find to be the most underrated shard?

Siege Perilous...had a great community...neglect from the Devs killed the server and the rest of the community...

 

[canary]

Siege Perilous...had a great community...neglect from the Devs killed it...

You know, I actually tried SP before but not seeing ANYONE for severe long stretches kinda put me off. :\

During peak hours how many do you see at times?

 

[Chardonnay]

You know, I actually tried SP before but not seeing ANYONE for severe long stretches kinda put me off. :\

During peak hours how many do you see at times?

No idea i quit...try posting on the Siege Perilous forum...

 

[canary]

No idea i quit...try posting on the Siege Perilous forum...

Well I'm not going to run around to other forums, but if anyone from SP sees this and would like to chime in they are more than welcome.

 

[Chardonnay]

Well I'm not going to run around to other forums, but if anyone from SP sees this and would like to chime in they are more than welcome.

I ran for you...

UO Siege Perilous - Stratics Forums

 

[canary]

I ran for you...

UO Siege Perilous - Stratics Forums

Thank you.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Great Lakes.

This might seem a strange choice for "under-rated" given that it's probably the #2 shard in population, behind Atlantic. But, when you think about it, population-regardless you don't have a lot of people running around promoting us. We aren't big on self-promotion.

Truly there have been positive things I didn't expect to find on Great Lakes (and hadn't occurred to me to look for until I found them).

GL has a wonderful variety of players and experiences. And I wonder who else might have thought of GL solely in terms of population and great EM events (both of which it undeniably has) and overlook its spirited nature, sense of community, and the way in which non-RPers roll with RP when they encounter it. (The latter being an important aspect, I think, of the game's long-term survival. Sooner or later UO will run out of substantive changes to make, and the way forward will be content. In-game content has a lot more meaning when you role-play it.)

-Galen's player

 

[The red mage]

I'm almost afraid to say it but....

Sonoma. Best kept secret in UO IMHO.

I have played mainly on Atlantic since spring of 98, with chars on Hokuto, Seige, LS, Chesapeake, Pacific, Great Lakes and a few others. But mainly Atlantic.

Last fall I got sick of Atlantic. It's too crowded for my taste. Every decent spawn camped, scripters everywhere, and just try placing an 18x18. Good luck. If you're good, you can do it. If you're a casual player, again, good luck even placing a villa.

While most of the younger crowd sees this as attractive, I don't anymore. I'm 13 years older than when I started this game. Kids grown, etc. I like to relax when I play. It's more about the style of play than the shard itself.

Long ago when I used to post here under a different name I was a major PvPer. Atlantic was and still IS the best shard for that. But since I returned, PvP is not what it was, and it has nothing to do with the game mechanics, it's the people doing it. Not my people anymore. Back then PvPers on average had tons of respect for others, moreso usually than thier blue/trammel counterparts. WAY more. Now, it's shifted 180 degrees. The flavor is all trash talk, all "I'm superior and U suck" over and over ad nauseum. Those are the people REAL PvPers used to kill on sight. Every time. But if that's your idea of fun, have at it, that's why Felucca is there. Although you can ALWAYS tell when school's out on general chat, even on Sonoma.

Sonoma, for me, has a MUCH more mature player base overall. They are helpful, but relatively quiet. Need help? Ask. Need to sell something? Post it. Want to buy something? Post it. I notice people call it a "dead shard". I was tempted to let them keep thinking that. It's anything but dead. But if you compare it to Atlantic, then yeah I suppose it's "dead" by your standards. But I also notice 99% of the people that say that are PvPers....

I have no doubt this shard used to be bigger and more populated, they all did. But personally I am having fun playing the more "civil" side of the game right now. And I have found my new UO home.

One last thought for what it's worth. My young daughter had been bugging me forever to let her play UO. On Atlantic, no way in hell. Now she has her own account and is having the time of her life, and I don't worry about some ******bag griefing her repeatedly.

This might sound more like a slam on Atlantic in places, and that's not my intent. Atlantic is exactly what it SHOULD be....heavily populated and active and dangerous. It just doesn't fit me anymore.

-The player formerly known as Marikus

 

[Tina Small]

For me, Lake Austin wins hands-down as most under-rated shard. Fairly quiet, but there are some very nice people playing on that shard. Origin and Oceania are a very close second and third on my list for the same reason. All three shards seem to be populated with down-to-earth, unpretentious folks who generally seem to be very willing to help out newcomers to their shard. Also, last time I really spent much time on any of those shards, the conversation in the General Chat channel was pretty mellow.

 

[Deneya]

It is interesting to note that other people consider some other shards are dead shards. The common misconception to me is that everyone thinks oceania is a dead shard - which it isn't.

I definately think Oceania is an underrated shard. The population base is more mature as most players have played for a long time and as a player, you generally don't have to worry about not being able to do the things you want to do (spawns, peerless etc).

I spent some time on Atl and to be honest, hated it. In global chat a new player was seeking assistance and no one answered. I was there on an x shard shopping spree (which to me, is about all Atl is good for) and I was the one helping this person. I generally found the people online at the time very unhelpful and rude. For me, it proved quantity isn't quality and I will take quality every time.

That being said, the quality player base of Oceania is under threat at this very moment given our server issues.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

Baja sounds pleasant. [/comment]

 

[soze]

Agree with above post.....sonoma


I joined uo 4 /2 years ago on sonoma. I have tried out 3 or 4 other shards and end up thinking the community on sonoma overall is better to play with. Not too crowded, events are fun, very helpful people

I consider myself lucky I started uo on the sonoma shard

 

[Aurelius]

I suspect you'll find every shard is 'underrated'. I've visited a fair few, although I mainly play Europa, and on every one I've run into helpful people, active groups and guilds, and all the 'community' stuff that makes UO fun. Of course I also run into a share of total morons, general chat channels full of garbage and insults, and the usual leavening of scammers, liars and cheats. Smaller shard populations have smaller totals of those too, and those who exist are better known because the population is smaller, so maybe that's a 'strength' of the less busy shards.

Generally though, I can't say I've found any shard where I'd not be happy to play because of the population (since I loathe PvP I'd never play Siege, but the folks there are mostly fine, it's the ruleset I'd be avoiding).

 

[Yalp]

Yeah! Baja. Being one of those "characters" on the shard

We are small but we are M-I-G-H-T-Y!

 

[Neutron Bomb]

Chesapeake. The shadow of Atlantic always clouds the view of Chessy. Chuck full of Townships, and tele hubs, the character interactions are very rich on Chessy.

 

[Lorddog]

You know, I actually tried SP before but not seeing ANYONE for severe long stretches kinda put me off. :\

During peak hours how many do you see at times?

5-10 peeps

Lorddog

 

[siyeng0]

Baja is fabulous. It is a bit dead, but if I could afford a UO subscription right now, I'd still be playing there. Everybody go over there immediately, it needs your help.

So does Oceania, although I have a love-hate relationship with it.

 

[Deneya]

Baja is fabulous. It is a bit dead, but if I could afford a UO subscription right now, I'd still be playing there. Everybody go over there immediately, it needs your help.

So does Oceania, although I have a love-hate relationship with it.

You are lie!

You have a love-love relationship with Oceania

 

[canary]

Baja sounds pleasant. [/comment]

If you don't mind that its a west coast shard, and okay that there are some times you really don't have a bunch of players around, its a great shard.

The people that play there are incredibly passionate and truly work well as an organized community in the time I saw it.

 

[siyeng0]

You are lie!
You have a love-love relationship with Oceania

Is you who is lie, elf-beast! Wicked tempting creature, you are lie and evil.

 

[Deneya]

Is you who is lie, elf-beast! Wicked tempting creature, you are lie and evil.

Hahahahah, I still have Lindae's love letters.....and that wasn't what was said in them!

 

[siyeng0]

Hahahahah, I still have Lindae's love letters.....and that wasn't what was said in them!

LIE LIE LIE LIE

*weeps*

STOP DERAILING THE THREAD, ELF HARLOT. you are pie

 

[Chardonnay]

5-10 peeps

Lorddog

QFT...

 

[phantus]

I'll go with Baja.

 

[Merion]

Drachenfels!

Not very large on population but very tightly knit community in Trammel. Everybody gets helped when in need and if you join the great trammel alliance (60+ guilds if I'm not mistaken) you always have someone to hunt with, even if the shard may seem empty on the first look.
Small but active faction pvp crowd in fel. Go to yew gate or despise during evening hours (europaen time, mind you) if you want a fight.

 

[Podolak]

Catskills...

We are all absolutely nuts. Who wouldn't want to to be on a server full of crazy people?

Our biggest draw back, besides a lowish population would be we do not have a strong economy. You can find some things for sale but often times it can take weeks or longer to acquire the rarer items and word of mouth is often more effective than searching through vendors. Case in point, I have been trying to find Wing Armor of Rejuvenation for over a month and will most likely x-shard one over. This is my own doing of course because I don't want to just alter a cloak, I want it to actually say "Wing Armor of Rejuvenation."

Someone always seems to be doing something in the more popular trammel dungeons. Certain groups have regularly scheduled hunts as well.

PvP is a bit interesting at the moment. We have a couple groups who play on other shards but come to Catskills for some action pretty regularly. There are a couple groups who call Catskills home who oppose each other and the "outsiders" when they show up. The last few days have been a bit slow but the last month has had some really good times.

We have an eclectic group of RPers. There are towns and villages with die hard players who stick around even when its slow. The RP activity changes pretty often based on RL circumstances so sometimes its hot and sometimes its slow. One group is working on a RP-PvP theme to re-establish an Order vs Chaos system that looks pretty interesting. There is also a few Royal Britannian Guard themed guilds who have had a couple periods of increased activity.

For anyone wanting to try Catskills there is often a group of players who hang around New Haven and give out LRC or warrior suits to people new to the shard.

Well, there is my plug for Catskills.

Disclaimer: There is a *clears throat* sometimes a bit of.. drama drama purple llama...

 

[WarderDragon]

Baja.

We possess a small but vibrant Roleplaying Community centered around the BRPA Alliance.

We - or rather the Golden Knights - were responsible for the now famous adaption of Twelfth Night, Or What Thou Will, directed by Sir Brytt Heathard of the Village of Golden. You can view video and screenshots of the production here.

We will also be having an RP Tavern Night at the Cats Lair Tavern in Britain tonight at 7:00 PM PST / 10:00 PM EST.