To some degree, yes.

Although you could outfit a character perfectly well for monster hunting for a pretty low cost. There are generally pretty large gaps in the price/value of equipment. The GREAT stuff costs a small fortune, but some good stuff is basically just lying around for the taking.

Depending on which shard you choose to play on I'm sure there are people here (myself included) who would be happy to get you started with some equipment and some money and a spellbook/runebook or two.

Shards are basically another name for servers
A shard is a copy of the UO world
Each is mostly identical to each other, in terms of the playing map, but the population differs between shards
The ones that show up at the top of your list, will be the ones closest to you (Best ones to choose, because the ping will be lower)

As for equipment, it depends what you intend to do
If it's for PVP/PVM, then yea, kinda

Hi NP23,

When you get the client downloaded and create your first character... play the "new player quests". They will give you a good sense of how the game mechanics work, things you can do, and where you can go. The world of Sosaria (aka UO) is huge... there is a LOT to see and do.

Also in addition to building additional chars, you can also rebuild your first char... you can raise and lower skill points as you wish, you can tweak those skills the way you want or need. UO is extremely flexible, it is referred to as a "sandbox MMO".

Also read as much as you can here on UOForums, at UOGuide and other UO community sites. There is a lot to find and discover. Play a shard that is fast for you to play on. You can play solo, but friends and guilds really make UO fun.

Most of all... have fun!

When you find out what shard you will be on, post here. I am certain we have some people that will help you out. Community is what makes these forums, and the game, great.

Sounds good everyone, I will do that, finishing the patch right now

When I started playing my friend gave me some good information on starting UO. You can create up to 6 different charactors on 1 account. He told me to start a crafter. So I started tailoring, then I added bowcraft, lumberjacking, carpentry, etc..He said to start this type of template so that you can always repair your equipment and weapons and to be able to sell the things your craft. So that is what I did and I can make some pretty good equipment which sells for a good price but I am agree with Mum *wealth = friendships * Just have fun.

I also tend to think that a dexxer (fighter) is a good character to start with. Easy to develop, good armor at a reasonable investment, and you can start making money fairly quickly. As was mentioned, let us know what shard, and I'm sure someone can help. If you are on GL, I'd be more than happy to set you up with some decent armor that will get you started, and a weap or two as well. I could probably find a city/bank runebook and a dungeon runebook laying around as well.

Ok I am completely lost. I am at the new player section on pacific server. Where do you buy items at? Where do you sell your loot at? I don't see any merhcnats at all in town

You're in new haven. Different NPC's purchase specific items and sell specific items. Just right click on an NPC and a menu will pop up.

And Welcome to UO and UO Forums! Peeps here are very helpful and willing to share their knowledge. There are some exceptions jk

A guy in the game showed me the merchants, I can't buy or sell items. There inventory screen just pops up? This makes me want to quit the game

I don't get any menus when I right click