If this was a "poll" I would Vote= NO

It would be the "straw that broke this cammels back" and I would use it as an oppertunity to canceal both my accounts...

and Play some other game...

At this point the only thing keeping me in UO are my two houses, side by side 18x18s... and KR nearly destroyed their look & feel, until they wised up and put Classic view into this game...

Ask yourself this question, Why IS the community growing smaller?

Simple answer: Unpopular changes being make over the years... that have never been revisited and Fixed... UO no longer has the Luxery of being the ONLY game in the marketplace...

There could nothing to compensate me for loss of friends that would quit from loss of our community and homes. If we wanted to play with more players, we have transfer tokens to take us to a higher population shard. How would you replace 5 houses on one grandfathered account pray tell? There would be no fair compensation, and the end result would be more players quitting than the pennies gained by shard closures. P.S. How long would the maintenance period be for 5 shards consolidated into one take; and how laggy would it be at the bank, or at an event like Magincia?

Like the BoS change they sneaked in with last publish?...

I rather think that your initial proposition, Odysseus, is one that may eventually be forced upon us. That is not to say that I totally disagree with the concept of consolidating, but as the replies show, there are many who cherish the history and memories of their individual shards.
I would accept the move. I would rather role play in a town full of people than sit in my fine 18x18, never seeing a soul.
Players are leaving at an ever increasing rate and it has nothing to do with their homes, but rather the lack of a strong player base.
Still, consolidation is the nuclear option and one which I hope can be averted.

I'm glad to see your in agreement. I also think that UO needs to drop KR graphics, and make them more like WOW with a legacy option for those who love 2D. I feel most people on stay so they can presere their homes, and make real money out of stuff they horded over the years. I think some of these changes need to be made to breathe new life into an old game. Where is the advertising campaign for UO? I don't even see it sold in stores anymore in the US.... I do always see commercials for WOW starring William Shatner... IF EA Games really wanted to they could revise this game into a competative MMORPG once again... god help us... I hope this game doesnt die out.

I have never played WoW and William Shatner's endorsement is proof enough to me that it is not something I shall wish to do soon.
That said, any form of advertising for UO, anything whatsoever, would be better than that which we now have... but please, no Shatner!

What about Nimoy?

Or would you prefer Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks or Patrick Steward?
Or what about Brent Spiner?

All are better choices than Shatner! But joking aside, I think that EA/Mythic have expended a huge amount of effort implementing KR, though I am not keen on it myself, and it seems that after doing so they should have pushed the advertising a bit.
This, along with UO now having reached its tength anniversary, should surely merit some promotional activity.
Am I wrong in thinking that there has been no marketing at all?

no, you are dead-on

The EA/Mythic Online Store is marketing UO T-shirts & key-chains,but you can see where priority is... Warhammer & Daoc. UO trial subscription or digital download is not offered there.