Hi everyone, I am an old UO player that has always played on the Europa shard but am now considering to transfer my characters to the Atlantic shard. I would like to have as many of your opinions as I can (vets and new players alike) to help me decide.

The reason I am considering Atlantic is because over the years the population on Europa has dropped greatly and after hearing that Atlantic had the most players I created a character there to see if it was true, and it is. I have always seen more players on Atlantic even at peak Europa times.

The reason im considering staying on Europa is that the Atlantic shard is much farther away and of course that means a greater ping (im connecting from Madrid, Spain).

I have done some research on the reason I want to stay on Europa and the reason I want to transfer to Atlantic and these are the results:

Connection speeds to both servers (5000 samples):
Europa: ping average 77, best ping 70, worst ping 132
Atlantic: ping average 159, best ping 136, worst ping 293

Traceroutes to both servers:
Traceroute to Europa: The connection passes through 14 computers to reach the server
Traceroute to Atlantic: The connection passes through 13 computers to reach the server
(strange that I pass through less computers to reach atlantic but its true!)

UO server population study:
samples taken on April/3/2008, thursday. Click attached image at the end of the post to see my table)


So what do you all think? Europa is really very empty for my taste, and even though the atlantic times are different their banks have more people no matter what time I connect, even during peak europe times (see table in the attached image) and that amount of population on atlantic reminds me more of the old times when the bank was full of people! And does 82ms more ping to atlantic really matter that much?
I would like to get all your feedback I can before deciding on the transfer. What is more important to all of you? population or 82 more ping difference?
Will 82 more ping have an impact on PvM hunting?
How about PvP? is it that much a difference (less than a tenth of a second more to atlantic)?

ping makes all the difference in the world to me. I personally prefer the less populated servers for pvm so there is less competition for the smae mobs. However if rp'ing or pvping is your preference the larger servers are more fun but the lag will destroy you in pvp. The average of 82 isnt bad but when you hit that 293 which is double the average ping your dead. so decision basically depends on playstyle and personal preference and can you live with dying a bit more often?

I have forgotten what it was like to play with a bad ping. Now with cable, I'd have a tough time playing with anything higher than a 30ms ping. That being said, you can tailor your game to your connection, once you learn how it works in both PvM and PvP. My suggestion, Atlantic as it appears you are looking for the most active shard...la

I mostly do PvM hunting with my gf and currently never pvp since I cant afford a full suit of artys. I dont like item based PvP but I might consider pvp if the changes to factions activates pvp activity much and I join an active guild that helps initiate me in the pvp style.
Will I have a hard time hunting PvM with 159ms ping?

no you will be fine with 159 the 300's range will hurt a little sometimes depending on the situation.

And for PvP will 159ms ping on atlantic make a big difference?

And what about PvPing on europa with 77ms ping? Will I be in disadvantage there?

why are you choosing atlantic? just because it historically has the greatest population?

is that your best ping to a US shard?

What does la mean?

Not sure what you are talking about...la

My best ping is to europa, the only thing that makes me think of changing is the low population, and atlantic is currently the most populated shard. Its the most populated even at hours its not really supposed to be populated much, and since im in a different timezone atlantic's great population at off-peak times is tempting me.

I play on ATL from the westcoast with a ping of 125ms, which is very playable. No lag/slowdowns. When it gets 200+ then I get the run..run..run..pause..run..run..pause

BTW: if anyone has any other shard to suggest I would also like to hear it, and why
But for me to consider a move it must have more population than europa between 17:00 and 01:00 GMT(european time), and a better ping to there than to atlantic.

Oh and please more feedback on my atlantic/europa dillema