I hope this doesn't belong in another area, and I'm sorry if it does.

I'm thinking about getting UO but in all my research of the game, I have not found any information on the following questions, excluding the second one, which I think I may have already learned, but I remain in the dark for the most part.

1. If there are pure RP shards. (Are they called shards when talking casually about them, or only when speaking officialy?)

2. If the game world is changed by player events, like if a group of players from some race/clan invade and destroy another race/clan and it becomes a major event that changes the way the game world functions (I have heard of the event where Lord British was assassinated.)

3. If I have to have any prior experience with Ultima games. (I'm guessing no.)

4. If combat is "press attack button and wait for the fight to end" or "actually do something" style. (I'm sorry if this is considered flaming or trolling.)

5. Which one to buy, as in, which version has all the previous expansion packs and the core game. (I think it may be Age of Shadows or 8th Age or something.)

6. And lastly, I would like to know if I would actually like this game, based on my MMO history: (It is an exstensive and overall unforgiving history, but here is the summerized version. If you want the full version PM me. I'm not joking. I'll give you a complete timeline of events and everything.)

I am no stranger to MMOs. I have tried countless "independent" games ranging from Runescape (unfortunately) to the free version of Anarchy. I have also played many "big players," my favorite so far being CoH/CoV, and my least favorite being a tie between Galaxies and DAoC. CoH/CoV managed to hold my attention for about 2 years worth of on and off playing, and Galaxies was good for a week then in got old. I tried DAoC along time ago, and I can't remember why I didn't like it, I just remember that I didn't like it. I also tried WoW. I'll leave you with that.

Thank you for your time.

Hi and Welcome
I can try and answer your questions
1. There are no pure RP shards, but some are very strong with it.
2. The game world is rarely changed by player events alone, but are changed to some degree by EM's (event moderators)
3. You don't need prior experience but it helps
4. Combat can be "let it happen with auto defend" or you can actually fight with your own style bit by bit (or spell by spell)
5. Someone else can probally answer this one, but I think there is a new expansion out soon with all you need on it.
6. All i can say in answer to your sixth question is that UO is huge with no end game or real levels, there is so much that you can do in game that it keeps people happy for years.
I hope this helps but I expect others can answer your questions better than I,

Thanks, this helped me a lot. I'm glad to hear that combat isn't sit-n-watch. I'll read up on some Ultima Lore, and I guess I'll wait for someone to give me the right "version" to get.

Could anyone give me some names for the RP shards? I find RPing is much more immersive and the people are generally better at spelling and grammer.

And, I guess thanks again. I've just discoverd the trial version of the game and I'll try it out.

I agree with Talon on all the points, but I would expand a bit.

Choose your shard by connection. All shards willl have acommunity that should fit any play style well.

Buy the newest version you can find. I belive thats the 8th Age and the 9th anniversary is due out soon, but done quote me.

I would say that there will be alot of things that you will find fantastic about UO. Imho, it truly is the best MMO going...part of the reason it has been around so long. Even if you hit a point where you no longer like it, I can guarantee you its worth the starting cost...you will get at least that much enjoyment out of it!

I wasn't sure which thread i should ask on, so i suppose that general would be the best bet... the last update where they implimented the personal attendants, which shards have they been activated on? I play on Legends and as far as i can tell, they haven't been added to the Legends shard yet, from what i read on uo.com, each player is supposed to get a "token" in their bank for their personal attendent..... well, there's nothing in my bank