Could someone tell me what some of the often-used abbreviations are? I am new back to the game and trying to get re-educated via this forum, but I get SO lost in the abbreviations such as HCI, LRC, etc...

Here are a few I don't understand but PLEASE feel free to add any more I might encounter:

Added: Okay, I figured out the following abbreviations but still have no clue how to interpret some of them or their value. For instance, what good is LRC? I see stuff for sale everywhere with high LRC, but assuming that means lower reagent cost, I can't imagine that would be all that interesting. What am I missing?

And which stuff is pretty worthless...? I never see Lower Mana Cost mentioned...

SSI - (I always thought that was reserved for Social Security, but hey, I'm just an old lady, what do I know?)

LRC

HCI

DCI

DI

FC

FCR

And a few more questions:

What colored weapons ( fire, cold, energy,etc..) are desirable these days and at what levels?

Do they still make items of invisibility? I have a cloak from way back but have seen nothing since I rejoined the game.

Are old wands of identification good for anything any more?

SSI= Swing Speed Increase....the higher the better

LRC=Lower Reagent Cost...adding these pieces together to totall 100 alllows you to be free from carrying reagents with you.

HCI= Hit Chance Increase....maximizes your ability to hit the enemy (warriors)

DCI= Defense Chance Increase...maximizes your ability to avoid being hit by weapons/arrows

DI= Damage Increase...the higher the better, means you do more damage with weapons and arrows/bolts

FC= Faster Cast...the speed with which you cast a spell...maximum is from 2 to 4 depending on character skills

FCR= Faster Cast Recovery...how quickly you recover from casting and can cast again....maximum is 6

Colored weaps "can" be useful for different damage on different MOB's, but probably not as useful as you remember.

Items of invisibility are no longer made that I'm aware of. ID wands same.

Welcome to the forums.

We have them all over the place, but because it is a forum rather than a searchable database, it can be hard to locate. Hopefully this will answer any questions, and provide you with fuel for even more.
Also, check out the links in my signature. They are ones I get alot of use out of.

If you have crafter related questions (like skill gain, enhancing, runic crafting kits, etc), check out our Crafter forum. The specific crafter disciplines are split into sub-forums. These are at the top of the page.

Here are a few links to address your acronym questions (and the soon to follow questions of "what do they do? What is the max? Which ones are good? Are there any caps? :

Getting Started in UO

Whole item index:

Intensity Caps

Item Properties

UO Stratics Glossary (needs updating)

Maddux's list

Item Property Charts

Warsong's list of acronym's

Answers to your other questions:
Colored weapons: Preferred intensity is 100%, but it can be lower depending on the attributes/intensities of the weapon. Below are some examples I know of off hand of best use (they are the best loot/fame). Refer to the uo.stratics.com monster guide for research on more creature weaknesses.

Poison - Most valued, used for training on golems. Depending on the swing speed and mods, these can be sold for up to 250K or more. If it has an on hit effect, it is worthless for training on golems.

Cold- Great for hunting Hiryu's, lesser Hiry's, and Efreets. Best with attributes like damage increase (DI), Swing Speed Increase (SSI), Hit mana leech (HML), Hit life leech (HLL), Hit Lower Defense (HLD), On hit effect. See chart link for desirable intensities and properties (those are highlighted in turqouise).

Fire- Great for all snow / ice type creatures (Ice dungeon), esp. Ice Fiend and White Wyrm. Same attributes as above.

Energy- Great for Swoops

All of baldguys charts (it's actually in the image hosting, but it makes it easier to find them all)

All Neon Weapons (neon are those with 100% intensity) are also used as decorative items. They can be sold as such as well.

Legacy items (such as your cloak and wand) no longer spawn. If your cloak has a good amount of charges left, it may be worth a pretty penny to a collector. Little known fact, you need just such a cloak to construct an east-west piano by stacking.

The wand is not really worth much.

Wow! Thanks for all the data and links. That should keep me busy for a while. I've used that cloak a few times but I'll quit, now that I know it's a rarity and no longer made. It's got 55 charges left so that's decent. Wondering how I'd go about selling it...

To sell it, you can try spamming it for sale at luna bank. Or post it for sale on uo.stratics.com trade forums.

Thanks! Any clue how to estimate its value?

The best I can do in that area is to suggest performing a search on searchuo.com (link in signature). It is a searchable database of all shops in Luna on all shards. Try different key words.