It is not so difficult to make a new viable character.
Just to get to the high end point is a real pain like in other games too.

I settled for most of my chars with 110 or 115 scrolls and it is well enough. UO just has a bad skill progression where 6 skills beat 7 skills always and clever developers would look for possibilities to change that.

Kill 10-15 Ratman Archers (the ones in the blue shirts) at the Compassion Moongate in Ilshenar, that will give you around 700-1000 arrows.

I really want to see you killing rat archers with a newbie character.
For developed or sort of developed characters it is possible, else you better kill chicken/harpies and chop wood

When I created my archer character, I killed harpies for feathers and corpsers for boards. After awhile, I started killing reapers, too, for logs.

I found some fletchers tools on the ground in Luna, so basically, I got my arrows for free.

You don't even need fletching skill to make arrows or bolts, so that helps.

Yeah, you're right. I'm just so used to reload my quiver that way, so I didn't think about that.

Well I would have to agree making a (legendary Character) is Pricey.

However to make A viable new character is well within reason. Just following some basic in the feild training of a character can bring it up to a decent money gathering level (very playable and sometimes even challenging).

Well, other than the Zoo armor or and the ring, everything else could be free ;P.

the zoo armor could be free

I've got a vet character that still doesn't have the 120's he needs because he cannot afford them...

So I feel ya. Of course, he needs the most expensive ones - magery, eval, resist... etc...

JC you are overstreaching here.

120 Magery is a vanity/convenience scroll. You can get along in PVP with a 115 scroll just fine. I mean - are you casting EV's and earth elementals in PvP? No mostly poison, explo, flamestrike etc all are if not 100% very close to 100% at 115.

No way you need 120 med. 110 med with an extra 2 MR is the same as 120 med.

Brit library armor? Not needed.

That ring price is totally over-inflated. I would toss that sort of a ring down at the bank if I had it.

For about 5-10 mil you can get a pretty darn good character put together.

The only 120 skills that are NOT over rated are weapon skills, Eval, Parry. The rest are harely noticable from 115 to 120.

If you want to be uber l33t cool and have legendary skills - fine. But it is not a requirement to be successful.

Have you ever done PVP? You are always casting Energy Vortex, Earthquake and Resurrection. Do you run around 90% lower reagent cost? Because it is the same thing.

I know a decent character can be made for ~10-20 million gold. I am just showing how much it can cost to make a top of the line character. The suit pieces I am reusing add at least another 50 million to that total.

or working hard and not spending nuttin works