Also, when you die, if you run to your dead body an double click it you can get your loot/equipment back, sometimes it even dresses you!

No sorry. UO looks a great game, but it's just one dead end after another. Just created a Mage, which was ok in itself, but I had no idea where to go, what to do or who to speak to.

The map is the biggest issue though. One of the quests I picked up was escorting some woman to cove village? I don't expect to be hand held all the way, but perhaps a bit more information would be a good idea.

I'll give it one more go, and make sure to read all the quests. But to be honest, it's just an exercise in frustration. Shame too, because UO is the best mmorpg I've played. But that's the paradox really, I've spent a good few hours yet haven't really 'played' the game.

Oh well, here we go...

The thing is UO is supposed to be open ended, yes it can be very very frustrating. I was in your shoes once, where I couldn't do anything, because I had no friends when I started, here's what I did to get through the initial stages of frustration:

1. If you have ANY questions, go to a bank and ask for help. Don't just simply ask: "I need help," make sure you're specific about what you need.
2. Join a guild! Joining a guild will make the game 10x more fun for you (at least it did for me) if you're a new player. You'll have access to a vast amount of knowledge about the game. You'll be able to get around the world much easier with the help of runes and runebooks. And, you'll not be alone, people will be around when you need it.
3. Train up! Any new character that is made, really isn't that good. You need to take your time and fight easy things at the beggining until you get better skills and gear.
4. Be patient! UO wasn't designed to make a player awesome in a week. It's going to take months before you'll probably be where you want to be!

Hope this helps you, wish I was on your shard to help you out more!

The Mage is not the best choice when you’re first starting out and trying to establish yourself due to regent expenses needed to train and hunt with. Go for a warrior template to start off with as they have lower maintenance cost.

Don’t give up just yet. Uo is a game that can start off with bit of frustration as there’s a lot to take in but, once you break through that barrier you start to see this rich and wonderful game UO is and it becomes very addictive. Even more so as you meet people and get involved in the community.

I’ve recently come back after being away for sometime and I’m rediscovering why I played it for just over 5 years. You’ve got to cast aside the rhythm of how you played in other MMO’s as UO dances to a different rhythm. It’s works more as a simulation of which you’re a part rather than a theme park. When I first started UO back in 1997 I literary found my way around with my cloth map of UO that came with the game pinned up on the wall right next to me which I used to make my way to places.

You can also put Uo in window mode then there’s an option in UoAM to make the map stick so it doesn’t go behind the UO window soon as you start moving. UoAm also allows you to place your own markers.

Thanks for the information. I just died again and phewww....it bites hard. I tried that auto-renew thingie, but still got nothing back when I became a ghost. So I went to the bank (Still a ghost) to see if my items had somehow been transported there, but they weren't.

Don't get me wrong, I can see how UO is so highly spoken of, but dying is a pain right now. Not the amount of times I die, that I can handle - but the effects of dying.

A few questions I have are:

[1] How do I get off the island? I am aware I am not ready, but I was just curious.
[2] What is the best strategy to implement in case of character death?
[3] Anyway of finding out the relative strengths of monsters?
[4] How big is the whole of UO in relation to say, WoW?

I'm not unistalling the game, which I said I would next time I died, but I am stepping back for a bit, so I can chill a bit.

Thanks all

If you are in Haven, then there is a gate on the southeast shore that will take you to any other gate in game..... In case of character death, run to your nearest healer, (usually walking around somewhere nearby) they will resurrect you and you can run back to your body, double click it and your items will all be returned to you.

The Stratics website (click here) should help you research the monsters strenghts and weaknesses. Scroll down and look at the column on the left for all the animals and monsters names.

As far as WoW, I cannot comment since I've never played there.

I do hope that you will give UO another chance. We all felt the frustration when first starting, believe me, there's a lot to learn. I had someone introduce me to UO so I had a little help in the beginning, but without the help, I too would have been even more frustrated then I was. It's pretty sad when my friend was telling me "Good Job" because I figured out how to walk around using my mouse Some deaths later I am happily established with pretty strong characters and many friends as I'm sure you will be too! Good Luck in Your Adventures!!

[1] How do I get off the island? I am aware I am not ready, but I was just curious.

Another poster already answered this one

[2] What is the best strategy to implement in case of character death?

The best strategy is to insure your armor and weapon. When starting out this is not a really a good option though since it cost 600gp to insure each item. Only take what you need in your backpack. Then when you die you have your important stuff and it’s no big deal if you don’t get back to your body before it decays fully.

Get to know where the healer building is in the city closest to where you’re hunting. You also have wondering healers in the game. Use UoAm and go in to window mode so you can see it then expand it to fit the screen so you can see where you are in relation to town using the mouse wheel to scroll out or in. Use UOam to Place a marker so you can make your way back to your body.

The Best way to go about getting a foot hold in UO is to use haven bank as your base of operations then go out and find things to kill around haven hoard their junk to sell in town upon your return to the right Npc’s who’ll be interested in them. You earn skills by using them by attacking thing for weapons or using band aids to heal for healing etc. Train your basic template up there first. Don’t worry about quests just yet. Just go around haven bashing things using the skill you want to build. It’s a good idea start a warrior template. Weapon skill of choice, Anatomy, Healing, Parry, Tactics and maybe train hiding as it can be a handy ability for survival when starting out as is healing and anatomy which can be a life saver. You can also add Chiv at a later date when you get more gold since you need to offer gold at an alter to get points that get used up when you use Chiv abilities. Don’t forget to use the right Npc to train you when first start a skill rather than try train it yourself from 0. Tailor shops sell cloth you can use scissor on to make yourself band aids.

[3] Anyway of finding out the relative strengths of monsters?

Unless it’s changed since I last played the only way is to use anatomy skill on them.


[4] How big is the whole of UO in relation to say, WoW?

I can’t say on this one as I only played WOW for 3 weeks before loosing interest so didn’t get to explore the whole game to get idea of true scale.

As i see it, UO is not a very friendly game to start with if you dont know anything about it (and thats why asking on this forum is great ). But that is also the whole point of UO and what makes it great! You can do just whatever you want

The important thing is to set a couple of goals. If you want to be a paladin, try reading a little about how to gain the skills needed (or ask here) and you will find new places to go and new dungeons to explore soon enough

If i were you i would get off the island your at now (Haven). Use the blue "moongate" you will find south of town and choose Trammel Britain from the list of places to go. Follow the road north to britain and find the bank (impossible to miss when getting to brit ) and ask around

Go to the graveyard or out in the woods and kill animals and monsters and soon you will get the hang of whats good to kill and what kills you

Dying is really not a problem. When you die all your items is left on your body. Your an empty ghost running around to find a healer. Just approach the healers (wich are randomly placed around in forests or in town) and they will ask to res you. Run back to your body and all your items should be there. If you are too slow your body can have turned into a skeleton (still lootable), or in the worst case, decayed. But that takes a good amount of time.

When you start to get the hang of it you will find this to be the best mmorpg ever! I have tried many mmorpgs, but the game im ALWAYS coming back to is UO.

Good luck on your travels! I also play on Europa so just ask if you see me at the bank and i can help you with whatever you need Ingame char Maelyn [DCC]

Thanks all, excellent advice. I will take it all on board.

See you in Britain!