Right. So...

I don't think that the question about healing classes was answered very accurately above. WoW, DAOC and I'm sure many of the other MMORPG's on the market present a class and level based system of play. You roll a toon, you pick a class and then you level or if you are uber and 1337, power level your little heart out. From there you have a very set framework of things you can do with your skill points. In DAOC the way to be a healer is to choose specifically the Druid (Hib), Cleric (Alb) or Healer (Mid) classes. These classes have almost 0 real offensive ability and are more about buffing and healing the people in your party. When I read the question posed by Riiyachan my immediate answer was no, you cannot be a healer in the modern sense of the term.

So, here's the major difference...

UO is skill based. You may pick up the healing and anatomy skills and cross heal your party members to your heart wildest content. Likewise, you may pick up magery and do the same or for that matter chivalry but you will never be the weak, defenseless, hang back from a fight and offer support sort of character you find in DAOC or WoW. That is unless you are just foolish about where you put your remaining skill points. The idea of UO is to pick a set of complimentary skills the allow you to heal yourself, damage your enemies, cure poisons, curses and the like... You see my point, I'm sure... There's very little in the UO world that you cannot hunt solo with a good skill template and a solid suit of armor. Three things come to mind, Peerless bosses, Champion Spawns and the Doom Gauntlet.

There are no real buffs as you might think of them in DAOC (at least) that are static and remain on the recipient until the buffer dies or logs out. You will never see the row of buff bots hanging around outside encounters or in the PvP zone safe areas.

The idea behind the newer games is that if you limit the number of real skills a class has and put the power to heal only in the hands of a select few classes you gain two valuable things. 1) The classes are much easier to balance making PvP a much simpler thing to cope with on the part of the dev team. 2) You force group play from your audience. Both of these points are very correct but that does not make UO's way of approaching skills any better or worse than it's peers. It simple makes it different. The real point of attraction with UO for me is that it is so vast in it's offerings as a game world that you were quite correct in think that you've been tossed into a sandbox.

*thinks this might be turning into a novel*

As to the 2D client... It has actually changed very little since the game launch in 1997 or so I hear. Do not get turned off by it. It is rather like a good antique in terms of usefulness and what I think is a familiar beauty. Yes, KR will be most awesome when we finally get our grubby little paws on it but I for one will always have an affectionate fondness for 2D.

Glad to see you here and much luck with the game!

Valyssia

Welcome to UO and UOForums Riiyachan.

If you do start on LA I know joining UOF 's guild will probably give you one of the best starts a new player could have.The member's here who formed the guild are an awesome bunch and will make sure you get the best out of your experience.

Dont ignore the rest of us though

If you make a character on Europa for example,as Decardo said,its a whole 'other' experience,with a different section of UOForums using that shard.

Either way ,what ever server you opt for,there are members here to link up with and get help/advice.

Good luck ,and keep us updated on your experiences and how they change over the next few weeks/months as the new client comes in.

I remember I was just finding my feet in UO when they brought in AOS [Age of Shadows] and I STILL havent got used to the changes

Good luck !!!!!

*thinks dirty thoughts...*

...Maddux needs to stop getting me thinking like that so early...

I guess it's better that way since 3D is gone in a few.

Hehe. Thanks for the run down Valyssia! I think I understand what you mean. From looking at the skils Healing and Anatomy, too, it seems you banadage - not heal in the sense of casting a spell.

Quick question. Where is the Lake Austin server located? I can guess that the Europa server is in europe, but I am from the United Kingdom.

Ill be on UO later tonight. I have to finish a bit of work at Uni before I'll allow myself to play!

Regards.

Welcome to UO Forums and hopefully soon to UO !

LA server is in California. So it may be a little tough to play there. As many have stated there is a strong Europa presence here. So I have no doubt which ever server you pick. You will have friends there already

Vepl

Don't know much about the Europa shard, but from everything I read, it seems it is different from the U.S. based shards. Probably mostly just the people.

Either way you can always take what you want out of UO and enjoy it, and as been stated there will always be someone somewhere to help out.

Welcome to UO and the forums.

We'll originally it was because it lagged me pretty bad. But now that I have a new system its because the 3D makes my eyes go wonky and I just personally prefer the 2D graphics, I think they're better looking. Maybe I will try 3D out for a little while and see what I'm missing before its gone forever.

Thank you for the information, but before I decide on the sever I'd just like to know, if possible, what the play times are like. I generally play anywhere between 6pm to 12pm, so if the server is unpopulated at these times on europa, it may well be a good idea to play on a US shard. However, if the USA servers are likely to be laggy for a UK based player, it's probably more prudent to play on the european based server. Any ideas? xD

Also, at this moment in time, I am more drawn towards Lake Austin; the UOFORUM Guild presense there makes it all the more appealing.

Do many UK people play on the USA shards anyway?

Thanks in advance,
Regards.

I think there are some UK people on US shards you just have to test them out. I think East Coast Shards are decent for you guys. Adam could help out with this!

*attempts to convert UK time to PST*

If your times are UK times then that'd probably set you up right about before server down and a little after server up. Before server down there is a massive drop in population and you can roam for hours before running into anyone and after server up there's mostly just the spawners running around Fel.

well if it is any help my connection to Catskills is pretty good from Italy on DSL con, but personally i would start on europa if you are in Europe, i would if i hadn't already been previously established on Catskills. I think you will be logging into the US shards at off peak times....i dunno your play style though, some people prefer it that way

xD

I really want to play on Lake Austin.

Hmm I am going tomake my character now. Ill see how the server plays (i.e. Lag).

Regards