Play the Oldest MMO: Ultima Online

1. Buy the Ultima Online Game (Any expansion or version will do to start)
2. Set up your UO game account on UO Registration
3. Download/Install the game, and patch it (by downloading the most recent updates)
4. Choose a "shard" or server to play on. Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Europa are the most populated.
5. Start your new character. Tips for success are below!

INDEX
I. Your First Character
II. Building a "Nest Egg"

I. Your First Character
After you've chosen your server, you get to create your first character. This can be both an exciting and confusing experience. The thing to do at this point is to click on the "Advanced" Tab for character type. Choose the following for stats:

35 Strength
20 Dexterity
10 Intelligence

Now that you've done that, it's time to choose your skills. Follow along carefully, now. This character is going to act as a "mule", or resource gatherer--one of the best money makers in ultima online. Select the following skills:

50 Lumberjacking
50 Swordsmanship

There is a specific reason for choosing this combination at this point. First, the stats are set the way they are because strength is the most important to be able to carry more "things" in your backpack at any given time. A little extra dexterity will come in handy when swinging your axe at monsters, etc. I'm assuming you'll be using an axe for all PvM (Player Versus Monster) combat because of the damage bonus derived from using lumberjacking with swordsmanship. Back to the point. You will gain more stats while working on your skills; for now you can just lock intelligence, unless you plan on recalling or using magery later on. There is a specific reason for choosing these two skills. Lumberjacking is essential to gain wood, which is of relatively high value itself. Swordsmanship will assist in gaining hides, which are also worth a fair amount.

II. What Next? Building a "Nest Egg"
Now that you've chosen your skills and have a fairly good idea why you picked the ones you did, it's time to give your character a name and appearance. Just do what you'd like here. After this, it's time to enter Britannia. I would recommend starting in Skara Brae because of its proximity to the moongate. After starting, you will need to go to the felucca facet. (The city is ultimately up to you, however I would choose Minoc because of resource availability). The reason for being in Felucca is that you will gain double resources, but at the risk of being killed by another player. I personally feel that this is a risk worth taking. Now that you have the basics down, it's time to look at your first steps- creating your blanket of security, a "nest egg". This will be composed of gold pieces (gp) and possibly resources you've earned by using your various skills. The best way to start is by chopping wood. Find a heavily forested area and make sure you have an axe equipped. Open your paperdoll, double (L) click your axe, and target a nearby tree. After a few moments, the results will be displayed. Either there wasn't enough wood to harvest, you chopped for a while but didn't manage to get any usable wood, or you put some logs in your backpack. If you successfully collected logs, congratulations. Continue to chop wood until you can no longer carry any more. Then walk to the nearest bank and drop them in. Continue this process for as long as you want. When you are ready to sell the logs, you should fist make them into boards, which slightly reduces their weight. You will have to find a carpentry shop (UO Radar or UO Cartographer should help with this) and purchase a carpentry tool. Double left click it (when logs are in your inventory) and select the "boards" arrow. This requires no skill, so you will always be sucessful. After you have boards, you may sell them to the carpenter by saying "vendor sell". A menu will come up prompting what you would like to sell. Double left click on the boards icon and click on the plus arrow in the secondary menu to add boards you're selling. After you have them all ready to be sold, click on the "X" for accepting. You should now have gold pieces in exchange for your boards. Go and deposit them into the bank. You may repeat this process for as long as you'd like. You may notice that your lumberjacking skill has raised in the process. You can now do a similar gold-making process by harvesting hides. To do this, slay an animal. Now, double (L) click a bladed item in your backpack (your dagger will work fine) and target the animals corpse. Now collect the pile of raw hides and put them in your pack. Once there, double (L) click a scissors and target the pile of raw hides. This will make them into hides, which weigh much less. You may now sell these to a tanner NPC vendor. These are two methods to start your "nest egg". Further methods will be discussed later.

As I briefly outline above, resource gathering is one of the best and most feasible methods for a new player to start making gold quickly. You can sell to an "NPC" - Non Player Character (store vendors) and cash in that way. Resources like boards, ingots, and leather are always in demand, and the higher skill levels you get, the better types you can obtain. In some instances, you will be able to get upwards of 500 gp per item when you hit Grandmaster (100) skill level.

Another good idea would be to join a guild, so check out the UO Stratics link below and find your server's forum to see if anyone is recruiting. As I said, there is a massive social element to the game, and I have found that those that have been the most successful (myself included) have always been a part of one. Think of it as just a coalition of players. You have the chance to meet some real interesting people in-game!

Creating macros can be an excellent way to help automate the process of gathering, to prevent carpal tunnel, and to enhance your bottom line. Hit alt+O in game to access the options menu, and select the tab in the lower left. I personally recommend setting up a macro (I use the F8 key) for "last object", "last target". This is useful if you are doing repeated actions like using your axe and targeting a tree to chop lumber.

Other Methods of Generating Cash but in the same "field" would be harvesting leathers from killing creatures, or mining ore from caves and mountainsides. For regular leather hides, head over to Delucia city and have a go at all of the farm animals behind the healers.

Selling to Players can be accomplished by posting on a forum, attending an in-game auction, selling on a vendor (especially in Luna city if you can find someone who owns a house there) or via in-game chat (global chat).

At Your Own Risk you may choose to jump-start your UO career and invest some real-life money into the game and your characters. If you choose to do so, make sure you buy from a verified broker or website. Two that I have had decent luck with in the past are:

• UO Stock


• UO Resources

FINDUO
If EVER you find yourself in a situation where you need a very specific item and want to find the best price on a vendor, look it up on Find UO.