I recently picked up a copy of AoS at a yard sale and something came up and I can't afford to pay EA their mothly fee like I thought I was going to be able to. Instead of letting my money goto waste that I paid for the client I thought I'd give player-ran shards a try.

I've never played UO in my life. The only experiences I have with Ultima is from playing the single-player games, and I haven't even played those since the release of Ultima 9. I've looked into other shards, but to be honest they all seem a bit intimidating. All the ones I've looked into seem like their based around PvP (I don't have a problem with PvP at all, but since I'm a new player to this game I'd like to have a chance to learn the ropes and I can't see that happening if I get killed all the time).

So, would this shard be a good shard for a newbie to get started on?

On Obsidian there is a town "Cove" only for new players to train If you venture out of town you can be killed but for the first 2 weeks you just poof back to cove and dont die.All towns are safe and you cant be looted even when you can die.Most people here are very friendly and helpfull. I surgest you give it a try I've been here 2 years and can't get enough of it Thers a lot more to explain its best just to give it a try and welcome to the best free shard around.

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<A HREF="http://www.microsoftpointsxbox.com/mspo ... "><img></A>

Some Age ... Others Mature

This shard is different from other uo shards in a good way,i myself have tried different shards but no shard beats this one

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Bezerk-Warrior
Foxy Grey-Blacksmith
Jay-Tamer

2 years?
i think we started out together
2 years have passed? OMG
exca was ur first char right?

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"Blessed be the noobs, for they shall inherit Obsidian" - Seer Thassius

this shard is great man.. its better than other shards... dotn go "aos" just play obsidian.. ur at the best place few find the hidden gem and your lucky

hope u enjoy the game

when i first started playing obsi i was in your situation. no previous experience with uo. it's a bit intimidating at first but you'll learn it in no time. this shard offers a great pvm experience while maintaining a very good pvp atmosphere. you're in the right place , welcome to the game.

Thanks everyone. I think I'll give this shard a try. I'm currently downloading the client.

Alos this site has been a great help. The skill guide makes this shard better then all the others I've came across. Before coming here I had no idea about what half the skils in the game did.

this was my first tiem ever playing UO as well... my first shard rite here.. almost one year laterhere i am.. i have tried all the others but.. this one has something extra.. not sure what it is.. perhaps its that everything has been done custom here.. to make it unique..

a couple of things to remember.... this game can be a lot to take in at first.. so much to learn.. dont get anoyed by that tho.. over time.. u will know it all.. and come to learn more with each day even after u get to the point where u think u know everythign....

and also.. be patient at first.. new char isn't very rewarding... it requires alot of training and devotion but hang in there.. and u will have fun while u do it

as a recomendation.. id suggest you start off doing 1 of 2 things
as your first char select a Vampire Warrior... (vampires are really the only warrior of choice here.. they can have more skill than humans.. and can GM all warrior skills so this woudl be choice for u if a warrior)

or.. make a crafter/tradesperson for money
fisherman are good, blacksmithis are good.. ect...

I started out as a warrior
they dont take alot of money to train in the begining.. and once u get them stronger they can give u a decent income by hunting monsters...

so If you get currious on whta you should do first.. id suggest making that warrior.. but alot of ppl will tell u to make a crafter/tradesperson first for money reasons.. but.. if u want to enjoy the beginign... do that and if anything u need help with lemme know

Thanks, Adam, I'll keep your recommendations in mind. I was thinking about making a Tamer/Mage as my first character. I was going to go with a Bard/Tamer but after reading that spread sheet thread I changed my mind, because it stated that half of the Bard skills don't work or they are just useless.

Magery does help tamer a lot, especially in transporting animals around,
plus getting to some particular spot Yourself. But as You can't tame
monsters here, I'm afraid the Tamer/Mage class isn't really viable. And
being either mage, tank mage or warrior You'll need all the skill points
available for fighting skills, be it PvM or PvP You're thinking on concentrating.

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Hmmm...well I was going to actually be more Mage then Tamer. My whole throught process on this was to tame animals and sell them to help fund the mage side of my build. Also using animals as tanks. Maybe that isn't such a good idea?

I normally don't like sharing my builds with other people, but it seems like I could use a bit of help here. This is what I came up with for my Mage/Tamer;

Animal Taming
Animal Lore
Magery
Magic Resist
Meditation
Evaluate INT
Wrestling

Animal Lore isnt very useful, unless u have vet to go along with it, as it helps a lot with that skill.

also the only profit you'd make is on stangs and maybe shrunken bears and or orns and pegs

I strongly advice you to look over CyberVics Skill Guide(http://www.dxgaming.com/obsidian/skills) guide prior to making a char. however even if u make a char u dont really like or whatever else, you can delete him/her in a span of 2 weeks or so.

hope that helps.

remember when u train a fighting skill, u need tactics aswell

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Nos Foratu- MUHAHAHAHAHAHA
lost - mage
Lost -[Cove Trades] Gm smith, Gm alchemy
Peter - GM fisher, GM cook, 80% tailoring

thoughts on ppl saying this shard has something special, i would agree. obsidian has always had a better comunity than most shards but i think this is down to the fact that its a small comunity and most people also use the forums. everyone knows everone kinda thing.

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If youre training wrestle You dont really need to go with tactics, as wrestle is only really used with pollymorph and the 250 str etc is enough damage on its own (if tactics is only a damage modifier), so keeping that low would free up spare skill points.