So many Begginers guides, but...

I'm sorry if i'm mistaken but I´ve been looking for quite a while in the forums... There are some AWESOME guides out there, some very thorough , others not so much but helpful nonetheless. I don't know if I'm alone in this one, but my main problem with the game is that I have absolutely NO idea where to go when I start, or where are the more "popular" zones. Every release I update the game and my experience is as follows:

- Start game, finish tutorial.
- Kill some skeletons.
- Roam, roam roam.
- Roam some more.
- After a couple of hours of not finding anyone (players) I logout.

It's so weird for me when I see the galleries of each release, so many people gathered, etc... The overworld is very intimidating to me, and whenever a random encounter hits, I'm DEAD.
In short, i was wondering if someone could make a VERY brief and simple guide for tips on places to go, nice places to visit, vistas, populated areas, etc. Maybe a basic narration of what you do or where do you go when you start the game.

Thanks for reading!!

Hortef.

 

First off, Hello and welcome @lucaspo!

So the very first thing I would absolutely reccomend: Visit www.avatarscircle.com because if you want to know where players are, and who to contact to really get involved in the community you can see the entire community schedule (or 95% of it anyhow) from right in there.

Now, there are a lot of community events that go on. Some of the more common things I would reccomend to know what is going on:

• Listen to the Radio! This means Tuning into Avatars Radio through the Aetheric Vibration console (they are scattered in player housing all over as well as many NPC areas I believe!) They often announce what is going on as things are happening.
• Check out NBNN! Though NBNN does often play on a loop they cover events live as well and will tell you, just like the radio, where they are and how to get there.
• The FireLotus release party! Every friday after release, once a month, there is the @FireLotus release party which we gather in a new spot each month and have a huge dance party... all the devs attend, anyone whos anyone is there. Definately check that out!
• PVP: Check out EVL's weekly Virtue League PVP tournament in Unter Kampf (in hidden vale)... Great for spectating and fighting! Also Bears Tavern runs an amazing ongoing PVP tournament that youll want to check out - though it happens a little less often it is TOTALLY worth attending!
• PVE! Bear Tavern, EVL and the Phoenix Republic Alliance all run regular PVE and hunting events. I dont remember each of them off hand but for the republic I can say ours are twice a week: Thursday and Friday at 7pm NBT.
• Roleplay!: Elgarion De'Kahli's Tavern Respute is every monday. Fantastic event! Lots of roleplay to get involved in. Also check out his site at rpota.com
• Need help finding players to help guide you? Check out http://sotawiki.net/sota/Community:Player_Help_Center for a list of name of interested parties ready, willing and able to help (These are by no means the only ones - but it is a start!)
• Event towns! There are a lot of towns which are huge on events and stay quite active. Some reccomendations of places to go:
  • PaxLair
  • Port Phoenix
  • Serenite
  • Vengeance (PVP Town as an FYI)
  • Bastions Point
  • Jade Valley
  • Berans Reach
  • Cottage Grove
  • Lux Sanctuary
  • Radio City
  • Note: There are far too many to list and im sure i might have forgotten some big ones, but they are a good place to start!
• Community meetings!: PaxLair hosts the weekly paxlair meeting which is followed by the community meeting and briefing we all get together with on teamspeak and in game in order to discuss community initiatives. This is at 7new britannian time (CST) every sunday. At 8NBT we do Fishing with Winfield! A great time to relax, sit back and fish up a storm!

This does not cover everything. This is just the immediate brain dump of what I can think of off the bat. I am Kazyn Phoenixfyre in game - and i can guide you around many of these places by hand if you'd like to get a tour. I promise you my bow can bring down most anything that can threaten you along the way *grin*

 

Also for populated NPC areas that players frequent try:

• Owls Head
• Soltown
• Resolute
• Aerie (to a lesser degree)

 

Thanks a lot Kazyn, you *gave me quite a headache with all that info but thats awesome! I'll be sure to check out those locations and I'll try and spectate those events. I'll add you when I log in, maybe you can show me around. Thanks!

Hortef

 

No problem at all It's a lot to take in - that's why i just went with the bullet list to make it easier for you to grasp. I'm happy to show you around, it's practically my day job! ^^

 

In terms of community activities, I think @WrathPhoenix has it covered. The Events forum is also worth a look.

If you're interested in doing quests and story related things, talk to all the NPCs! Use keywords like: name, job, health, news, gossip, help, work. And as you learn new keywords from some NPCs, use them again on other NPCs to open up more hidden dialog. Your journal will be filled with pages upon pages of knowledge items and tasks. That might give you some direction in terms of where to go and who else to talk to.

 

The first thing I have to ask is... What "mode" are you playing in? If you're in "Single Player Online" mode then you most certainly won't see anyone else at all. You need to select "Multiplayer Online" or at least "Friends Online" (and have other players on your friends list that are also playing at that time) in order to see other people.

Sorry to ask something that might seem obvious or trivial, but if you weren't aware of the different options then that can be your biggest issue.

If that isn't the issue, then it's simply a matter of being unlucky and not seeing others wherever you are. In that case, Kazyn has provided a great source of info on when and where people will be for all kinds of events.

To help you even further, you might want to check out www.sotamap.com for a fantastic interactive map of the game world. There is a search box in the top left that you can type in the name of the town you want to go to... and then see where it is on the overworld map. If you can view that on your phone/ipad/laptop/other monitor while being in the game, it will help you navigate the lands pretty easily.

Hope that helps and when you are in-game, feel free to add Daxxe Diggler to your friends list and I can help you find your way to the crowd.

 

If you want to go further at the game, you can visit www.questsoftheavatar.com fot the quests in game.

 

Welcome lucaspo!

My favorit location for beginners is the Hidden Vale, North/South Valeway, Kingsroad (all level 1).

 

Vistas to see:

• I havent checked it out recently, but Lux Sanctuary is almost always really well built.
• PaxLair city and it's walled set up is definately a sight to behold
• The markets in Serenite and Jade Valley are both amazing
• I've been told the vista looking over port phoenix's skyline is nice
• Definately check out the shardfalls - they are gorgeous!
• Visit the tropical retreats of Port Mirren and Brave Coast - available by boat from kingsport.
• The open area of Nightshade pass is truly beautiful
• Inside Desolace there is a dungeon that I'd highly reccomend checking out
• In ravensmoor there's a hidden dungeon you might find interesting! Youll know it when you see it =p
• Solonia is a really gorgeous town!
• Speaking of swamps, check out the celestial wetlands!
• Want to see something a bit different? The town of Vertas ran by elves is cool! Also Etceter, run by Satyrs!
• Southeast of blackblade pass is a very pretty volcanic site!
• West perennial trail is a beautiful area to take a stroll in.
• Try some climbing in Ardoris! Youd be amazed what you can get to
• Aerie is by far the single most beautiful city in the game so far. Very much like early paris.
• Sanctus Spine is a dangerous place...but the wintry area is truly great!
• Artifice on the island of Elysium. You're going to want to visit the grand golden gate at least once in your life!

 

Welcome! I know that the game can seem pretty empty if you don't join some community activity. That is because we have been experiencing a full wipe of the game every three months, so most people log in during the first few weeks of each release to see the new content and then wait for the next release to log in again. There will be a new release at the end of March and a full game wipe at the end of April. The good news is that the final wipe of the game will be on July 28th, so even though the game won't be finished by then, any progress you make after July 28th won't be temporary. That is when you will see the population of the game explode.

Depending on where you entered the game, there will be different beginner areas to talk to NPCs and get your bearings. The list of places to visit that @WrathPhoenix posted is well-intentioned, but some of the places are not beginner areas, so your chance of survival will not be too great if you are alone.

Feel free to add me to your friends list and whisper to me in-game if you see me online. I will be glad to show you around.

 

Add myself ingame as well, ill help gear you up and show you around..

 

welcome Lucaspo!
seems like you've got a lot of good information here so I won't add much to what's been offered so far.

I will point out that because of massive changes taking place with new towns being added, new recipes, etc. that it's pretty hard work to keep a guide up to date. I'm sure once the game stops experiencing these rapid changes and the world 'goes persistent' then the guides will all be much more dependable.

It's true though, many folks find that joining a guild, or just making friends with experienced players is the easiest and most efficient way to learn about the world at this time. I encourage you to do that, most folks that have been around awhile are extremely kind and helpful.

If you see me or any of the other Caverns guild-folk ingame we are happy to help out new players.

 

I hope people will actually know that the final wipe is July 28, and they will actually start to play.

Not to be rude or anything, but a large amount of the population I've seen are the same people and they tend to have a "good ol' boys" club going.

A lot of older folks who do parties, sit in hot tubs with half naked avatars, etc.

I'd really appreciate more age diversity and player diversity in general. It would be great even to see players as young as I was (11 years old) when I first started playing UO.

 

I've seen nothing but a consistent rise in new and returning players for the last 3 months. There are a great many people from all different walks of life and countries that play this game.

 

My god I laughed so hard when I saw this very familiar list. It's absolutely true. Even with the quests if you can work out where they are, it is skeletons and roaming.

The most - and best - community activity I see is when I'm roaming the overworld and need directions and start up some conversation. Sometimes I'll say something to make the encounter hilarious, because other than getting lost and hilarious roleplay, there is nothing else to do in the overworld, there is no risk. I guess that'll change once roving encounters come in.

I mean, we're supposed to be guided a bit by the quests and talking to NPCs right?

As far as things like dance parties and whatnot go, I'm sorry, but I've been to a few of these to have a look and the atmosphere completely weirds me out. I know I'm not the only one. I don't care for the radio either; I'm not sure how that is a recommendation on what a beginner should do to progress in the game.

The community does put on some really cool minigames, like the gustball tournaments, which you can participate in without much real character investment. That was a really great idea whoever thought of it - using the mechanics of the game to create minigames. The game should be FILLED with opportunities like these. Once when I was playing UO, the GMs had put a table and some dice and a chessboard on the bank. People congregated there, so I rallied anyone who was nearby to play some guess the number games for 10g, if you guessed correctly, I'd pay you 100g. I'm an excellent showman, so people flocked in for some gambling. This was made possible with DICE and a TABLE in the right area.

Little things matter.

 

How long after 1997 it was?

 

Thank you all for your replies, I've read them carefully taking notes and I've been reading the links you gave me. I feel I have more tools to work with now (I especially can't wait to visit every spot @WrathPhoenix pointed out!). I will make sure to add every one of you who was so kind to offer your time to show me around. Because of LIFE I can only log in on weekends, so I guess thats when I'll be on. I hope this info helps out someone else!

PD: I'm from Argentina, I hope latency takes it easy on me...

Hortef.

 

2000, on a free shard.

 

One of the best nubie player guides is the one in your inventory.