Playguide

We are providing a Playguide from the original Ultima Online release to help the players that are new to the game. This guide covers basic elements such as movement, interaction with players, upgrading equipment, etc. If you are a veteran, this guide might not be as informative, but it does have some easter eggs that you might want to check out.

Download
- Ultima Online Playguide [Word].doc
- Ultima Online Playguide [PDF].pdf

Frequently Asked Questions

I see there is an account limit of 2 per IP address. I have more people playing in my household, how can they play?
- If you have more than two people playing under the same IP address, then you will have to send an email to accounts@uoorigins.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it        or PM a Gamemaster in IRC or on the forums. Please include only the username for each additional account. Do not send us passwords. We will assign each account a temporary password which you can change later in-game with the [password command.

What is Origins timeframe?
- Origins timeframe is May 1998, before the major patches that were leading towards T2A. We want to make it clear that our only goal is to recreate that, there is absolutely nothing custom. Playing on Origins should be like playing OSI in May 1998. Everything has been developed to reflect that timeframe and the shard has gone through beta testing and there should be very little missing. Of course things are overlooked so let us know if you feel something is off by posting in our Help and Suggestions section.

What is IRC?
- IRC is a form of instant internet chat. This is the best way to get connected with other players on the shard. You can download the popular mIRC chat client or if you have Firefox, download the ChatZilla addon.
IRC IP: irc.uoorigins.com Port: 6667 Channel: #origins

What is the macroing policy?
- Macroing unattended is allowed. However AFK Resource Gathering is not and is bannable on first offense. There are staff who check for this.

Is skill gain slower then most shards?
- The skill gain on Origins is no harder than it was on OSI. During Pre-T2A, skills were something to be proud of. This is because the difficulty comes from balancing atrophy rather than the skill gain rate. But remember that getting a skill to GM is half of the experience, rushing your way to GM will make you miss out on experiences and people you would meet along the way. There are always better ways to GM a skill than others, check our Playguide section on the forums for help.

Why is there no Karma/Fame? What is Notoriety?
- During Pre-T2A there was no Karma or Fame system in place and instead used a system known as Notoriety. Notoriety represents your reputation in the world. Whether you decide to do good deeds or to rob everyone around you, it will effect your Notoriety and how people respond to you in Britannia.

- If you do a good deed, you can only gain a maximum of 1 point of notoriety every 15 minutes. Ways to raise your notoriety include killing monsters, PKs, and giving gold to high notoriety NPCs such as Healers.
- You can also lose notoriety. However there is no limit to how fast you lose it. If you do a bad deed, then your notoriety will drop. Ways to loose notoriety include snooping, stealing, begging, and killing positive notoriety NPCs or Players.
- Anyone who is above Evil Lord are allowed inside of town and are protected by guards. If they are not criminal and you attack them inside of town, you will be guard wacked. However, they can be attacked outside of town with no penalty. Dishonorable players appear Grey and it may be impossible to tell the difference between a Criminal and a Dishonorable player. It is recommended you do not attack someone unless you know they are a criminal.

How does the Bounty System work?
- The bounty system during PreT2A worked slightly different then the reputation version. In this system, you can receive a bounty when you have 10 or more kill counts. When this happens, you will fall instantly to Dread Lord, your bank will be cleared, and you will receive 10% statloss when you die. There is no way to tell how many kill counts are on your character but they decay at a 12 hour rate.

Tell me about the Housing System.
- The housing system in the era is quite simple; there are no rules. There are no housing commands, no lockdowns or secures, and the owner of the house is determined by whoever has a key to it. For this reason, house security is something taken seriously. Thieves and PKs will often spend hours outside your house waiting to take the key from you.

So housing is pretty insecure... How do I keep my house safe?
- Luckily there are a few good techniques to secure your house from robbers. One popular method is to create a "courtyard" of tents in front of your house. House placement isn't strict during this era which allows you to place houses or tents side by side. This method involves placing three tents in a triangle formation. Doing this, you have blocked off your front door from unwanted guests and you can freely recall in and out of your courtyard assuming you marked a rune.
- If you can afford it, castles have their very own courtyard that can be recalled in to.
- Another method involves putting your keys or keyring on your own vendor at your house. No one has access to the keys except you.
- All Patio style houses come with a lockable interior door. This is the preferred house if you plan on making a vendor shop because you can leave your front door unlocked for customers, and have your own private section at the same time.

How many houses can I have?
- During this era, you could own an unlimited amount of houses.

How does Combat work here?
- There are no damage modifiers in this era (except the weapon skill itself). This means that anatomy, evaluating intelligence, lumberjacking, etc, do not add extra damage in combat. These are typically useless in a PvP template. Meditation also did not exist in this era and cannot be used in game. This means mana regenerates at a fixed rate for everyone. Armor also does not affect regeneration rates, so someone wearing a full plate armor suit will regenerate mana as fast as someone without armor.

Why doesn't my damage apply until after the swing animation?
- Insta-hit was not a feature of Pre-T2A. This means that damage will not apply until after the swing is completed. For this reason, there is more skill required in landing a successful hit against a moving target.

Tell me about the Order/Chaos (Virtue Guard) system?
- Order/Chaos was not apart of the guild system in this era. Instead, only Great Lords were able to join the ranks of a virtue guard. Once you are a Great Lord, either approach an order guard at Lord British's Castle or a chaos guard at Lord Blackthorn's Castle and say 'virtue guard'. You will then receive the appropriate shield. Although they will appear blue, Order and Chaos can freely attack each other as long as their shield is equipped. This includes inside of a guarded zone. You will receive no penalty for killing each other. Another useful thing about order and chaos shields is that you can cast a spell while having one equipped. This makes parrying a good skill for an order or chaos guard.