Hi, I'm Elladara, and I'm new here.
I kind of found my way here by accident. I'm a UO player from way back, since launch in 1997 in fact. I haven't played the game since several expansions ago, but every once in a while, I get nostalgic for the "old" UO, so I've checked out several freeeshards since then. I spent some time on Shadowcove, a heavy-RP world, and have dabbled a bit in a couple of PvP shards (Second Age and In Por Ylem).
Recently my son, who loves sandbox games, expressed an interest in trying UO (since he hears me talk about it so much). He's just about the age where he's ready for something with this amount of complexity, so I went looking for an easy, PvE, family friendly shard. WP was among several on my shortlist and just happened to be the first one I tried; I created a throwaway character, slapped her with the first name that came to mind. and jumped in. The welcome and help I received was overwhelming, and I kind of got sucked in. I'm still playing that throwaway character, and while my son may or may not join me, I think I'm here to stay.
Most people play games like this to kill things. I do a bit of that, but get bored with it easily. What I really love doing (which may be why I keep coming back to UO) is running vendors. Back on Chesapeake, I started with a small reagent shop and later started a much larger vendor mall, both of which became wildly successful. From the start I've wanted to do that here, so I've been working my skills, gathering raw materials, and escorting so much that I probably mutter "I will take thee" in my sleep. I have a nice house now with a brand new moongate, and three hard-working and overpaid vendors. So far I'm selling inscription stuff and ingots/wood of all flavors. I've just left town for a week, so what you see is what you get for now; but I'll be back next Wednesday and hope to keep them fully stocked from then on, because empty vendors make me itch.
Anyway, nice to meet you all and thanks for a great start!