We get many visitors to the board who are thinking about playing WP but aren't sure what we offer.
What's this about a new client?
Free shards seem to come and go all the time. We did what was said to be impossible: we were able to migrate from a 5.x client to 7.0.7.1 without a shard wipe. All of the shard's history is intact -- and so are player's belongings! Magincia on other shards running this client has been destroyed but ours is still going strong. New Haven has replaced the old town of Haven though, and Lothar and other inhabitants have found new homes in the area. WP has been here since 2008 and is here to stay.
Our client uses refreshed graphics for the interface as well. It's a cleaner, more modern look while keeping all the controls where they've always been. You can choose to download a client with the original spell icons if you prefer.
Some of the new interface - including a much easier-to-read Journal:
Felucca is now open but it is an entirely new land area with its own cities, dungeons, and secret areas. Enjoy twice the harvests of wood and ore. Find new and strange creatures, friend and foe. Visit the new cities like Valoria and Paws, or keep an eye on the new dungeons as they are opened. Build a house and be one of the first settlers in the new land.
We now have PvP but it is totally consensual. Players who wish to participate can go to Lord British's castle to declare themselves PvP and can fight anywhere in Felucca. They cannot harm anyone who is not PvP (those who carry the PvM label), nor can PvM players interfere in their battles. Guild wars are possible too! Fighting still cannot happen on any other facet. This is the best way to support both play styles without one interfering with the other.
How hard is it to get started?
We've got a full installer for our custom client. No need to find and then patch an old copy of the game. No need to unzip files to the right folder. You just download our exe and run it, and it does the rest. You'll need our client to see all the custom lands, items, and animals. The use of Razor or similar program is optional. Our client will not interfere with others you may already have installed. Our installer includes UOAM (UO Auto Map) which has been modified to work with the new Felucca.
New players arrive at the Welcome Area to choose a skill gate. This lets you start with 6 GM skills right away, and 70 in all others. Our Training Area lets you max all combat and animal skills as quickly as possible, with weapons provided for maximum gains. After that you're ready to visit Lothar to earn a set of starter gear. Then there's the Newbie Dungeon if you feel ready.
The Shipworks in Valoria:
Customs
We've got custom crafting - ores, leathers, woods. There's a Spellcrafting system to really customize your creations. We've got universal storage keys, checkbooks, and token ledgers. We've got FireRock crafting (quite different than other shards' interpretations) and all the newest fish in the oceans. Pirates roam the seas too so beware! You can mine sand and granite, which will both stack and can be used with commodity deeds. We've got modern animations for horses, dragons, ostards, and new animals like the panda and bighorn sheep. We've got the children from the original UO beta client. We've got hundreds of new art items from later clients as well as total customs. There are Townhouses and yard wands. There's a hue field for you to totally customize the look of your gear.
The Town of Paws:
Birds (and dragons, and deamons, and harpies) actually fly in WP. When you think about it, it's silly for winged creatures to hop around on the ground! We've got all the usual champs plus custom and seasonal champs. Deco? Enough to sink a battleship! Pets can be leveled but not bred - we strive for balance. We have bio pets, including humans who can master fighting skills beyond simple melee combat. Bow strings break here -- better carry a spare or learn to craft the unbreakable Angel Hair stringer! There's a casino with slot machines, card, and dice games.
We've got tons of engaging content and the hardware is beefy enough to provide one-second world save times. Backups are frequent and distributed. Donations are truly optional; you can earn donation credits in-game so you can get every possible item without spending one cent IRL.
If you're looking for a new shard to call home, this is the one!
The Seeker (related to the Gazer):
