I have played UO for over 9 years now. The first shard I played was Gardascia it was a sphere shard balanced toward PvP. I got addicted to UO during that time. But when it closed I was deeply frustrated and searched for another shard for months on end until I came across Obsidian Shard. That place changed so much because of corrupt staff I had to leave. Then came SorcerorsQuest. Well I ended up getting myself banned from that shard because I acted like one of them internet gangsters. You know the kind. The kind that loves to argue and act like only their opinion matters. Well needless to say I have searched for months on end again to find another good place to play. But every time I find a good place to spend my free time, the shard gets shut down. I wonder where all the good shards have gone. I can't find one that fits my play style with the MMO feel of Gardascia or SorcerorsQuest. Where have these types of places gone? These shards now a days are ran by script kiddies who take there scripts from Emulators forums. This makes every shard the same. And when I do find a shard that is unique the owner gets bored or finds out how much time it really takes to host a shard and shuts down. I am sick of spending a month playing somewhere just for the place to close. Where have all the good shards gone? All there is are the uber l33t shards that want to have neon colors that blind the eyes and item attributes that run off the screen. Or PvP shards where nothing is safe and people just want to fight and argue all day. Where have the good shards gone? The ones where people would work together just to tame an animal, or spend months GMing a skill? Now a days it seems people only want to play at a shard that has super fast gains or free skills. Where have the good shards gone? The ones that actually had community and activity's? Now a days it seems people play for a few days then only log in to refresh there accounts so they won't lose the few days of work. Where have the shards that actually had customs gone? Not the shards that use the same scripts found on some message board somewhere?

I'm sick of looking for a good place to play. It's been years sense I actually enjoyed playing UO. I've played out of addiction. I think I am done playing. I think my UO time is over. It's hard to type that. I've spent so much of my free time playing Ultima. It's gonna be hard not to play any more. But it's just not worth it anymore. Maybe I can actually paint that picture I've been wanting to. Perhaps I will finish writing the 11th chapter of my book. I think I will have time to play piano again. Yeah that sounds good. Bye my friends. Thanks for the good memory's. Thanks for the good times.

http://www.archeronne.com my friend

I don't do skill caps.

We may not fall under your catagory of 'good' but I feel we are a decent shard. There is not a lot of people on right now since we're not yet listed public but will be listed by Feb 1st at the latest. I have no intention of this being a short-term venture.

Yes a lot of our scripts are from emulator forums but we have modified many of them and have a two scripters working on new stuff. And yes, some of our stuff is too uber but that is also being modified because I want high-end crafted stuff to be worth something, making it so crafters are not obsolete. The goal is old-school mixed with some customs.

If you find your still wanting to play UO, here is the website/forum addresses for you to review. Any comments or ideas are welcome and I do not mind people coming to have a look around to see if it is someplace they'd like to stay.

http://darkcrusaders-uo.webs.com
http://darkcrusaders-uo.proboards.com

Thanks for your time,
Alyssa Dark
Dark Crusaders

From an ex owner standpoint all I can say is that running a shard has become a major headache. The majority of players don't truly log in to play uo as you have created the shard to be, they believe they are there to make the shard into what they like. Having ideas is fine and dandy and it is possible that some might actually help a shard, BUT the majority of ideas don't fit the balance of a shard as the owner/owners have created it, and final say should by all rights go to the person who is putting their time and money into it. Most players have lost all respect for the hard work it takes to get a "good" shard running and keeping it fresh with new and fun things to do. With that being said, I'm making it known that I am also leaving uo as this is no longer the community I have known and loved for 10 years. Good luck to all shard owners, try not to let the abusive playerbase get to you. Players, if you love the game and want to continue to see free shards, play the game for what it is, on whatever shard you are on and respect the staff and ownership and let them do the driving.

I'm bringing Gardascia back.

We're in open BETA testing and will be for as long as we see fit. I agree about some of the playerbase issues but just stand firm and the bad seeds will leave. Good servers take time and there are too many me too servers out there. It's easy to lose faith but don't! It's gunna take the "core" to bring hope back.