A classic, free to play Ultima Online shard

Are you tired of playing the same cookie cutter games that lack accomplishments, true friendships, epic battles, and a sense of free will? Now, the greatest 2D game has returned. Ultima Online, unmatched to this day in depth of mechanics and interactions. A social sandbox unlike any other. Second Age is a free Ultima Online Shard that can be accessed by anyone with UO client software, available for download in the Downloads section.

Second Age is the most accurate emulation of the UO: T2A era online today. There are no giveaways. On UO Second Age you will build your character(s) from the ground up. More information about the Ultima Online game itself, and its rich history in the mmorpg online gaming community is available here, from Wikipedia: Ultima Online.

We do not endorse any particular style of play on Second Age. Accounts are never deleted for inactivity, it will always be free to play, and anyone is welcome. The game is free and fun, yet due to its unparalleled diversity and freedom, it has a learning curve.

Get started on Second Age:

A step by step guide is available to help you get the software installed, and connect to the shard:
Guide: Installing UO and Connecting to Second Age.

Community Resources Abound:

If you're not familiar with Ultima Online play, our fourms guides, and new player sections, the "T2A Wiki" and in game help from dedicated staff are available to help you make sense of it all. Other players are sometimes your best resource, talk to them in game, or connect with other players in our IRC channel. Click to open IRC Chat Window.

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Since inception, the goal, vision and rationale of even creating this accurate T2A era shard has been very simple but unique:

We aim to replicate the T2A era as best we can and within technical limitations as a whole.
We do not intend to ever change any aspect of normal gameplay to particularly favor any playstyle or to protect or further expose any players to the in-game risk that was a large part of this era.
We will especially not pull aspects of other eras into this one, even with an overwhelming demand of players.

We believe that "proper" gameplay can only be achieved by taking the era as a whole and accept it for what it was. Tampering with the era in hope of achieving balance is not something that we will do, nor do we believe is achievable across all playstyles. Diversity of players and playstyles is a necessity of a healthy shard. Every type of play depends on another, and this is why UO is absolutely the greatest MMORPG ever crafted.

With that said, we do still continue to strive to become more correct and true to the era. Player feedback and research is a big part of this process. We don't claim to have everything perfect yet, but we do continue to actively work towards that goal.

We will stay as accurate to the Pre-UO:R/T2A era as we can. The biggest exception to this is that there are many custom events both regularly scheduled, and staff run. Currently, we have Capture the Flag, Double Domination, Deathmatch, and Dueling Tournaments (1v1+), and unique PvM quests implemented. We have also introduced completely original "Story" Events based on the classic UO fiction.

We recomend client version 5.0.8.3, but all client versions above 5.0.0.0. are supported. If you do not have your UO installation CDs, you can download a modern client from the downloads section, here. We have a guide on the forum, here, to assist you with downloading, installing, and connecting to Second Age. [-]

Patch 144: Sept 30 2011: Housing, pet friending, pickaxes.

Housing & placement:
- House placement checks have been rewritten to be more correct.
- The requirement for even ground around the foundation is less strict than it was.
- House Steps are considered foundation, and will be accounted for in the yard check. Thanks Kryptonical
- House placement checks occur much faster now.
- To avoid spamming placement of large houses which can impact system performance, a 3 second reuse delay has been added to house deeds.
- Players within a house are no longer moved to the center when the house is demolished.
- Banned Mobiles no longer moved to ban-location when entering a house, they will just bounce off the steps.
Fixed inability to use a pickaxe to dig for treasure unless there was a shovel in pack. Thanks Ulfrigg Rose and Kaivan
You can no longer friend a pet to a player who cannot control it. Thanks Kaivan
The teleporter to the Star Room is no longer triggered by simply approaching the altar, you must double click the brazier. Thanks Malice
Fix for shard crash on the morning Sep 26, related to showing house items when entering a house. (Thanks BobMarley for helping to troubleshoot)
Tournament event gates will be red, rather than blue.
Test center will no longer show in the shard list when it is not open for testing.

Added Oct 3

It's not possible to teleport within a castle or keep courtyard. (Thanks Robbb)

Statistics: Posted by Derrick — Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:01 am — Replies 40 — Views 3285