As you are reading this we hope you have already submitted an application, joined us in IRC, and installed UO and the custom Dark Age content on to your pc. Welcome to the shard. This guide is expressly aimed at people with no previous experience of playing ultima online. However, DA has so many nifty features and custom scripts that even experienced players may benefit from skipping straight down to first steps.

Upon entering your account details and password, you will be taken to a character selection screen. Clicking “new” will begin your character creation process. The standard UO character creation process will have absolutely no bearing on your character in the world of DA, Except for name, gender, hair and skin color. When choosing your ‘class’ make sure to select “Advanced” class setup as your client may crash otherwise. After this, select three skills. Again this will have no bearing on DA at all. You will then proceed to the final stage of creation; inputting your character name and selecting a hair style. This is all you will keep from this part of creation. Selecting your starting town is, again, irrelevant. You will then appear in the middle of an ocean. A pop up menu (hence forward known as a gump) will appear to take you to DarkAge’s Custom Character Creation area. Click on “DA2 Test” to start.

Here is where it gets both exciting and daunting. DarkAge’s character forge allows for a near-infinite diversity of skills to suit every possible play style. A detailed explanation of the character forge can be found right here. Feel free to contact either a staff member or many of DarkAge’s helpful, experienced players to refine your build and don’t worry too much. Characters can be reforged once within a week of creation, just ask a GameMaster (GM). A few further notes on character creation:

• Mages require a background called “witchblood” to be particularly useful. This requires experience points earned in game through good role playing. As such, unless you have expressly applied for a spell caster and been accepted, the magic skills will not necessarily aid your character.
• DarkAge offers numerous background options to compliment various character concepts. These backgrounds either cost or reimburse build points. However, it is important your backgrounds align with your role-play. For example, taking unattractive with intent to role-play an attractive character would be viewed in poor light and could require recreating said character (Guide to the backgrounds here).
• The background “possession” lets your character choose to begin with a possession they may have logically brought with them to Eridan. However, it also bears mentioning that you can speak to a GM about more specific items. A bard may wish an instrument engraved with their name or of a slightly different color, or a warrior to have armor with their family name. If it fits your character (and most importantly, application) feel free to ask a staff member about options.

After completion of character forging your new character, you will instantly be transported to the centre of Denshy- the main town of Eridan.

Movement of your character/avatar is predominantly controlled by the mouse. That is, holding down the right mouse button and pointing the cursor in the desired direction. Double clicking is used to interact with objects such as doors and crates or to select an item to use, be that a bandage or potion. Double clicking your own character will bring up a graphical representation of your character referred to as your “paper doll”. You can also double click on other players to view their paper doll. From your paper doll you can also access your inventory by double clicking on the small icon of a backpack or bag found at the feet of your paper doll. Dragging an item or weapon over your PD will equip it. Similarly, it can be dragged back to your back pack or the ground at any time.

By pressing ALT+R you can call up a mini-map of your surroundings which also displays compass points. This is vital for navigating the world of DA. By pressing ALT+J you can call up your journal this is essential for keeping track of conversations in the game world. There are a series of buttons on the right of your PD. At the bottom is a button entitled “status”. Clicking this will bring up a small gump displaying your current status, the weight you carry, your health, and so on. Clicking it again will change this to a representation of three blue bars. Health, Mana and Stamina. In this state, you can easily keep an eye on your health bar.

The key to both Dark Age and roleplaying is verbal interaction. The client offers a few ways to do this. : will emote your text. This is used to display any action your character may take. As an example, : waves his fist in the air will be displayed on screen as “character name” *waves his fist in the air*

; will allow your character to whisper speech that will be seen only by characters within a two-tile radius. It is usually a good idea to preface a whisper with either an emote or ; *whispers* he smells strange. This helps limit confusion for surrounding players as they are then aware you have spoken in a whisper.

! will allow your character to shout a string of text to be heard even off screen. The use of shouting is self explanatory.

Always remember to leave a space after : ; or ! This is especially important when whispering to avoid any uncomfortable outbursts.

Finally, there is a .whisper command (Use: ‘.whisper Hello’). This should not be confused with the standard ; whisper, as it varies rather drastically. It is used primarily for people when hidden (Using the hiding skill) so as not to reveal them, and in which case anyone within two tiles of that person will see “Someone whispers: Hello“ or whatever you type. It can also be used when not hidden and the whisper will be displayed in green text like normal speech and again only those within two tile will see: “Name whispers: Hello”.

For out of character or “OOC” communications, there is also a paging system in game. This can be accessed by typing .msg or .reply if you have already been messaged. This should be used sparingly and is certainly not intended for communication about any in game activities. It is, however, a great way to announce you are going AFK or are stuck, etc. This is not to be used for IG talk or Metagaming. the GMs can monitor and see what messages you are sending to who, and will act accordingly to any rule breaking. (Refresh yourself with the Rules here if need be)

Dark Age’s economy is player-run. You will seldom, if ever, find a Non-player Character (NPC) merchant selling things. Hence, when you deal with an NPC merchant you are buying directly from a fellow player. Be sure to shop around. To initiate dialogue with a vendor or NPC, simply type the npc’s name (which you can check either from your journal or by left clicking the merchant) and the word “buy”. Embellish upon this as much as you wish. It certainly adds atmosphere to see some one say “Lucy my dear, what may I buy from you this fine day?” over a simple “lucy buy”. By similar token, the banker with whom any character can store items entirely securely will allow you to access your bank vault by typing “banker name” + “bank” in any combination you like.

Dark Age boasts a number of unique features to enhance game and role play above and beyond the standard UO client. Many of these features are accessed by simple text commands prefaced by a single . These are called “dot commands”. One of the first you will have cause to use is .lookat. This will bring up a gump that allows you to type in your character’s description and defining features. You can then use .lookat to not only view your own description, but that of other players you encounter. .Lookat can also be used on items and other props in game.

Others dot commands that are important or often over-looked are:

.PD will bring up an advanced version of your character’s paper doll. This is really useful for removing rings, chokers and other items that become fiddly to click on with the standard paper doll. .Craftinfo will call up a gump displaying all the crafting skills and allow you to browse through and see what items you could potentially craft. Each item has a gump listing what materials/tools you would need to craft it and how difficult the task would be for your character. .Craft “exact item name” will begin crafting- assuming you have necessary skill, tools and resources. .Hunger will let you know how hungry your character currently is. This is useful for rp and warrants monitoring as sufficient hunger can affect your statistics adversely. .Examinegarb is convenient command that lets you view other characters’ equipment as if you had just clicked .lookat on specific items.