During the beta, I tried several different professions as a base for my character. The most successful was my bowyer. Using a combination of 50% Bowyer and 50% Lumberjacking starting skills, I was able to make a lot of money and my attributes went through the roof, especially strength. With the money I made, I was able to purchase weapons and armor, spells and a spellbook, and training in many skills I did not have. From this point, I was able to make a powerful character. I'll probably use this again in the final version.
A lot of people complained about pks and theives during the beta. Really, they aren't that much of a problem. I was pked on occasion and was only stolen from once, and that was because of lag. If you are smart, you can avoid both.
Screenshots of the beta:
Here are some various screenshots of my adventures:
Here is a shot of one of the times the guards went nuts. I was standing outside the Britain blacksmithy when someone called the guards on a thief. A melee ensued, then all Hell broke loose.
Here I am training in one of Britain's training halls.
Another shot of the Britain blacksmithy, when it isn't so crowded. I spent a lot of time here early in phase 2. This is later on when Origin took down the fence that used to be in front of the smithy. Thank goodness. That fence was a pain.
Here I am on the road to Vesper just when Lord British was assassinated by Rainz. For more information about this event, click on the link below.
Here I am, after taming a gorilla. This has got to be one of the coolest pets in the game. They aren't worth much in a fight with though.
Here's another shot of me with my gorilla, Kong. This time we're in the Vesper Bowyer shop.
These next pictures are from the very end of the beta. Our last event was a scavenger hunt for reagents neede for a spell to save LB's life. LB bought it, of course. The world was then destroyed by the Guardian and his minions. Could have been a better ending.
Here I am, making my final stand at the shrine of spirituality. I draw my sword and prepared to do battle with the Guardian's daemon minions.
Here, I'm standing over my dead body. Unfortunately, the daemons killed players with only one hit. What a rip!! Usually I can go toe-to-toe with these things...
I was able to get to the shrine and resurrect myself, but the daemons were able to fly over and kill me. Repeat process twice, until....
Yes!! I escaped the shrine area and was able to salvage some of my equipment. Unfortunately, I could not escape the vile clutches of CL (connection lost), the bane of all UO beta testers. However, this time, the servers weren't coming back up.
And thus, the Ultima Online Beta test ends. Now onto the final release! Wooohooo!!