Shelter Island
Welcome to Shelter Island
- When players create a new character, they begin on Shelter Island and are given Young status
- Players who log into the game on Shelter Island and have Young status active, will have a "Welcome to Shelter Island Menu" pop up
- On this menu players can click the "View Tutorial Videos for Ultima Online and Outlands" button to learn gameplay basics
- On this menu players can also click the "Learn More about Young Status and Shelter Island" button to learn how Young status works, as well the features of Shelter Island (including New Player Dungeon)
Shelter Island
- All characters created on Outlands begin on Shelter Island
- Shelter Island contains most of the features of a normal town, with a few exceptions (listed below)
Rules for Shelter Island
- Players cannot perform hostile actions against other players while on Shelter Island
- Players must have Young status in order to access the Bank on Shelter Island
- Players must have Young status in order to buy or sell from Vendors on Shelter Island
Skill Gain
- Players cannot increase any Skill beyond 80 while on Shelter Island
Harvesting
- With the exception of Skinning corpses, players can only harvest resources on Shelter Island if they have Young status
- Resource amounts when Skinning corpses is reduced to 50% of normal on Shelter Island
- Player chances to harvest resources (Mining/Lumberjacking/Fishing) are reduced to 50% of normal on Shelter Island (e.g., 22% mining success becomes 11%)
New Player Dungeon
- On the Northwest side of Shelter Island, players can find the New Player Dungeon
- The New Player Dungeon is a unique dungeon that focuses on Skill Gain and low-threat Monsters
- New Player Dungeon is considered to be part of Shelter Island for Skill Gain and Young player handling
New Player Dungeon Mechanics
- Skill Gain inside of the New Player Dungeon is increased by 400% of normal (with the exception of Crafting / Harvesting skills)
- Gold amounts on creatures are reduced to 75% of normal (i.e. 25% penalty)
- Special Items (Treasure maps, Arcane scrolls, etc) and Rare Items (Mastercrafted Diagrams, Rare Cloth, etc) will not occur as loot in the New Player Dungeon
- Players cannot earn Experience towards Aspects, Codexes, Mastery Chains, etc inside of New Player Dungeon
Young Status and Newbied Items
- Most of the equipment players are given during character creation (Weapons, Armor, Tools, etc) will be granted [Newbied] status so long as the player still has Young status active
- Any item labeled as [Newbied] will not fall to the player's corpse if they should die
- When a player loses Young status, all of their [Newbied] items will become normal and will now fall to their corpse if they die
Blessed Items
- Some items given during character creation (or acquired later) will have [Blessed] status and will never fall to a player's corpse on death (regardless of Young status)
Leaving Shelter Island and Losing Young Status
- Players will maintain Young status until they leave the Shelter Island
- Players can leave Shelter Island a number of different ways, including Moongates, by Hiking (via Camping skill and an Atlas), magery-based travel such as the Recall and Gate Travel spells, and several other options
Confirmation to lose Young Status
- If a Young player attempts to perform an action that would result in them leaving Shelter Island, they will first be required to confirm that they are Renouncing Young Status which is permanent
- Once players have confirmed this, they can leave the island freely
Returning to Shelter Island
- If players lose Young status, they can still return to Shelter Island, however they will simply not receive any of the previous benefits of Young player status (Vendor and Bank access, Newbied item handling, etc)
The History of Shelter Island
Credit goes to Lenz for the original lore and also to Erik Gray for the amazing posts and images.
Formation
Nestled in Reaver Bay, between the Aegean Peninsula and Cambria lies Shelter Island. Mad Emperor Linus reigned as the last ruler of the united Prevalian Empire from 469AC to 490AC. Unprepared for and unsuited to rule, Linus issued many strange edicts, among them the order to create an entirely new island ‘shelter’ to house the sick and infirm that he held responsible for the slow disintegration of his empire.
Prevalian engineers and mages set to creating an artificial island in the shallow Reaver Bay. As soon as this mighty feat of construction was completed, Linus began deportations of ‘undesirables’ from the streets of Prevalia, Andaria and Cambria. In his haste to be rid of these scapegoats, Linus neglected to provide any facilities or support for the reluctant new inhabitants of Shelter Island. These first deportees simply tore each other apart in a desperate struggle to survive. Legend has it that many of their ghosts still stalk the caves beneath the town.
Today the island - and the town upon it established by the Prevalian rulers that followed Linus - are viewed as a neutral safe haven, free from the wars that have ravaged the cities of the mainland.