Shard Selection Ultima Online uses a multi-shard (or multi-server) system to maintain many different copies of the world. Choosing the shard you wish to play on is an important part of the process of starting out in Ultima Online. Our shards are located around the world, allowing you to choose a shard that is located geographically close to you and thus ensure a robust connection to the game. The shards are currently located as follows: North American East Chesapeake Atlantic Catskills Lake Superior Great Lakes Siege Perilous Legends North American West Baja Lake Austin Pacific Napa Valley Sonoma Origin Western Europe Europa Drachenfels Japan Hokuto Yamato Asuka Wakoku Izumo Mizuho Mugen Sakura Korea Arirang Balhae Taiwan Formosa Australia Oceania With the exception of the Siege shards (Siege Perilous and Mugen), all shards use identical lands and systems. The Siege shards are an 'advanced' server for veteran players, and new accounts are unable to access these shards until they have accrued a minimum of 40 hours of total Ultima Online playtime, or renounced Young Status. You can find more information on Siege Perilous by clicking here. To choose a shard, select it from the shard list in your interface. As you run your mouse over each shard, the shard name will highlight with gold trim. A selected shard will be highlighted in white.