Oceania (OSI)
Oceania is a paid/subscription Ultima Online shard which is owned by Electronic Arts (EA).
Not to be confused with the freeshard Oceania Classic.
Oceania and Oceania Classic
Oceania (OSI) was launched on the 28th of January, 2000, at which time Ultima Online was in The Second Age era and still run by Origin (OSI). However, it was only a matter of months before the Renaissance expansion was released (3rd of April, 2000) and the facet of Trammel was introduced.
Two major things have come to define what constitutes "Classic" UO to most players, aside from the Classic Client that is. The first is the entire time period from the launch of the game in 1997 up until the Renaissance expansion in 2000, the time before Trammel was introduced. The second is the original item system that existed until the release of the Age of Shadows expansion.
The aim of Oceania Classic is not not replace Oceania (OSI) but rather to stand alongside it. While they are both Australian UO shards, they are very different games as they are set in very different eras of UO's history.
The Oceania Classic Dev Team wish to encourage current players on Oceania (OSI) to keep playing there, just as we encourage them to also join us here on Oceania Classic too.