About Shards of Britannia

Shards of Britannia is a community server for the Legends of Aria game. We're working to modify the game with the tools provided by Citadel Studios to be more like our favorite classic game Ultima Online

The project is run by volunteers in our free time in collaboration with the players. The project has a humble beginning as an experiment started by a small group of friends and has since grown into the passion project that it is today.

Timeline

  • An Idea Is Sparked

    While playing the Legends of Aria pre-alpha, a friend [Andi] and I [Gorgan], wondered what it would be like if we could try out the Community Server Admin program together and see if we could make the game behave more like UO. We thought it would be a fun experiment for our friends and family to play on together. Andi decided he would cover the initial fee, and we would join the Community Server Admin program. The project concept and idea was born.

  • Project Becomes Reality

    After spending some time learning the ins-and-outs of the Community Server Admin program we started a small server and invited some friends to join us while we learned to modify things. We're going to need a server to host this on, so Andi decided he would cover the cost of a dedicated server rental. We started out with a small and modest server, and mostly it was affordable. The experimenting could begin!

  • The Beginning

    With some time under our belt modifying and breaking things, we started to become slightly popular with other Legends of Aria players. People seemed to be excited for the idea of UO mechanics in the game. At this point we were only running the Upper Plains region on the Celador map, but had some fun new UO inspired content to enjoy. This month the world was wiped and progress erased marking the beginning of the first public alpha version of the project.

  • First Major Milestone

    The project has become more popular and more demanding. More players have arrived and the team has grown. We have also expanded the regions by this point to accommodate the growing playerbase. This month a wipe occurred erasing progress and marking a major milestone for the project. This would be the last wipe to occur to date. Account ages start to become tracked from this point forward, allowing us to provide age-based Veteran Rewards.

  • Transition of Power

    Andi leaves the project. The project becomes publicly funded by the players through donations. By this point in the project we are running a full-fledged cluster of all the Celador regions and even a dedicated Test Center for testing changes. Work begins on the Britannia map.

  • Britannia Map Testing

    The Britannia map project is going strong and nearly ready for public tests. A lot of changes have been prepared for the new world, important changes to the economy, combat, and PVE. Project delays occur due to unforeseen circumstances, but progress continues.

  • Britannia Map Launch

    Part of the Britannia map was launched, existing players begin transitioning to the new world. Regions available: Britain, Minoc, Yew, Buccs Den, and Wind Mountains

  • Celador Retired, Landrush Begins

    The old world, Celador, has been closed. North-Minoc added to available regions, housing enabled in Yew, Wind Mountains and North-Minoc and the initial land-rush begins.

  • Rebranding Announced

    Legends of Ultima becomes Shards of Britannia. Read more here

  • Shards of Britannia continues!

    We are continuing to put out regular updates. Players continue help shape the world and provide feedback regularly. Are you with us?

As of December 2022, Citadel Studios no longer operates the base game (Legends of Aria) and only Community Servers remain online. Part of the game architecture has been sold to a third party and is being reimagined into something entirely different, while the "Classic" Legends of Aria remains as-is.

Shards of Britannia continues to operate as a Community Server through the Classic LOA platform for as long as Citadel Studios continues to maintain their Login server, which they have promised to do indefinitely

Note: Lots of players have asked if we can separate from the LOA Login server, but that is not currently possible, though we are leaving our options open. Onward and upward!

Note: You can stay up-to-date with Classic LOA in their Discord chat

The Team: Currently Active Staff Members

Listed in order of join-date.

Profiles with a book icon can be clicked to view more about the team member.

Gorgan

Founder Development Design Everything Else

Alys

Infrastructure Development World Building Design

Transcendence

Art & Design Unity Development Events

Wize

Development Unity & Map Art & Design

Kelsier

Development Design

Inactive/Former Team Members

Hoax (on break)

Media Art & Design

Sentinel (on break)

World Building Literature Design

Triskil (on break)

Unity Development Infrastructure Design

Shroud

Development Design

Milamber

Community Management Game Master

Arawn

Art Design World Building

beekel

Development Design Music

R-41

Unity Map Design Art

Macky

Development Design Events

Quenton

Development World Building

Former Team Members (continued)

Interested in joining the team?