Ultima online is just a glorifyed chat room from what i hear. And whats gonna happen in a month part?
About 9/10 of the people who play it use it as a chatroom... But the rest actually have fun and kill each other in pvp.
Not in the shard/server I play... you can't talk global, and the only time you can really use it as a "chatroom" is when you're in Vesper with all the the other people sitting around talking.
*edit* There's so much you can do, you can Wrestle, Cook, Fish, Steal, Hide, Smith, Lumberjack, Cast, Build your own house, Picklocks, Write books, Alchemy, Carpentry, Herding, Mining, Musicianship, Tailor, Camp, and Track.. those are just a few of the things you can do..