I don’t play on Atlantic but I am fairly new to the game too. I am starting to play at special events now like the current tears of the ice dragon. You can help other players take down the more difficult monsters and get to know some of them in the process. I have found this a good way to get to know some of other players. It’s also a good way to improve your playing skills.
Try Gen Chat, that is if you can get through all the PvP Chat Crap
No. Unless things have changed the game recommends Atlantic if you ask it to recommend a shard.
I get all the west coast shards as I am on the west coast.
I am in the Midwest other shards are much closer to me but UO recommended Atlantic about two years ago when I joined. Thought it might do this for everyone on this side of the ocean. That would help explain why Atlantic dominates all the other shards on this slide of the Atlantic. Glad to see it does not do that for everyone. Really at a loss to explain why all the other shards have low populations every time I logon. My shard has enough players to make the game interesting but I have noticed a lot less completion and activity on vendor search during the last year.
As far as I can tell, it recommends based on latency. To me, Europa and Drachenfels both have a little under 50 latency. The next ones after that (including Atlantic) all show over 125 latency.