And I've been playing here for a month but I took my time getting around to saying hello. Greetings, good people of Excelsior. My name's Thomas. I wear a white gold wedding band and I'm a little rough around the edges.
I've already met some of you in public chat and in-game. Daniella, roughneck, Rom, Jamkul, Azmodeus, Zed, Al, and others, and I'm enjoying the game and the crowd. Most have been very helpful and welcoming. I'm not super active in world chat but I tend to strike up conversations in-game and I'll try to help people who need it whenever I can. Champ spawns are by far my favorite thing to do so far and I'm looking towards joining a guild someday that works them regularly. I've had the opportunity to speak with a few staff members here already and my only complaint is that I don't see them around more often. 
I'm really looking forward to getting past the new guy stage and settling in here.About my noob questions... before Excelsior, I never played any incarnation of UO newer than 2001. So without even counting custom content, I'm more than a decade behind. I'm usually a quick learner and mostly self-sufficient but I've hit a few deadends on looking for information. And twice now I've made extremely expensive mistakes (for a new player) so I'm hoping to avoid any more crushing losses if possible. Any help with information is greatly appreciated.
1 - I have a few items that have stat bonuses up to 8, but by looking at high-level players' stats I'm sure there are some that allow for even higher buffs. I plan on getting into leveling/relayering, so what are some of the items that I could achieve higher than +8 str/dex bonuses on?
2 - Does every weapon enhancement except +dmg still apply even if the weapon is relayered into clothing?
3 - Are weapon special damages like Hit Lightning, Hit Area Fire, etc. calculated from base weapon damage only or do they figure in bonuses as well?
4 - Looking up recent/current official UO pages it states that luck affects ALL loot drops, improving the intensity and amount of the item properties. Yet I've seen many players here say in public chat that it affects nothing but paragon/artifact drops. Which one of these is the truth here on Excelsior?
5 - Also looking on recent/current official UO pages it shows that Parrying + Bushido together greatly improves chances to parry with a 2 handed weapon while greatly decreasing chances to parry with a shield. I've read some pages on this site though that seem to say it doesn't work that way here and that Parry/Bushido will only conflict with each other. How do these skills work together here?
6 - Powerscroll bags: Are they still obtainable (in some way besides buying from another player)? How do they currently function?
7 - How can you tell who won the item raffles from Trinsic? I'm all about buying tickets but I'd also like to be able to see the results.
8 - Do items decay on boat decks?
9 - Sometimes when another player kills a monster, it'll appear blue and unlootable to me. Other times, they'll be grey and lootable to me (which, for the record, I never do unless they're abandoned). What determines which way it's going to end up?
That's all I've got for now, and again I appreciate any help given.
Feel free to PM me (Gaara) ingame if you have any further questions or require help 
