As a UO player I am hurt to hear people say uo is dying. Yes OSI is dead, and they pretty much killed UO PvP before they left. But where they left off. Player run Shards such as UO gamers has brought back the much needed life back into the game. Bringing back the rulesets that made the game flourish has made their player run shards a big hit.
Having 2000+ players log on at a time, and having weekly PvP tournaments for trophys and prize money has made the game more interesting than it has ever been.
Adding poker tables, and dueling pits with ranks has also added another element that has never been in any OSI shard. And making it so the players that log in everyday have a say in the rulesets. The game is constantly evolving, becoming more fast paced, and more integrated.
All in all UO is dead. For the people who still play the OSI shards. As far as the player run shards. Its growing.