Was it actually that hard?

I played on the JP/KR asian servers in a PK/APK/PVP guild so maybe it was just my bubble but it was pretty common to see players with 7 skills maxed out. If I remember correctly

- sparring

- swordsman or fencing

- magic

- magic resistance

I don't remember the rest. It's not quick or easy like modern games, but we would regularly power level each other's alts and it took maybe 2 weeks to max out all 7 skills? We had a bear trapped in the guild house so we could power level wrestling and other combat skills.

Once you figured out a training system, it was easy to pump out 7x GMs. UOAssist was incredibly helpful to reduce the tedium and automate it.