When the master servers are down, you can still connect to favorite servers with ip addresses. TomKat has written a little php script custom for the Newbies Servers. This will be a small batch file to go on your desktop. It will start unreal and connect to the server you choose. Pretty neat and you can use it anytime or only when master servers are down. To enter information, right click on your Unreal short cut and look at the path under properties.
C:\Unreal or C:\UnrealGold or X:\Unreal. Thats all u have to know.
Quickstart is located on the main web page on the left side of the page.