Anarchy Online - Free to Play

[McCheese]

Whatever happened to the supposed 5-year story arc they had planned for the game? I vaguely remember AO claiming to be the first MMO with a definite story planned, which would have a set schedule for unfolding.

I remember a few really horribly made CGI movies were released in the beginning to start moving the story along, but it seems like it petered out after that and was quietly forgotten.

[Vorph]

Are you sure you're not thinking of AC rather than AO?

At any rate, whatever story AO had went right out the window with Shadowlands and their lame attempts at injecting fantasy into a sci-fi game. I still liked AO a lot though, just for the game mechanics. I just wish that they had limited the twinking aspects of the game. Getting buffed by people your level to equip an item or use a nano = good system, especially the implants part. L200's buffing L15's = gay.

[Jait]

Originally Posted by McCheese

Whatever happened to the supposed 5-year story arc they had planned for the game? I vaguely remember AO claiming to be the first MMO with a definite story planned, which would have a set schedule for unfolding.

They released some novels and other stuff. For all I know they finished their 5-year plan, but it likely wasn't the one originally intended.

The person, erm..people writing the bulk of the core storyline left a few months after release.

[Rhaze]

GUYZ IF YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT RAIDING WOW 60 HOURS A WEEK OR OLD SCHOOL EQ YOU AREN'T WORTHY OF MMO CHAT.

[Rayne]

Originally Posted by Vorph

L200's buffing L15's = gay.

Its only gay when not everyone can do it. When its unlimited, its integral to the gameplay. AO was intentionally designed with twinking as an integral part of the game. Not the afterthought it was in EQ.

[voodoo13]

lvl 25 trader alts with Pump Masters was a lot of fun in tower raids

[Noah EQ2]

If you look back over Flight's posts in the past, they are all long and detailed. Not sure if he is shilling perse~

AO... I love the game, hate the graphics. It is expected to get an overhaul graphic wise. The lore, world, travel system, classes, twinking, questing, and community put to shame any other game right now in exsistance.

I suggest trying it not expecting awe striking graphics or control. Expect grit, guns, some adult humor, and a lot of Ogre like dudes in thongs. Also pick up Gridstream radio - its a shout cast with great music. They do ingame dance parties and give out MILLIONS of credits (gold). Great music, decent dj's and funny commercials.

Anyway... off to patch this once again for the 8th time and hang out in the grid on my Fixer.

[Zodiac]

Originally Posted by Jait

They released some novels and other stuff. For all I know they finished their 5-year plan, but it likely wasn't the one originally intended.

The person, erm..people writing the bulk of the core storyline left a few months after release.

Ragnar Tornquist was the main writer for all of AO's story. They did release his novel Prophet Without Honor which is set kinda as a prequel to the game if I recall correctly (you can also download this in pdf now). I'm pretty sure he stayed on a good while after release, but I think they dropped the 5-year story arc thing that they had panned. Ragnar later left the AO team and wrote the sequel to The Longest Journey, Dreamfall.

If you liked AO's story, Ragnar is pitching another MMO to Funcom. Not much info released atm, D A R K D A Y S A R E C O M I N G

[Duppin]

If you have never played AO, do yourself a service and try it out.

It's not for everyone, but its bad launch (which people always overstate but that's neither here nor there) forced an otherwise excellent game into niche territory.

God, I hated Shadowlands though. What were the rock things called that everyone had to XP on pretty much exclusively once they hit about 80, or gimp themselves? Hecklers?

[Rayne]

Originally Posted by Zodiac

Ragnar Tornquist was the main writer for all of AO's story. They did release his novel Prophet Without Honor which is set kinda as a prequel to the game if I recall correctly (you can also download this in pdf now). I'm pretty sure he stayed on a good while after release, but I think they dropped the 5-year story arc thing that they had panned. Ragnar later left the AO team and wrote the sequel to The Longest Journey, Dreamfall.

If you liked AO's story, Ragnar is pitching another MMO to Funcom. Not much info released atm, D A R K D A Y S A R E C O M I N G

Been watching that site for a while myself. From what I hear, its a bit more than a pitch at this time. Some are saying its in its conceptual stages. Its definitely not going to be your run of the mill mmo from the looks of things.

[Azzikai]

I pick up AO from time to time when I'm getting bored with other games. Unfortunately, I stupidly upgraded my account with the higher level characters on it so I've had to start from scratch this time. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, the controls are killing me. Everything feels kinda slow compared to the combat in WoW and then somethings are downright lagged (mob dies, it sits there then all of the sudden you get your XP and are able to loot).

I highly doubt I'll play it more than once or twice before it gets relegated to the MMO graveyard section of my HD but I still think it is a good game. It is just one of those "it isn't you, it is me" scenarios. I'll forever be a fan of "y u loot me?" type comments and I still think leets are the best NPCs ever but AO really shows its age, much more than EQ even.

[Arrr]

Thinking about goofing around on this on offnights. Did they ever add high-end content beyond pandemonium? is SK still the slowest grind in the world? are hecklers still the only worthwhile exp?

[Uriel]

They added alien playfields (APF), with sector 42 being pretty tough. SK is pretty damn fast now compared to early Shadowlands. Everyone does SL missions now. Faction for SK is no problem now thanks to missions, no more Galahad / Mordeth raids. You'll still do hecklers from Nascence to Adonis, then move to missions sometime 150+. AO is awesome, there's always something to do pretty much. Hopefully the graphic upgrade coming fixes all the performance issues and doesn't just make it look prettier.

[Arrr]

btw, are you guys on RK1 or RK2? My 100ish MA is on RK2, I think, but i'm not positive.

[voodoo13]

Thats what AO is supposedly getting upgraded to.