Anarchy Online

[Nads]

Any Anarchy Online players out there? While most people here obviously are first generation EQers, Anarchy was my first MMO love, and still is to this day (even though I was late to the EQ scene and love it as well).

I've recently had the itch to roll a Froob account (Free account for classic content only, even though that comes with a MASSIVE amount of content either way) and play the classic game only even though I have a frozen paid account.

Holler!

[Langrisserx]

naw naw

[Nads]

naw naw

Hi Hurb

[HeallunRumblebelly]

I played a doctor through Shadowlands...enjoyed pinging on Rubi-Ka but never really got into the strange ass world pvp :P Just pve doctor and an engineer twink (dat augment / gear cycle, getting a pet 90 levels higher than you, lol).

[Swish]

Played the free trial back in the day when it was first released... wasn't impressed. Reminded me of a poorly done EQ, probably didn't give it a fair shot :p

[Millburn]

AO was one of the first games I got to beta test, lots of fond memories with it.

That games just super appealed to the min/max D&D nerd in me. That feeling was quite unique when you finally got the right gear/buffs/friends around so that you could buff up to put on some gear which would let you put in some implants which in turn let you put on some better gear.

The power creep was amazing in that game, but ultimately became a large barrier to entry which is probably one of the reasons it failed. Still love the hell out of it.

[Nads]

AO was one of the first games I got to beta test, lots of fond memories with it.

That games just super appealed to the min/max D&D nerd in me. That feeling was quite unique when you finally got the right gear/buffs/friends around so that you could buff up to put on some gear which would let you put in some implants which in turn let you put on some better gear.

The power creep was amazing in that game, but ultimately became a large barrier to entry which is probably one of the reasons it failed. Still love the hell out of it.

I definitely would not say it failed. I wasn't around for launch, but I've been around that community long enough to know how bad it was. However, the game is vastly improved since those days.

And yes, AO has probably the steepest learning curve in any game I have ever played, but that's what makes it so unique and attractive. There's nothing like researching and scrounging for any way possible to be able to equip some outrageously high quality level equipment for your level.

[myxomatosii]

And yes, AO has probably the steepest learning curve in any game I have ever played, but that's what makes it so unique and attractive. There's nothing like researching and scrounging for any way possible to be able to equip some outrageously high quality level equipment for your level.

Steeper than Eve?

[Millburn]

Steeper than Eve?

Nah not even close. Anarchy Online's complexity was pretty much just a few mechanics and some number crunching. Granted...it was incredibly important to nail down to be successful but it doesn't touch on the complexity EVE has.

EVE is a sandbox filled with a ton of complex mechanics you can choose to use depending on how deep you wanna dig.

[Rust1d?]

I played AO up until the dreaded 12.6 patch which basically killed the game. Was fun up until then but required lots of number crunching to get everything correct to over equip stuff. Flying around in a yalm was fun too. I remember some buddies chipped in and bought it for me.

Now I am sure the game is dead.

[Nune]

I Loved AO. Had a Atrox Monk Class (forget the name, Enforcer maybe?) The game was 1 exp pack beyond Shadowlands when I was froobing on it. Though it's learning curve was manageable, there was just a shit ton of game/content/features you could immerse in that didn't require poopsock-level gametime. Missions were awesome, I remember downloading some add-on that taught you how to fish through the mission selects to get rare rewards. It was also one of the only games that did instancing well.

[Nune]

Would def play a well coded "Classic" AO Emu, not sure if one is about but it would need a pretty fair sized pop for that game to not seem ungodly barren. You wouldnt even notice a P99 pop on an AO Server, esp with instancing

[Rust1d?]

I would not mind a classic AO emu, but I think demand would be way too low. Too big of a game for it.

[Nads]

Nah not even close. Anarchy Online's complexity was pretty much just a few mechanics and some number crunching. Granted...it was incredibly important to nail down to be successful but it doesn't touch on the complexity EVE has.

EVE is a sandbox filled with a ton of complex mechanics you can choose to use depending on how deep you wanna dig.

I would say AO could EVE's complexity level a serious run for its money. Granted, yes, at the base of it, there is a lot of number crunching involved, but right out the gate for the first time is brutal.

Now, where AO really gets complex is when you are literally scrounging, researching and delving through a plethora of different gear/nanoprograms/implants/etc. to plan out just how the hell you're going to get the most egregiously high quality level equipment you can at your level.

Here's a basic example of an Atrox shade attempting to equip a specific back item as early as possible(Granted this is an outdated example as I equipped the same item on my shade up to 40-50 levels prior) from the Official AO forums:

Atrox 204.

We start out by getting tier3 hands on.
QL220 hands has req of 805 agi and 660 sense.

Sense for gloves:
Base: 440
Poor Essence Brain Spirit: 460
Pitiable Heart Spirit of Essence: 506
Pitiable Midriff Sprit of Essence: 534
Galahad Inc T70 Zig Zag (L): 554
Galahad Inc T70 Zig Zag (R): 574
Nar Shere's Earring of Tapping (or omni version): 577
Rat Catcher Googles: 585
Human Skin Hood: 590
Personalized Robot Brain: 605
Kirch Kevlar set QL200 (body/2xsleeve/pants/boots): 630
Ring of Divine Teardrops (QL200) (L): 655
Ring of Divine Teardrops (QL200) (R): 680
Buffs (Comp attri/ES): 707
QL300 City HQ: 715

Agility for gloves:
Base: 540
Pitiable Midriff Sprit of Essence: 559
Pathetic Spirit of Essence: 600
Rejected Spirit of Feet Defense: 631
Full Acrobat: 661
Kirch Kevlar set QL200 (body/2xsleeve/pants/boots): 686
Ring of Divine Teardrops (QL200) (L): 701
Ring of Divine Teardrops (QL200) (R): 716
Buffs (Comp attri/FG/prowler): 833
QL300 City HQ: 841

This will allow us to wear QL229 gloves, they add 17 sense at
this QL.

We now have:
Sense: 732
Agility: 841

Now take out Pitiable Midriff Spirit of Essense (+28 sense)...

Sense: 704

.. and put in Somber Dispirited Midriff Spirit of Essence (683 agi/sen req)

Somber Dispirited Midriff Spirit of Essence: 737

Now take out Poor Essence Brain Spirit (+20 sense)...

Sense: 717

.. and put in Somber Essence Brain Spirit (716 agi/sen req)

Somber Essence Brain Spirit: 740

Now take out Pitiable Heart Spirit of Essence (+46 sense)...

Sense: 694

.. and put in Dispirited Heart Spirit of Essence (683 agi/sen req)

Dispirited Heart Spirit of Essence: 748

So we're 2 points in sense short.

Here's a few ways to get them:

a) Higher QL teardrop ring(s). The QL200 rings has a CL req of 800,
the robot brain has a req of 961 - so obviously you can get
higher QL rings on too (you needed Cyborg board for the robot brain).

b) Bracer of Killing Intent.. low ql will do the trick - AI expertise 3 not
required.

c) Eva Pourais' Snakeskin Patch (or omni version, don't know the name)
from Omega Eva Pourais in Adonis Unredeemed Underwater Temple, adds 4 sense.

d) One perk in Enchanced DNA.

Notes:
Used 2 Zig Zags, they have a nasty multiranged req of 508.

I got 750 CL pre-tl6 on my atrox shade, getting enough for robot brain
(req of 961) should be no problem with cyborg board.

That's the stuff that is so intriguing to me.

[Skittlez]

I couldn't stand the mission system in that game. Same for CoH. Shit's super weak.

[Nads]

I couldn't stand the mission system in that game. Same for CoH. Shit's super weak.

Missions are a breeze with an automated mission roller. Plus missions provide potentially insane experience and essential cash items/twink gear.

I will say that grinding missions to upgrade your token board can become monotonous.

[stormlord]

I started playing AO with a froob account in 2010. Last time I logged in was last year or something. Anyway, one of the reason I wanted to try it was I remember playing everquest in 2001-2 and a friend telling me he was going to play AO and was suggesting I should play it too. I liked EQ and didn't, but the memory stuck.

I like the atmosphere on Rubi-Ka, especially the music. It's the kind of feeling that makes me want to cry, since the game could be so much better. The game is overall hampered by years and years of decay. Part of the problem is I never had a paid account. Perhaps the game is better than I realize.

I liked the "complexity" of the implant/etc system(s). I know a lot of players do not like it if they have to examine gear in order to upgrade. Just look at EQ live and how the gear system went from being more non-linear to being more linear. Linear gear systems and/or simple gear systems are just more popular because people don't like examining gear to use it or upgrade it or whatever. Sadly, I find myself in a minority on this issue and many others. Fortunately, I still manage to find games now and then that have what I want. I can't say exactly why I like to examine things and figure out a way to mix and match to optimize. For me that has always been a big part of the fun in these kinds of games. Not the only part, but a part.

(One other thing of note is how AO used "holes" in hte gearing system. As a froob I saw how some old gear had holes in it. What this would do is cause you to figure out how to fill those holes or work around them or to have a second or third set of gear to patch them when needed. I've researched this some and I actually like the concept. In Whadowlands they removed it, but I am a fan of the "hole" system.)

The instanced missions are kind of interesting. What boggles the mind is AO had these instanced missions BEFORE they created Shadowlands. One has to examine the history behind Shadowlands to understand how crazy it's what they did. Basically, they reasoned that EQ players liked to play with each other in open areas. This fed into the development of Shadowlands. Shadowlands was essentially an EQ-clone tacked onto AO. Not only did it move away from the instanced mission idea towards open area group zones, but it also limited travel by not allowing players to use their vehicles. Their hope was to grab EQ players and get them to play AO. The insanity of this is that instances would become so popular in the future and yet this somehow escaped them. Their tunnel vision was so focused on mimicing EQ they just weren't aware of the potential.

I may yet try it again, but honestly, I'd rather try Mortal Online. Right now I'm playing Wurm Online. It's hard for me to enjoy the theme-park games as much as I used to. Sandbox games have spoiled me. I especially like the ones where there's lots of risk and freedom. Many games protect me too much; don't like.