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Anarchy Online: Fia Tjernberg Interview & New Engine Video

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Comments

  • JavafanJavafan Member UncommonPosts: 45

    Originally posted by pkerguy

    Look guys, i know im supposed to congratulate them for going free to play and still maintain such high player base, but still they do need to work on so many bugs, i mean i've been online for like 2 hours, and next thing i know my machine gun won't load...


     

    Buy bullets! This work-around works everytime.

  • GeeTeeEffOhGeeTeeEffOh Member Posts: 731

    This is a double edged sword for FunCom
    The current player base is so established and the economy is so bloated and inflated that it's extremely difficult now for a new player to get a foot hold in this game.

    There are players who have to open new free accounts...not characters...accounts because they have hit the credit cap (1 bil) not on one, not on a few, but in the teens of numbers of toons.

    Even the alt leveling has dwindled. You can go out to SL near P7 and run around the brink for hrs and not see anyone killing Hecks now.

    And even now as small as the current player base is.....It's actually even smaller than it appears because the majority of remaining Vets are multiple accounts?

    So what to do?
    They are already making discussions in the forums abut merging the 2 remaining servers into one because of diminished player base. So, do they risk opening up a new server?

    It has been suggested in the forums with mixed opinions. But truthfully, If FC truly wants fresh blood to stay in AO, they need to do this.

    If they do...HELL YAH. I'm back in....rollin a Crat!

  • AzorithAzorith Member UncommonPosts: 188

    I'm hoping they merge existing servers, and then make a new server with lots and lots of marketing and advertising. This would rejuvenate the game, and alleviate the concerns of a too established economy

  • JavafanJavafan Member UncommonPosts: 45

    Originally posted by GeeTeeEffOh

    This is a double edged sword for FunCom

    The current player base is so established and the economy is so bloated and inflated that it's extremely difficult now for a new player to get a foot hold in this game.

    There are players who have to open new free accounts...not characters...accounts because they have hit the credit cap (1 bil) not on one, not on a few, but in the teens of numbers of toons.

    Even the alt leveling has dwindled. You can go out to SL near P7 and run around the brink for hrs and not see anyone killing Hecks now.

    And even now as small as the current player base is.....It's actually even smaller than it appears because the majority of remaining Vets are multiple accounts?

    So what to do?

    They are already making discussions in the forums abut merging the 2 remaining servers into one because of diminished player base. So, do they risk opening up a new server?

    It has been suggested in the forums with mixed opinions. But truthfully, If FC truly wants fresh blood to stay in AO, they need to do this.

    If they do...HELL YAH. I'm back in....rollin a Crat!


     

    Let's not go overboard though.

    The people that need $hitload of mules for the credits they have are not that many.  But that can be fixed rather easily by improving the rate at which credits can change hands which means making the economy more dynamic.

    At this point, the economy got a bit stale mainly because of less population. Which can actually be a good thing for enterprising people starting up since they can make a nice profit off the lazy ole bastards that don't feel like rolling or hunting for things themselves.

    Once people start joining up, the economy can also pick up again.

    What you fail to mention is that it is also people with crapload of creds that hand out start-up packages and/creds to new players. I know quite a handful of people that do this on a regular basis. I know people that handed out +20mils creds on a whim for a pack of newbies without blinking an eye and then follow up a few days later and see how the "proteges" do and handle the game.

    I also do this when I have time to play... Find a new player (easily done by enabling OOC/newb OOC), and help the guy out with some stuff while explaining things out.

    Even some of the bitter ole vets will take some time off to explain things out and help out.

     

     

  • GeeTeeEffOhGeeTeeEffOh Member Posts: 731


    Originally posted by Javafan

    Originally posted by GeeTeeEffOh This is a double edged sword for FunCom The current player base is so established and the economy is so bloated and inflated that it's extremely difficult now for a new player to get a foot hold in this game. There are players who have to open new free accounts...not characters...accounts because they have hit the credit cap (1 bil) not on one, not on a few, but in the teens of numbers of toons. Even the alt leveling has dwindled. You can go out to SL near P7 and run around the brink for hrs and not see anyone killing Hecks now. And even now as small as the current player base is.....It's actually even smaller than it appears because the majority of remaining Vets are multiple accounts? So what to do? They are already making discussions in the forums abut merging the 2 remaining servers into one because of diminished player base. So, do they risk opening up a new server? It has been suggested in the forums with mixed opinions. But truthfully, If FC truly wants fresh blood to stay in AO, they need to do this. If they do...HELL YAH. I'm back in....rollin a Crat!  
    Let's not go overboard though.The people that need $hitload of mules for the credits they have are not that many.  But that can be fixed rather easily by improving the rate at which credits can change hands which means making the economy more dynamic.At this point, the economy got a bit stale mainly because of less population. Which can actually be a good thing for enterprising people starting up since they can make a nice profit off the lazy ole bastards that don't feel like rolling or hunting for things themselves.Once people start joining up, the economy can also pick up again.What you fail to mention is that it is also people with crapload of creds that hand out start-up packages and/creds to new players. I know quite a handful of people that do this on a regular basis. I know people that handed out +20mils creds on a whim for a pack of newbies without blinking an eye and then follow up a few days later and see how the "proteges" do and handle the game.I also do this when I have time to play... Find a new player (easily done by enabling OOC/newb OOC), and help the guy out with some stuff while explaining things out.Even some of the bitter ole vets will take some time off to explain things out and help out.  

    Umm yeah, I did forget to mention that the community overall is awesome.
    Most of them understand that as a new player the odds are stacked and will help. Get in with an active Org and prove yourself to be a potential valuable player who will be around for the long haul and they will help you at steps along the way.

    As far as the economy goes. I have to disagree I don't see it as "a bit stale" It's hurting bad. and FC's introduction of full blown RMT in conjunction with removing Bounties from S10 did not help matters.

  • JavafanJavafan Member UncommonPosts: 45

    70% of the AO store is social fluff with no impact on the gameplay and half of those can and/or could have been acquired during previous events.

    Another 10% are some convenience items that can easily be gotten through normal gameplay (buffcans and some vehicles).

    Another 10% some convenience items that can be bought account wide (portal bank etc) which otherwise would be professions specific but without gameplay consequences.

    The other 9% are actually nice stuff that again can be acquired by everybody through normal gameplay: victory points (easily acquired by doing daily missions and/or joining pvp matches on battlestations), tokens (very easily farmed by doing a crapload of activities such as farming them of NPCs or doing 4 daily missions, getting special items <doja chips>, doing RK missions or converting battlestation victory points to tokens).

    1% actual goodies - reset points for skills. If you wasted your full reset or the +20 points by 220, you can nou either buy them from the store or from other players that buy them from the store.

    So, the FC store is no worse than what EVE has in place for example with the PLEXes.

    Again and again, FC has nothing in the store that can't be acquired in-game so there is no pressure on the players to buy store items to enjoy or be successful within the game. It's for the people that either are impatient and want some stuff now or the lazy bastids that don't feel like working for their credits.

    Did I mention that paying for the subscription gets you FC points that can be used in the FC store? There... also rewarding long time subscribers along with items from the veteran shop.

    Usually full-blown RMT refers to selling power and items that cannot be acquired via in-game means.

    S10 bounties had to go though... making creds out of thin air within an economy without destructable items is bad, really really bad. Could have been done in a better way by replacing the "free" creds with something more useful by increasing relays drop rates thus stimulating trade? Definitely and I did rage on the FC forum on the removal of bounties without replacing it with something that did not stimulate in-game trade.

    Still, s10 is a very good place to do business even without a dedicated twink and if you have 1 or 3 friends to go through the playfield together, it's even better and can help you get nice stuff for your toons or rich by selling boss drops under the form of either AI armor or its base (viralbots).

    The only thing I was happy about the removal of bounties and here I agreeded with FC, that thing stimulated only greedy players that didn't like to place nice with others. Basically, not promoting team play and coops. With this change, I actually met some decent folk with which I popped the relays... trade-skill the relays and you can almost get at least a viralbot to make AI armor off each boss.

    Peope get used to easy stuff and forget where the actuall good cash is from in the end.


    I agree it would be easier if suff was better explained via in-game means and this is on of the main points of the entire newbie start-up experience stuff FC is working on. There's still a lot of things to improve like any other MMO. The past 2 years actually meant a significant improvement in lower level game-play and its bound to have other things added to it.

  • GeeTeeEffOhGeeTeeEffOh Member Posts: 731


    Originally posted by Javafan
    70% of the AO store is social fluff with no impact on the gameplay and half of those can and/or could have been acquired during previous events.Another 10% are some convenience items that can easily be gotten through normal gameplay (buffcans and some vehicles).Another 10% some convenience items that can be bought account wide (portal bank etc) which otherwise would be professions specific but without gameplay consequences.The other 9% are actually nice stuff that again can be acquired by everybody through normal gameplay: victory points (easily acquired by doing daily missions and/or joining pvp matches on battlestations), tokens (very easily farmed by doing a crapload of activities such as farming them of NPCs or doing 4 daily missions, getting special items <doja chips>, doing RK missions or converting battlestation victory points to tokens).1% actual goodies - reset points for skills. If you wasted your full reset or the +20 points by 220, you can nou either buy them from the store or from other players that buy them from the store.So, the FC store is no worse than what EVE has in place for example with the PLEXes.Again and again, FC has nothing in the store that can't be acquired in-game so there is no pressure on the players to buy store items to enjoy or be successful within the game. It's for the people that either are impatient and want some stuff now or the lazy bastids that don't feel like working for their credits.Did I mention that paying for the subscription gets you FC points that can be used in the FC store? There... also rewarding long time subscribers along with items from the veteran shop.Usually full-blown RMT refers to selling power and items that cannot be acquired via in-game means.S10 bounties had to go though... making creds out of thin air within an economy without destructable items is bad, really really bad. Could have been done in a better way by replacing the "free" creds with something more useful by increasing relays drop rates thus stimulating trade? Definitely and I did rage on the FC forum on the removal of bounties without replacing it with something that did not stimulate in-game trade.Still, s10 is a very good place to do business even without a dedicated twink and if you have 1 or 3 friends to go through the playfield together, it's even better and can help you get nice stuff for your toons or rich by selling boss drops under the form of either AI armor or its base (viralbots).The only thing I was happy about the removal of bounties and here I agreeded with FC, that thing stimulated only greedy players that didn't like to place nice with others. Basically, not promoting team play and coops. With this change, I actually met some decent folk with which I popped the relays... trade-skill the relays and you can almost get at least a viralbot to make AI armor off each boss.Peope get used to easy stuff and forget where the actuall good cash is from in the end.

    It's a great game, but that shop is not about social items and a few other things.

    The issue is not about what I can get through game content if I want to. It's about what I can get from the cash shop if I don't want to earn it. And that is what is hurting the people that do want to go earn it.

    I can show you the quote from Means where he apologized for misleading the community and acknowledged that they basically want a cut of the RMT pie. They had always intended to sell credits...Just indirectly. That shop is total P2W. In Anarchy Credits equals everything. With loot right sellers crawling out of the woodwork, for the right fee I can get every single piece of "Best In Slot" gear hand delivered. And now with that shop, I can convert my real money into credits by reselling the items.

    regardless if you want to go out and play through the content, others are using the shop to make money and it's poisoning the economy.

  • someforumguysomeforumguy Member RarePosts: 4,088

    AO is quite dated as MMO. While the skillsystem gives a player a lot of options, the lvling does not. The road through the best gear is as lineair as it can get. Even more so for froobs. The lvlbrackets in which you can obtain specific mission rewards is even worse in that aspect. (Make sure you don't miss the concrete cushions! before you outlvl those missions)

    To me it is outdated because as new player you would have to study the game on forums first before you start to play, unless you don't mind to miss a lot of oppurtunities.

  • itgrowlsitgrowls Member Posts: 2,951

    landscapes look beautiful (im a big fan of immersion) but how is the gameplay anything yet?

  • JavafanJavafan Member UncommonPosts: 45

    Originally posted by GeeTeeEffOh

    regardless if you want to go out and play through the content, others are using the shop to make money and it's poisoning the economy.


     

    It's not doing anything to the economy because it does not inject new money in the economy.

    For each "useful" items in the store there are several avenues from getting them in-game.

    The positive aspect of the store is also reducing the amount of people that would go buy credits from spammers or look for exploits to generate credits.

    Also, for the min-maxer players, it provides some form of reducing some part of the overall grind from the game.

    I don't know why you have the impression that everybody is using the shop because most of the people don't and don't care about it. And yes, of course there will be a few discontent people since that happens with every change/addition to any kind of MMO. The discontent includes:

    - bitter vets thinking along the lines "since I had it time 6, 7 or 10 years ago, you should bleed blood for doing stuff like I did" - very counterproductive

    - people that would always find something to bitch and moan about

    - people that don't have the cash to spend on the shop, but they would use it regardless of the "morality" issues, so they pose as white knights

    And so on. Some may be valid, but most of the causes are not. If FC would sell useful items you could not easily get in game, yes it would be a problem. If people want to spend 50 bucks for something that would take playing daily 30-40mins for an entire week, well, it's their choice.

    At leat FC and CCP got the more elegant way to implement their stores for whoever wants to use it.

  • JavafanJavafan Member UncommonPosts: 45

    Originally posted by someforumguy

    AO is quite dated as MMO. While the skillsystem gives a player a lot of options, the lvling does not. The road through the best gear is as lineair as it can get. Even more so for froobs. The lvlbrackets in which you can obtain specific mission rewards is even worse in that aspect. (Make sure you don't miss the concrete cushions! before you outlvl those missions)

    To me it is outdated because as new player you would have to study the game on forums first before you start to play, unless you don't mind to miss a lot of oppurtunities.




     

    And this is something they are working at to have ready when the rendering engine will be launched.

    Hopefully, it will alleviate some of the more important issues with helping people get into the game without scaring them :D

  • LostarLostar Member UncommonPosts: 891

    They tease...and tease..and tease until it becomes too late even for me...

    Angellis- Opifex Shade, Omni-Tek Special Ops, undercover Agent in Society of Salvation...signing out.

     

  • TorvacTorvac Member UncommonPosts: 135

    the new engine wont change the fact that the game is pretty much outdated in every other aspect. once a horse is dead, stop riding it. instead of wasting resources for a new engine why not make a real AO2 ? the world and its setting/story is here, just follow it



     

  • JavafanJavafan Member UncommonPosts: 45

    Originally posted by Torvac

    the new engine wont change the fact that the game is pretty much outdated in every other aspect. once a horse is dead, stop riding it. instead of wasting resources for a new engine why not make a real AO2 ? the world and its setting/story is here, just follow it

    For each people saying "make AO2", there will be another 3-4 people picking on FC because "they would be rehashing the same old stuff they had in AO and look where that got them".

    I doubt if FC had the money to start working on another AA/AAA title right now.

    Also, could you say what is so outdated in AO? Besides the engine and the newbie start-up experience. My point, if AO is so oudated, what makes you think AO2 won't feel the same; I mean you do want AO2 and not just some WOW-clone looking like AO2, right? :)

  • KrelianKrelian Member UncommonPosts: 385

    Ahh, this brings back memories. Anarchy online..........one of the very best MMO's that i've played in my life. I want to see it properly resurrected with an influx of new & old players with the introduction of the new graphics engine soon.

    This is one of the few mmo's, IMHO, that is totally worth my subscription money :) A compley yet fair game.....Cyberpunk with a dose of fantasy, corporote optimism in a pessimistic, dark, yet sometimes colorful world. Vehicles and mechs, player homes, power armor and pistols. Lots of pvp opportunities, and alien invasions. A large & varied world to explore. And so much more to tell.

    I miss AO, and hope to be back soon. I remember back in  ints heyday-in the cities, it was truly like a living universe. This brings back memories indeed...

  • maxcancermaxcancer Member UncommonPosts: 20

    Originally posted by Javafan

    Still, s10 is a very good place


     

    S10 DIE because Funcom listen the comunity Feedback LOL

    i've spend days and money for my s10 MA, all useless, but funcom listen our feedback.

    we ask for YEARS to funcom to implement in the map the mission up/down buttons when we discover it, and we have not, because funcom, listen comunity feedback.

    like all stuffs ppl ask from years, the problem is, funcom never read comunity feedback

  • ComafComaf Member UncommonPosts: 1,150

    Very impressive!  Grats to you FunCom (Thought I'd never say that after AoC).

     

    Now if EA could learn from this and give Mythic permission to upgrade Dark Age of Camelot - there would be 200,000 people in heaven this year.

    image
  • eyeswideopeneyeswideopen Member Posts: 2,414

    Originally posted by Ankur

    Originally posted by 4bsolute


    Too late Funcom.

    Everybody knows deeply within him-/herself that is wrong to come back to games and try to re-create an experience once had. This is not the purpose of? a game. This is a marketing purpose.

    We know it all, you re-install an old goodie - have expectations sky-scraper-high and you will fall right flat on your face, once you do just one single step in that said game. Because it's not the same anymore.

    A grafics-engine alone wont do it. This over the innovative GW2? *rollseyes*


    Yeah because AO isn't innovative at all. Do you GW2 fans have left any MMO on this website untouched from your constant trolling? it is getting beyond ridiculous.

    AO was indeed innovative...in 2001.

    -Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
    -And on the 8th day, man created God.-

  • SmintarSmintar Member UncommonPosts: 214

    I personally don't put much stock in FunCom, I remember when the game first came out waaay before its time and it failed miserablly. Sad too, had alot of promise! but alas FunCom failed to meet its own expectations. Even when Conan they blew it and really when you think about it will this 1 be any better. These developers have put a super bad taste in one mouth namely mine. We are all looking for that really good one could be the new Guild Wars?? or something else.

    However I will say that AO neeeds an upgrade u cant always be playing on a 32bit system nowadays now can yas.

     



     

  • rawfoxrawfox Member UncommonPosts: 788

    Cant wait for these improvements !

    Let hope, they continue the Fr00b programm ^^

     

     

  • SyringeSyringe Member Posts: 1

    Innovative ..In 2001? That's for fucking sure. They were innovative in 2002. Not to mention 2003. Fuck me 2004 was a great innovative year for this game! People said the game was gonna die when SL came out. AI ruined everything. LE was fucking stupid. LotX? Well, what a nice addition to the sorry-ass predecessor. 

    Against all odds, all bitching, and no matter what the 'experts' managed to say, 2012 AO can proudly share a solid "Fuck you Gaming industry" because they're still alive. STILL ALIVE!

    However, a 11 year old game isn't alive because it used to be innovative. It's alive because it's that fucking good. We just won't let go no matter how much we think they fuck everything up. It's us, isn't it? We're naive, and we always find things to bitch about. 

    In all honesty, I know the feeling. The frustration when they added level 200+ Vanguards in WA and we had to go to fucking Borealis for our daily gankfests, and when they removed the ingots.. or when they added Mechs (wtf was that about, LE was and is horrid), the badly designed ofab armor, OH God forbid dailies! - or more recently the killing of S10! (Even though people seem to hate that last fact, the economy has straighten itself out quite a bit over the period, and it yet again, feels like an achievement to reach another billion)

    This is stuff that bothers me at least, and I admit being furious about these changes that simplify the game. I believe it's because I've spent so much time.. in fact I've spent so many years achieving what I've got today, that it's sad to see that while it took me 30k kills to reach Vindicator title, it takes anyone a couple of weeks effort by combining dailies and camping Arid Rift. We have to narrow down the gap between the veterans and the beginners. If we're gonna be 5, 8 or hell even 10-11 years ahead of newcomers, they'll never be able to close up on us if they have to go through the same effort as we did, and we will more or less never have a balanced community. So I guess what I'm saying is that, despite my frustration (and anyone else's), I don't think FC is ruining the game, They're merely revamping it, closing gaps and making it so newcomers have a chance to catch up if there's gonna be a successful "restart" when the engine is launched. 

    Whether they score 220/30 within weeks with full alphas and CC - the game is so much more than that, and all veterans knows this. 

     

    Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,739

          Im probably one of the few where the graphics weren't really a gamebreaker for me.....That said, I"d rather have them just make an AO2 from scratch rather than trying to refurbish the current AO....ALso we've been hearing about this "engine upgrade" for so long that it just doesn't feel like it is ever going to happen.

  • KorgborgKorgborg Member UncommonPosts: 116

    That I'm underwhelmed by the video would be an understatement.

    I'll believe it when it drops.

    Like the game's mood, depth etc. but the wait for the engi ...z z z z z z z z

     

     

    If you cut it too short you can always nail a piece on the end.

    If you cut it too long then what the hell are you gonna do?

  • SaobuzedSaobuzed Member Posts: 1
    Originally posted by fenrisblue

    looks fantastic,but is it ever going to be used ? we have been seeing new engine pics and vid for over a year,and i have a sneaking suspicion that the entire game will not be overhauled,the character models need to be overhauled too,if they do this correctly they will have a brand new game that alot of people will want to play again, i for one loved the game but i can not stand looking at the dated grafics anymore

    Over a year? You are kidding. Funcom talks about a new engine since 2007-2008. I cancelled my (pay-)account because they promised it for years. Knowing Funcom better now I only believe it when it is finally online and working. 
    Coming soon... they never say in which decade...


     

     

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