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Can anyone help me remember an old MMORPG?

CuddleheartCuddleheart Member UncommonPosts: 391
So, about every few years I try to look around and see if I can find the title of the game via MMO lists on various sites.  I have had zero luck.  It's definitely not where it should be time-wise on the list on this site - if it's there at all.  Any help would be appreciated.  This is what I remember...

- I bought this in-box at a brick and mortar game store in the Washington DC area.
- I bought it somewhere around maybe between UO - Third Dawn and Istaria.  Sooo 2000-2003ish?
- It was sci-fi space in nature.
- It was low polygon.
- You would play as various alien species I think.
- You started in a hanger or space station.
- There were very active GMs because they actively found me and asked if I needed help.


I bought this and played a few days of the free month and never touched it again.  I doubt it was particularly good.  However, the not knowing wtf was has bothered me for a long time.
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Comments

  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,167
    Neocron

    Neocron - Wikipedia

    Ungood

  • CuddleheartCuddleheart Member UncommonPosts: 391
    Nah.  It was behind the back third person, I think.  Most definitely not first person.  Each alien class looked 'humanoid' in stance, but they would have longer limbs and such and be like unusual colors like blue.  Almost like a mixture of an alien and a robot in design.  My PC was horrible at the time, but I remember very low textures and such.

  • ScorchienScorchien Member LegendaryPosts: 8,914
  • Slapshot1188Slapshot1188 Member LegendaryPosts: 17,614
    Scorchien said:
    Thats what I was going to say
    Scorchien

    All time classic  MY NEW FAVORITE POST!  (Keep laying those bricks)

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  • ScorchienScorchien Member LegendaryPosts: 8,914
    edited February 2021
    Scorchien said:
    Thats what I was going to say

    Great game than and Great game today .. maybe time to revisit again, usually play it every year for 2-3 months
    Scot
  • RemyVorenderRemyVorender Member RarePosts: 4,005
    Sounds like Anarchy Online, as others have mentioned. 

    Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!

  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    edited February 2021
    AO likely seemed really good back then because it's competition was basically EQ and i think was one other game.
    I was not interested in that genre yet because they all looked pretty bad to me, it was 2003 FFXI that finally got me into playing one steady.
    I have gone back to try AO a couple times out of sheer boredom but never stuck with it more than maybe 2 weeks.

    When comes to game design there are loads of little things I look at when I enter a game and they need to be done well for me to stick around.
    Anyhow,I can see the intrigue with AO back before FFXi came out and maybe still since it is more of a pew pew game than a Fantasy game so different genres.

    One thing i have NEVER liked is when the GEAR makes the player,i NEED to have combat in MY control and not just automated by my gear.
    My long winded point if you haven't figured it out is that i would not mock anyone for liking AO at that time because it was one of the better games for about 3=4 more years.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • strawhat0981strawhat0981 Member RarePosts: 1,223
    I always enjoy these kind of threads. Hell, I might even download AO and have a bit of fun.

    Originally posted by laokoko
    "if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".

  • MendelMendel Member LegendaryPosts: 5,609
    Scorchien said:

    AO seemed like a great game.  New mechanics and new ideas.  However, the graphics really let the game down.  This is the one game I'd really like to see remastered and enhanced.  If for nothing else than to see for myself if it was as interesting as it appeared.



    Scorchien

    Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.

  • CuddleheartCuddleheart Member UncommonPosts: 391
    edited February 2021
    Thanks for all your help, everyone!  Unfortunately, it wasn't AO.  I remember that game because AnarchyOnline.com used to be an edgelord site I would visit as a teen.  It had anarchist cookbook type stuff.  Totally derp, but I remember when it changed to that game's domain.  I also played a little at release.

    This was something else.  This is why it's bothering me.  My brain reserves WAY too much storage for useless video game and Saved By the Bell trivia for me to not be able to figure this out. 

    Every time I get the itch to hunt, I end up feeling like I did in the 90's when I was trying to convince my friends that I really DID have a game called Samurai Zombie Nation and it really WAS a game about being a decapitated head that flies around blowing stuff up.

    Anyhow thanks for your help so far!

    *edit*  It's not PS1 either.  At best, I would say it had graphics that were around Asheron's Call caliber.

    *edit edit* If it helps narrow it down, as far as I can tell, it's not listed here.

    https://biobreak.wordpress.com/mmo-timeline/
    Post edited by Cuddleheart on
  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,993
    edited February 2021
    Scorchien said:

    I've always thought AO was a great game...Teh graphics bother some players and they can't get past that, but if you can it's a blast and a good community too. I started playing around 2004-05 and still play occasionally in 2021 even.

    OK just saw the OPs last post and it was not AO...too bad
    Scorchien
  • MMOExposedMMOExposed Member RarePosts: 7,400
    Hey OP is it Tabula Rasa?

    Philosophy of MMO Game Design

  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,534
    So, about every few years I try to look around and see if I can find the title of the game via MMO lists on various sites.  I have had zero luck.  It's definitely not where it should be time-wise on the list on this site - if it's there at all.  Any help would be appreciated.  This is what I remember...

    - I bought this in-box at a brick and mortar game store in the Washington DC area.
    - I bought it somewhere around maybe between UO - Third Dawn and Istaria.  Sooo 2000-2003ish?
    - It was sci-fi space in nature.
    - It was low polygon.
    - You would play as various alien species I think.
    - You started in a hanger or space station.
    - There were very active GMs because they actively found me and asked if I needed help.


    I bought this and played a few days of the free month and never touched it again.  I doubt it was particularly good.  However, the not knowing wtf was has bothered me for a long time.
    Was this an Iso, 3rd person, or 1st person platform?
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • Hawkaya399Hawkaya399 Member RarePosts: 620
    edited February 2021
    I know you say it's not shown on the list, and this is on that list, but it fits your description. Is it Phantasy Star Online? Seems for a short time there was a PC port aka 2001-03.

    Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 Announced for PC

    link: https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/09/12/phantasy-star-online-ver-2-announced-for-pc

    It starts on a space station, like you say:



    Ungood
  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,050
    edited February 2021
    I think it might be Faces of Mankind, that was 2006 though.

    Edit. Endless Ages could be it too. It had first person combat too however.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    Ungood
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    lahnmir said:
    I think it might be Faces of Mankind, that was 2006 though.
    As someone frequently yelling at them at each relaunch "just make pvp optional, and you'll have an awesome game" (which they never do, and then the game dies again and again :) ), I doubt it was FoM. By the bulletpoints of OP:

    -Never got into the brick and mortar stage
    -Didn't have various alien species (had none actually, everyone's human)
    -Didn't start at space station/hangar
    lahnmir
  • CuddleheartCuddleheart Member UncommonPosts: 391
    Thanks again all!  It wasn't PSO.  I would have remembered that as I desperately wanted to play that on the Dreamcast.  The Dreamcast I had at the time was one of the prerelease models that Hollywood Video was renting as a Sega promotion and didn't have the modem.

    It was third person, I think.  Don't remember the exact control scheme but pretty sure it wasn't a shooter>.<

    Not Tabula Rasa.  Not Faces of Mankind.
    I thought for a minute it MIGHT be Earth and Beyond, but I'm pretty sure it's not.
  • KnightFalzKnightFalz Member EpicPosts: 4,561
    Earth and  Beyond, perhaps.  It ran from 2002-2004.
    [Deleted User]
  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,167
    Entropia Universe.
     Ryzom.
    Vendetta Online

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_games

     Adjust the dates and check the list.

  • TybostTybost Member UncommonPosts: 629

    There's a dedicated reddit for discovering forgotten games: TipofMyJoyStick: https://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmyjoystick/

    Ungood
  • sunnyortegosunnyortego Member UncommonPosts: 33
    maybe endless ages
    CuddleheartUngood
  • vqlyvqly Member UncommonPosts: 296
    What was combat like?

    Can you describe the aliens/players?

    Are you sure it was an MMO? Were there other players running around?
  • Hawkaya399Hawkaya399 Member RarePosts: 620
    lahnmir said:
    I think it might be Faces of Mankind, that was 2006 though.

    Edit. Endless Ages could be it too. It had first person combat too however.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir

    You might be right about Endless Ages.
    Cuddleheart
  • CuddleheartCuddleheart Member UncommonPosts: 391
    lahnmir said:
    I think it might be Faces of Mankind, that was 2006 though.

    Edit. Endless Ages could be it too. It had first person combat too however.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir

    You might be right about Endless Ages.
    I think this might be it!  Thank you!
    strawhat0981Ungood
  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,050
    lahnmir said:
    I think it might be Faces of Mankind, that was 2006 though.

    Edit. Endless Ages could be it too. It had first person combat too however.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir

    You might be right about Endless Ages.
    I think this might be it!  Thank you!
    Yes! Happy to help  :)

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    ScotHawkaya399
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

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