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The age old question.
Lostar
Member UncommonPosts: 891
Since there's an AO and WoW comparrison that arrises from time to time.
Bottomline.
Graphics Community Gameplay Value Content Stability Customer Support
WoW X X X
AO
X X
X X
Wow
Graphics: No matter how
cartoony you may find them it is hard to deny the beauty and structure,
the tiny details, the fluid animation. Truely superior to it's current
competition, EQII, where everyone appears to be made of play-doh and
the bulkiness reminds me of Luclin graphics.
Community: Probably the worst
community ever. It's truely a challenge to find that group of like
minded individuals. You sacrifice some quality for quantity. More
people ineviditably means more idiots. more bigots. more d00dspeakerz.
Gameplay: Immersive. Intuitive.
I did not even have to read a manual or pay attention to the tips. It
is debated that WoW is perhaps too easy and it is definetly a
justifiable arguement. Easy or not it sure is fun. PvP combat can be
exciting and heart pounding....when it lasts longer then 5 seconds.
Value: $15 a month...if they go
up to say $20 I'll stop playing. I don't ever expect them to go much
lower since they offer so much. Still AO is free and offers a decent
amount of enjoyment so it get's the 'X'
Content: It's immesurable.
There is ALWAYS somthing you can do even if it's just fishing. In AO
there is not that one little thing of enjoyment to fall back on when
all else fails...except maybe forum trolling,whining,picking on the
froobs, showing off your stilleto and laughing at anyone who calls you
an idiot for gimping yourself to fly one, dressing in the most
revealing social clothing and standing in the rain next to Bronto
Burger in Entertainment and begging any poor soul who passes by for
credits and clothes, joining in on leet pet duels, sitting alone in
your appartment, sending inappropriate messages to helpbot, begging
crats/traders/engineers/doctors for the various services they have to
offer and then refuse to tip because, to you, the economy is obsurred,
flirting with gridbot in hopes it will let you win the next contest,
sticking leet dolls up kiting nano-technician's..........you get the
point.
Stability: Lag spikes, screen
freezes, server downtime (though ussually necissary), keyloggers
hacking, still some bugs/glitches to work out but they are getting more
and more scarce. It's not as horrible as it all sounds and it doesn't
happen at an outrageous rate but it does happen and when it does you
will curse Blizzard because your screen WILL freeze at a critical life
or death moment. If there was less lag in major cities and when
opposing faction approaches you this game would be all the more better.
Still playable at least.
Customer Support: WoW is a HUGE
game with a HUGE population so don't expect the same personal one on
one treatment you get out of the less populated game AO. Smaller games
are able to offer that sort of interaction that makes you feel all
fuzzy inside. It's much easier for developers of small games to host
events. It's just impossible for WoW. I mean they could try it every
once in awhile but then when they do anything everyones going to know
and going to be there and if it's a MoB take down then you'll have your
high level guilds that clear them within a blink of an eye and your mid
level players whining that it was a mid level MoB. We all didn't like
when Leetzilla was taken down in AO and only 1 person got to loot
correct? Well in WoW if such a thing occured their boards would CHOKE
and DIE from the congestion of people complaining. WoW probably knows
best that you can't please everyone so just keep your distance and let
the kiddies play. One thing to note when you get an answer to your
petition so far with me you do it through whispers instead of virtually
face to face. I do like the fact they try to answer your petition
through the mail system when you end up logging before they get to
you.....even if it does seem automated.
AO
Graphics: Very impressive for
it's age. Finally they fixed some of the visual bugs...poor freakishly
structured Opi-fex's. I still don't think they are %100. I believe my
biggest gripe is how armor looks and how it is so easy to have some of
the best armor but together it looks HIDEOUS! I just bought my special
somone a Breastplate of Spiritual Rites and couldn't believe how
horrible it looked. Thankfully they are a crat so they have a nice suit
to put over it.
Community: Probably the best
community ever! I stay because of the friends I've made and to offer
any help I can to newcomers. Really not enough can be said. Even the
Funcom customer support is great...really superior to all other MMO's
I've played. They have the greatest interaction with the community and
really, 5 stars guys. Only wish all the RP events would actually be
continued and not just die out and be forgotten.
Gameplay: If you are a froob
(non paid) you will most likely spend most/all of your time in
missions. There are very few reasons to go explore the world
enviorment. There is a very high learning curve especially if you are
going to craft things. Often I think it's overcomplicated but afraid to
say anything for fear of an NGE attacking AO like it did to SWG. I can
deal with overcomplicated a bit more than oversimplified.
Value: Well you can play for
free provided you don't want to experience any of the expansion
content. You can't beat free! The game is completly doable when you are
a non paying froob and there is still some things to enjoy...you will
just be thinking 'damn...I wish I could be a sexy shade' everytime I
pass you by.
Content: Not nearly as much
content as WoW. The questing system is horrid and you will definetly
have to research EVERYTHING to complete a quest (not talking about the
missions) because it offers you NO explanation of
where?what?how?who?...WoW questing is brilliant. There just doesn't
ever seem to be enough things to do in AO at least as a shade where
missions give me little reward (a token that goes into a token board I
can't wear) and really no crafting skills...even if I could I wouldn't
because the complications of crafting scares the be-jeebus out of
me....so I am left with Penumbra Missions that ALL LOOK THE SAME and
are in either 1 of 2 areas...at least so far with me...PF or GH. I
COULD go work on my Inferno key but ...ya know...I'm not quite that
masochistic after grinding for my Penumbra key.
Stability: Lag here and there
but nothing major. Bugs and glitches that are hard to
ignore...especially if you are one of the unlucky pet owners. Server
downtime is minimal.
Customer Support: Have I
mentioned how great the ARKs are? One of the benefits of drawing a
smaller crowd is that you are more likely to get closer and more
connected to the community you interact with. ARK events are 'must
attends'. When you petition it can take awhile....ok...maybe a very
long time...hell somtimes if you are lucky at all they will get
answered before you log...but when they do 8 times out of 10 they help
you. Yay!...sorta...but hey at least 10 times out of 10 they give it
their best shot.
/discuss
~Angellis
~Society of Salvation.
Comments
LOL are u kidding me? I played WoW from first time and its very rare when I have any technical problems like screen freeze, lags..etc. It will happend only when the server was full - so Blizzard make choice - move to another server. Sometimes lags after patch days.. but thats OK..
I remember AO when they released patches it was horrible to play sometimes too....... so, its 50:50 AO:wow about stability here at me..
Community - AO is ghost town.. empty places.. so its normal to be big family.. and AO is old game, bad graphic -> its played only by old gamers.. that is why community LOOKS better, but isn't better.. in Wow are more "good" players than in AO .. but many "bad" players too.
Graphic - IM sad, I want return to Ao, but the graphic is horrible.. it totally sux. Why they dont release graphic update like Mythic and their Dark Age of Camelot? Its same old game and try to compare these two games. Yes, there will be Lost Eden..but when time? 1 year? 2years? And how much new bugs there will be?
Bugs -
Look on pet system in DAoC and in AO .. same old game.. DAoC - cool .. Ao ? OMG... one of fact why i stop to play my eng and byro..
Updates - Wow.. - good they are trying to balance game from start... AO ? - LMAO
PvP - ? AO - lmao
-------------
Simply, AO is one of horrible today... why? Because Funcom sleep on bay and looking on Age of Conan.
PS > try compare AO with DAoC - its game from same time with same pop will be more fair..
I think best what Funcom can do, is make new great datadisc and make game completely free of charge. Only 60$ for upgrade from free/actual account to datadisc one.,.
Rodier, icq 10905813
rodier: Ouch, your post makes my head dizzy. On the other hand my LOL-OMG-WTF -counter says it's a troll post anyway. About a game completely free of charge, well, you can check Runescape out and see for yourself.
Lucrecia: Very good and insightful comparison. I have no options but to agree. What irked me and eventually drove me out of WoW was the inevitable and huge time sink, the endgame. I visited an Instance a few times, with pick-up groups it was pure torture and with a few guild friends it was actually quite okay, provided I could last the whole experience without having to log because of afking. But the raiding, blergh. HOURS of in-game time, that's something I can't do. And PvP, it's a big timesink too. Plus, the PvP was quite unenjoyable in WoW, well, I am a carebear after all but I had hopes I could try and like it for a change. Ended up being ganked everywhere I went, a PvP server was a bad idea. I miss AO's tower areas where people could beat the living leet out of each other without griefing the others.
I am starting (ugh, 4 days left of the 7 day trial and I've only made my character without even logging in yet) another trial in EVE online, I know it is a PvP-oriented game with lots of griefing but I've played two 14-day trials and so far never died, never even been targetted by another PC. And in EVE you can usually warp to safety (at least when armed with a battalion of warp core stabilizers), something you couldn't always do in WoW. Bang, rooted. Dead. Corpserun. Dead. Corpserun. Dead. A ton of /spit and /laugh and /cry.
And also, since when did graphics have to be all about the actual engine? I personaly think that if a game has a good art style and design it will look much better than a more advanced game. Now obviously this is all based off of my opinion but I like the graphic style in AO better than WoW. Some of the enviroments in the shadowlands, for instance, are great.
Other than that I agree with Zorvan with the gameplay and content. Yeah, the first few levels were hard(ish) but after that it's smooth sailing... kind of. And now that i've gotten in the 50's (nearly 60
As far as content goes, the world in anarchy online is freaking HUGE. I still have memorys of getting lost as a fr00b on my Adventurer, and there is plenty of main reason to go out in the mainland. (I hardly do missions unless i'm looking for a specific item).
Other than that.. I've been playing for a few weeks now (tried game a few months ago and just now this past month or so I have really gotten into the game. Got shadowlands few days ago
Sorry but if you think AO doesn't have content and wow has more you must of played AO like 5 minutes. As for the question system of AO it its very good . Its not like wow where it says go kill this many monster.
AO blows WoW out of the water. kthxbye
Not sure what you mean by a bad questing system. The NPC's that hand out quests usually give you some tips (or the quest has directional beacons). Again, there are plenty of quest guides that can reduce it to a connect-the-dots level of ease.
~\_/~\_O
Sorry but if you think AO doesn't have content and wow has more you must of played AO like 5 minutes. As for the question system of AO it its very good . Its not like wow where it says go kill this many monster.
AO blows WoW out of the water. kthxbye
I've played AO shortly after it's release. It hasn't been a solid commitment since I was bouncing between EQ, AC, DAoC, and any beta games thrown in my lap. This is a comparrison thread. I never said AO had 'NO' content'...and I don't know how to go about proving to you I'm a seasoned player. My oldest toon is Nanolvenu and you can go to your org bot and do a history check....sure she's only a level 10 advie and a nanomage but she was my first that I played when I use to share an account (yep I'm bad, bad to the bone.) but my oldest toon on my account is Yunni and then Angellis.
To the point, in comparrison to WoW, AO is beaten as far as content goes. That's my opinion and questioning my integrity because I state an opinion is well....your perogative,..but it won't win you this debate. WoW has a sickening amount of lore behind it which you can find in the books you find in-game. Go to the museum in Ironforge to learn some of the past and present inhabitants. Read the plates on the statues standing out in front of Stormwind to get a picture of who those folks were...I don't recall seeing any information plates on any of the AO statues. In fact when running through AO as a newb I remember thinking 'who teh feck are these people?'...You know the books for the specialization quests? They should have stories...a little something that makes it interesting. Besides, as I have said...on my shade I am pretty much stuck with Pen Missions as a dependable way of gaining my levels. I could go on team missions with other froobs but there is really hardly a reason for me to desire to leave the Garden when I can collect CRUs in Pen Missions too. Shades cannot solo much of anything worthwhile unless you know somthing I don't...in which case please do say somthing.
As far as stylized graphics...umm sure, AO has some style, definetly a different one then WoW. If AO were a fantasy game though it would be DAoC.
As far as going out in the world...if that's how you progress then more power to yah. There are some reasons to go into the world. never did I totally relinquish the idea of there being nothing out there even if most the time that is the case. Most of us want our shoulderpads right?...Well except for us shades, right?...
ACRU quest...which takes place in a mish.
Shadowland Social Clothing Quests...one of them take place in a mish that's very tough for my shade to do so I have to bring a friend.
Shoulderpads quest...probably the most questy thing I have found.
and even then you are somtimes stuck running in a mish that you can't solo if you are one of those professions..
I am sure there are more but since my Shade is my highest level and since there is very little for my on RK it seems, so I've banished myself to SL, that's about all of em I know.
I have found a few quests that tell you to go find some guy and they don't tell you where he is...I think I rememeber checking for a blip in my world map but it was a fruitless effort. IJf my memory serves me well it was that organic body armor quest given out by the...damn what do they call themselves again?...The ones in the clubs...oh by the way...those clubs are ussually empty.
Note that if you simply view the game from the perspective of what you need to do to advance a Shade, you'll miss out on most of the game content outside the Shadowlands. Shades are the most specialized profession in the game and are usually developed by people who simply want the best dmg dealer in a team or want a sexy looking char. Aside from the dmg they do in combat, they are useless in a team as they have no buffs for other people or teams so their interaction with the community is much more limited then any other prof.
~\_/~\_O
Agreed they are limited but as far as interacting with the community Angellis has no problem. It's simply unacceptable if he misses a major party
I do like the descriptions on the weapons. I have read Prohet Without Honor...It was actually one of my prizes I won at DragonCon 06 and then had all the GSP DJs sign...I'm sure they all felt like superstars. ;D
But still I'm not quite sure the entire backstory of the Opifex.
But hey, at least they brought the IRRK newswire back.
WoW has a pretty deep backstory and it's connected with all their previous games (Frozen Throne story
By 'limited interaction' I meant in a functional way, any char can 'socialize', though, and shades are popular at parties. But they don't get asked 50 times a day for a buff the way MP's and Enf's and traders are asked, or get invited to teams for their team buffs the way their counterpart, the Keeper, is.
FYI, RK1 tends to have more parties and the best way to keep abreast of them is to be aware of the GSP schedule and also monitor the roleplay channels (Channel42 on RK1, Nrpb on RK2). Aside from those planned parties the bars do stay pretty empty (though I have been to Reets when there are about 300 ppl stuffed on the glass dance floor).
Lowbie chars have all sorts of generic quests (more like errands) to do that don't involve a mission in the middle. Higher up, there are various profession-specific quests (like the fixer grid quests) and they do usually include a mission or two. More recently FC added a ton of quests to Inferno but they are a bit more of the 'kill 5 of this and 2 of that' variety. The core of AO (on Rubi-Ka) is missions, though, so best to either have a char designed to solo (self heals as well as dmg) or make friends to do team missions or to 'assist' you on your solo quest missions. Implicit in being a shade is that you limit your capability to solo.
Also, there are a series of animated videos on the AO site, all done a few months after the game launch, that include backstory tidbits, some of which might yet come to the forefront again in the not-too-distant future...;)
~\_/~\_O
YA like I said you playing AO 5 minutes isn't enough to judge it by I played it shortly after release and off and on ever since Its got alot of quests and There are websites that tell noobs like you all about them and where to find them and what you need to do to complete them. Since some people like you arn't smart enough to understand something saying more then "go kill 10 monsters" with a arrow pointing the way.
AO takes brains to play. its not hack and slash everything in site like WoW. Its very complex yet simple if you can read and think a little. I've not found a game yet that has as much depth as AO does.
Also AO with out any expansions Has so much to offer. so many things you can do so much you can get. you can go from 1 to 200 with out the expansions and be a very good character.
you can quest your heart out you can do missions if you like or you can go expolor and do out doors hunting you can go on search for camps that have bosses in them and get good loot worth a bit of money. you have so much armor and weapons to pick form. YOu can enhance your self with implants, you have nano programs you can use. You can pick form 3 different factions. YOu have alot of citys towns and other areas to expolor. lots of loot to find and alot of other fun stuff.
You can craft. you can mission using click saver to find certin items you want. you can go to static doungons like, Steps of maddesss, the timple of the winds, the subway, the one in broken shores, the higher level version of the temple, cyborg barrcks, and others I can't remember the names of ATM.
ALL OF THIS YOU CAN DO AS A FREE ACCOUNT, NONE OF THIS IS EXPANSION ONLY.
SO you better try something more then 5 minutes and research it before you try to post about it
I have to take an asprin after reading that post. I think of you as one of those exceptions when I say AO has a superior community.
I've played much longer than 5 minutes.
I have all the expansions and I have alot of knowledge of the game to base my conclusive evidence from.
"the higher level version of the temple"
I can only assume you are talking about Inner Sanctum...?
I had played it off and on when I was playing EQ and I quit EQ shortly after LDoN came out so that was nearly 2 years ago if not more. Ever since I have been more closely dedicated to AO.
Forget it...You are clearly trying to defend AO when no one is really attacking it. I love AO. It has given me lots of great memories and friends. Notice it has more X's then WoW...but, in my opinion, WoW does reign supreme in some categories when going up against AO.
If you wish to continue to troll this thread and make your moot points then be my guest.
But as much as I have a chance of swaying your opinion...well likewise. I'm allowed to have my opinion...but until now I have not put your integrity in question....noob. Then again, you don't need me to make you look stupid.
The games are somewhat different, WoW is fast and action-packed game for the average Joe, Anarchy Online is far older and therefore represents the gaming culture of -01. MMORPG is a cool thing these days, or at least WoW has made it such. I'd like to think that Anarchy Online offers an interesting world and lots of content, but it was made back in the day when the concept was new and interesting, therefore grinding and slow advancement wasn't such a pain in the ass as it is today... But it keeps most retards away, anyway
My girlfriend had tried WoW sometime last spring, she made it up to level 29 with a (supposedly, she didn't pay attention to "little details" :P) human mage and got bored. I played WoW up to level 51 (tauren hunter) and got bored. Actually, I do get bored with stuff quite fast, but tend to get back to something ancient because I get huge kicks out of nostalgia. MMORPGs need more "silly" content, or something that doesn't involve killing or healing or combat in that sense. More crafting, possibilities to open different enterprises, more "real-life" things to do, lively cafés and bars with perhaps live DJs rather than the game soundtrack, new innovations to keep people interested. AO and WoW both have nice events but it's not enough in my opinion, I need diversity.
Anyway, I'm babbling about something weird again, takes too much time to get to the point. If I had to choose one of the two, I'd still choose Anarchy Online. WoW is a great game, but still.. AO has "that something". Maybe it's just because it was the first MMORPG I played for more than 14 days, maybe not. Maybe it's because I had real-life friends playing with me in AO. Maybe not. Who knows.
Probably need to add a lifespan factor (or rather a 'How long you will probably be interested in this game') because AO would definetly take the marks.
I love the outside influence AO has with the community. Not but last month was I chilling with the GSP DJs at DragonCon and I had a blast. Nostalgia definetly draws me back as well as missing those great friends I have made.
As for the maturity level of this thread taking a slight decline...I agree there too. But alas. Mandy is a dimwit. I never start the 'personal attacks'. I simply retaliate. Can't handle it Mandy? Well then...
- ...don't start it.
- ...ignore this thread.
- ...quit trolling.
- ...turn off your computer and walk away.
Any of these options are viable and guaranteed that you will not have to deal with me on this issue ever again. Just suggestions.Let me state AGAIN that I am flaming niether AO or WoW or anyone who dissagrees with my opinions unless you are the type to say I don't know what I am talking about with no evidence to back up your claim. Furthermore, the date that you joined mmorpg.com does not reflect how capable or an accomplished player you are. It simply means you bothered signing up before me...whoopdee-fooking-doo.
I know I can be quite immature and I will let my pride get in the way but I accept that. If you don't well I can't apologize because it wouldn't be sincere.
Way off topic now.
Apologies.
...Yes those are permanent tattoo's and I remember the pain I went through very vividly in order to show my *insane* allegiance to AO and it's community. If that's not commitment I don't know what is. The design is inspired from the shade tattoo's since my main and my favorite profession in the game is my shade.
/dedication.
Nice tattoo! Something for next generations to wonder about
I'd like to express my utter and definite allegiance to Anarchy Online as well, it's from last year methinks. May I introduce you..... The AO Gingerbread!
Dirk "Maxflier" Pitt
215/30 Agent
Yesterday evening I spent hours working on gathering 5 AI social clothing outfits for the next Society of Salvation party that we are hosting. During that time I had a revelation on how much content AO does indeed have. AI social clothing is time consuming buisness and during it you are unraveling the deep storyline of AO.....riiiiight....No...you are collecting used shoes from carnie biotch until your brain rots because that's funcoms way of making somthing time consuming to keep you around longer. I play games because they are fun. AO can be fun
A fix:
So it makes the game less mundane...'I mean certainly Gilbert Glove..I was just here not but 5 minutes ago and 5 minutes before that, by now you should spare me the *content* of your speech because I am really affraid it is burnt into my mind in verbatim at this point'....You should only have to do the quests once. I know they are for the alien armors too...but whatever you should only have to do the quest once and it should...I dunno unlock an ability to buy the already made social clothing. But then it might trivialize AI armor and/or the market for AI basic clothing will crash...well goody goody gumdrops!..Do it old school like I did. Work those concrete cushions, treatment guns, and intelligence pistols. Better yet. Social clothing should simply be buyable at the price of the patterns it takes to make...or more. I'd pay more to keep my sanity! Alien armor can still require the damn quest. That's not such a problem because there's only so many times where you need to do that quest for the armor.
AO is indeed big and confusing to a new player. WoW is a bit more cut in dry...But to me that doesn't make it dull...though I have yet to reach the cap and meet the fate of endless raiding...in fact my account is frozen because I'm playing with AO awhile.
AO has a good amount of content...but is it content you want...
and besides....ARE THEY EVER GOING TO WAKE UP PHILLIP ROSS a.k.a. SLEEPING BEAUTY???
As for the supression gas theory. I'm not buying it. Surely by now with all the technology they would have figured out a way to wake him up. Kill him and let him wake up at reclaim...whatever it takes. I think Funcom event developers are just sitting on their hands and twiddling their thumbs...at the same time.
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