The title says most of what's needed to be said. I've never played Anarchy Online before, and I'm debating whether I should or shouldn't play. So I'd like to hear from those of you who play, played, or quit. Then hear what you like and what you don't like.

So what I'm asking is, what's great about Anarchy Online and what isn't great.

It is great for those who enjoy and keep coming back.

Its is suck for those who complaints alot and left.

Want some more?

Read the official forum http://forums.anarchy-online.com/index.php?s=

Pro:

Very deep game, lots of room for 'twinking' chars at all levels, lots of places to explore (especially if you also get the Shadowlands expansion).  Wide range of unique professions.  Huge number of weapons and armor.  Wide variety of PvP environments but you can avoid PvP altogether if you want.

Con:

The graphics are a bit dated and there are lag issues, expect both issues to be largely addressed in the new graphics engine coming later this year.

see: http://www.athenpaladins.org/aonewengine/index.html

Thanks, and mind me asking something else as well. What's the story behind Anarchy Online being free for whatever reason. I hadn't caught that. Is it that you can pay for the expansions along with the game, or play free with no expansions?

Base AO + Notum Wars expansion is free

You can add Shadowlands expansion and then pay $5/month

-or-

You can add Alien Invasion(AI) and/or Lost Eden(LE) expansions and pay $15.mo (or about $95/yr if paid in advance)

Originally posted by Snakester95

Thanks, and mind me asking something else as well. What's the story behind Anarchy Online being free for whatever reason. I hadn't caught that. Is it that you can pay for the expansions along with the game, or play free with no expansions?

Classic+Notum Wars = free

Classic+Notum Wars+Shadowlands = 5/m

Classic + all expansions = 15/m

(these are euro prices).

The game is absolutely great. Try it and you'll see by yourself. Just with the free account you get a HUGE content and a HUGE world. Free accounts are a bit penalized in PvP tho, due to better gear found in the expansions. But overall, still very enjoyable.

The only worse thing is the outdated graphics/animations, but this will fixed later in the 2008 with a new engine.

Consider that AO is 7 years old, dev team never stopped adding content also during worse periods (WoW release u can guess). This can tell you something about AO.

To the OP,

It took me 3 years and 4 trials to really appreciate this game just because my gfx setting has been set way too low to see the beauty.

And it took another year for me to convert from froob to full expansion.

Of course,  you can be froob as long as u like.

Have fun.

Patching is what sucks the most in AO.  Worst patching system ever.   But it's well worth it, the game is great.

I agree with the last poster: patching is horrible for this game, which I hope that 17.9 addresses this (as they're changing the rendering portion of the client as well in it), but who knows. Once in a while I have to reinstall then repatch from their downloadable sources of the same patches rather than use its built-in downloader for it (some how it borks them or whatever).

-- Brede

The patching system is most likely here to stay as it is.  It works well for most people and if FC wants to trim the amount of patching needed, they just have to post up a more current install image.

As for the 17.9 patch it will not in any way have the rendering engine in it.  That is scheduled to be in 18.0 at the earliest.

Originally posted by Gilgameesh

 

Originally posted by Snakester95

Thanks, and mind me asking something else as well. What's the story behind Anarchy Online being free for whatever reason. I hadn't caught that. Is it that you can pay for the expansions along with the game, or play free with no expansions?

 

Classic+Notum Wars = free

Classic+Notum Wars+Shadowlands = 5/m

Classic + all expansions = 15/m

(these are euro prices).

The game is absolutely great. Try it and you'll see by yourself. Just with the free account you get a HUGE content and a HUGE world. Free accounts are a bit penalized in PvP tho, due to better gear found in the expansions. But overall, still very enjoyable.

The only worse thing is the outdated graphics/animations, but this will fixed later in the 2008 with a new engine.

Consider that AO is 7 years old, dev team never stopped adding content also during worse periods (WoW release u can guess). This can tell you something about AO.

 

 Just wanted to add the U.S. prices are the same.

---

Originally posted by burmese
The patching system is most likely here to stay as it is. It works well for most people and if FC wants to trim the amount of patching needed, they just have to post up a more current install image.

As for the 17.9 patch it will not in any way have the rendering engine in it. That is scheduled to be in 18.0 at the earliest.

---

"It might make the 17.9 update but we haven’t reached the testing stage with it yet so we will have to wait a little while before announcing which update it will be included in." -- Silirrion

So, you can say you're right, but you're also half-wrong in that they say it may make it, which pretty much means they're working on a few render issues with the old art assets (which could hinder it or not, it all depends on how they've prioritized maintaining these assets considering they're officially legacy by 2009...). :)

-- Brede

Originally posted by Snakester95

The title says most of what's needed to be said. I've never played Anarchy Online before, and I'm debating whether I should or shouldn't play. So I'd like to hear from those of you who play, played, or quit. Then hear what you like and what you don't like.

 

So what I'm asking is, what's great about Anarchy Online and what isn't great.

Basically, I like a game where there are minimal restrictions.  If I'm level 20 and I want to go explore a place with level 100 creatures and not be restricted by a gate code, door access, level, completing a quest..etc., then that's what I want to do.   AO basically is open like that for the most part.  IT does lock you out of certain places due to how powerful the items in certain places.    that's probably only 20% of the game where stuff is locked  though (speaking of free accounts...don't know much about expansions).

The character customization is one of the best in any MMO.   However you can imagine you want your character, you can make him/her that way.    It's nearly like you almost limited by your imagination.  

Twinking (which goes with the character customization)...basically means to spend loads of money to acquire rare or powerful items and equip your character with them many levels before they would normally be able to use them by spending IP (improvement points) on skills alone.  for example, At level 70, my Agent could equip a level 200 gun....there are penalties but the benefit outweighs most penalties.    doing so could allow my agent to go and successfully kill mobs 50 levels higher than myself.   Takes a lot of work, but well worth it.

Skills are very customizable in that no two players will have the exact same skills other than the most required ones for survival (pve or pvp)...which is the case in all games anyway.   

the amount of professions you have to choose from is larger than most games.....12 with free account, 2 additional professions with Shadowlands expansion.

The world (maps) are huge....if you like that sort of thing like me....I hate small maps...especially when you are restricted to travel along a defined path.   In AO, you can go over mountains (providing they are not too steep), swim through lakes and rivers, jump (or fall) down ditches and such and can even get to places in the geometry which could help you escape danger (pve or pvp) since you have to have line of sight to attack anything.

A great community....one of the best I've ever been a part of in any MMO i've played.   they are very friendly and helpful.   Just for reference, in 3 years, i've only had to ignore or block 3 people....1 for clear cut spamming on purpose and wouldn't allow me to read normal chat.   One for begging for money the moment he started a level 1 character (he didn't bother to do the startup quest or anything).   The third guy was ignored simply because he was using derogatory comments towards people through his own frustration, not because anyone did anything to him....he was just an azz basically.....But after that, I've had no problems with anyone.....but then again, it takes a lot to get on my nerves though...LOL

Also the community seems to stick to their choosen sides or kinda stay in character a lot.    People who join clan tend to show that they dislike Omni.....and vice versa.    It's not like in some other games where you'll have two opposing sides sitting around having a picnic...   Only time you will have neutral, clan and omni cooperation is in partying up for leveling or completing hard quest.   That's only due to the low population during times in my opinion.   now if you teamed with john doe @ borgs to level up and he's clan and your omni.....but he sees you going through a pvp zone or low suppression gas area, chances are he's gonna kill you without hesitation because your omni.    So basically, conflict between the sides is always there unless working for a common goal to help advance your characters.   Believe me, i've been attacked by clammers that I've teamed with just hours before......basically it's a truce while your leveling and questing, but walk into a pvp zone or the opposing cities and all bets are off.

There is a pretty good story that goes along with the game.  You can read up on the past on the official website and in game doing quest can give you background information about the planet, the factions and indigenous life on that planet, as well as the story behind notum.    Your quest will revolve around current issues happening throughout rubi-ka.   the developers don't put in a whole bunch of quest with updated story though....only about 5 or 6 times since I've been playing.    for example, I use to go to 4 holes and run missions there.   Devs released an update while I was away (about 2 weeks on vacation)....when I came back, figured I'd go to 4 holes and run some more missions.....to my surprise I got there and the whole place had been taken over by clan and I got attacked the moment I exited the whompa.    come to find out, part of the story on rubi-ka is that clan somehow took over 4 holes from omni......clan are nothing but rebels who oppose the omni corporation anyway...so they look for any chance to disrupt omni....I guess that was one of them....needless to say I haven't been back to 4 holes since.

Game updates come regularly as well.....there has already be 3 times more updates for AO than I experienced in 3 years with SWG or anything I experienced with EVE.

As for the cons, there arent' many for me....

Patching does suck, but I do manual when it messes up...so not a big issue for me.

I do dislike the twinking of armor verse the twinking of weapons....basically you can twink armor only half of what you can twink weapons.....armor isn't typically that effective based on the types of enemies you have to fight.   You'll find you rely more on nano formulas and big damage rather than armor.  Since I value defense more than offense, this is disappointing to me.....but it's not a game breaking element.

Right now, the servers seem to be at an all time low on population for some reason.  Not sure if it's new MMO's people are trying or what....but last 3 months when I log on, I found that popular hang out spots are practically empty.    Not like they were all that happening anyway...but where I use to log on and see 50 people around rome red advanced shop or trade grid terminal, I see less than 10 people there lately.   Like last night was the worst...I logged on and saw 3 people at rome red.....Yeah I was shocked.....couldn't find anyone to team with or anything either.    When I check the looking for team menu, there seems to be only expansion players on it....which tells me that maybe a lot of froobs aren't playing as much as they used to or they have upgraded. ....also a lot of expansion players are probably in shadowlands or battle station.

The learning curve is huge.  Never start as an agent because it is both very expensive to play and difficult to use because it's strengths are in using false professions to mimic other professions in the game.  If you have no knoweldge of other professions, it can be hard to play agent in false profession mode.   Then if you play strictly agent, you'll both be missing a lot of potential from agent and might even be gimped since a lot of agents survivablity relies on false profession nano formulas.     Overall, if your experience MMO player Like myself and able to understand and learn AO quickly...you can start agent early.  I came from the original SWG which rivals AO in difficulty and learning curve (at least back before CU and NGE)....so it was not thing for me to play agent after unlocking and playing jedi and all 33 professions SWG had to offer (combat, crafting and pilot).

Probably a big grip I had early when I first started playing is the huge need to team at higher levels.    You can basically solo up to about level 100 (a bit lower for some professions, my agent had trouble around level 75 and I was forced to join borg teams).....after that depending on your profession you won't be able to level fast enough or survive at all without at least someone to partner with.   Some professions like the pet professions, trader or crat can solo decent because of all their crowd control skills (calms, charms, mezzes, pets holding aggro..or killing mobs quick..etc)...so it's good to start playing with a friend or gain a friend in the game to play with early on....joining a organization is probably best though.

Of course, it's an old game....so graphics are terrible....good thing that is being addressed...but not til late 2008.....last I heard would be sometime this fall or winter.

last thing I can think of right now that I think sucks, espeically if you only play one account is the incredible dependability on outside buffs.   No matter what profession you choose (well other than agent) you will end up having to beg someone for specific buffs in order to do some things.    You will need run speed to blitz missions or get somewhere fast.  You may need a HOT (heal over time) to survive a dungeon, boss encounter or multiple adds.    You may need skill buffs to equip good enough weapons, armor or even to use your best nano formulas.    the absolute worst buff to find though and is the most needed is a wrangle from a trader.    finding a trader is like trying to find a needle in a haystack...then if you do find one, they may be afk or simply not want to give you a buff because they are tired of people begging them for the buff......more often than not your gonna have to pay for it and considering it only last 3 minutes....if you make a mistake in your calculations and the buff wears off, you'll need it again.   That's why people usually pay the trader to stick around for a bit.     Myself,  I just said screw it and made a second account, leveled all the toons that I needed consisitant buffs from and whenever I need a buff, I just dual log both accounts and buff myself.    MP, Trader and Agent have been all I really need...but I have one of every profession who can give me the top buffs I need.   That's why I love agent so much because Agent can use 95% of all the top buffs in the game and is clearly the best profession when it comes to twinking, with trader being a close second.

Really though, finding buffs practically took me days sometimes.   I once needed a wrangle and it took me a week to find a trader willing to do it.    So OSB's can be very frustrating.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, not necessarily a huge con, but a very annoying one when you don't learn how to handle it.  That is being trained by other players when your in a dungeon.   Basically dungeons have their weaker enemies at the beginning and stronger ones at the end.   If you or your team are fighting in the beginning and only strong enough to handle them....sometimes a higher level player or team will drag high level enemies past you (enemies chasing them trying to kill them).....eventually those enemies will see you and attack you or your team.....typically if you don't get away quick, your whole team can wipe out and if your in someplace like foreman's or temple of three winds....it can take you a long time to get back out there on top of the fact that you usually have to wait until cloning sickness wares off.  which is anywhere from 2 - 5 minutes......sometimes you can't even use the grid if your still under cloning sickness.....really team wipes due to trains are a fast way for teams to disband due to the hassle of having to travel past opposing factions guards and such and travel a long way.    going to temple of three winds for a neutral can be a pain because clan guards in Tir will kill them on site (well they kill anyone really) and that means you'll just end up going right back to town and have to try and get past them again......there are other ways but nothing without a small hassle.   

so trains can be a pain when your in places like totw, foremans', smugglers den or any place far out in the wild for that matter.

Anyway, hope you join up and play.   I'll help you any way I can if I see you in game.....well I'm on Atlantean server...so if you go to Rimor server, there are many other froobs that can help you there.

In fact, you should visit www.aofroobs.com

there is much information and help there.