This game really doesnt desever me spending time any time on it, not even using words here, but to warn newcomers to the game I think its my duty to do so.

I will make it short and simple, and I dont bother explaining all my statetements with any 'why & which' reasons.

Community:

Stinks. It is a bunch on 'inbred MMMORPG' players that suffers under the 'wear & tear'sybdrome', which means that there is no newcomer blood to the game, so all the relations they players have is to the same all same all faces they have seen for the last 4 years. If you want a buff, like essence, prepare to pay 200k for it, which is ALOT for a newb.

Playing in teams:

Good luck on this; I played for about a week in my comeback after been gone for 4 years, the only team I saw formed in Nascence cost me 1mill pr level to join!

Soloing; This is a joke; Getting levels is ALL about finding a group which you have to pay for to join, then grind Hecklers until you are around level 200... How interesting!

Ingame helpers: Non existent. You have tolearn all yourself. Dont rely on getting any advice or help, even if you ask polite.

Character developing:

You have 1 reset. If you do anything wrong when you put out your pts to develop you character, be sure to do it right (how can that be done when you are newb?). If not, you are stuck with a crappy developed character. The ways of changing your character are so limited and includes so much work its really not worth it.

If you should try this, I will give you this advice; do not even THINK about giving any advice how to improve the game; 99% of the players are flameboys; you WILL be hated, especially if you compare it to how World of Warcraft do to improve the game to satisfye the players.

Lag:

Horrible. Enough said about that.

Duels:

A duel between 220's takes at least 5 minutes. Utterly boooring. (if they are equally equipped)

Teaming;

AO is ALL about teaming; FC has taken teaming to the bizzare extreme. You are getting NOWHERE without teams. Game has nothing to offer to the soloer.

Last words:

This was my very first MMORPG. Back then at its release there were only 3 known MMORPGs: EQ1, AO & Ultima Online. I really REALLY loved the game back then. After playing it for a few years, I started to play other games. Came back few weeks ago, and was utterly dissapointed. It hadnt changed anything that was worth mentioning. Well, one player flamed me about this and said that the game had got ridden of the 'reclaims'... I just said 'wow, what a change'

You STILL have a rez sickness that lasts over 5 minutes! Imagine waiting for this to end, then have to run for 5 minutes back to where you were grinding...

In game challenges;

The bigges challenge (work) is about tweaking your character. AO has taken 'tweaking' to a whole new level; If you are a newb, be prepared to spend 90% of your time tweaking (wearing new gear & weapons), while the last 10% is about walking all by yourself in land totally empty with living creatures.

Getting into guilds:

The week I tried it, I saw 1 (ONE!!!) guild recruiting. They had a minimum req of Level 200... Talk about being optimistic in a game that has no income of newbs... Needless to say that trying to create a guild for yourself is impossible.

Ingame player population:

It seems that everyone who plays this, which is 99% veterans, has 2 accounts. One of the few players I met when I was grinding xp, was a lowbie with his L220 on follow, to save his @ss and make his alt be able to handle higher level mobs than if he were alone.

Roleplaying:

If you are after RP, be prepared to be laughed and mobbed; I know stories about people who has tried to RP; they were so much harassed and laughed at that they just left AO. You WILL see players who are RP 'tagged' (some marks beside their names'; They have done this to make their names looking more 'cool', not for the Roleplaying intention.

Conclusion: 

I had a real hard time in my comeback (changed server, so I started with nothing, since my old server is dead) I kept my mouth shut, just watching how the game was 'working', and didnt get involved in any discussion. When I asked for a buff, I barely had any reply, even though I asked polite, ending it with 'please'. If I had a reply, they clearly stated it would cost me a fortune.

Game is dead, and all you see are dual playing veterans, which actually makes the community twice as big as it appears since everyone has at least 2 accounts. If I should take a wild guess, I think that RK2 has no more than 500 unique players, probably less.

If you want a Sci-Fi game with impressive helpful community, and highly customizable characters with easy rests to new class, I strongly suggest SWG! I just returned to that. The game is totally changed, and community is THE best I ever been into.

PS:

You AO flame- &  fanbois dont bother flame me here for this, since I will not reply to this thread, cause the game is worthless. If you think the new GFX engine will save the day, or even be an asset to the game, I suggest you do a trial on Age of Conan. Lag in Conan is HORRIBLE.

All this what I said, is my PERSONAL opinions. Whatever anyone here will say, it will not change opinion. The ONLY thing that could make me reconsider coming back to AO, is that someone REALLY helpful had invited me back, to show me the positive sides of the game, which I might would have considered since no game has meant as much to me as AO and the first day I logged in ( I thought the Backyard was the WHOLE game then )

I wish the game all the best, I have no bitterness for it, even though the game treated me worst in my comeback of all games I have played, which means most major MMORPGs there is. I hope FC gets it back on track.

Cheers! :)

Omg... what a crappot..... this game is Great.... ok.... he proves that ppl only come here too complain... try the game for yourself and youll see what he says is as real as a monkey writting shakespear,

Yeah, the OP's post is a riot, I copied it over to some org forums to the humor section to get some laughs.

It could be considered a work of art in terms of cramming as many incorrect statements into the smallest space possible.

Originally posted by chrisel
*crap*

I'm not a fanboi. The total opposite, in fact. But even I will say your entire post is idiotic drivel.

Are they really revamping the AO graphics engine? hmmm I might consider it if so.  But I do agree w/ the other posters about the OP.  Seems he's a bit carebearish to go back and expect it bo be like it was.  I would expect that entering a game late in its life-cycle that one would expect the environment to be a bit hostile for any noob, and that would apply to any game I suppose.

You say its hard on newbs? i might have to give it a go then. Been looking for difficult  MMO thanks OP.

Don't listen to the OP, he is a buffoon.

 Reply to the OP: the same as Zorvan.

Originally posted by hidden1

Are they really revamping the AO graphics engine? hmmm I might consider it if so.  -snip-

 They are upgrading the graphics engine from dx7 to dx9. So the old clunky character models + textures will continue to be used, but the game will still look way better than it does now because of the extra graphical bling that dx9 allows.

Before you ask when this will go life, originally FC had said around the end of summer '08, which was way too optimistic considering how messy AOs code is (Funcom^tm). Dunno if FC has announced a new release goal yet, but officially the graphics update is still in the pipeline.

a few comments on the OP..

i have a 220 enforcer (the one who has the essence buffs) and i never asked for a tip, especially not for a lowbie froob cause i know how short they are on cash since i started that way myself.

you tried to join a kiting team in nascence where its really normal to tip the kiter for the fast xp where u have to do nothing (expect paying him for doing all the work)

theres enough guilds recruiting, look at the official forums or ask around in OT chat

i agree that RP isnt loved in AO, i hate them too :) i consider myself a vet but i have one paid account.

also u get 1 reset point when u start, u get more when u lvl. i have 27 reset points at lvl 212 with a toon, also from time to time they offer u a full IP reset (so for all skills) for free

the community.. i dont know what side u choose but from my personal experience neutral is best, followed by omni and then clan. omni is more pvm and endgame pvp and clan is all about pvp from 1-150

the graphics engine is scheduled for summer 2009.

i think im going with the vets on this one i did try anarchy online once a few months ago and no one really was mean to me maybe not the nicest community but no one was out right mean i found a guy who taught me how to play so i disagree i didnt stick around because im kinda a graphics guy myself making this game not for me. Maybe the new graphics will come out soon and ill come back.

---

This was my very first MMORPG. Back then at its release there were only 3 known MMORPGs: EQ1, AO & Ultima Online.

---

Asheron's Call was out before AO, was well-known, and is still operating at profit today.

Troll thread it seems. I agree the game is old, and it's showing. They do stuff the old way over there, but it's still a good game.

The community is ok, and there still are new people in the lowbie areas running around doing stuff. It's hard to make money in it though if you don't know what you're doing so it's hard for lowbies to get by. It's by no means impossible though.

We all started in the backyard with 0 credits and a solar-powered weapon. Things get easier as you level and there are a few moneymaking items in the lowbiegame that every highbie wants and is willing to fork out a few millions for them. Often when a highbie need those they pay more than the items are worth cause they know how hard the lowbie game is credit-wise.

There are alot of guides written for it and quite a few sites offering direction and tips on how to play the game.

edit: post 500 oO

There's a lot of truth in the OP thread, wether you like it or not.

As much as i enjoyed the game since launch, i couldn' t understand why Funcom so badly implemented their expansions. (now i know as its probably the same AoC designers).

Like many, realizing that the heckers grind was the only viable option to keep up with my guild made me quit.

What kind of a person do you think is going to actively avoid an unlimited free trial? All this post did was draw attention to the game. Everyone who loves games has a favorite game someone else hates; what you did was make AO stand out as that game.

The other day someone posted a thread like this about Zu Online. I'd never heard of Zu. If I'd ever noticed it on the game list at all, I got it mixed up with a bunch of other F2P silliness and filed it away as something I'll probably never get around to trying. Well I suddenly became interested in this Zu game, first because the poster was a fool which alone spoke well for the game, but then because the raging sh'storm which followed let me know that this was not just another game no one cared about. For whatever reason, somebody loved it.

One long download later I was floating around yet another pointless far eastern dreamland massacring the wildlife and having a good time.

Since the OP accidentally made Anarchy Online sound awesome, I'll just correct a few errors. RK-2 has always been the low population shard. RK-1 is usually full of people, and since world PVP rewards possession of areas with low level PVP caps, most vets maintain alts in every level range. Many of them level slowly in order to stay eligible for low level pvp, and because the stat tweaking is indeed as complex and precise as the OP stated.

Several large guilds are open to new players, or even focused on trial accounts, since you can spend a good 1000+ hours on the free vanilla game before delving into the expansions. It's not difficult for newbies to get a group, and general chat in the cities is basically an endless Q&A session. I don't think I ever seen so much as a snotty link to Google given, much less any actual attitude.

It's too bad the OP did not enjoy his time in AO. I know when I first stared out i hardly ever teamed. All i did was run around from mission to mission. If I spoted a team along the way I would join them but i would not count on one being there.

dear op,

1) go to the ao forums

2) ask the forum for someone to post for you, thedeacon's guide for newbies to rubi ka.  (NOT the one about tehfootness!  you dont want to go there, trust me.)

3) enjoy ao

that guy's post is just as viable today as it was when he posted it 6 years ago.  it will tell you how to rake in money low level and make yourself, self sufficient in that game. 

if theres any game where you can forge your own way without any help for a LONG time (like a year), its ao.

seriously, track down thedeacon's post (unless someone can post it here?)

Originally posted by einexile 

Since the OP accidentally made Anarchy Online sound awesome, I'll just correct a few errors. RK-2 has always been the low population shard. RK-1 is usually full of people, and since world PVP rewards possession of areas with low level PVP caps, most vets maintain alts in every level range. Many of them level slowly in order to stay eligible for low level pvp, and because the stat tweaking is indeed as complex and precise as the OP stated.

RK-2 Now propbably has better population than RK-1 shift moved during time RK2 was the regular server chosen by launcher(changed some time ago). Still, population has seen better days, likely it gets better once new engine comes when peeps start jumping in...

Content shouldn't be problem, Legacy of Xan is launched 19th so pretty soon...

I've played AO off and on over the years, moved over to it when I was bored with EQ1, but I've never played the same AO the OP is talking about and I'm certainly no hardcore player, just your normal casual guy who likes to dabble in something completely different to the goblins and elves games.

if anything newbs should play this game so they get a taste of how a MMO should be made and played. its difficult to play this game yes but levels dont mean shit in this game honestly you can be level 25 and wear level 100 armor, ofcourse you have to get the right buffs and implants in order to do so but the game is frigon sweet i dont know what you're talking about willis.

AO is easily one of my top MMOs.

To think a game with classes is in my (a skillbased/sandbox fanboi) top four mmos that are currently available.

Im awaiting the Graphics engine update before I return and unleash my Soldier on RK-2 once again.

hmm the person that started this thread really has no clue.

is it steep to learn some yes but the game is ridicilous easy to lvl in both solo and in group  compared before the expansions.

Do you need to grind hecks to lvl no you dont its all up to you what you want to do.

ao has always been about reading forums and info sites , you can get solid advice ingame if you ask nicely and its not crap question like how do i make money ingame.

Does buffs cost money yes the higher ones does most of the time but that something that always has been nothing new about that.

im awating graphic engine update then im gonna rejoin the game again.

Making money is easy

Level to 15

blitz missions for ql 10 Concrete Cushions, or ql 22 "quartz" rifles

(set xp/$ slider to max $, do 'aquire object' or 'ID target' missions only)

blitzing means avoiding combat by running (as quickly as possible) to the designated object/mob and collecting it, you may not need to complete the mission.

the cushion or rifle can be the reward for completing the quest, but more frequently they are the object that needs to be 'aquired' if the later the quest can be abandoned as soon as you have left with your wanted item.

Well, I can't honestly see how you can realistically make a blanket statement as you've done in the thread title about this game - I'm currently trying a large number of other free games looking for similar qualities (bit tired of AO for now at least) and I've not come up with anything satisfactory, so that alone proves that in some cases it's a worthy game to at least try.

The community is a mixed bag of nuts - there are a lot of ignorant idiots on AO, and unfortunately they will put a lot of new players off of the game, but there are still some helpful people and plenty of indifferent ones in the middle. Joining an 'org' (guild) makes a lot of difference, more often (but not always) a positive one - you'll learn and progress faster so long as you join a decent one. I'd have to admit that ignorant players put me off of playing on a couple of occasions and lead to me putting the game down for a matter of months to play something else. Nevertheless, I came back, and not for a lack of anything else to play, but simply for the game's uniqueness and playability.

As far as paying to join a team, that was probably a kite team charging players who want to level fast - never joined one, never needed to, never even found one or been offered a slot by one, so go figure. There's plenty of people willing to team in the right places, you just have to know what you're doing, but there are always times when the pool of people to team with dries up, but that's as much a result of having so many different game-world locations in which to play as much as any other reason.

Most players don't want to give advice on how to play, which is understandable if it's too often asked of them, but many are ignorant as I've already mentioned, it's just luck who you find I guess. However, there are always an inordinate quantity of players who join and want everything done for them, which makes you wonder why they bother playing at all - if you're willing to try to do things yourself and need help with some things, fair enough, but some seem to want babysitting, or would even be happier of another player could come to their house and play the game for them right up to endgame. In essence, there are lots of lazy 'spongers' - I get really bored of hearing "i need gta" or other such whinings, but I'd guess that happens in all such games to some degree.

I will agree about the "flameboys" being far too large in number, it can regularly be a very negative gaming environment, which is a shame, and Funcom don't really seem to do much about anti-social playing when taken to the extreme, not that GM's could, or even should ploice the entire game to such an extent, but it does seem that far too much is allowed.

Soloing can really suck, it's true. I think there's always something to do at any stage in the game when you've nobody to team with, but the options available to you will often be uninspiring. Again though, something I'd imagine at least the majority of games of this nature will suffer from, not that this makes it ok, I think if a game was well-designed enough that'd not be the case perhaps, I dunno, Jury's out on that one for me.

As far as 'noobs' go, AO is easy to level with at first, also easy to make mistakes that you'll regret later, but rarely anything so serious that you'll not be able to remedy it, and it also helps it's replay value - my first toon (engineer) was atrocious right up until about level 50 when I'd aquired a reasonable understanding of the game (I played alone mostly, had no org, and liked to figure things out for myself), but long after that I made another engineer, still to this day can't see how I could of improved him much and levelled in a fraction of the time solo, and I had fun doing it - result! There's just an awful lot to learn that's all, which is made way easier with other's help, but still enjoyable unguided in my opinion, depends what you want out of it.

Levelling later in the game - too much grind for my liking, there are certain points where it becomes at least almost unavoidable, but again it depends what you want from the game, if it's simply to get a high level character quickly then that's the price of it I guess, otherwise you can stroll through the game leisurely and make sure you don't miss anything along the way.

As for rp'ing - I don't see much evidence of it on AO, but neither have I found much of it elsewhere yet.

I think there's some valid points later in this thread-starter, but in my 3 years or more of playing the game, leaving the game, coming back to the game, and building a collectio of 'toons' large enough to be completely self-suffient and team with all levels, I still come back to it. I have a bad impression of Funcom to be honest, I've had nothing but bad experiences of their customer service (or lack thereof), and the in-game ARK's (unpaid GM's/helpers) have proven more often a hindrance than a help, and often left me wondering if I was talking to a bot all the way to the mostly disappointing conclusion. As for the new graphics engine, it is needed badly in my opinion, I can't help feeling I'd start to find the game more immersive again if it didn't look so dated next to everything else I play, and I'm not so confident of their sincerity with the fact regarding progress of development, or the future of the game in general, but hopefully they'll have me eating my words, as in essence, in spite of the bad players (which can make a break an online game) it is still one of the best game I've ever played, period. Far from perfect, or from inspiring me to rave about it, but a game I think fondly of all the same.

In all, a diverse, complex game, with a massive playing area to wander through freely, lots of content, just avoid the 'flameboys' and the 'trains'.

RP can be hard to find if you're spendign all your time with the powerlevellers or PVP crowd.  Still, it's relatively easy to find if you know where to look.

If you're looking for RP, it doesn't hurt to check out the Editor News forum on the AO site, as well as the Atlantean and Rimor RP forums.  Free accounts can't post on those forums, but you can at least get an idea what's happening, and take note of other players to contact.

Ingame there are some private channels on each server that RPers have created.

On Rimor:

nrpb     Chatbot for roleplaying

aarp     roleplayers' chatbot for out of character conversation

rpnet    events notifications

on Atlantean:

Channel42    chatbot for roleplaying

"Community:

Stinks. It is a bunch on 'inbred MMMORPG' players that suffers under the 'wear & tear'sybdrome', which means that there is no newcomer blood to the game, so all the relations they players have is to the same all same all faces they have seen for the last 4 years."

I have to totally agree with you here... Last time I played this game, I had never met so many rude ignorant elitist people in one game ever..  Most of them have been playing it forever and refuse to play another game, but they make new people feel soo bad for being new.. It suffers the same as Shadowbane..