I just want to say that AO is probably one of the best games out there if you are looking for a complex gaming environment.  However, the game is getting a bit dated and I think that it could use a complete overhaul.  Shadowlands has phenomenal graphics and the sounds are very good.  The problem is, when you go back to Rubi-Ka, you see that textures are spread too far, sounds are outdated (some of the sounds I have no idea what they are) and it just doesn't carry the "wow" factor that shadowlands does.

So, I think that if FunCom could take the time with the next "expansion" and instead of creating new areas or whatnot, just beef up the whole game.  Update the graphics engine so that there are dynamic shadow casting lights, remove the funny textured "light beams" from some of the overhead lights and put some irises in there.  Beef up the sound engine so it supports hardware acceleration and EAX.  Put some creepy echoes in there so we know that we are in an abandoned area.

Also, the models could use an update.  Instead of just re-skinning the models when you put on different armor, AO could use some multiple texture ability.  I think that by doing this, AO could remain on top.

Hmmm.... Sure I am all for improving games, and graphics for the benefit of all players, but what you must remember is currently AO Classic will run on most standard computers, and doesn't need an expensive graphics card as standard.

If Funcom were to overhaul the engine then they would have to be careful how they do it. Improving the overall look may be good for most users, but what about the subscribers who play AO from a basic 2.5gHz desktop. They might not be able to play without their CPU choking up.

I am sure this is what happened with DAoC as the min spec for the game advertised on their site is pretty basic, but when I went to play (bearing in mind my CPU was over the spec advertised) the game choked on itself while zoning with over 2 minutes waits for areas to load.

While improvement is great, companies have to be careful, especially with wide user bases over a range of systems. After all they don't want alienate subscribers by making a game less playable.

Not everyone has a supercomputer, and some are grateful for lower graphical specs so they can enjoy playing rather than being overloaded with glittery eye-candy.

Remember - Good Graphics alone do not a good game make.  

Most of my frinds in AO are in not for the graphics but for the sci-fi, the complexity and the maturity of the playerbase.
However, with Shadowlands and Alien Invasion, funcom showed very shortsighted approach. They made so stupid mistakes.
As one of the old timers said: "Funcom puts F.U. in FUN" ;)

All their changes are targeted to insert as much as possible timesinks. In order to progress you need massive number of hours doing one and the same type of mobs. The variety is next to zero. Not because there are no other options but because FC deliberately limits them. I doubt anyone will kill a mob to gain XP if there is another mob with the same difficulty, involving similar risk that gives you 3-5 times more xp.
THATS what needes revamping! Funcom's attitude! Shadowlands is a HUUUUGE expansion in terms of surface area. Now 99% of the players are crammed in 1% of it, just because the rest of the options are just DELIBERATELY nerfed by Funcom? Why? I have NO idea...

Same goes for Alien Invasion. It is miniature expansion compared to SL (maybe 25%), and now they insist us to spent even more time to go through tthe alien levels. And it is really a lot more - maybe 4-5 times more. For way less rewards.
People are so pissed, that there is a massive account cancelation going on at this moment. For the last 12 hours 100+ confirmed ones, officially posted by players in AO forums.

Funcom is just out of their minds. The best thing would be if they are taken over by, say, Blizzard and the marketing and management is kicked out.

Darkage of Camelot | Since Day 1 |

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I do think AO could use a graphical update, something to FFXI standards, which are not to demanding, but are still fairly good....though the game still sucks :P Anyways, MMORPG worlds are huge, and it sucks that there arnt enough players to fill the ranks. I try and get my friends to play things like AO, but most just dont have the time. I hope that one day MMORPG's will become as popular as plain RPG's are, and that we can see a larger population and more areas than just one or two to level at within a certain range. But for now im content with what we have, and ill be sticking around so long as I have the extra money to spare.

<('')>[Sigurd Levenhiet]<('')>

I was referring the the technical aspects of AO (Graphics and Sound Engine, General Performance) needing an overhaul. The gameplay aspects will always leave somebody unhappy. Either they are not leveling fast enough, or people level so fast that they don't know what to do with what they have. IMHO the alien invasion was just to add a new aspect to the game and not a whole new way to play the game as with the shadowlands. I consider axp to be one of those "Hey I actually have some" kind of things and not one of those "What do you mean I don't have any?" things.

As we speak (or type) the devs are working on a new playfield solely for the purpose of people hunting aliens. While I can hear the devs saying "This will be a great way for lower level people to get axp" what I see happening is all of the high level people simply dominating the area for as many extra perks and items that they can get." We'll see. One of the things funcom has done is now the aliens are attacking the primary cities on a fairly regular basis. This is a good way for people of all levels to finally be able to participate in the Alien Invasion.

Also, some people have been complaining that CRU's are not readily available and can only be obtained through missions. This is not true. They are for sale in the Trader store and the Fixer store outside of Borealis.

I want to add something about graphic ... EQ2 have ways better graphic and still runing faster, without lag spikes on my PC. AO graphic dont look that bad, but need performance update. I am with Radeon 9800 pro now and it still laged as when i was with my old card - GF FX5200.

The lag in AO is not bad at all, it must be your location, and everything else said, I almost agreed with, but am not going to go into a full blown discussion about this and that because I really don't have time now, :P (I really dont) If I have time later I will most definitly post more about this and try and help out different people and make a point of making further suggestions to suggestions that my fellow AO players have posted here.  Heh...that was corny sorry, my bad. Anyway, Have fun. and good luck

ForeverDawn

Gwynidon

(names on AO)

"I dont know where, I dont know when, but something bad is going to happen"

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Originally posted by Jimud
i think anrchy online is getting or has had abit of a graphic update

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Something I think people might not be aware of is that AO was not developed at a time when higher end graphics cards, like the ATIs or the NVidias were nearly so prevalent. Where much of the graphics processing is done on the video card's GPU now, at the time, they didn't have that option, so much of the processing still takes place on the CPU itself and then is sent to the video card to render.

This is why a game like EQ2 could seem to perform better than AO.. they have two entirely different rendering engines. EQ2 takes advantage of hardware acceleration, DX9 and all that. AO can't because it was designed before a time when there was such a thing. Try running EQ2 on a system using mainly the CPU (which, really can't be done) and you will see the game come to an utter c--r--a--w--l as well.

Look at Age of Conan, the new MMORPG coming from FunCom and you'll see a game that looks every bit as impressive as EQ2... because now FunCom is taking advantage of the same hardware benefits.

If FunCom were to go back and vamp things up, it would require a far greater change than you might realize. I simply don't think they're gonna do it. Besides, that wierd graphical glitchyness is part of what makes AO AO :-)

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Originally posted by WSIMike

Besides, that wierd graphical glitchyness is part of what makes AO AO :-)

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Im interested to see which way they go with Conan.  Thing that drew me to AO was that it was the only sci-fi on the market at release.  Funcom accidentaly hit on one of the greatest layouts ever on the twinking/leveling thing.  Im interested to see if they keep the same style with Conan or if they hose it and go a different route.  I'd agree on the overhaul.  Ive been in and out of this game several times and it's to date one of my favorites.  Being able to use one item to increse the skills required to equip another item is one of the coolest angles ever.  I'd love to see this kinda thing with a bit of wow thought.  Bring in a second skill bar that improves what you use... perhaps keep it hidden and only applicable when in combat, not applicable when equiping gear?  High sp in 2he allows you to equip and item, high use of it in combat allows you to pwn.

Dare I delv into the economic misshaps that this game has encountered?  Sure would liked to see something more balanced like Eve.  Its cool that a person can choose to make money and buy gear, hunt for gear, build gear, tweak the attributes of gear, run missions for gear, or roll the dice and research for gear and all the gear that comes out is about the same in quality yet hgiher than the quality sold by your average merchant.  Kick this up a noch with some of what came from Wow... mining and fishing were actualy chores that were entertaining. Finding plentiful quantaties of items in highly dangerous areas allowed you to use your noodle to get items addidng depth to the relying on luck or repetition or strength.  I know its unanoumous, nobody likes camping a drop.

I'd also like to prupose something further to you devs out there on creation of items.  You have several physical items that all contribute to the base of an item.. how about throwing in the depth of creation along side the depth of the items.  For example:  Bill makes a Titanium Repeater. These repeaters are light fast short range weapons that are quiet.  Now Bill makes tons of these things, starts off making them out of coper cause its plentiful and easy to get at, copper trigger copper barel copper spinny mahoozit... Then as his skills, luck ability to find or refine or what have you improves an ounce of Titanium is found and the triger is replaced impoving the rate of fire.  Perhaps a lucky turn at the labs since bill has made so many of these guns returns an uber spinny mahoozit design and now Bill knows how to make extra quick firing Titanium Repeaters and Bills repeaters are distinct looking as he has his choice of 3 different casings to choose from for the casing look of the Titanium Repeater.  Of course Bill's titanium repeater is now just as good as the titanium repeater that Jefferson got on a lucky drop off a level 100 maurauder long known to cary such guns.  Bill has an x% chance of recreating this marvolous weapon, just as Jefferson has an x% chance of it dropping.

Take that to the bank developers and put me on your game play concept team ;)

I have considered getting my old AO account back and upgrading to SL and AI. I had an account from the first launch of AO when nothing worked.  And I remember the "good old days" when going to Baboons (the bar in Omni Ent) was always full. I have a free account now, with a few low level characters, and I'm pretty surprised to see how many people are on the game. There are lots of lowbies around the Subway and at the regular lowbie meeting grounds, but I haven't seen as many high level characters. I've yet to check Omni Trade to see how crowded it is though.

But the problems that made me want to quit AO a year or two ago still exist:

- poor graphics - yes, I know this would require a major game overhaul and it's not the most important part of the game, but I do like to see nice graphics sometimes.. my computer is awesome, please take advantage of it! I know the game was made at a time when those graphics were amazing. But this is the main reason why people won't try AO. The graphics, frankly, suck by today's standards.

- repetition - camping the same dynaboss for days, doing the same dungeon for a week, seeing the same mission layout over and over.

- broken economy - if I want to wear armor for my level, I don't think there's any way for me to buy it unless I literally purchase cash off ebay, which I will NOT do. How are you supposed to make 50million to upgrade? 30k for a simple buff? Sure, not everyone can have the best stuff, but how about some ok stuff for my level? It seems impossible for a low level to catch up.

- caters to twinks - yeah, everyone twinks once in a while. But if you DON'T twink, and I mean, massively twink, you have serious problems. I've seen level 60 engineers with the level 90 pets before, and who knows how many others with armor and weapons 20+ levels higher than they are. Sure, it's cool, but then it becomes expected. And if someone sees you wearing armor your level, they think you don't know how to play or that you can't be part of their group because you'll hold them back.

- pvp focus - pvp is fun, but after a while it seems like it's the only thing anyone cares about. I guess this is common anywhere though.

But the things I like about AO keep bringing me back, even for just a froob account..

- crafting system is fun - and not just fun, but highly complex and very engaging. If you focus on tradeskills, you can become quite obsessive. But still, many items that drop can be better than tradeskill items, so it can be hard to make a buck sometimes.

- large world -  there are tons of places to explore, and I think that Shadowlands added tons of content to keep people engaged. It can seem empty at times, though, especially if you remember the old days.

- music - the music is still some of the best music in the MMO world. It fits the setting and isn't heinously annoying ala FFXI.

- weather/environment - the lightning, clouds, sunrise effects... these are still great parts of the game, and sometimes I sit there watching the sun rise or watch a lightining storm over Old Athens. When most MMOs have NO weather effects, it's great to see one with awesome effects.

- ease of travel - there are many modes of travel in the game, via yalm, cockroach car or waterbug, or if you use whompas or the Grid - you can practically get anywhere relatively quickly.

- events - the game still has many events and news articles, so you always have an idea about what's going on in the world. Some games just ignore events, or save them for holidays only.

But the BEST thing about AO... the setting. It's a fun setting, with a lot of history and a lot of detail. This is, in my opinion, one of if not the best Sci Fi MMOs out there still.

My post kind of turned into a review of AO I guess. But anyway, I am watching Age of Conan VERY closely because I would love to see the same cool things about AO put into a, honestly, prettier package. I am not a graphics elitist, but it has been many years. I have a lot of interest in AoC, and from what I hear, there are rumors that AO will be the next game that FC will re-do in the future. They have a new expansion for AO due out in a year, but rumor is that they might redo the whole engine after AoC goes gold.

I think that Anarchy Online has a great Sci-fi feel and environment. I have been trying out the free version on-line. By far it is one of the best Sci-fi MMO out there right now. But the game needs some serious work on there graphics and user interface. The Graphics are to the equivalent of the original Everquest. For this day and time that just don’t cut it any more. So a graphics upgrade is much needed. As far as the User interface I just feel it is a little sloppy compared to other titles. If they would tighten up this area they can run the Sci-fi market as it stands now. Over all I give this game a 7 out of 10 they just need to work on a few areas.

the fact is the game does need an overhaul
u can say "well then people will be cut out of the loop"
well if the game means that much upgrade.

This will get more players, everyone who plays will love it,
the game is great but time has rolled on and it needs an upgrade.
Ill hope but til then ill keep playing it for the scifi

but as much as id like to say i dont,
who doesnt love some eye candy while playing a game??

The game is getting engine/graphic upgrades for Lost Eden expansion. That's what the last big patch and upcoming ones before LE comes out are for. To support the upgrades. They have already upgraded the servers and added new code that has greatly reduced the lag experienced in the game. They are also going for at least later directx 8.x, if not all the way to directx 9.