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Anarchy Online News - New Point System
Posted by Keith Cross on Jun 27, 2007 | 30 comments in our forums
Funcom has announced that they have added a point system to Anarchy Online. Players can buy these points and use them to buy virtual items, services, and content.
Durham, USA - June 27, 2007 - Funcom is proud to announce the introduction of a additional business model for Anarchy Online, exactly six years after the launch of the world's first sci-fi MMO. Set to launch this summer, Funcom now introduces a point-based system where players can purchase selected virtual items, as well as new content and services. The new approach comes as an addition to Anarchy Online's existing business models, and it is a current Funcom focus to only introduce items which do not affect gameplay balance.
The first virtual items to kick off the program will be the introduction of jetbikes and hover boards, giving players the chance to cruise around Rubi-Ka in an all new fashion. In addition Funcom will offer previously released scout-mechs, luxury apartments, Leet pets and various sets of social clothing. By using points the players can also get access to previous and upcoming expansion and booster packs, as well as new services like changing in-game names or moving to another server.
"Funcom has long been a pioneer on new MMO business models, and with the introduction of virtual item sales we are once again moving our game in an exciting new direction," said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. "Selling virtual items and smaller content upgrades is now a prevalent MMO business model in Asia. This has yet to be fully explored in the west, but we believe that the time is now right to test a limited version of such a model. At the same time we remain committed to the overall evolution of the game, making sure that Anarchy Online will be a success for many years to come."
"Celebrating six years is a fantastic milestone for Anarchy Online, and we are genuinely honored to still entertain so many people," said Craig Morrison, Producer and Director on Anarchy Online. "As we now introduce a new addition to Anarchy Online we have ensured that our paying customers get certain privileges. At the same time we also want to show our commitment to taking the overall gameplay experience forward. I am therefore glad to announce that we are developing a new graphics engine for the game, replacing our entire server farm, as well as developing exciting booster packs which include new playfields and more."
Read the full release here.
For more on Anarchy Online, visit http://www.anarchy-online.com.
Very interesting.... seems there's more life in the game than I first believed.....
"At the same time we also want to show our commitment to taking the overall gameplay experience forward. I am therefore glad to announce that we are developing a new graphics engine for the game, replacing our entire server farm, as well as developing exciting booster packs which include new playfields and more."
The question of course is how big of update the graphic engine will make.
Still my favorite mmo i just wished the controls for moving around your char wasnt so stiff that is a huge minus for me
I hope they can shine this old shoe a little, because it is a very comfortable shoe...
Oh yeah the points system...Why is this the title instead of the gfx overhaul?
My feeling is that they are preparing the way for free play. Advertising and micro payments will be their way of Financing the game. I think it could work really well for them.
The emphasis is on the point system, because they have been talking about the graphics update for a while now.
So, the point system is like the "Store" that many of the Asian MMOs have? Buying virtual items with real money? I've never been a fan of this.
The graphics engine update does sound nice though. I wonder what their timeframe is?
Won't change much in this game, the free accounts have a lot of restrictions as it is. What they don't discuss is how this affects those with subscription accounts. I think it is bad karma to make subscription accounts pay more for anything, just my opinion of course.
This is fine for AO especially since they're saying the items for sale won't affect balance, and I can see this system in TSW I guess. I'm just wondering if they're planning on doing something like this for AOC also.
And Yay for the graphics overhaul!! They need to put some of that shiny new 30 mil to work!
I hope not.
If you don't go and read the full release you're missing this piece of information:
The Funcom points can at first be purchased in 10 and 20 USD / EUR packages. As an example of the price a new jetbike starts as low as 3 dollars, while a complete set of bikes can be bought for about 10 dollars. Players who are paying subscribers of Anarchy Online will get a set of monthly points included in the subscription price, and longer pricing plans like 6 and 12 months gives extra points. As an added incentive Funcom will send points to the player account upon receipt of subscription dues. (emphasis mine)
So the only people who have to pay for points are the free players, everybody else gets some points for free.
Me to.
Ah thanks, that cleared my question up. Should have known Funcom would do it the unobtrusive way.
Oh ffs put a sock in it, or around it, ot too it? to it?
Also, here's a link to the AO Director Sillirion's letter on the official forums. He clears up alot: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=498971
Thats a whole lot of news. Hope that the new game engine brings nice eye candy :D
I will definatly start up my account again if the graphics are good. This game truely is awsome, I just couldnt get into the graphics and controls. For its time (when it came out) the graphics were good. Its about time... :)
That does it. They upgrade the graphics a bit and I'll give this one another look.
I"m glad to see this announcement. AO is a great game and it can use a graphics update. However, to me graphics aren't what make a game fun to play (it only helps enhance the fun), it's the implementation of game mechanics, concepts that are put into play and theme as well as having options to be creative with your toons that make a game fun to me. I do know that if AO used the same engine as some of todays games, it would really blow other games away.... heck if it had SWG's game engine, I'm not too sure that it wouldn't be one of the most popular games around and end up on MMORPG.com's top 10 list with a 8 something rating. All I'm saying is the graphics are the only thing that holds AO back from being one of the markets top games....it's still better than most recent games, just those recent games have the latest techonology working for them while AO doesn't.
AO will never be a mainstream contender, it is too complex and the transportation system especially at the lower levels is far too confusing.
My dream finaly come true
AO is a fantastic game. Thats a fact. If they will update the gfx it will be super fantastic (i couldnt find a better word, sry)
About the point system: With the current ads and with this "point" system i can imagine the game would go to f2p. Not long ago we talked about this in my org that what will be the next expansion that they will change to froobster. Now if they will change the whole game to free...I would finaly see shadowlands and i could finaly camp at inferno for the focus-funneling spirits! I would do some alien raids! I could have a mech. There is so much content in this game and they continualy expand it
A few words to summ it: We love you FC
They have no intention of going F2P. Even the items you can buy with the point system will still require you to have the expansion they are related to (Jobe luxury apt, pre-order mech, etc.). These are only "packs", not expansions, which FC will be continuing to make, as well as continuing to add free content as well.
I just have to love the fact that you now can buy the pre-order items with cash, so much for giving a bonus to the people who pre-ordered back in the day.
IMHO there is nothing difficult with moving around unless you mean "point and clcik" which is a personal preference that not all would agree with.
Doesn't bother me. I have some of those pre-order items. None of them were anything more than eye candy/toys. None of them give any advantages over the non-pre-order stuff. Maybe that's just me, though.
I've always found the "wasd" and toolbar control setup in AO to be one of the best there is. I'm curious what is meant by "stiff controls" myself.
Offtopic again
Its hard to put the finger on it its just something that i felt was lesser , of course that didnt stop me from playing it for 3years+
If the graphic overhaul is enough i will start playing it serously again even if im not totally happy with the controls.
There is other games old and newer that imo has better controll over the char not gonna go into that here :)
I played for a year when it first came out and have been playing the last few months as a froob and i've been reminded how astoundingly Complex (though not overly complicated) the game is. Missions do get tedious after a while though and there's really not much else to do except lvl grind up to pvp.
The game is a sort of experimental lab for Funcom. This is one in a series of new methods to try make them game accessable beyond a traditional monthly fee. The in-game advertisements by notable mainstream products and services was likely the biggest change.
Off topic: The controls for the game in the beginning (at least the first 4 years) didn't have any mouse support for camera-movemement, so you had to rotate etc. by using the numpad. That didn't bother me at all while I played, but I remember returning on a froob acct after playing EQ2 for som time and it annoyed me a great deal. Luckily you can move the camera with the mouse now =) Not sure if this is what you had in mind.. whoever it was... when you said they were "stiff", cause on that I agree now in retrospective.
Back on topic... I've always loved AO, and the way FC use it to try out different stuff. The point system sounds like a good idea, I've always missed something like a hooverboard to race around on.
On a second note, correct me if I'm wrong, the gfx engine used in AoC is the same (although of course greatly improved) as the one used in AO... I really hope they can use some of that in an updated AO look. (No, not saying that I hope, or think, that they will use the same... just saying that with the experience they've gained with all the work and effort put down on the engine I hope they can give the AO looks a great boost. =))
Khaz