Anarchy Online

THIS GAME IS MASSIVE and a TRUE MMORPG till this DAY!

Let me see here, it has been 5 years since I last stepped into (AO) Anarchy Online and (SL) Shadowlands was a new expansion that was coming out soon. I am a real Sci Fi Geek and fell in love with this game those many years ago, that was until Star Wars Galaxies was released and AO became just a memory.

Blast forward to now and we got (SL) Shadowlands, (AI) Alien Invasion and (LE) Lost Eden and I must say I was skeptical coming back to a game that is over 8 years old I believe (if you count Beta). Yeah the graphics are dated (in some areas of the game), but the core of the game mechanics is excellent!

Lets talk about the graphics for instance, if you create what we all call a Froob account, yeah you wont be able to access SL or any of the other expansions, but the graphics in the lastest expansions are not as bad as people claim it to be <imo>.

Here is a simple list because I could go on about how great this game still is..

1. You got 3 Factions (Clan, Omni and Neutral). Contested areas and also Arenas.

2. You got PvP http://media.putfile.com/Anarchy-Online-PvP-action-at-2HO and PvE throughout the entire of the game. And lets not forget Dungeons/Missions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6K4grYxbFk&feature=related

3. Very complexed game mechanics to build your toon so he is entirely different than someone elses. There is alot of twinking in this game and you can (2) box AO. So if you want to PL another account, well you can with your main account. Just create a Froob account and have your Doctor or whatever class you want to play, follow you with your main toon for free.

4. Building your character thoughout the game is excellent and very diverse. You got a list of many classes to choose from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZybM-RXHRE

5. You got Battlegrounds (with Mechs) <1-50> <50 +>, You got Alien Invasion Raids on player citys. Or just take your Mech outside City limits and shoot shit up that stands in your way.

I could go on but having a blast back in this old game.

Here are my tips into surviving Anarchy Online as a Subscriber or a Froob.

1. Find a friend that is willing to give this game a chance, if you look past the graphics in the beginning (Newbie Island). I gurantee you will like the game and fall in love with the games mechanics. The graphics are much better with the (SL), (AI) and (LE), but if you want to Froob it to level 220, thats your perogative.

2. OMG 220 Levels (you gotta be kidding me). Leveling in this game is quite fast. if your a casual gamer, you can get 10 levels in 2 hours, 20 levels in 3 hours and 30 levels in 5 hours.  It gets real slow around Level 150 and this is where people start PvPing pretty hardcore since you can TWINK your character to be wearing QL200+ Gear/Weapons.

3. If you got the money to burn, buy the whole damn game and sub for a month after you tested the waters as a Froob. Benefits for being a Subscriber.

A. Research points cant be learned with your toon to give you a cutting edge on your opponets.

B. You get Mechs and Turrents (a variety to choose from), SL Gear/Weapons and AI Gear/Weapons upgrades!

To wrap this up, because I could go on, Try AO out before they give the game a facelift, you will be surprised what you will discover. The game may be Ugly/Dated in some Ways, but a Truly Awesome Gaming CORE!

PS. You wont be able to DIGEST everything this game has to offer in 1 week I hate to tell you. stay around for at least a month or 2 and you will still be asking noobie questions like me =)

GOODLUCK if you decide to play AO!

On a Side note...

Now I am far from being a Veteran to this game, however, I have rerolled since the year 2003 and leveling a Keeper now.

I didnt play it a lot but I loved it , the only reason i stopped is the graphics lol, and the controls, I might give it another go after the gfx upgrade.

Played this game a long time ago.. The atmosphere was great! It really immersed me in the scifi theme:) But I never understood what it was about.. where the storyline went.. And to much content.. I didnt know what was what.. lol

overall great game, but it takes time to learn things.

Yes, its definetly overwhelming content (then again, how many years has it been) and basically you should have a degree in sci fi mmorpg if you figured this game out from top to bottom.

The biggest problems I had starting back was, where to go and what to do. The basic questions. Then the questions turned into.

Where do you get those hover boards, those cool colored yalm and speeder bikes/cars. Where are the certain hot areas for drops, faction grinding and PvP zones. What are tokens, VP and Perks. I can see this being overwhelmed for any newbie starting this game out now.

To me, its really not newbie friendly like most mmorpgs out today, but then again, EQ, DAoC, AC, UO and old SWG all had learning curves as well.

It goes to show you how more simplified mmo games have gotten these days.

Ummm you are preaching to the choir here guy. 

If only I could install it. :(

The patching process is nightmare with all the errors it kicks up. I get several patches complete before one causes an error that it can't patch or fix.

First install can take some time because of the patches. If you are getting errors during patch process, download and save the patches on your pc and install them manually.

I long for a modern MMO with the content of good ole' AO.

I think this is why I get burned out on the new games in about two months. They just don't have what I got spoiled by in my first days of MMO playing.

And everything these days is level locked. I loved spending a couple of days twinking in AO, getting that lvl 200 weapon on my lvl 60 toon.

Nothing was automatically handed to you....you had to work for it. You didn't suddenly have a bunch of new abilities when you leveled, you had to BUY them (or find them).

What I wouldn't do for AO2!!!!

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Originally posted by Wharg0ul
I long for a modern MMO with the content of good ole' AO.
I think this is why I get burned out on the new games in about two months. They just don't have what I got spoiled by in my first days of MMO playing.
And everything these days is level locked. I loved spending a couple of days twinking in AO, getting that lvl 200 weapon on my lvl 60 toon.
Nothing was automatically handed to you....you had to work for it. You didn't suddenly have a bunch of new abilities when you leveled, you had to BUY them (or find them).
What I wouldn't do for AO2!!!!

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Ditto. It's pretty fun to making different sorts of builds, even gimpy ones with various professions (A MA doctor or a 1HE doctor. A bow wielding Metaphysicist, and so on). And the fact they put in the default template build from the start makes it fairly easy for a player not to get too gimpy with their character (if they're not worried about doing a full spreadsheet of min-maxing).

Plus, if memory serves, I believe Rubi-Ka is suppose to have the largest map in the entire game (I believe Funcom in late beta boasted it was approximate to half of Texas or something akin to that...). So, you have lots of areas, some of which most folks don't eve