First Impression: Not Very Impressed.

DoktorTeufel · May 2007

Starting out in this game is a nightmare, and the customer service is abysmal.

A bit of background information about my MMO experience: I've played Final Fantasy XI , Dofus, Clan Lord, World of Warcraft, Pardus, Guild Wars, EVE Online, and probably one or two other not very memorable MMOs -- so I'm not exactly a spring chicken when it comes to being a n00b when beginning an MMO for the first time. I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt twice.

After I got the free Anarchy Online account set up and created a character, I was immediately dumped into tiny a zone filled with a crapload of other people, obviously also n00bs. I got a mission from an NPC, and the tutorial tip told me to right-click and hold on the "Mission Icon" and select an option to upload the mission to my minimap. It didn't work. I tried seventy-five different mouse combinations on every part of the mission window, and begged other players on the n00b channel for advice, with no luck (they didn't know what was wrong). I submitted a GM petition -- and I'll get to that in a moment.

I'd also like to mention that my minimap's gamma level was horible -- it was almost black, and very difficult to see. This has nothing to do with my computer or monitor; I have a brand-new 20" LCD widescreen, and my computer is top of the line. Besides, the rest of the game UI was bright, crisp and clear.

So I go off to shoot some animals. What happens? Well, the place is packed full of other n00bs, so whenever I try to shoot something, someone with a bigger gun shoots it too, robbing me of XP and the loot. People start spamming me with blind team invites, and the tutorial tips pop up at weird moments. Wow, what an enthralling experience so far!

Back to the petition. I minimized Anarchy Online and browsed the internet for a while, waiting for an ARK or a GM to answer my petition. After checking the chatlog pretty constantly for two hours straight, I still didn't have an answer. So, I waited a few more minutes and finally logged off in exasperation.

Well, I still wanted to give AO a chance, so I went to the official AO forums to state some of my problems and ask for help or advice. LO AND BEHOLD, you can't use the forums unless you're a paying subscriber.

How cute. Do you really expect me to subscribe if my n00b experience is horrible on my free account, and there's no customer service to speak of?

Maybe someone can convince me that AO is really a fun game underneath all the annoyances, because the game itself sure couldn't.

gemquist · May 2007

Perhaps you just had a horrible experience?

I'll admit, service towards non subscribed customers is a little weak, but I am not subscribed, and was immediately contacted by an ARK member after leaving the tutorial island. The ARK member asked me if I had any questions, welcomed me and gave me a warm fuzzy feeling....

O_o

But I didn't have any problems fortunately, I picked AO up pretty easily.

A couple weeks later, I have a lan party with a few friends, and we decide to play some Anarchy Online. They create their accounts, I make a new char with them and help them out a little bit., then once again, we are approached by an ARK member who asks them both if they had any questions or needed any help. I told him, I was their guide, but his help was appreciated.

I dunno, maybe its because you're playing on RK1?

As more free players come to AO the more the service is going to go downhill... just how games work. *glares at the many banner ads across the net*

JayBirdz · May 2007

Petitions take forever for even paying customers. It depends on how many Arks/GMs are handling petitions. I can't say I have ever seen an Ark or GM treat a paid account differently than a free. It just tends to take them awhile to get around to everyone.

One thing you have to keep in mind why I say that both paying and non paying are treated equally is......

People with an active sub generally have a free account as well so they can dual log or they have more than one paid account for dual logging. the reasons why I say this is, free accounts are generally bank toons, transfer toons, and used for buffing characters on their main account. So you don't have to bother other people to help you out with such tasks.

if your just starting out I would suggest D/ling CSP map. Im not sure what ther most current version is. But its a better world map than the defualt. You can get it at http://creativestudent.com/ao/.

I would also recomend Auno for a list of each professions nano's and a Item DB. I simply love this site.

For a free player this should be a great site for forums AO Froobs

A good note to keep in mind as you play. Ao Is a fairly complex game to get into. Reason being. Is your first character generally will not be up to par with other characters of the same lvl unless you have some decent help from outside sources. For this reason I would highly recomend for a first toon. play a Martial Artist. Another reason I say MA is because you will always have a good weapon your fists. As long as you throw IP into MA skill. Even compared to a MA with expansions at lower lvls. The damage difference and solo ability difference won't be as big as any of the other professions considering how powerfull expansion weapons are. Ma's don't need weapons so thats one thing you don't have to spend credits on. Just keep maxing your MA skill. Its generally a straight forward class to figure out the IP distribution for.

Newbie Islands not really all that fun anymore tbh. Last I heard and saw Funcom stripped all the unique loot and what not from the mobs on the island. Due to people camping it. I would say do the armor quests then upgraded them from either the Clan or Omni Vendor. Get the sided shoulder pads. You can do the quests more than once so you can get 2 shoulder pads get your 1,500 starter nano kit. Then get off the island. The subway is so much funner.

As far as game play goes. AO is a fun game it allows alot of freedom to do what you want with your character and equipement for the most part. It just takes alot of time and resources such as credits or information on items available to help you with your needs. Theres a fairly big network of guides and how-too's out there. I would recomend starting out in the professions forums your gonna be playing on the AO website. And read the guides there. Each professions generally has an extensive guide list that will show you / help you with your Journey's.

I typcally log in and just help lower lvls out anymore.

If your playing on Atlantean and when you get around to going to the Temple of Three Winds, send me a pm . I'll gladly log one of my characters on and run ya to help out with geting all your goodies in there that you need.

Davynelord · May 2007

Well, I personally haven't experienced such frustration as my first 4 toons I made and played on noob island, I always had an Ark come up to me at various times and asked me if I needed any help and welcomed me to the game. However, I noticed that it doesn't happen around the clock, seems to happen more during peak game hours. So if you play at odd times, chances are you won't see many ark's around welcoming people.

As said already, noob island has been stripped over the last 6 months. They took a lot of stuff out, like the very nice part of you crashing on the island and the pilot screaming mayday and all the alien gun fire shooting at your ship. Ship goes pitch black before emergency lights come on and you have to climb out of the ship and find yourself on noob island.   Basically though, the whole island has changed and not for the better.   So for just this reason alone, I never recommend staying on the island past doing the opening tutorials.   You'll often have more fun just zoning to the mainland and chatting it up with some players and joining some subway teams.

keep in mind that players on noob island are not on the same chat channel with the rest of the player base.   Typically, only noobs are on the noob chat. I know I haven't been on noob chat since my first toon made it to the mainland.   So If you really need some advice, then go to the main chat tab and ask questions.   Just click on the chat input box channel name and all the availble channels will pop up and you can choos to make OOT Clan/Omni/neutral (whichever you are) the selected window.   If I recall correctly, I don't think you get the main chat tab options until you go to the mainland though.

As for the PF map, it sucks and always has. It's more of a general position guide rather than a tool to help you navigate around.   You'll be better off using the main map (think default letter is P to pop it up). Then, go download CSP map to get a very detailed and bright map.   Sorry I don't have the web address for it off hand, can probably find it on AOFroobs.com and the official forums.

Oh Yeah, for forum support, go to AOfroobs.com. That site was made for free accounts since you can't post on the official forums.   There are some pretty good people on AOFroobs and a lot of good information.

Also, join a Organization early.   It helps early on for the learning experience as like most games, you'll have quicker responses from org / clan members than just random people off the street, especially if your noob.   Generally though, there are a lot of people who don't mind helping noobs, but these days, they aren't always around.    A lot of people have multiple accounts and dual or triple log toons and so you can sometimes be asking questions and see people around but they are afk or on their other toons doing missions.   Just be patient, AO is a game of patience anyway.   It's a very fun game, but like any MMO, you have to expect to not have things easy and don't get discouraged when a GM or Ark don't get around to you. For one thing, funcom has been trying to get people to become ARK's lately which tells me they are short on ARk's.   So it's quite possible that there just aren't enough ARK's to get around to to people quickly.    Then also, it depends on what kind of help you need, many things aside from bugs, getting stuck somewhere you can't access your toon and such will not be high priority and generally you can be helped by other players.

For one thing, the uploading of missions in AO can easily be missed as there is not audible or visual indicator that a mission has be uploaded other than if a dot pops up on the navigation bar and if your on the right chat tab where the system message is posted saying that the mission has been uploaded.

Then if you do get a bugged mission, simply thing is to drop the mission (Delete it) and go get it again.   Chances are an Ark would have told you to do that anyway.    Sometimes you'll get bugged missions like this and also one's where it won't let you in the door....again, just drop it and get a new mission.   It doesn't happen that often though.

I hope you will give the game another try. It's a cool game and has a great community.    I do hear that RK2 (Rimor) has more froobs than RK1 does and it's easier for froobs to play there. I haven't tried that server personally as I love it on RK1, plus I like larger populations in games such as this one that have such a high dependancy on other players (which you'll find out about if you stick it out long enough).

Good luck on a second try though, I know there are other good games out there (maybe even better depending on your personal likes and dislikes) but don't condemn a game when you haven't even jumped into the real world of it yet, I mean you were still on noob island after all.

green13 · May 2007

Originally posted by Davynelord

So if you play at odd times, chances are you won't see many ark's around welcoming people.

I've noticed the same thing when I used to play. At some times of the day if I petitioned something, I'd reliably have a GM talking to me within 5 minutes. At other times of the day, I'd get nothing.

I can sympathise with the OP. AO has a steep learning curve. Like one poster here talking about the Temple of Three Winds. I know what it is, but does he have any idea? Probably not. I levelled my first char to 100 before finding out about the sweet gear in there... and the fact it's level capped and I could no longer get in to get it.

Once you know all that kind of stuff, there's nothing hard about the game. But not everyone wants to have to spend a few hours researching this kind of stuff. And while there are some good guides... they kind of spoil the fun. This isn't a game you can just go into and explore and discover things for yourself. Do that and you'll be disadvantaged.

To the OP I'd say this is still a pretty good game - has some features which other MMOs should be copying. But you'll need to invest a bit of time reading guides and so forth.

Canigua · May 2007

I'll think it have something about how high IQ you have to get into this game

On a serious note,yes it is complex,work true the noob island and you will soon enough get it,read fan sites etc.Very helpful

gerry7 · May 2007

I agree with you about the starting island. i just recently downloaded this game and at first it seemed like it was pretty cool. Until i got into the game. I choose martial artist becuase the difficulty was low, but when i got into the game and started attacking, it was like - kick.... 2 seconds later, punch. The fighting really dissapointed me. It pissed me off and i just uninstalled it straight away.

Ive still got the setup and im thinking is it worth reinstalling? Does the game get better latter on? Please tell me it does because if it doesnt then i think my minds made up

mukizu · May 2007

well the actual fighting isn't gonna change much, you get faster and get more moves from special attacks as MA.

You do use nanoprograms in your fight as well, but you'll never get to headbutt anyone.

Generally getting to lvl 20ish can feel like being in a pillowfight most the time, wich isn't fun until later when you have actually equipped pillows to beat up a friend.

gerry7 · May 2007

lol now i feel like playing anarchy online. u have very good persuasive skills... ibet the game gets better later on, i just never gave it a chance really.

ROFL nice sig man

project8six · May 2007

the game is great but its got a steep learning curve.

Wardz7 · June 2007

Originally posted by gerry7

lol now i feel like playing anarchy online. u have very good persuasive skills... ibet the game gets better later on, i just never gave it a chance really.

ROFL nice sig man

make a toon on rk2(rimor) and send a /tell to Wardz or frootyfix, ill answer any questions u have and offer u up a few pointers, trust me, this game gets way better

try making an engi or something, ive never cared much for MA's myself

Mandy · June 2007

DoktorTeufel

Anarchy is nearly 6 years old. Its not going to be up with gaqmes of today in graphics and so on, But It was by far the best game of its time and its still holding high scroe for as old as it is.

Its to complex for WOW kiddies who don't have to think and just go around and hack and slash everytihng. In anarchy you had to use your brain and think. Funcom has been very good about customer support all the years I've delt with them.

So Go back to the brainless WOW game and its cloans where you can play with out use of your mind.

cerebrix · June 2007

Originally posted by Mandy

DoktorTeufel
Anarchy is nearly 6 years old. Its not going to be up with gaqmes of today in graphics and so on, But It was by far the best game of its time and its still holding high scroe for as old as it is.

Its to complex for WOW kiddies who don't have to think and just go around and hack and slash everytihng. In anarchy you had to use your brain and think. Funcom has been very good about customer support all the years I've delt with them.
So Go back to the brainless WOW game and its cloans where you can play with out use of your mind.

hamine?

comparing apples to a case of motor oil doesnt really help anyone.

as someone that played ao from launch till about a year ago, i think anyone that has BEEN there knows the new user experiences theyve ever come up with have been severely lacking. although oddly i still think the original backyards were the best, second only to the shadowlands backyard, although i still feel that experience was a bit "too" long to get thru.

but why i made this post. i know its easy for you to say you dont have to think playing wow. but you do. especially in the end game. wow players just know how to get past the in game bs between players and get right to the chase. not like ao where 2 guilds really control the beast. wow is a good game, short streamlined skillsets but amazing amounts of content. the BC instances are FUN. Way more fun that the bs i we had to go thru to get thru adonis back in the day. theyre both great games but... bah... im probably wasting text... ill just give the shorter, internet mmo gamer stereotype response.

stfu whiner coming on the interwebs to diss teh wow is not going to get you an EOT I dont care how much you show up at Tara.

Sweede · June 2007

I'd say that the customer support has been good in anarchy the times i needed it sure it may not be instant but no game

have instant gm assistance.

If you must compare it to games like wow i'd say yes wow looks better but has a crap load of rude people, and blizzard sure

try to get rid of there customers, i bought Burning crusade for one of my accounts over a month ago, i still have the email from

blizzard stating it was updated successfully, i played in hellfire done loads of quests and now it all of a sudden claims i don't have

the expansion, another of my accounts they decieded there was something wrong, they haven't told what is wrong though, char i have has been unplayable for over a month out of the 3 months i payed for, they sure don't work fast the last email on this matter was sen't 2 weeks ago, and i had hopes to get him to 70 during my vacation, i had been able to gain 7 levels on him after i moved him from my old server to the one i play on now before they decieded that "something" was not right,

blizzard, and lately servers have been rather buggy to, had a few hours outage last night on my main server for unknown reasons, i feel more and more frustration playing this game and canceling my accounts comes into my mind more often.

As for free players and no access to forum, i can see how that can be frustrating but then again they can't give you all for free, don't have any froob accounts myself but i have 2 accounts with all expansion for 2 boxing

As for the official forum, you still have read access and reading the ma section/newcomer section could provide some answers to some of your questions, though the froob site and forum i hear good things about so likely worth visiting

As for blind group invites i have never played a game where that is more frequent then in wow, blind group invites or duels or guild invites pop up all the damn time, and since i play on a pvp server having a lvl 20 spam my lvl 60 hunter with duel challenges in the middle of a major attack on crossroads sure pisses me off(i played on the horde side)

Both games have there ups and downs, i done some alien mothership missions 2 boxing lately, lot ot fun but ouch it is hard, the tank type alien sure dishes out some nasty dmg

I still feel that the graphics in anarchy are okey and set the mood just right, not that i mind better graphics but look at vanguard for instance graphics are nice but it still fails to hold my attention.

Not sure about the minimap trouble you mention, i run the game now on a 22" samsung wide screen monitor with a 8800GTX gxf card and it looks fine, it was okey on my old comp to with 19" samsung and 6800GT card, bit more speedy now though thanks to faster cpu more memory(4gb) and faster graphics card

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First Impression: Not Very Impressed.

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First Impression: Not Very Impressed.

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