AO Impressions?

Xanthorn · August 2004

I tried the 30 day trial version and here are my impressions and opinions of this game to share with the rest of you. (Keep in mind that this is my first time playing AO series and they are MY opinions!)

I personally was not throughly impressed with this game. The lack of content, ease of us (controls), and lack of fighting skills needed to battle, really makes this game boring for me. I tried a few different types of characters like an Agent, but all of the characters seemed very simular to each other. The lack of uniqueness in race and characters made it boring to try new characters.

The graphics in this game are disturbing! AO has a long way to go in the graphics department. Eventhough, I believe graphics do not make the game, but game play does. (Take EQ for example, graphics have always been decent but lacking, but I played it for 3+ years because of the game play and content.) AO's game play is not my style I guess! It just lacks a lot of what I look for in a game.

What can I say, this game is just not for me. I know and sure that many of you like this game. For the rest of us, we will keep waiting for WoW, EQ2, or whatever is next for us. Like I said before, this is just MY opninion about the game and does not represent everyone else's opninions on it.

Xanthorn

http://www.otsguild.com/ -- Future WoW guild upon release, check it out! If you want access, please put refered by Xanthorn on mmorpg.com. Thanks, Xanthorn.

Warcriminal · August 2004

You can say a lot of things about AO, but lacking in content is certainly off the mark. This game has TONs of content.

Actually there is a lot of difference between professions, and I not sure how you could avoid seeing the difference between say a Bureacrat and an Enforcer. AO has some of the best team-dynamics and balance of any game I have played.

It might be a bit dated in the graphics department, but certainly better that EQ, and in places its actually really nice.

I can well understand that a newcommer to the game is prone to miss all the possiblilities and content as AO is quite a complex game that takes a lot of time to understand and appriciate

Azzazzimon · August 2004

AI is an expansion 'on top' of Rubi Ka, you will have to know AO to enjoy the expansion I think..

SL could be played without knowing old AO, but AI is more of an addon for AO..

(I havn't tested AI myself so havn't read the NDA, but wouldn't you break the NDA by giving a review of AI?)

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Azzazzimon

Xanthorn · August 2004

I would assume if I was giving a review on AI then yes, but if I am giving my opinion on the game then no. Mainly, my post is on AO in general, not so much on AI itself. No secrets nor information directly related to the game is in this post, nor is any screen shots of Beta. Simply put, it is just an opinion of what I think of AO.

Xanthorn

http://www.otsguild.com/ -- Future WoW guild upon release, check it out! If you want access, please put refered by Xanthorn on mmorpg.com. Thanks, Xanthorn.

Xanthorn · August 2004

Fine I changed the title to AO impressions, does that work better for you.

Xanthorn

http://www.otsguild.com/ -- Future WoW guild upon release, check it out! If you want access, please put refered by Xanthorn on mmorpg.com. Thanks, Xanthorn.

Blitz_Storm · August 2004

I started playing AO back in mid July. In my opinion it is a great game. It has a lot of complexity and depth and as most people will tell you there is quite a learning curve. The classes are quite unique, I started with an engineer and got him to lvl 50 so far. I've also tried a soldier and nano-technician and found them to be quite different.

I would have to disagree a lot with your post. There's tons of content and quests in AO. If you search the web you can find several walkthroughs and guides to some of the basic ones. I'd recommend anarchyarcanum.com as a good place to start. There are more fighting skills in AO than you can shake a stick at. With my engineer he could basically only use a pistol but he did have the special attack 'flingshot' and a 'quickshot' special attack from a perk. Some of the other classes have lots of special attacks, especially the martial artists, although I haven't played that class yet. Maybe I'm just reading you wrong and you're talking about 'twich' skills for fighting instead of character skills.

Oh, and about the graphics, try turning the settings up. I'm not talking about the settings at the login. Once you're in the game press F10 and try tweaking the settings. Find the textures and set them to full 32 bit instead of the 16/32 they are on default. The graphics in AO are a lot better than most people realize because they haven't spent the time optimizing them.

I know that not everyone enjoys a sci-fi themed game, but I sure do, and AO is one of the best ones out there. In my opinion of course.

Xanthorn · August 2004

I have a few more days of the trial version, I will try to up the settings to see if I can get that to work atleast. I guess I just have troubles finding the content, I also only went to lvl 6 because I got so bored with the game and tried other characters and it did not get any better.

Xanthorn

http://www.otsguild.com/ -- Future WoW guild upon release, check it out! If you want access, please put refered by Xanthorn on mmorpg.com. Thanks, Xanthorn.

Unknown · August 2004

Originally posted by Xanthorn
I tried the 30 day trial version and here are my impressions and opinions of this game to share with the rest of you. (Keep in mind that this is my first time playing AO series and they are MY opinions!)

   IMHO you should have first read up on the game. The official forum boards are a nice source of information about each profession, how to make money, where the content is, and to find Guilds to join.

I personally was not throughly impressed with this game. The lack of content,

There is an insane amount of content in AO. What level did you make it up to? Did you engage in any PvP? Join any guilds? Check out the insane dungeons like "Temple of 3 Winds"?

ease of us (controls), and lack of fighting skills needed to battle, really makes this game boring for me.

   Depending on what profession you choose, how you invest your skill points, what weapons you have, what buffs you get, if you shapeshift, decides what new moves you get, how many moves you get and have.

I tried a few different types of characters like an Agent, but all of the characters seemed very simular to each other. The lack of uniqueness in race and characters made it boring to try new characters.

LOL! First Agent is one of the most hardest professions to play in AO. One has to know what they are doing before being an Agent. Agents can "transform" into other professions. For a new player the best professions to choose are Martial Artist, Soldier, and Adventurer, and maybe Creature Handler. Do not pick Agent, Nano-Technician, or Doctor.

Next, there IS a heck of a lot of uniqueness in race and characters. BUT since AO is roughly a 50% Skill Based game and 50% Level Based game, you are not forced into a template as much as in a game like EQ for example. Some think having templates is uniqueness. Some feel being able to choose your own skills is uniqueness.

The graphics in this game are disturbing! AO has a long way to go in the graphics department. Eventhough, I believe graphics do not make the game, but game play does. (Take EQ for example, graphics have always been decent but lacking, but I played it for 3+ years because of the game play and content.) AO's game play is not my style I guess! It just lacks a lot of what I look for in a game.

   Go to the options menu and turn all of the graphic options UP. The game automatically tries to set the default graphics settings to what your computer can take. AO on lowest settings can be played on a 360 mhz computer with pent 3! On highest settings AO needs a Pent 4 with 800 MHZ, and even 1 GHZ. Before you go knocking any game's graphics, What are your computer specs?

AO is obviously a Sci-Fi game with guns, guns, and more guns. And Airships, land vehicles, water vehicles, and more airships. Entirely different gamestyle than EQ with Bows and arrows and swords, swords, and more swords.

What can I say, this game is just not for me. I know and sure that many of you like this game. For the rest of us, we will keep waiting for WoW, EQ2, or whatever is next for us. Like I said before, this is just MY opninion about the game and does not represent everyone else's opninions on it.

Xanthorn

http://www.otsguild.com/ -- Future WoW guild upon release, check it out! If you want access, please put refered by Xanthorn on mmorpg.com. Thanks, Xanthorn.

Your opinion is too incomplete. What level did you make it up to? What race and profession did you pick? Did you join any guilds? Just like in EQ, AO is far more enjoyable if one joins a guild. Did you engage in any PvP? In AO you can take over land. And lose land. Were you able to buy an Airship and explore the incredible Atmospheric flight that AO has that is untouched by any other MMORPG out or coming out? Did you visit any of the AO static dungeons? What did you think about the personal dungeons? (Which EQ took the idea and calls "personal instancing")

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Ryker · August 2004

I didnt like the game when I first played. I thought it was lacking. Then I started to learn my way around from grouping and exploring. There is alot of content in this game.

I tried the agent and didnt like him. I like to play a character that I can solo or group. The MA is cheap and is a good choice and the MP was my favorite. The keeper was another one, I liked the healing aura he had was good at early levels.

Umbrood · August 2004

Bit strange that the 2 things AO actually has en MASSE are the things you find lacking..

No game what so ever lets you customize you char to this extent, class diversity is enormous compared to anything on the market.

Content after 3 years has actually reached acceptable levels, only EQ can really compare here.

leexx · August 2004

Originally posted by Xanthorn

I have a few more days of the trial version, I will try to up the settings to see if I can get that to work atleast. I guess I just have troubles finding the content, I also only went to lvl 6 because I got so bored with the game and tried other characters and it did not get any better.

Xanthorn
http://www.otsguild.com/ -- Future WoW guild upon release, check it out! If you want access, please put refered by Xanthorn on mmorpg.com. Thanks, Xanthorn.

Sorry, but LOL! If you are to flame a game atleast make the char above lvl 6!!!!

The action kinda starts after the backyard and the subway, they are just nice ways to get started. When you get higher up in lvl there are lots to do in AO. You have dungeons, kinda like subway, but diffrent theme, you have missions, outdoor hunting, raids etc etc.

If you have the time on your trial you should go for and easy prof and try to lvl to 50 imo. then you get to see a little more of the game than the backyard.

If you like RP you should read the storyline on www.anarchy-online.com There is a history behind the game and the conflict if you just read about it.

Another nice thing with AO is the social aspekt, look for a guild, they help you out and give tips about the game, like implants, armor, weapon etc.

Harafnir · August 2004

Well, original poster really have no clue what he is talking about. I can not understand why he makes a post about a game he clearly know nothing about. You can say a lot about AO, I do not play it anymore for several of those reasons.. But "lack of content" and "classes and races are too similar" were just so off he can not even have touched the install button..

You can be an EQ fanboi all you want, but at least have some clue before you write anything or do not write at all. This thread is not a persnal opinion, it is so uneducated it can only be seen as a troll.

Fejimush · August 2004

Holy cow, I mean no offense but you totally missed the mark. I have played just about every MMORPG on the market for at least a month and as far as fun and content none of them hold a candle to AO. All MMORPGs have their issues, yet I keep coming back to AO. After about four months I just couldn't stomach SWG any longer.

AO does have a steep learning curve but that is one of the nice things about it. It takes time to figure out all the details. Although, you can get started fairly quickly. There is so much complexity to AO it isn't funny.

AO, although it needs a facelift (it is 4 years old) is still the most unique MMORPG currently on the market, hands down.

Kindly,

Fej

Fejimush · August 2004

Originally posted by Warcriminal

You can say a lot of things about AO, but lacking in content is certainly off the mark. This game has TONs of content.
Actually there is a lot of difference between professions, and I not sure how you could avoid seeing the difference between say a Bureacrat and an Enforcer. AO has some of the best team-dynamics and balance of any game I have played.
It might be a bit dated in the graphics department, but certainly better that EQ, and in places its actually really nice.
I can well understand that a newcommer to the game is prone to miss all the possiblilities and content as AO is quite a complex game that takes a lot of time to understand and appriciate

Dude you are so right on.

AO is hard to appreciate at first. I like a cerebral challenge as there is one with AO. There is quite a steep learning curve when AO is compared to most other MMORPGs (maybe that's the European expectation).

If AO did a graphics face lift they would rule. The game has had finally chance to to mature.

Thanks,

Fej

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