Anarchy Online 7 years

Another year has past and Anarchy Online is now 7 years old.

This is celebrated by giving all current subscribers 700 service points to spend on in-game items. Players of the free version of Anarchy Online can upgrade to all the expansions for 7 Euro/USD and gets 7 days of free game time.

They mention that an offer is going to be sent out to previous subscribers by email. Since I am one of those but I have not received any email yet I had a look at my AO account page and there is an offer there for 30 days of game time and 700 service points for free. (actually 0.00 Euro, plus 15% VAT…)

I will probably pick up this offer; I tend to go back to Anarchy Online from time to time – with it being my first MMORPG I do get nostalgic every now and then.

There is also a video here with some of the former and current game directors and designers talking about the game, which is a pretty nice piece. Mirror links and links for download for offline viewing is here.

Happy birthday, Anarchy Online!

Anachy Online graphics update

Anarchy Online was my first MMOG and for that it has always been a bit special for me. From time to time I get back into the game, if only for a short period of time.

About half a year ago I saw the game engine update mentioned for the first time, which at that time just sounded that they would take better advantage of the newer graphics cards to offload some of the work that the CPU(s) had to do in the game today – but I did not really expect any real changes to the graphics itself.

Funcom has released a teaser video of the new engine and this actually looks better than I hoped for. There were some old familiar environments shown in that video in a new light and that looks promising. No characters were shown, but hopefully those will get a similar update. The new engine release seems to be planned for late 2008.

Another top 10 MMOG comment

As a lot of other bloggers have added their take on top 10 MMOGs inspired from the thread at F13.net, I decided I’d put in some comments in the same spirit here. I don’t read those forums normally, so I did not jump in and register. I found the different motivations people wrote more interesting than the actual order and who put in their votes – I am sure there are a couple of celebrities in the game world there judging by interest sparked for this particular list, but I did not notice.

The motivations are interesting since it shows in my opinion it is a bit difficult to get some coherent criteria that everyone would agree with, making such list pretty much useless (as it also says in the original post) for anyone outside to get a good view of what game is better than another.

Worth noting is that the only game in the top 10 that is actually reasonably new is Lord of the Ring Online and 7 of 10 are fantasy MMOGs.

My own top 10, which is pretty much all MMOGs I have played for at least 2 months:

1. City of Villains/Heroes
   This is the game I played played actively the longest (almost 19 months and counting), mostly on villain side. It is not the most feature rich game, but what has been implemented usually works well. Best character creator I have seen so far, separation of looks and character abilities, good variety in powerset selection, great mechanics to enable people to team with each other and good fun fast-paced combat in groups.
   It gets a bit grindy at times (big hurdle around level 30) and there is a lot of similar content. Good content updates that comes at regular intervals without extra cost. I have loads of characters in this game and enjoy most of them. Played witha good group of people here which definitely contributed to the enjoyment of this game.
2. World of Warcraft
   Second longest game I have played, spent around 11 months, got 1 character to top level, which was 60 at the time and a bunch of alts in 30-50 range. Fun to explore, solid content. Main reason for staying that long was the guild I was in and when that fell apart my interest in the game pretty much vanished. Among the least amount of annoyment factors in a game that I have played, which is one reason it is high up in list. Decent mixture of skills in the different classes.
3. Final Fantasy XI
   Spent around 8 months in this game. Loved the concept of jobs and subjobs, did not like that some combinations there where pretty much forced in practice. Hated the camping. Loved the cutscenes, some of the story line and the general feeling of a dangerous world. Fighting my first dragon there was a rush like I barely had in any other game. I loved the beastmaster job. Did not really like the forced grouping in certain areas at certain levels, which which was abonus for the beastmaster – that did not really apply in that case. Had good fun with the BCNM fights (Burning Circle Notorious Monster) I was in. The linkshell I was in was good at the beginning, but after the general maturity and common ground with the other members faded, the interest in the game also faded.
4. Everquest 2
   Lots of features, some nice storylines and mixed graphics – some great some so-and-so. Loved Brigand and Coercer and had some decent fun with some other classes also, highest got to mid 40s (brigand). Have played the game in 4-5 periods, total time perhaps 8-9 months. Too much master spell farming and grouping for XP for my liking.
5. Star Wars Galaxies
   Mainly for the game as it was during the first 5-6 months, to a bit after player cities was introduced. This was a time where many higher level creatures could be considered dangerous. Loved the skill-based structure, hated the grinding necessary for some of these skill trees. Hated the one character per server restriction. Loved the versality in classes, crafting mechanics although did not like htat you pretty much had to be a master crafter to make any money on your work (and the grind to get there). Ended up as a ranger/creature handler eventually and I loved the pet handling, collecting pets and raising them and go hunting for material that I sold later. Player cities was an intersting concept, but I thought it actually destroyed a bit of the game and later changes destroyed it more. Never was interested in getting into Jedi.
6. Anarchy Online
   My first MMOG. Spent perhaps 10-11 months in total there over multiple periods. Have all the expansions, but has not really touched much beyond the original game content. Had plenty of alts, only a few got above level 50. Due to real life circumstances (i.e. work), my first 10 months in the game was mainly a couple of hours each weekend, the only time I was home in Sweden. Great mood setting in some areas and good fun back then. Cannot really back into the game nowadays though.
7. Tabula Rasa
   The game has not been out after release for 2 months yet, but I also played some in beta. Great combat and immersive environment, good storyline. Crafting is a bit crappy at the moment and some of the mission bugs gets annoying. Playing it with a good bunch of people, which adds to the fun. If I make this list again in a couple of months I suspect this game will be ranked higher. I just need to put some of the games I played for a longer time ahead of it, the postion is rather low due to the short time it has been around. A couple of months from now it may be in top 3.
8. Earth & Beyond
   My second MMOG and the first game in space, played for maybe 9-10 months. I loved the concept of a changing world and the grand story arc and the first 30-40 levels had some nice missions and story lines in addition to the story arc. Combat with space creatures was fun. Crafting was ok, trading part (a chat channel) was horrendous. A lot of the time towards level 150 was one of the worst grinds I have had in an MMOG, which lowers its position.
9. EVE Online
   Wanted to really like this game and have a complement to Earth&Beyond initially. Played in two periods, totalling maybe 2-3 months. Never got into a company I liked and after a while space felt a bit empty. I like a number of the game mechanics and it is a bit stimulating, but not so much fun after a while. Probably would have worked out better with a good company.
10. Lord Of the Ring Online
    Pretty game environment, some of the start quests and the main story arc was good. After a while it felt really uninspiring and grindy, quests, combat and pretty much everything except the environment itself. Highest character got to mid/high 20s, loremaster. left after about 2 months, even though I had bought a pre-order with 6 months subscription.

Some of the positions here is pretty much impossible for me even to agree with myself and if I am asked again in a short while some of the positions may change. And if I was asked about a list of games I would like to play now and order them, it would be a quite different list. It is a rather futile attempt at comparing my enjoyment and frustration at different periods in time when it comes to MMOGs.

Anarchy Online observations

About a week ago, around the Anarchy Online 6 year anniversary, Funcom announced in a letter from the game director that they were going to try slightly new business model to sell new content using a point system. These points can be used to buy new content, including smaller expansions (booster packs), character transfers, name changes.

They also announced they will be upgrading the server hardware Anarchy Online is running on and that they are working on a new engine for the game.

It is interesting first to see that what mainly seem to have made the news is one type of content they will be selling with this point system, the virtual items. In this case the vehicle booster pack. While the introduction of selling items can be a bit controversial, the types of items that Funcom are talking about here are not really that controversial. It is the same type of items that a number of games, even here in the west, includes in preorder packs or other special editions of their games. No big deal really.

I find the point system in general more interesting and the intent to release smaller content updates and other services through it. The booster packs can be like Notum Wars update and like the Everquest 2 adventure packs – smaller updates, potentially a bit more experimental in nature. Other types of services can be included at it does not need to cost much for each service, since they will be using points that is likely bought more in bulk. Or in the case of those paying for subscriptions, they will be receiving some points automatically.

Without tieing it to real money for each service, they bring down the overhead cost for the real money transfers and people would not need a credit card, since they probably will be able to buy points through”game cards” through stores.

The other parts of the announement, that talked about the new server environment and the new engine, did not quite make the news in the same way. New servers is of course nice for the current players and seems to contribute to the community feeling that Funcom is willing to put an effort into keeping Anarchy Online running.

The talk about the new game engine also contributed to that. This will probably not be ready until next year and the primary effect will be to better use the resources of the graphics cards to offload jobs to them, rather than have the computer CPU do the work. Simply put, take advantage of the advancements in what work the graphics cards of today can do. This can contribute to reduce lag, for example in large raids or PvP battles.

What probably many people are hoping for also here is to get a new graphics overhaul of the current game. I am not so certain how much of that will happen and probably Funcom does not know either at this point. That probably depends on how successful the experiments with new business models will be. Anarchy Online is a safer location to experiment with a bit, it does not cost a huge amount of resources time and money to do it there in comparision to Age of Conan, for example. It is simply not that much too loose if it will not work out that well.

Anarchy Online was my first MMOG back when I started playing those games in 2001 and that makes the game a bit special for me. From time to time I have reactivated my account there and played a little bit. I have bought some of the expansions in the past, but have not played much beyond the basic game actually. I am not sure when the next time will be to revisit Rubi-Ka, but it feels good that it is there and is live and kicking when the urge comes back.