The story is bad. End of story (ha).
I can tolerate a slow story. No, I do NOT need constant action, instant gratification, and pandering to the lowest common denominator to love a well plotted tale (I *am* a fiction writing major after all).
But AO does not come close to any of this; one person pointed out aspects of spoon feeding - I wholeheartedly agree that this whole thing feels like something shoved in your mouth. News wires, reports, and articles should be the beginning, not the end of a storyline. Keeping it at this level makes the entire game feel like two seperate entities: one that you read about, and the one you interact with.
So player events (scripted and player-run) happen once in awhile. Big deal. There is not nearly enough of it happening. If the world is supposedly in such turmoil, there should be riots, speeches, chaos, doomsday cults, secret organizations, plenty of backhanded politics - none of this is happening. I have yet to experience any type of speech, anything resembling chaos that could possibly even affect me, one cult which is making news but beyond the occasional skirmish, I can't do much about, hearing about secret orgs but again, not being able to do much with... etc etc ad nauseum.
You can form an organization, but then what? You can't get it involved in the storyline enough to warrant more than a blurbed article.
Speeches and platforms should be proclaimed from a street corner with a guy on a soapbox to huge press relased extravaganzas with higher ups in OT and the COT firing up a crowd.
You should be able to approach NPC'd orgs and attempt membership, whether it be something as political as a lobbying party to something more sinister like an OT-backed subversive group.
I can't talk to NPC's unless they are store owners, and that's just a 'hello, buy my stuff please'. I can't seek out information on my own as there's no library to peruse anywhere on the planet with hidden information buried in miles of bookstacks (or whatever they use in 20000), nor can I be thrown in jail for causing a ruckus at Omni-HQ.
Maybe the writers are bad? Maybe... but I'm holding out and giving them the benefit of the doubt (even if the book chapters are really, really super-cliched).
What it all adds up to is lack of interactivity. I can't do anything to change the story, so why bother getting involved? It's happening all around me, and nothing I do, and nothing any of my friends do, will ever amount to much in the world of AO. The appeal of role playing is carving out a tiny niche for yourself and working that position to its fullest in any way you see fit. You should be able to become a powerful figure in politics, or you should be able to work at Bronto Burger. This of course never happens - the 'most full' you can get in AO is seeing how fast you can level.
THAT is where all the story related apathy stems from.
I think that was THE Ragnar
You know, Ragnar Tornquist (sp?), the main writer of the storyline and the fellow who wrote the story for the excellent The Longest Journey.