I miss the animated series!

[______________Ragnar]

Originally posted by Equimon
Glad to see your posting, Ragnar. I appriciate that you actually take time to look at these forums. It means alot to me.

Thanks. I always keep an eye on this forum.

We need to know what is happening. Are we at war? Are we at peace? To use a cool quote from "Three Kings": "Are we shooting?" This is things that every role-player wanna know. It's annoying not to know.

Yep. That is annoying. The situation between OT and the clans is currently at a status quo. The negotiations between the Council of Truth and Omni-Tek broke off following revelations that the Dust Brigade - a radical clan - were attacking OT targets and civilians. Little has been heard from either Radiman or Ross since...

- Please...I beg you. REMOVE the names from guilds that use Omni-Tek "storynames" on their guildname. That's just not good for role-playing. We want to see the "greenies" and Guards and **** with that. Not player-guilds. This IS A MUST. It's very big isssue, at least for me. I feel I can't role-play the right way with that hanging over me.

This is something that we're discussing, although I can't tell you any more than that.

Hmmz. I know there is more, but I'll probably remember it soon, take this for now. And read. I expect a reply, Ragnar.

I'm being a bit vague, but thanks for your input - we're listening! Uh, reading. You know what I mean. I'll try to address more of your points at a later stage.

After looking around on recent posts/threads I found out that you should read this too: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...threadid=38869

I'll check it out! Thanks for the tip!

-Ragnar

[_________Crazynotion]

From what I can tell, the conflict currently looks like this (and has for a while):

Tir Accord says no-one from either side sets foot in the others turf without getting lots of permissions to do so.

Anyone in each others turf is 'fair game' - there is no amnesty, and the peace talks broke down with the ultimatum from Omni-Tek (Radiman must hand over the dust brigade and until such time we resume hostilities).

As Radiman hasn't handed over the dust brigade (or, for that matter, been seen for some time) we're still under orders to kick all colours under the sun out of any and all clanners we can see.

How the clans react to this is their own bag- that's the advantage of being a free thinking independent.

Omni-Tek is your friend...?

[Bionitrous]

Seriously, though. I thought that the 'ultimatum' came from a couple of guilds puffing out their chests in an attempt to steal some of the limelight.

I was under the assumption that Omni-Tek and the CoT were working hand-in-hand to find their common antagonist.

That's what's got this whole thing borked up. You can't tell what's what.

As a matter of fact, I'd guess that a couple of them guilds are now long gone. One of the other reasons I continue to point out why you can't put too much of this in the laps of players who may very well be gone the day after tomorrow when their mom decides to pull the plug on the cable modem.

At least with Ross and Radiman, you know they'll be around until FunCom decides they die, move away, or FunCom finally goes Chapter 11.

And ..... with Ross and Radiman, FunCom has the ability to let them perma-die. What if the head of Omni-Pol were supposed to be assasinated and perma-killed in the Story? How do you think Meister would feel having a character deleted from his account?

FunCom was supposed to be our 'Dungeon Master' and has failed us.

[Razzitazz]

You should really start them up, in that current for again. What you should do is release them every month or two, spreading out the team to make time for everything else you want to do.

We really liked them, start a poll and I am sure you will recieve the positive feedback you want. I think people were too busy watching them to send in feedback .

[equimon]

...for the quick response. I'll await answers on my other points. One thing more...how did that meeting go?

[______________Salada]

Originally posted by Bionitrous
Seriously, though.

And ..... with Ross and Radiman, FunCom has the ability to let them perma-die. What if the head of Omni-Pol were supposed to be assasinated and perma-killed in the Story? How do you think Meister would feel having a character deleted from his account?

FunCom was supposed to be our 'Dungeon Master' and has failed us.

Perma-killing Meister? Hmm...

I can see the Gridstream's new brainwash program going to say:

Kill a Meister today, for a Omni-Pol free Rompa Bar tomorrow...

[_Tekkor_]

Some great ideas and posts. Thanks for also putting some input here for all to see Ragnor.

I agree the storyline was great. It is kindof funny though..... while the episodes were going on I kinda took them for granted and perhaps didnt appreciate them that much. But now that they are gone and no story is going on I do miss them.

I also thought it was VERY cool how the episode had the buildings exploding in Omni 1 and then I went in game and there were destroyed building there.

Has to rank up there with one of the coolest moments you guys have pulled off. Mainly because this was an event of sorts everyone felt like they were a part of in a small way. They all got to see the destruction adn talk about it.

I think any way you guys can facilitate the stroy forward is good. Whether its a comic book we can get every month or ingame doctored cinematics you guys could do. One of those has to be doable.

I mean if you guys have a couple talented artists there you could do a black and white comic Im sure that wouldnt be too hard and we could order. Hell you could even use it to do other very cool things like put a page at the back of each months comic telling a secret or featuring tips for a certain profession or many other cool things Im sure you could think of.

You could do a page in back of comic like a news cast talking about little things "Recent outbreak of Graffiti at the Clon**** OUtpost" and then in game apply the change so people who get the comic go and see the changes or whatever.

[_____________Kirrana]

Thanks Raggy,

You have answered some of the questions I have been asking for a while. I am sure many other people welcome the news about the story.

It would be nice to get more updates on events inside FC, people willing to understand the problems FC have but we get angry when we here nothing for months.

A few times now FC have said sorry for certain problems, mainly in not talking about certain issues or giving us an update. My worry now nothing changes in game and we hear nothing for another 6 months. We seem to be locked into this cycle of news from FC, nothing for 3 months, customer get upset, FC give us an update.

This is not just about the story but the whole path of AO, a monthly update on the progress of thoughts on issues might help. Things like the guild houseing, new appartments, different player companies extra, shadowland details.

I am left feeling very sorry for Dai, Cosmik and CZ, they do a great job in collecting feedback and creating reports. The problem is they have so little information to bring back to us. Reports and questions go in and months pass and nothing comes out.

Personally I cant wait for the story to return, you only have to see this thread to understand how excited people get about the storyline. It is key to AO, so many things feed of the story, it gives us so much more than the games level mill.

It would be really nice to get a bit more background on the planet, Omni-tek, the different races, the clans, ICC extra. something to keep us alive until the full story returns

Kirrana

[Baruch]

Ragnar,

I am very glad to see that you're taking a proactive role here within the forums, and giving us a glimpse into the work behind AO and the future of the game. I also think it is equally good to hear that you're taking out suggestions seriously, and taking time to respond to our questions, concerns and complaints. This is the first step that Funcom has taken to appease fans of the game.

I would like to make suggestions to you and the development team to help the story move on in such a way it does not tax Funcom, and AO in time and money. I think by instituting these policies, and following them, AO will become a more enjoyable game.

First and foremost, I would like to say I DID NOT like particularly the animated series, and thought it was rather thin. However, it did serve a purpose, and I might add it did so fairly successfully. I think a way to revive the animated series in a form which it will be more accessable to players is within the game. Have these events take place in the game. I bet that plenty of people would rather watch things unfold while in the same zone, building, and etc. This may mean taking someone of the resources that was and is slated to be put into the animated series to place it on full time employees playing these characters. In doing so, they will be more a part of the game.

Earlier this year I posted a suggestion that Funcom make it that there should be regional govenors and etc who report up line to either radiman, or Ross. I think by doing this, and implementing this idea will allow people to feel that they have more of an intregal part in the game. It is very important that while we may not see radiman or ross, that we are able to see communication through each respective faction to them. I think if you have more of a proactive Radiman, Ross and Oak, you will find people respond moreso to the storyline.

Anyway I know this was put together at the last minute this response, but getting the individual players involved within the game will help greatly.

[Razzitazz]

Originally posted by Tekkor
I also thought it was VERY cool how the episode had the buildings exploding in Omni 1 and then I went in game and there were destroyed building there.

I got 4 people to play because of that.

[Myers]

Everyone has said some very good and important things, but I think they are missing a very important question, Are you planning The Longest Journey 2? Seriously though this comunication has been great and please keep up the good work. I know many events really got me excited and into the game (after I started playing it) These events I was never apart of and only heard from newsreports or from people who were there. I thought they were great ways to involve people into the story. The Dust Brigade invadeing guild leaders meetings in 100% zones, Dust Brigade asassinateing guild leaders, Omni-Pol invadeing The Rompa Bar. I thought these were great ideas. I thought they personalized the storyline.

[-Zagadka-]

The lack of anything going on is why I no longer play AO... like Ragnar and many others, the level treadmill and competition do not excite me in the least. Having tried every option to roll play and finding nothing work enough to justify the time I spent on AO every day... I just had to back off.

A lot of important points were covered here... and yea, the communication is welcome. I'd like to talk more about some of these issues, but I really don't have the time right now.

To prove that the comics could be done easily, *I* made a series of 6 of them (they suck, but prove the time-investment point).

[_______________Orion]

The ambitious attempt to create an interactive story on Rubi-ka has not been successful. It's too bad, because so many of us really believed that a respite from the level treadmill was possible.
The simplest of events e.g. Radiman or Ross giving a speech to a mass assembly may still not be possible (technical constraints)? My expectations concerning the "interactive story" have diminished greatly from what I once thought was possible.

I support the idea of interactive NPC's. It is better than nothing. Ragnar, I look forward to your scripting of these NPC's. NPC's are not really dynamic, but perhaps they can be implemented cleverly enough so that “spoilers” do not immediately destroy their mystery.

Bionitrous said: Just like Charlie got his golden wrapper and was invited to visit the Wonka factory, it is only right and equitable that a random number generator decide where and in what form your next 'mission' is going to take place.

Of course this is the true answer. Many other people have recognized this. Unfortunately, I do not believe that this will ever happen.

My only suggestion to enhance the implementation of the alleged epic story is this: Narrate the story through superb prose via the use of text (heh we are back to MUDS). Shut down every single chat channel on Rubi-Ka and broadcast (on a consistent basis) the storyline to all the players. All activity on Rubi-Ka should cease while a brief textual event is described etc.

[______________Scorus]

Originally posted by Bonefish
By leaving storyline progression to in-game only mechanics... you're cutting many people out of seeing & hence feeling the story is even moving.

The storyline is in-game? Since when? I'm sorry, but the storyline involving the war between the clans and Omni has just plain never happened. I know that is negative and people will jump down my throat, but before you do that get the booklet that came with the game. Look at the personalities in that that were supposed to be guiding the storyline, that we were supposed to be interacting with. A couple made appearances in-game, once or twice. The rest have never been seen or heard from.

You are right that the storyline was what was going to be different about AO. But it never happened. They found that they couldn't give us an in-game, interactive, consistent storyline and so they gave us movies, an amnesty, a few terrorists (bored GMs killing players in cities), and EQ-style dungeons and quests. Oh, and I forgot pumpkin-heads. *sigh*

Scorus

[Kithraks]

I still have hope in the event's team ability to "revive" the storyline a third time. The main problem we have with our Diplomatic Assembly was that the GMs and ARKs that knew about us all dissappeared. Because of that, the next batch of green tagged people that we try to get in touch with won't have a clue as to who or what we are. That effectively nullifies the previous months of activity of the member guilds.

There needs to be some sort of GM/ARK record they can look up on any particular player, guild or alliance so they can see what past associations they had with them. People want their actions to be remembered, have an impact in future events. You can't do that by having every new green tagged event characters appear and leave every few weeks. Forceing everyone back to square one.

To those that are continueing to hold regular small scale events for their friends and limited guild participation I congratulate for continueing to try and make Rubi-Ka a more interesting place to be. But their very nature, private player run storyline events have their own set of problems. We need official events again and allow player participation.

[_____________Kirrana]

Scorus

You have made a point I always wondered about to the issue to the characters in the story line we have not yet seen. Now I understand in a story you dont have to unvail all the players in one go. Maybe they will make an impact in the near future but it does leave one interesting question.

When FC outlined the story would run in a span for 4 years, plus they out lined the so called main players. In all this would hint to the fact that someone had written the story.

How else could you set a given time on the story or outline the main characters without having the story planned in advance.

However while we have seen only a few of the characters listed in the manual, a lot more appeared in the the videos not in the manual. It would have made sense to give details on the characters we would have seen in the first years thats if they where know at that time.

But also parts of the story in videos seemed almost thrown together it just did not add up. Perhaps the events will become clear in the future but it kind of gave me the impressing of the story being work at as they went along. For example the pumpkin heads, and the cyborgs, it was hard so see where they fitted in and after the dust brigade it was almost as if they never existed.

It seemed as if they where created for the in game locations such as the steps of madness rather then having anything to do with the plot around Miss Oak.

I just wondered if the story told was the 4 year story raggy and the story team had worked on before AO went live.

I guess I should ask when the manual was done did the 4 year story exist.

Also have you been able to stick to this story or has the nature of AO forced the story along a different path.

Following on from this where you happy the way the story was planning out ? . Is the stopping of the stoory and release of shadowlands a complete re-think about the the story is.

Only its hard to see how the shadowlands fits into story line at all, perhaps the biggest worry is do we have to buy shadowlands to get the story ?

Well theres enough questions and thoughts to get people think, I would like to here other peoples views on the story.

Ignore the problems we have had, is the story what you expected ?

What did you think the story would be like and about ?

Do you worry about the branch off to the shadowlands ?

How do you feel about the story npcs ?


This is our story as much as is FC's, we need a story told in a way in which we can use in our own roleplay. We need details and information to allow us to become enrolled in the story. What would you like to see ?

Kirrana
Ex-Baboons manager
Ex-Guild leader
Ex-News Reporter
Full time troublemaker for FC

[Myers]

Originally posted by Scorus


They found that they couldn't give us an in-game, interactive, consistent storyline and so they gave us movies, an amnesty, a few terrorists (bored GMs killing players in cities), and EQ-style dungeons and quests. Oh, and I forgot pumpkin-heads. *sigh*

Scorus

You know this is not true. The video was planned. Amnesty is a dyamic story element. Dust Brigade are very important, and thier attacks make the game interactive. Pumpkin creatures and certain dungeons have some importance which is not clear as of yet. I wonder how you could possibly think all this stuff is not productive to the story. With all the storyline explanations, and the Shawdowland expansion all indicate that they have a large story planned. (this is the impression I have also gotten from the events themselves) With all these story threads (Omni-Tek, Clans, Unicorn Company, Dust Brigade, Pumpkin creatures) need to be woven together to see clearly. Of course we need to see, hear, and read about it, which brings us back to what everyone has been talking about.

[_____________Kirrana]

Captfallout made a good post about the story on aobasher as I know he can not post here anymore I thought I would do it for him. So you can see it, it does highlight the problems with the story and is worth a read, credit for once is due to capt.







With many crumbs, you don't have bread... just a lot of crumbs.

The storyline is something that is obviously being cannibalized in order to tie up loose ends. Not provide an immersive world, or epic story but just to provide something that won't require much effort on Funcom's part to sustain. Yes, that is depressing to hear but that's how it goes when you set your sights higher than you are able to do.

Don't get me wrong. Funcom had the chance to do what they promised, they just squandered resources on things like the animated series and a disorganized event team that was not supported by the game design or engine. During the early months of the storyline, we all expected something interesting. Well, all of us who weren't completely jaded from the initial launch and storyline delay. Looking back, the Halloween launch event wasn't half bad. Sure, it didn't make much sense and really didn't do much in terms of content... but it felt dynamic.

It felt like a world. With a new threat, and new places to explore. It felt like we were in fact citizens on a planet where there was something much more important and powerful than any one person, guild, or alliance. It effectively put us in our place. We were the participants, Funcom was the leader. Funcom was the GM, helping guide us through areas where we normally wouldn't see something.

What went wrong? Funcom lacks the ability to comprehend what creates an immersive storyline and world. They do not realize that it's not the actual event that draws people in, but the ties between the characters, the world, and other events. Continuity is essential, and like with Neleb's pumpkins, the Dust Brigade, Ross and Radiman, and the other couple of keynote occurances nothing has made these things more than just characters or events. A world is not characters and events.

The world needs to tie everything together, with stronger relationships between the people Funcom introduces us to and the world. We need to know where we stand, and where the characters stand. Afterall, why should we just be provided with new people whom we should automatically assume to be more important than any of us? It's like one of those acting troupes you can rent for a dinnner party, or luncheon. They help stage a play (usually based around a crime) and it will involve the people attending. Since you know who the actors are, and who the attendees are, you end up giving more focus to the actors instead of those people around you. That is not how you tell a story that shapes the world that you are supposedly living on.

Players cannot be the audience to the story, but the supporting cast. When something occurs, more logical solutions than "kill it" or "die from it" should be available, and when you are put in danger there should be more reward than saving the experience points you almost lost, or having the enjoyment of killing two more than are twice the size. When that's all you can do, it is nothing more than something that is forced on you instead of something that is occuring in the world. Why can't I locate the Dust Brigade to stop the attacks? Why won't they talk with me, so I can try to bribe them or hire them to off that one guild leader who annoys me so much? Why can't we capture one of them, and torture him for information?

The world is the storyline's undoing. We are people in the world, not ending or going away once some event stops or message is sent. We realize when something imposes artificial limits, or restrictions and we feel constrained. We do not feel natural when all we can do is follow the only path provided to us, when all we are used to is a wide open plain.

Someone mentioned (in the thread of Tornquist's) the guild leader assassinations led by the Dust Brigade. How is that fun? How is having someone whom you cannot kill, stop by and kill you? How fun is it when you realize you have no course of action to take, and probably never will? How immersive is it when the corporation you work for, and claims will defend you at almost any cost doesn't even do much but issue a press release stating how they don't like the perpetrators?

Immersion will come to Rubi-Ka, only when Rubi-Ka becomes a world that involves the storyline and players. Right now, the storyline and characters are sparse, and anything that does occur is pushed on the players like a skit or episode and not like an occurance that the player might actually be able to cope with. There is no alternate way to deal with a Dust Brigade attack. They are clearly not there to roleplay, but to kill and hopefully evoke the most simplistic feeling in the player: fear.

If all the storyline will provide to entice players to react (at this point, acting is not a supported option) is looming fear, then there is no hope for the future of Rubi-Ka. The planet is doomed, unless Torquist says otherwise. The planet will do what it wants, and occasionally allow some players to bear witness (or victim) to it, occasionally giving them a false sense of control with only one possible choice.

If you are still hoping for the storyline to become more than occasional crumbs, then you should stop subscribing. Complaining will do nothing but stress you out, and make you distrust all game developers. Just accept the fact that the storyline is an utter failure, and the effort required to bring it back to more than just random events with little meaning is so massive that Funcom could never hope to accomplish that.

Don't think about what it could be, or should be. Just think about what it is, and if you think Funcom will be able to make it better. If you don't think they can, either forget the storyline or leave Anarchy Online.

I know I did... both

[CratroX]

THIS is what i want to see more of, Dev's actually talking to Org-leaders, organizators from www-fanpages, and other rp-active characters.
If nothing else, at least DISCUSSING the past/present/future lives of Ao
Rather than filling these boards with unuseful stuff like i do please make more topics like this.
There is a LOT of people willing to sacrifice spare time to do rp-events, so Ragnar, my fellow norwegian, make these people count in one way or another, and i'll bet you will have many more happy players in your game.

I just love events, even if they have nothing to do with the "storyline", too bad there is so few of them...

[Snuble]

Mechanita beat me to it, but I'll post anyway

Use the game engine for rendering. I don't know if it possible for you to stream images from the game fast enough to do "authentic ingame vidoes". And then have an camera crew present when events do take place (like Cosmics wedding...). Of course it would be difficult to get closeups and indoor shots But it would be a great selling point for the game.

I actually put the game away sometime last autum (never liked games that crashes every 10th minute), but the most important reason for me coming back (at the same time as I bought Civ 3 by the way...) was the animated series.

Many recent games use their ingame engine for cutscenes nowaday. MoHAA is a good example and WC3 to some degree (even if the out-of-game engine renders where breathtaking, and reason enough to play that one...).

Conclusion: Videos using the ingame engine could be a nice way to push the game forward