The **** Oddities of AO.....

[Naraya]

How come you can form a team of 2 omni, 2 neut, and 2 clan? Aren't omni & clan supposed to be at war with the neuts being hippies wanting peace?

How does an Enforcer have the cheapest Chemistry skill cost in the game? And why don't Enforcers have a bright green skill in 2h Blunt?

Is there something special on top of certain mountains in Rubi-Ka that require the "Climbing/Adventuring" skill?

Why is it that Enforcers have a cheaper Fast Attack skill than MAs do? I see enforcers as big, "I will hit you a few times really hard and you will die" people, whereas MAs would seem to be faster with their hands....hmmmm.

How come the Trader has green skills in both Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering? Are Traders (who I envision to be masters of umm...trading) supposed to be that fluent in engineering?

Why is tutoring green across the board? Is this like the everyone can do tradeskills skill?

Why is B&E most expensive for NTs? Have you ever seen this headline: "Doctor in New Jersey arrested for Breaking & Entering!"??

Why is Bow / Bow Special Attack green for MAs and blue for Advs? Should be the other way around....

Why is it that all classes have a lite blue or better nano pool skill, yet only weapons skills are primarily blue (cept soldiers / advs)?

Why is it that the Galahad "Priscilla" was (according to its description) designed with the NT in mind, yet it reqs the most expensive skill for an NT (most expensive skill in the game as well) in Full Auto?

And what is with MPs having a blue Quantum FT skill where Traders & Engies have a green one? Quantum FT seems out of the realms of trading & engineering.....

Why is Nano Resist lite blue or better for all but 3 profs, yet for Duck, Dodge, and Evade, there are 5 profs each for whom this skill is dark blue???

Why do grenades require Brawl skill to toss? If you have nade skill, you should be able to nade! To this day, I have NEVER seen anyone use a grenade and that sucks. Soldiers should have a green skill in grenade and be able to toss grenades as a special attack if they posess a grenade (be sure not to target yourself when you use the special ).

How come Agents are the only one's with a dark blue "Adventuring" skill? Are these people really that boring in bed?

How can any class be more proficient (cheaper skill) with a gun type weapon than a soldier? Examples: MG/SMG (Fixer), Rifle (Agents / Advs) ??

Why is it that when I have an evade buff on, my own evade buff tells me "Better program running", yet my evade buff gives me 10 more points to evades the buff currently running?????

[____________Cyblade7]

Uh...your facts are incorrect. There are too many of them to list out but start a char for every other prof and play them to 25 to see the colors good enough to make those statements.

I do agree with your overall post though. A lot of skills seem to be thrown around and makes no sense whatsoever.

[engelstein]

I've spent many hours playing around with AOSkillEmu, and the facts are to my knowledge all correct. Whether they should be or not is a matter of opinion, tho.

On that last one, AO determines the "quality" of a nanoprogram by the number of NCU it takes up. Your program takes fewer NCU, thus it won't override the currently running buff.

[____________Intrepid]

you make some good points except the quantum FT thing. That is definately a engie skill.

[peterrjg]

To add to the weirdness:

Why do bureaucrats have light blue TS and MC skill when they're a pet class?

Why are MP's the best nano-programmers in game when they're meant to be the "om mani padme hum" mystics in AO? Nano-programming should be an alien concept to them.

Why do agents have blue vehicle skills? Ever see James Bond have dramas piloting everything from Lotuses to space stations? No, you didn't...

Or why an agent would logically be better with a rifle than a soldier, or a trader with a shotgun...

Oh well, life goes on.

[secondkenlon]

I'm bored.

Originally posted by Naraya
How come you can form a team of 2 omni, 2 neut, and 2 clan? Aren't omni & clan supposed to be at war with the neuts being hippies wanting peace?

Because Funcom isn't stupid enough to cut off large portions of their playerbase from each other on a permanent basis (*cough*DAoC*cough*)

How does an Enforcer have the cheapest Chemistry skill cost in the game? And why don't Enforcers have a bright green skill in 2h Blunt?

On the chemistry: I suspect there were plans at some point to have enforcers (thugs) be heavy into drug use.

On the 2HB: If 2HB and 1HB were the same cost, the balance would be heavily skewed towards 2HB. 1HB also requires multimelee to match the damage output of 2HB weapons.

Is there something special on top of certain mountains in Rubi-Ka that require the "Climbing/Adventuring" skill?

Nope. Adventuring is useless, sadly. It could have been used to make Adventurer-intended items without having to resort to nonsensical profession restrictions. (*fluff* I should be able to pick up and use BBIs too, even if I have to have adventuring skill in order for the weapon to properly interface with my neural processors. *end fluff*)

Why is it that Enforcers have a cheaper Fast Attack skill than MAs do? I see enforcers as big, "I will hit you a few times really hard and you will die" people, whereas MAs would seem to be faster with their hands....hmmmm.

Maybe because Fast attack is flingshot for melee weapons, and enforcers are the masters of melee weaponry? MA's use fists more that weapons.

How come the Trader has green skills in both Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering? Are Traders (who I envision to be masters of umm...trading) supposed to be that fluent in engineering?

*sigh*
Traders do not trade physical objects, they trade skills and knowledge. All of their nanolines are based around this idea. I see no problem with traders being highly skilled at tradeskills. Though engies should be better.

Why is tutoring green across the board? Is this like the everyone can do tradeskills skill?

It's not a tradeskill. It is a skill that allows you to slightly boost your skill in other things. Unfortunately, it doesn't work so well.

Why is B&E most expensive for NTs? Have you ever seen this headline: "Doctor in New Jersey arrested for Breaking & Entering!"??

What, lab techs should be any better?

Why is Bow / Bow Special Attack green for MAs and blue for Advs? Should be the other way around....

Bows are muscle powered weapons, very much in tune with the mystical nature of MAs. Adventurers understand that it's better to let chemical explosives do the job of propelling projectiles.

Why is it that all classes have a lite blue or better nano pool skill, yet only weapons skills are primarily blue (cept soldiers / advs)?

Fluff explanation: Because everyone on Rubi-Ka is exposed continuously to Notum, providing them with the ability to harness nanobots and not everyone spends all their time practicing with weapons.

Game design: Because Nanos are the primary obvious differentiation between professions, so you should be able to have enough nano pool to use those nano formulae.

Why is it that the Galahad "Priscilla" was (according to its description) designed with the NT in mind, yet it reqs the most expensive skill for an NT (most expensive skill in the game as well) in Full Auto?

Because the Galahad line of pistols uses Full Auto and the Priscilla is a simple modification of the skill-chips on the pistol.

And what is with MPs having a blue Quantum FT skill where Traders & Engies have a green one? Quantum FT seems out of the realms of trading & engineering.....

Who do you call for knowledge on Quantum Mechanics, a priest or a scientist?

Why is Nano Resist lite blue or better for all but 3 profs, yet for Duck, Dodge, and Evade, there are 5 profs each for whom this skill is dark blue???

It's easier to harden NCU against hostile nanite intrusion than to get a relatively unathletic person to learn how to anticipate incoming fire.

Why do grenades require Brawl skill to toss? If you have nade skill, you should be able to nade! To this day, I have NEVER seen anyone use a grenade and that sucks. Soldiers should have a green skill in grenade and be able to toss grenades as a special attack if they posess a grenade (be sure not to target yourself when you use the special ).

Grenades are broken.

How come Agents are the only one's with a dark blue "Adventuring" skill? Are these people really that boring in bed?

Agents know better than to venture to unknown territory. And besides, all that sneaking makes them too tired to climb hills.

How can any class be more proficient (cheaper skill) with a gun type weapon than a soldier? Examples: MG/SMG (Fixer), Rifle (Agents / Advs) ??

Maybe because they specialize in that one weapon, while soldiers are more generalists?

Why is it that when I have an evade buff on, my own evade buff tells me "Better program running", yet my evade buff gives me 10 more points to evades the buff currently running?????

Compare NCU costs.

[_________andthensome]

First of all, in Martial Arts, which was started in China, Bows were a primary part of warfare and therefore the green skill for ma's. Adventurers already have 1he, what more do you want? byom blades and fire sol's are great.

Secondly, it depends on the type of evade buff that's on you. If it's a fixer buff and the one you want to put on is your own and has better evades, it will say you have a better one running because the fixer buff also adds to run speed and is better because it puts part of you in tune with the grid, making it harder to hit you even though the number is smaller than what would be with your buff. I think it's calculated differently.

[Mercatura]

The trader buff takes 1 more ncu yet gives 10 less evades than the MA buff. I like annoying MAs with it.

"Better running? WTF?!"

I wouldn't complain if they lower it to 41 ncu or boost it to 130 evades though

Oh, BTW, take a look at what skills traders get that are green. Take a second look at what skills traders get that can be boosted 5 per level yet aren't green. Nerf-mongers looooove to ignore that, because it doesn't fit within their Nerf-Tunnel Vision™ of the game. Most of them still think we can boost shotgun 5 points a level.

PS, there is only 1 tradeskill traders cannot boost 5 points a level. Computer Literacy

[_____________Kasimir]

How come my runbuffs (the old school ones with more speed+evades) don't stack..yet my HoTs atack with those of every other class? I think 80-110hp every few seconds at 75 is a bit more unbalancing then 20 evades on top of a 100 point evade buff..

[Jynne]

Originally posted by Kasimir
How come my runbuffs (the old school ones with more speed+evades) don't stack..yet my HoTs atack with those of every other class? I think 80-110hp every few seconds at 75 is a bit more unbalancing then 20 evades on top of a 100 point evade buff..

Because my doctor HOTs are such nano and NCU hogs that I never cast them in a team...

[Aldo]

Originally posted by Kenlon
I'm bored.


On the chemistry: I suspect there were plans at some point to have enforcers (thugs) be heavy into drug use.

Heavily into drug use, I agree with. But, we're not the thugs. Thats the role of the Fixer. Hence the Profession title for fixers when they start out. Enforcers get "docker" "Foreman" "Made Man" Etc. We're the "Moose" And "Rocco" of the world.

"Hey Moose, Rocco, I thinks this guy needs his legs broken to get my point. You know what I'm sayin'? Fuhgedaboudit."

[_Bonk_]

Well it is a surprising that Funcom allows enemies to group. Its almost like they dont even take their own storyline seriously. If they dont take it seriously why are we supposed to? Their storyline is website based not in-game based.

[Bionitrous]

The grouping thing may change if a war is ever declared. Then again, it just might be that there will be both good and bad Clanners and good and bad Employees as the Story progresses.

Of course Omni is rotten to the core going all the way back to their roots with the Omegas and FarmaTek. But many Employees don't know that. Likewise, certain of the Clans are simply terrorists.

I suspect that FunCom will make the right move and allow people to affiliate with Story Orgs that are either evil or good in both Omni-Tek and in the Clans.

As it stands now, there's no war as a result of the Tir Accord and the ceding of land to the CoT.

When a common enemy appears, the righteous among the Employees and the Clans may very well find themselves fighting side by side along with the righteous of the Neutrals against the forces of Evil.

[_____________Kasimir]

Originally posted by Jynne
Because my doctor HOTs are such nano and NCU hogs that I never cast them in a team...

Shush, you're not helping my personal campaign to get my runbuffs and other classes evade buffs to stack :P

[____________Halfdeck]

Suppression gas is gay. Get rid of the grey guards, call-in red un-calmable guards and drop the happy gas. I should be able to kill a clanner/neutral any time, anywhere. Having clanners safely grid into omni-1 is just ridiculous. Make same side kills impossible unless engaged by /duel. RvR system in Daoc kicks ass over this AO care bear BS.

Half

[Bionitrous]

DAoC is gay. I think letting people rampantly run around and kill people without authorization of their superiors is stupid.

I say the whole planet should always be 75% and the leaders of the Story orgs should set battle plans and rally their troops to take out specific objectives.

I think the idea of two people walking in a town and one guy blows a hole in the other's skull is absolutely assinine. It has no place in future society. Wars are not run by solo yeehas running around with their wieners in their hands.

Guild leaders should be able to declare hostilities and retract them at anytime making the whole planet 25% between members of those two guilds. Clan vs. clan would be fine with me in this instance. We already see several clans who don't see eye to eye. Omni-Tek is another story. However, we know that some decency has probably crept in to the corporation since it was formed so long ago by the surviving Omegas who went underground after the Solitus slaves won their freedom. Evil Omni vs. Good Omni I wouldn't be surprised to see at some point either.

I like Star Wars: Galaxies where a Battlefield is spawned and a call goes out for people to fight. You enlist for the battle and the result of the battle has some repurcussions on the political landscape.

Towers will be something. But I fear it will still be too open to yahoos and griefers.

[______________Serena]

Originally posted by Bionitrous
Wars are not run by solo yeehas running around with their wieners in their hands.

Seems to me from my perspective thats how all wars are run..
Here let me hold that for you *SLAP**SLAP* bad boy no war!

[Cerber]

Why Chemistry is so cheap for Enforcers?

Steroids, anabolics, amino acids, hormones, mushrooms, crack, blow and VITAMINS!!!

You got to have a good knowledge of Pharmaceutic to mix and take them ), but i guess FC moved that idea ahead and encorages Enforcers to make their own pills!
Kinda handy, except you cant do much with a Chem, skill.

What else is bissare is why MAs have none of the agility buffs, and Agents have FG? (NO i am not asking to nerf agents, it's just an example).

It's like give Prodegeus strength buff to fixers.

[Aldo]

Halfdeck- one thing you forget. If it was mayhem all over...or even political zone.......you'd have 1 big, expensive, expansive Unreal Tournament server. People would forget the story, and nothing would be getting done. (just in my opinion of course) Also, pvp wars would be HUGE. Imagine if clan invaded omni-1 and you took all your omni buddies there to defend. Every day. Here's a preview of what it would be like:

100 clanners grid to omni 1

omni 1 crashes

war over.

[peterrjg]

ROFL, you people who want all playfields to be mayhem are fools. You want that? Go play Quake 3 or Half-Life. They don't cost you $13 a month to play.

Your admission that you'd pay $13 a month to do in an unbalanced fashion what Quake players get to do for free (and everyone spawns equal) is a sure sign you've lost it.

Despite Funcom's assertion of there being sides, AO is a co-operatively based game. XP rewards teamers over loners, this game has guilds.

So you think DAoC's realm-based gank is the shiznit huh? They're suckers as well.

I'm stuffed if I'm paying $13 a month to do what I can do in a FPS for free...you wanna do that, then you're a fool.