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Thread: Confused about the storyline (storyline q&a itt)

  1. #21
    Given that the Kyr'Ozch reality is dying, that could explain (at least in my own view) why their might is significantly weaker than their full potential. The waves upon waves could be a desperate measure, being too weak either in body or mind to conceive anything more strategic or powerful, but still strong enough given their superiority to still pose a challenge.

    Whether this permeates into the Rubi-Ka universe when they made the transition I have no idea, and I doubt it would have an effect on their technological capability. Unless the transition affected the technology somewhat, or as mentioned before the body or mind might simply be too weakened to utilise their technology to its full potential.

    Either way.. this lump of a story is very much like a huge, random blob of paint. I never was a fan of the Shadowlands the way it was presented (though some pretty sights I must say), it seems to add a lot of confusion to the otherwise charming, deep, and easy to grasp story of the basic Rubi-Ka.

    Corrupt corporation, rebels, technology enhancing glowy blue rock and sand in your pants. Simple, but ample room for deep and challenging side plots. I love that original concept and all the fuss with the expansions seems to distract the taste, though I understand once those bucket of ****es are thrown in the soup it's pretty much impossible to reverse it unless you start over.

    Oh, bollocks, I didn't ask a question!
    = Captain "Arthazar" Harcrow (Captain of The Phoenix Fortune)
    = Reporter "Lucetta" Phoenix (IRRK Freelance Reporter)
    = Sir "Sterlings" Furlocke (The Old English Trading Co.)
    = Dr. Malcom "Cormack" Ardman (University of Borealis)
    = "Paulon" McPhasefront, "Georj" Hairyson, "Johnar" Lemon & "Morninn" Starr (The Leetles)
    = "Gridfeed" (Camera Drone)
    = Director "Dartello" Marello (Black-Net)
    = DCI "Validius" Hunt (Department of Investigations)
    = DS John "Streller" (Department of Investigations)

    = Major "Jimako" Jones (OTAF)
    = Mack "Teffler" Falloway (Clan hunter/trader)

  2. #22
    Thanks a lot for your replies Kintaii! I'm afraid I have a bunch more questions.

    About The Source, I'm not very religious and would prefer a more scientific explanation (much like magic is scientifically explained very reasonably), but this will have to do I guess .

    Quote Originally Posted by Kintaii View Post
    Much the same way that Homo Solitus (and derived breeds) are related to the Xan, as well as the Kyr'ozch, but are nowhere even close to what the Xan were.
    From reading The Story so far, I would say that Homo Solitus has evolved from a basic lifeform (like a bacteria) placed here millions ago by some Xan (while you seem to suggest the Xan evolved into Homo Solitus). The Xan have waited all that time and when they considered humans ready they started directing us. From Profet without honour it looks like physical Unredeemed Xan can take the form of humans but also have some real appearance. The Redeemed only seem to use dreams to give communication and haven't actually been seen. Either way, these Xan are still present in the physical world and it would seem they are immortal, but there is not much info on those.

    The Xan that died on Rubi-Ka during the Cataclysm have their soul imprinted in The Shadowlands. They didn't really evolve in the genetic way, they mostly are immortal souls. but they did change mentally. The different ideas of redeemed/unredeemed made their souls very different from eachother. And since a soul is all they still are in SL this is visually represented by very different looks.

    Hmm, still no questions.. I'm just correcting you so that you can point out where I'm wrong .
    Here are a few questions though:
    1. Do the Kyr'Ozch belong to any Xan faction?
    2. Are the Kyr'Ozch evolved from surviving Xan or from a seed of life planted by surviving Xan?

    And 2 more questions going back to the very start of the story (about the ending of Prophet without Honour)
    3. David travled 1000's of years to do an important mission on Rubi-Ka. I haven't heard something about him since then... what was this mission?
    4. Something similar happens to Roman. A lot of tension is building up, 'something' is happening, something big. It has to do with 2 Clan soldiers.

    The book ends as if 'something' that both the redeemed and the unredeemed have been working towards for thousands (if not millions) of years is about to happen and then the book ends and this 'something' is never heard of again. I think that's pretty silly, so I hope you have an answer for me .
    Edta 200 NT, froob , Setup, General of NEPA, Raid Leader of TLfiveplus (Froob Raids)
    Neutral For Life, AO For Ever!
    Please, let Clan and Omni return to Neutral Clan/Omni Resignation forms!

  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Edta View Post
    About The Source, I'm not very religious and would prefer a more scientific explanation (much like magic is scientifically explained very reasonably), but this will have to do I guess .
    Ergo has a bit of a go in Ado:

    Quote Originally Posted by Ergo, Adonis Guardian of Shadows
    Well, this is what I can tell you without any red lights starting to blink...
    "The Source" is a phenomenon from which all Notum Energy supposedly originated from.
    It is nowhere near here though, not even in the same dimension, but its effects are everywhere.
    What it really IS no one knows for sure, but there were all sorts of theories throughout time.
    Some theorized that it was a star, a black hole, a galaxy, an alter universe...some even called it God.
    But no one knew...No one had even a theoretical chance of getting the necessary information as the source of The Source apparently was beyond singularity.
    But then someone popped up with a grain of Novictum and with the help of that substance certain hints of a pattern in the Source were proposed to exist.
    From that point onwards, everything sort of started going downhill...
    I think the Yuttos also have a crack in the Scheol/Ado quests but I can't remember precicely what they say. Hope that helps, anyway.
    Advisor of Lumen Orien

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Kintaii View Post
    #1: I should note that when I say 'separate universes', I mean kinda in the classic "Sliders" sense - An alternate reality, close (or not) to our own but with key differences. As it happens the Kyr'ozch come from the Source World equivalent of Rubi-Ka in their own dimension (bearing in mind that the planet RK was 'born' from during The Cataclysm was shattered throughout all of the developing realities).

    The Shadowlands, on the other hand, aren't really a "universe" of their own (and this is where it starts to get a little hard to describe the concept so bear with me) - SL is more of an "idea", and really has no direct substance that we, as humans, can comprehend; Think of SL as the remnants of the "prime universe" that existed at the time of the Xan, half destroyed and shunted off to the sort of "bleed" between universes, and interpreted by the human mind into a form it can comprehend.

    In short: If this world right now is a universe, and the Kyr'ozch world is a reality of its own, then picture SL as what exists between those two, connected to the rest via the tether of The Source.
    This is how I explain it to people. Universe 0 being our universe because, well, we're awesome so we start it. The Aliens come from "Universe K".

    Their 0 Dimension would contain the Alien Homeworld.

    Their +1 Dimension may or may not contain a version of the Shadowlands.

    Their -1 Dimensions would also be used for travel.

    Also see this.

    These were props I made for this discussion, which anyone is welcome to post on to express their ideas on the topic of Travel and other dimensions.
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT
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    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO|||||||||||||||||||||Serve Omni-Tek
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  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Edta View Post
    3. David travled 1000's of years to do an important mission on Rubi-Ka. I haven't heard something about him since then... what was this mission?
    To eat the Best Bronto Burger in the Universe.

    4. Something similar happens to Roman. A lot of tension is building up, 'something' is happening, something big. It has to do with 2 Clan soldiers.
    They were going to potentially eat the aforementioned burger before David's arrival.
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT
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  6. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Trousers View Post

    Also see this.
    Our universe is like an ogre, it has layers.
    Point Blank

  7. #27
    Thanks for answering these, Kintaii, though I'm still skeptical about Ergo, Multiverse Destroyer of Shadow.

    If you're still answering questions I've got quite a few! I love all the AO story, the unreliable narrators and the ambiguity of it all. But there's a lot of implications and follow-up missing from the story progession, which make the mysteries less meaningful IMO.

    Se here is Volume 1 Part A.


    1. Who is Janus?

    2. What did Kisra Delus learn in the Shadowlands that caused a dramatic shift in the direction of 2 legacy clans? (I'd love this to be the answer but I doubt it will be) Does she know who interfered with Ergo?

    3. Who did interfere with Ergo, for that matter? (I'm not accepting that it was the Kyr'Ozch )

    4. Where did Radiman go?

    5. Why was there no change to the conflict after ordinary people ventured into the Shadowlands and discovered Omni-Tek's links with the Omega?

    6. After the Un/Redeemed manipulated humans into their conflict over the source, the Protector was killed. Who now controls the Source and for which faction?

    7. Will Marlin ever fulfil his RK mission? Or did he come all that way for nothing, poor guy?

    8. Where did novictum really come from? Some theories are: that the Xan - the shapers - created it, essentially creating death; that the Source created it, balancing the equations and reacting to how much notum the Xan took away from the Source; and that it mysteriously fell to earth in a meteorite (if so, where did the meteorite come from?).

    9. If the brink reaches the source, will the source be destroyed? If so, and accpeting that Ergo is designed to destroy it himself, why is he worried about the brink?

    10. When Kevin J Anderson finally disappears into himself will he take the entire universe with him? Might that event destroy the Source?

    11. In the beginning, were the Xan alone in all of the universe(s)? Did they create the Braces and their own downfall, or did they discover them?

    12. What happened to the Omni-Tek Behemoth?

    13.
    What happened to the research crew at RS-051 that were investigating the remains of the Rimor?

    14. The members of the Jobe council appear to around 200 years old (around the same age as Rita Prestin). Is this a normal lifetime for people on RK?

    15. Will Our Great Onion one day come back for Trousers and transport him to the Brown and Soily Outer Dimension as was foretold?


    Thanks
    Advisor of Lumen Orien

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Trousers View Post
    This is how I explain it to people. Universe 0 being our universe because, well, we're awesome so we start it. The Aliens come from "Universe K".

    Their 0 Dimension would contain the Alien Homeworld.

    Their +1 Dimension may or may not contain a version of the Shadowlands.

    Their -1 Dimensions would also be used for travel.

    Also see this.

    These were props I made for this discussion, which anyone is welcome to post on to express their ideas on the topic of Travel and other dimensions.
    On which dimension the SL spirits then "live"? There are several cases in questlines where the redeemed/unredeemed talk with such spirits directly and I remember at least one case where unredeemed is taken over by a spirit that then talks directly to player.

    Big thanks to Kintaii - that info was great!

    Some questions:

    1. In one inferno quest it was said that Anansi left SL in the same ARK with the Kyr'ozch (if I recall right) - what happened to those Anansi? Did they evolve into Zix or something or merge with Kyr'ozch?

    2. Who are the Anansi anyway? They try to prevent humans from doing the same mistake as Xan ie. prevent humans causing next cataclysm but aren't Anansi also Xan? How come we don't get Anansi faction points then?

    3. Do we ever hear about the other ARKs what happened to them? I mean those that managed to escape...

    4. What are the zodiacs in Pandemonium? Xan? Some ancient warmachines or what?

    5. Fisher King aka The Beast was killed eons ago the first time, then new Beast was made. Now we've killed The Beast again - so is it possible that someday even a stronger Beast can be created again? Is that one of the Kyr'ozch goals?

    6. Is Hezak the Immortal a living Xan?

    7. In SL catacombs there's something like cryo chambers (spirit rooms) you mentioned that Xan had used to survive cataclysm. Am I right or are those something else?

    8. What's the difference between Kyr'ozch viralbots and human nanobots?

    9. Is something going to happen to how nanobots work (regarding the balance patch) ie. will there be storyline events leading to balance thingy? To me it sounds like something huge has to happen since Rubi-ka's atmosphere is filled with nanobots and that every nano program will change..?
    [220/30/70] Fixer, [199/24] Shade, [150/20] Trader, [150/19] Crat, [136] Fixer, [71/6]Agent, [60/6]Enforcer + bunch of other alts

  9. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Galilei View Post
    On which dimension the SL spirits then "live"? There are several cases in questlines where the redeemed/unredeemed talk with such spirits directly and I remember at least one case where unredeemed is taken over by a spirit that then talks directly to player.
    Do you mean in quests like keyquests? If so the NPCs communicate with their respective dieties - the ones the gardens are named after - and the dieties' human(ish) "helpers" called Omega (Unred) and Empath (Red). These are the same as the mobs you can summon inside the temples.
    Advisor of Lumen Orien

  10. #30
    I would also add that the Shadowlands reside in one layer of metaspace. Legit spirits that are not trapped in the Shadowlands or Normal Space may reside in a different layer Humans have not been able to find / breach.
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT
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  11. #31

    Funcom employee

    Quote Originally Posted by Agrestus View Post
    Corrupt corporation, rebels, technology enhancing glowy blue rock and sand in your pants. Simple, but ample room for deep and challenging side plots. I love that original concept and all the fuss with the expansions seems to distract the taste, though I understand once those bucket of ****es are thrown in the soup it's pretty much impossible to reverse it unless you start over.
    Personally I've never really had the same beef with SL's content/story/presentation that other people have had - Most will rail against the fantasy-ish aspects but I never really saw it as being more "fantasy" than your average JRPG storyline; high technology mixed with a bit of mysticism is aight with me, so long as the technology has a fairly well-rooted basis in the "reality" of the universe I'm reading about/interacting with. Do I believe that some of it might could have been presented a bit more *clearly*? Definitely. But the ideas presented aren't bad, at least to me.

    That said, going forward, my interests in developing the AO storyline have never really revolved around *focusing* on the more mystical aspects of life in the Anarchy Online universe; not that there's anything *wrong* with it, but I just prefer looking at the more 'realistic' aspects of life in the far-flung future. I like jetbikes and corporate wars. =)


    Quote Originally Posted by Edta View Post
    #1: About The Source, I'm not very religious and would prefer a more scientific explanation (much like magic is scientifically explained very reasonably), but this will have to do I guess.

    #2: From reading The Story so far, I would say that Homo Solitus has evolved from a basic lifeform (like a bacteria) placed here millions ago by some Xan (while you seem to suggest the Xan evolved into Homo Solitus). The Xan have waited all that time and when they considered humans ready they started directing us. From Profet without honour it looks like physical Unredeemed Xan can take the form of humans but also have some real appearance. The Redeemed only seem to use dreams to give communication and haven't actually been seen. Either way, these Xan are still present in the physical world and it would seem they are immortal, but there is not much info on those.

    #3: The Xan that died on Rubi-Ka during the Cataclysm have their soul imprinted in The Shadowlands. They didn't really evolve in the genetic way, they mostly are immortal souls. but they did change mentally. The different ideas of redeemed/unredeemed made their souls very different from eachother. And since a soul is all they still are in SL this is visually represented by very different looks.

    #4: Do the Kyr'Ozch belong to any Xan faction?

    #5: Are the Kyr'Ozch evolved from surviving Xan or from a seed of life planted by surviving Xan?

    #6: David travled 1000's of years to do an important mission on Rubi-Ka. I haven't heard something about him since then... what was this mission?

    #7: Something similar happens to Roman. A lot of tension is building up, 'something' is happening, something big. It has to do with 2 Clan soldiers. The book ends as if 'something' that both the redeemed and the unredeemed have been working towards for thousands (if not millions) of years is about to happen and then the book ends and this 'something' is never heard of again. I think that's pretty silly, so I hope you have an answer for me .
    #1: Well, I mean, when I say a "religious sense" I mean more in the way that the majority of people tend to experience religion - The personal interpretation of a concept that is too large for them to otherwise process or handle. The Source, as I said earlier, simply *is* - All powerful, all shiny, all awesome. What you choose to call it is up to you. ;)

    #2: Yes, that's correct - We were more or less 'seeded' by the Xan, but were created *of* them. Again, going back to the religious context, think of it as a creation story - The 'gods' (Xan) took of themselves (The Source, their own manipulation there-of, building blocks of life, etc. etc.) to create life. We are, again, related, but not the same species anymore - Think of it as a more radical (and more backwards) form of evolution. If Homo Solitus = Homo Sapien, then Genus Xan = Homo Erectus. They made us, but we came from them.

    ... yeah, I know. ><

    Anyhoo, it's no different from the Kyr'ozch - They were created from the ARK that landed Over There™. So we all have a common ancestry, but after a few hundred million years evolution has kinda ended up with us all being quite a bit different. =)

    As far as the Xan go, again - There *are* no more Xan, outside of the ones introduced in LoX. The Redeemed and Unredeemed are, more than anything else, pale evolutionary shadows of the original Xan - Again similar and related, but not the same creatures.

    #3: Not really a question, but yes - That's pretty spot-on. =)

    #4: If you're referring to the Redeemed/Unredeemed/etc. etc. then no - The Kyr'ozch are removed from that particular power struggle (or so they believe at least). Truth be told the Redeemed and Unredeemed are manipulating and twisting a LOT more than pretty much anyone recognizes or knows about, potentially even them. Personally I like to think of the machinations of the Redeemed/Unredeemed as getting away from themselves - Their plans have become so huge, so complex, so convoluted and so massive that they don't even really know what their true goals were anymore. A gigantic, confusing, utterly insane bureaucratic pile - A bunch of chess masters staring at a board they can no longer comprehend and have no real chance of winning.

    #5: See #2. XD

    #6: No clue. Absolutely no idea at all, and I wish I knew. >< That's sorta one of those things that got dropped and no one has any idea what was supposed to happen. Being honest... when it comes to the SL-related stuff tossed into Prophet (and really any of SL's storyline stuff), there was no real follow-through, very little information left laying around, and not a lot of stuff to go on. :\ If I could ignore every bit of Shadowlands-related information in PWH I would be the happiest man on the face of the planet. But I can't, so I'm still a sad emo kid. The best I can come up with on that end is that whatever his mission was, he succeeded so fantastically that none of us ever even noticed what he did. =D

    #7: See above. Though I believe at some point I actually had a fairly sound theory on what Roman was up to that I crafted myself, but damned if I can remember it off the top of my head. Been a while since I last went through PWH - Should probably pick it up again for some light reading and maybe try to craft some sense outta the remnants of the story there...

    Quote Originally Posted by Redesine View Post
    #1: Who is Janus?

    #2: What did Kisra Delus learn in the Shadowlands that caused a dramatic shift in the direction of 2 legacy clans? (I'd love this to be the answer but I doubt it will be) Does she know who interfered with Ergo?

    #3: Who did interfere with Ergo, for that matter? (I'm not accepting that it was the Kyr'Ozch )

    #4: Where did Radiman go?

    #5: Why was there no change to the conflict after ordinary people ventured into the Shadowlands and discovered Omni-Tek's links with the Omega?

    #6: After the Un/Redeemed manipulated humans into their conflict over the source, the Protector was killed. Who now controls the Source and for which faction?

    #7: Will Marlin ever fulfil his RK mission? Or did he come all that way for nothing, poor guy?

    #8: Where did novictum really come from? Some theories are: that the Xan - the shapers - created it, essentially creating death; that the Source created it, balancing the equations and reacting to how much notum the Xan took away from the Source; and that it mysteriously fell to earth in a meteorite

    #9: If the brink reaches the source, will the source be destroyed? If so, and accpeting that Ergo is designed to destroy it himself, why is he worried about the brink?

    #10: When Kevin J Anderson finally disappears into himself will he take the entire universe with him? Might that event destroy the Source?

    #11: In the beginning, were the Xan alone in all of the universe(s)? Did they create the Braces and their own downfall, or did they discover them?

    #12: What happened to the Omni-Tek Behemoth?

    #13: What happened to the research crew at RS-051 that were investigating the remains of the Rimor?

    #14: The members of the Jobe council appear to around 200 years old (around the same age as Rita Prestin). Is this a normal lifetime for people on RK?

    #15: Will Our Great Onion one day come back for Trousers and transport him to the Brown and Soily Outer Dimension as was foretold?
    #1: He's Janus. =D There's never really been much more *to* explain about the guy; there were a bunch of rumours floated around via storyline information, but nothing ever concrete - Personally I kinda like the idea of Janus being a completely, utterly mysterious figure; he becomes the boogyman, in a way, feared not due to deeds but just the tales.

    #2: Never really explained, though I don't think it'd be a stretch to think that she might have stumbled across some kind of information regarding the links to the Dust Brigade and the Xan (as explored in LoX). Truth of the matter is that they just wanted to condense some of the legacy clans, and then they did. XD

    #3: I'm actually going to retract my earlier statements, due to something that Aythem reminded me of earlier today. Number Nine did *not* contact the Kyr'ozch directly; the death of the Beast itself was what alerted them to the Source being breached, not via direct contact with #9. When the Beast died the backlash across the various dimensions ravaged the Kyr'ozch 'hive mind' as it were (not really a hive mind but close enough), which was what alerted them that someone was getting a bit too close to The Source for comfort. So with that in mind it couldn't have been the Kyr'ozch tampering with Ergo/No.9.

    Honestly, I got nothin' else for ideas on that one. Any suggestions?

    #4: He's still around. =) After Ross got shot, though, things just weren't the same - Despite having their rivalry, Radiman and Ross were actually on fairly decent terms; even more so in the months prior to Ross's assassination attempt, as Ross had begun "coming around" a bit more to Radiman's side of things. I think, on the whole, Radiman's just not really been sure what to do or what's even really going on anymore - Zora's turned out to be a paper tiger, the majority of the legacy leaders are boisterous but never seem to do anything, and while things could really be *better* on Rubi-Ka on the whole they're not too bad these days: No great wars happening, no major conflicts between OT and the clans - Even seems like the two sides are cooperating more often than not these days. For someone who's fought their entire lives for the concept of freedom, watching the slow, creeping incursion of banality and acceptance slide into the mindset of the planet has got to be a little strange. Either way, he's really just happy that people aren't dying left and right at the moment and otherwise occasionally enjoys a cup of tea with Aideen. =)

    #5: Well, there's the technical standpoint, which is really the biggest factor - something that I can hopefully address a little bit while I'm going back and reworking dialog in SL. >< From a more story-based perspective, though, I would imagine that by the point most people discover that knowledge they no longer *care* - They are becoming so personally powerful that the machinations of the factions start weighing less and less. A little lame, maybe, but again - Covering up game mechanics. :\

    #6: The Source is, at the moment, uncontrolled as it always was - "Controlling" The Source is kinda like saying you're going to "control" a deity; really, you're more just along for the ride. The Beast was there to keep anyone from gaining *access* to it, but now that the protector has been weakened The Source is pretty much up for grabs. Thankfully none of *us* really have any clue wtf to do with it at the moment, or else we probably would have already blown up the rest of creation.

    #7: See my reply to EDTA. XD

    #8: I've always gone for the balance perspective on novictum, myself - Life cannot exist without death, death cannot exist without life, and for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Novictum, to me, has always sorta been the "pollution byproduct" of utilizing The Source - Kinda like getting smog from driving your car too much. Again, though, that's personal theory and not based off of anything written down - Should it come up in the future, though, odds are that's what I'll roll with, barring any other compelling information.

    #9: I'll try and write a better response to this later when I'm actually able to access his chat scripts (having some tools issues at the moment), but it's important to keep in mind that Ergo isn't always playing it straight with the player.

    #10: Only if he collides with George R. R. Martin and they form a black hole.

    #11: In the beginning Xan created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Xan moved upon the face of the waters. And the Xan said "Let there be light!": and there was light.

    I should note that if you want more information on the creation of life in the AO universe, reference Clear Thought Three in Scheol - the Xan had their own religious beliefs and practices, but a true 'origin story' for them was never revealed. Kinda like mankind's own origin story. ;)

    #12: This is a very, very good question which I want to explore in the future. >:)

    #13: Also unknown. My personal theory is that, given how generally weak the barriers between SL and RK tend to be, they got snapped up in a freak portal vortex to Inferno.

    #14: This has... been sorta muddled over the years. I think some of the original staff writers of AO had it in mind that people would have much, much longer lifespans than currently available, but then at the same time someone up and decided that the cutoff age for insurance should stop working once someone reaches 75 years old - It really kinda reeks of people having different ideas on how things should work and then never conversing with each other to figure out which one should be official. ;P The way I've come to rationalize it is like this: People CAN very easily survive over 75, 100, 200, etc. etc. but they had damn well be careful past that magical limit.

    #15: Oh, we can only hope.

    (too long for one post, continued in the next!)
    Last edited by Kintaii; Jul 29th, 2011 at 05:43:32.

  12. #32

    Funcom employee

    Quote Originally Posted by Galilei View Post
    #0: On which dimension the SL spirits then "live"? There are several cases in questlines where the redeemed/unredeemed talk with such spirits directly and I remember at least one case where unredeemed is taken over by a spirit that then talks directly to player.

    #1: In one inferno quest it was said that Anansi left SL in the same ARK with the Kyr'ozch (if I recall right) - what happened to those Anansi? Did they evolve into Zix or something or merge with Kyr'ozch?

    #2: Who are the Anansi anyway? They try to prevent humans from doing the same mistake as Xan ie. prevent humans causing next cataclysm but aren't Anansi also Xan? How come we don't get Anansi faction points then?

    #3: Do we ever hear about the other ARKs what happened to them? I mean those that managed to escape...

    #4: What are the zodiacs in Pandemonium? Xan? Some ancient warmachines or what?

    #5: Fisher King aka The Beast was killed eons ago the first time, then new Beast was made. Now we've killed The Beast again - so is it possible that someday even a stronger Beast can be created again? Is that one of the Kyr'ozch goals?

    #6: Is Hezak the Immortal a living Xan?

    #7: In SL catacombs there's something like cryo chambers (spirit rooms) you mentioned that Xan had used to survive cataclysm. Am I right or are those something else?

    #8: What's the difference between Kyr'ozch viralbots and human nanobots?

    #9: Is something going to happen to how nanobots work (regarding the balance patch) ie. will there be storyline events leading to balance thingy? To me it sounds like something huge has to happen since Rubi-ka's atmosphere is filled with nanobots and that every nano program will change..?
    #0: Pants is pretty correct in this - While SL is the most prominent and visible 'meta space' out there, that doesn't mean there aren't others at different levels of comprehension/understanding.

    #1: I would imagine they became as much a part of the Kyr'ozch evolutionary process as anything else. I can't claim too much information on the Anansi storyline, but I should be able to poke Bacchante/Aythem and see if they can toss me some more information on it to give to you guys. =)

    #2: See above. ;P

    #3: There may be more on those other Arks later, but like I said earlier I just don't think we're currently that interested in going forward too much more with the SL storyline. It's pretty much done and dusted, far as we're concerned, if not in need of a bit more explanation. XD

    #4: I actually kinda like the idea of them being constructs, but from everything I know they're simply corrupted Redeemed/Unredeemed. Probably just really, really crazy and not even all that aware of the rolls they fill as protectors to the Protector.

    #5: Technically, as noted earlier in the thread, you guys only killed The Beast 'once'. Every reincarnation of him since then has been a remnant shadow of the Protector still trying to hold on to The Source. In the times we've upgraded the Beast a bit, I always thought of it as him attempting to reinforce himself via The Source, to try and regain his former strength and power. A stronger, better, faster, harder Beast is totally within the powers of The Source to create... though whether or not that would be the goal of the Kyr'ozch, I couldn't say.

    #6: Nope. No Xan outside of LoX.

    #7: Just because there's a cryo chamber doesn't mean a Xan was shoved in it. The ones the LoX Xan used were specially modified to 'ride the wave' of The Cataclysm, as it were - The ones you see in SL were probably for other Xan/things/etc. etc. and most likely did not survive the sundering.

    #8: Both their creation and their method of working. Kyr'ozch viral bots, while similar to nanobots, are purely organic in nature, and do not have notum requirements to utilize - They can exist outside of a standing notum sphere with no problems at all.

    #9: Most *likely* not - I mean, it's a pure game mechanics changeover. I could write somethin' up but it'd probably sound silly and just end causing more problems than it'd fix. ;P I am kinda amused by the thought of Izgimmer accidentally unleashing some kinda homebrew experimental viral bot cloud into the atmosphere of RK and causing everything to get all screwy. Could call it The Great Recompile. XD
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  13. #33
    This raises the question : What does Crypt of Home have to do with the Xans ? Remember there's a Shere statue in there, and a very special chest !

    Number 9 is in the temple of City of Home, which isn't too far of the Crypt. The Crypt is very mysterious, having ties to SL. Do you have anything about the pyramid and the crypt ?
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  14. #34

    Funcom employee

    I'm gonna chime in here with a few cents of my own and just remind people that a lot of the Xan background information that the characters in the game world have (or speculatein) is presented in the Xan civilization questlines.

    In the voice of these characters, we chose to present to you the information available in the universe of AO. Many questions about the history of the Xan can be answered if you read the dialogue of the following NPCs (or logs of said dialogues). Remember; like in the real world, people re-telling a story as they've heard it from others is hear say and what they don't know, they don't know. But for the most part, the yuttos are a credible source of information. Those buggers know more about SL and RK than humans do, at least.

    Sometimes the story is told from different perspectives, especially in Scheol where there are two groups of NPCs, but the story remains the same. Generally, each character touches on a separate topic. Topics such as the Source, the Xan society, Xan religion and so on.

    Scheol
    Yuttos
    Clear Thought Three
    One With Developing Words
    Scouting Panorama
    One Who Is Like The Other or One Who Is The Same
    Halcyon Creed
    One Whose Words Are Jumbled
    One Who Will Always Listen
    One Who Never Stops Looking
    One Who Fears Corruption
    Vanward Four

    Scientists
    Dr. Jones
    Technologist Frank Jobin
    Dr. Hestyia – Archaeologist
    Dr. Curry - Linguistic Anthropologist
    Dr. Darnell - Social Anthropologist


    Adonis
    (One Who Points The Way)
    One Who Greets Wanderers
    Fourth Watch Down
    Conserver Gil Cama-Hume (Clan)
    Operator Xum-Nar Dal (Omni)
    Scott Free
    Dr. Aleksander Koumas
    Dr. Marko Steffensen
    One Who Gives Warnings
    One Who Remembers The Past
    Mourning Calamity Five


    Penumbra
    Founding Glacier Five
    One Who Tinkers With Gadgets
    One Who Lights The Way
    Ruminating Strife
    One Whose Mind Is Riddled
    Shivering Pete and Two-Time Maloney
    Danny Sawyer
    Anticipating Six


    Hope some of these dialogues can answer some of your questions, or clear up some confusion.
    Last edited by Aythem; Jul 28th, 2011 at 19:27:18.
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  15. #35

    Funcom employee

    For the record: No one else has any idea where I came up with the notion that Ergo was designed to blow everything up, including the people I thought told me that in the first place. So yeah, I apparently just pulled that tidbit directly out of my butt at some point and thought it was cool or something idkwtf. >< You can safely ignore that part for now. ;P (i swear someone once told me that ergo was designed to take it all out as a last resort measure - otherwise i don't know how i woulda come up with that on my own ><)

    In chatting with Aythem today we actually stumbled across and dug up some REALLY REALLY FRIGGIN OLD design documents from way back in AO's history - They're old, contradictory, and not particularly accurate in terms of today's game world, but there *are* some very interesting bits of information in there which I think would be good to share with everyone. I'm going to pour through them a little more carefully and see exactly what all is in there, but I'll most likely end up posting at least some of the information contained within. Interesting stuff. =)
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  16. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Kintaii View Post
    Eehhhhh.... I mean I *could*, but I gotta be honest with you - I'm not a fan of ye olde magical macguffin as a storytelling device (which i get into a bit more in my reply to edta). I mean it *works*, but... I just can't help but feel that there could be a better solution out there somewhere beyond The Ultimate Nullifier. XD
    I agree, and I probably should have clarified the "doomsday device* as an example. There's probably many scenarios that would tie up the loose end, so don't give up on that part!!!

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  17. #37
    1)
    Quote Originally Posted by Kintaii View Post
    As it happens the Kyr'ozch come from the Source World equivalent of Rubi-Ka in their own dimension (bearing in mind that the planet RK was 'born' from during The Cataclysm was shattered throughout all of the developing realities).
    2)
    Quote Originally Posted by Kintaii View Post
    Anyhoo, it's no different from the Kyr'ozch - They were created from the ARK that landed Over There™. So we all have a common ancestry, but after a few hundred million years evolution has kinda ended up with us all being quite a bit different. =)
    I'm a little confused.

    in #1, You say they come from another universe and that their homeworld is "Rubi-Ka" in that universe. In #2 you say that the Aliens were created from a Xan ark.

    Did it perhaps happen something like this:

    Rubi-Ka is a lush and fertile and the Xan prosper here.
    Whoops, Cataclysm.
    Arks launch.
    Ka-Pow!
    Arks at the front of the pack escape, go on to cause all kinds of shenanigans (humans).
    The Arks in the middle of the pack get omgwtfbbq'ed by the raw force of the source.
    This sunders Space-Time and opens Trans-Universal wormholes which send a number of the Arks tumbling out into other dimensions where other lush and fertile "Rubi-Ka"s exist.
    They Crash, establish new life.
    Universe K is an example and the Kyr'ozch emerge, presumably the Ark that landed in Universe K was the most successful.
    The arks at the ass end of the pack are sucked into an alternate dimension and crash in what we know as Adonis.
    Inhabitants of those arks grow old and bitter and begin to troll the AO forums.

    The only beef I have with the above (which satisfies conditions: They're in another Universe, They're Created by the Xan, Their Homeworld is "Rubi-Ka-K" is - If their Homeworld is Rubi-Ka-K, when their fleets depart from Rubi-Ka-K to Rubi-Ka they should literally be crossing dimensions right on top of us.

    Lore indicates that they're coming quite a long distance to get us. So, I would say, take the above situation, make the Ark be shat out of the Wormhole, traveling God knows how fast, presumably enough to throw them into another galaxy, there the ark crashed and their culture evolved.

    This way, when the Kyr'ozch step between Universes they're coming out a billion light years from Rubi-Ka and have to solider on to get to us.

    Am I picking up what you're putting down correctly?
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO|||||||||||||||
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT|||||||||||
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO|||||||||||||||||||||Serve Omni-Tek
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT||||||||||||||||||||Join the ROTFLMAO
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO||||||||
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT|||||||||||||||||||||||||
    OTOTOTOTOTOTO TOTOTOTOTOTO||||||||||||||||
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  18. #38

    Funcom employee

    Quote Originally Posted by Trousers View Post
    (stuff)

    The only beef I have with the above (which satisfies conditions: They're in another Universe, They're Created by the Xan, Their Homeworld is "Rubi-Ka-K" is - If their Homeworld is Rubi-Ka-K, when their fleets depart from Rubi-Ka-K to Rubi-Ka they should literally be crossing dimensions right on top of us.

    Lore indicates that they're coming quite a long distance to get us. So, I would say, take the above situation, make the Ark be shat out of the Wormhole, traveling God knows how fast, presumably enough to throw them into another galaxy, there the ark crashed and their culture evolved.

    This way, when the Kyr'ozch step between Universes they're coming out a billion light years from Rubi-Ka and have to solider on to get to us.

    Am I picking up what you're putting down correctly?
    Before I get into it too much (and, for the record, you *are* pretty much correct, and it may be that i'm either staring at this too hard or there's a massive plot hole here), I know I've seen stuff mentioning exactly what you brought up - That the aliens are traveling great distances to get to RK. Can one of you guys please direct me to where that information *is*? I ask because I wanna peer at the details for a few minutes and see if this is one of those cases where they changed their minds at the last minute and left contradicting documents laying around (us? never!! =P).
    Brad L. McAtee / Kintaii
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    (2007 - 2012)
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  19. #39
    Kyr'Ozch Invasion Plan.

    Indicates that at some point while the fleet is already in motion, they're at least six months away. We discovered the plan 2 years ago... so they're at least 2 years and 6 months away, hehe.

    Edit: With all my linking, I'm going to seem pompous. Well, more pompous than usual, I suppose.

    But, The delay in the fleet's arrival, IMO, is easily explainable due to several factors. But, I think the item frames the What pretty well, regardless of the How.
    Last edited by Trousers; Jul 29th, 2011 at 02:06:28.
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO|||||||||||||||
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT|||||||||||
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO|||||||||||||||||||||Serve Omni-Tek
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT||||||||||||||||||||Join the ROTFLMAO
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO||||||||
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT|||||||||||||||||||||||||
    OTOTOTOTOTOTO TOTOTOTOTOTO||||||||||||||||
    TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOT
    OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  20. #40

    Funcom employee

    Sunnova... no, you're right, you're right, and that's exactly the information I was trying to recall earlier - The problem with that for me, though, is that otherwise there haven't been any reports of alien sightings or attacks through-out the *rest* of the AO universe. With the utter stalemate that's been happening around Rubi-Ka, are we to assume that there's no fighting going on elsewhere? Is the battlefront *solely* on RK? And if so, wth? You would think that the Kyr'ozch would eventually latch onto the idea that if they took out some of the supply chains running into RK (or even some of the heads - why haven't they struck at omni-prime?).

    There's also the resupplying issue on their side - The fleet cannot have remained static in its numbers over the years with the constant ship drops and raids and whatnot. Are there reinforcements and new ships constantly making the two+ year journey? And if so, why don't our *own* forces attempt hitting them closer to their entry point?

    Now... again, this is me cramming a lot of stuff together, and a lot of it based off one line I read in an old design document that I'm not sure even exists anymore. ;P But, let's look at the description of the battle plan again:

    Staring deep into this dark sphere a picture begins to form...dark shapes moving deep in space in perfect formation can be seen deep in its smoky depths. Strange symbols and shapes flow over the surface. The ever present twin suns of Rubi-Ka can be seen but the positioning of the neighboring planets suggests a time of about six months into the future. A massive shape moves to swallow the light of a thousand suns....it doesn't look like one of ours.
    What it says is that the plan is showing an image of the Rubi-Ka solar system in six month's time - It doesn't include any kind of statement on where, precisely, the fleet is arriving from. Just that it'll be there in six months (barring patch delays hurr hurr ;P).

    My initial counter-argument here would be that traveling between 'physical dimensions' (IE: not, say, subspace) takes time on the part of the traveler - I'm having no luck finding hard science that will back that theory up, however (at least not without unraveling somewhere else in the chain). My other thought would be that it *is* just a 'plan', so maybe it didn't refer to time needed to travel - Might have referred to time needed to build the ships and whatnot, or to get things in place and ready for a full-scale launch. That, though, just ends up sounding kinda lame. ;P I dunno... nothing so far really seems to tie up all the various loose ends. :|

    Again, open to suggestions. XD
    Last edited by Kintaii; Jul 29th, 2011 at 05:31:57.
    Brad L. McAtee / Kintaii
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    (2007 - 2012)
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