Your Voice - May

[Gimpynoob]

For many years now we have seen mostly the addition of content aimed at keeping vets paying for the game. Namely the introduction of endgame far... herm dungeons and twink items usable by lower level toons but obtainable only by higher level toons. So much in fact that almost all usable gear for any toon needs to be acquired by a toon of a much higher level.

It was stated that the aim is to revitalize the game with new players. It seems VERY obvious to me that in order to KEEP the new players the game needs to be fundamentally fair. This means that all existing gimmicks need to be substituted by real gameplay. It means an end to easy powerleveling and an end to camping grey mobs with level 220 toons and an end to wall humping in Pande. And so on and so forth.

My questions:
-When are we going to see a new subscription model that is enticing to new players?
-When are we going to see an end to powerleveling and the introduction of diversity in leveling options?*
-When are we going to see solo and team content (where a toon NEEDS and CAN go to farm xp and gear) and an end to soloable content (where players bring their endgame crats to farm everything for their alts?
-When are we going to see the substitution of twink items that need to be farmed by endgame toons by twink items that need to be farmed by the toons that need them?
-When are we going to see information ingame that allows a new player to use his/her IP effectively and know what gear he/she needs and where to get it and how to be competitive in PvM and/or PvP?

Note: The few steps taken in the right direction have been accompanied by MANY steps in the opposite direction. This means that the "New Player Experience" is as convincing as "The New Engine".

*Giving more xp to dungeon mobs is not the answer. The people powerleveling now will continue to powerlevel later (because it still is cheaper and more convenient) and the noobs will become gimp and useless faster.

[SoapTarder]

I haven't subbed to AO for quite some time, and have no intention of doing so after subbing to AO for years and years, because quite simply subscription costs for this game are absurd by today's standards, especially to someone like myself who has done all the content, and has 10 220's or so.

my question is: are there any plans to shift to a more 'Fremium' model for AO, something like TSW where subbing is optional, but grants benefits?


I ask this knowing full well AO started the free to play revolution for MMO's (I started AO as a froob in 2005ish).

[trousers]

In Ely there is a location with the Sword in the Stone. INSIDE of the stone is a Ring Gate which depicts Camelot on Rubi-Ka.

Are there any plans on using this, or other locations of forgotten lore, to further advance the Anarchy-Online Storyline, or are you only exploring the creation of new content?

[Marinegent]

One of the greatest AO mystery: What in the hell are the chests in Crypt of Home and what they contain?

this

[mjuler]

Hi. I would love to hear about the story behind the mysterious partially covered up portal, on the eastern side of Elysium, by the hecklers that gather around the campfire.

Thanks!

*Edit, I see Trousers beat me to it, but my question stands*

[Shareida]

Might as well.


Will the tower locations in SL ever be used?

[Mastablasta]

Seeing as how certain zones exist in the gameclient, that look very close to complete, would you consider releasing them in the future, with of course some work spent on making sure they're good to go, and have some content and such in them?

I'm referring to for instance the Reck, as revealed in this AO-offline emulator : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afbsqNkjHwY

Unless the resource files for this stuff are completely lost, and the zone in question is in a mess, it could maybe save a bit of time, and give us all a bit of a return to RK content, which we've been hungering for for the longest time. And from what the video shows, it seems to be a zone that is home to some interestingly designed locations.

[Misat0]

*snip* I'm referring to for instance the Reck *snip*

+1 to this. Would it be possible to implement such zones, even if they are entirely unpopulated at that time? It would make the game world feel more "complete".

[Cogline]

1/ Any plans to allow Froobs to access the GMI for a one off fee like you did for Mail Terminals?

2/ That big GOT knock-off that's been sitting in Bore for years just rusting: any plans for it (FREE BOREALIS!)?

3/ Is Map Navigation still going to be nixed at Rebalance or will it be earlier, and if so will we get IP back?

4/ Any plans to make Mission Terminals searchable? Given so many nanos are only grabbable in Missions (especially Pet Nanos) it's absurd to have to use Third Party wares to get what you need as no one else is selling it.

5/ Tradeskilling from backpacks: please? Or why it can't be implemented.

Ta.

[Mostadio]

1. Can you reenable the flavor text on mobs again? Why was it removed in the first place? If it's a problem with adding new text to things that didn't, perhaps you can enlist some of the RP people to come up with stuff? I'm sure they'd crap their pants if you let them add to the lore of the game.

2. Can we have the clock back from the original GUI? In doing so, can we make time matter? Perhaps some non-aggressive mobs become aggressive at night or something? Or creepers spawn, or something. I dunno. Made it more imersive knowing what time it was in the game. Possibly even bringing back the old night, which made having a light source or equipping NVGs actually required/useful/nondetrimental.

3. Activate the empty playfields, unless they're totally broken/so unfinished they're eyesores. It'd at least bring back the exploration part of the game.

4. Can we get some content updates that explain some of the gaps in lore? What's the deal with the cult of the three winds, and what's their connection to the shadowlands? What's with the cyborgs? Are they just another failed omni-med experiment?

I'd add more but I'm sleepy

[Hardcore]

Will there be any adjustments/changes to our current research?

[Ekarona]

Is there anything in systems which prevents doing these things:
1. Tradeskills inside backpacks.
2. Tradeskills with single item/tool to multiple items.
3. Tradeskills with multiple items to multiple items.
4. Using stack on other side and only using one item from stack.

[pelikan]

Can you please move prefs back into the game folder? Reinstalled windows last week and it was gone. (Dev system. I break windows alot)

[Ixal]

-What's the current state of the character model update project? Since the restructuring news it's been unclear if Beijing is still up and running and as the character heads were coming from there I've been wondering what the fate of that project has been.

-Expanding on that, I remember reading that you guys had some technical issues with the body models and old existing animations. Now that you have TSW-experienced devs on board covering content for all games, can we look forward to artists from that game pitching in on AO art assets?

-Did you ever consider restructuring the character creation process from the system revolving around complete heads with hair to a more modular format of having separate head meshes with hair and tattoo options? I always felt that just redoing the heads for the existing format was a missed opportunity to modernize AO's character system, but I also figure it would have been a huge burden on client and server programmers to facilitate. It would've however reduced the amount of art asset work. Compare having 5-7 different face shapes and 10 hairstyle choices to 10-15 individual heads+hair per species per gender - lots more player choice.

I would absolutely love hearing your take on these! I've been trying to pluck out what I've managed out of the crumbs of information that have been trickling down over the years.

[Tanisthonus]

I am no business guy, but even i see it as an unlikely chance for money reasons, but has any thought been put into ao lifetime accounts? the peace of mind i have as a tsw grandmaster of not having to keep up payments when i am running out of time is lovely.

[tigerengi]

Just a few questions that are bothering me for a longer time already
1) When are the ridiculous prices being looked at? Dollar != Euro
2) Are the subscription fees going to drop at a certain point in time? (Anytime before soon(tm) ? )
3) Does FC ever look at the Game Suggestions part of the forums?

[Belph]

Parry, riposite?

[JustinSane4]

The NPE: What level players will it benefit? If I'm starting AO, will my gameplay experience be different because of the NPE at level 30? 60? 100? Our new Creative Director has said that the long-term plan is: Release Engine and NPE. AO goes on Steam. Steam attracts new players. New players stick around (because, NPE.) I'm just curious whether it's the first few levels that are viewed as critical for player retention, or if there are also plans to smooth the transition between the more themepark-ish start to the game (noob island to Subway to ToTW to Foremans) to the sandbox AO becomes later.

[Dogtrauma]

Over the past months there have been ARK events staged in Borealis, several of these events consisted ( from a non-participants POV) mainly of wave spawns of mobs, at one recent event the nuke drones from the Master of Time and Space were spawned in the dozens, these drones run a nano that if you do not run away instantly, will gibb any level of toon instantly. In another recent event, spirits were spawned that when they killed a player caused a "ghost" of the killed player ( a copy of the spirit i believe) to appear and tear into the remaining toons.

Additionally with the server merge Borealis is now a busy, player infested city, with the addition of hordes of mobs the game turns into a 1990's ( Pitiful, Portable) Power Point Presentation with really crap transition effects.

My questions are as follows:

A: Is there a possibility of getting the ARKs better tools for holding events so that they will not have to resort to these rather crude wave spawns?

B: Is it possible that "better" guidelines could be created for the ARK Events Team regarding under what circumstances they should override the general player consensus, that Borealis is a meeting spot were you can get buffs, twink, check GMI, talk crap with your friends and go AFK whenever needed?

Thanks.

[Thecrow91]

Do you plan to remove or fix the skills parry and riposte? They are annoying item requirements that make us IP useless skills.