No AO story? (an OOC post)

[Arinia]

I've never played EQ, but from what I understand, it's a lot of downtime, and the pace is slower.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. By making this game fast paced, they also attracted a lot of of the 'quake' mentality.

Those uber d00ds can level to their hearts' content and kill and level and tweak, etc, etc forever until L200. But what is there really?

The game is fast paced, and I love that. But when someone says to the guild that "I didn't pay $13/month to do <XXX roleplaying thing>" just because it takes time away from their monster killing, it saddens me . Killing monsters and such is fun, but when an event starts, I'm out of that mission or hunting ground and in my Yalm faster than you can say "fried leet with chocolate sauce".

Turning this post around to show how it relates to the thread topic :

Storyline events are going to be a bit less action-packed than constand mob killing. And because there are more of the 'quaker' crowd in this game than not, it's hard to get a core of people who can make events successful. People just need to realize that events arent going to happen every day, and every event isn't going to be a mad PvP event. It doesn't mean that it can't be fun.

Basically, what Wynd said. If you are not willing to get informed and stay informed about the story, then you aren't going to see the forest for the trees.

[Timetraveler2001]

Wyndrunneer i bet all my creds that u play on RK1.....
And to all u people who think that little kids spoil ur rpg'ing, then i suggest u make a caracter on RK2, cause there aint so many childish ppl there, but then again u wouldn't cause the server aint a part of the story....
Some will now say "but hey the guild Dust Brigade is the one who was responsable for the bombing in entertainment. and they are a RK2 guild...."
Well that costed me hmmm 33$......hehe
I dont care about the money....i play the game for fun....but i would like the two servers to get an equal service from FC, but they don't.....we are left behind as a testserver2

yepp story or no story....

[___________Chagidiel]

Wynd:

Im not really sure Im up for having this discusion again...though, since you bring up one point, thats not been hacked to itty bitty pieces before, Ill do it now...


No, FC aint running a story in a real life pace (though that was what i hoped for in the start), they are running a story as fast as they possible can, and that aint particulary fast.

How on earth do I know that: Simple, either FC tells this story as fast as they can, or they are rather bad at telling a story. (ofcourse, in my earlier posts, we allready seen that they de facto are quite bad at telling stories, so it could be this fact that shines through here as well.)


Sure I could easy buy that an investigation of a bombing takes weeks to finish, but I cant buy that during all these weeks noone as much as catch a glimps of anybody doing any reasearch at the location... or mention anything about it...or puts any guards at the location....and so on and so on. There is just to many logical errors for one to buy that.



But, for the sake of the discusion I could pretend I acctually belive that FC tries to tell this story in real life speed....

that would be bad...real bad.
No computergame, RPG or movie, not even books tells a story in reallife speed (with the exaption of a few brave experiments "90 minutes" as one exemple that comes to mind) Because that would be increadeble boring. We (as players/spectators) dont want to have a drama in reallife speed, since thats to slow. Spending 10 minutes at the toilet, or half an hour eating aint that fun in reallife(though rather necsesary), and it shouldnt be the least bit fun in a game.

Things in real life aint happening all that fast, since we humans constanly is occupied with other things, that aint connnected to any major events. Not only do we have to sleep/go to the bathroom/work/studie/read but there are lots and lots of things we do, that cant, and wont be translated to computergames/RPG/movies.

So, the time in computergames/RPG and movies that in reallife would be spent on trivia, has to be spent in one of two possible ways.
1 spend your own time all by your self
2 run the/a story/event.

and number 1 isnt an option if you have too much time to kill, which without a doubt will be the case if you are trying to run a story in reallife speed.
There is a reson noone has made a story in a computergame, movie or RPG in reallife speed before, and the reson is, that it would be plain stupid to try.

[Blyzzard]

Well, you all can tell me how slow the story is, how there is no story, how the story is being told poorly.

All fine opinions I guess, but if you'll excuse me, I have a story to participate in.

Hope to see you there.

[_____________Kodiene]

Babylon 5 BEST SHOW EVAR!

[_____________Kodiene]

FC sent this out to retailers just days before the 10/31 fiasco.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++
Halloween, October 31st, the Anarchy Online story will bring a new dimension to online gaming with WEEKLY episodes tying a dynamic story with new and evolving game content.

"I think our players will be surprised by how we're going to introduce and build on the story. New locations and zones, cities, dungeons, quests, and new characters will be added on a continuous basis, together with in-game events and a storyline that's communicated outside the game."

-Ragnar Tornquist
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++


Discuss

[_______FeloniousPunk]

Brava, Wyndrunneer!

[Timetraveler2001]

Originally posted by Wyndrunneer
Well, you all can tell me how slow the story is, how there is no story, how the story is being told poorly.

All fine opinions I guess, but if you'll excuse me, I have a story to participate in.

Hope to see you there.

Try to play on RK2 and telle me why u changed back to RK1 after 5 minutes....
and sorry im not gonna see u in the story.....well maybe u will be so lucky and be a part of it, but i dont stand a chance i h***.....lucky u...

And yes i could choose to play on RK1 as Omni or Clan and do anything to participate, but i was told i could do that on RK2 as well....no matter allignment.....i was a fool and i still am cause im still paying to lvl and chat with good friends

[_________Lidocaineus]

I can tolerate a slow story. No, I do NOT need constant action, instant gratification, and pandering to the lowest common denominator to love a well plotted tale (I *am* a fiction writing major after all).

But AO does not come close to any of this; one person pointed out aspects of spoon feeding - I wholeheartedly agree that this whole thing feels like something shoved in your mouth. News wires, reports, and articles should be the beginning, not the end of a storyline. Keeping it at this level makes the entire game feel like two seperate entities: one that you read about, and the one you interact with.

So player events (scripted and player-run) happen once in awhile. Big deal. There is not nearly enough of it happening. If the world is supposedly in such turmoil, there should be riots, speeches, chaos, doomsday cults, secret organizations, plenty of backhanded politics - none of this is happening. I have yet to experience any type of speech, anything resembling chaos that could possibly even affect me, one cult which is making news but beyond the occasional skirmish, I can't do much about, hearing about secret orgs but again, not being able to do much with... etc etc ad nauseum.

You can form an organization, but then what? You can't get it involved in the storyline enough to warrant more than a blurbed article.

Speeches and platforms should be proclaimed from a street corner with a guy on a soapbox to huge press relased extravaganzas with higher ups in OT and the COT firing up a crowd.

You should be able to approach NPC'd orgs and attempt membership, whether it be something as political as a lobbying party to something more sinister like an OT-backed subversive group.

I can't talk to NPC's unless they are store owners, and that's just a 'hello, buy my stuff please'. I can't seek out information on my own as there's no library to peruse anywhere on the planet with hidden information buried in miles of bookstacks (or whatever they use in 20000), nor can I be thrown in jail for causing a ruckus at Omni-HQ.

Maybe the writers are bad? Maybe... but I'm holding out and giving them the benefit of the doubt (even if the book chapters are really, really super-cliched).

What it all adds up to is lack of interactivity. I can't do anything to change the story, so why bother getting involved? It's happening all around me, and nothing I do, and nothing any of my friends do, will ever amount to much in the world of AO. The appeal of role playing is carving out a tiny niche for yourself and working that position to its fullest in any way you see fit. You should be able to become a powerful figure in politics, or you should be able to work at Bronto Burger. This of course never happens - the 'most full' you can get in AO is seeing how fast you can level.

THAT is where all the story related apathy stems from.

[___________Avatarius]

For all those RK2'ers who "missed the story". If you were on RK1 and you blinked, opps you missed it. Basically what you "missed" I believe are the seemingly random, server crashing "events" of a bunch of enemies attacking some zone. I've never gotten the chance to see this either because the zone in question was down or I was not online [and I play 3-5 hours a day!]. I suspect while you might enjoy having more people around in general [so teaming is easier] your honestly, truely not missing anything that I've seen or my guildmates have seen. If your in an elite guild, on RK1 you indeed might be better off for getting attention and story influence.

While generally I like and agree with most of Wyndrunneer's posts, I must take a fair amount of disagreement with this one and basically it's a matter of personal opinion.

If I wanted to totally invent my own story and "live in it", I could find some people to do AD&D with [old school style] and save $13/mo. There are some things so simple Funcom could do that would reverse this feeling [and there are some hints that after months of begging and pleading - they might start doing it]. I am referring to one of the most critical elements of story telling [especially for Sci-Fi]. The "suspension of disbelief". The "Omni Herald" thing in-game is simplistic bandaid fix, but I firmly believe is a step in the right direction. When I complain about lack of content, thats what I'm personally referring to. The concept story layed down by Funcom is solid, it's actual in game delivery is sorely lacking in part because of the players [too wrapped up in power leveling - but that was to be expected] and because there is no solid in game delivery mechanisms to further the suspension of disbelief.

The Time Line, the Book, the TAG Articles and the Videos have layed a foundation down, we know some things. But we cannot see, feel or prove those things in game. Dusters in the Outzone, Sol Bank funding, Clones, Borg, Red Freedom we know all these things tie together in some bizarre way [I think??] yet we only know this from the web based content, I never found say an email message or a document I needed to "B&E" that show orders from Omni-Reform [Eva] to the Bio Lab that would establish a causal relationship. But we know from the video there is. Don't get me wrong, I loved the videos and disappointed more are not forthcoming (any time soon). My guild "investigated" the Lab the day it was available. Kind of difficult to investiate that which cannot be investigated. Yes, I could play pretend and invent a document that I found off a body, but bluntly and quite frankly to mandate me to do so else I'm not playing it right is unfair, unreasonable and counter intutitive. Is it so hard to make NPC's drop reading material or leave documents and computer terminals around that can be hacked into and the content read? THAT is how to further the story line, make missions cool and give the game more life without expecting it's wildly diverse playerbase (casual gamers to power levelers) to invent their own material because thats how the game is to be played.

Want a terrific example of a single player game to advance in game storytelling; try Clive Barker's "Undying". Granted, it's not sci-fi but you were fed the information about the plot in the most exquisite ways. Granted first person games have advantages, (i.e. easier to do scripted events) every time you run a mission that is an opportunity to do a series of pre-canned scripted events because effectively missions are little single player games, same goes with static dungeons and of course they do have the ARKS and GM's.

No I do not expect to be spoonfed by an ARK, in fact that would drive me nuts. I do expect to use my B&E, perception and curiosity to find documents, letters, emails, tools, items and overheard conversations that let me draw my own conclusions about what is going on - that further the story in the current context of the story Arc. This is a "doable" thing that should be in the game right now and would make me a hardcore AO/Funcom fanboy.

There was an old forum thread, some of you "old timers" might remember it. "Give us the tools and we will give you the story". anyone got a link to that old thread, that had some damn constructive ideas on how to get things cooking and to have some real "RP" fun.

Regards,

Av.

[___________Mainspace]

Originally posted by Avatarius


There was an old forum thread, some of you "old timers" might remember it. "Give us the tools and we will give you the story". anyone got a link to that old thread, that had some damn constructive ideas on how to get things cooking and to have some real "RP" fun.

Regards,

Av.

This dates me a bit, but I was the one who started that thread. I have no idea what incarnation of the board it was under, cause it was sooooooooooooo long ago now.

But agreed. if they followed even one of the examples laid down in that thread, it would change the dynamic of the game in wonderfull ways..

Never been called an old timer before, hehe.

[______________Ragnar]

Originally posted by Avatarius
There are some things so simple Funcom could do that would reverse this feeling [and there are some hints that after months of begging and pleading - they might start doing it]. I am referring to one of the most critical elements of story telling [especially for Sci-Fi]. The "suspension of disbelief". The "Omni Herald" thing in-game is simplistic bandaid fix, but I firmly believe is a step in the right direction. When I complain about lack of content, thats what I'm personally referring to. The concept story layed down by Funcom is solid, it's actual in game delivery is sorely lacking in part because of the players [too wrapped up in power leveling - but that was to be expected] and because there is no solid in game delivery mechanisms to further the suspension of disbelief.

Thanks for a very insightful and intelligent post, Avatarius. I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of the things you say, and we're already working on a few of them. The in-game "radio" (while not quite a "band-aid fix"; I think it's an effective, albeit rudimentary, method of spreading information quickly to all players) is a good example of the direction we're taking. As you pointed out, we do have a solid setting, as well as an extensive and detailed background story, and this will filter into the game more and more, through NPCs, documents, quests, and other methods still in production.

I think it's interesting to see which of the storytelling tools we use that appeal the most to players, and I agree that we need a combination of in-game and "out-of-game" story to cover the most ground. As for your ideas and suggestions, they're right on the mark, and we're paying attention!

So keep 'em coming!

[Kirandar]

Ragnar might truly be a member of the dev team, but his avatar looks well dodgy to me.

But, if Ragnar IS on the dev team, can I ask a question:

Can RK2 get the Voice of Freedom and other channels back please, and have some content on them too. Otherwise, RK2 is going to lose a lot of it's playerbase, and no I doubt if they'll go to RK1, because why would they have to?

I'm not having a moan at you or the Dev Team, you guys just do your job in making the game, but it would be nice to actually get something on RK2. As it is right now, people just do missions for cash and powerlevel, as there's nothing else they can do.

[_______FeloniousPunk]

You know, Ragnar Tornquist (sp?), the main writer of the storyline and the fellow who wrote the story for the excellent The Longest Journey.

[_____________Kodiene]

It is Ragnar.

Ragner if you visit this thread again, can u tell me if your book will make it to brick & mortyr stores? ie Barnes & Noble?

I want it. You can go ahead and sign it k?

[Skymarshal]

It seems through my travels on Rubi-ka that many people feel that there is little action... or nothing better to do than hack at the mutants that overpopulate our poor planet... well, I think that that can be the case sometimes, but only because of the nature of our exsistance... Some people only are employed by OT to hunt out and kill these mutants (/ooc these are the l33t d00ds), but others of us are here to support the company in many other... well clasified ways.


/ooc On thing (oh and i dont mean this as any type of flame/disrespce, as i have no knowledge of this) is that I belong to a highly RP motivated guild, in fact RP comes over ooc for almost all of us. I have tried many times to spread the joy of RP. When i see omnis beating up on OT gaurds, I lay on the RP about why they shouldnt do this and how they could better use there talent on say... clan gaurds. (hey I'm an omni sry) So in this respect I RP, it may not be comming from FC but it makes things more enjoyable. So, for those of you who think the story is lacking, maybe try to get your guild if you have one to RP a little more. or join a RP guild if you are guildless, and even further more beyond that if you need more RP talk to other guilds that are into RP... form aliances... hold mutual events.... we make the story... FC notices (trust me). I have been at a few of the story events and they are fun... they are few and far between, but things are heating up... so I personally will be patient... the 3+ days of my time playing my character makes me patient.... Good luck in finding your niche in the story, I hope that all of you can find a place here on rubika that makes you happy...

[Timetraveler2001]

Ragnar wrote: "The in-game "radio" (while not quite a "band-aid fix"; I think it's an effective, albeit rudimentary, method of spreading information quickly to all players) is a good example of the direction we're taking"

Well here we go again....this is only on RK1, how do u suppose that will spread the info quickly to us on RK2?????????
And i ask what do u mean by the words "all players", cause i got a feeling u are talking about the players on RK1 and not all your customers that pay for this game.

[______________Ragnar]

Originally posted by Cardolan
And i ask what do u mean by the words "all players", cause i got a feeling u are talking about the players on RK1 and not all your customers that pay for this game.

You know, you're right, and it's partly my fault. The in-game transmissions were supposed to go out to all players on both dimensions, but they never did, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out *why*. I thought it was a technical hiccup, and the brainy people checked it out, but it turned out it was *my* hiccup. Oops. I guess that's why I'm not a programmer.

Future broadcasts will hopefully reach everyone. And I do mean *everyone*. At least now you know who to blame!

[Timetraveler2001]

Im not out to blame anyone i just want RK2 pepole to get the same service as RK1
Now i understand that we will get it and i thank you for it.
And i admire your great work on this game, cause u got me hooked on it

Stå på!


Takker, thank you, danke Funcom

[______________Scorus]

Ragnar,

I think yesterday's events show once again how you will never have a working storyline without an in-game punishment system when characters break in-game rules. You've let the griefers run wild and it is really spoiling the game for anyone that wants to role-play and participate in the storyline. They aren't doing anything against the rules as players, but when OT characters knowingly sabotage OT mission in order to get a few XP for themselves then there had better be some punishment from the Omni-Tek Corporation (at least fire their sorry butts!) if you want a storyline.

Scorus