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Thread: What do you consider AO's "brand"? (storyline stuff itt)

  1. #61
    Quote Originally Posted by crude4gone View Post
    When you zone into the platform surrounding the beast lair it says something along the line of "Entering Pandemonium Notum Vein"

    The way i understood notum/novictum i always considered it something along the line of matter/antimatter.
    I believe I once spoke to some NPC that discussed this topic... but I don't remember exactly... I believe it was something with being solid in a different way; I think a property unique to notum/novictum was mentioned too...

    Quote Originally Posted by Honorbound View Post
    I believe David was travelling in a non-FTL but near-lightspeed capable ship, so he's affected by a very heavy relativistic time dilation effect, to the point where thousands of objective years may have passed while he only experienced a few subjective weeks or months.

    The life extension method developed by Roman in the 1950s and the nanobots developed some time after 2000 are two different things.
    Roman used an early version of his method, which does not rely on nanobots but some other technology, to extend his own life and be able to develop/refine it further, until it was eventually merged with the nanobot technology.

    The life extension component is to negate/revert natural aging by some periodically applied treatment, and the later added nanobot component is to repair tissue/organ damage resulting from trauma or disease, act as an "agressive" immune system, and also as an emergency life support system that can still keep the remains of the body alive even in case of massive trauma (such as most of the body getting destroyed, as long as the brain remains intact).
    I guess people interpret things differently when things are only told partly. You might be right about Roman's immortality being his own accomplishment (though the mystical visitors often mention "great gifts" given to him to accomplish the mission he was given, while all they did was giving him a hand in getting out of Russia...
    But I'm pretty sure David really experienced the travel between the stars completely. When you read it you really get the feeling of some endless travel; it seems to drive him crazy; a more clear clue is "the books he already had read 1000's of times" for example.
    Last edited by EdtaatdE; Mar 14th, 2010 at 14:15:39.
    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!

  2. #62
    Actually now I think it over again, I believe notum was something that created, while novictum was something that destroyed.

    Really wish I could remember in which of the questlines they talk about novi.

  3. #63
    Quote Originally Posted by EdtaatdE View Post
    David really experienced the travel between the stars completely.
    Yes, he was awake for the duration of the trip which was several thousand years, he was kept alive by the recycle system in his ship and the source leaking energy into his body. He talked about it a few times when he would look out he would see the blinding light of the source.
    "A whole new place to run around for ages in then die suddenly without warning."

    "I know who coded pet pathing... and when I see him I say "/follow" and I start waling in to walls :P"

    The "Trolls" option is incorrect. The term trolls is not used to describe the gathering of information on the Internet.

    <@Kintaii> L2P

  4. #64
    Quote Originally Posted by Essessceeaych View Post
    EDIT: i don't know if anyone still has it, but there was the original instruction booklet or strategy guide or something (last time i saw it was in 2002, my memory is fuzzy!) that gave a backstory behind each of the "main" story characters. It even had a little bio on Roman, iirc, that we basically knew nothing about him, didn't even have a picture. And as I recall, every person that came to RK was a criminal? Something like that.
    btw, I found this last night. It was the original instruction booklet. The bio for the mystery person was someone named "Jana" and was supposed to be head of the omni secret police that had supposedly infiltrated the clans and very few high ranking omnis knew what he or she looked like, and no one knew where he/she came from.

    Turns out, that booklet didn't give as much backstory as I remember. It did say that criminals would get full pardon for their previous crimes (as long as they signed a multiple lifetime contract with OT, signing away all of their rights), etc etc.

  5. #65
    Quote Originally Posted by Technogen View Post
    Yes, he was awake for the duration of the trip which was several thousand years, he was kept alive by the recycle system in his ship and the source leaking energy into his body. He talked about it a few times when he would look out he would see the blinding light of the source.
    Hmm, I yesterday read the parts "Between the stars" again, and I'm not really sure what you're talking about...
    Some machinery onboard is mentioned/described, but I don't recall anything like you described. There is a Builder to make food, something that turns quickly to simulate gravitation, some computer he can link himself to... When you mention the Recycle system you mean The Builder? And when you mention the source, you mean The Source?

    Quote Originally Posted by crude4gone View Post
    Actually now I think it over again, I believe notum was something that created, while novictum was something that destroyed.

    Really wish I could remember in which of the questlines they talk about novi.
    I've also been trying to remember what I know about it... I thought some information about it came from Ida Sculler (OT scientist wandering in Omni Trade), but all I got was:

    It's speculated that nothing we've mined so far is really notum in its purest form. We're working on some new techniques to harvest the most potent form of it. Who knows what we could do if we had a more pure form of notum to play with?
    Btw, Ida Sculler is a perfect example of the vague story telling in AO... They did some major discoveries and every time she manages to shut her mouth right before she accidentally tells it :P.
    About the vagueness of the story in AO... it's not terrible bad to do it like this, I kinda like the storyline and trying to decipher it... But there is just so much of it and when you have to puzzle the one vagueness into the other vagueness it gets very complex. Sometimes things will become rather clear if you still remember enough from everything, but often enough you'll end up with so much uncertainties it gets quite hard to still deduct something from it.

    Another problem with the vagueness is that it gives the impression you're just doing a bit, not following a real storyline and just being so vague so that we can make our own storyline... And if you meet other parts of the storyline you might get the impression the other part conflicts with it...

    I think that if the players would work together to analyze the storyline, collecting all facts and deducting some as-good-as-facts from the different clues, we'd be able to get quite far. But right now, the vagueness is not the only problem, it being scattered all over is another problem. I've been considering making a topic to collect those facts, but I didn't get to it so far...

    I'd say that shining some light on the storyline is indeed a good idea. Having us collect and decipher it is good and fun and all, but in the end we still want to know whether we have it right. Right now I get the feeling the collection of uncertainties is too big to decipher anything new...
    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!

  6. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by EdtaatdE View Post
    Hmm, I yesterday read the parts "Between the stars" again, and I'm not really sure what you're talking about...
    Some machinery onboard is mentioned/described, but I don't recall anything like you described. There is a Builder to make food, something that turns quickly to simulate gravitation, some computer he can link himself to... When you mention the Recycle system you mean The Builder? And when you mention the source, you mean The Source?
    I think what he's referring to is when David looks out the viewport in the ship, he can see Rubi-Ka, even though he's too far away to be able to see it normally

  7. #67
    Yeah, sorry been a while and my book is at my other place, that was just a quick type. What I was pulling that from was both the Builder and the fact that the omegas' nanites ran off The Source, as in the thing the beast is guarding. If you read back about the omegas' nanites they talk about them gaining energy from the universe instead of needing to harvest it from the body. Which is why omegas are pretty much immortal.

    Another problem with the vagueness is that it gives the impression you're just doing a bit, not following a real storyline
    I've talked to friends that have been long time players and gone "I'd love to do another game based on AO's storyline." to which they respond "AO has a story line?" Having clues for the investigative players to figure out is an awesome idea and great part of the game. Having no singular place to learn most of the storyline is a horrible idea and kills the game.

    ALL of the MAIN story up til 2 patches back should be available to learn from an NPC, meaning if this is patch 20.2 the story NPC should have all of the story up to patch 20.0. Now there can be que systems so that the NPC will only unveil things that the players done and their chr is marked as having completed, but this stuff needs to be IN GAME not on the web but IN GAME and easy to access. This also doesn't mean ALL of the little things need to be from it, the little side quest that dont directly take part of the AO's main storyline dont need to be added.
    Last edited by Technogen; Mar 15th, 2010 at 07:02:28.
    "A whole new place to run around for ages in then die suddenly without warning."

    "I know who coded pet pathing... and when I see him I say "/follow" and I start waling in to walls :P"

    The "Trolls" option is incorrect. The term trolls is not used to describe the gathering of information on the Internet.

    <@Kintaii> L2P

  8. #68
    I was attracted to AO's main storyline. It was a game about a conflict of a mega-corporation, and rebellious factions for the resources of a distant planet. Look at the original intro video. *THAT* is Anarchy Online. That's why I played and it remains the best element of the game today.
    For me, It's not Shadowlands, its not an alien invading shootfest, its not angel wings, pet leets, and cute ingame tee shirts. Not for me at least. I don't know if I would even try AO today, if I never played it before. Its morphed into something different than it was.
    ======================

    blix01/spookiepants/stiffwood

  9. #69

    Funcom employee

    Quote Originally Posted by Quilluck View Post
    I still want to believe that the Mezzorash from Alappa and the Mezzorash from Area C in Neretva is one and the same.
    Not the same Mezzorash, but 'created' by the same people. Very close.

    Alappaa was, in a way, one of the first 'hints' about something happening with Xan technology that shouldn't be happening. The Rashan were, in essence, sleeper agents for the Xan - Mindless drones they had once created to do various grunt work which were now completely obsolete, their masters long gone. The Rashan had natural 'instincts' (created in them by the Xan) to do certain things with their physiology (such as implant themselves with Xan tech, even if they did so mindlessly). When the Dust Brigade started working with the newly-awakened evil Xan guy from the Outzone, he informed the DB leaders of the Rashans - They then went about co-opting the Xan technology to implant new instructions into the various Rashan's memory units, leading to the creation of the Mezzorashes.

    The Mezzorash project was an attempt by the awakened Xan to regain a subtle, stealthy foothold in the Shadowlands - By taking control of some of their former subjects, the Rashan could then act as eyes and ears for the Xan and DB in Shadowlands while not directly giving them away. Spies, in essence.

    What's more interesting is the dialog spouted by the Mezzorash in Alappaa while you're fighting him. Lines like "I am old. Frail. Dangerous. You will help. Help, yes. You will become ashes." or "This is your end, death, demise, dust. Dust. Rust. Die." were clues as to where the Mezzorash might have come from (which, at the time of Alappaa's launch would have made little sense, but become clearer in hind-sight after meeting the Mezzorash in Area C). There were also the little references to "Species Zero-One" that the Reprogrammed Mezzorash mentioned - That, however, hasn't been explained upon yet.
    Brad L. McAtee / Kintaii
    Former Senior AO Designer & Jack of All Trades
    (2007 - 2012)
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  10. #70
    Quote Originally Posted by EdtaatdE View Post
    And what about the Kyr'zoch? I understood they also are descendants of the Xan (and as they seem to contain plasmids and DNA they really should be related to us in some way since I think the chance of DNA evolving twice independently is very low).
    Not necessarily.
    It all comes down to energy states. I was modelling molecules yesterday which cannot possibly exist in nature, because the involved amino acids cannot bond in the ways necessary, due to energy requirements.

    Generally any world in a universe which shares the same laws of physics as our own will have the roughly the same limitations on what can form and exist. Nucleic acids exist because they are likely to exist. Their constituents are able to form stable structures which will conform to a particular shape due to the constraints of what can form.

    But I digress -


    Yes, they do seem to be descendants of the Xan, and a lot of dialogue implies Anansi had the same kind of influence upon them that Vanya had upon Homo Sapiens/Homo Omega/Homo solitus.
    Uni "Unixint80" Idoru, 206/13 Neutral NT Veteran of Shattered Dreams
    What I've Got My Perk Setup My Nuke Setup (All slightly outdated)

    FREE BOREALIS!!!

  11. #71
    Quote Originally Posted by Kintaii View Post
    Lots on very interesting text
    Very interesting indeed.

    I think the main problem with all the dialogue is that alot of times you are in a team, and most of these times you simply don not have time to stand around and read it all, the rest of the team will be long gone if you do.

    I am glad i was able to solo 95% of Arid Rift, or I would never have been able to keep up with the story.

  12. #72
    Quote Originally Posted by crude4gone View Post
    Very interesting indeed.

    I think the main problem with all the dialogue is that alot of times you are in a team, and most of these times you simply don not have time to stand around and read it all, the rest of the team will be long gone if you do.

    I am glad i was able to solo 95% of Arid Rift, or I would never have been able to keep up with the story.
    That is a big issue indeed. Luckily I did most of Arid Rift with others that were interested in the story as well as the rewards
    Would be nice if we could somehow bring up previous conversations we've had with NPCs so that even if you are rushing through a quest with a team and don't want to be the guy that slows everyone else down you can afterwards sit down and have a read through it all
    Or if at all possible, since often you can ask further questions after or before getting the quest, allow us to interact with NPCs that we've already talked to. Hell slap in new "tab" in the friends window where all the NPCs you've done quests for are listed and you are given access to all the chat options that your quest flags indicate.

    But of course not being a programmer I have noooo clue if any of that is possible, but I can dream, baby. I can dream.
    Last edited by Quilluck; Mar 15th, 2010 at 20:28:59.
    Transcendence
    ----
    220 iii "Quilluck" iiiiii :: iii "Quillster" i 165
    074 iii "Tradeursoul" i :: i "Fourthaid" ii 220
    ----

  13. #73
    Quote Originally Posted by Quilluck View Post
    That is a big issue indeed. Luckily I did most of Arid Rift with others that were interested in the story as well as the rewards
    Would be nice if we could somehow bring up previous conversations we've had with NPCs so that even if you are rushing through a quest with a team and don't want to be the guy that slows everyone else down you can afterwards sit down and have a read through it all
    Or if at all possible, since often you can ask further questions after or before getting the quest, allow us to interact with NPCs that we've already talked to. Hell slap in new "tab" in the friends window where all the NPCs you've done quests for are listed and you are given access to all the chat options that your quest flags indicate.

    But of course not being a programmer I have noooo clue if any of that is possible, but I can dream, baby. I can dream.
    what we need is a "mission log" of sorts, which keeps a record of the conversations we have with important NPCs.

    Level 1 to 300 in 8 Years! Pwn!
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  14. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by EdtaatdE View Post
    This is my favorite part in there . So few people seem to accept that we are descendants of the Xan in some way. I'm not sure in what way though... are we a life-form created by the Xan (when they had the power of the source, they could create life) (they would have created a primitive life-form then though, which then evolved in all the different kinds of life present on earth)? Or are we Xan themself and evolved into humans?
    Quote Originally Posted by EdtaatdE View Post
    It might seem a bit weird that the ex-Xan are so evil or so pure-hearted, while the only difference is in how they chose to treat The Source: either use as much as they can like the unredeemed or protect the source and use it as few as possible like the redeemed.

    A possible explanation for this can also be deducted from this quest-line though... It seems the source is corrupted because of the Cataclysm and the unredeemed using it all the time get corrupted because of it: it makes them grumpy/evil and also makes them look like that... The redeemed at the other hand don't use the The Source so often and as such might be more towards the original form of The Xan. Or maybe they also changed, because of not using it. After all, the Xan are a species that is very dependent of the Source and nut using it might have a bigger effect then using it...

    Though, it makes me wonder... what is the difference between the Redeemed and The Guardians? They both want to protect the Source afaik... It seems the Redeemed still want to use some of it though, being Xan and very dependent on it and all. While the Guardians merely seem to be part of the Source self...
    I found something relating to both of these. On the back of the map that came with SL, there's a little backstory blurb. I'm going to explain these backwards, since that's how the blurb does it. Basically, before the cataclysm, the Unredeemed and Redeemed were both part of the same faction, that were just drawing more and more of the source, when they started to die suddenly. One group said the solution was to start drawing even more of the source (the unredeemed) while the redeemed said they should stop drawing any of the source, and they could therefore fade to a shadow of their former selves, but still live.

    Well, the unredeemed won, and the cataclysm happened, so the redeemed flew off in arks (like the ones for the ado garden quest, i would imagine) and started dispersing the seed of humanity. It's not clear if we're directly descended from them, or they made us, although it mentions that we were a mere shadow of what we could have been, due to the redeemed being so weak. During the cataclysm though, the unredeemed got knocked out of Shadowlands (since this is the part in which SL and RK became 2 places). So they went around destroying the seeds of humanity the redeemed left behind, except for 1 - earth, because it was the closest to themselves.

  15. #75
    So after all these thing. When funcom gonna release the remaining RK zones to continue classic AO story line?

    Would be extremely good if they release these Rk zones with city slot for RK2 city owners so merging server isnt a big issue after that. The end result will be funcom cut the hosting resources by half, players get more populated server + there is no people complain about losing a city due to merging + new Rk zones to level up.
    Ceenah 220/30/66 PvM NT @ Newcomers Alliance
    Eeenah 199/0 Froob NT @ Newcomers Alliance

  16. #76
    Great thread!

    To Kintaii: I like that you guys present the story more through hints and snippets rather than laying it all out plainly. I think it only adds to the intrigue and allows for much more of ones own imagination to play a part, which I think is a good thing.
    Otherwise we wouldn't have good threads like this where people discuss different theories and options.

    I think SL is brilliant from a design and story point of view, and feel that those who say its fantasy inspired to attract wow kiddies just don't have a broad enough definition of what sci-fi is. The thing about both RK and SL is that they are quite uniquely designed, drawing influence from a lot of different sources, and in doing so are quite departed from trodding the same regular sci-fi conventions, which is fantastic.

  17. #77
    Bump, WTB some more stuff to talk about!

    Like, what happened to David? He landed talked to the CoT and then disappeared.
    "A whole new place to run around for ages in then die suddenly without warning."

    "I know who coded pet pathing... and when I see him I say "/follow" and I start waling in to walls :P"

    The "Trolls" option is incorrect. The term trolls is not used to describe the gathering of information on the Internet.

    <@Kintaii> L2P

  18. #78

    It's science fiction. Never a doubt.

    The elements labelled "fantasy" appear in plenty of SF literature. fairies and other mythological creature in Julian Mays Saga of the Exiles and Dragons in Anne McCaffreys pern series to mention a couple of well known one. Ringworld had an architypal Keeper in Seeker, and Dragons of Heorot has some pretty nasty, verging on the mythological, beasts in the Grendels. Not fantasy, just SF and all the better for it.


  19. #79
    The more I read the more I'd like to try and put together a full quest log database. I'm wanting to think this is something that has been tried before but never really got very far. That said guess I'm rolling a new toon and hitting up all the quest I can find. :P
    Malcom Ciafardoni
    Circle-G Inc. - The Past. The Present. Your Future.

    I'm not a gimp, I'm a trade skill Trader.

  20. #80
    I think we'd all appreciate that.

    If you'd be interested, I might be up for pulling that data for the next iteration of my GUI mod. That way users could check an encyclopaedia ingame at any time.
    Uni "Unixint80" Idoru, 206/13 Neutral NT Veteran of Shattered Dreams
    What I've Got My Perk Setup My Nuke Setup (All slightly outdated)

    FREE BOREALIS!!!

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