It's the imagination and pride of the players in the world of Anarchy Online that keeps the game going, not some self-deluded notion to cry false advertising because you don't get to help Radiman or Ross appearances crash the zones.
Sure, Funcom has problems. They've had to completely rethink their strategy behind the game's developement when they realized that the servers cannot possibly handle the amount of idiots who clump around Ross when he makes his oh-so-longed-for appearances. They've also had to rethink the game's marketing value with the upcoming release of Star Newbs: Galaxies.
I don't blame them for any of this. They took the MMORPG market by storm, and got greeted with the world-wide known marketing traits called Competition and Finance. To handle these things, they've had to create new mechanisms in the corporate machine, and that's why the storyline suffers.
Meanwhile, the world of Rubi-Ka is a beautiful one. It's rich, it's full, it's complete (with additions both possible and soon-to-be), and it's full of thousands of people all willing to be a part of it and many striving to make it more than it is.
Funcom knows this, Funcom sees this, and Funcom reacts to this by not giving attention to the naysayers, but rather focusing all their efforts on upgrading, patching, and preparing the world of Rubi-Ka for it's true trials during the competition battles that are soon to be here.
If you care about Anarchy Online and Rubi-Ka, and if you agree that it has the potential to be the greatest MMORPG on the market, then stop spending your time shooting it down. Support it. Help them acquire more players (you can still get free game time by doing so, you realize, I've utilized this several times), support the player events that take place, and enjoy the world as it is. Ask questions, offer opinions on subjects.
Don't flame them and try to convince others that the game isn't worth it. Naysayers, your angst at FC because the game has evolved into things that go beyond what was printed on the back of the box is not well displayed by your public flames. It only creates more problems by convincing people of something that is simply not true.
AO is not dying. The Storyline is not dead. Yes it is currently "not running". I've already explained the reason for this. It is only temporary, and it WILL be back.
Funcom cares about preserving the world so that others may not become like the naysayers, bitter and scorned because you're convinced they owe you more than a great game world. They have had to focus their attention in the preparation for what is to come.
They are about to face the toughest thing any company could possibly face: The fight for the number one spot in an entire genre of the online gaming industry.
Personally, I believe the things AO could offer outweigh the things competitors like Star Wars: Galaxies could offer a thousandfold. This is an original universe, not some worn-out drum beat that's been danced to a thousand times already. This is a new creation by new minds.
That being said, I support Funcom and I support Anarchy Online, and I'm behind Funcom 100% during this period in the hopes that this will indeed become and stay the #1 gaming world on the market. I know there are thousands more of us out there, but very few of us ever come to these forums because of the negativity so often vomitted around here.
Again, it's the players that make the game. It's those of us who support the staff at FC by contributing what we can to make the world of Rubi-Ka a more enjoyable place to be, we have the ultimate power over what happens to this game.
SW:G isn't a cool concept. It's a 1970's storyline that's been drilled into my head since I was a child, and now it's rearing it's overplayed and ugly head once more in an effort to defeat true originality and promise. It won't succeed.
Dunno about you, but I'm sticking around. And the more of us that do, the better the (already good) chances are that we will see this storyline all the way through to it's conclusion, and still be around for the sequel.