Not sure where else to post this, so it is going here.
Hello all. Although this news will come as a surprise and a disappointment to many, this thread is not intended to make anyone sad. I have now been on AO for almost a year. Between all my characters I have “dinged” over 350 times. I stuck with AO because I believed, as many of you believe, that AO is indeed a good game. It has major potential to become THE BEST mmorpg ever. However, I do not believe that this will ever happen. With FC’s recent financial difficulties, company lay-offs, and other problems, I do not see AO going anywhere positive over the next six months. So, it is time for me to depart, to say farewell to Rubi-ka, farewell to my friends. But first, a few words.
Leveling should not be the focus of a game. The focus of a game should be to have fun. Now, I am not saying that AO isn’t fun. AO is fun, entertaining, and exciting to play…but only for a few months. After playing for a few months, getting up to lvl 100-150, players lose interest because they realize that all there really is left to do is level to 200 is mind numbing missions in Broken Shores. Now, with this most recent patch, the Dino camps are supposed to relieve people of the missioning nightmare. Well, whoever designed these camps obviously never played the game to a high level. No one will hunt these camps if a character can receive twice as much xp and twice as much loot in a mission. Seriously. At level 200 I can make 3-8 million xp per mission, which takes about 30-40 mins. It takes 30-40 mins to just get organized and too get enough people out to the Dino camps! So, every one goes out to the camps, checks them out, gets killed, and then returns to those mind numbing missions once again.
A good game is one that has a replay value. I have played many games in my life that after you complete the game, you still want to do it again! The problem with AO is that once you are level 200 there is ZERO replay value. Sure, you can start some alts. Level them up to 50, 100, maybe 150. But then you realize that the game is so hideously boring that it is not worth going past that. So, you log back on you main. But guess what, there is nothing left to do with your level 200 either. Tarasque raids become the only event that you do on AO. Log on, kill the dragon, win or don’t win loot, then log off. That’s it. You don’t need xp, so you don’t go hunting. At least if the boss mobs in the Dino camps dropped cool loot, then you might want to go get that. But if you don’t need xp, and the mobs don’t drop anything worth while, why would you go to the camps? You wont. In my point of view, if FC really wants to keep people playing, they will raise the level limit to at least 230. People like me would level up to 207, maybe 210, then just chill looking all uber. The truly obsessed would level up to 215, maybe 220. And they would feel satisfied being the highest level characters in the game. This would create diversity within the high level ranks, and it would give something for level 200’s to do, regardless of how boring it is.
When I turned 200 two months ago, I also inherited leadership of a superb guild at the same time. Leading Leet is honestly the only thing that has kept me on AO for this long. 90 percent of the time I log on, I just sit in BY5 talking to guildies. A while ago, the guild hit a rough spot. All was resolved and corrected, but afterwards one member of my guild, Doctorearl posted a thread on our web site that I want to quote here:
This IS what Leet does. Leet is a phenomenal group of people and it saddens me beyond belief to be leaving them. I am leaving the guild in the hands of one of my advisors. I have not decided who exactly just yet.“This ultimately is only a game, but yet it's so much more than that. There are truly great friends here, ones I wish to see in real life at some point, as this extends into a friendship rather than an anonymous party on the other end of the keyboard. We've done some great work in this guild, and I wish it to continue.
We still have the choice daily of keeping this guild a great thing. We will never be able to please everyone, and we are all only human. Please keep this in mind as we move forward, and try to better ourselves rather than focus on the bad. Edify each other, keep yourselves as much as possible in the example you'd like to live and have others portray, and lets move on.
If you want to be happy for a day, take a nap
if you want to be happy for a week, take a vacation
if you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery
if you want to be happy for a lifetime, help other people....
This is what Leet does, we help and usually ask nothing in return. I don't know how many times I've heard Drtiny's guild members tell me how great we treat them. Same thing with other RSA members, and even other clan and omni detachments. We are fair as much as can be, lets help keep this community in this light.
Thanks and God Bless. – Doc”
The bottom line is that Anarchy Online is NOW at its release state. The last ten months, AO has been in Beta. Where it is now, it is worthy of actually sitting on store shelves. If I were to pick up AO for the first time tomorrow, and start playing, I’m sure that I would love it. But after playing for this long, there is nothing left to do. Thank you for being there, Mazine, Doctorearl, Nubs, Patk9, Demonicone, Ulakai, Antiy, Nephron, Cerber, Wuushu, Niktorius (and many more) and most of all, Javaschick. Javas, you are one of a kind. You deserve the respect of a queen for all you have done with your time on Rubi-ka.
I will NOT be selling my account, for those of you who are wondering. I cannot risk some n00b destroying the Raadiance name.I am Beta testing AC2 now and ABSOLUTLY LOVE IT. I have had more fun on AC2 in the last week than I have on AO in the last 4 months. I will be on SWG using “Raadiance” (if they let us make our own name, rumors are that they are randomly generated). Also, I’m going to check out World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI, both of which I hear are going to rock. And, for as long as it exists, I will post on the Leet website. I will still be on AO for a few more days tying up some loose ends, and I will try to say good bye to everyone!
Well, that’s it.
Subscription is cancelled.
Next billing: Not Scheduled.
Love you all.
Raadiance
sigh
So, fair winds and following seas Raad.
