A few questions before trying this game

Hello!

Have few a questions before downloading this game:

  1. Do people play on the non-subscription servers or is it a ghost town?

  2. Are there new players trying this game or will it be more of a solo experience to level up?

  3. If I decide to subscribe later on is it possible to move to the subscription server or do you have to restart?

  4. Is this game worth trying or is it more of a nostalgia thing for veteran players?

Thanks!

EDIT: 5. Do people in general ignore newbies or are there guilds that don’t mind newbies and newbie questions?

There’s only the 2 servers-- Rk5 & RK2019. You can’t play 2019 unless you’re paid. 2019 was/is Funcom’s attempt at a “fresh start” server and you have to create a new toon there. It started very strong but is now a ghost town.

RK5 is your only option for being a “froob” (free player).

AO is not a dead game despite what some will say. It’s been around for 18 years. People leave and come back and leave and comeback :smiley: It doesn’t get the love it should from Funcom so its population could be better.

There’s a constant of new players-- always surprises me when I see how busy Arete (the starter island) is. Not a lot, mind you, but for a “dead” game it’s still kicking.

Your leveling experience will be a mix of solo & PUGs. There are some very active orgs (guilds/clans) that welcome newbies.

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Welcome to the forums :blush:

  1. As Literary said, RK5 (Rubi-Ka in the launcher) is the server available to free (and subscribed) players. Out of the two servers it has by far the most people.

  2. It’s important to distinguish new players from new characters here. While there are definitely some new players, most people have played for many years. With that said, people roll new characters all the time. I agree with Literary that it’ll be a mix between soloing and teaming. There’s variation depending on level range and time of day too.

  3. If you subscribe later, you can play on the progression server (Rubi-Ka 2019), but like anyone else, you’d have to start over. You cannot transfer your characters accross servers. Do note that the progression server now has a level 220/30/80 level cap (same as the main server) and all expansions except Legacy of the Xan.
    Just to be clear there’s no confusion: if you upgrade your free account to a susbcription account, you get to keep your characters on the same server.

  4. I’m not sure how to say this without sounding biased, but yes, it’s definitely worth trying :smiley: :innocent:

  5. In my experience people are generally very helpful to newbies. I would recommend joining the Official Anarchy Online discord server. It’s a great place to ask questions.

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Thank you kindly both for the great answers.

EDIT: I can’t mark both as solutions. :slight_smile:

Game is alive - RK server (one you can play free and with paid account) has a lot of players. As being said before, people tend to comeback and this cycle goes since the 18 years.

There are new players, starting from scratch - I, personally, meet 2 of them in last week. We, oldies, really like to help, and because Anarchy Online is HUGE game, and there are tons of info, help is needed. My advice is to get your char into organisation, so you can reach for heal much easier.

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Thanks for the replies!

Hold on. Do NOT be misled by the fan boys. While the game may be “alive” or “not shut down” this game is very much a ghost town. If you play during the week, in any capacity, IE you get home from work or whatever, then expect to play solo. AO does have solo aspects of the game but the good stuff, to make meaningful progression requires a team. I say this, because AO wasn’t made in 2010 when MMOs provide a complete solo leveling experience. AO was made in 2001 when grouping was the theme of MMOs for many aspects of the game.

You can level solo, it is all subjective in what you know, how to do it etc. You can gain a couple levels a day just from daily missions. But if you were in a team you could gain 10-40 levels a day but gaining that many levels is subject to what level you are, like a 190 level player isn’t going to get to 220 in a day unless they play nonstop.

This game is somewhat active on the weekends. It still depends on the time you log on. Early morning until noon USA time, you should see some action, after that it starts to die down.

If you play as a froob there is little teaming with other froobs. Froob population is scarce, like almost non-existant, you may team with a paid player but most of the time they dont do froob leveling/content. As a froob you wont have much in terms of attacks. If you are melee, you get fast attack, brawl, dimach, sneak attack (you wont be using SA probably ever). But that is it, no nanos that do damage, no attacks you gain from leveling up, thats all you really get. The same goes for ranged (different skills though). Caster classes like NTs have multiple nanos they use so its a bit more varied. Being paid yields more attacks (called perks). But as a froob you will go Q /afk. Which means you will attack and just wait until the mob is dead.

This is touched up on (by me) in the threads I linked but as far as orgs go you MAY do content with them depending on if you are a froob or not. Personally, I have been in large orgs and alliance orgs. Sometimes you will ask for help and no reply. Maybe no one is reading chat, maybe no one wants to, but it is disheartening. It all ties back to when people are online and that is mostly during the weekend. If you ever get high level (or any level for that matter), just look at LFT and gaze in awe how blank it is on a regular basis.

If you haven’t read through these threads. It will paint a better picture of the state of the game.

In general, I am not saying you cant play this game in any capacity. You can, I dont want to list the variety of ways because there are many. But to play it how it was back in the day, you wont. You will play this game mostly on the weekend, if you are a paid player most of your time playing is on the weekend. Why pay 15 dollars a month for 8 real days of gaming? If you can justify it, that is on you. But to say AO isn’t a ghost town and AO is populated and active and you can find a team no matter what, is a complete fallacy.

Dont listen to Machschau, he is just a forum troll. Play as a fr00b for a while and you will see, if you like the game or not. Nothing to lose here.

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Agreed, the game is still kicking, dont pay too much attention to the doomsayers. That being said, yeah it really isn’t worth paying 15 a month for this game, but the Froob game is 100% exceptional, you will want to experience AO’s unique skill system and game mechanics, especially if you are an avid MMORPG player who likes classic games.

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Glad I have a fan boy that likes to view my forum posts and make failed attempts at trying to contradict me by calling me a poopoo head.

No one said this game wasn’t “kicking” or “alive”. The game is still online. But to say that the game is active at all hours of the day and you can find people to group with no matter if you are froob or paid is a lie. There are certain times of the day when population is at its peak to where you can find a group and get things done, if you dont log in at those times then finding people, at whatever level range, is going to be extremely difficult.

Orgs and org alliances help mitigate some of this, but they too fall in line with certain play times and schedules/scheduling for certain events. Gone are the days when you can find random people and go do things at a moments notice. Things now are more centered around time and if people are online.

Lastly, I am not going to repeat all the stuff I have said in the threads I posted. I answered the OP and showed him threads to read up on the state of the game, more specifically about if non sub server is a ghost town and to that, it is a ghost town. I never said this game was unplayable, I never said to not play the game, but at least make an informed decision as to whether this will be worth your time because of the criteria you have. In my opinion, AO does not fit his criteria but I guess he will have to experience that himself.

Thanks for the replies, positive or negative, read them all!

EDIT: I lied, I didn’t follow the two links yet.

This player has a personal agenda against the game. He has not made a single post that isnt related to how he needs to get la… I mean on how bad the game is.

He is doing everything he can to paint the game in as a negative image as possible and it is beyond me why he is even allowed into the forums.

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Yeah sorry, my incel behavior in trying to impress the ladies about how good of a keyboard warrior I am doesn’t seem to be working. Please, continue calling me a poopoo head and stay ignorant.

The OP asked how is this game, in this day and age with relevant questions to his play style. Everyone here is too busy saying that he should join and its totally fun and there aren’t any problems. Meanwhile, I give him a more informed response to let him decide if the game is truly worth playing and maybe even paying for. I dont have the time to continue to requote myself in the numerous threads but I do outline the pros and cons, ultimately it is his decision. I never said, “do not play this game” in any thread.

Of course this game will be painted in a negative light if the questions pertain to certain aspects of AO that have fault. But its the truth, this game is NOT a populated MMO along with many other negative and positive things that a potential customer/player would consider. There are fun things about this game no doubt, but what a player will consider fun and how the determination in what will make them continuing playing, will require them having the information to make an informed decision prior to the experience or they could just dive right in disregarding their expectations and experiencing the game as is.

But please, all of you, keep telling me how I am wrong and that everything I have mentioned isn’t true. Oh wait, let me do that for you.

“u is rung”

Damn, you got me there. Well, I guess I am a true poopoo head after all.

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