who plays with steam lol…
You know that’s because the steam client has been bugged since its inception, right? As in it doesn’t open. You need to tech support and search for solutions online just to get it running. Then, when you do, it also doesn’t keep you “online” on steam- when you enter the game it just shows you as blue and “online” rather than green and “Playing Anarchy Online.”
Again, this has been such since the launch of steam. The dev team is clearly understaffed and honestly not the best at prioritizing what will boost player population, in terms of giant bottlenecks like above. 99% of people would prefer playing through steam- it’s streamlined. The client should work on most computers…but it doesn’t. At my house I’ve tried on 4 different computers, tried at work, tried elsewhere, and heard others always complaining about it as well- it’s no wonder the game has had no new players.
To fix this all, I would suggest this:
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Fix the steam client. It needs to work on 99% of computers. This is way bigger than you think- and steam reviews are already very good. People can tell this is a great game if they can actually play it. I again highlight NLNorseman’s post- theres a record peak of 22 players because ITS BUGGED! Those are 22 people that so happen to all have custom fixed their steam client.
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Open up a new server. This server will be called RK0 and have RK/SL enabled. Make it cost money to play, but have it so the first one month is free- without signing up for a credit card. You can change this once it gets a respectable population going again. You need critical mass- population is so important, people need a community to be built- ESPECIALLY with new players. Release other xpacs at a later date.
Because here’s the thing- currently, in 2019, there’s a MASSIVE void in good mmos. Game devs aren’t developing them anymore- they are focused on VR/AR/XR. Im in the industry. It’s a dying medium. This game can be bolstered, and there can be a rebirth.
- Long term- the game needs to be transitioned to a modern game engine. This game has an amazing design that with revised graphics and slight alterations to combat/UI could be amazing- but it’s hard to see it with the technical bugs going on right now. I’ve worked professionally in game dev in the “biz” for over 10 years now and the way tools are going this could be done with a smaller staff team than you think(although you need senior people that require 100k+ salaries. Honestly a team of 5 would do it… I know it sounds like a lot but with profits from other games from Funcom I think they should do it as a passion project- and it would eventually turn into big bucks). I’m sorry if at any point I come off at full of myself or condescending in this post- I just really love this game and that’s my professional opinion, I wish for AO the very best.
This. Big time. Remake AO, or make AO2… FFS…
This thread is so off the rails can it just be locked already? AO is $15/mo or a hundo a year or whatever. I’m assuming everyone who thinks this is too much to ask has sent this feedback directly to Funcom…right? Than I’m sure your feedback has been duly noted and they will do what they always have. Make any adjustments as they see fit.
Also, not that this is on topic but the “AO2” concept was dead and burried a long time ago. Anyone who knows anything (high level) at all about the past/current state of Funcom and the MMO genre as a whole knows that the likelyhood of it staying that way (at least from Funcom) is exceptionally high. However, if you would like to put your money where your mouth is I’m sure Funcom would be more than willing to talk to you about your ideas.
AO should be completely F2P. The entire AO subscription/generating money for FC needs to be re-worked from the ground up so FC cant just turn this game into F2P and lose out on the little money it does generate. AO is out dated, understaffed, on life support and ignored.
Many games that did go F2P saw an influx of players. The bigger question is, how did that help the long term? AO cant survive the market effectively in its current system. People see an old school MMO and think they may like it because of the different mechanics/play style and dont want a WoW type MMO and then they see a subscription fee (I dont know if its advertised on Steam or wherever that you can play as a froob) and pass.
I think with the right tailoring AO can continue to be profitable (if not more) without a subscription than with one.
The biggest hurdle though is the low population. No one wants to pay a subscription fee to a game that they cant find people to play with (nor, if it were free, play a game that has no one to play with). AO is an MMO that existed/developed at a time where teaming was almost mandatory.
Currently, AO is getting milked for all its worth with a subscription fee. It cant be any more obvious than that. Subscription fees should be going towards developing the game, server costs, customer service for that game. Any excess revenue should be governed towards other projects, but I live in a fancy world of flying unicorns so this probably doesn’t happen. To say that, the money you pay for a subscription now, is there for you to only experience the game as it is now, is asinine. The fee is there for you to A. Experience the game and B. Continued development. Right now AO only has A.
Making AO F2P will lift the burden of the customer paying money for this game. AO can continue to live on in a F2P model with item shop garbage. As much as I hate cash shops (and how toxic they are in general), there is no easy way out of the hole that AO is in and there needs to be a compromise/re-work. Currently you get the worst of both worlds, a cash shop and a subscription fee, I like double dipping as much as anyone but I dont like being double fisted.
Laughable you mean
15 Bucks a month for an 18 year game in Maintenance is whats laughable. Fools are parted from their money in gaming.
This is another BS myth that white knights claim about needing the money for server fees. City of Heroes homecoming server has over 100k players and going strong. The cost monthly for the 4 servers they have is less than 8.000 dollars a month.
Agree, monthly sub is far to much.
Although i still want to play.
u can farm credz buy grace and play for free
Sure, as farming 80billions of ingame credits (for GRACE) with a single account is worth a 30 day playtime … LOL … @2022
Ah, the classic “pay more to pay less” rebuttal to the reduced subscription debate, and one of the scum tactics of MMOs, not just AO. To “save money”, you need to pay 239%, 398%, or 636% of 1 month to get 3, 6, or 12 months respectively…
…You need to actually play those 12 months to get your money’s worth, and, as fun as AO is, who really wants to play it for 12 months straight? 10 years? 20 years?
There’s a reason you always see returning players. Not all of us are retired Boomers.
What do you save by paying for 12 months? 80 dollars? It was never about expense, rather principle. Playstation Plus and Xbox Live are $9.99 per month. Netflix is $9.99 per month. Amazon Prime is $14.99 per month. It’s hard to justify paying $15 - let alone $95 for 1 year, for such an obscure MMO as Anarchy Online in 2022 with all its flaws that most likely will never be fixed.
Yes, a lot of MMOs are $15/M - They also have 20-100k players, weekly/monthly updates, and a full team of developers.
Compared to AO’s ~1k players, biyearly updates, and… 1(???) developer (the building’s janitor)?
The money you pay for AO, is not going back into AO. We’ve known this, but…
HURR DURR it’s, like, 420 cents a day, man! Principle?
A sub’ price reduction, Funcom willing, would have already happened. But we’ve seen the writing on the wall. It’s only a matter of time before the whales die, or get bored, before the plug is finally pulled. We love this game, but apart from us, no one, especially Funcom, see any return from rejuvenating it.
What casual, or newcomer, is going to look at it and pay $15/m for new content? Assuming they actually discover the game in the first place. What page on Google does AO appear when searching for MMORPGs?
Froobs are fun, but don’t generate income for Funcom.
Addendum
Let’s imagine Funcom did listen (lol) and decided to reduce the monthly price.
If Funcom lowered the price to, say, $5/m, would more than 3x the subscriber base increase to break even? How many people would pay for two or more accounts? How would the whales, and their 26 paid accounts be compensated? How badly would this change affect the market (GRACE)?
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