Anarchy Online Is Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary With A New Retrospective Video | MMORPG.com

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Anarchy Online Is Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary With A New Retrospective Video | MMORPG.com

Anarchy Online is celebrating 20 years on June 27th, and the team at Funcom is looking back on the last two decades of the game in a new retrospective.

Read the full story here

Scot

They also had text commands which allowed you to manage resources in your guild, making lists of valuable items that guild members could search for and then ask for. Never seen the like of that again, I guess it must have been too useful for guilds.

A great MMO, that moved somewhat more to fantasy with expansions, but was still firmly a SF MMORPG. Dare I say, a new version is long overdue, but in todays age of gaming I doubt that would ever happen.

Finvega

I was there at launch... well, sort of as few could actually play. It was the industry's first real initial launch failure, and the recovery was slow and painful.

Theocritus

Scot said:

They also had text commands which allowed you to manage resources in your guild, making lists of valuable items that guild members could search for and then ask for. Never seen the like of that again, I guess it must have been too useful for guilds.

A great MMO, that moved somewhat more to fantasy with expansions, but was still firmly a SF MMORPG. Dare I say, a new version is long overdue, but in todays age of gaming I doubt that would ever happen.

I thought Funcom's biggest mistake was making TSW instead of AO2......If AO would have had TSW's graphics it would have been awesome....THe mission system and the implants/symbiants system were some of the best I ever saw in a MMO

Tamanous

Finvega said:

I was there at launch... well, sort of as few could actually play. It was the industry's first real initial launch failure, and the recovery was slow and painful.

1st day too. Those Leets didn't know what hit them in the backyard we spawned in ... considering nobody could zone out of it. lol

Scorchien

Still one of the best Class progression and  in depth builds in an MMO today , with some of the most interesting classes ..

 Great game i visit each year for a few months

xkeeper

Scot said:

They also had text commands which allowed you to manage resources in your guild, making lists of valuable items that guild members could search for and then ask for. Never seen the like of that again, I guess it must have been too useful for guilds.



A great MMO, that moved somewhat more to fantasy with expansions, but was still firmly a SF MMORPG. Dare I say, a new version is long overdue, but in todays age of gaming I doubt that would ever happen.

Those were actually bots. AO char ran in MIRC, so any scrip that ran on mirc could be replicated on the ingame chat.

Basically all those bots were player ran tho

Hariken

My very first mmo back in 2001. I had zero interest in gaming so it was also my first game. I had just got my first PC and friends of mine kept pushing me to play this game. Man, that was a great time in those days with the internet and gaming online. I miss when mmo's were just played by PC Geeks. Now it's mainstream and never will be the same for me. To bad it still has a sub.for the full game at 20 years old.

kitarad

I still remember the bird of paradise going "I'll get my main'' before it dies. Or the leet saying ''ru leet?"

They had some of the best classes with unique skills like the Trader, Fixer and Metaphysicist. The engineer too so cool the bots.

RandomCasualty

Finvega said:

I was there at launch... well, sort of as few could actually play. It was the industry's first real initial launch failure, and the recovery was slow and painful.

Yup I was there too for every frame by frame experience . It was kind of cool when the lightning flash and you got that 10 second pause between each frame so you could check out the "2001" graphics details

MightyUnclean

Yeeeeah me too, I played at launch and gave up shortly thereafter. Combo of terrible lag and buggy mission zones. I tried again a year or so ago and it was just so incredibly dated (and not in a good way) that I quit within about 20 minutes.

blamo2000

I was extremely into this when it first came out, and often went back to it for long stretches. I love it. I would love to play it again, but Funcom decided to punish me for spending money on their games and the only way they are willing to verify me is if I send them a photo of my ID, which I will never do. This and AoC - great games.

Viper482

So sad that games like UO, AO, DAOC, EQ, and AC, all were so revolutionary, each one adding something original to the genre. I know it is easy to be original when you are one of the first, but now all we get is the same old regurgitated crap, most of which does not emulate any of what these games did masterfully but just brings us the same old tired carbon copy crap from the modern era of the genre.

Po_gg

Theocritus said:

I thought Funcom's biggest mistake was making TSW instead of AO2......

Hold your horses, sir! 

TSW was hands down the best in their lineup, I dare say one of the bests in the entire genre... but of course AO and AoC are great games as well.

Funcom's biggest mistake was their entire MO of: making a game - shipping the game (with a wrecked launch) - fixing the game (maybe an expansion or two as well) - leaving the game behind and start making a new one with the previous game's money.

To their credit, at least they commemorate its 20th anniversary (as opposed to the booming silence of TSW's 5th, when they were too busy pushing everyone towards Legends), and the video was actually good.

Put me into the mood of rewatching the animated series, maybe even to reread Ragnar's novel.

Hopping back and take an old character for a spin would be the best way to celebrate, but... unfortunate timing, I guess.

(LotRO's Midsummer, STO's Jem'hadar recruitment event, and soon Risa will open for a month too... busy time of the year)

Mars_OMG said:

20 years later and half the video is concept art. -.-

It's called trip down the memory lane for a reason  

Scot

Po_gg said:

Theocritus said:

I thought Funcom's biggest mistake was making TSW instead of AO2......

Hold your horses, sir! 

TSW was hands down the best in their lineup, I dare say one of the bests in the entire genre... but of course AO and AoC are great games as well.

Funcom's biggest mistake was their entire MO of: making a game - shipping the game (with a wrecked launch) - fixing the game (maybe an expansion or two as well) - leaving the game behind and start making a new one with the previous game's money.

To their credit, at least they commemorate its 20th anniversary (as opposed to the booming silence of TSW's 5th, when they were too busy pushing everyone towards Legends), and the video was actually good.

Put me into the mood of rewatching the animated series, maybe even to reread Ragnar's novel.

Hopping back and take an old character for a spin would be the best way to celebrate, but... unfortunate timing, I guess.

(LotRO's Midsummer, STO's Jem'hadar recruitment event, and soon Risa will open for a month too... busy time of the year)

Mars_OMG said:

20 years later and half the video is concept art. -.-

It's called trip down the memory lane for a reason  

I can't agree that AO2 should have been their priority over TSW, both were fine MMOS. But they both had one major flaw, they were not fantasy and it seems to thrive in MMO-land you need to be a fantasy MMO. Why this is escapes me, but fantasy seems to have the broadest appeal. The same cannot be said in film, TV, books, or indeed solo games.

Po_gg

Scot said:

I can't agree that AO2 should have been their priority over TSW, both were fine MMOS.

I agree, my smirk was more against the word "instead".

An AO2 would be great to have as well, the problem is, that's not how Funcom operates...

By the time AoC arrived (from AO's money...), AO was already abandoned by Funcom, just as AoC was left behind by the time TSW arrived.

I doubt a sequel to AO was ever on the table for real.

(technically Xan and Dragon's Spine were released shortly after AoC's and TSW's launch respectively, but only because Funcom works slowly and can't finish projects in time It doesn't mean AO and later AoC weren't already in "soft" maintenance mode)

Spiider

Loved this game. Back in the day when mmos were made for gamers and not for everyone.

Hariken

Viper482 said:

So sad that games like UO, AO, DAOC, EQ, and AC, all were so revolutionary, each one adding something original to the genre. I know it is easy to be original when you are one of the first, but now all we get is the same old regurgitated crap, most of which does not emulate any of what these games did masterfully but just brings us the same old tired carbon copy crap from the modern era of the genre.

Wow had to go and make all that money. After that every mmo is like a copy of Wow.

Scorchien

Po_gg said:

Scot said:

I can't agree that AO2 should have been their priority over TSW, both were fine MMOS.

I agree, my smirk was more against the word "instead".

An AO2 would be great to have as well, the problem is, that's not how Funcom operates...

By the time AoC arrived (from AO's money...), AO was already abandoned by Funcom, just as AoC was left behind by the time TSW arrived.

I doubt a sequel to AO was ever on the table for real.

(technically Xan and Dragon's Spine were released shortly after AoC's and TSW's launch respectively, but only because Funcom works slowly and can't finish projects in time It doesn't mean AO and later AoC weren't already in "soft" maintenance mode)

With Tencents purchase of FCMKF , i will tell you this AoC and AO  SWL are  all getting attention , stay tuned this year

Tamanous

Mars_OMG said:

Scorchien said:

Po_gg said:

Scot said:

I can't agree that AO2 should have been their priority over TSW, both were fine MMOS.

I agree, my smirk was more against the word "instead".

An AO2 would be great to have as well, the problem is, that's not how Funcom operates...

By the time AoC arrived (from AO's money...), AO was already abandoned by Funcom, just as AoC was left behind by the time TSW arrived.

I doubt a sequel to AO was ever on the table for real.

(technically Xan and Dragon's Spine were released shortly after AoC's and TSW's launch respectively, but only because Funcom works slowly and can't finish projects in time It doesn't mean AO and later AoC weren't already in "soft" maintenance mode)

With Tencents purchase of FCMKF , i will tell you this AoC and AO  SWL are  all getting attention , stay tuned this year

LOL.

When the LOL option button isn't enough I suppose.

Scorchien

Tamanous said:

Mars_OMG said:

Scorchien said:

Po_gg said:

Scot said:

I can't agree that AO2 should have been their priority over TSW, both were fine MMOS.

I agree, my smirk was more against the word "instead".

An AO2 would be great to have as well, the problem is, that's not how Funcom operates...

By the time AoC arrived (from AO's money...), AO was already abandoned by Funcom, just as AoC was left behind by the time TSW arrived.

I doubt a sequel to AO was ever on the table for real.

(technically Xan and Dragon's Spine were released shortly after AoC's and TSW's launch respectively, but only because Funcom works slowly and can't finish projects in time It doesn't mean AO and later AoC weren't already in "soft" maintenance mode)

With Tencents purchase of FCMKF , i will tell you this AoC and AO  SWL are  all getting attention , stay tuned this year

LOL.

When the LOL option button isn't enough I suppose.

Well , there are smart kids in the world , who have actual knowledge of things and then there are the other Kids that type LoL in forums ..

   People should strive not to be the other kid ..

Hariken

Remember how fun twinking your character was and building your first set of implants after you finally outgrew the store implants. Running around looking for a trader to buff you up. Man i do miss those old days.

saker

Finvega said:

I was there at launch... well, sort of as few could actually play. It was the industry's first real initial launch failure, and the recovery was slow and painful.

for the first year, even though I'd immediately cancelled it, since it was unplayable, they just kept charging me, every month I had to go to the bank and contest the monthly charge. It was the EPIC fail of launches, yup!

brad31781

What a great game, but its future was compromised by the launch. I loved it.

RK2 and SOLDIER for life! My characters:
Armycastaway
Jackthis
Armycastanew
Armyreborn

Wizardry

Wow..just wow,that has to be like the 10th celebration this last week,everyone is celebrating BS.

Randomuser2020876

saker said:

Finvega said:

I was there at launch... well, sort of as few could actually play. It was the industry's first real initial launch failure, and the recovery was slow and painful.

for the first year, even though I'd immediately cancelled it, since it was unplayable, they just kept charging me, every month I had to go to the bank and contest the monthly charge. It was the EPIC fail of launches, yup!

Their billing system is still a clusterfuck of a joke 20 years later.