Sent in from a reader… at least I think he is a reader.
Subject: king sun man.
strategy adventures universe culture happy?
I think he might be an Iain M. Banks fan, but I could be reading too much into the word “culture.” Plus I haven’t really written a lot about The Culture.
Anyway, I am currently leaning towards “yes” as an answer, though I have not totally discounted “no.”
Maybe he’ll read this and clarify his position.
A reader named Ramon wrote in:
I was wondering if you have any opinion on Anarchy Online? I don’t see you mentioning it, but your articles are always very well balanced so it would be great to hear your opinion if you’ve played AO for any extent of time.
I recently made a free (froob) account after having had a character at launch for a month, and it looks like a totally different game today. Is it worth re-reviewing?
They’re also making a new graphics engine (DX9-capable) and that’s supposed to lure new players into AO. Wonder if it works.
I have no actual experience with Anarchy Online. To me AO is just the default example of “how not to launch an MMO,” and “the game Funcom screwed up before Age of Conan.” And while those are actually opinions, they are not very helpful ones.
The game itself is still live 7 years after launch, which must mean somebody is playing it and that it is making money.
Does anybody have some insight into Anarchy Online and what sort of game it is today?
I know that Van Hemlock poked his nose back into the game about 18 months back, but other than that, I do not know of any blogs or other dedicated coverage of the game.
Who is the Anarchy Online expert around here?
Yes, I do get reader mail once in a while.
And, on occasion, it is about something other than my incompetence or a directive on what I should be doing in a given game. (If EVE, then “join a corp, get to 0.0,” else “Join a guild and start raiding.”)
Yes, once in a while, people who claim to read the site write in and ask me for advice. They do not perhaps see what I see when I look at the site, which is a great monument to my not knowing what the heck I am doing. Asking me for advice, at least gaming advice, strikes me as something akin to the blind asking to be led by the blind.
So, I thought I would share this email and see what any passing reader might offer up as an answer.
I’ve decided to move on from WoW, as it leaves me with an empty soulless feeling having to level again and the magic just isn’t there. I was wondering if you could recommend an MMO for me. I was thinking maybe finding a leveling partner for wow, but I’m not sure i can commit to a schedule like others would ask for. I’ve tried CoH/CoV but it didn’t have the depth or phat loot pleasures I’m looking for. Basically I’m looking for casual depth and a community (because soloing WoW killed my inner child). Any ideas?
This is a tough one.
How do you reconcile time constraints with a dislike of solo play and a need for phat lootz?
EverQuest would certainly cure any soloing. EVE Online has community, but the depth is hardly casual.
I would have to start off with picking an MMO where you have friends playing, or can get friends to play. Even if time constraints are tough, buckle down and find a time when you can play together.
As for a specific game… I will open that up to reader comments. What MMO might best suit these requirements?
(Or maybe Massively has the answer.)
The Ancient Gaming Noob 