Still Alive

Bouncing as I have from different MMORPGS over the years (EQ, DAoC, AC, AO, SWG) I've always had a spot in my gamer's heart for Anarchy Online. This first SciFi based MMORPG to be produced was release back in 2001 with a rough-and-buggy beta period. However it introduced a lot of new concepts to MMOs and eventually to me was (and in a number of was still is) very solid in game play mechanics vs. ease of use. Not to mention the world, the environment it creates, was fun to explore. Over the years since I left AO they've not really updated the look of the place, which now leaves it looking pretty dated by comparison to the more modern games. But recently it was announced that Funcom has been working over the last year to give AO a significant face-lift in the GFX department. The current plan is to initiate comprehensive beta testing in the late summer with the aim of going live later this year. Based on the preview trailer, it looks pretty impressive.

The monthly active player count stats I've seen float around range from 12k to 20k active users per months. Adding to that Funcom doesn't really seem to advertise the game and the fact that its hard to find in stores (downloading seems to be the main way to get it now), I was really surprised to see they've continued to have a staff dedicated to working on Anarchy, tweaking the game, releasing new content, releasing new expansion updates and now doing the major graphics overhaul.

For curiosity sake I popped in using the Play-for-Free client (free play, but with distracting "real world" billboard advertising replacing the regular world of Rubi-ka signage that breaks the mood of the game a bit) and found it much less laggy and quicker rezing than I recall when I left. Though in fairness, my machine is sporting much more graphics horsepower than back in 2001 too. My old haunts of Rome Green, Omni Entertainment and Omni Trade were sparsely populated these days compared to back in the day. But its apparently a much bigger place than it was back in 2001/2002 with less than a quarter its population so not that surprising. I was also surprised to find that my old account with characters is still in their system after all these years, waiting for reactivation.

For those of you that played AO in the past, you might find the below interview and attached video of the new graphics engine interesting.

Have a look: [Click Here]