The Furious Angels
FA Discussion => General => Topic started by: Tbone on February 21, 2008, 11:14:05 pm
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This faction has survived a lot. We're one of the longest running factions in MxO, and perhaps one of the most successful guilds in MMO history. Sure we're in a small MMO, but that enabled us to be more influential in the gaming community than perhaps any other game would allow.
Here's our dilemma. The game is dead. It's been dead. We're hardcore, so we're still around. I still love this game, despite it being a shadow of what it once was. Our faction is directly tied to the game. As the game fades, so do we.
In the past two weeks, we've had two members leave. That puts us down to about 12 people who still have an MxO account who are in the faction. Go ahead and check the list of our members. We still have people in the retired section. We have to do something, folks. Out of the 12 people, only an average of two might play on any given day, usually with their own agenda.
I know you guys are still around, though - still interested. The FA Vector Challenges have been very successful, and it proves we're not dead.. just lazy. I also understand that part of the issue is myself. I've always had the theory that an active leader makes for an active faction...when you take the leader away, the faction falls apart. That's my fault for my current circumstances, but I can't help my real life. It's the nature of my job. The good news is that my tour ends in May. My next job is in one place (near St. Louis) with a steady schedule, so I'm hoping to really pick up my activity in the summer.
What is all this about, though? We need some radical ideas to get some fresh blood moving in here. It's a reality we have to face. We could slowly fade away now and feel good about what we've accomplished, but I consider a majority of you my friends. Many of you I have met in person and have known longer than the people I hang out with now.
This is your faction too. I want to hear your ideas - no theory is too far fetched. Something needs to be done, and so we are going to try our best to do it. Here are some ideas that have already been thrown around:
-Multi-gaming
-Open recruitment
-Limited open recruitment
-Reunion bash with retired and ex-members
Please voice an opinion on this. We really need to commit to making something happen. Thanks.
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I like all of the said above ideas T. As for open recruitment, I, in my personal opinion, would leave that luxury to friends, family, etc. So Limited would be my choice. As for Reunion bash, do you mean in-game or out? Either way, it sounds great!
I think Broin should see this one coming, the one I'm about to mention...... new FA VIDEO! Sorry, but I had to... couldn't resist!
I know a lot of us don't like MMOS with elves and shit, so IF that were to happen the only place I could see us going and keeping our name with it making sense would be that game SOE is coming out with, I know I'm crying to, would be that SPY game http://theagency.station.sony.com .
What about actually throwing an FA event where there's a storyline to it? OR adding new and exciting content to the site? I have plenty of ideas if you all are interested as far as that goes but I wont type it all out because my post would be way too damn long! So if you're remotely interested hit me on TS, PM or in game with a tell or email.
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I have had issues with this for a long time, obviously. FA, even the idea, separate from the individul friendships I've made has been a big part of my life. In the great scheme of life, mxo is a silly, stupid game release. Yet it leads to these great connections weve talked about and all have.
if the ship is going down do you jump to another? I think its a good consideration. As much as I loved my time in mxo (early mxo) I stayed for FA. With the things in my life I have going on, even FA is not enough to get me to come back to mxo. This bothers me. I'd be more than willing, even excited, to put on the FA tag again in another realm. I would love to take a leadership role and be active again, but not in a dead world. I still feel a part of FA, even if only a small part anymore-and I don't want to be separated completely from the faction.
I think moving to a new game is the only option. The game has been dead, mainly since it moved to SOE. Nothing we do about recruitment will help the game. Plus I am a true beleiver that open recruitment leads to weak, tainted untrusting groups. This is a huge reason I never joined collective when I had th chance or other open invite groups. When you're selective you get the best. FA should not sacrifice this.
OK, that's all the personal stuff, to be more faction minded...
What's best? can the current Core members (even core members who don't have an active count) be revived in another world? Can we gain the knowledge and experience in a new world to hold the same reputation? What might have the same opprotunities mxo had given us? We would need to revamp our whole persona..not easy with our fame.
we've lost a lot of great people and friends because of mxos decline. I'd hate to see it continue to happen.
I've been away from being active in mxo for almost 2 years-so surely my opinion can be taken with a grain of salt. I may not be in mxo, but I prefer to think I'm still an angel. :/
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That spy game my be a god possiblity When I think of a place to go that exists, I think potbs. not only does it have a great community already (including early mxos community manager,Aether) but its also fairly new so there is still potential to gain reputation and become a power group. I played the beta and its fun-haven't bothered with retail, mainly because I couldn't see myself not playing with FA.
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That spy game my be a god possiblity When I think of a place to go that exists, I think potbs. not only does it have a great community already (including early mxos community manager,Aether) but its also fairly new so there is still potential to gain reputation and become a power group. I played the beta and its fun-haven't bothered with retail, mainly because I couldn't see myself not playing with FA.
I played PotBS Beta and I didn't like it mainly because it was WAY to laggy, everything you did was basically ship battles, the only part of the world that's "open" is the sea and when you're at sea you see your tiny ship and others sailing around. If they added open land exploration it might be better. But I lost interest in about a week. You can't join another guild members ship, only have your own which is bleh IMO. The graphic were a little glitchy when you run around and only see the boots and hat of the NPC you're talking to etc. Plus you can sail from one end of the world to the other in like 15 minutes or something along those lines.
I also think The Agency would be a nice transition because Broin, as we all know, is the real life 007 and could relate. :D And I wouldn't mind jumping out of an exploding chopper with one of you :D
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You must have played in early beta. To sail from one en dof the map to the other can take at least 45 minutes with one of the fastest ships, and I was able to get rid of the lag by making a small change to a config file. I beleive they fixed that issue as well. Not a potbs discussion, I know, but it's an option...
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You must have played in early beta. To sail from one en dof the map to the other can take at least 45 minutes with one of the fastest ships, and I was able to get rid of the lag by making a small change to a config file. I beleive they fixed that issue as well. Not a potbs discussion, I know, but it's an option...
Thanks for your always awesome input Fuse! That's why we love you! :D
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All I ask is for a MMO that allows us to dress in all white :) Other than that I'll follow the group wherever we decide to go.
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i am against open recruitment as it usually attracts immature and unserious members to the group. A new game would be an interesting new challenge, depending on which game people decide to play. Would be interesting to see if we could make a name for ourselves on another game.
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I'm glad that this has been publicly addressed.
I am totally against any form of open recruitment, just as most everyone else is. I don't think that I need to elaborate.
In my time that I haven't been jacked into MXO, I've been playing LOTRO. I think it's a fun game, and there's no real "boring" point in leveling up, yet. But, it's been released for almost a year now, and I think that we might not be able to make a large impact. I would say that The Agency is our best bet in terms of continuing on the legacy of MXO, but God knows when that is going to be released or how good it's going to be, for that matter.
I'm always going to be a part of FA. Maybe we can think of MXO as our beginning game. However, I don't think we should become a "multiple" gaming faction. That leads to divisions. FA is so successful because we concentrated on one game. All of our time and energy went into this game, and we came our for the better, in terms of reputation. You cannot divide and conquer. Wherever we go for our next game, 3/4 of us should want to, as well.
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Stargate: Worlds :D
We are dwindling, I myself havent been in the game for a while. The only new idea I can come up with is this:
Ask Rarebit for The Furious Angels to take part in a major event? I think we've earned it :/
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hmm.
Ok after serious consideration my two pence worth as it were.
Tbone is right, in a dwindling game our faction lacks the punch it had. I do believe that the content argument might be a little tired; other servers do not seem to complain and personally I think the dev's (lesig) etc focusing on events where people turn up and participate in a grown up fashion is fair enough.
That being said one can not have one's head in the sand. The excitement has to a large degree gone, personally this is I believe due to dwindling numbers within faction as opposed to within the game (last night there were maybe 3 FA against 20 Dark Evo in 01). Also, the fact that we have recently lost 2 previously useful and active members has shaken us a little.
Perhaps the solution is to try to bring back some excitement for ourselves and our server rather than consider straight away a blanket change of game because content is lacking. One thing we drum into potentials is that we are a part of the mxo world and seek to control and be a real part of it, personally I think to up sticks and leave without seeking to create our own content is an error.
We all know that I am not that interested in RP however between us we, as individuals and as a group are very well known and, by and large, respected (if not liked!). Can we not consider what we can do in game before simply leaving?
I realise that I may be the only one banging the drum as it were it is simply that I can not conceive not jacking in and seeing the FA tag over my head in mxo. Sure, we could move to another game (we tried server) although before that I do think people should put some effort into helping this game (at least until the next server merger!) and our faction's reputation in MXO - it is a great reputation worthy of maintaining.
As to ideas, here I am lacking. A movie would be great and I certainly could put the time into it (albeit that I could help only at random times!). As to more members, the solution is simple, we need to be perhaps less paranoid in the interviews. I am well aware that there are people who would do us harm however I think we have let some good and dedicated players slip through our fingers when, frankly, we could have welcomed them with open arms (albeit limited their forum access rights). Examples of such players are, at the moment, not coming to mind! (there are only one or two who interviewed, got rejected, but are still zion (and not knobs!)).
Finally, and I know this is going to annoy the purists! what about discussing with SOTI how we can work together or else take a few of them under our wings as it were. We all know and respect the SOTI lot and they certainly no longer have the name they had.
Anyway, turning into a stream of consciousness now so I shall be quiet!
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I was doing some nostalgic "research" the other day when this very subject came up about 2 years ago. At the time the final verdict was that we would remain Matrix only and that it wasn't time to make any major changes. We lost a lot of members simply because they no longer wanted to play Matrix. And that was ok, I agreed with this at the time. But now time have changed. The game has made very little forward progress and people and community are dwindling/immature.
I had the idea of an "FA Bash" we can send out some mass emails to old members have them come game with us for a day but if we expect them to stay we need to offer more than MxO. That is why I think that possibly multigame could be the way to go.
I remember before Matrix beta came out we use to have some real fun nights playing, Americas Army, unreal tournament, couterstrike, and any other game that came along. And well, it was fun. It was a big group of friends just playing a game for the night.
Perhaps this idea is more practical for me. I sometimes feel that I need to dedicate longer periods of time to an MMO that I sometimes don't have. Where as with other games I can maybe jump in and jump out quickly when I need to.
Of course the other solution is to rally behind another single game. I was really looking forward to darkfall, and still am, but it could still be a while.
So right now I'm going to support the multigame idea and support becoming a group of friends in gaming.
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-Multi-gaming YES
-Open recruitment NO
-Limited open recruitment Perhaps, family members or friends with whom we have direct contact. Not just bringing in friends from other games.
-Reunion bash with retired and ex-members Retired members, yes. But the people that were booted were booted for a reason. No sense in bringing them back just for a party.
It's an especially tough realization for me to come to, but I'm sick of fighting it. The game is a withered husk of what it was three years ago. Live events all follow the same cookie-cutter format and any new content we get is burned out in the first month. Everything that each of us feels is worth doing in the game, we've all done. There doesn't seem to be anything left.
I've always said that MxO will be my first and last MMO, but if that were true then that would mean I would eventually have to leave FA if MxO ever truly kicks the bucket. As Tbone said, I consider you guys my friends. It's funny to think that I've known you all for years and have never met most of you. I have more contact with you guys these days than the friends I actually grew up with.
I think if this friendship is to survive, we have to branch out and away from MxO. I've toyed with the idea of trying other MMO's, but honestly, I don't want to do it if it means I have to build up new relationships with people seperate from FA. There are enough games out there that it's practically guaranteed that our various tastes and preferences will overlap.
If we had the opportunity for a wider range of games to play together, that would breathe tons of new life into the faction. I think MxO has become less fun to play because it has become a sort of responsibility that we have to keep. We feel some kind of obligation to it, and that makes it less fun. If we branch out into other games and realize that it doesn't have to be just about MxO, that will relieve some of the pressure, so to speak.
I was hesitant before, but now I'm convinced that becoming a multi-game faction will probably be best for us.
EDIT: I probably shouldn't put too much stock into anything SOE says about their games, but The Agency is looking decent. I'll definitely be checking it out.
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Ok. I know I haven't been in game in... geez.. 5 months... but between finishing my degree and getting a new place of my own it has made that impossible. On that note, I have been with this faction for 3 years? something like that and I never quite hit 50 on any of my characters I like to think of myself as an older member... While I was never the best at PVP or the best at RP I always participated and always tried to help out when I could. That being said, as many of you have already said, I think MxO is dying. I hate to admit it because it was my first MMO also. I keep trying to find an excuse to shell out the 15 a month with all that is happing in the Real but with very little new happening in game and it is slowly degrading it is becoming harder to rationalize. (On that note, once I finish moving I will be back in game, so three weeks here I come, if nothing else as to catch back up for a little while.. and I should be settled in the REAL)..
Open recruitment I think is a no go..
Limited could work if we hadn't already tried that with most of our friends and family already.
Reunion bash would be fun but how many people would go for it?
I think this faction has done sooo well because of our focus on MxO. I think if we are to leave MxO it should be to One other game. We should at the most part agree on the game to leave to (because if we don't we will lose more members). I think almost all of our current members are still here because of the faction... not the game....
As for multi-gaming, I think limited multi-gaming is a good idea. FPS and other non-mmo games would work well for that purpose because your wouldn't invest ALL your time in those games, you would always come back to the MMO. Its like when we did Poker nights and such. it was great fun and we all enjoyed it. It was nice to play each other outside of MxO and didn't have the same feel as MxO but still the same camaraderie for the faction...
So yes I think Multi-gaming will work but on limited basis. Because as soon as we start recruiting in several different games we are gonna have to completely divide the boards because your gonna have people that play one game and don't play any of the others, and some will play several of them but perhaps not one in particular. I guess it would be like having ships per game.. one ship is The Agency and another ship would be Darkfall.. that way they stayed concentrated with the people they are playing, we can keep track of who plays what and when something big is going down we can let the whole faction know on the general thread.
IF that happens it is going to put a HUGE responsibility on the captains of those ships however because if say, Tbone, Broin, and any other member OLD member isn't playing that game or isn't interested it will become the CAPTAINS job to solely represent the interests of this faction, and his ships members, in that game.
Ok.. I think I put my two cents in... (again, sorry I haven't been around for awhile but I do intend on coming back in so I am not retired.)
edit:// I was looking into it and Stargate Worlds is supposed to be released in the 4th quarter of this year.. and beta should open up mid summer.
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Stargate Worlds does look nice. The main reason I mentioned The Agency was because our name "Furious Angels" would fit into it. And honestly if we went to SGW or AoC, etc. "Furious Angels" wouldn't sound lore appropriate by any means. Thus, we'd have to revamp the site, etc. and change our name. At least that's what I think.
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Reunion bash with retired and ex-members Retired members, yes. But the people that were booted were booted for a reason. No sense in bringing them back just for a party.
Yeah it wasn't part of the idea to bring back members who were booted for good reason. I was thinking more along the lines of sending out communication to people we lost as a result of the member losing interest in the game.
As for multi-gaming, I think limited multi-gaming is a good idea. FPS and other non-mmo games would work well for that purpose because your wouldn't invest ALL your time in those games, you would always come back to the MMO. Its like when we did Poker nights and such. it was great fun and we all enjoyed it. It was nice to play each other outside of MxO and didn't have the same feel as MxO but still the same camaraderie for the faction.
I think our ideas are similar on multigaming. I think fast paced, "arcade style", FPS, card games, or even RTS games are good to get into because they make for quick fun and good times. Again it is the time commitment thing I think.
Then I do think that having the faction centered around one or two MMOs is a good idea. I think that Matrix should obviously be and option and then say if the Agency or Darkfall turn out we could also have these games. I think this way everyone has a little more freedom to play what they would like to play. And when a game arises to jump on we can do so.
The obvious downside that we saw developing last time around (2 years ago) was that more people were playing non-mxo games in the "non-mxo ts channel" and when a matrix player went down to call for some help, they were greeted with silence or simple nos. At the time this was unacceptable, but we will have to understand that if we go multigame not everyone will play every game or come help upon every call.
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I strongly advise going to a brand new, or at least somewhat new game to the market. Beta access would be best.... SGW or TA = Good stuff.
Do we still have the resources to be as strong initially as we did with MxO? The website is one of the things that will take the biggest overhaul. Knowledge on a game, forum activity. God a whole new community, it feels weird. It's like changing careers.
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If we are going to get interested in any MMO other than MXO, it should be one that is in Beta; that way, we have the best chance of making a large impact on the game.
I also agree with Heironymus and Lithium. Our MMO's need to be limited to 1-2, and we can spread some FPS in every once in a while to keep things interesting. While we won't be leaving MXO, we certainly won't be focusing on it as much as we do now. There's no need to. There's hardly any content.
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If we choose an MMO we can go ahead and start branching out now. that way we don't commit to one game that may not work out in pre-beta. If we want we can start posting on forums on the three games suggested.. SGW, TA, and Darkfall... since all three games are still in Alpha.. that way in beta we can decide which one we like the most and put it to a vote. on which one we want to add to our game list...
Just a suggestion.. if we do want to start posting on forums to get our name out there we need to start doing it soon so that it gives us ample time before beta.
As for our name.. Our name really doesn't matter as for the lore of the game... SGW if we are humans than we are an elite group of military fighters.. codename Furious Angels..
Agency.. same thing.. we are a sect of spys codenamed "Furious Angels"..
It still works all around.
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And Darkfall, well, the medieval times were very religious... haha.
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To be honest, anything that we do works for me as long as we maintain unity. I've always enjoyed MxO, and I still do, but the true appeal to me in all of this is this faction. I've never been involved in such a cohesive, supportive group, and I will stand by anything this faction does until the end of our days.
In regard to the current ideas being tossed around, I like the idea of some sort of event thrown by us, or giving a chance for us to do something with this game (hopefully the new construct will provide a surge of enjoyment, even if for a brief period).
Conversely, I like the idea of multigaming. There's quite a bit out there for us to do as a unit. As far as other MMO's? Sure; I don't have any preference for a particular title - again, anything this faction does is anything that I will do, and I firmly believe we must continue placing heavy emphasis on remaining bound together in every aspect, even across various games.
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I'd follow you guys anywhere, so long as we stay together (assuming I get internet back in this lifetime that is...)
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Lits and Broin
Sittin in a tree...
Then Tbone comes along with a big chainsaw and cuts the limb off sending Broin to the ground in a jumbled mess...
Sorry a bit loopy tonight...
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Well, I think I'm going to subscribe to SWG, seeing as no one is playing MxO anymore :(
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Galaxies is cool because of the working player economy... but that's about it. It's rather lame now that you can just start off as a jedi, instead of earning it. I was in SWG before MXO.
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We're still playing MxO. Part of this is trying to get the rest of you to keep playing as well.
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here here boss;) let's not right off FA in MXO yet!
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Well, I think I'm going to subscribe to SWG, seeing as no one is playing MxO anymore :(
As said before about 12-14 of us are still active, but only a few of us still have active MxO accounts and there's only 2-3 of us logged on a once. At least it's been that way for the last couple of weeks.
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did i say here here? what a noob!!! hear, hear! and a thousand apologies.
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guys, for recruitment, what about considering making it a little easier to get in to FA but allowing either no or very very limited forum access for 2 months or something? I know of at least one zion keen to get in but I am not convinced he has the wherewithall to do the challenge. Now, I am aware of the challenge and its purpose however we are keen for active members. thoughts?
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Subby has bought LOTRO.
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guys, for recruitment, what about considering making it a little easier to get in to FA but allowing either no or very very limited forum access for 2 months or something? I know of at least one zion keen to get in but I am not convinced he has the wherewithall to do the challenge. Now, I am aware of the challenge and its purpose however we are keen for active members. thoughts?
We already made it easier once about a year and a half ago when we cut the Challenge down to about half the size that it was. It was streamlined, and now it is very easy to do if you have any sort of common sense. Plus, the bloop forums have all sorts of clues and such pertaining to each puzzle.
I believe the challenge is easy enough. I believe that no one is doing the challenge because they never see any FA in the game, and, when they do, it's only one or two people. If I were a noobie just coming into the game today, not knowing any of the history of the game, and I saw one Furious Angel PVPing and seven Morpheus Legacy or Insurgence, I would choose the more active faction. All of this simply has to do with the amount of activity our members show in game and at live events, specifically.
I was at an event on Thursday (much like the one Zion event where Broin got all those cool items for being such a good leader from Ghost), and there were at least 7 Morpheus Legacy and about 12 Insurgence and about 6 Priato De Sion. Then, there were 2 Furious Angels.
I believe that, if we were to take Live Events more seriously (myself included), we might have more fun with the game. I was talking with some other factions, and, on their forums, they post summaries of each Live Event pertaining to their organization and other organizations. Most of our posts now occur in the Off-Topic Section, and we have a post about once a month in the Unfolding Events section when we know ahead of time about an event that is supposed to happen.
If it is alright with the Staff, I will begin posting daily Live Event summaries of what has happened on the three servers, much like the Live Events board, but more condensed and easier to read so that our attention doesn't wane as quickly. The story IS interesting only if we make it. Right now, we're not trying very hard. I promise to start trying harder in that regard.
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guys, for recruitment, what about considering making it a little easier to get in to FA but allowing either no or very very limited forum access for 2 months or something? I know of at least one zion keen to get in but I am not convinced he has the wherewithall to do the challenge. Now, I am aware of the challenge and its purpose however we are keen for active members. thoughts?
I'd rather have members who know and appreciate what it means to be in FA in the first place. That we're not just a gaming faction, but that we're working to establish ourselves as a true part of the matrix. The challenge helps establish that, and I think if we were to make it easier to complete, it would lose value.
Also, the challenge is partly meant to keep the riff-raff out. The people that start the challenge and eventually give up probably aren't the kind of people we want in the faction anyway. Completing the challenge in its current state says a lot about the potential.
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The challenge in it's current state is fine the way it is. If they can't make it through on "easy mode" as it is, then they don't need to be here. I know that sounded mean but it's 20times easier than it was when most of us took it. If they can't do it now, then bah.
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good plan ana; I suppose one point of my post is perhaps to point out that we can not become a force to be reckoned with and aspired to without a larger core of active players (much like what ana says). tally ho
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If it is alright with the Staff, I will begin posting daily Live Event summaries of what has happened on the three servers, much like the Live Events board, but more condensed and easier to read so that our attention doesn't wane as quickly. The story IS interesting only if we make it. Right now, we're not trying very hard. I promise to start trying harder in that regard.
Sounds great. I'd love for you to do that. If there's anything I can do to help with that, let me know.
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Okay here are my two cents worth on this. Over the past several months or so we've seen a huge decline in member activity in game. For numerous reasons... Some of which Yotogi did a good job of pointing out in this thread here.
http://thefuriousangels.com/index.php?msg=79440
SOE-MXO has been on a steady decline in membership in game. Events have become pretty much run of the mill / cookie cutter events. Which afterawhile they were bound to be. There is after all only so much you can do with a game based off of the mechanics and gameplay of that particular game.
I was speaking to some members the other day and though Events have become same ole same ole what we all need to keep in mind though is that it is our participation and interaction in the events that make them what they truly can be.
I think alot of us, as Yotogi stated feel a sense of belonging here in MXO we want to stay and be part of it, but we see the decline in population and decline in the game. I think that has turned a few people sour and has kept them from logging in when they otherwise, in the past, would have logged in.
FA=MXO and should always be an MXO faction. I think what we may need to do is expand into newer horizons to get everyone back together and back on the same page as working as a faction together. If we could find another home/game for us then I think that would be good, but I do not think we should abandon MXO. I know I'll be playing until they shut it down, and I think alot of you want to be diong that as well. I think if we all were logging on and enjoying each others company in game then that would solve half the problems. The problem is the game just isn't giving us what we all want, and probably won't.
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FA=MXO and should always be an MXO faction. I think what we may need to do is expand into newer horizons to get everyone back together and back on the same page as working as a faction together. If we could find another home/game for us then I think that would be good, but I do not think we should abandon MXO. I know I'll be playing until they shut it down, and I think alot of you want to be diong that as well. I think if we all were logging on and enjoying each others company in game then that would solve half the problems. The problem is the game just isn't giving us what we all want, and probably won't.
Like I've stated before, I'm going to be keeping an eye on "The Agency". A game where I think we can flurish as well. Like Broin, I will be playing until they shut MxO down.
If anyone wants to tag-team getting info on "The Agency" with me feel free! :D
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The Agency
Honestly I've been thinking about this. But if it is another SOE game why would any of us want to support it after what SOE has done with MxO and all the crappy people they hire? And then after it's released they can sweep it under the rug as they make a new game? SOE doesn't exactly have a good MMO reputation. No thanks.
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The Agency
Honestly I've been thinking about this. But if it is another SOE game why would any of us want to support it after what SOE has done with MxO and all the crappy people they hire? And then after it's released they can sweep it under the rug as they make a new game? SOE doesn't exactly have a good MMO reputation. No thanks.
Yes SOE does have a habbit of doing such things to great MMO's. But what else is there we could goto where we can get a good head start , plus fit the persona of FA?
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The Agency
Honestly I've been thinking about this. But if it is another SOE game why would any of us want to support it after what SOE has done with MxO and all the crappy people they hire? And then after it's released they can sweep it under the rug as they make a new game? SOE doesn't exactly have a good MMO reputation. No thanks.
I know that I, at least, want to give the game a chance, especially if it's different from the elf-genre.
I also currently have a subscription running with LOTRO, but it's only so fun by yourself. (Landroval, Talauntiar)
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LOTRO is good, so far.... even though I'm only level 5 :) how many levels are there?
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nice 2 cents old boy; i cant leave this game too.
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LOTRO is good, so far.... even though I'm only level 5 :) how many levels are there?
50 lvls. Unless they've upped it. I was in the beta and in a really good guild but like all MMO's, for me, grouping is a huge must and LoTRO isn't a game I want to be soloing in. MxO is they only game I could come to be "alone" in without getting bored. How often do you two play it and what server?
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I've been playing [That which we do not speak of]
:(
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I've been playing [That which we do not speak of]
:(
?????
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WoW...
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When monolith put us up for adoption we became the red-headed step-child of SOE... must we go back to them?
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I've been playing [That which we do not speak of]
:(
BURN THE TRAITOR!
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LOTRO is good, so far.... even though I'm only level 5 :) how many levels are there?
50 lvls. Unless they've upped it. I was in the beta and in a really good guild but like all MMO's, for me, grouping is a huge must and LoTRO isn't a game I want to be soloing in. MxO is they only game I could come to be "alone" in without getting bored. How often do you two play it and what server?
Not often - Eldar (euro server I think) Char name is "Angeleous"
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For those that are remotely interested in The Agency:
Designer Hal Milton, Studio Manager Matt Wilson and Art Director Corey Dangel were all present in Vegas and showing off The Agency, but Hal was doing all the talking. He was on a caffeine high (I understood they actually let him have a double latte) and the other guys were letting him talk. Nineteen to the dozen, spewing out facts faster than machine gun fire, his passion for The Agency evident in every wave of his hands, he talked while we watched the trailer and took disjointed notes as quickly as we could write.
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James Bond, Modesty Blaise, Man from Uncle, Mission Impossible, those are the worlds that The Agency epitomizes. Suave sophistication, high espionage mixed up with fast action, high-risk missions. It’s about cool gadgetry and plain old fire power. You choose your style. Do you prefer the suave, sophisticated Bruce Wayne, silent, utility-belt-nifty method of gaining entrance into a locked facility? Then you would probably join U.N.I.T.E. (United Nations Intelligence and Tactical Experts). If you identify with the down and dirty Frank Castle fire-power jeep and bazooka method of entry, you might prefer ParaGON, the Paramilitary Global Operations Network.
We listened to the main Agency theme as the trailer rolled and Hal talked, praising the composition by Tom Salta – the composer for music for games such as Red Steel, Ghost Recon2 and for NBC’s 2006 Winter Olympics. “It really gets you going! You think you know the theme. It’s so familiar you feel like you know it,” and it is. The main theme is Get Smart, Mission Impossible and James Bond, but it’s not – and yet, that will give readers an idea of the excitement the music elicits in listeners.
A new trailer was created for CES 2008 with Fraps – it was all in-game footage showing us that the development of the game is moving along well, although they did integrate some scenes from the first trailer shown as they wanted to show Cassie and Duncan, their quintessential U.N.I.T.E and ParaGON agents. Avatars will not be “real people” but comic-book stylized representations. Several body types will be available, but think “beautiful people” with boobalicious babes and, magnificently hunky men. The U.N.I.T.E. agents would be epitomized in James Bond and Modesty Blaise. The ParaGON agents… think of the cigar chomping Nick Fury and hmm… who do you know in female literary characters that would epitomize the ParaGON agent? Think Punk rock style hair and clothing, army boots, rocket launcher… Tankgirl perhaps.
Operative “cards” were shown for the first time – in the manner of I.D. tags with pictures and stats – except that the sides to the card are endless. Turn it over, you get more stats and as your operative improves and levels, his or her skills grow, so too will the number of “sides” to that card. Operatives are your Qs, Moneypennys and Oracles. They help you to retrofit your vehicles and improve your armor, they provide you intelligence and improved weaponry. You can have a stable of 100 operatives, we were told, but like any bunch of employees, they could slack off, quarrel and refuse to work with one another, or you could receive a text message (if you turn on that option) one day from one to the effect of “On 2 wks vaca w Sonia, Cya” and you realize you’ve lost the use of your top two operatives for a few real life days. Interesting… operatives have love lives. So how do you grow and level your operatives? There are “operative” moments in game that if you use, will give them xp. These are found during missions where you can dial your operative and make a request to help you perform an action. For example: short circuit a key function in the building, bust a steam valve, give you information or intelligence.
We watched a video of Hal, Matt and Corey playing a 3-man mission – or 2-man 1-gal mission anyway – James Pwned, Rex and Sophia. Rex entered their agency headquarters to obtain the mission. Old recruitment posters lined the walls, experiments of all sorts are happening behind glass windowed rooms – surreally like James Bond walking with Q to get outfitted with the latest gadgets. Players should be taking “photographs” of these moments in-game as they could well be “Intel” moments that come in useful later in the game. An observant agent is a good agent. Pay attention. That exploding vest or teddy-bear may be a key component in a mission some day.
As we moved along, screens upon screens of data hung from the walls. Intelligence from Prague, Shanghai, and the latest oil prices maybe? We stopped to play on an arcade machine in the lobby. Q*bert opened up on the screen. I kid you not. Q*bert. Yes, mini-games are in The Agency – but they all mean something. Maybe the spook you are meeting will respect you more if you beat them in a game, or your message could be unlocked only if you make the high score for the day. Yes, this is a world of espionage. Trust no one; make use of everyone… and everything.
We received the mission – basically, a “Follow” mission. The word is that Das Committee had plans to blow up the German Embassy in Prague. Bombs will be attached to four columns. Our mission is to tail a member of Das Committee and find out where exactly those bombs are, and disarm them. Here, Hal explained the alias system. How strong your alias is will determine whether or not you are spotted. So, if you wore street clothes and kept a reasonable distance, you could possibly tail the suspect all the way without being caught out. Well, our agents were in their field clothes – they were dressed in their combat, stealth and support outfits. The suspect, wary of being tailed, looked around and scanned the street often. Our agents ducked behind cars and other pedestrians to no avail. Spotted! So the chase began.
He disappeared through a passageway and a massive steel door closed behind him. Now what? Blow through the door or use a gadget from your utility belt? Hal pointed out the “smart” in-game objects here. In order to keep the UI minimal and interaction simple, world interaction is integrated into the objects in-game. A mouse over will bring up the integration screen with the actions available to your character – and some of these are operative moments.
We opened the door silently and moved quickly through. Four bombs, four columns. Have they been planted yet? Other enemy agents stood in the way. Scanning around, we found an operative moment. Oh, this will do nicely. A steam valve right about face level of the goons. A quick call, a blown steam valve for distraction and a fast knifing, they were dispatched without bringing undue attention to your location, plus XP for the operative.
We entered another room and stumbled into Das Committee wiring up the bombs. A firefight ensued with our agents attempting to shoot the enemy, disarm the bombs and stay alive. The objective here is to save the Embassy. How you do it is up to you. You can shoot the guys carrying the bombs and prevent them from planting the bombs or disarm the bombs after they’ve been planted. We found out here that stray bullets could do a lot of harm to your own team. In an attempt to provide Sophia covering fire, Matt instead shot the bomb she was disarming. Blam. Dead Agent and destroyed column. Oops! Is that the floor above coming down?
We saw another Agency moment then, as we either blew up or disarmed all of the bombs and Das Committee tried to escape. Only Matt made it (well, Sophia was dead!) and as the truck peeled away, he grabbed a package of explosives and threw it. That started a chain reaction that reached the truck and blew it to kingdom come.
Then we revived Sophia with what looked like a hypodermic needle and two more little nuggets of information fell from Hal’s lips. A field medic can revive. A field technician can set custom respawn points.
Missions here are a departure from the usual MMOG quests. Instead of a pass / fail method of grading, it grades on a scale, from Bronze to Gold. For this particular mission, to get the Gold level, you’d have had to have all four columns standing at the end of the mission. Bronze required only one column standing. The better the grade, the better the rewards, so you could repeat this mission with your group, at a higher level with less group members or even solo, to earn more cash.
That was the end of the trailer, so we went onto Question and Answer time. We learned that the PS3 and PC game will launch at the same time, but the players will be separated although they can chat across platform. They are working hard to get all of their game / web / mail and other communication interfaces properly working, as this game will integrate text messaging, IM and email to get updates to you. Imagine getting a text message in the middle of a boring meeting telling you that your new Lamborghini has been retrofitted with rocket launchers and was ready to go. Then after the meeting, you fire up your web interface to get a second operative to deliver it to Prague. Cool…
As we talked further about the game world, Hal began bouncing up and down in his seat in excitement. The various corporations have been fleshed out and SoE Seattle has reserved a large number of domain names. Their intent is to set up websites for each of these corporations.
“We’re going crazy with our story and content,” he exclaimed, “We’ve fleshed out the whole world story and we’re reserving a bunch of websites and we’re going to have fun with that!”
“We will make use of all the tools available at hand,” concluded Matt. “This is a world of espionage. Secrets and intelligence.” If they can pull it off, incorporating real world gadgets and tools, it could be the next big thing, blurring the lines of virtual worlds and reality into one big MMOG.
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You can watch that video on gametrailers.com
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The game looks like a nice blend of CS and an MMO. I'd probably enjoy it, thats not my concern.
My concern is that buying into another SOE game goes against my idea of darwinism in the consumer market. I feel SOE has done a less than unsatisfactory job with Matrix Online. In the people they hire to moderate, in the people they hire to program, and in there design and direction choices.
So my question is why should I buy into another SOE game knowing full well what they did with the matrix title? And if we make a commitment to this game will we already be in a sour spot with devs and mods?
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So my question is why should I buy into another SOE game knowing full well what they did with the matrix title?
Sometimes you have to take chances knowing full well what the outcome might be. I'd rather chance getting into another MMO with you guys and have a blast like I do here and reap the rewards than to not take that chance and not play with you guys.
And if we make a commitment to this game will we already be in a sour spot with devs and mods?
Highly doubtful. Wether our rep with the DEVS, MODS, etc was good or not, they know who we are and they know people are attracted to us because we offer what no other "guild"/"faction" has ever offered in an MMO. If SOE is half smart, which they're not -- hoping they are, they too will realize this. Hell I know people who never intended on playing MxO but would just because of our challenge and vids that we've done. I know this, SOE knows this and so does everyone else here. As arrogant as this may sound, I wouldn't put it past us to bring them a few hundred subscribers. Not counting who will already have been.
Just my thoughts. :)
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I'd rather play a game I enjoy and clunk heads with the devs than get good support on a game I could care less about.
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I'm sold on the game idea -- But I hate SOE.
However I think your opinions are valid and I think this would be the most logical game to transform over to. The appeal to the faction and to the game would be similar to matrix's.
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Lith..
Even if SOE sucks, which they do, at least you have what looks like a good game and FA... thats gotta count for something..
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I'm sold on the game idea -- But I hate SOE.
<3 Lith
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Also hate SOE, BUT I think MxO was a stepchild to them. They are involved, or at least expecting, The Agency from the start.
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Given the fact the took MxO to get rights to another game, you can't judge what they do TO MxO as a "things to come" for their other games. SWG was a great game untill it was raised to 90 and the 32 classes were put to 9. Granted this was because of the community wanted it that way. or atleast a great deal of votes made it tilt that way. i think.
The Agency is a must for me. Granted I think I will be really obsessed with my "Meant to last for years" GTA :) :) :) I will still get involved in any game we pick.
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At the risk of sounding like a huge nerd...
Am I the only one here excited about the LEGO mmo?
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I like Lego -- rather the Lego Technic series. But a lego MMO is probably geared toward 6 year olds so you probably can't even type in chat, it's probably has a list of predefined chat messages you can send! :) Plus having a bunch of 20+ year olds pwning little children seems kinda cruel.
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The Agency seems like a good game to get highly invested in. The community hasn't started yet, so we can get in from the beginning and the roleplay could be very similar to the Matrix and befitting for FA, with secrecy, etc.
The big issue is that the game isn't even in Alpha yet. Beta is probably at least a year away. So maybe we find some temporary things to play to get some of our old members around again (as well as play MxO) until we can start involving ourselves with and recruiting from The Agency community.
I think it'd also be a good to try to get more invested in what does happen in MxO. If there could be recaps of story events or something along those lines, at least some of us wouldn't feel lost when we try to get involved in an event after being away for a while.
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The Agency seems like a good game to get highly invested in. The community hasn't started yet, so we can get in from the beginning and the roleplay could be very similar to the Matrix and befitting for FA, with secrecy, etc.
The big issue is that the game isn't even in Alpha yet. Beta is probably at least a year away. So maybe we find some temporary things to play to get some of our old members around again (as well as play MxO) until we can start involving ourselves with and recruiting from The Agency community.
I think it'd also be a good to try to get more invested in what does happen in MxO. If there could be recaps of story events or something along those lines, at least some of us wouldn't feel lost when we try to get involved in an event after being away for a while.
I was going to get on that once Chapter 10 started. Since we're in 9.3.3, we only have about two weeks of new storyline before that happens. That also, most of the time, signals a major change in the story arc, and, instead of me spending time developing backstory, I figure we might as well start fresher than we might if I started making recaps towards the end of a specific arc of the story.
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Ok I know I dont have much room to talk, since I'm still fairly new ( although i was one of the active members that left ), but...
I feel that open recruitment would be the worst idea for this kind've faction. Personally the whole "Pass the test in order to get in" made me want to push myself to pass all the trials. The Roleplay that this Clan has is far beyond any Roleplay that I have ever seen, and people are still interested. I feel that new blood, with new ideas would be best in order to bring this faction out of the 'oh they dont play much anymore' to 'oh yeah, i saw 5 of them in Moriah five minutes ago, then they just disappeared!'
Although I am new in FA, I have watched you guys over the past few years, since launch. One of the best ideas you guys ever had was the mass meeting in which Tbone told my character (( this was back in the day when i made an alt to meet you guys )) to meet him at a Hardline. I went to the Hardline only to find that there were Mervs everywhere. 'Angels' flew out of the sky and fought the Mervs, and one stepped out to guide me to a safe location. This location was an elevator, where he told me to go to the bottom floor and wait. I waited and after a few minutes one by one FA members dressed fully in uniforms came down. Eventually one came forward and teleported Tbone to greet me. It was one of the coolest introductions to any faction, or clan for that matter, that i had ever been apart of. I would love to see that more.
I know Woodgrain mentioned this early, but I will bring it up again. Another Recruitment video, showcasing the 'Newer' breed of Angels, mabye... mixing it up a bit you know? Cause everyone knows FA as the guys in white, but not many know the people individually... well besides Tbone and Broin. What about having like mini titles in the Video or nicknames that we call ourselves. IE: Woodgrain says hes the Angel of Redepmption. Possibly different Virtues that the person could've shown during the trial period, could be a link to what their nickname is. For example; lets say Bob showed great courage in his tests, and in his trial he battled as hard as he could, never giving up. His nickname could quite possibly be Bob ' Angel of Courage ' ... just an idea.
I think as a person that has been on the outside long enough, it would be interesting to see a new 'Breed' of angel, persay. I have no idea if anything I have said makes sense, but I hope to explain it more, possibly in Teamspeak.
Thanks,
Kafyn
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Haha, were you spying in on our meeting before your interview, Kafyn? Broin brought up a new movie idea involving short flashbacks of individual members of the faction, very similar to your idea of showcasing the personalities of individuals.
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>.> Mabye.
No, in all seriousness i was banned from the teamspeak until a few days before my interview. Something to do with 'I wasnt welcome yet' or something. Lithium can explain that one =P
But I just thought that as a player and a follower of the angel, many would like to know the angels on a more intimate level, not just the leaders. Like in Angel of Vengeance, I was so eager to know who was hacking the computar at the opening scene lol.
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No, in all seriousness I was banned from the teamspeak until a few days before my interview. Something to do with 'I wasnt welcome yet' or something. Lithium can explain that one =P
Yes because we have been having a problem with unfriendlys joining TS. I wasn't aware at the time you requested a reinterview. So since you showed up unannounced at the wrong time you got banned. Moral of the story, don't show up on TS as a guest unannounced.
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People want to know about the sexy beast with green hair...
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People want to know about the sexy beast with green hair...
And the insane 'Death' Program :D
"People call me insane.... I say I have a unique perspective on life," - Subb ;)
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I think we need a 'Returning from Retirement' video. I was talking to Lits about it, and we had some awesome ideas.