AO-Universe

Yeah, I know a "Hello" thread. It's a newbie! I'm, as we speak 53% on may to just getting the client and thought I'd ask a few questions.

I heard there are no "Roleplaying Servers", but all servers have groups of roleplayers, is that true?

Would being a doctor on n00b island be a problem for me if no one else is on? I understand they're popular to team with outside of NI, but I'm kind of worried about being in there with no other newbies because the game is fairly old.

And this one's kind of silly but:
I heard there's a shortage of female players and one old player (stopped 3 years back, I guess), said it got so obnoxious she left. I sort of think that might be the timeframe, too, but I was wondering are female players so exceedingly rare that they're hit on all the time?


Thanks!

DineahRyx wrote:I heard there are no "Roleplaying Servers", but all servers have groups of roleplayers, is that true?

There are 4 servers, RK1 - Atlantean (English), RK2 - Rimor (English), RK3 - Die Neue Welt (German), and Test. You'll find more roleplayers on RK1 and 2 than the other two. If you are on RK1, you can "/tell channel42 !join" and join in the chatbot there to meet other RPers.

Would being a doctor on n00b island be a problem for me if no one else is on? I understand they're popular to team with outside of NI, but I'm kind of worried about being in there with no other newbies because the game is fairly old.

The enemies on noob island are weak enough that you should be able to solo fairly easily. You can level to 9 or 10 without much effort there. Folks rarely team up on noob island, and that doesn't stop anyone from being able to solo due to the reduced difficult.

And this one's kind of silly but:
I heard there's a shortage of female players and one old player (stopped 3 years back, I guess), said it got so obnoxious she left. I sort of think that might be the timeframe, too, but I was wondering are female players so exceedingly rare that they're hit on all the time?

Not that I'm aware. Probably a subjective experience, and I can't really say (due to being male), but I don't think that's much of a problem currently.

That sounds great. I can't wait till this thing downloads (60%).

Is there normally no roleplaying on noob island? I'm guessing higher level characters don't (or can't) go there.

DineahRyx wrote:Is there normally no roleplaying on noob island? I'm guessing higher level characters don't (or can't) go there.

Once you leave newbie island, you cannot go back. There really isn't much roleplaying going on at newbie island.

Since the server is shared with all sorts of folks from power gamers to PvPers, you may have a hard time finding a steady group of folks to RP with, unless you join a roleplaying org. Again, by joining channel42 chatbot, you'll be able to get in touch with RPers from all factions, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Great! Thank you so much! Also, is there a way to contact the AO people officially about the forums? The forums keep saying I'm entering the wrong pass.

That depends on wether you are paying for your play account. Free players (so-called froobs) don't get access to the AO forums. If you're paying though, you just have to log into your account page on Funcom's server and set yourself a forum password there. This password has to be different from your normal account password and might take a little while to become active after you've set it.

AO has a dynamic roleplaying community and roleplaying in AO can be very rewarding. However we are woefully outnumbered and the chances of hooking up with otehr roleplayers by accident are quite slim.
Best advice I can give is:

1. Read the Roleplaying Forums here and on the Official AO site (The Buzz and The Editors News sub forums).
2. Check out the Events Calendar here on AO Universe
3. Join one of the rp bots ('Channel42' on Atlantean, 'nrpb' on Rimor ).
4. Consider joining one of the existing roleplaying orgs.
5. Be patient

On the topic of Channel42, it's a chatbot designed for in-character chat among the roleplayers of Atlantean of any faction. It's been running for nearly three years and has proved to be a useful tool to keep keep in touch with the roleplaying community, get involved in storylines, learn about up comming events. Activity levels vary, there can be days in which no one says anything more than "hello" and "good bye" but there are plenty of lurkers and if you can bring up an interesting subject, people will join in.

For story purposes, Channel 42 is a fictional frequency on an equally fictional Rubi-Kan ?óÔé¼?ôham?óÔé¼?Ø radio network. Everyone is welcome as long as you keep it clean and keep it in-character.

To join /tell Channel42 !join
To leave /tell Channel42 !leave

I've you wish to get automatically invited to Channel42 every time you log in, send Dabblez a message in game and I'll set you up.

Ahh, I'm going to be a fr00b. Makes sense why I can't access the boards now, I guess. I think I'll be going with Atlantean if I can ever get the patch working, so I'll definitely message you, Dab, and see what we can do. The only thing I'm concerned about is the channel being completely IC (or at least that's how I understood it). As a newbie I'm a bit freaked I'll make mistakes in terms of lingo or plot/setup. I'll maybe just read up on the Buzz forums and hope for the best?

DineahRyx wrote:The only thing I'm concerned about is the channel being completely IC (or at least that's how I understood it). As a newbie I'm a bit freaked I'll make mistakes in terms of lingo or plot/setup.

The channel is IC - but unless you are going to go on a 1337 speaking rampage when you first log into it, a normal hello and introduction from yourself would be fine! You shouldnt be greeted by any animosity, just say you are new to the planet and get a feel for things - oh and definitely dont be scared to make mistakes, its a normal thing that happens sometimes!

Gah, you guys are amazing. Thank you SO much!

Welcome to Rubi-Ka

Couple of additional advices:
- Joining an organization helps in any case. You'll get some help as well as advices on game (mechanics, locations, etc.) However, do try to search for info on net as well, since there's only so much person can remeber and he/she can sometimes give wrong answers (I remember someone giving advice to doctor on guns on OOC. Unfortunatly, while it was good advice, all the guns listed were adventurer only. That player just wanted to help, full credit there, but adventurer only tag wasn't important to him)
- If you're joining to play game, not just RP, look for non hardcore RP organization. Those usually have a bit more players and they can explain mechanics of game in a way that's bit easier to understand.
- maybe stay out of more popular starter areas, like Condemed subway. With mixed crowd (powergamers to RPers), some players get impatient with new, inexperienced players, especially if they RP.
- if you plan to RP, your RL sex should newer be an issue. Whole sci-fi theme probably does indeed attract more males. So if you're scared of possible abuse, just claim you didn't washed hands after returning from bio /afk (joke. Most players won't really care if you're male or female tho. As male, I can't claim one way or the other about abuse...but if that happens, you can always /petition harrassment, as well as /ignore player

Also look at the description on the orgs that you want to join. Talk to some of the members. Mabye be a guest in the org channel to see what is going on.
Most Rpers are friendly and more than happy to help you and give you advice.

DineahRyx wrote:Gah, you guys are amazing.

Haha, yeah, these guys are amazing.
I remember the first time I logged on into AO.
Got the most help I ever needed lol.
That's one thing I like about this game - very cool and nice people.
Oh, God, I love all of you guys.

I LOVE YOU TOO BUDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!

*goes to hug him*

Docs are a very powerful proff...

On n00b island, get yourself 2 surge pistols (the upgraded ones), one of them should be the advy one which has flingshot for a bit of extra damage, they do just fine then...