Filed under: MMORPG Related, Opinion | 2 Comments »
I enjoyed Anarchy Online for several months. I never got that far, I think because AO is not forgiving to alt-mongers like me, but I did end up with a mid-level scout which was pretty fun to play. One of my scout’s earlier adventures involved exploring the Temple of Three Winds, one of the early dungeons in the game. So picture my lowbie scout and my friend (playing who knows what) slowly sneaking through the chambers and hallways of a cult-infested temple. There are only two of us, and we really have no idea what to expect here, so we are carefully picking our way through, hoping not to draw too much aggro.
At one point, we find ourselves in a long sloping corridor lined with alcoves. Many of the alcoves contain cultists that will aggro as you go by… we found that out by running headlong down the corridor the first time. This time, we are inching forward, taking a few at a time… not the fastest method, but we are making progress. After clearing the corridor, we are resting a bit to regain our strength when all of a sudden, a player comes running past us. Zoom! Straight by us, doesn’t turn, says nothing, seems to be going pretty fast (sprinting).
(Keep in mind that, though AO has instances, the dungeons are open zones and so you are exploring with other players, competing for spawns and generally getting in each others’ way.)
Anyway, this guy shoots past us and as I turned and watched him zip down the hallway, I remember thinking, “Hmm… I wonder what that was about,” when a second player trucks on by. I was just about to type something to my friend, when I see in chat
“run”
I look up at the screen and the hallway is now filled with cultists. That’s why those guys were doing their best Jesse Owens imitation up the hallway. There had to be thirty of them. They were everywhere. I run. I take big chunks of damage. I curse. Fortunately most of the bad guys have continued down the hallway, hot on the heels of their original prey. Unfortunately, I am separated from my friend, badly wounded, and two (three? I can’t remember) of the baddies are on me. I am desperately trying to lay some damage down while healing myself. I manage to kill one of the two enemies, but I am down to a sliver of health.
I retreat a few more steps into a chamber with four columns. Inspiration strikes and I duck behind a column. The bad guy follows me, but he is obviously confused by the obstacle. I duck out, fire an attack and then zip back around the pillar. He is damaged, and I am not (yet) dead, so I try it again. We end up dancing around the pillars, me firing off attacks and getting just enough time to heal to counter the damage he is doing back to me. Boom! Attack, duck, attack, duck, desperate heal, attack… He’s dead!!
I am alive with my sliver of health intact!! I survived the massive train.
I am about to ask my friend how he did, when I see in chat
“TRAIN TO DOOR!!!”
Now you warn everyone!!! 
Stupid as it sounds, I miss open dungeons and trains… nostalgia, I’m sure.
Training through an area is always fun, well not always, it sucks when you die, but when you make it, its a good feeling.
YES! I remember the temple trains! Lmao. Cmag, I played AO as a martial artist until level 100, then I got bored and moved on. Not until I got caught in about 6 trains trying to level up and get all the the books for some skill.
`
If you want to talk about trains, there was a place in FFXI called the Garlaige Citadel. Nicknamed Gar-Bage Shitadel. We would have to sit near the entrance in packs, camp bats for hours and at least once an hour someone would yell, “TRAIN!!!”
`
If you didn’t zone out then a parade of 13 -20 bats swarmed you and you died. They since then changed the coding and now they just disappear. You can’t train on anyone or get caught in one.
`
Ahh, good times. good times…