AO drops subscription price

[Ardent]

On the verge of behemoths EQ2 and WoW being unleashed on the world, the little MMORPG that (eventually) could, Anarchy Online, is dropping its monthly subscription price to $7.95. You can also download the client for free.

Nobody knows what SOE and Blizzard are going to charge for their games, but the trend seems to be to raise the bar on monthly subscription rates, not lower them. Perhaps this is Funcom's way of trying to undercut potential customers so they don't get squished by the big boys.

Anarchy Online was the first MMORPG I ever played, and I still have a nostalgic soft spot for it. I met some very cool people in Rubi-Ka, killed some very unique mobs, and forged ahead despite bugs that could crush a lesser player's soul. Plus, in no other game can you play a Bureaucrat or a Metaphysicist.

[TripleDES]

Didn't they accelerate the levelling sometime ago? If that's true, combined with the 8 bucks a month, I might consider to resubscribe.

[Liquidator]

Didn't they accelerate the levelling sometime ago? If that's true, combined with the 8 bucks a month, I might consider to resubscribe.

Yeah they did accelerate leveling.  It was called Hecklers.

[shiznitz]

The 7.95 is if you sign up for 12 months ($95.40 / 12). The month by month price remains $14.95 but one no longer needs to buy a box. The game can be downloaded for free.

[Jamiko]

If I'm not mistaken, that $7.95 a month price only applies if you pay for a full year in advance. The month-by-month fee appears to still be $14.95.

If I am wrong, I guess I'll have to bring my Fixer out of retirement.

[Ardent]

The 7.95 is if you sign up for 12 months ($95.40 / 12). The month by month price remains $14.95 but one no longer needs to buy a box. The game can be downloaded for free.

Dammit! I read about the price drop on IGN ... I stupidly trusted them and didn't follow up to get the real truth. Bad Ardent, bad bad dumb IGN-reading Ardent.

[Rodent]

Tried the free trial a few months ago. The game is actually pretty good theese days. Still the MMOG burnout hit me pretty fast like it does with all the level based MMOGs.

[Numtini]

I think it's been this price for a while. They dumped the yearly at the same time as they raised the monthly. They got me with it and it's worked out well. I dont play all the time, but added up, I'm better off than with the monthly.

[AlteredOne]

I had a fair amount of fun with AO after I got a copy of Shadowlands for $5.  The game did improve massively, after the botched release I witnessed in 2001.  As with the poster above though, after a few weeks with Shadowlands I feel victim to treadmill fatigue.  Think I got my enforcer to level 80 or so, then realized that I had another 140 levels to go, while I still had not made a single good friend in-game.  The game is a little too solo-friendly, and as with many established games, it's hard to find other true "newbies" who want to level up from scratch.

I guess that's why I'm trying Ryzom now, just for that feel of starting fresh in a new world.  But of course, Ryzom doesn't seem to have 1/10 the content of AO, so there's your eternal paradox...  Start fresh in an empty established game with tons of content, or be the bug tester for a new world with little content.

Anyway it's a shame Funcom is not lowering the monthly price without a yearly commitment.  I could consider re-activating for $8/month.

[Resvrgam]

People are still playing that?

Where's Kevorkian when you need him?

[Liquidator]

People are still playing that?

Where's Kevorkian when you need him?

That line is so old.  Have you ever played the game?  If you have, have you played any time recently?  Probably not - because most people I've come across that say something along these lines have either never played the game, or the last time they did it was in beta or shortly after release.  Anarchy Online has come a long way since release.