lisac2k

I was the first one who told myself "that must suck - it's doomed the moment it started - fallout is for single player only - I'd never enjoy something like that", but after playing the 2nd open beta test for several hours - several hours only - something was changed... It's gone that far that I'm working on it now. Not to mention the additions and fixes which were introduced since the last open beta test, which make the game waaaay more entertaining than it previously was. I never played MMOs (except a few of them, for a few hours or days), except EVE (I think it was 3-4 weeks), and I really don't play (like?) that kind of games, honestly. I never played Fallout 3 either, not my cup of tea (not to mention the price *cough*). But this game is something to have fun with, I guess. You really should at least try it, and if you don't enjoy it... Leave, nothing is lost. The game is free anyway, except that you have to buy/possess Fallout 2 CD, that is (most of us already have it).

Well, there are 2 modes, real-time (RT) and turn-based (TB). The first is forced in all towns, one of the reasons is the slooow combat with hundreds of NPCs and players around, the other is the time synchronisation (we can't stop the time in a town just to let someone take care of his/her turn). TB mode is available in encounters and "out there" in general, but only if all of the players which are taking part in the encounter set the proper option in their client INI file (there is a small utility to edit that INI file, but it can be done manually too). Otherwise it's RT, and the TB mode is just like in the original games. In the end, there are Action Points (APs), of course. Performing an action reduces them, idling is replenishing them. Running/Walking doesn't reduce APs, but during those actions they're not replenished either. Attacking someone and running away is also not possible, since there is a timeout (currently a few seconds, 5 IIRC) during which the attacked critter has enough time to respond to attack and the attacker can't leave the current map.

Good question! Chat is already implemented (in game). You just type your text in the chat window and press ENTER - the text appears above your head. Longer messages remain longer, for the conformity of reading them.

Hello everyone! I'm also one of the FOnline developers, just like Lexx; a while ago cronicler invited me here for a round of Q&A, so here I am Not sure, but IIRC there were moments during OBT2 where up to 500 players were online... Good thing the amount of client-server traffic is minimal so we don't really need the NYC-London backbone capacity to keep the game playable. Exactly. That's why we try to make places and events reflecting the world as it's been imagined in the heads of the original developers, not to promote power-gaming. It is a bit hard to comply to those guidelines in a MMO game (compared to single-player experience), but I believe we've made it, at least in the areas critical for the gameplay functionality. Instead of grinding encounters and go for the best weapons, armors and items in general, we have created a harsh environment where the scarce resources force cooperation, teaming up, exploration, economy based item creation, and much more. The factions system encourages you to role-play and introduces a political and economical frame to the wasteland. Everyone have their ideology and rules, and if you want to be a part of it, you'll have to meet the certain requirements. Unadapted players, among them mindless player-killers (PKs), which join the game just to shoot at something or to ruin the game for others will be punished by the wasteland itself. We do fail on quests, I admit, but... the players can organise themselves in such manner now that they can "make" the quests themselves. Defending a significant point, trading brahmin and slaves, oppressing the small settlement, bounty hunting, joining a "big" faction like NCR/Enclave/BoS/VC and spreading their influence and ideology - those are just some of the possibilities awaiting you. Gamemasters (GMs) and Admins will take care of you, pointing you to the right direction and even rewarding you after some time... Yours is just to (role)play. Other than that, more quests will be added during the upcoming beta test (we do have some quests already, don't worry). I'm really not an expert when it comes to Beth-IPlay contracts and I doubt any of us knows what exactly is written there. I wouldn't provide any opinion on that for now, so let's concentrate on Q&A about FOnline:2238. EDIT - Forgot to answer this: Small servers, for now. There won't be a lot of them though, I guess 3 or 4 for the upcoming open beta test. FOnline:2238 will be settled on 1 or 2 of them, but we may add more, according to the number of players.