Anarchy Online Extreme

The Conflict

A word from the Story Director, trying to explain the conflict for the players on Rubi-Ka.

Editorial

By Anarchy Online's story director, Gaute Godager

In Anarchy Online there is a setting, a story and a conflict. Here I will focus on the conflict. The two sides of the conflict are Omni-Tek and the Clans. You can find aspects of these sides in any epic struggle, in real life and in adventures. Usually they take the form of good vs. evil, or dark vs. light.

(Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, has it: The Free People of the West vs. Sauron and his Hordes. WWII has it: The World vs. Hitler etc.) But many times in real life, they also come as a struggle between various shades of gray, where no part can be defined as the "good" or "evil" one. (The sad conflict of Northern Ireland, for instance.)

In Anarchy Online we have, after much discussion and much hesitation, decided to go with two clear-cut sides - one Light and one Dark. If you want to affect the game's main storyline, you will have to choose sides!

The choice not to choose is of course allowed too. But most likely, that will be a stand on the sidelines, rather than a stand in between.

Anarchy Online will follow a 4-year storyline, with episodes and seasons (very much inspired by some well-known, long-running series on television). The shifting tides of player allegiances will direct the story, along with our story staff. Which side will win has not yet been decided. But, make no mistake about it, one side will win! We have a solid goal with our story, and a clear-cut conflict. (No sissy "shades of grey" with ensuing Player Killer / Not Player Killer conflict…)

The conflict is, again, between the Clans and Omni-Tek. It is in one sense political, but is not real life! The dark side is the Dark side. The good characters must strive to be Good. It is designed to become a heroic tale of epic struggle. It must be grandiose, without the muddled "all sides have some merit" tactics of everyday struggles.

This is a grand adventure in the Tolkien-Star Wars-Babylon 5 sense! (And what a legacy it is!) You know who you are! Right now, you might wonder who would want to side with the dark Omni-Tek® corporation, for instance. My guess is that, after reading our column on choosing sides, it might be YOU!

Gaute Godager, Story Director Oslo, March 1999

The History of the Conflict

A look at the current conflict on Rubi-Ka, by a contemporary historian.

By Dr. Gretchen Sentendo of History, 29338 Silver City Historian Council, Silver City. Distributed by TSN.

Life and Death are intertwined in battle. So are light and dark. One cannot be without the other. Conflict shapes us, lets us grow, and trims us down to our essence. So it is, and so it must be. The goal of the conflict is also a conflict, a paradox in itself: peace and balance. This it will never attain, but all conflicts must strive, that is their nature. So it is too with the desolate planet of Rubi-Ka, the treasure chest of the Omni-Tek® corporation. The red and dry planet is scarcely populated. Much of its surface is an uninhabitable wasteland.

An interesting aspect of the inhabitants of Rubi-Ka not employed by Omni-Tek®, is that they instead fight the big corporation. Gathered in loose (or tightly-knit) structures called clans, the people actively oppose the hypercorporation's rule of the planet.

This can be seen as a very traditional struggle for freedom. It can also be deemed (as by Omni-Tek®) as terrorist activity. What is clear is that the struggle of the often poorly armed, but always dedicated guerrilla warriors has all the epic proportions of David vs Goliath.

The organization of the clans is not entirely known. It is rumored that there is an inter-clan organization supported by Omni-Tek® competitors, or even the ICC. Omni-Tek® uses the push of all its modern branches to stamp out the rebellion without using weapons of mass destruction - from direct assaults and military operations with Omni-Pol, through infiltration of Omni-IternOp, to halfhearted brainwashing attempts by Omni-Reform.

The Case of Rubi-Ka

Rubi-Ka is becoming a planet with increasing influence in the intergalactic power struggle. This feature tries to explain Rubi-Ka's significance.

From the archives of TrueSpace Network (TSN)
By Peter S. Homer of TSN 29442

To explain how the politics of the ICC have been employed to balance a very delicate situation, let us examine Rubi-Ka.

The planet Rubi-Ka is a galactic power center, only because it is the sole source of Notum, the vital element in the Nano-Bot production, in the the entire Galaxy.

When Omni-Tek® secured itself the lease-ownership of the planet, it was before other corporations knew anything about the Golden Red Dust of the so far unattractive planet. When ICC realized the enormous hold Omni-Tek® would get of the Intergalactic (IG) market they started to sanction the hypercorporation.

Even a hypercorporation with the internal strength of Omni-Tek® still depends on access to markets on the planets owned by other companies. Under such pressure, the unwilling Omni-Tek® yielded to ICC, granting restrictions on what they could and could not do.

These were set down in a 6,730-page contract, but can basically be summed up in the following points (this was in the year 3563):

Omni-Tek® gets a free extended lease of Rubi-Ka for 30,000 years.

Omni-Tek® gets sole ownership and export-rights to the planet's Notum ore.

Omni-Tek® will adhere to the Notum pricing standards set by the ICC.

Omni-Tek® will not persecute inhabitants of Rubi-Ka, who normally would be a free people after 5,000 years. (The normal span of the ICC Solar System lease rights. This clause has led to the interesting rise of something called "The Clans".)

Omni-Tek® will let other companies freely settle on the planet surface to conduct research.

Omni-Tek® will let all Nano-Tek® patents be freely available for reproduction with the standard profit margin allotted to the company.

All this has made Rubi-Ka one of the more interesting places in the Galaxy...

Source: Official Anarchy Online Page