2002-07-10 00:39 UTC Archeological Time Travel
Today I played Anarchy Online for the first time in months. It was a lot of fun, more so than I expected. The game has definitely improved over time.
There are still plenty of bugs, though: things like graphics glitches and the occasional clipping problem. It was because of one of these clipping problems that I ended up transported back in time, back to when Tir was still being built. The suppression gas was not yet concentrated, the buildings were not yet built... even the moat had not yet been filled with water. Only the outer walls and the lie of the land had been completed.
I have a photographic record of my visit.
- Aerial Photograph. Prominently visible in the middle of the frame is the location of the whompas, a raised platform under which lies a popular branch of the Fair Trade supermarket chain. The landing platforms are already built (one is visible on the wall to the right of the picture). The moat is clearly dry.
- Closer View: West Gate is visible in the background. Compare this view to the bustling city that you would find if you visited Rubi-Ka today.
- Sand Storm: The weather is much calmer in recent days as well. Look how close the lightning came to hitting me in this photograph. These are the conditions that Tir's founders had to work in.
- In The Moat: The digging work for the moat has clearly already been completed. The character in the foreground of this picture is Coordinator Thyrin of the ARK, who materialised next to me in space and time to rescue me from my predicament. (The response time was admirable. I was very impressed.)
- Conversation: Here I am seen conversing with Coordinator Thyrin. Notice the billboard in the background. I found it surprising that advertising materials were placed so early in the development of the city. Presumably they were targetting the workers building the foundations for Tir. This raises further questions though: Where are the workers? Did I happen to fall into Tir during a weekend? Where is all the machinery? Did they pack it up each night for fear that clans might rebel and steal them? (I guess if that is the case, the fears were justified, since we did exactly that.)
I wonder if there are other parts of Rubi-Ka that can be visited by time travellers? Could the clans use these odd time travel effects (if the phrase can indeed be pluralised) to win the battle?