Video games - Tactics Arena Online

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	Video games - Tactics Arena Online

Tactics Arena Online (sometimes referred to as TAO) is a turn-based strategy (TBS) multiplayer online game which pushes the limits of Flash MX. TAO is home to over 300 thousand players over two websites and several different servers.

History

The game was created by Vito "Seed" Sze (Also known as DigiSeed) on October 28, 2003. It was originally hosted on a server now called the Legends Server, which is still hosted by the games creator. Shortly after, in November of 2003, licensed commercial gaming servers known as the TAO Gaming servers, were brought online. The TAO Gaming Site hosts 3 general servers (Great Lakes, Banff and Armageddon) as well as a Gold account only server (Revelation). These servers are more heavily populated because of their larger size; they generate revenue to keep both versions up and running, and fund future developement. In January 2006 the TAO Gaming website was redesigned to match the theme of the Legends server.

"We have given the TAO website a complete face lift. The look and feel was created by Seed and fits the theme of the game a lot better then our old layout." (Quote from the TAO Gaming Website on 27 January 2006)

Gameplay

TAO is described as mixing Age of empires with Chess. The game is played on a board against an online human opponent. Each player starts with an equal number of pieces, but may choose the types and layout of those pieces. Formation is an integral part of the game strategy. Like chess, each piece has specific movement capabilties, but in addition has hit points (HP's), attack and defence attributes. A range of other attibutes are available, as well as 'moving pieces' which can walk, hack or throw a fireball after a player's move.

Chat is available in game and in a foyer area. Organizations called 'clans' have developed to take advantage of the multiplayer environment. The winner of a game earns 'stat' points off the loser; a public ranking list is available.

They game can be played for free with a basic 'Grey account'; these accounts get disconnected from the lobby after a short period of time, have chat restrictions, and are erased monthly. For a monthly fee, a permanent upgraded 'Gold account' allows access to additional units, clans, unlimited lobby time and opponent challenges. The most powerful units are restricted to a second upgraded account called the 'Double Gold'.

The TAO Gaming Servers feature a strong , with strategy, games and community discussions flourishing.

Clans

A clan is a group of players who chose to band together for any number of reasons; be it skill, temperament, or cultural identity. There are many clans on both the TAO Gaming and Legends servers, there are clans for all types of people. Clan rankings are calculated by taking into account the top 100 list on each server, and creating rankings for each individual server and overall rankings for all servers combined.

The first clan in TAO existed on the Legends server. Made up of the top players of the time, and brought together by a common hate of noobs, they called themselves the NoobSlayers (later changed into The Slayers Guild). They prompted the creation of the clan system in TAO but sadly, their clan is no longer active.

Grey-jumping

On both Legends and TAO, many members frown on players with gold accounts who initiate unsolicited games against players with grey accounts. Such players are called "Grey-jumpers." Because Gold account holders have a wider range of unit choices, they enjoy a significant advantage over similiarly skilled Grey account holders. Such contests are therefore generally quite lopsided, but allow a Gold player who makes a habit of initiating them to inflate his player ranking (or "Stat") by a series of easy wins. In response to the Grey-jumping phenomenon, a group of very skilled players who, using Grey accounts, are able to defeat Gold players have begun creating Grey accounts specifically for the purpose of defeating Grey-jumpers. They often intentionally surrender to other greys, driving down their Stat, in order to do the most possible damage to the ranking of an unsuspecting Grey-jumper. These Grey players who lie in ambush for Grey-jumpers are dubbed "Gold-jumpers."

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Tactics Arena Online ]

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