Tactics Arena Online

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A screenshot of the game lobby in the commercial servers of TAO.

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 ^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] History

Vito Sze, the author of TAO, who goes by the online game handle of 'Seed', was an active Flash Artist before TAO, creating a single-player game much like TAO called Tactics Core. Tactics Arena was a huge success, and gave Seed to will to make an Online version of the game.

On October 29th 2003, Seed launched Tactics Arena Online. Within days of it's launch, Seed was forced to make numerous updates to help handle the sudden influx of players. Due to its success, in late November Seed was offered by a company called Flash Player Studios to sell them certain rights to the game. Seed agreed, and he now gets a share of the profits ^{[citation needed]}.

3 years, 11 more units, and numerous amounts of bugfixes and new features later, Seed's small-time game has turned into a big-time source of entertainment for hundreds of thousands of people.

[edit] Game Services

TAO servers operate on a two-tiered account system, one called "gray" and the other "gold,". The two types of accounts can be distinguished by the color of the font their name is displayed in. The gray, or free, accounts are limited in the units they can make use of, and also disconnect from the server at the conclusion of every match. On Legends server, gray accounts are kept if a player uses them more than once a month. The commercial TAO servers regularly delete all the gray accounts in a server wipe to help reduce lag on the servers (as several hundred thousand accounts are created every month).

For a fee (again varying depending on "Legends" or the TAO servers) you may upgrade your account to gold status. This grants you access to all the unit types in the game, no limitations to your chat speed, no disconnects after matches, and immunity from the regular server wipes (For Commercial Servers).

The Legends server fee is a one-time payment of US$10 or US$20. US$10 upgrades are called Single Gold Account, and US$20 upgrades are called Double Gold accounts. Double Gold accounts give you access to even more units. Being a member of Legends grants you first time access to new units and features, a one time payment, and a smaller and closer knit community.

The commercialized TAO servers has a fee of US$5 a month. This allows immunity against server wipes, upgraded forum status and priority access to customer service.

[edit] Available Units (Legends Server Orientated)

• - These Units can also be found in drops

A unit drop is occurs when the server on which you are playing declares a special message, usually denoted with preceding and trailing "***" (stars). The message applies only to players who are currently in battle. In battle, the winner of the match at the time of the drop is awarded with the unit offered in the server message. In addition, this holds true for intra-clan matches.

If you have won the match, you may go into your settings panel which may be accessed immediately after login on the right. Along with other unused units, the unit you have won should be present. However, if you have 25 units that are not in use, you may not access the unit you have won unless you delete an existing one to make room.

[edit] 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, suitable for all types of people. There are also "Clan Ranks" which are calculated by the various clan member's ratings. Clans are a great way to enjoy the game's community. They may be created in game via the "/Clan [clan name]" function by Gold accounts.

Also, clans add an additional form of competition to the game, whether this be quantitative scoring methods, or qualitative where you strive to attain the best players. Clans may also be looked at as a training ground, battles among players belonging to the same clan do not affect player scores (see above section). This is useful for testing formations, teaching new members, or an all out competitive match between members. Note that in the case of a Unit Drop, the winning player still recives the unit (it is not shared).

Mid-way through TAO's first month of existence, on the 1^st Generation forum of Legends Server, a user named Merforga, as well as a few other notable Australian players created a loose clan called Aussie clan. Aussie clan was comprised solely of Australian players. The formation of this forum clan led other forum users to talk about having in-game related clans. Nothing was done until Late November, 2003, when a user named PYRO instigated a number of other forum members, who banded together to voice their opinion about him, and other "noobish" players. Officially founded by TheRapizt, Alphaecho, and Keiphus, "The Noob Slayers" were formed, prizing their philosophy that only the best of the best be allowed in their clan. The clan later changed their name to "Slayer's Guild" a few weeks later, due to their concern that the name "Noob Slayers may imply they can only kill noobs. Other notable clans formed before TAO's official implementation of the clan system into the code were: Clan Fusion, Wolf Clan, Third Vector, and Final Fantasy. Other satirical clans were made in response, most notably Where the F*** is my Cat? ^[1] (WTFIMC?) Clan and Fruits Clan.

Around Christmas Day, 2003, Seed released the clan system to Legend's Server players.^{[citation needed]}

As of present, there are a multitude of clans that exist, including Judgement and cross-server organisations such as netjak.com and Strategic Insomniacs.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Legends server.
• Commercial server.