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Aion re-review by an MMO vet, and thoughts on the current state of the genre...
Now that the game has been out for roughly three months, and the people who cruised along on the one month free game-time that came with the initial purchase are long gone, I thought I would take another hard look at Aion, and re-assess my initial review. For those interested in reading it to compare, please check my post history. Blurb on my thoughts regarding the overall state of the game/genre to follow the review for those who dont want to read it all (tldr people just scroll to the bottom).
1) Stability - Initial Review -> 8.5/10 / New Review -> 8.5/10 (Total Change Of 0)
This, for me, has not changed at all. Im not running anything super-elite computerwise, my system being roughly two-three years old but it does the job fairly well (4gigs RAM, Nvidia 8800GTS 512mb, AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core 5000+). Honestly, I get a stutter here and there. I rubberband occasionally, I have to turn down my graphics a touch when im at a siege due to the sheer amount of stuff going on... but honestly, Aion is still as smooth now as it was at launch, which is ridiculous for a game thats as pretty as it is.
2) Graphics/Sounds - Initial Review -> 9.5/10 / New Review -> 9/10 (Total Change Of -0.5)
This one had to drop a bit for me, seeing as I have become thoroughly disinterested in listening to the Aion battle music and have switched all ingame music off in favour of my itunes library (Powermetal is this game's friend l,,l_(>_<)_l,,l). The graphics are still at the very height of what the genre has to offer, and I am sure that in time if things like DX10 (as was shown in the Aion Vision Trailer), new armor/weapon models, new environments/areas, the game's overall "look" will only improve.
3) Fun Factor - Initial Review -> 8/10 / New Review -> 7.5/10 (Total Change Of -0.5)
In my first review I pointed out the fact that the questing in Aion follows a fairly genre-standard format, and that there is a rather substantial grind. As an old EQ1 player from years past, lemme tell ya, we've got it pretty good these days where content is concerned, even in games like Aion... I kinda like that Aion isnt EZmode and that if you arent paying attention while fighting, say, Elites in Kaidan HQ, you will get your face handed to you, hard. This all being said, the game feels extremely linear as there is only the bare-bones content that came with the launch because the Devs have been spending time tackling the bot/RMT issues that people felt were the main ones to be concerned with rather than pushing out content patches which I am sure will come at some point, NCsoft likes to do things on their time, not that of its community. However, due to the fact that the game feels fairly stale at some points due to a lack of interesting things to do at level 40 without 1) A Solid Group and 2) Gold Gear, it had to drop a half point.
Essentially, it has made no progress since launch via content but is still fairly entertaining if youve got a decent legion (ORDO ELYSEA! WOO!) and good friends to play alongside.
4) Combat - Initial Review -> 9/10 / New Review -> 8/10 (Total Change Of -1)
This one lost a whole point for me because frankly it has gotten a tad stale staring at the same combat animations and working the same combos over and over. At first, the combo system seemed innovative, but then the "proc" abilities that only light up say, 10% of the time, got on my nerves. I dont like having to rely on a "maybe" ability if im under fire and need it to survive... Especially considering the fact that
5) Content - Initial Review -> 8/10 / New Review -> 7/10 (Total Change Of -1)
Having pushed a bit further than I got in OB, my Templar is almost 39, I can say that the actual quality of content, when it is there, is not horrible. The big problem, as I mentioned earlier in this re-review, is that there simply is not enough of it. The Aion Vision Trailer that was introduced recently showed some really neat stuff, but until it materializes it remains completely null with regards to actually aiding game content.
6) PvP - Initial Review -> 8/10 / New Review -> 8/10 (Total Change Of 0)
In my first review I had not seen what PvP had to offer. Now, having laid siege to a few fortresses in both lower and upper Reshanta, and having spent a good deal of time jaunting around the Abyss laying the proverbial smack down on Asmodians, I can say that it is, in a word, interesting. Granted, Aion PvP is not balanced around 1v1, and thus, solo hunting for some classes (like mine, Templar...) is difficult, but it is still very interesting. What I would very much like to see is more consequences for PvP death, as the current ones are very light and almost have no effect beyond running back to where you were from spawn and a slight abyss point loss.
7) Replayability - Initial Review -> 7/10 / New Review -> 7.5 (Total Change Of +0.5)
This has changed slightly due to the small increases in quest xp and such that they patched in with 1.5.1, thus making it a bit easier to jog through your 20s... Still alot missing though. Once you've done it, you dont necessarily want to do it again. Yes, the classes play differently which can make things a bit more interesting on a replay, no, the content is not more fun the second time around.
8) Crafting - Initial Review -> 8/10 / New Review -> 7/10 (Total Change Of -1)
My first character tried his hand at gathering/crafting and failed miserably because honestly, gathering is a frickin PITA to raise and I didnt have the time or patience to waste on it. I regret that slightly due to the quality of crafted gear that I am seeing on the broker now in later levels, but honestly you have to put in ALOT for the slim chances of getting something worthwhile in return. The fact that the crafting of superior items is based more on flukes than on individual crafter skill is fairly silly imho, and should be changed. Make the recipes harder to get, make them require more materials but proc more often or 100% of the time. Essentially, make the higher-quality crafting less random. Nothing sucks more than paying a crafter to make something only to have him go "Whoops, didnt proc a blue, heres your shitty green item" >_>.
9) Community - Initial Review 8/10 / New Review -> 9/10 (Total Change Of +1)
This has improved a great deal with the work NCsoft has done against the seemingly endless hordes of bots and RMTs. It also dosent hurt that alot of the people who honestly didnt like the game and were not contributing positively to its community have moved on due to the end of the free month with purchase. Perhaps I am biased as I have now joined a spectacular legion, and have alot more contacts on Lumiel than I did at launch, but I have seen the community improve since OB.
10) Originality - Initial Review 8/10 / New Review -> 7.5/10 (Total Change Of -0.5)
There have been one or two moments where I kinda sat back and went "Wow, that was pretty epic/cool" (Duoing FT for the first time with my cleric friend, my first big siege, first pvp kills in the abyss, etc). The only problem is that once that initial "Wow" feeling is gone, and you slip back into the grind, the game's shine kinda dims a tad. Honestly, Aion is solid in concept and I really hope that some of the stuff in their Vision trailer makes it ingame. We shall see how things play out over the next few months.
Overall - Initial Review -> 82/100 / New Review -> 79.5/100
In my opinion, Aion is still a very solid game with alot to offer and a metric crapton of potential... Whether NCsoft actually fleshes the game out to the point where it truly achieves said potential remains to be seen. In all honesty, a couple content patches over the next six months could really make this one shine, and it is to date one of the most solid, stable, graphically impressive MMOs ever released imho. It does get a tad old after a couple months due to lack of content... but lets face it, the frickin thing is only 3 months live, if that.
With regards to Aion and the genre as a whole, I think we have all become far too impatient. Back in the day (here I go with my veteran's tirade) we had to grind uphill, in ten feet of snow, with no sabatons! And we were lucky to have a bit of bronze armor at the end of it all! No shiny fancy epic froofyness! Forget about tons of quests to carry you through! You SOMETIMES got a quest here and there that you could turn in for faction points! SOMETIMES! Ahem >_>... seriously though, NCsoft has shown alot of moxy with their tackling of the bot problem, and have made alot of progress on that front. If people would just be patient and give them a little time, I am sure that the other things that are required to make this game great will show up in force.
Cheers!
Comments
Good non-bias review.
My god what a jackass!!!!!!!!
Yes this is the final post here because it will probably get me banned and honestly with posts like the one I am quoting I don't care. This site has become a playground for unruly children.
My god what a jackass!!!!!!!!
Yes this is the final post here because it will probably get me banned and honestly with posts like the one I am quoting I don't care. This site has become a playground for unruly children.
Actually, more disturbing than posts like you quoted is that everyone thinks they have to "review" MMOs in the general discussion section.
This forum has a place for reviews and if someone thinks his "review" isn't read enough, they could simply post a "read my review about this game, please" and write that review where it belongs.
You're calling glofish a jackass, I'm saying glofish has grown tired to these self proclaimed mmo veterans and amateur reviewers. There's 13 in a dozen of those, you know.
NM
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
My god what a jackass!!!!!!!!
Yes this is the final post here because it will probably get me banned and honestly with posts like the one I am quoting I don't care. This site has become a playground for unruly children.
Actually, more disturbing than posts like you quoted is that everyone thinks they have to "review" MMOs in the general discussion section.
This forum has a place for reviews and if someone thinks his "review" isn't read enough, they could simply post a "read my review about this game, please" and write that review where it belongs.
You're calling glofish a jackass, I'm saying glofish has grown tired to these self proclaimed mmo veterans and amateur reviewers. There's 13 in a dozen of those, you know.
But Glo didn't have to read the thread or respond, particularly if he had no interest as he claims.
Dude he is a Vet! I heard hes been playing Alganon sense beta!
that made me laugh for a good 2-3 minutes.
AFAIK there is 1 starting zone and a quite linear world. You raised your rating to 7.5 because of increased experience.
Now if I read between the lines, you actually say "Replayability is now better, because you can pass the level content faster".
This would mean, Replayability is a question of levelspeed.
Could you name one or two games, where you give a rating of 5 or below in this category? Or what rating would you give games like EQ2 or WoW?
Exactly! I've grown enormously tired of peeps clamoring for prestige with words like "MMO vet" - it's insulting- then giving meaningless numerical ratings then arguing whether the game improved by 0.5 while being measured by these arbitrary, made up units.
*shrugs* Your choice to care or not. I post reviews on games because honestly, sometimes a well-written review can sway someone to try the game in question or to leave it be. If you dont give a shit that im writing a review on a game ive been playing steadily since OB, that is also your choice. Flame away fishypoo, it does me no harm whatsoever.
As for the stab at my calling myself an MMO Vet. well, have a glance at my game history. Its been my hobby for over ten years. *shrugs* Just callin it like I see it really, I have a good deal of experience with the genre as a whole. Now, that isnt to say that that fact makes my opinion more or less valid, but hey, why hide the experience I've got? If anything it lends at least a shade of credibility to the things im talking about because I am familiar with the ins and outs of many games and thus have the ability to compare the current game im reviewing to others that I have played.
What skin is it off of your back if I write my little review btw? If you think it does some sort of detriment to these forums, I would argue that your rampant negativity does far more harm.
Exactly! I've grown enormously tired of peeps clamoring for prestige with words like "MMO vet" - it's insulting- then giving meaningless numerical ratings then arguing whether the game improved by 0.5 while being measured by these arbitrary, made up units.
And I am most definitely not "clamoring for prestige"... That is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a very long time. I write reviews now and then because I enjoy sharing my perspective with others of like mind, not because I'm trying to become king of the little hill that is these forums. Believe me when I say there are far more important things going on in my life than what happens here :P heh.
You on the other hand, seem to be fighting quite hard for the title of "Big Turd in a Little Bowl", but then again, that might just be how it seems on my side of things... Could be wrong yaknow? >_>
I know you meant all well and good, but you overrated everything. You enjoy the game, I get that. But that's all I got out of the review. Please read 10,000 serious and professional reviews and try to understand why and how they rate things, before spending so much time creating a long detailed "review" like this. I have never seen a professional, trust worthy critic rate any game as well as you did on so many levels.
You also created very long paragraphs, with little to no proper formatting. It makes it very hard to read.
I mean this as constructive criticism, not as a flame.
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My god what a jackass!!!!!!!!
Yes this is the final post here because it will probably get me banned and honestly with posts like the one I am quoting I don't care. This site has become a playground for unruly children.
Actually, more disturbing than posts like you quoted is that everyone thinks they have to "review" MMOs in the general discussion section.
This forum has a place for reviews and if someone thinks his "review" isn't read enough, they could simply post a "read my review about this game, please" and write that review where it belongs.
You're calling glofish a jackass, I'm saying glofish has grown tired to these self proclaimed mmo veterans and amateur reviewers. There's 13 in a dozen of those, you know.
I'll take a constructive and well thought out viewpoint on a game over a dbags bias comment like glofish's reply anyday. Waste of paging bandwidth on my modem.
IMHO, mmorpg's general discussion forums aren't even "Discussions" anymore anyways. So I don't see the problem having something written that doesn't make your IQ leak every second you look at it. And fyi, most people like me don't even bother to check the review section, hence the lack of reads.
That doesn't mean I dislike reviews, it's just like the history channel. You NEVER flip to the channel to watch something specific, but you get interested when you flip by it and something interesting catches your eye. If the mods on mmorpg.com didn't see it the same way they would be equally as nazi as the community and constantly lock/move threads like these. They don't. Or maybe they just don't care??? IF they don't care, then even more reason we shouldn't really see it as a big deal.
just my 10 cents.
Exactly! I've grown enormously tired of peeps clamoring for prestige with words like "MMO vet" - it's insulting- then giving meaningless numerical ratings then arguing whether the game improved by 0.5 while being measured by these arbitrary, made up units.
I've grown even more tired of you making my eyes bleed with your hatred of anything and everything you call foul on. Why should anyone care about your opinion if you don't give a shit about anyone elses.
It's just backpeddling anything constructive, and FYI, there is nothing wrong with calling yourself a MMO vet. Unless it's something people feel jelous over. Because usually when people are disgusted with any claim for notoriability, it is becasue they feel it HAS to be with some ill intent.
The guy who posted the review is like me. He is trying post something he seriously thought up, and you aren't trying to post garbage threads like most of the other people, so naturally he doesn't want people to think it's all a pile of crap that nobody will find trustworthy.
Now i'm not saying I completely agree with his view, but I DO however believe that it was sincere and honest to himself. Which counts for alot, and I didn't even half to read the "MMO Vet" label to see that. It's the thought that is put into the literature in the meat of the review. Of course, you wouldn't recognize that as
A: Negative people don't look or care about what other people put into something well thougt out.
B: You are not smart enough to pick up on this, or you didn't even read it.
The only way to give a "Trusted opinion" on forums, is to state where you are coming from on the subject. Whether you believe someone who claims to be a MMO vet or not is up to the user, but NOT EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE FORUMS IS OUT TO DECEIVE.
I'd like to see you make a post that's halfway decent someday. All I see you do is discourage discussion and open minded thought. And i'm not saying that out of me being a ass, i'd honestly love to see you do 1 thing on these forums that doesn't just sap up the bandwidth.
Honestly glofish, it only takes 10 seconds to tell if somebody is trying to bask and clamore, or if they are just trying to get peope to take them a little more seriously. Which is something that is seriously lacking on online forums.
Exactly! I've grown enormously tired of peeps clamoring for prestige with words like "MMO vet" - it's insulting- then giving meaningless numerical ratings then arguing whether the game improved by 0.5 while being measured by these arbitrary, made up units.
And I am most definitely not "clamoring for prestige"... That is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a very long time. I write reviews now and then because I enjoy sharing my perspective with others of like mind, not because I'm trying to become king of the little hill that is these forums. Believe me when I say there are far more important things going on in my life than what happens here :P heh.
You on the other hand, seem to be fighting quite hard for the title of "Big Turd in a Little Bowl", but then again, that might just be how it seems on my side of things... Could be wrong yaknow? >_>
Glofish is notorious for being completely negative on just about every single post. He claims he is not a troll, but even if he isn't, he doesn't exactly say anything worth taking seriously. Notice how he completely ignored your review and only jabbed you on points like the fact that you stated you where a MMO vet... Theres nothing wrong with that, yet, it's the easiest thing to pick up on and become completely negative over.
Is the fish tank half full, or half empty? Glofish's fish tank is half empty, and he's starving for air. So everyone else has to suffocate with him.
Content? you started off by saying " the actual quality of content , when it is there, is not horrible" Suffice to say your contradicting yourself. you gave content 7/10 which should be way lower. The only thing to do really is Abyss and siege and gank people or grind . Im not saying Aion is not a good game but to give the current content a score of 7 is just cheating your review. I would give content currently a 4 because the game still needs more content to keep people occupied.
I would give you a guest pass to SWOTR, but then I wouldn't be able to find a way to live with myself afterwards....
Simply don't read his/her review if you don't want to. Everyone has the right to write a review. how can you say he over-reviews when it's his/her -own- review ? i enjoyed his review. i'd even read a review from someone who praised an MMO I can't stand because I would find it interesting and they have the right to. and who cares about the 'vet/elite' gamer tag. so what. again, just because there are 12 movies at your local theater does mean you have to watch them all. you've seen the previews and it is still at your theater, but you don't have to see it.
Good review, but this will be updated and go down dramatically when you get to endgame. I thought the game was awesome and was sold on it until I got to 50 and have pretty much nothing to do. I started another toon and am really bored. I am interested to see some reviews when the OP or others get to endgame.
This is why ALL reviews are completly dumb and useless. Can anyone explain me, something that is beeing rated from 1 to 10... get a 7 on such a negative opinion about a particular point? From your crafting review, I would give it a 3 or a 4. Why a 7... can ANYONE explain me?
Enough reviews please, people dont need them. Fanboys and haters loves reviews. And worse, reviews are made from fanboys, haters or people that get some cash to make them. And i wonder who pay what, when, why, for good or bad reviews etc etc etc
))
I've kept playing Aion, in spite of some serious misgivings, because there is just nothing else that has caught my attention in the genre.
Early on, I cited some flaws for the game. After time has passed, those flaws have been confirmed for me.
PvP. The biggest problems here are that most PvP is not level range restricted, on top of that, higher level characters get huge evasion/resist bonuses, rather than relying on gear and class skill progression to provide the advantage. Also, showing opposing players on Radar removes any thrill of the hunter/hunted dynamic. For a game so heavily weighted on PvP, these are huge flaws that for many ruin any enjoyment that PvP might have otherwise offered.
World Size. I said at launch the world size was way too small. After playing a few months, it feels absolutely tiny. Not only does this make game play even more boring and repetitive, put it also ruins the excitement of world PvP seen in other games.
That you might, through wits, attentiveness and quick reaction, be able to adventure productively in contested areas, or even behind enemy lines, has always been the thrilling factor for me when it comes to World PvP. In Aion, that's gone. You know you will be found fairly quickly. No chance to duck behind a tree or a hill, or lose a foe in the thick underbrush. Every encounter is kill or be killed, tempered by the knowledge that if they are three or more levels higher than you, unless they are brain dead or from a class yours dominates in the rock>paper>scissors mathematics, you will be dead.
The game has many pluses and minuses, but these two are the biggest reasons I see my time with this game coming to an abrupt end in the near future.
The world is far too small to foster long term interest in the game and PvP is almost completely flubbed, seemingly designed to appeal (long term), to no one except high level griefers.
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exactly hell even 45+ after 40 this game goes down hill faster than a fat kid in a sled.
You people don't actually believe that PR crock of crap that is the Aion Vision Trailer do you? It ain't gonna happen. Accept your reality. How many decent patches has NC released to the North American version since release? How many people have since cancelled accounts? The vision trailer is nothing more than a feeble PR attempt to regain subscribers. NC soft really needs to recognize that the North American people are not the same type of people that NC (China) is used to dealing with ..or are we? The moron lvl of americans does seem to be rising. I digress!
You made it to 50! What the hell are you bitching about? That's higher than I will ever see if I play for the next 5 years. No matter how much content a game has you will eventually get to the end of it. Especially you no life slobs.(lol) Perhaps it is time you moved on to the next game. Lack of content my ass...............Good god!
Good work having no basis for your argument.... I guess they just made the vision trailer to keep subs and wasted hours and hours of development time to show a video they have no interest in implementing. Give me a break.... You're right about one thing.... the moron level of Americans does seem to be rising... I assume, you're American?
To the OP - very good review. I agree with almost everything (a few I don't but they are subjective and opinionated so we can certainly agree to disagree). Overall though - one of the better reviews I'd read on Aion, especially on this forum.
Ye they will release the stuff in Aion Vision. But the same stupid parasites will play the game and post on forums.