They will undoubtedly lose some of their eastern audience as well, especially to FFXI which already has an established following over there. NCsoft has some serious work to do on this game, and as for those who said that no mmo can be complete, this is true, but in this respect "finished" meant ready for release. You cannot say this game was ready for western release, you can call me a troll, but it wasn't. Hardly any games that came out in 09 were ready, or any year before that really. The reason I pick on this game is because it truly can be something good,if they choose to make it so, and also because it was already out in asia for months (according to some exactly a year ago), and the fact that even though it had been out pre western release for months and still wasn't ready doesn't look very good for NCsoft or it's korean counterpart.
It is always interesting to see people post that a game is supposed to be this or supposed to be that as I wonder where they get this information since it never comes from the developers. They state that the target market is this group or that group and a lot of other facts that seem to be spun out of thin air.
But, addressing the OP as has been stated no one has said that Aion is finished nor that it is perfect. And while there is not a ton of content anywhere in the game at the moment there is in fact content available at every level up to and including at level 50. The issue with any game is that people get bored and want to do something new and possibly different so new content needs to be added. Comparing content simply on the amount available is a bit misleading since if you take an established game like WoW or EQ you will find that very few people are doing very much but a small amount of the available content with the great majority of it sitting idle. Right now in Aion there is activity going on non-stop in all the areas of the game and while there are plenty of level 50 players the majority of people are still in their 40s at this time. Without any doubt Aion needs more content to keep up interest in the player base and supposedly they are doing this though nothing specific has been announced and I'm not refering to the vision trailer which is a much more generic and future looking statement.
The poster who stated that EU/NA market is of no importance to NCsoft is probably quite mistaken. If you take the 13 euro monthyly fee that comes out to about 15 million Euros per year for every 100,000 customers. 300k customers would generate around 45 million euros and that is a healthy amount of revenue for any company and certainly enough to keep NCsoft interested and the developers employed and busy.
Aion currently seems to be working even with the issues it has had in the past and the ones coming in the future. The game does not seem to be growing but neither does it appear to be declining by much either. The bonus weekends have annoyed many of the hardcore players but it was probably a good idea for the holiday season as it has brought in new players and they seem to be enjoying it. NCsoft does seem to be listening and addressing issues and concerns though they have been moving a bit slowly and still fail to communicate to the players clearly and frequently enough but they certainly aren't ignoring the players and that is a good sign for the future.
If NCsoft can continue to work on the current issues and bring out new content in a timely manner there is no reason that they won't be able to maintain their current player base but there are a lot fo interesting games out there now and more coming out and if they fail to work hard and be responsive then they might indeed be finished.
No it's not but the clock is running out on Aion before mmos like The Old Republic,Guild W ars 2 and FFXIV dominate the pc mmo market unless they are not concerned about losing the NA/EU following.
I will be glad when these games come out. So that people can run over play thme for 2 monthes then come back to MMORPG and complain how much they are bored, there's not content, and it takes too long/short to level. My point is that wether people realize it or not....most poeple that complain and cry will do it no matter what they play. People need to stop all this game hopping and pick something they can stick with,grow some roots. Always jumping to the next new game will always leave you a little hollow.
Most people do jump from game to game and bitch about a certain game,I haven't played Aion yet since I'm tired of fantasy games but I just can't wait to play STO,sucky for some or no,it doesn't concern me,I know I will have a blast in STO and will be stuck on it for a long time. Only reason why I'm on MMORPG.com is to give me a idea of future releases or a reference to existing MMO's I have never tried. Never will I be on MMORPG.com to judge a game by its Hype Level or whatever 80% of the dimwits say about a particular game,because lets face it,the day the perfect game is released it will take a year before the game gets boring and people start bitching about it. My only reason for posting on this thread is because it caught my attention on the ignorance of people. The game isn't what you expected it to be? Too bad and move on,why even post something that a game isn't finished yet? Do you think I pre ordered my copy of STO thinking that the game will be complete at launch?Of cource not. Computer games have a luxury that a console game will never have : Expansions. Could you imagine consoles like Wii/Xbox/PS3 releasing half finished games? We'd be in WW3 right now. Granted,some companies are slower then others on releasing expansions to their MMO's but in the end,what the "F" do you people think doing about it? You got 2 choices,keep playing or just quit. You payed 50$ for a MMO you didn't like? Too bad for you on judgeing a game by a Hype meter.
This thread should end here,no point on keeping this thread alive,since in the end it all comes down to your personal likeing.With this said,Happy Holidays to all and live long and prosper (^.^)v <- Vulcan salute
No it's not but the clock is running out on Aion before mmos like The Old Republic,Guild W ars 2 and FFXIV dominate the pc mmo market unless they are not concerned about losing the NA/EU following.
I will be glad when these games come out. So that people can run over play thme for 2 monthes then come back to MMORPG and complain how much they are bored, there's not content, and it takes too long/short to level. My point is that wether people realize it or not....most poeple that complain and cry will do it no matter what they play. People need to stop all this game hopping and pick something they can stick with,grow some roots. Always jumping to the next new game will always leave you a little hollow.
I understand what you are saying because I played FFXI for over 2 years but you can't blame people for mmo hopping. MMOs today are not as good as they once were. MMOs are very theme parked and very soloable. Today people run through content like it is water. Developers need a different strategy because the current one isn't working.
No it's not but the clock is running out on Aion before mmos like The Old Republic,Guild W ars 2 and FFXIV dominate the pc mmo market unless they are not concerned about losing the NA/EU following.
I will be glad when these games come out. So that people can run over play thme for 2 monthes then come back to MMORPG and complain how much they are bored, there's not content, and it takes too long/short to level. My point is that wether people realize it or not....most poeple that complain and cry will do it no matter what they play. People need to stop all this game hopping and pick something they can stick with,grow some roots. Always jumping to the next new game will always leave you a little hollow.
I understand what you are saying because I played FFXI for over 2 years but you can't blame people for mmo hopping. MMOs today are not as good as they once were. MMOs are very theme parked and very soloable. Today people run through content like it is water. Developers need a different strategy because the current one isn't working.
This man speaks the truth. Game hopping is about finding something worth sticking around for, if the games they are trying don't prove themselves to the player of course the player will keep looking elsewhere. Why accept mediocrity when you know the medium is capable of much more?
Ofcourse no game can offer something completely new, that's entirely my point. The point is that WoW was just as much as a grind as Aion is, the difference is that WoWs grind is at the endgame while Aions grind is mixed up during the actual leveling.
Why would you play anything but Tetris then? You choose to define any repetitive activity as "grinding". Fine. Then there's no difference what to "grind" - raid bosses or regular mobs... or colored squares. Tetris is the obvious choice. It has scaling difficulty, it's infinite, it's perfectly balanced and it's free.
Neither Strat nor scholo was challenging. Challenging doesn't exist in mmorpgs as far as PVE is concerned. If you couldn't do a certain instance in WoW, it's not because your skill is lacking, it's because you don't have the right equipment. PVE in mmorpgs is all about numbers.
That would be true... if people were flawless calculators. And I was talking about average player, my friend.
In old WoW, it was impossible to get the good pvp rewards. You do know that the honor system was completely different in early WoW than it is now, right? Only the most hardcore, and by hardcore I don't mean good, I mean people who put a lot of time in the game, could get the rewards.
So BWL and AQ40 lacked challenge but getting enough honor during a week was impossible? Funny, it was the other way round for me and for my friends.
The rewards for facting grinding were not worth achieving. There is no point in trying to pretend it was worthy end game content because it wasn't.
Because you say so? :-) In fact, everything you see on your monitor while you're playing is pixels. Are some pixels more valuable than other pixels? My point is: you may be as much of a calculator as you wish, but some people actually play for fun. Have you ever thought about this?
Also you're little content list isn't exactly impressive. 4 of the things you mentioned require a raiding group of 60 people or more.
Aren't MMOs called MMOs because they're supposed to promote group play? At least a little bit? No?
While there were 2 battlegrounds, Alcetrac valley rarely opened. Battlegrounds were not linked back then and you couldn't line up in que from the main cities, so most people played Warsong Gulch because that was the only one gave more honor and was actually being played.
/sigh
In 1.9.0 there were 3 BGs (because AB was added 1.7.0) and I had no trouble getting into AV on my low-populated server.
I'm not intending to criticize WoWs endgame back then, as I just said it would simply be unrealistic to have as much endgame content as they do have now. What I'm saying is that complaining about the grind in Aion is just silly.
A curious logic. It's not 2005 out there anymore. Cataclysm will probably hit the market in 6-7 months. Life's hard. If you're a game developer and you want to get somewhere, you must run at least twice as fast as your more successful competitors.
Aion costs $15/month, the same as WoW. And customers have every right to expect the same value for their money. And speaking of unrealistic - it'd be totally unrealistic if NCSoft expected people to keep playing for long. I hear Koreans are big fans of grindfest games, but things are a bit different around here.
Your comparisson to tetris is just silly. Maybe because Tetris has nothing that makes an mmorpg and mmorpg? Please think a little before posting.
The average player will have no problem playing through any of WoWs content because it is incredibly easy. Tank uses tank skills, DPS uses dps skills and healer uses heal skills. There are no advanced tactics or twitch skills required. It's not exactly rocket science.
Yes getting enough honor to get the high end items was impossible for anyone but the most hardcore players. Again, keep in mind that the honor system was different back then than it is now.
As a matter of fact, yes. Some pixers are more valuable than other pixels, which is why a high level epic sword is worth more than a low level.grey sword. Ofcourse people play for fun, but guess what: Character progression is one of the most important things of every mmorpg. If you take away character progression, WoW would be shut down by now. Also, faction grinding meant killing the same enemy over and over again which is exactly what you accusse Aion of as a bad thing.
MMOS are called MMOs because they involved many players playing in the same persistent world. Raids do not make an mmo. The problem with 60 man raids is that its a pain to actually get it started. Blizzard had to implant all kinds of grouping mechanics just to get 5 people in a group, imagine how it is to get 60. The 60 man raids were almost exclusively to big guilds, which is why the 60 people number was dropped in future raids.
AV was almost entirely empty and there were many complaints about it. They linked all the servers for a reason.
If you expect any new mmorpg to have as much content as WoW at release, then I hope you really enjoy WoW because it is the only mmorpg you will ever play. It is completely unrealistic to expect any brand new mmorpg to have as much content as a game that has been running for 5 years.
People will continue to play Aion for a very, very long time. Its already one of the most popular mmorpgs in the west and especially the east.
They will undoubtedly lose some of their eastern audience as well, especially to FFXI which already has an established following over there. NCsoft has some serious work to do on this game, and as for those who said that no mmo can be complete, this is true, but in this respect "finished" meant ready for release. You cannot say this game was ready for western release, you can call me a troll, but it wasn't. Hardly any games that came out in 09 were ready, or any year before that really. The reason I pick on this game is because it truly can be something good,if they choose to make it so, and also because it was already out in asia for months (according to some exactly a year ago), and the fact that even though it had been out pre western release for months and still wasn't ready doesn't look very good for NCsoft or it's korean counterpart.
Sorry but you really have no idea what you're talking about.
The vast majority of Aion subscribers are in China and South Korea. Final Fantasy is only popular in Japan as far as asia is concerned. Final Fantasy XI was not even released in china or Korea, and I don't think Final Fantasy XIV will be released there either.
Aion was absolutely ready for western release. The amount of content is on par with other new western releases.
Plz .. at least get the facts right before you start to argue on these forums.
WOW was not a fast lvler at launch mainly because there wasn't the same massive flow of information about quests and dungeons as there is now. WOW on the other hand has changed the face of MMOS when it comes to lvling curve over the past 3-4 years and thats probably the main reason why ppl are complaining. ITs not like games like AOC had a none grind free launch ? And that game was supposed to be very fast lvler.. with 80 worthless lvls...
Originally posted by Gameloading Your comparisson to tetris is just silly. Maybe because Tetris has nothing that makes an mmorpg and mmorpg? Please think a little before posting.
Your logic is silly. My comparison to Tetris only shows flaws in your arguments. If all repetitive activity is grinding and all grinding is equal, then no game has advantages over Tetris. OK, MMOs have chat. But you don't have to buy a game to chat with your friends.
You need to realize that what you call "instance grinding" isn't the same thing as monotonous and mind-numbing killing of trash mobs. Especially when the latter is done solo.
The average player will have no problem playing through any of WoWs content because it is incredibly easy. Tank uses tank skills, DPS uses dps skills and healer uses heal skills. There are no advanced tactics or twitch skills required. It's not exactly rocket science.
Yeah, vanilla Naxx was incredibly easy. Yeah. /sarcasm off
You have never touched any kind of advanced end-game in WoW. So much is clear.
Yes getting enough honor to get the high end items was impossible for anyone but the most hardcore players.
Repeating false statements doesn't make them true. It took 4-5 months to get Rank 14. And only 2-3 months to get Rank 13. Yes, BEFORE they changed honor system. It wasn't exactly a casual endeavor but it was certainly easier than starting a new guild and leading it to beat AQ40.
As a matter of fact, yes. Some pixers are more valuable than other pixels, which is why a high level epic sword is worth more than a low level.grey sword. Ofcourse people play for fun, but guess what: Character progression is one of the most important things of every mmorpg. If you take away character progression, WoW would be shut down by now.
You mix up character progression with new content. Not many people would want to play the same CONTENT for five years, here I agree. But no-one in his right mind plays just to earn "better" pixels. Even when people seem to show off their gear, they're actually showing off their success at beating content.
Also, faction grinding meant killing the same enemy over and over again which is exactly what you accusse Aion of as a bad thing.
Reputations were optional in early vanilla WoW. At least until ZG and AQ. Also ZG and AQ reps were tied to instances. They were just a bonus. More or less it's been the same ever since.
In Aion, grind is mandatory. And that's the difference.
MMOS are called MMOs because they involved many players playing in the same persistent world. Raids do not make an mmo. The problem with 60 man raids is that its a pain to actually get it started. Blizzard had to implant all kinds of grouping mechanics just to get 5 people in a group, imagine how it is to get 60. The 60 man raids were almost exclusively to big guilds, which is why the 60 people number was dropped in future raids.
When you first wrote "60 man raid" I thought it was a typo. Now I see it wasn't. There were no 60 man raids in WoW. Ever. Why do you even try to discuss something you know so poorly?
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
aion is not community friendly.it also required too much classes just to form a instance team compare to other mmorpg.u end up wasting a lot of time finding team members.the flight time limit is repetitive as well...one of the main reason why i hate going abyss.the time spend on traveling is a bit long but the cost of traveling is ridiculous for some cases. i wont even touch on all the cons of end game content it have as well as the lack of inventive event...ncsoft gms seldom held events in game also -.-
anyway aion is only good for a small group of players.most of us who tried it have already quit.i agreed l2 will be more fun if u like grinding type of mmo compare to aion.aion is finished in the sense for me.i wont ever go back and subscribe again.
The problem isn't with the game. It's with the unrealistic expectations of some people. These people often compare a new game to already long established games and claim there is not enough content and the game is a grind.
Here is a reality check: When you play a brand new mmorpg, expect there to either be a grind or a lack of endgame content.
The simple fact is that expecting a new mmorpg to provide and experience that will entertain you for months with thousands of quests as you level and have a varied and re-playable endgame is simply unrealistic.
People often compare this game to WoW. WoW currently has a huge amount of content, there are quests along the entire way and there is a varied, rich endgame for both PVE and PVP players. WoW has this because it has grown over the years. However, it wasn't like this at release There were 60 man raid dungeons at the end, and that was it. Battlegrounds you say? didn't exist. Honor system? Wasn't there yet. Arenas? Not there. Multiple difficulty levels? Faction grinding? Open world objectives? You get the idea.
Blizzard put a lot of effort in the way to level up to level 60 with lots of quests to do. They made leveling fast, painless and fun. The result was that people leveled up to level 60 in a few weeks and then found out there was nothing left to do besides either quit or make a new character. Aion on the other hand has spread out their content more and slowed down leveling a bit. While this does have parts where you have to grind, at least you always have something to do and you're always making progress. An MMORPG is never truly finished because it never stops growing. Like WoW, Everquest and Final Fantasy XI, Aion needs to grow.
This is the attitude that let's developers think they can release games with hardly any content at launch. Comparing new mmo's to old ones is apples and oranges. It's like saying, "Well the first cars didn't have leather seats and airbags, so we should just expect it to be like that forever".
Bottom line is when you have quite a bit of quest up to about level 30-33, then it drops off completely. You released an unfinished product. This is 2009 not 2003, quit using the " Well WoW was like that" argument,
Aion will fail simply because you need to grind mobs from 30-50 in the same places for hours and the endgame pvp isn't there.
I will always believe in what I am about to say: people complain about lack of content because they have no life. if you want me to add on to it just ask...it makes perfect sense. go throw a frisbee and not max a toon out in one day!
Originally posted by Sukiyaki I jut said many and most vocal player complain about lack of content even if there is content available aslong as there arent big xp candies involved so they can easily skip all that "tiresome" content that requires or rewards effort in form of socializing, grouporganisation, thinking about your combatstile, and class to improve efficiency of your playstyle, think nonlinear with multiple playerdriven tasks etc etc
You missed the point. In WoW you have several options. If you want to grind, you can grind. If you want quests, there's enough of them 1-80. If you want group play, you can get a group and level via instances. If you want to polish your skill, you can even level via PvP now.
No-one forces you to do quests in WoW. You can skip all of them if you don't like them.
And there's nothing wrong with grinding as long as it's a matter of personal preference. As long as you're not forced into grinding by the lack of any other ways.
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
Wow, you guys sure love arguing with each other. I'm not a fanboy of either game. I played WoW for years and currently I am playing Aion. Here is what I can tell you:
In the beginning WoW's endgame was not riddled with quests. The fastest leveling I found was grinding. My buddy and I ground out the last few levels in Sithilus on a PvP server. That was when the zone wasn't even finished. There wasn't any quests for that zone. There were several quiet spots where we could just grind away without pvp interference. Perhaps you don't remember that about the zone.
Currently I'm level 38 in Aion and my quest log is full. I've matured in my gaming years and don't feel a need to rush to the end. I would say most people prefer to grind in Aion because the quest incentives aren't that great. The campaign quests offer great XP, but the rest don't. All the item rewards are meager. However, there is the option to quest whether people do it or not. Doing the group quests will net you some decent xp just because you will need to spend time killing (grinding) elites.
Does WoW offer more than Aion. Yes. Is Aion horrible and lacking tons of content. No. Is it for everyone? No. If you don't like the PvP servers in WoW then you won't like Aion. I'm also playing Fallen Earth and I think the freedom it offers is amazing, go figure. Everyone will have their own opinion, and that is all it is, one person's opinion. Yes, Aion could use more content but some people like myself are happy with it now and will be more happy when future additions come.
Wow, you guys sure love arguing with each other. I'm not a fanboy of either game. I played WoW for years and currently I am playing Aion. Here is what I can tell you: In the beginning WoW's endgame was not riddled with quests. The fastest leveling I found was grinding. My buddy and I ground out the last few levels in Sithilus on a PvP server. That was when the zone wasn't even finished. There wasn't any quests for that zone. There were several quiet spots where we could just grind away without pvp interference. Perhaps you don't remember that about the zone. Currently I'm level 38 in Aion and my quest log is full. I've matured in my gaming years and don't feel a need to rush to the end. I would say most people prefer to grind in Aion because the quest incentives aren't that great. The campaign quests offer great XP, but the rest don't. All the item rewards are meager. However, there is the option to quest whether people do it or not. Doing the group quests will net you some decent xp just because you will need to spend time killing (grinding) elites. Does WoW offer more than Aion. Yes. Is Aion horrible and lacking tons of content. No. Is it for everyone? No. If you don't like the PvP servers in WoW then you won't like Aion. I'm also playing Fallen Earth and I think the freedom it offers is amazing, go figure. Everyone will have their own opinion, and that is all it is, one person's opinion. Yes, Aion could use more content but some people like myself are happy with it now and will be more happy when future additions come. Play whatever makes you happy.
Good post and I agree.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I jut said many and most vocal player complain about lack of content even if there is content available aslong as there arent big xp candies involved so they can easily skip all that "tiresome" content that requires or rewards effort in form of socializing, grouporganisation, thinking about your combatstile, and class to improve efficiency of your playstyle, think nonlinear with multiple playerdriven tasks etc etc
You missed the point. In WoW you have several options. If you want to grind, you can grind. If you want quests, there's enough of them 1-80. If you want group play, you can get a group and level via instances. If you want to polish your skill, you can even level via PvP now.
No-one forces you to do quests in WoW. You can skip all of them if you don't like them.
And there's nothing wrong with grinding as long as it's a matter of personal preference. As long as you're not forced into grinding by the lack of any other ways.
I hope no one tells you that questing is only grinding only an NPC tells you which mobs to kill /shrug
But anyways - I REALLY am not going to get into any of this with you (or anyone else for that matter) because I know its a completely useless point... Ill just make a few clarifications to those who are reading and might be confused on "facts"
- WoW never had 60 man raids to my knowledge but they did have 40 man raids.... I believe this is what the poster before me was referring to and his point is still valid. It was STILL a horrible pain in the ass to try and round up 40 people to do MC or Ony.... and yes - it was mostly done by big guilds only (people refused to allow pugs for this so it was basically guild or nothing)
- WoW had a few battle grounds but they were terrible.... almost no point and it was a while before they were a) released b) servers were merged using "battlegrounds" so that frankly AV didn't suck
- WoW had more quests at launch than Aion (by quite a lot) but the "grind" was still pretty much the same. Vanilla WoW took approximately /10 days played to hit level cap... I've heard Aion is around /12 days played give or take - although I can't confirm because I am not 50 yet.... Still - people could pretty much quest their way to cap in WoW if they wanted to.... (don't be fooled - some of these quests were pretty lame and EPL/WPL was basically your only option. You could GRIND in Sithilus.... but there were no quests in that zone back then.
- WoW changed the leveling curve about 2-3 years ago (Hopefully Im not mistaken - it could have been longer ago but I haven't played in a while) - which basically allowed the level curve from 20-60 to be revamped.... 1-20 I don't believe was touched much but you can now level unbelievably fast... I watched a guild alt level a guy from start to finish in about 3 weeks.... while STILL playing his other/main char. 60-70 and 70-80 had a pretty decent curve (about a week of HC playing)
- The "old" WoW PVP honor system was completely dependent on TIME INVESTED. It had nothing to do with skill and unless you grinded in there 24/7 it was literally impossible to get any of the good epic gear. They revised this to allow others the chance to compete at epics. I had a friend who was TOP on the server..... how? He basically quit school and the times he slept his brother played for him.... yes - seriously.... it was almost impossible to keep his rank so once he obtained it, he just let it go. The PVP system in WoW at launch was TERRIBLE - anyone who disagrees simply did not play the game at that time.
There are a hundred things that Aion can be improved upon and Im sure these will be changed as we go.... but WoW wasn't the awesome shiney package it is today at launch, or was it at year 2... or year 3..... it took quite a while for the game to mature properly and it wasn't always rosey.... Those who started in TBC really doesn't understand this and no - you cannot compare the two games at all. Give Aion another year and if it still has the same problems - then you can make an argument.... For now - people are patient (those who enjoy the game) and will let the game work itself out. That's the problem with now and then... back then - MMO gamers were mature, sensible and patient..... these days? Pfffffffffff - bunch of whiney kids who need everything the way THEY want it and immediately..... MMO gamers today are not like they were in WoW when it was released. If Vanilla WoW was released today - it would be completely ripped apart.... there has to be some sense of irony about this
aion is not community friendly.it also required too much classes just to form a instance team compare to other mmorpg.u end up wasting a lot of time finding team members.the flight time limit is repetitive as well...one of the main reason why i hate going abyss.the time spend on traveling is a bit long but the cost of traveling is ridiculous for some cases. i wont even touch on all the cons of end game content it have as well as the lack of inventive event...ncsoft gms seldom held events in game also -.-
anyway aion is only good for a small group of players.most of us who tried it have already quit.i agreed l2 will be more fun if u like grinding type of mmo compare to aion.aion is finished in the sense for me.i wont ever go back and subscribe again.
might as well wait for blade & soul instead.
I didn't see "in my opinion" in there. Because all I see is a bunch of opinions.
1.) The community on my server is awesome. You can't see every servers' community so saying that its is not friendly is only based on your experience with your server.
2.) You only waste time waiting for groups if you want specific classes in your group. The other day we ran Fire Temple with 2 chanters, a templar and a ranger.
3.) Traveling in the abyss is not always slow depending on what your faction owns in the area. Most times you can teleport around. Also if you have flight serums you can fly longer. Some teleports can cost more than others but its a drop in the bucket.
4.) The game has only been out for 3-4 monthes. We had a Halloween event and a Christmas event. Plus they added Vet rewards. What more do you want?
5.) last time I check the servers are still pretty fat. There were a lot of people who quit but that is to be expected. Not everyone will like the same game. But at least have fact and be honest when you post. I can take peoples opinion but not when they just make stuff up.
Bestbuy might possibly be trying to get rid of Aion because atm its selling for $35 new. Of course they are calling it a Promo but... it was enough to get me to try it. $35 isnt much for a new PC MMORPG. (btw, hard copies at the store also go for that price)
Originally posted by Rabenwolf I'm more interested in seeing how the Crytech engine is being used than anything else. Wasteful curiosity? I suppose.
It's not THE CryEngine, which would mean CryEngine 2 as in Crysis. It's CryEngine as in FarCry. Basically, a year 2004 graphics, albeit not bad for a MMO.
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
Comments
They will undoubtedly lose some of their eastern audience as well, especially to FFXI which already has an established following over there. NCsoft has some serious work to do on this game, and as for those who said that no mmo can be complete, this is true, but in this respect "finished" meant ready for release. You cannot say this game was ready for western release, you can call me a troll, but it wasn't. Hardly any games that came out in 09 were ready, or any year before that really. The reason I pick on this game is because it truly can be something good,if they choose to make it so, and also because it was already out in asia for months (according to some exactly a year ago), and the fact that even though it had been out pre western release for months and still wasn't ready doesn't look very good for NCsoft or it's korean counterpart.
It is always interesting to see people post that a game is supposed to be this or supposed to be that as I wonder where they get this information since it never comes from the developers. They state that the target market is this group or that group and a lot of other facts that seem to be spun out of thin air.
But, addressing the OP as has been stated no one has said that Aion is finished nor that it is perfect. And while there is not a ton of content anywhere in the game at the moment there is in fact content available at every level up to and including at level 50. The issue with any game is that people get bored and want to do something new and possibly different so new content needs to be added. Comparing content simply on the amount available is a bit misleading since if you take an established game like WoW or EQ you will find that very few people are doing very much but a small amount of the available content with the great majority of it sitting idle. Right now in Aion there is activity going on non-stop in all the areas of the game and while there are plenty of level 50 players the majority of people are still in their 40s at this time. Without any doubt Aion needs more content to keep up interest in the player base and supposedly they are doing this though nothing specific has been announced and I'm not refering to the vision trailer which is a much more generic and future looking statement.
The poster who stated that EU/NA market is of no importance to NCsoft is probably quite mistaken. If you take the 13 euro monthyly fee that comes out to about 15 million Euros per year for every 100,000 customers. 300k customers would generate around 45 million euros and that is a healthy amount of revenue for any company and certainly enough to keep NCsoft interested and the developers employed and busy.
Aion currently seems to be working even with the issues it has had in the past and the ones coming in the future. The game does not seem to be growing but neither does it appear to be declining by much either. The bonus weekends have annoyed many of the hardcore players but it was probably a good idea for the holiday season as it has brought in new players and they seem to be enjoying it. NCsoft does seem to be listening and addressing issues and concerns though they have been moving a bit slowly and still fail to communicate to the players clearly and frequently enough but they certainly aren't ignoring the players and that is a good sign for the future.
If NCsoft can continue to work on the current issues and bring out new content in a timely manner there is no reason that they won't be able to maintain their current player base but there are a lot fo interesting games out there now and more coming out and if they fail to work hard and be responsive then they might indeed be finished.
Good to see arguments beyond "your mmo is bad" on mmorpg. ;>
I will be glad when these games come out. So that people can run over play thme for 2 monthes then come back to MMORPG and complain how much they are bored, there's not content, and it takes too long/short to level. My point is that wether people realize it or not....most poeple that complain and cry will do it no matter what they play. People need to stop all this game hopping and pick something they can stick with,grow some roots. Always jumping to the next new game will always leave you a little hollow.
Amen.
Most people do jump from game to game and bitch about a certain game,I haven't played Aion yet since I'm tired of fantasy games but I just can't wait to play STO,sucky for some or no,it doesn't concern me,I know I will have a blast in STO and will be stuck on it for a long time. Only reason why I'm on MMORPG.com is to give me a idea of future releases or a reference to existing MMO's I have never tried. Never will I be on MMORPG.com to judge a game by its Hype Level or whatever 80% of the dimwits say about a particular game,because lets face it,the day the perfect game is released it will take a year before the game gets boring and people start bitching about it. My only reason for posting on this thread is because it caught my attention on the ignorance of people. The game isn't what you expected it to be? Too bad and move on,why even post something that a game isn't finished yet? Do you think I pre ordered my copy of STO thinking that the game will be complete at launch?Of cource not. Computer games have a luxury that a console game will never have : Expansions. Could you imagine consoles like Wii/Xbox/PS3 releasing half finished games? We'd be in WW3 right now. Granted,some companies are slower then others on releasing expansions to their MMO's but in the end,what the "F" do you people think doing about it? You got 2 choices,keep playing or just quit. You payed 50$ for a MMO you didn't like? Too bad for you on judgeing a game by a Hype meter.
This thread should end here,no point on keeping this thread alive,since in the end it all comes down to your personal likeing.With this said,Happy Holidays to all and live long and prosper (^.^)v <- Vulcan salute
I will be glad when these games come out. So that people can run over play thme for 2 monthes then come back to MMORPG and complain how much they are bored, there's not content, and it takes too long/short to level. My point is that wether people realize it or not....most poeple that complain and cry will do it no matter what they play. People need to stop all this game hopping and pick something they can stick with,grow some roots. Always jumping to the next new game will always leave you a little hollow.
I understand what you are saying because I played FFXI for over 2 years but you can't blame people for mmo hopping. MMOs today are not as good as they once were. MMOs are very theme parked and very soloable. Today people run through content like it is water. Developers need a different strategy because the current one isn't working.
I will be glad when these games come out. So that people can run over play thme for 2 monthes then come back to MMORPG and complain how much they are bored, there's not content, and it takes too long/short to level. My point is that wether people realize it or not....most poeple that complain and cry will do it no matter what they play. People need to stop all this game hopping and pick something they can stick with,grow some roots. Always jumping to the next new game will always leave you a little hollow.
I understand what you are saying because I played FFXI for over 2 years but you can't blame people for mmo hopping. MMOs today are not as good as they once were. MMOs are very theme parked and very soloable. Today people run through content like it is water. Developers need a different strategy because the current one isn't working.
This man speaks the truth. Game hopping is about finding something worth sticking around for, if the games they are trying don't prove themselves to the player of course the player will keep looking elsewhere. Why accept mediocrity when you know the medium is capable of much more?
Currently Playing: The Game
That would be true... if people were flawless calculators. And I was talking about average player, my friend.
So BWL and AQ40 lacked challenge but getting enough honor during a week was impossible? Funny, it was the other way round for me and for my friends.
Because you say so? :-) In fact, everything you see on your monitor while you're playing is pixels. Are some pixels more valuable than other pixels? My point is: you may be as much of a calculator as you wish, but some people actually play for fun. Have you ever thought about this?
Aren't MMOs called MMOs because they're supposed to promote group play? At least a little bit? No?
/sighIn 1.9.0 there were 3 BGs (because AB was added 1.7.0) and I had no trouble getting into AV on my low-populated server.
A curious logic. It's not 2005 out there anymore. Cataclysm will probably hit the market in 6-7 months. Life's hard. If you're a game developer and you want to get somewhere, you must run at least twice as fast as your more successful competitors.Aion costs $15/month, the same as WoW. And customers have every right to expect the same value for their money. And speaking of unrealistic - it'd be totally unrealistic if NCSoft expected people to keep playing for long. I hear Koreans are big fans of grindfest games, but things are a bit different around here.
Your comparisson to tetris is just silly. Maybe because Tetris has nothing that makes an mmorpg and mmorpg? Please think a little before posting.
The average player will have no problem playing through any of WoWs content because it is incredibly easy. Tank uses tank skills, DPS uses dps skills and healer uses heal skills. There are no advanced tactics or twitch skills required. It's not exactly rocket science.
Yes getting enough honor to get the high end items was impossible for anyone but the most hardcore players. Again, keep in mind that the honor system was different back then than it is now.
As a matter of fact, yes. Some pixers are more valuable than other pixels, which is why a high level epic sword is worth more than a low level.grey sword. Ofcourse people play for fun, but guess what: Character progression is one of the most important things of every mmorpg. If you take away character progression, WoW would be shut down by now. Also, faction grinding meant killing the same enemy over and over again which is exactly what you accusse Aion of as a bad thing.
MMOS are called MMOs because they involved many players playing in the same persistent world. Raids do not make an mmo. The problem with 60 man raids is that its a pain to actually get it started. Blizzard had to implant all kinds of grouping mechanics just to get 5 people in a group, imagine how it is to get 60. The 60 man raids were almost exclusively to big guilds, which is why the 60 people number was dropped in future raids.
AV was almost entirely empty and there were many complaints about it. They linked all the servers for a reason.
If you expect any new mmorpg to have as much content as WoW at release, then I hope you really enjoy WoW because it is the only mmorpg you will ever play. It is completely unrealistic to expect any brand new mmorpg to have as much content as a game that has been running for 5 years.
People will continue to play Aion for a very, very long time. Its already one of the most popular mmorpgs in the west and especially the east.
Sorry but you really have no idea what you're talking about.
The vast majority of Aion subscribers are in China and South Korea. Final Fantasy is only popular in Japan as far as asia is concerned. Final Fantasy XI was not even released in china or Korea, and I don't think Final Fantasy XIV will be released there either.
Aion was absolutely ready for western release. The amount of content is on par with other new western releases.
Well..WoW is not finished either, why would Blizzard else plan a new expansion??
In fact the only finished MMO's are those that closed down.
To make money , or do you think this one will be free
60 man instances in WOW?....
Plz .. at least get the facts right before you start to argue on these forums.
WOW was not a fast lvler at launch mainly because there wasn't the same massive flow of information about quests and dungeons as there is now. WOW on the other hand has changed the face of MMOS when it comes to lvling curve over the past 3-4 years and thats probably the main reason why ppl are complaining. ITs not like games like AOC had a none grind free launch ? And that game was supposed to be very fast lvler.. with 80 worthless lvls...
You need to realize that what you call "instance grinding" isn't the same thing as monotonous and mind-numbing killing of trash mobs. Especially when the latter is done solo.
Yeah, vanilla Naxx was incredibly easy. Yeah.
/sarcasm off
You have never touched any kind of advanced end-game in WoW. So much is clear.
Repeating false statements doesn't make them true. It took 4-5 months to get Rank 14. And only 2-3 months to get Rank 13. Yes, BEFORE they changed honor system. It wasn't exactly a casual endeavor but it was certainly easier than starting a new guild and leading it to beat AQ40.
You mix up character progression with new content. Not many people would want to play the same CONTENT for five years, here I agree. But no-one in his right mind plays just to earn "better" pixels. Even when people seem to show off their gear, they're actually showing off their success at beating content. Reputations were optional in early vanilla WoW. At least until ZG and AQ. Also ZG and AQ reps were tied to instances. They were just a bonus. More or less it's been the same ever since.
In Aion, grind is mandatory. And that's the difference.
When you first wrote "60 man raid" I thought it was a typo. Now I see it wasn't. There were no 60 man raids in WoW. Ever. Why do you even try to discuss something you know so poorly?
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
as mmorpg goes its secong only to wow on xfire
but then not very hard to achieve against guild wars,wich had two thing player didnt like too much
1 it was fully instanced.just like blizzard is doing now a day
2 guild wars is aging.
aion is not community friendly.it also required too much classes just to form a instance team compare to other mmorpg.u end up wasting a lot of time finding team members.the flight time limit is repetitive as well...one of the main reason why i hate going abyss.the time spend on traveling is a bit long but the cost of traveling is ridiculous for some cases. i wont even touch on all the cons of end game content it have as well as the lack of inventive event...ncsoft gms seldom held events in game also -.-
anyway aion is only good for a small group of players.most of us who tried it have already quit.i agreed l2 will be more fun if u like grinding type of mmo compare to aion.aion is finished in the sense for me.i wont ever go back and subscribe again.
might as well wait for blade & soul instead.
This is the attitude that let's developers think they can release games with hardly any content at launch. Comparing new mmo's to old ones is apples and oranges. It's like saying, "Well the first cars didn't have leather seats and airbags, so we should just expect it to be like that forever".
Bottom line is when you have quite a bit of quest up to about level 30-33, then it drops off completely. You released an unfinished product. This is 2009 not 2003, quit using the " Well WoW was like that" argument,
Aion will fail simply because you need to grind mobs from 30-50 in the same places for hours and the endgame pvp isn't there.
So not having enough content and forcing your players to grind mobs is a good thing now?
"Less bread! More taxes!"
- Lewis Carroll
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
I will always believe in what I am about to say: people complain about lack of content because they have no life. if you want me to add on to it just ask...it makes perfect sense. go throw a frisbee and not max a toon out in one day!
No-one forces you to do quests in WoW. You can skip all of them if you don't like them.
And there's nothing wrong with grinding as long as it's a matter of personal preference. As long as you're not forced into grinding by the lack of any other ways.
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
Wow, you guys sure love arguing with each other. I'm not a fanboy of either game. I played WoW for years and currently I am playing Aion. Here is what I can tell you:
In the beginning WoW's endgame was not riddled with quests. The fastest leveling I found was grinding. My buddy and I ground out the last few levels in Sithilus on a PvP server. That was when the zone wasn't even finished. There wasn't any quests for that zone. There were several quiet spots where we could just grind away without pvp interference. Perhaps you don't remember that about the zone.
Currently I'm level 38 in Aion and my quest log is full. I've matured in my gaming years and don't feel a need to rush to the end. I would say most people prefer to grind in Aion because the quest incentives aren't that great. The campaign quests offer great XP, but the rest don't. All the item rewards are meager. However, there is the option to quest whether people do it or not. Doing the group quests will net you some decent xp just because you will need to spend time killing (grinding) elites.
Does WoW offer more than Aion. Yes. Is Aion horrible and lacking tons of content. No. Is it for everyone? No. If you don't like the PvP servers in WoW then you won't like Aion. I'm also playing Fallen Earth and I think the freedom it offers is amazing, go figure. Everyone will have their own opinion, and that is all it is, one person's opinion. Yes, Aion could use more content but some people like myself are happy with it now and will be more happy when future additions come.
Play whatever makes you happy.
Good post and I agree.
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Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
No-one forces you to do quests in WoW. You can skip all of them if you don't like them.
And there's nothing wrong with grinding as long as it's a matter of personal preference. As long as you're not forced into grinding by the lack of any other ways.
I hope no one tells you that questing is only grinding only an NPC tells you which mobs to kill /shrug
But anyways - I REALLY am not going to get into any of this with you (or anyone else for that matter) because I know its a completely useless point... Ill just make a few clarifications to those who are reading and might be confused on "facts"
- WoW never had 60 man raids to my knowledge but they did have 40 man raids.... I believe this is what the poster before me was referring to and his point is still valid. It was STILL a horrible pain in the ass to try and round up 40 people to do MC or Ony.... and yes - it was mostly done by big guilds only (people refused to allow pugs for this so it was basically guild or nothing)
- WoW had a few battle grounds but they were terrible.... almost no point and it was a while before they were a) released b) servers were merged using "battlegrounds" so that frankly AV didn't suck
- WoW had more quests at launch than Aion (by quite a lot) but the "grind" was still pretty much the same. Vanilla WoW took approximately /10 days played to hit level cap... I've heard Aion is around /12 days played give or take - although I can't confirm because I am not 50 yet.... Still - people could pretty much quest their way to cap in WoW if they wanted to.... (don't be fooled - some of these quests were pretty lame and EPL/WPL was basically your only option. You could GRIND in Sithilus.... but there were no quests in that zone back then.
- WoW changed the leveling curve about 2-3 years ago (Hopefully Im not mistaken - it could have been longer ago but I haven't played in a while) - which basically allowed the level curve from 20-60 to be revamped.... 1-20 I don't believe was touched much but you can now level unbelievably fast... I watched a guild alt level a guy from start to finish in about 3 weeks.... while STILL playing his other/main char. 60-70 and 70-80 had a pretty decent curve (about a week of HC playing)
- The "old" WoW PVP honor system was completely dependent on TIME INVESTED. It had nothing to do with skill and unless you grinded in there 24/7 it was literally impossible to get any of the good epic gear. They revised this to allow others the chance to compete at epics. I had a friend who was TOP on the server..... how? He basically quit school and the times he slept his brother played for him.... yes - seriously.... it was almost impossible to keep his rank so once he obtained it, he just let it go. The PVP system in WoW at launch was TERRIBLE - anyone who disagrees simply did not play the game at that time.
There are a hundred things that Aion can be improved upon and Im sure these will be changed as we go.... but WoW wasn't the awesome shiney package it is today at launch, or was it at year 2... or year 3..... it took quite a while for the game to mature properly and it wasn't always rosey.... Those who started in TBC really doesn't understand this and no - you cannot compare the two games at all. Give Aion another year and if it still has the same problems - then you can make an argument.... For now - people are patient (those who enjoy the game) and will let the game work itself out. That's the problem with now and then... back then - MMO gamers were mature, sensible and patient..... these days? Pfffffffffff - bunch of whiney kids who need everything the way THEY want it and immediately..... MMO gamers today are not like they were in WoW when it was released. If Vanilla WoW was released today - it would be completely ripped apart.... there has to be some sense of irony about this
I didn't see "in my opinion" in there. Because all I see is a bunch of opinions.
1.) The community on my server is awesome. You can't see every servers' community so saying that its is not friendly is only based on your experience with your server.
2.) You only waste time waiting for groups if you want specific classes in your group. The other day we ran Fire Temple with 2 chanters, a templar and a ranger.
3.) Traveling in the abyss is not always slow depending on what your faction owns in the area. Most times you can teleport around. Also if you have flight serums you can fly longer. Some teleports can cost more than others but its a drop in the bucket.
4.) The game has only been out for 3-4 monthes. We had a Halloween event and a Christmas event. Plus they added Vet rewards. What more do you want?
5.) last time I check the servers are still pretty fat. There were a lot of people who quit but that is to be expected. Not everyone will like the same game. But at least have fact and be honest when you post. I can take peoples opinion but not when they just make stuff up.
Bestbuy might possibly be trying to get rid of Aion because atm its selling for $35 new. Of course they are calling it a Promo but... it was enough to get me to try it. $35 isnt much for a new PC MMORPG. (btw, hard copies at the store also go for that price)
http://games.bestbuy.com/store/bbygames/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/productID.130951900
I'm more interested in seeing how the Crytech engine is being used than anything else. Wasteful curiosity? I suppose.
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).