I've been playing it since CBT4. Participated in OBT as well as Head Start. Switched 4 servers after making 2 +30 characters because of queues (I play on EU servers), now that its settled, I created another character on my first server (Gorgos) and I'm currently a L38 Chanter. My other characters are L32 Gladiator on Telemachus, L34 Sorcerer on Kalil. I had tons of other characters on betas but I cant be bothered with listing them all. Suffice it to say, I know the game well on the parts I played, that is, level 30's on each side.
With that out of the picture, I must say I am currently undecided whether or not to continue. I have a great "legion" that I group and chat all the time. There's just something about the game I can't put my finger on. Anyways, lets start with most common complaints. In no particular order:
Gold Spam: This was an ongoing issue until they implemented a simple chat filter. More or less have been largely dealt with after that. Response time was really slow from NCWest about this issue though.
Bots: This is way worse then what we had before blanket bans. Basically, When you enter a L30+ zone, you'll see more bots than you'll see mobs. You will be KS'ed by 3 higher level bots than you, should you try to kill something. They are everywhere and they're not even bothered with hiding themselves. They do it in front of the castle gate, in front of a popular quest hub, on main roads, main grinding spots (will get to that later), they're everywhere. Its virtually impossible to get to a place that doesn't have bots, other than the Abyss.
Worst part is, most of them are now L40+ and have been running non-stop for the better part of the last 2 weeks. So far we there is no concrete evidence that NCsoft is doing anything to prevent them.
Grind: Early levels are a breeze until you hit L17 mark where you get stuck with group quests. After you do every single quest (solo or group doesn't matter, I've done both), you end up at L19, depending on how much crafting and collecting you've done, you might possibly get another half level out of it. After that, you have to do some minor grinding when you run out of quest at that level until 22-23. There's nothing major before that.
When you reach L23 though, you will be out of quests unless you spent great deal of time killing mobs to get rare quests and/or materials. There is simply no other way than straight grinding to reach L25. I've done this many times in beta's and after release. This is simply the fact.
On L25 things starts to pick up and you will get shit loads of quests in no time. These quests will support you until L28-29 again depending on your blood thirst. L30's are mix of major grinds and little quests. I say little because when you reach this far, only quests that are worth doing are campaign quests. Regular quests give laughable amount of XP and you will run out of quests even if you do them all. Also, competing every single quest you can find is not a very smart thing to do as it might triple the amount of time needed for you to level. This is no exaggeration.
I can only comment on L40+ from other guild members experience. From what I can tell, its pretty nasty. Game desperately needs a quest xp booster after L40. You need 40 million xp to level at mid-late 40's and some quests still gives 70k to 100k XP (non repeatable).
Anyone who says there is no grind until L35+ or even L40 either haven't played the game, or they have very different definition of grinding and/or too trigger happy.
Group PvE: First group content starts at L16-17 and ends at L19-20. On both sides its on open world. After this, next group content comes at L25, at that level, you will also get the first instance, which lasts until L28. Another one opens at L30 and lasts until L34-35. They are quite short and straight forward. They can drop pretty nice loot but chances are you won't even see one if you don't enter the same instance 5+ times. Game uses a random loot system, most of the time you will leave the instance with empty hands.
Pre-40 grouping results in less XP points than solo grinding. It can be even slower than pure questing if you encounter a below average group. It will only be faster than solo grinding if you steamroll anything you see non stop with a 5-man group instead of 6. If you are a fast killing class though, even that will result in less overall xp gain per hour.
Grouping so far, doesn't have any advantages as far as leveling goes. On the contrary, it proves to be a liability for the most of time. I'm told it gets better after L40 but I can't speak from personal experience.
Lag and Queues: Network lag is truly non-existent. I think I only saw 1 server crash, other than that, NCSoft has a spotless record on server stability. I'm happy to say Queues are also non-existent. Servers also have quite balanced population.
Client Stability: This is a MAJOR issue right now. For most players Fortress battles are unplayable due to frequent crashes. Even walking around quest hubs or the main cities can get you crashed within minutes, if not seconds. More powerful systems are more prone to have this problem while low and mid range systems stays largely unaffected.
Situation is largely caused by a memory leak, causing the client trying to use more than 2GB RAM, because of the 32-bit nature of the application, client instantly crashes after it reaches exactly 2GB of RAM usage (this doesn't show on a plain task manager, use process explorer for accurate memory usage).
So far only possible prevention method is to disabling player model from rendering. Even this doesn't help and you will crash after spending certain amount of time in a place that has high player population. Big memory adressing and reducing graphic settings have minimal effect. So far NCsoft has acknowledged the issue, but have stated the problem might be deep in the CryEngine core and it will take some time fix this issue.
I don't know if they'll ever fix this issue though as customer support has been.. lets say questionable thus far.
Customer Support: There are no 24/7 petition support. Support is very limited and its almost always consists of copy paste responses. I haven't seen ANY in-game GM's for support or otherwise. On release there were some GM chat on servers for gold spammers, but it was more of a PR stunt rather than actually working on it. So far I've yet to see or hear anyone that has seen a GM on EU servers.
Official forums are a mess, It doesn't work most of the time, when it works, there is a good chance that your post will be deleted if you have slight tone against Aion and NCsoft. They are heavily moderated but ironically, have no developer presence.
PVP and class balance: Despite what everyone says, classes are pretty evenly balanced right now. This is no solo PvP game so you should consider that while thinking about balance. Some classes have problems but there is already a patch in works to address some of these issues.
I'll be brutally honest here though, so far PvP is all about zerging. Plain and simple fact. This game supports group PvP than anything else. Considering the terrain and the world PvP objectives, it is safe to say it will stay a zergfest for a long time. Only Dredgion, the Balaur Battleship instance supports small scale PvPvE (meaning, there are NPCs on the PvP instance), but that has its own issues.
PvP other than zerging is strictly consists of high level players ganking low levels via rifts or in Abyss.
Conquering fortresses yields medals which you can use for getting more abyss gear. Every fort you take also has a short PvE instance. Right now defending fortresses gives you a nothing. So we might see some Fortress ping-pong games where each side conquers a fortress and abandons it so it can get conquered by other side tomorrow, so they can re-conquer it the day after for medals. Basically, no real point.
PvP items are very well balanced but it is a huge grind to get them no matter where you look. I'd say at least 3 times worse than leveling to L50.
Lore and Atmosphere: NCsoft have actually done a really good job on this department. Quests are very well written and are a joy to read most of the time. There are lots of small details and references. Short stories on the game books are actually very good. Cinematics, while overused and useless on small ones, feel truly epic on main story parts. As far as I'm concerned, they have managed to establish the Lore in to the world really well.
Endgame: Can't really comment on this, but if this is supposed to be a PvPvE game, then it is safe to assume Fortresses and Dredgion are the main parts of the endgame.
Combat, gameplay and all other crap and a final take on the game as a whole: Aion is a pretty standard MMORPG. It doesn't take any risks (other than grinding and money sinks). Its your standard MMO that has a PvP focus with a wings fetish. Nothing more to say about it really.
I tried to be as objective as possible, but, this is after all, the sum of my experience with the game itself, so it is inherently subjective. Take it for what it is, and decide for yourself.
For me, its not the grind, i dont mind grinding in an enviroment where i might get wiped or decide to randomly hunt down people. It adds some excitement.
Its not the bots/spammers...spammers have been reduced, bots are still there though.
Its not the lame quests, they need a storyline explaining how asmodians got back hair, or about when your eylos character come out the closet. Its not that the base lore consisting of good and evil angels (or race of angels) could have really been badass, why this race of angels runs around killing kitty cat people, and goofy rat-men is beyond me. Its not that im 33 and should i choose to go to the pve maps ill be fighting the same mobs i did on the starter map.
Whats killing me is the damn lag/latency and rubberbanding/ memory leak crashes. Why wasnt i lagging at launch when the server was packed and people couldnt log in? Why no latency then but 2 weeks ago it went from a rare occurance to almost every attack?
Went from activly fighting in seiges to crashing, disconnecting, and latency that make me look stupid...like i cant follow the raid ...landing on shards and removing my wings, only to be rubberbanded back out in the abyss and fall to my death because my wings wont pop due to latency. In the last week alone i went from never having a memory leak issue to having it occur every 15min.
So ive already removed the auto-bill function. If the game is playable like it was for the first several weeks ill resub, i have too much fun raiding with no lagg and too much fun running around the abyss pvping to want to leave just yet. Since my memory leak crashes causes the power to basically turn off, its not something im willing to put my computer though (mabey if the game was playable when i wasnt restarting froma crash).
This weekend will be the deciding weekend for aion, however im not pissed to where ill never try the game again, and ill stay for sure for a while longer granted the crashes lag and latency subside.
FACT: There are TONS of bots on every server. Some places have so many that you literally cannot get a kill. The bots are also now crafting which further cripples the economy. Agreed, just as it happened to WoW and other MMOs did you leave them for the same reasons? Show me the videos of bots in absolute plain site taking over an entire area and not being dealt with for over a month? www.youtube.com/watch FACT: You will be grinding 6+ hours for a level in your 30's and 18 hours in the low 40's the whole way to 40+ hours from 49-50. Agreed, just as it happened in WoW when level 50 was the cap and a few other caps and as it still is for any of the End Game gear. Don't believe I ever spent 20 hours grinding the same mobs for a single level in WoW. Also the level cap at release for WoW was 60, not 50 and barring a few gaps on the horde side you could quest the whole way there. If you want my opinion the game completely lacks in content...thus the grind. The game lacks any depth or character development. The PvP is meaningless and consists mostly ganking or zerging with very little skill involved. Class balance is awful leaving ranged at a major advantage in both PvP and PvE. The level gap system makes grouping/PvPing a major pain and qualifies for worst MMO mechanic i've seen in a long time. Really it lacks any content in its first month in the US Market? Game is 1 year old so there is no excuse for lack of content. NCWest doesn't make the content the Korean Devs do and after 1 year the best they got for 1 year after release is 3 dungeons and the same fort PvP that you do starting at 25. Define "lack of content" as you see it. Content can be anything from quests, dungeons, housing/decorating, mini-games, battleground/scenarios, deeper class development, world events, crafting experimentation, etc. Meaningless PvP meaning that you can take a fortress and have that takeover effect everyone of your race on that server through bonuses? That everyone associated with the takeover is rewarded? Because in the WoW BGs your performance and game along with everyone elses is effected by the outcome right? Wrong, in fact aren't you just farming for points there in the hopes of getting enough to grab some pvp gear? Pretty much. Never said WoW was a good example of meaningful PvP, in fact one of the reasons I hate WoW PvP is because it has no meaning and neither did WAR's. Meaningful PvP means that it effects the world and how players play. If a buff accomplishes that then yes buffs can make PvP meaningful. It could be territory control in the abyss giving the fort taker a safe area to PvE farm while it's invuln or even further and give access to the enemy lands and control of them. What changes gameplay wise once one side dominates the abyss? Lower tax rate and some dungeons on long cooldowns? RF Online had it where you gain control of the mine and mining allowed you to upgrade your gear so that's one example. While I don't think it should give ones side a statistical advantage it needs to be something good enough to really want to fight over.
Now as for class balance you have something there. I would agree with that opinion.
Level gap system serves it's purpose anyone complaining are those that are for instance trying to "twink" lower level characters, etc. It does do that but it also limits who can be in your group when the level ranges for certain quests/areas is bigger than the gap allows. If someone is 3 levels higher than you and in your group your getting crappier XP and if they are 5 levels higher you are getting almost no XP. Had they kept it based on mob level alone it would have been better. It also makes PvPing with others tough since abyss is 25-50. If you join a group with a 40 while your 25 you're getting screwed out of points/xp. Honestly, I'd save my money. PvP is no better than WAR's, PvE is far worse than WoW's or even WAR's. Unless you like grinding there really isn't much the game brings to the table. That's laughable...seriously. Further explanation needed. WoW's PvE actually requires a strategy where AION's is almost exclusively tank and spank. WAR bosses even needed a strategy sometimes which is more than I can say for AION so IMO even having a few bosses that need a strategy is better than all tank+Spank. As for WAR PvP being the same as AION's is pretty much true minus flying. Keeps= Forts. Both aren't dynamic at all, both are zerg vs zerg, and both end up being something you do for loot instead of them having actual strategical or meaningful value. As far as the silent majority playing like WAR/AoC...I think you got your facts wrong. The silent majority quit those games just like they will with this game. The forum whiners/fanbois are ALWAYS the vocal minority for both sides, the hard thing is see past the vocal bunch and figuring out what the real majority will do. Anyone spending their time worrying about what the majority will do rather than figuring out what they like for themselves and choosing their game and time investment based upon that, needs to get an identity. The majority keeps games funded and running. So knowing whether the game will be like WoW and be running for 5+ years or like Tabula Rasa and shut down in 1.5 is important especially if you like to spend a lot of time/effort in an MMO. Also the fact that this is a PvP MMO makes population all the more important. Learn the lessons that WAR taught, population imbalance kills a game, low population means less PvP and that kills a PvP game. People play MMO's for the Massively part so it does play a factor. I really liked Chronicles of Spellborn but not enough people playing it puts a damper on things. So yes, knowing what the majority will do can influence whether a person will continue playing or not. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people should play games that are hugely popular even though they don't like them. If you don't like a game don't play it. However, playing a game you like that everyone else quits a month into it really kills the fun.
Hi, I was interested in this game and thought about buying it, but some of my friends played it when it launched or in open beta and gave me a really negative impression of the game. Their complaints were mainly that the game didn't play very fluid, that there were massive amounts of bots/gold spammers, and that there's a big lack of content. I see many, many similar complaints on the various Aion forums, such as this one. But is it really as bad as everyone says, or is this the classic case of the silent majority playing the game rather than whining on forums, like with AoC/WAR? My friends play WoW/EvE and WAR by the way, and have gone back to their previous games. Personally I've only played DAoC and WoW, and liked those games when they were new and all
FACT: There are TONS of bots on every server. Some places have so many that you literally cannot get a kill. The bots are also now crafting which further cripples the economy.
FACT: You will be grinding 6+ hours for a level in your 30's and 18 hours in the low 40's the whole way to 40+ hours from 49-50.
If you want my opinion the game completely lacks in content...thus the grind. The game lacks any depth or character development. The PvP is meaningless and consists mostly ganking or zerging with very little skill involved. Class balance is awful leaving ranged at a major advantage in both PvP and PvE. The level gap system makes grouping/PvPing a major pain and qualifies for worst MMO mechanic i've seen in a long time.
Honestly, I'd save my money. PvP is no better than WAR's, PvE is far worse than WoW's or even WAR's. Unless you like grinding there really isn't much the game brings to the table.
As far as the silent majority playing like WAR/AoC...I think you got your facts wrong. The silent majority quit those games just like they will with this game. The forum whiners/fanbois are ALWAYS the vocal minority for both sides, the hard thing is see past the vocal bunch and figuring out what the real majority will do.
The only "FACTS" in your argument is all of these are YOUR OPINION...
Most people like the PVP because its FUN - if you aren't having fun - that's one thing... but don't spew off the same old crap that every hater posts. It's gotten very old, very quickly...
But you just said it yourself. You'd rather save your money and go elsewhere - so Ill ask the age old question.... why are you HERE on THESE Aion forums?
Actually the facts are facts and my opinion is labeled as such. Are you saying there aren't a ridiculous amount of bots in AION? OR are you saying there isn't an exponentialy growing grind as you reach 40 and above?
I enjoy medium to small PvP and I wish AION had more of it. Sadly AION turns PvP into ganking and zerging, which isn't fun for me. What same old crap btw? The fact that AION's PvP isn't meaningful? Because that is true, it doesn't alter gameplay or provide any real reason to attack/defend except to get medals to get gear, JUST LIKE WAR.
I am here to discuss AION and answer a question that was asked, see the question mark on the thread title :P. I paid money for the game and played it for a month or so, why am I not allowed to comment on it now that I understand the game?
I will post the same question to you. IF you are indeed enjoying AION than why are you here on the forums? Shouldn't you be out grinding on balaur or mistmane? I mean I've got nothing better to do with no good MMO's coming out(dragon age next week!) but you have a game you're paying for...GO PLAY IT!
/waits for people to say EVE doesn't have a grind and don't have Bots (which technically is true) - but if you knew how that game operated you'd know why. Its physically impossible to power level in that game (one of its very strong points IMO)
EvE ! Planetside ! Forgot about these games yea. I always considered EvE as a huge success MMO wise and a lot of MMO should be inspired by this game. I only played a very short time (one month) and i thought it was very good. I still managed to grind missions levels lol, but that's far from most "grindy" elements i found in others games.
Anyway, i think grind is part of the games now. Even console games have it (like racing games where you need to race to get $$ and buy cars) etc. Video games is entertainment. Aion entertains me a lot for the moment.
FACT: There are TONS of bots on every server. Some places have so many that you literally cannot get a kill. The bots are also now crafting which further cripples the economy. Agreed, just as it happened to WoW and other MMOs did you leave them for the same reasons? FACT: You will be grinding 6+ hours for a level in your 30's and 18 hours in the low 40's the whole way to 40+ hours from 49-50. Agreed, just as it happened in WoW when level 50 was the cap and a few other caps and as it still is for any of the End Game gear. If you want my opinion the game completely lacks in content...thus the grind. The game lacks any depth or character development. The PvP is meaningless and consists mostly ganking or zerging with very little skill involved. Class balance is awful leaving ranged at a major advantage in both PvP and PvE. The level gap system makes grouping/PvPing a major pain and qualifies for worst MMO mechanic i've seen in a long time. Really it lacks any content in its first month in the US Market? Define "lack of content" as you see it. Meaningless PvP meaning that you can take a fortress and have that takeover effect everyone of your race on that server through bonuses? That everyone associated with the takeover is rewarded? Because in the WoW BGs your performance and game along with everyone elses is effected by the outcome right? Wrong, in fact aren't you just farming for points there in the hopes of getting enough to grab some pvp gear? Pretty much. Now as for class balance you have something there. I would agree with that opinion.
Level gap system serves it's purpose anyone complaining are those that are for instance trying to "twink" lower level characters, etc. Honestly, I'd save my money. PvP is no better than WAR's, PvE is far worse than WoW's or even WAR's. Unless you like grinding there really isn't much the game brings to the table. That's laughable...seriously. As far as the silent majority playing like WAR/AoC...I think you got your facts wrong. The silent majority quit those games just like they will with this game. The forum whiners/fanbois are ALWAYS the vocal minority for both sides, the hard thing is see past the vocal bunch and figuring out what the real majority will do. Anyone spending their time worrying about what the majority will do rather than figuring out what they like for themselves and choosing their game and time investment based upon that, needs to get an identity.
On the bot situation I'll only say this. When you're trying to accomplish a quest that calls for a certain drop from a certain mob and only 7-10 of those mobs swawn in a certain area and then that area is covered with 5-7 bots, that's when it's a problem.
There are screenshots and videos all over the internet highlighting this problem. In WoW I don't ever recall competing with bots to accomplish quests. I'm not saying they are not there just not to that degree.
Wait a few months; then come back and see if people are still praising it like a new trend. I guarantee you the general consensus will be a lot different... I've watching games get hyped to hell then slowly wither away after launch over and over again for the last several years.
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
Originally posted by tanoril On the bot situation I'll only say this. When you're trying to accomplish a quest that calls for a certain drop from a certain mob and only 7-10 of those mobs swawn in a certain area and then that area is covered with 5-7 bots, that's when it's a problem. There are screenshots and videos all over the internet highlighting this problem. In WoW I don't ever recall competing with bots to accomplish quests. I'm not saying they are not there just not to that degree.
I agree. Granted, I never did play WoW (shocking) but of the mmorpg's I did play, I don't remember having to race against bots for quest mobs. This includes EQ2, AoC, SWG, CoH, etc. The ONLY other game where I saw bots killing everything in sight was, ironically, Lineage 2.
Aion is fun, I liked the game, but do us a favor. Please don't try and downplay how many bots there are in the game. Because there are tons of them. Seriously, I won't eve make a post saying "Aion sux" or whatever but the bot problem is out of control and unless they do something about it, I think a lot of players will get fed up with it and leave. Imo of course.
i love how everyone says its not grindy and the quests are there to help you lvl they arent. You do ten quests then the rest is grind im a lvl 30 templar and the whole experince thing has just become a big grind. If i was getting something for all that work then i wouldnt mind but as it is i feel like im doing a job instead of playing a game. Those instances they talk about well i know many ppl who have ran the first instance training grounds upwards of 9 times and still got a few measly kinah for thier trouble that topped with the fact there is a 17 hour lock out on that one. . its just not very enjoyable to drop an elite boss in a instance and get literally nothing for it. If you enjoy never having enough money then this game could be for you. Ive found making money in this game is rather difficult at least for my templar mainly cuz it takes a large period of time. Kill mob,sit ,repeat. Templar doesnt get a decent heal which makes sense but ultimatly makes you spend more time resting then actually grinding. I would get a trial of it and try it you might like it. My cousin loves it so does his wife i am not crazy about it and only reason im still playing is my sub was still active on the new month so once the sub runs out im going back to lotro. Its not a horrible game but because of the low end comp i have along with bots that snake your kill, gold spam not so bad now and the massive money sink. Unless changes are made i do see it going the way of L1 and L2. btw this is exactly the place he should be looking for info since whether flaming or trolling or what not he can get a good idea of what to expect out of the game. My cousin talked me into the game and i really wouldnt have bought it if he hadnt but i myself played beta felt like it was ok then after beta it just didnt feel the same Oh plus if you die in pve expect to shell out a small fortune for your heal and your flight back hope that helps though it might end up sounding like trolling no idea but at least im being as honest as i can and unfortunatly ppl dont like honest ppl when it isnt what they want to hear
no game is as bad as everyone says not even Warcraft .
Ncsoft did nt do the right thing by players quick enough so now its a niche game rather than the next big thing .
The ques were unacceptable and the reason most people left .
Bots and cheating can be and will be put right but its the ques that killed it . If only someone had had the guts to offers another free month to those that left in the first month of it , they would have made 10s of millions more in future revenue .
I never thought a new hyped MMORPG would make Warhammer look good and seem really fun in comparison, but Aion did it.
just going by your sig -- you seem to brag about being able to play an MMO for a few months at the most-- perhaps MMOs arent your thing ?
His sig is a joke poking fun at the fact that other MMO's held his sub for much longer periods of time and it only took AION 2 weeks. I know how he feels. I played SWG for a year, MU Online for probably close to a year, WoW for 2 years and another 4 months later on, The Chronicles of Spellborn for 3 months, RFOnline 3 months, WAR for 6 months of beta + 3 months of retail, Runes of Magic 3 months, etc.. AION took me 2-3 weeks to be completely bored, I spent my last weeks playing the broker to try and make some kinah for my friends.
Don't blame the game because you suck as a player. I got killed by a higher level, waaaah. I got ganked by a group, waaaaah. I can't make enough kinah, waaaaah. Death costs too much, waaaaah. Get better, or get out. Looks like you took the easy way. Typical of lazy little wannabes. Bye.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
Don't blame the game because you suck as a player. I got killed by a higher level, waaaah. I got ganked by a group, waaaaah. I can't make enough kinah, waaaaah. Death costs too much, waaaaah. Get better, or get out. Looks like you took the easy way. Typical of lazy little wannabes. Bye.
I guess you showed them, Mr. Straight up Hardcore Bamf.
I don't see anything in Aion that makes it stand out from any of the other MMORPG's that has been released in the last 3-4 years. Okay, other than... wings.
If Aion wouldn't have been hyped and released as a top tier MMO, I would've probably not paid any attention to it... at all. I would've simply lumped it in with the rest of the grinder/Free2Play type games.
I'm sure there are a lot of people that enjoy the game. While I'm extremely happy for them and glad they found their new mmo-home, I'm just not enjoying Aion myself.
Do I think Aion is terrible? Not necessarily. But it's also not a game that I would recommend for a friend to try. In my opinion, Aion feels like an odd blend of EQ2, FFXI, and WAR, imho. A watered down blend of those other games... with 1/2 the features, + wings, and cinematics.
And yes, the population of gold farmers is really a big turn off. My first few minutes in game each play session = adding spammers to the ignore list.
Hi, I was interested in this game and thought about buying it, but some of my friends played it when it launched or in open beta and gave me a really negative impression of the game. Their complaints were mainly that the game didn't play very fluid, that there were massive amounts of bots/gold spammers, and that there's a big lack of content. I see many, many similar complaints on the various Aion forums, such as this one. But is it really as bad as everyone says, or is this the classic case of the silent majority playing the game rather than whining on forums, like with AoC/WAR? My friends play WoW/EvE and WAR by the way, and have gone back to their previous games. Personally I've only played DAoC and WoW, and liked those games when they were new and all
The questions you ask are based purely on ones perception, obviously many people think it is content devoid and has too much grind as you even stated you've heard that but someone enjoying there time in Aion will most likely not feel it is too grind oriented some people enjoy grinding mobs while some don't like to and no lore or graphics is going to change that for them. What you can say is almost certain is that Aion is a game that as of now has a lack of quest content and has more than a few gold spammers to get rid of. Good thing is these are both problems that are extremely easy to fix by adding more quests and a few tricks to handle the spammers which LOTRO did a very good job of.
Ultimately the only one who can answer these questions for you is you because again only you can determine what for you is enough or too much.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
I personally think Aion is a great guide and has quite quickly one of the best in the market. The only problem that I can understand people coplaining about are all the goldsellers and a few bots going around, this is a problem that can be fixed and it is easy to block the spamming goldsellers so they will not have a large effect on your game.
As for questing I would say Aion does it very there are lots of quests to keep you busy and very rarely will you find yourself in the position of needing to grind to level up. PvP in the abyss is one of the greatest ideas for mmorpg PvP having huge fortress battles is a real rush and is why Aion is making a name for itself. Within two weeks of deciated play you could hit level 45+ which means this game is not a real grind to get high leveled.
The aion quest system has been designed very well and I personally enjoyed doing some of the quests where others games I felt like questing was a chore! As for lack of content I can partly agree but that would have to be endgame content and lets not forgot this game is very new if you do not consider the betas, Everyone knows that there will be Aion updates since the game has took off so well.
If you are still enjoying WoW then something is wrong get on Aion and still having some real fun.
I have played the game since release and got to level 40, and i have to say that this is my breaking point, it is just too much grind at this point. I'ts very unfortunate because i am in a great legion but the amount of time u need to put in to get anything done just keeps growing exponentially and since i have a job etc i just can't keep putting in the amounts i should.
the game is a polished product that can keep a hardcore segment of the mmo population busy for a long time but it is an apologetic grinder once u get past level 20. grind xp, money mats, abyss points etc and then go out on a big pvp zerg to cath the castles, it's really all there is.
I play (giving it one more week) on the gorgos server, and yes bots are everywhere, not hiding in any way, with names like dfgdfgd and hjljljl and nothing gets done about them. the goldspam in LFG channel and others is incessant, from the second i log in the spam starts, it's really bad.
so in my opinion, it's a good looking game with smooth gameplay, but a very steep grindcurve and some major bot and goldseller problems that should have been resolved by now. a good game for very hardcore pvp players, but not for casual players i'm afraid.
Comments
My background with the game;
I've been playing it since CBT4. Participated in OBT as well as Head Start. Switched 4 servers after making 2 +30 characters because of queues (I play on EU servers), now that its settled, I created another character on my first server (Gorgos) and I'm currently a L38 Chanter. My other characters are L32 Gladiator on Telemachus, L34 Sorcerer on Kalil. I had tons of other characters on betas but I cant be bothered with listing them all. Suffice it to say, I know the game well on the parts I played, that is, level 30's on each side.
With that out of the picture, I must say I am currently undecided whether or not to continue. I have a great "legion" that I group and chat all the time. There's just something about the game I can't put my finger on. Anyways, lets start with most common complaints. In no particular order:
Gold Spam: This was an ongoing issue until they implemented a simple chat filter. More or less have been largely dealt with after that. Response time was really slow from NCWest about this issue though.
Bots: This is way worse then what we had before blanket bans. Basically, When you enter a L30+ zone, you'll see more bots than you'll see mobs. You will be KS'ed by 3 higher level bots than you, should you try to kill something. They are everywhere and they're not even bothered with hiding themselves. They do it in front of the castle gate, in front of a popular quest hub, on main roads, main grinding spots (will get to that later), they're everywhere. Its virtually impossible to get to a place that doesn't have bots, other than the Abyss.
Worst part is, most of them are now L40+ and have been running non-stop for the better part of the last 2 weeks. So far we there is no concrete evidence that NCsoft is doing anything to prevent them.
Grind: Early levels are a breeze until you hit L17 mark where you get stuck with group quests. After you do every single quest (solo or group doesn't matter, I've done both), you end up at L19, depending on how much crafting and collecting you've done, you might possibly get another half level out of it. After that, you have to do some minor grinding when you run out of quest at that level until 22-23. There's nothing major before that.
When you reach L23 though, you will be out of quests unless you spent great deal of time killing mobs to get rare quests and/or materials. There is simply no other way than straight grinding to reach L25. I've done this many times in beta's and after release. This is simply the fact.
On L25 things starts to pick up and you will get shit loads of quests in no time. These quests will support you until L28-29 again depending on your blood thirst. L30's are mix of major grinds and little quests. I say little because when you reach this far, only quests that are worth doing are campaign quests. Regular quests give laughable amount of XP and you will run out of quests even if you do them all. Also, competing every single quest you can find is not a very smart thing to do as it might triple the amount of time needed for you to level. This is no exaggeration.
I can only comment on L40+ from other guild members experience. From what I can tell, its pretty nasty. Game desperately needs a quest xp booster after L40. You need 40 million xp to level at mid-late 40's and some quests still gives 70k to 100k XP (non repeatable).
Anyone who says there is no grind until L35+ or even L40 either haven't played the game, or they have very different definition of grinding and/or too trigger happy.
Group PvE: First group content starts at L16-17 and ends at L19-20. On both sides its on open world. After this, next group content comes at L25, at that level, you will also get the first instance, which lasts until L28. Another one opens at L30 and lasts until L34-35. They are quite short and straight forward. They can drop pretty nice loot but chances are you won't even see one if you don't enter the same instance 5+ times. Game uses a random loot system, most of the time you will leave the instance with empty hands.
Pre-40 grouping results in less XP points than solo grinding. It can be even slower than pure questing if you encounter a below average group. It will only be faster than solo grinding if you steamroll anything you see non stop with a 5-man group instead of 6. If you are a fast killing class though, even that will result in less overall xp gain per hour.
Grouping so far, doesn't have any advantages as far as leveling goes. On the contrary, it proves to be a liability for the most of time. I'm told it gets better after L40 but I can't speak from personal experience.
Lag and Queues: Network lag is truly non-existent. I think I only saw 1 server crash, other than that, NCSoft has a spotless record on server stability. I'm happy to say Queues are also non-existent. Servers also have quite balanced population.
Client Stability: This is a MAJOR issue right now. For most players Fortress battles are unplayable due to frequent crashes. Even walking around quest hubs or the main cities can get you crashed within minutes, if not seconds. More powerful systems are more prone to have this problem while low and mid range systems stays largely unaffected.
Situation is largely caused by a memory leak, causing the client trying to use more than 2GB RAM, because of the 32-bit nature of the application, client instantly crashes after it reaches exactly 2GB of RAM usage (this doesn't show on a plain task manager, use process explorer for accurate memory usage).
So far only possible prevention method is to disabling player model from rendering. Even this doesn't help and you will crash after spending certain amount of time in a place that has high player population. Big memory adressing and reducing graphic settings have minimal effect. So far NCsoft has acknowledged the issue, but have stated the problem might be deep in the CryEngine core and it will take some time fix this issue.
I don't know if they'll ever fix this issue though as customer support has been.. lets say questionable thus far.
Customer Support: There are no 24/7 petition support. Support is very limited and its almost always consists of copy paste responses. I haven't seen ANY in-game GM's for support or otherwise. On release there were some GM chat on servers for gold spammers, but it was more of a PR stunt rather than actually working on it. So far I've yet to see or hear anyone that has seen a GM on EU servers.
Official forums are a mess, It doesn't work most of the time, when it works, there is a good chance that your post will be deleted if you have slight tone against Aion and NCsoft. They are heavily moderated but ironically, have no developer presence.
PVP and class balance: Despite what everyone says, classes are pretty evenly balanced right now. This is no solo PvP game so you should consider that while thinking about balance. Some classes have problems but there is already a patch in works to address some of these issues.
I'll be brutally honest here though, so far PvP is all about zerging. Plain and simple fact. This game supports group PvP than anything else. Considering the terrain and the world PvP objectives, it is safe to say it will stay a zergfest for a long time. Only Dredgion, the Balaur Battleship instance supports small scale PvPvE (meaning, there are NPCs on the PvP instance), but that has its own issues.
PvP other than zerging is strictly consists of high level players ganking low levels via rifts or in Abyss.
Conquering fortresses yields medals which you can use for getting more abyss gear. Every fort you take also has a short PvE instance. Right now defending fortresses gives you a nothing. So we might see some Fortress ping-pong games where each side conquers a fortress and abandons it so it can get conquered by other side tomorrow, so they can re-conquer it the day after for medals. Basically, no real point.
PvP items are very well balanced but it is a huge grind to get them no matter where you look. I'd say at least 3 times worse than leveling to L50.
Lore and Atmosphere: NCsoft have actually done a really good job on this department. Quests are very well written and are a joy to read most of the time. There are lots of small details and references. Short stories on the game books are actually very good. Cinematics, while overused and useless on small ones, feel truly epic on main story parts. As far as I'm concerned, they have managed to establish the Lore in to the world really well.
Endgame: Can't really comment on this, but if this is supposed to be a PvPvE game, then it is safe to assume Fortresses and Dredgion are the main parts of the endgame.
Combat, gameplay and all other crap and a final take on the game as a whole: Aion is a pretty standard MMORPG. It doesn't take any risks (other than grinding and money sinks). Its your standard MMO that has a PvP focus with a wings fetish. Nothing more to say about it really.
I tried to be as objective as possible, but, this is after all, the sum of my experience with the game itself, so it is inherently subjective. Take it for what it is, and decide for yourself.
For me, its not the grind, i dont mind grinding in an enviroment where i might get wiped or decide to randomly hunt down people. It adds some excitement.
Its not the bots/spammers...spammers have been reduced, bots are still there though.
Its not the lame quests, they need a storyline explaining how asmodians got back hair, or about when your eylos character come out the closet. Its not that the base lore consisting of good and evil angels (or race of angels) could have really been badass, why this race of angels runs around killing kitty cat people, and goofy rat-men is beyond me. Its not that im 33 and should i choose to go to the pve maps ill be fighting the same mobs i did on the starter map.
Whats killing me is the damn lag/latency and rubberbanding/ memory leak crashes. Why wasnt i lagging at launch when the server was packed and people couldnt log in? Why no latency then but 2 weeks ago it went from a rare occurance to almost every attack?
Went from activly fighting in seiges to crashing, disconnecting, and latency that make me look stupid...like i cant follow the raid ...landing on shards and removing my wings, only to be rubberbanded back out in the abyss and fall to my death because my wings wont pop due to latency. In the last week alone i went from never having a memory leak issue to having it occur every 15min.
So ive already removed the auto-bill function. If the game is playable like it was for the first several weeks ill resub, i have too much fun raiding with no lagg and too much fun running around the abyss pvping to want to leave just yet. Since my memory leak crashes causes the power to basically turn off, its not something im willing to put my computer though (mabey if the game was playable when i wasnt restarting froma crash).
This weekend will be the deciding weekend for aion, however im not pissed to where ill never try the game again, and ill stay for sure for a while longer granted the crashes lag and latency subside.
FACT: There are TONS of bots on every server. Some places have so many that you literally cannot get a kill. The bots are also now crafting which further cripples the economy.
FACT: You will be grinding 6+ hours for a level in your 30's and 18 hours in the low 40's the whole way to 40+ hours from 49-50.
If you want my opinion the game completely lacks in content...thus the grind. The game lacks any depth or character development. The PvP is meaningless and consists mostly ganking or zerging with very little skill involved. Class balance is awful leaving ranged at a major advantage in both PvP and PvE. The level gap system makes grouping/PvPing a major pain and qualifies for worst MMO mechanic i've seen in a long time.
Honestly, I'd save my money. PvP is no better than WAR's, PvE is far worse than WoW's or even WAR's. Unless you like grinding there really isn't much the game brings to the table.
As far as the silent majority playing like WAR/AoC...I think you got your facts wrong. The silent majority quit those games just like they will with this game. The forum whiners/fanbois are ALWAYS the vocal minority for both sides, the hard thing is see past the vocal bunch and figuring out what the real majority will do.
The only "FACTS" in your argument is all of these are YOUR OPINION...
Most people like the PVP because its FUN - if you aren't having fun - that's one thing... but don't spew off the same old crap that every hater posts. It's gotten very old, very quickly...
But you just said it yourself. You'd rather save your money and go elsewhere - so Ill ask the age old question.... why are you HERE on THESE Aion forums?
Actually the facts are facts and my opinion is labeled as such. Are you saying there aren't a ridiculous amount of bots in AION? OR are you saying there isn't an exponentialy growing grind as you reach 40 and above?
I enjoy medium to small PvP and I wish AION had more of it. Sadly AION turns PvP into ganking and zerging, which isn't fun for me. What same old crap btw? The fact that AION's PvP isn't meaningful? Because that is true, it doesn't alter gameplay or provide any real reason to attack/defend except to get medals to get gear, JUST LIKE WAR.
I am here to discuss AION and answer a question that was asked, see the question mark on the thread title :P. I paid money for the game and played it for a month or so, why am I not allowed to comment on it now that I understand the game?
I will post the same question to you. IF you are indeed enjoying AION than why are you here on the forums? Shouldn't you be out grinding on balaur or mistmane? I mean I've got nothing better to do with no good MMO's coming out(dragon age next week!) but you have a game you're paying for...GO PLAY IT!
EvE ! Planetside ! Forgot about these games yea. I always considered EvE as a huge success MMO wise and a lot of MMO should be inspired by this game. I only played a very short time (one month) and i thought it was very good. I still managed to grind missions levels lol, but that's far from most "grindy" elements i found in others games.
Anyway, i think grind is part of the games now. Even console games have it (like racing games where you need to race to get $$ and buy cars) etc. Video games is entertainment. Aion entertains me a lot for the moment.
On the bot situation I'll only say this. When you're trying to accomplish a quest that calls for a certain drop from a certain mob and only 7-10 of those mobs swawn in a certain area and then that area is covered with 5-7 bots, that's when it's a problem.
There are screenshots and videos all over the internet highlighting this problem. In WoW I don't ever recall competing with bots to accomplish quests. I'm not saying they are not there just not to that degree.
Wait a few months; then come back and see if people are still praising it like a new trend. I guarantee you the general consensus will be a lot different... I've watching games get hyped to hell then slowly wither away after launch over and over again for the last several years.
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
I agree. Granted, I never did play WoW (shocking) but of the mmorpg's I did play, I don't remember having to race against bots for quest mobs. This includes EQ2, AoC, SWG, CoH, etc. The ONLY other game where I saw bots killing everything in sight was, ironically, Lineage 2.
Aion is fun, I liked the game, but do us a favor. Please don't try and downplay how many bots there are in the game. Because there are tons of them. Seriously, I won't eve make a post saying "Aion sux" or whatever but the bot problem is out of control and unless they do something about it, I think a lot of players will get fed up with it and leave. Imo of course.
i love how everyone says its not grindy and the quests are there to help you lvl they arent. You do ten quests then the rest is grind im a lvl 30 templar and the whole experince thing has just become a big grind. If i was getting something for all that work then i wouldnt mind but as it is i feel like im doing a job instead of playing a game. Those instances they talk about well i know many ppl who have ran the first instance training grounds upwards of 9 times and still got a few measly kinah for thier trouble that topped with the fact there is a 17 hour lock out on that one. . its just not very enjoyable to drop an elite boss in a instance and get literally nothing for it. If you enjoy never having enough money then this game could be for you. Ive found making money in this game is rather difficult at least for my templar mainly cuz it takes a large period of time. Kill mob,sit ,repeat. Templar doesnt get a decent heal which makes sense but ultimatly makes you spend more time resting then actually grinding. I would get a trial of it and try it you might like it. My cousin loves it so does his wife i am not crazy about it and only reason im still playing is my sub was still active on the new month so once the sub runs out im going back to lotro. Its not a horrible game but because of the low end comp i have along with bots that snake your kill, gold spam not so bad now and the massive money sink. Unless changes are made i do see it going the way of L1 and L2. btw this is exactly the place he should be looking for info since whether flaming or trolling or what not he can get a good idea of what to expect out of the game. My cousin talked me into the game and i really wouldnt have bought it if he hadnt but i myself played beta felt like it was ok then after beta it just didnt feel the same Oh plus if you die in pve expect to shell out a small fortune for your heal and your flight back hope that helps though it might end up sounding like trolling no idea but at least im being as honest as i can and unfortunatly ppl dont like honest ppl when it isnt what they want to hear
no game is as bad as everyone says not even Warcraft .
Ncsoft did nt do the right thing by players quick enough so now its a niche game rather than the next big thing .
The ques were unacceptable and the reason most people left .
Bots and cheating can be and will be put right but its the ques that killed it . If only someone had had the guts to offers another free month to those that left in the first month of it , they would have made 10s of millions more in future revenue .
Aion is a strange game, you like it for a while but then wake up one morning hating it, tripping over things in your rush to cancel your account.
It has to be said that apart from the graphics there are several free to play mmo's that walk all over Aion.
lol that's what happened to me too.
I never thought a new hyped MMORPG would make Warhammer look good and seem really fun in comparison, but Aion did it.
just going by your sig -- you seem to brag about being able to play an MMO for a few months at the most-- perhaps MMOs arent your thing ?
just going by your sig -- you seem to brag about being able to play an MMO for a few months at the most-- perhaps MMOs arent your thing ?
His sig is a joke poking fun at the fact that other MMO's held his sub for much longer periods of time and it only took AION 2 weeks. I know how he feels. I played SWG for a year, MU Online for probably close to a year, WoW for 2 years and another 4 months later on, The Chronicles of Spellborn for 3 months, RFOnline 3 months, WAR for 6 months of beta + 3 months of retail, Runes of Magic 3 months, etc.. AION took me 2-3 weeks to be completely bored, I spent my last weeks playing the broker to try and make some kinah for my friends.
Don't blame the game because you suck as a player. I got killed by a higher level, waaaah. I got ganked by a group, waaaaah. I can't make enough kinah, waaaaah. Death costs too much, waaaaah. Get better, or get out. Looks like you took the easy way. Typical of lazy little wannabes. Bye.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
Exactly, it's apples and oranges... and pears. Don't listen to what everyone says. Remember, Jonas Brothers was #1 on iTunes and Bush was re-elected.
I guess you showed them, Mr. Straight up Hardcore Bamf.
I don't see anything in Aion that makes it stand out from any of the other MMORPG's that has been released in the last 3-4 years. Okay, other than... wings.
If Aion wouldn't have been hyped and released as a top tier MMO, I would've probably not paid any attention to it... at all. I would've simply lumped it in with the rest of the grinder/Free2Play type games.
I'm sure there are a lot of people that enjoy the game. While I'm extremely happy for them and glad they found their new mmo-home, I'm just not enjoying Aion myself.
Do I think Aion is terrible? Not necessarily. But it's also not a game that I would recommend for a friend to try. In my opinion, Aion feels like an odd blend of EQ2, FFXI, and WAR, imho. A watered down blend of those other games... with 1/2 the features, + wings, and cinematics.
And yes, the population of gold farmers is really a big turn off. My first few minutes in game each play session = adding spammers to the ignore list.
The questions you ask are based purely on ones perception, obviously many people think it is content devoid and has too much grind as you even stated you've heard that but someone enjoying there time in Aion will most likely not feel it is too grind oriented some people enjoy grinding mobs while some don't like to and no lore or graphics is going to change that for them. What you can say is almost certain is that Aion is a game that as of now has a lack of quest content and has more than a few gold spammers to get rid of. Good thing is these are both problems that are extremely easy to fix by adding more quests and a few tricks to handle the spammers which LOTRO did a very good job of.
Ultimately the only one who can answer these questions for you is you because again only you can determine what for you is enough or too much.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
I personally think Aion is a great guide and has quite quickly one of the best in the market. The only problem that I can understand people coplaining about are all the goldsellers and a few bots going around, this is a problem that can be fixed and it is easy to block the spamming goldsellers so they will not have a large effect on your game.
As for questing I would say Aion does it very there are lots of quests to keep you busy and very rarely will you find yourself in the position of needing to grind to level up. PvP in the abyss is one of the greatest ideas for mmorpg PvP having huge fortress battles is a real rush and is why Aion is making a name for itself. Within two weeks of deciated play you could hit level 45+ which means this game is not a real grind to get high leveled.
The aion quest system has been designed very well and I personally enjoyed doing some of the quests where others games I felt like questing was a chore! As for lack of content I can partly agree but that would have to be endgame content and lets not forgot this game is very new if you do not consider the betas, Everyone knows that there will be Aion updates since the game has took off so well.
If you are still enjoying WoW then something is wrong get on Aion and still having some real fun.
Aion Quests Guide
To poster above - why don't you simply say game ROXXX - efect would be the same
I have played the game since release and got to level 40, and i have to say that this is my breaking point, it is just too much grind at this point. I'ts very unfortunate because i am in a great legion but the amount of time u need to put in to get anything done just keeps growing exponentially and since i have a job etc i just can't keep putting in the amounts i should.
the game is a polished product that can keep a hardcore segment of the mmo population busy for a long time but it is an apologetic grinder once u get past level 20. grind xp, money mats, abyss points etc and then go out on a big pvp zerg to cath the castles, it's really all there is.
I play (giving it one more week) on the gorgos server, and yes bots are everywhere, not hiding in any way, with names like dfgdfgd and hjljljl and nothing gets done about them. the goldspam in LFG channel and others is incessant, from the second i log in the spam starts, it's really bad.
so in my opinion, it's a good looking game with smooth gameplay, but a very steep grindcurve and some major bot and goldseller problems that should have been resolved by now. a good game for very hardcore pvp players, but not for casual players i'm afraid.
played WOW - AION