Hahaha, yeah the question is "Are you BOY enough to grind to level 50?"

Because a man doesn't have the time it takes to grind on such games.

A man usually has a job, a family and a social life. Only the kids have the time to grind for 12 hours a day..... to accomplish what? Nothing.

What people fail to realize is that if you XP in groups it is much faster. 35-42 ish you can do in Kaidan HQ / Lepharist Citadel, and above that there are instances that you can group up and do for XP.

Sure, if you solo grind these levels it's going to be boring, and take a lot of time. These levels were not made to be solo'd however.

This is the problem with the mentalitiy that you "MUST" have a solo option all the way up. People only view the solo option and call it an OMFG grind unless you make it take 2 days to reach max level. THIS IS NOT A SOLO GAME PEOPLE. Get in groups, have fun, farm some bosses.

You might get 1/4 level per day of play, you might get a full level, it depends on how much you play. I guarantee you however that the person getting 1/4 level per day will eventually reach max level, and it will be much faster than it was in the past.

Aion is not any more of a grind than any other game out atm, barring WoW which should just have an auto-create level 80 button. If you don't focus solely on the destination and how long it takes you to solo to get there, you'll have much more fun with the journey.

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Ps. OP there are no dungeons at that level? or elite zone? they help on leveling unless there is few people at your level.

Anyone can answer this ^^^^?

There's no dungeons at lvl 45?

Originally posted by Hashbrick

Has to be the first time I've ever heard anyone say anything about being man enough for a game. Are you man enough to sit at your PC and click buttons for hours on end? Are you huh? Ya ok....

The question should be, "Is your attention span dull enough?"

lol i had to laugh at that too.ability to click buttons for hours everyday= manhood

Originally posted by BigMango

Hahaha, yeah the question is "Are you BOY enough to grind to level 50?"

Because a man doesn't have the time it takes to grind on such games.

A man usually has a job, a family and a social life. Only the kids have the time to grind for 12 hours a day..... to accomplish what? Nothing.

 

 

and an University Student ?...gosh I feel like I will never hit max lvl with my tiny game time     :( and....  Q.Q

1hour/day or less is clearly not enough for Aion ... well I will keep trying until I cant log anymore... then I will connect to a 5x Private server... it's sad but probably the truth

Holy grind, Batman!!!!

That is ridiculous.  I shall stay far away from this title.  People argue that it isn't another Korean grindfest, but from the OP's comments, it is.  Utterly insane.

Originally posted by tkreep

I quit the game at lvl 36 cuz of the boring ass grind

My guild and I stopped at 35

 So it's decided then - Game Sucks right?

Originally posted by nuififun

 So it's decided then - Game Sucks right?

I wouldnt say the game sucks, and this is coming from someone who canceled, I would however say that the grind is a bit harder than most of the average people are going to be willing / able to tollerate.

Not only that, but most 30+ players aren't even leveling legit. Bots are everywhere and en masse, they are completely unregulated and make it hard for players who actually can stand to grind, to even accomplish this, as bots 8+ levels higher than the mobs are farming them 24/7. Very close to canceling my account as well.

Originally posted by Fkinglinux

Not only that, but most 30+ players aren't even leveling legit. Bots are everywhere and en masse, they are completely unregulated and make it hard for players who actually can stand to grind, to even accomplish this, as bots 8+ levels higher than the mobs are farming them 24/7. Very close to canceling my account as well.

Sorry, there are a lot of bots, but All of my friends and folks we grouped with were 30 plus and not bots.

The majority of people 30+ are just folks with a lot of extra time, college students, and unemployed folks...not all are bots.

Wow... the OP IS Hardcore.

450 hours to go from level 40 to 45.  This does not include getting to 40, btw.

There are 168 hours in a week, and it has been 4 weeks since the headstart for a total of 672 playeble hours (minus about 20 for maintenance outages and patches).

That means, for the last month 222 hours has been spent getting to level 40 as well as everything else, and he probably hit 30 to 40 in the first week.  Or to break it down by weekly, he had 54 hours each week to and eat, sleep, bathe etc...

Well ok, the bathing and sleep probably didn't happen, so yeah, it could be done.

Damn,,, now THAT's Hardcore. 

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Ps. OP there are no dungeons at that level? or elite zone? they help on leveling unless there is few people at your level.

 

Anyone can answer this ^^^^?

There's no dungeons at lvl 45?

Well there's the dark poeta instance as well as the shugo instance.

I I know the shugo instance is supposed to help pve players get higher. there is also the Balaur ship instance, The Dreadgion.

I believe these are supposed to be higher level instances but I'll have to see what lvl they start with.

edit: found this...

http://www.aionarmory.com/search.aspx?browse=3.4

Name Level Type
Adma Stronghold 50 Instance
Aetherogenetics Lab 41 - 45 Instance
Alquimia Research Center 41 - 44 Instance
Asteria Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Azoturan Fortress 43 - 45 Instance
Chamber of Roah 45 - 50 Instance
Dark Poeta 50 Instance
Draupnir Cave 43 - 48 Instance
Dredgion 50 Instance
Eracus Temple Cavern 28 - undefined Instance
Fire Temple 30 - 38 Instance
Indratu Fortress 41 - 48 Instance
Krotan Chamber Instance
Kysis Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Lava Caves Instance
Left Wing Chamber 35 Instance
Miren Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Nochsana Training Camp 25 - 28 Instance
Right Wing Chamber 35 Instance
Sky Temple of Arkanis 30 - 33 Instance
Steel Rake 40 - 45 Instance
Sulfur Tree Nest 35 Instance
Theobomos Lab 50 Instance
 

Not sure if both sides hve these or if there is a split.

---

Originally posted by Mithios
So does Aion have any play value to it, or is it just one big grind fest? All I've heard is grind this and grind that. Is anyone actually playing the game or just pushing through the levels as fast as they can?

---

Later you grind for abyss points ;P. Only sure way to get them is through mobs, coz players don't want to actually lose theirs.

Btw OP, you play way too much, 12 hours per day? So if i assume you actually work (8 hours) you would have 4 hours of sleep left. Talk about hardcore.

Originally posted by Furor

level 40-50 is where you can seperate between the man and boy.

Quite correct. A man would stop playing at that point, because he has a family, and a real job, and can't waste 400 hours of his life grinding digital levels for digital characters.

Only a boy has the time and lack of other things going on in his life to devote eight hours a day to a Korean grindfest.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Ps. OP there are no dungeons at that level? or elite zone? they help on leveling unless there is few people at your level.

Anyone can answer this ^^^^?

There's no dungeons at lvl 45?

Well there's the dark poeta instance as well as the shugo instance.

I I know the shugo instance is supposed to help pve players get higher. there is also the Balaur ship instance, The Dreadgion.

I believe these are supposed to be higher level instances but I'll have to see what lvl they start with.

edit: found this...

http://www.aionarmory.com/search.aspx?browse=3.4

Name Level Type
Adma Stronghold 50 Instance
Aetherogenetics Lab 41 - 45 Instance
Alquimia Research Center 41 - 44 Instance
Asteria Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Azoturan Fortress 43 - 45 Instance
Chamber of Roah 45 - 50 Instance
Dark Poeta 50 Instance
Draupnir Cave 43 - 48 Instance
Dredgion 50 Instance
Eracus Temple Cavern 28 - undefined Instance
Fire Temple 30 - 38 Instance
Indratu Fortress 41 - 48 Instance
Krotan Chamber Instance
Kysis Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Lava Caves Instance
Left Wing Chamber 35 Instance
Miren Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Nochsana Training Camp 25 - 28 Instance
Right Wing Chamber 35 Instance
Sky Temple of Arkanis 30 - 33 Instance
Steel Rake 40 - 45 Instance
Sulfur Tree Nest 35 Instance
Theobomos Lab 50 Instance
 

Not sure if both sides hve these or if there is a split

So by that link shows there are dungeons that help you level dunno if the OP used them but he didn't mention them so thanks for pointing them out sovrath :)

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Ps. OP there are no dungeons at that level? or elite zone? they help on leveling unless there is few people at your level.

Anyone can answer this ^^^^?

There's no dungeons at lvl 45?

Well there's the dark poeta instance as well as the shugo instance.

I I know the shugo instance is supposed to help pve players get higher. there is also the Balaur ship instance, The Dreadgion.

I believe these are supposed to be higher level instances but I'll have to see what lvl they start with.

edit: found this...

http://www.aionarmory.com/search.aspx?browse=3.4

Name Level Type
Adma Stronghold 50 Instance
Aetherogenetics Lab 41 - 45 Instance
Alquimia Research Center 41 - 44 Instance
Asteria Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Azoturan Fortress 43 - 45 Instance
Chamber of Roah 45 - 50 Instance
Dark Poeta 50 Instance
Draupnir Cave 43 - 48 Instance
Dredgion 50 Instance
Eracus Temple Cavern 28 - undefined Instance
Fire Temple 30 - 38 Instance
Indratu Fortress 41 - 48 Instance
Krotan Chamber Instance
Kysis Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Lava Caves Instance
Left Wing Chamber 35 Instance
Miren Chamber 45 - 50 Instance
Nochsana Training Camp 25 - 28 Instance
Right Wing Chamber 35 Instance
Sky Temple of Arkanis 30 - 33 Instance
Steel Rake 40 - 45 Instance
Sulfur Tree Nest 35 Instance
Theobomos Lab 50 Instance
 

Not sure if both sides hve these or if there is a split

So by that link shows there are dungeons that help you level dunno if the OP used them but he didn't mention them so thanks for pointing them out sovrath :)

Sure, my pleasure.

I'll be honest, the only ones I've tried are the Eracus Temple and the Fire Temple. Of the two, the one that I can at least say with certainty to give decent xp is Fire Temple. I only did some solo stuff in Eracus and actually pvp'ed in there as some asmos got in.

I will also mention the Training Grounds instance. I got a huge amount of xp for doing that at about lvl 25 or 26. I think, if memory serves me right, for one run through I got almost half a level. I say "almost' as I might have had a bit going in so I don't want to mislead anyone. But I do remember looking down with pleasure that the run was going to get me a good way toward the next level.

Yep, running through the Nochsana Training Camp will net you roughly half a level of exp, more for the first run and the delivery of the quests. That's basically less than 8 runs before you're unable to enter again.

Originally posted by tkreep

I quit the game at lvl 36 cuz of the boring ass grind

 Y same here.. after 35 was just a waste of time.. when after 3 days i could not find the will to even log in game i knew it was time to move to something else as i did.
 

I do respect the tenacity and persistance of people who will grind their toons up to 50 tho.. its by all means a feat to recon of human resistance vs insanity and boredom.

Just a lil thing some people should be aware off :

If you die at theese levels.. you loose so much exp that it becomes stresseful. its a waste of time. This is even more insane if you are one of the unlucky who get dc'ed a lot.. not my case but i know some people who are hehe.

Other factors contributed to my decision too ofc..

The economy is totally bot / farmers controlled. The killstealing is a common policy.. and the auction is full of overpriced items ment to force people to buy cash with real life cash..

The bot farming and gold spamming have got to an unthinkable level.. a level that i never met in any game i have played since 1989 or so.. i mean.. its just sick. They should do like SOE did in Eq2 and open real life cash transfers and sellings on some servers.. way better than this spamming fest in my humble opinion.

About the men from boy separation.. id say men will stop playing this waste of time while boys will keep playing this closed inside their rooms cos really theres nto much else they can do :)

So in a sense ya.. separates men from boys.. boys will keep grinding to 50.

I had a different experience than you. 

For starters, I don't grind. When I feel like PvPing, I go PvP. When I feel like crafting I go craft. When I feel like go run an instance, I do that. When I feel like ... well, I hope you understand the pattern. I don't force myself into any one repetitive task with the end game as a carrot. It's a mistake I outgrew when playing Lineage2 in the past. I play to have fun that particular day, no matter what I end up doing.

Yes, dying is stressful. Or, at least more stressful than other games. It does promote some decent play among gamers though and you're bound to end up in better random groups than other games, especially the higher up you go. In order to progress you do need to play better, so the game does promote improvement through being a little harsher in terms of death penalty. I understand it can be frustrating for those with bad connections, but then again, that would be frustrating no matter what the game was.

The economy so far on my server is not inflated in any way. World drops in the AH are sold slightly higher than vendor price. Crafted items are of course more expensive. So far my experience is the opposite than yours. If botters control the auction house, then they push the prices down, not up.

We'll see how things progress when NCsoft implements 24hrs GM support. For now I haven't noticed any botting activity bigger than other popular games I've played.

Originally posted by EduardoASG

Originally posted by tkreep

I quit the game at lvl 36 cuz of the boring ass grind

 Y same here.. after 35 was just a waste of time.. when after 3 days i could not find the will to even log in game i knew it was time to move to something else as i did.
 

I do respect the tenacity and persistance of people who will grind their toons up to 50 tho.. its by all means a feat to recon of human resistance vs insanity and boredom.

Just a lil thing some people should be aware off :

If you die at theese levels.. you loose so much exp that it becomes stresseful. its a waste of time. This is even more insane if you are one of the unlucky who get dc'ed a lot.. not my case but i know some people who are hehe.

Other factors contributed to my decision too ofc..

The economy is totally bot / farmers controlled. The killstealing is a common policy.. and the auction is full of overpriced items ment to force people to buy cash with real life cash..

The bot farming and gold spamming have got to an unthinkable level.. a level that i never met in any game i have played since 1989 or so.. i mean.. its just sick. They should do like SOE did in Eq2 and open real life cash transfers and sellings on some servers.. way better than this spamming fest in my humble opinion.

About the men from boy separation.. id say men will stop playing this waste of time while boys will keep playing this closed inside their rooms cos really theres nto much else they can do :)

So in a sense ya.. separates men from boys.. boys will keep grinding to 50.

I figured out why most people are having an issue and the so called 'grind'.  I think most people (notice I said most, not all) who are coming from another game to try Aion, notably WoW, just get to a point where they already had gone through the leveling process in their previous game, in some cases multiple times and once you get to a certain point in Aion (let's say lvl 35), there is just no desire to keep trudging on.  While the gameplay can be at times fun and engaging, at the end of the day there just isn't enough there to keep on going, especially when you know that it will continue to get longer and harder to level as you go on.  Not only that but once you get higher up, your content options start to thin out.  I've already seen multiple people just stop logging and it really isn't because Aion is horrible, they just don't have the urge to login anymore. 

A friend mentioned this the other day.  He was getting ready to login and then realized he was looking at 5 hours of 'work' to hit the next level.  At that point he didn't login.  Once you start viewing the game as 'work', that's it.  Yea there are instances but it seems most are not really that exciting or fun after you've done them a few times, save a couple. 

The quest xp boost may help, but it may be too little too late to stop the bleeding of subscribers.

Originally posted by Xasapis

I had a different experience than you. 

For starters, I don't grind. When I feel like PvPing, I go PvP. When I feel like crafting I go craft. When I feel like go run an instance, I do that. When I feel like ... well, I hope you understand the pattern. I don't force myself into any one repetitive task with the end game as a carrot. It's a mistake I outgrew when playing Lineage2 in the past. I play to have fun that particular day, no matter what I end up doing.

Yes, dying is stressful. Or, at least more stressful than other games. It does promote some decent play among gamers though and you're bound to end up in better random groups than other games, especially the higher up you go. In order to progress you do need to play better, so the game does promote improvement through being a little harsher in terms of death penalty. I understand it can be frustrating for those with bad connections, but then again, that would be frustrating no matter what the game was.

The economy so far on my server is not inflated in any way. World drops in the AH are sold slightly higher than vendor price. Crafted items are of course more expensive. So far my experience is the opposite than yours. If botters control the auction house, then they push the prices down, not up.

We'll see how things progress when NCsoft implements 24hrs GM support. For now I haven't noticed any botting activity bigger than other popular games I've played.

I think this is the issue.

Instead of people just playing the game they are all putting in "their all" to get to the next level. To get to level cap.

It's as if they placed some arbirtray timeline on themselves where they have to go and level.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by Xasapis

I had a different experience than you. 

For starters, I don't grind. When I feel like PvPing, I go PvP. When I feel like crafting I go craft. When I feel like go run an instance, I do that. When I feel like ... well, I hope you understand the pattern. I don't force myself into any one repetitive task with the end game as a carrot. It's a mistake I outgrew when playing Lineage2 in the past. I play to have fun that particular day, no matter what I end up doing.

Yes, dying is stressful. Or, at least more stressful than other games. It does promote some decent play among gamers though and you're bound to end up in better random groups than other games, especially the higher up you go. In order to progress you do need to play better, so the game does promote improvement through being a little harsher in terms of death penalty. I understand it can be frustrating for those with bad connections, but then again, that would be frustrating no matter what the game was.

The economy so far on my server is not inflated in any way. World drops in the AH are sold slightly higher than vendor price. Crafted items are of course more expensive. So far my experience is the opposite than yours. If botters control the auction house, then they push the prices down, not up.

We'll see how things progress when NCsoft implements 24hrs GM support. For now I haven't noticed any botting activity bigger than other popular games I've played.

 

I think this is the issue.

Instead of people just playing the game they are all putting in "their all" to get to the next level. To get to level cap.

It's as if they placed some arbirtray timeline on themselves where they have to go and level.

This is the result of games that have been released that have softened the blow on the leveling curve.  The MMORPG player today is conditioned get to the end game in a smooth, economical manner.  5 years of WoW will do that to you. 

Man enough to grind? LoL

Yeah because everyone knows that sitting for hours infront of a computer game is so manly.

Originally posted by Jimmydean

Aion is not any more of a grind than any other game out atm, barring WoW which should just have an auto-create level 80 button.

WoW's leveling has been nerfed at least three times.  The original vanilla WoW was not exactly a breeze to get to 60 and had quite some grind.  40-50 were the levels everyone hated.  Some felt 50-60 was hard as well, but IMO the instances & plagulands made those a lot more enjoyable.

If Aion's grind is nerfed as planned by NCSoft, it should probably resemle Vanilla WoW's grind.