While aion isn't anything revolutionairy it is a good polished game. It is not ever remotely a xp/resource/item grind as L2. Looking around here I think a few people will miss out on a game they might have liked just because of their prejudice. Well your loss, aion is already doing better than aoc, war, lotro...

Btw. @Solareus, it looks like you literaly are looking for stuff about aion to bitch about. Well to evryone his opininon but you sound like you should just stick to (most boring mmo ever) Lotro. Yea I have playd lotro and compared to aion it feels like watching professional chess on tv.

Oh and there is a very intuitive auction house.

I'm pleasantly surprised about Aion. It was much better then I thought it would be. It's easy to get into and pretty polished. Smooth character animations and you can even JUMP! :) No wierd mob behavior or major lag problems.

So after reading this entire thread I figured I would point out a few things,

First off , everyone has their own tastes as far as games ,  gameplay and features are concerned ,  I personally feel that Aion is a fairly decent game for a number of reasons.

Second .  After the all the past generations of games out there how many Truly innovative things are really left to add to a game that isn't in one way or another already being used today ? , Not many however

Hey I may not have an insane amount of experiance playing games considering that I have only played L2 , Guild Wars , RF Online , Eve Online , Requiem , WoW , Tabula Rasa , Warhammer , AoC , 9Dragons , 2Moons .. ECT ( I'm not gonna bother mentioning some games ) , But what i know is that it all boils down to the person , What do you want in a game ?,  What kind of Graphics ? , What type of leveling system ? , what type of combat ? .. Fast paced , Slow paced , Turnebased , Twitch ?  Seriously ?

* Yes a majority of all games made today have the same principle when doing quests ( Kill x amount of mob ) blah blah

* A majority of games made have the same type/style of combat system ( Press key wait for animation / view dmg  / Repeat )

* almost every game made is subject to Bots and Rmt ( big deal , if you have been playing games for awhile you deal with it )

* almost every feature in every game has been done before ( its probably never going to change , Oh well )

Now as far as comparing games .. Its pointless because this game may be similar to but is not WoW nor is it L2 .. ect  , It may have Similar features to ( insert game ) but how many games out there don't .. there's not a lot of completely original games out there again its PERSONAL PREFERANCE. either you like everything in the game or you don't whether you decide to play is up to you. who gives a crap what everyone else thinks .. i don't

I honestly don't see Aion as being a failure , the same as Warhammer or AoC for that matter .. considering that both Warhammer and AoC still have a playerbase and are still running .. not so much of a failure , Now Tabula Rasa on the other hand is a shining example of a failure because it lost so many players that the game was shut down ( that is a failure in my book )  , But only time will tell if Aion follows the same path , Unless you can read the future saying otherwise would make you a fool.

Prefrences .. here are some of the things that I really liked and things I didn't

LIKES -

* Graphics - Yes Aion is very stunning when it comes to graphics and not to mention the game play was lag free during the last few days ..

* Combat - I personally like the combat system , it's not overly clumbsy . its got a decent pace and the animations look great

* Concept - PvPvE sounds interesting , can't speak from experience here as it only allowed me to level 10 but i'm willing to say it sounds fun and i'm looking forward to seeing it first hand , PvP is a must have mix it up with some npcs choosing sides =D

   - Flight - another fun concept that many people may enjoy .. it gives players more diversity when choosing how they want to fight a battle or move from place to place ( only downfall is that its not open in every map )

    - Crafting .. Now i really didn't get into the crafting side much but from the looks of it there are alot more options in Aion for crafting than in most games ..  Potions , armor , weapons , dunno what sewing was for , but there was that and some other things you don't see in most games like stones , enchants and a few others i can't mention all off the top of my head but from a glance its not your typical 1 tool makes everything , seems there was alot of different mats and alot of gathering involved

   - Misc , Pvp ranks , pvp skills , Re-skinnable weapons .. all sounds great to me

 Naysay - things i don't care for either way

 * Classes - sometimes simple is better , class mechanics are nice but usually lead to imbalance so personally I don't care for class mechanics

 * Lore / story  - nice to have but how many people really care ?  .. i could care less either way its the game play that keeps me interested

 * Grind - Personally i don't mind grinding .. gives some a sense of achievement but bores others .. don't bother me but some people may not like it ( well if this is an issue maybe this isn't your game )

 * Community , Economy , politics - Don't care if it exists or not .. I play games to have fun sometimes these promote it sometimes they ruin it..

Dislikes-

 * Limited flight time

 * can't swim but rather sink like a rock and take dmg ( must be the armor and all the crap i have in my bags weighing me down , wtb life jacket )

 * the mane .. ( ugly as heck but i suppose it matches the demon feet and hands )

 * the voices your character makes when he swings his weapon ( I made the mistake of choosing voice 3 or 4 over default , Probably wouldn't be a big deal except my 7 ft tall hulking warrior sounds like Bruce Lee screaming at the top of his lungs )

Anyways ,  like any other mmo out there Aion is a Combination of features and graphics.. some good some not so good, not truely unique nor is it a carbon copy of anything else on the shelf , it just is what it is like it or don't 

Overall I think Aion has a lot of the features I like in games and the graphics , polish i enjoy seeing  ( hated the cartoon look of WoW )

( Expect to see WoW expansion to add flight soon )  * Blizzard *   Quick run to Kfc and get a bucket of wings we must study them to see how they works .. Nom nom

Originally posted by Twizted26

( Expect to see WoW expansion to add flight soon )  * Blizzard *   Quick run to Kfc and get a bucket of wings we must study them to see how they works .. Nom nom

 

Wow has had flight since their first expansion (burning crusade). If your refering to fighting while flying, the latest expansion added mounted combat, so it's entirely possible to do in wow already. There are some quests/dungeons that use it.

If your trying to paint up flight as a unique feature of Aion, then your mistaken. I'm not trying to defend wow here or start a flame war, i'm just saying.

I'm currently playing Aion beta this weekend, and i'm loving it. I have played pretty much every MMO under then sun (except maybe a few obscure asian MMOs) and no found a single one that I like better than Wow. I'm not going to say that Aion is my new MMO, i'll have to explore it some more. But thus far it's looking great in my eyes.

Originally posted by Forumfall

Btw. @Solareus, it looks like you literaly are looking for stuff about aion to bitch about. Well to evryone his opininon but you sound like you should just stick to (most boring mmo ever) Lotro. Yea I have playd lotro and compared to aion it feels like watching professional chess on tv.

  I'm not even convinced he actually plays LOTRO, seems like all he does is post on these forums trying to dissuade people form being interested in Aion, in some odd attempt at increasing LOTRO subs??  I dunno...or maybe he dosen't really like LOTRO, and the only way he can justify the sub fee is posting on these forums, since he clearly doesn't liek to log in and play...or he wouldn't have the time to care what people say in the Aion forum, especially when he himself hasn't played it.  It vexes me, I'm terribly vexxed.

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Originally posted by Joliust

 

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Originally posted by Haiken

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Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero
 
 

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Originally posted by Haiken

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Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero
 
 

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Originally posted by Haiken
Yeah, I m not a big Western fan either, I prefer Eastern stuff, for example, I've always prefer Anime stuff like DBZ, Samurai X and Saint Seiya, instead of western Cartoons, like X-men, Underdog, although I watch those too, I still prefer the Anime ones, it relates to the topic because is the same issue, I prefer Asians Games instead of western, I like to play Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, Zelda, Mario more than Grand Theft Auto, Halo or other western games.
Lets be honest, in the Game subject Asians are 1 step ahead than Westerns, although not by much because we have seen some great games by western companys such as Counter-Strike, Half- Life, Quake, Doom, but Asian still have some classics such as Zelda, Mario and Metal Gear Solid.
I know none of those games are MMOs but if you are smart you will relate it with the thread.
 

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BTW when others use the term "West" or Western" it's pretty much known throughout the world that a majority of games originate from the U.S., NOT North America and South America. But like I said this is NOT the same when talking about different types of games coming out of Asia. Koreans are known for MMOs, Japanese are known for console games and Europeans are known for PC and console games.

So check your facts before you fly in here with you baby blue tighties and try to defend the undefendable....

Originally posted by BigMango

Originally posted by catsaad

i totally agree with you .these are the so called pathetic customers who make the companies believe they are doing a great job .only god knows when they will grow up .and learn to seek new things. rather then demanding the same old crap.

 

You see, people are always complaining that companies release unfinished and unpolished games.

Tell me how many games came out complete and polished? I see only 1: Lotro (and perhaps wow, but it still had issues at launch).

So now in 10 years we are lucky to have a 2nd complete, working and polished game since day 1 that never intended to innovate dramatically in any way ..... and the whiners and whining. Cry me a river

Yes you should take your own comment for yourself.

NCsoft indeed did a great job, since no other company other than Turbine (and perhaps Blizzard) was able to achieve this in 10 years.

 

That line right there is what bugs the hell out of me....seriously think about it. If a console game was released without major features that were SUPPOSE to be included, it would be utter FAILURE! But when companies develop and release MMOs at 75-85% of what they were INTENDED and SUPPOSE to be, players feel "lucky"? Give me a break. That's why so many companies are failing time and time again. They are NOT doing what needs to be done in these closed and open betas: testing server stability, ironing out bugs, game play and making sure that the overall experience at release is 90%+ of what they intended to deliver.

Nope, most days open betas (and now more closed betas) are used as promotional vehicles to keep hype up among potential customers until they can deliver on that 75%. I remember how hard it USE to be to get into open beta and how nearly impossible it was to get into closed beta without giving a full resume of what your previous experiences were like. And if you did not deliver on the job you were suppose to do back then, you could be released to make room for a more productive tester.

Nope now all you need is 5 bucks and that glassy look in your eyes....

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Originally posted by Haiken

Yeah, I m not a big Western fan either, I prefer Eastern stuff, for example, I've always prefer Anime stuff like DBZ, Samurai X and Saint Seiya, instead of western Cartoons, like X-men, Underdog, although I watch those too, I still prefer the Anime ones, it relates to the topic because is the same issue, I prefer Asians Games instead of western, I like to play Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, Zelda, Mario more than Grand Theft Auto, Halo or other western games.
Lets be honest, in the Game subject Asians are 1 step ahead than Westerns, although not by much because we have seen some great games by western companys such as Counter-Strike, Half- Life, Quake, Doom, but Asian still have some classics such as Zelda, Mario and Metal Gear Solid.
I know none of those games are MMOs but if you are smart you will relate it with the thread.

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Not all Japanese games (or Asian games) are that good. I do have a fair collection of import PS3/PS2 games that are just so culturally specific that they are unplayable.  The are tuned to the culture. Saying that all Asian games are better then American games is such a generalization.
western games in my opinion tend to be more "grayish" "urban" and "realistic" while asian games tend to be "CUTE" ...for example many of the clothing options and character images in Aion as well as Final Fantasy Online.  
There were a few articles about the "Aflac" duck commercials and how the duck "startled" or "offended" the Japanese people. So they had to tone it down. A weird culture to say the least but amazing in its own right.
 

Well...i dont care about everyones arguing that the chip on their shoulder is bigger and badder than the next guys.  All i can say is that this game is worth a purchase for playing.  Unless there is some complete brick-wall that is hit after level 10-20 that I'm aware of, but NC Soft hasn't disappointed in the past with thier history of involvement.

After playing a little more and reading a little more, what will continue to encourage me to choose this title next, even if it is for 3 - 6 months is that:

Aion has a very dynamic world environment-What Players do actually can affect the world, for instance, if you kill them to fast, players might cause a certain type of creature to go completely extinct on their server.

Aion has a vastly more complex yet accessible character creation system-Using the sliders found in games like perfect world and city of heroes, and yet streamlining it to make it feel easier to use.

Aion has an armour customization ability- YOu can dye your armour, or even change the appearance, for example, if you have large unremarkable shoulderpads, you might add spikes to them.

Aion has a combo based combat system-It allows for a fast paced combat system which is easy to use and yet provides for a multitude of combinations depending on desired skill-sets and weapons wielded.  It is not nearly as deep, from the onset, as the combo system of AoC, but it it seems to have the makings of more combat decisional depth than other mmo's.

Aion has aerial combat- I don't really need to explain this, and I actually like the areal limitations.  It is situational and needs to be situational.

Aion has both GvG and RvR- Guild vs guild-by doing certain things, your guild itself can gain higher reputation and standing giving it access to higher level guild only items- Realm vs Realm- The factions will be actively engaged in a worldwide conflict not seen before in any other MMO.

Aion uses the "CryEngine"- The cry engine is the graphics/game engine that first powered the game "Farcry". More recently, an updated version was used in the overpowered game Crysis. Aion will be using version 1.3 i believe. This level of graphics for an MMO is above-bar in itself; certainly less kid-like cartoony than many other mmo's. And Aion's scenery is certainly more detailed and environmentally alive than many other mainstay mmo's.

PvP system in Aion is more comprehensive than WoW and WAR it seems.  The Abyss(Aion's PVPVE area) is divided into three layers: Top, centre, and bottom. There are five fortresses and eight artifacts in the top layer, one fortress and seven artifacts in the centre, three fortresses and seven artifacts in the bottom layer with two strategic points.  So hopefully more players will be more involved in raids against the more dynamic elements and style of actual players than a computer-controlled static mob system.  So, even though, this game, Aion, is as comprehensive with breadth and depth of its pve system, that Rivals WoW, LoTRO, WAR, it's PvP system is more broadly implemented with greater depth and breadth of game-play elements and involvement.  What I dislike is that lack of consequence for your death, which results in somewhat lack of a thrill in PvP. Why should I put in my best efforts when I can respawn right back in 30 seconds?

With Quests Its pretty much the same as WoW. Go get stuff here, etc. Cept your actually somewhat immersed in the quests, I feel.  The quests are categorized as well in Aion - campaign quests (like LotRO), standard quest and your crafting quests (work order). the quests are just enough/right to make you level to for next area and keep you engaged as you advance, successfully complete and feel accomplished.

Originally posted by Merxion

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

 But Aion has more new tools and features to add to the mmorpg experience.

 

What tools has it added?  Flight was done by perfect world and shadowbane.  I like the game and I still dont see what its bringing to the table thats new please can you explain?

maybe not tools but better graphic , engine aslong as the gameplay is good and end game either good pve nor pvp. what else you want from game then? ifits enjoyable wich game should be ifit dont fit you or your demandings go seek something else, it dont need to bring bunch of new innovations everytime new game comes up. id only say aslong as there is players around and world dont feel empty and shallow like in some games atm fairly new ones even , its ok to me.

cheers

Originally posted by Torak

Aion - looks great as do most of NCSoft's games

Gameplay so far (Lvl 7 out of the 10 you were allowed to do when I tired it)

Level 10 takes 2-3 hours tops. What were you doing? Level 7 and reviewing Aion... pathetic imo.

Combat - same as L2 or dozens of other MMO's. Animations are great (so were L2's) but the combat itself is a button mashing automated process.

Of course it's going to seem automated at level 7, how many skills do you expect to have? For me, by level 7 on my assassin I was circling mobs, evading and stunning, moving behind and backstabbing. If I stood there I'd lose 70% of my HP, but this way I'd lose maybe 10% and I'd be fighting mobs nonstop. So not exactly button smashing.

Content - kill 10 rats. You need to plow through a LOT of that junk before it becomes interesting.

Are you expecting to talk to people to end game? I found the dialogue interesting and the story was nice.

World design - linear path. Go talk to guard so and so who sends you to talk to capt so and so who sends you to kill 10 rats, once you finish, he sends you bit further down the road (the only road that goes anywhere on the map) to talk to another guy who gives you another "kill 10 rats" task. (Who the f*ck wrote the dialog for this game, a 12 year old?! It's horrible.)

It's a freaking tutorial map. It's smart because it's actually good for people who are new to games. Do you want the game to be as complex as EvE from the getgo?

On rails character developement - yeah the visual customization is nice BUT you are still just like everyone else in your class. (so far)

I'll admit classes are fairly linear but they are in every game. There is always a best build and everyone uses it. However you get more powerful manastones and stigma's later on.

Side note - the visual customization is really nice...It is a step above a lot of western games. However, whats with you people making the migit toons with the big heads?

Sure it opens a bit more deeper in BUT again you need to plow through a bunch of junk (just like L2) before it gets interesting.

It's only junk to us because we've learned the basics of MMO gameplay. You just need to take a break from MMO's.

Player Shops - Hate them. As an L2 vet I dispise them. Don't make me leave my toon logged 24 hours a day trying to make cash to survive while I am at work or sleeping (dunno if Aion has some sort of mechanic that allows you to keep your shop open while you are logged off or if there is an AH, I didn't see one) but the sight of player shops made me say "ug".

I find this whole phrase laughable. The player shops are there for convenience. There is an Auction House called the "Trade Broker". The point of sell shops are for places where there are no trade broker, or maybe when you are in a large raid party and trying to disperse consumables to others. Again it's just there for convenience.

You can fly, hooray.

I have toons that fly in...City of Heroes, Vanguard Saga of Heroes (can't fight though), Perfect World, Planetside, SWG. (MMO's)

 Flying itself just adds a z axis. It's not that complicated but Aion does a great job of it. Flying reduces your defense so much I can backstab 1shot a Sorcerer from the ground if he's hovering in flying mode. It seems to happen alot at the Colliseum. ;) You can't always fly so you need to use it to your advantage like an Assassin would drop down on a Sorcerer from above to gank. It's also hard to get used to. Flying is done 10x better than in any other MMO you listed.

This game is such a linear affair (to level 7 at least) it's sad. Open world design simple doesn't exist. It's like playing on a linear shooter map. To quote the wiggles (and that's the level this game is on) just "follow the road".

Again, tutorial map.

If you enjoy being an NPC deployed rat killing drone, this will be a good game.

I don't like being one, but I love Aion... what does that make me?

Like L2, I am 1000% it will blossom into a great PvP game BUT the amount of mindless, pointless, grinding you need to do will make it a drag to play. In fact, I would say play Lineage 2 because it is a fuller more traditional MMO compared to this.

Except it isn't a grind. In Lineage 2 it took months for people to hit max, the most hardcore. In Aion it's been reported of someone doing it in less than a week.

I'm sorry I'm banging on this game but I followed it for awhile and IMHO, it's NOTHING like what NCSoft has been saying it would be. It's a streamlined L2, even the interface is the same. I played L2 for about a year and it's so similar it's disappointing.

 You played L2 for a year which means you liked it and since it's similar it's bad? I don't even know what you are saying.

Conclusion: Just another troll post by someone who couldn't play for more than an hour.

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

What I dislike is that lack of consequence for your death, which results in somewhat lack of a thrill in PvP. Why should I put in my best efforts when I can respawn right back in 30 seconds?

 

 You lose Abyss points when killed in pvp im pretty sure.

It's only a game ...

Those who like it will play it.

Those who don't like it will not play it.

Why some people feel obligated to passionately bash others one way or the other is beyond me. Unfortunately, we aren't convincing anyone on these boards to do one thing or the other. If you think that we do, you're deluding yourselves.

Originally posted by qotsa

I haven't seen anything that hasn't been done before. To me it feels no different than logging into Silkroad online or something like that. I'm not out to knock the game, but the game companies are going to have to do better than this to give WoW a serious challenge. Not that it's a bad game. It just feels and plays like one of the hundreds of F2P games out there to me.

I agree there is nothing new, but I guess coming from Warhammer I'm just happy at the execution of the game and performance.  At this point I believe during beta they have a very solid game for release which I can actually play without major gaps in game performance and enjoy.

Originally posted by Memghost

Originally posted by qotsa

I haven't seen anything that hasn't been done before. To me it feels no different than logging into Silkroad online or something like that. I'm not out to knock the game, but the game companies are going to have to do better than this to give WoW a serious challenge. Not that it's a bad game. It just feels and plays like one of the hundreds of F2P games out there to me.

 

I agree there is nothing new, but I guess coming from Warhammer I'm just happy at the execution of the game and performance.  At this point I believe during beta they have a very solid game for release which I can actually play without major gaps in game performance and enjoy.

I agree, and compared to the last game release at a failed attempt to blend pvevp, such as WAR. . .Aion seems like a more comprehensive mix with rewarding game-play between pve and dynamic and meaningful pvp.  After getting bored with the redundency of WoW raids and WAR scenarios, Im looking forward to a fresh start and experience with Aion.

Originally posted by Zoulz

Originally posted by Twizted26

( Expect to see WoW expansion to add flight soon )  * Blizzard *   Quick run to Kfc and get a bucket of wings we must study them to see how they works .. Nom nom

 

 

Wow has had flight since their first expansion (burning crusade). If your refering to fighting while flying, the latest expansion added mounted combat, so it's entirely possible to do in wow already. There are some quests/dungeons that use it.

If your trying to paint up flight as a unique feature of Aion, then your mistaken. I'm not trying to defend wow here or start a flame war, i'm just saying.

I'm currently playing Aion beta this weekend, and i'm loving it. I have played pretty much every MMO under then sun (except maybe a few obscure asian MMOs) and no found a single one that I like better than Wow. I'm not going to say that Aion is my new MMO, i'll have to explore it some more. But thus far it's looking great in my eyes.

Yeah that was kind of a Joke but i guess not everyone has a sense of humor oh well everyone get back to arguing again ..lol

Originally posted by Twizted26

Originally posted by Zoulz

Originally posted by Twizted26

( Expect to see WoW expansion to add flight soon )  * Blizzard *   Quick run to Kfc and get a bucket of wings we must study them to see how they works .. Nom nom

 

 

Wow has had flight since their first expansion (burning crusade). If your refering to fighting while flying, the latest expansion added mounted combat, so it's entirely possible to do in wow already. There are some quests/dungeons that use it.

If your trying to paint up flight as a unique feature of Aion, then your mistaken. I'm not trying to defend wow here or start a flame war, i'm just saying.

I'm currently playing Aion beta this weekend, and i'm loving it. I have played pretty much every MMO under then sun (except maybe a few obscure asian MMOs) and no found a single one that I like better than Wow. I'm not going to say that Aion is my new MMO, i'll have to explore it some more. But thus far it's looking great in my eyes.

 

Yeah that was kind of a Joke but i guess not everyone has a sense of humor oh well everyone get back to arguing again ..lol

Yea, but wow adds feature creep to keep loyalists interested in a dated game with long overdue 'after-thought' items, which is not a bad thing at all;it appeals to the lowest common denominator.  And I do it on occasion myself, like purchasing an external gps system eye-sore that sits on the dash of my car, and external dvd player that sits on the passenger-side of my car.

But the nice thing about Aion, is that the features are integral to the products game-play and it has greater depth of pve play and integrated, dynamic pvp play.  So my leaning is toward getting a new box and transfering the fee from one dated game to a fully integrated game with improved features; features which I've already gone into above.  /shrug

Edit:  And in a year or so from now, I'll trade in this game for one that hopefully has, again, improved-upon depth and breadth of game-play, as I'm ready to do today.

Originally posted by LogothX

Hahahaha, no.

 

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And koreans are still far behind? Lineage 2 and GW have always been on the level of what we do here.

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...What do you consider "on the level of what we have here"(In regards to L2, GW isn't an MMORPG)? The prohibitely long grind, the unfriendly penalties, the stiff and unintuitive combat, or the botting epidemic that continues in spite of highly ineffectual and boreline harmful anti cheating software "Game Guard".

The phrase "Asian Grinder" came from somewhere, and I garantee you that it wasn't a phrase coined because of how wonderfully designed these games are.

 

 

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As for Aion, tell me what other game has a 3rd AI controlled race, the Balaur. They will come on their own to attack your faction and your fortresses (Aoc promised to do this, but still fails to deliver after 1 year). They will also help balance the pvp as they will sometimes come to help defend your fortress against the enemy and sometimes they will help the enemy crush you. All of the other faction games like WAR have always been missing such a feature. Look at the rvr balancing problems WAR has.

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The Baluar is a single good idea. That's true enough. How well it works remains to be seen, however I don't remember AoC ever promsing something like this... Oh well, it's irrelevant, and AoC is widely regarded as a failed effort, just like Warhammer. The say that all western MMOs can be defined by these two failure titles is short sighted to say the least.

 

 

 

 

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- slow and boring combat (only 1 western game has fast paced and fun combat: Aoc).

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WoW does not have Slow and boring combat, WoW has fairly fast paced combat. Whether or not you enjoy it is up to you. Oh, Warhammer had fast combat too... It's awful combat, but it's fast! Oh let's see... What else... DDO online has fast combat, infact it has real time action combat. There's more and more out there, but I think you get the picture.

 

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- lacking world polish. Aion has footprints on relevant surfaces (only game that was able to achieve this was Wow), many different kinds of birds in the skies (only game that achieved to do this is Aoc, but it only has 1 kind of birds), many different kinds of butterflies, etc... And yes all this is HUGE considering how people have been asking for this kind of polish and world engine features in other games' forums for years, they all failed to bring us this level of world immersion (lotro and aoc did quite well, aion does better).

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If this were the WoW forums, insert a giant macro image of the picard face palm here.

 

Nobody denies how nice the game looks, but looks are just that. Looks.

FOOTPRINTs, and good draw distance are not a subsitute for coherent lore, variety, and depth.

 

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Aion takes the best from all of the other games and improves it. I agree with the OP, Aion, while not groundbreaking, is several points above the other mmos.

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WoW took what's best from all other MMOs and improved on it. Aion just melded Lineage 2 with WoW and got this.

 

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Aion is the best of what we have today (... lotro probably does better with story telling though, aion is not really a story based mmo, its a pvpve game). That said, if you dont like the art direction or the world, thats another subjective issue.

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It's the best... Why? Because you said so? A subjective issue? You're either a fan of Irony, or you don't know what the world subjective means. Here's some facts for you.

 

EVERY single quest has been Kill, Fedex, or collection quests. Aion's 1-10 can easily be compared to WoW's 1-20 in time spent.

 

Aion 1-10 you're stuck running random, sometimes absurd errands for a random group of compeltely unlikeable and faceless NPCs.

In WoW 1-20 you're running some of the same errands, but with some variety. Whether you're burning something down, escorting an NPC, or finding a small group to fight an elite. Not highly innovative but it's fast and it learns to mix things up.

Aion 1-10 the newbie quest line culiminates with a quest that has you go to three NPCs... That's it. Ok, perhaps that's an unfair comparison. The last action oriented quest in the newbie area has you CLICK ON THREE PILLARs. No boss fight, no dungeon, you click on three pillars and you're done. Maybe you fight a few bird people inbetween. Wow.

WoW 1-20, the newbie area finishes off with you raiding a bandit gang's lair. You face off against a variety of strange bosses until you finally meet with Van Cleef, who's surprisingly aboard a pirate ship.

 

Gee, which of these games is the "next step" again? The one that feels the need to hide it's "real game" behind an giant block of grind, or the one that entertains you throughout? Which of these games has a number of classes, each with a unique mechanic? Oh well it must be Aion since you said it was the next step... OH WAIT, that's WoW.

I don't even play WoW anymore, but to say that this game is even a half a step above WoW is ridiculous. This is a side step, AT BEST. A game that forgot the lessons learned by all of the other titles released, and chose to only advance from the tired Lineage 2 design model.

Angry, long winded comment....and the single most entertaining one in this thread.  Good points, too.

Originally posted by catsaad

Originally posted by dlunas

I'm sad I let my beta key expire due to distractions.  This game is looking interesting.

 

then bad luck for you cuz you will buy a game which is not people are pretending it to be .i played the beta and there is nothing new. but if u are that much enthuisiastic about the game .go to offgamers.com .they are selling beta key for 7 dollars.and i am hopeful you will see the bigger picture.

lol, I said it looked interesting, not interesting enough for me to drop $50 on it.  There's plenty of other games that have my attention first, I just happened to try to use my key a few days ago, and ended up checking out this thread.