Greetings fellow MMO players.

Ive been on a few Aion forums, and what I've noticed is that it seems to be more people on the Elyos side then the Asmodians. I remember how it was on Warhammer Online when it was released, when one side ruled over the other by zerging them all the time. And I would hate to see that happen in Aion aswell... I know that the NPC faction (dont remember the name) can work to balance things out, but still... So Im wondering, if theres more Elyos players then Asmodians. For what I've seen, it looks dark on teh Asmodian side when it comes to numbers. But... there true numbers might be hiding in the dark.

We won't know for sure until the game is released.

Pop balance is always an issue with Faction based games, like Aion.

I believe there are NPCs in pvp zones that ally with whichever faction is least represented. Game masters can also take control of these npcs and help with battles if I remember correctly.

World pvp if there is any would still be affected by faction imbalance if those swaying npcs dont exist anywhere other than abyss.

This could all be outdated of course.. Its been months since Ive looked into aion. (holding out for mortal and ffxiv)

yeah, I know we cant know for sure. But what Iäve seen it looks like it, but still dont know. Its like you said, we have to wait and see after release.

And yes, its always some problem with faction based games when it comes to numbers of people. but in WAR, it was total slaughter for the other side instead of a tuff battle that still could be won. =/

Not that it really matters that much if the NPC Faction will balance things out. Just wondered if there seems to be more Elyos then Asmodians, not correct numbers, just some thoughts what you people thinks. But maybe I wasnt so clear about that. =/

I played the last 3 beta weekends from Aion on the Asmodian side.

I also got the vibe that there might be more player on the Elyos side. Though can't really confirm it at this point.

But I have to say, Aion has been a delight to play and I find it a very fun and refreshing MMO.

Elyos does seem like the popular choice atm.... I think it's the whole angel thing.

The Remnant, My Legion, was going to play Elyos only, or at least for a while.
I join them not because of the side they choose, as I would have preferred to go Asmodian, but because reading their site made me think that it was the place I'd like to be. 

They decided to open up a Asmodian Division after this last CB., which is great, now I get to play the side I wanted too.

for the beta, alot of ppl said they'll be playing the side they won't play on release to not have to repeat the same quests when it goes live, so numbers will be way off til launch.

I know my guild and I are playing Elyos in beta, but plan to play Asmodian on launch. We don't want to ruin the content for the live game. I am sure we are not alone in this, but who knows. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander...

Cheers!

Originally posted by Nixish

I believe there are NPCs in pvp zones that ally with whichever faction is least represented. Game masters can also take control of these npcs and help with battles if I remember correctly.

World pvp if there is any would still be affected by faction imbalance if those swaying npcs dont exist anywhere other than abyss.

This could all be outdated of course.. Its been months since Ive looked into aion. (holding out for mortal and ffxiv)

World PvP does happen. There are Rifts that open in the 20's zone that allow x amount of ppl to enter it. During the open beta this weekend i was on the Elyos side and had almost a full raid group (20 out of 24) and we just killed eveything that was red in the other zone. Kinda of feel bad because alot of those ppl were just doing quest and getting xp and got Ganked big time. I see this as a turn off for some and see this as a down fall for ppl who have not already made it to the abyss.

Asmodian here

and im gonna kick all your asses :]

Based on every single Faction Poll and the number of posts and views on the Asomidan side - the Asmodians will be the most popular choice.

Almost every single poll shows at least 55% on Asmodian side with like 10% undecided and the rest on Elyos.

I played Asmodian during beta, but I will be playing Elyos at launch so I don't ruin the content. IMO Elyos will definitely be the underdog and I like a challenge, so that’s why I am going with that side. That and I think a ton more of the younger ages/kids will be playing on Asmodians. That seems to be most people's consensus that I've seen.
 

Originally posted by JayFiveAlive

Based on every single Faction Poll and the number of posts and views on the Asomidan side - the Asmodians will be the most popular choice.

Almost every single poll shows at least 55% on Asmodian side with like 10% undecided and the rest on Elyos.

I played Asmodian during beta, but I will be playing Elyos at launch so I don't ruin the content. IMO Elyos will definitely be the underdog and I like a challenge, so that’s why I am going with that side. That and I think a ton more of the younger ages/kids will be playing on Asmodians. That seems to be most people's consensus that I've seen.
 

I've been noticing this as well.. Younger gamers seems to be more playing the "evil" faction in every MMOs...

Originally posted by Nixish

I believe there are NPCs in pvp zones that ally with whichever faction is least represented. Game masters can also take control of these npcs and help with battles if I remember correctly.

The Baldur do not automatically show up when the sides are unbalanced, and they do not automatically help the losing/outnumbered side.  As far as the Korean game goes it seems to be entirely random and sometimes the Baldur will attack both sides.

As to the GMs taking control of NPCs.  I have never heard of this happening, I'm not even sure it's possible.

World pvp if there is any would still be affected by faction imbalance if those swaying npcs dont exist anywhere other than abyss.

They don't.

This could all be outdated of course.. Its been months since Ive looked into aion. (holding out for mortal and ffxiv)

You were a little off I would say.

The elyos side seemed to have the higher pop in beta but they had a 10lvl head start over the asmodians, and by the time CB5 rolled around they had more cap lvl toons.

There will be a race limit system in place in order to keep the races balanced somewhat.

Originally posted by stayontarget

The elyos side seemed to have the higher pop in beta but they had a 10lvl head start over the asmodians, and by the time CB5 rolled around they had more cap lvl toons.

There will be a race limit system in place in order to keep the races balanced somewhat.

A race limit system? You mean they'll lock down a side for new players wanting to play an over populated side and not allow them?

Originally posted by Cerra

Originally posted by stayontarget

The elyos side seemed to have the higher pop in beta but they had a 10lvl head start over the asmodians, and by the time CB5 rolled around they had more cap lvl toons.

There will be a race limit system in place in order to keep the races balanced somewhat.

 

A race limit system? You mean they'll lock down a side for new players wanting to play an over populated side and not allow them?

Sounds like the system Warhammer Online got, but I havnt noticed that its been working. Its either a zerg on that side or this side. =/

I dont think it will be as bad as in WAR.  One side doesnt really have an overwhelming 'cool factor' over the other.  Of course some servers will have more asmodians than eylos, and some the other way around.  Im still trying tom decide if the race limiting thing is a good idea or not, but i do think something like that needs to be in place.

Mostly anyone i know who plan to play Aion will go Elyos.

Most guys, or should i say girls :),  say they choose them becaus they look better then the Asmodians.

I feel the same.

It's a huge differense if they parcipate in the beta or not. Folks who don't have access to the game often choose Asmodians .. because they hope for a cool demonic appearenace. The folk with access mostly say .. the Asmodian lake something, even if it's hard to pin point, and that the Elyos simply look better.

edit: damn pressed submit to fast :)

Asmodian's will definitly get over-representated.  Has previous mmo's taught you nothing? The uglier the skins, the more people play them. XD

Ok, well that's not always true.  I guess it should be noted as the most "Violent/Evil race" gets rolled the most.

To prove this:

Warhammer - Destruction always seems overpopulated.

WoW - Horde always seems overpopulated (on a pvp realm. Normal/RP realms were alliance populated......awkward)

In the case of WoW, before TBC, horde were the ugliest things since moldy bread. But people still loved to play them.  It could be the ugly skins, or the way the ORC in the intro cinematic looked like he was raging a good hard on. Either way, horde looked bad ass, amirite?

Well, it only got worse with TBC.  Why? Because you had this cute looking race (blood elves) come along only to see it as something like the right hand of the devil! The opening cinematic had a female belf, who was cute, until she went crazy and killed the mana wrym. That was like telling EVERYONE on the alliance side they could be cute and evil.

Anyways, that turned more into a bit of a rant. But the point is, evil wins out.  And because Asmodian's can look like night elves while still being the darker, evil side, experience tells me that the demonic looking guys will be heavily favored.

We will see, i only say what i know.

I don't think your assumptions are correct:

a) Warhammer: The good races look uncool and you even can read many reviews that say that the good races are lame looking. Who want to play a sissy elf in a shirt.

b) WoW: In the start there were much more good side players then evil players. Even on the pvp servers. The night elf factor did it all alone. I still remeber the pain how often crossroad was camped to death.

The faction limit system is a great idea in a game like this, take WoW for instance were Alliance seems to totally overpopulate the game. 20k Ally players vs about 5 or 6k horde players on the majority of servers. If put in the game right, this system would actually help to even out the pop some and not to mention the npc faction helping the underpop faction

I just got into the most recent beta weekend and I thought the same thing....at first.  I first tried a couple of classes on the Elyos side then I tried the other 2 classes on the Asmodian side.  The first day (saturday) that I played on the Asmodian side it was barren where Elyos had all kinds of people.  However on Sunday there was TONS of people on the Asmodian server that was dead just the day before!  So it'll probably be like any other mmo.  Some servers will be lopsided one way or the other and others will be pretty much equal.

Polls are showing it tilting toward Asmodian for launch, about 55% to 45%. Experience from the newer servers in CB seems to support that notion. The two servers that were there from the start have more Elyos, because that was the initial focus.

I prefer the look of the Asmodian characters and zones. On the down side, there seems to be a lot more travel related timesinks for questing on the Asmodian side. I also noticed a lot more "L33t" character names on Asmodian vs. Elyos, which doesn't bode well for the side.

Well i played both sides...

And i found the Elyos side to be easier actualy....and had more missions and gave me the feeling i was accomplishing things.

The other side had alot of things out of proportion....it offered for no real reason higher level encounters.....and map and mission problems.....like hte misisons not telling you where to go....or missions where everyone had to fight to get objects.....

Its like the develoeprs deliberatly made the Asmodian side the side to make players angry...eveyrthing from the locations to the mission types to the difficulty....i dont know how many times i had to sit around waiting for some spawn to appear and hopefully kill it before someone else did.

Basicaly from personal experience the Asmodean side annoyed the hell out of me..oh look i am level 1 and everything around me is level 3 or 4...oh look i run into the city and get my missions i run down the hill into another area and find level 1s and 2s??   Its like whomever mapped the Asmodean side never tested it.

Plus its the race it self...wooppeee it has glowing eyes....some fur and has an added diffulty to play it.....

I think most players would aggree...they play to have fun....not conatcly have to defend themselves to survive for little or no reward.

Originally posted by fiontar

Polls are showing it tilting toward Asmodian for launch, about 55% to 45%. Experience from the newer servers in CB seems to support that notion. The two servers that were there from the start have more Elyos, because that was the initial focus.

I prefer the look of the Asmodian characters and zones. On the down side, there seems to be a lot more travel related timesinks for questing on the Asmodian side. I also noticed a lot more "L33t" character names on Asmodian vs. Elyos, which doesn't bode well for the side.

Actualy the initial focus was asmodeans....

I have quite a few of them......i just didnt like the game play on that side....it felt more difficult then it should have been.