For those who are thinking "tl;dr" I'll sum this post up by saying Aion appeals to me for these 3 reasons:

1. PVP Factor - PVP in WoW felt like an afterthought, although I enjoy raiding and it is an essential part of end-game content... for me its just a bonus. The real thrill is PVP. I've mainly played lineage 1, lineage 2, EVE online, and Planetside. All these games have something in common... they are PVP Orientated! I have zero interest in "PHAT LEWT" or "SLAYING DA DRAGON". I enjoy raiding... but NOT as the primary end game content! PVP in WoW felt like an afterthought.

2. (Hopefully) Group factor - It seems AION won't punish you like WoW does for grouping with other players, its quite possible it might actually be beneficial to PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLE! This is a big one for me... When I played 1-77 in WoW (Yah I quit at 77) I never once grouped with other players, you know why? Because every time I tried it slowed my leveling down HUGE, leveling was boring enough without it taking twice as long. Seriously I think its pathetic how anti-social people are when playing MMO's... which is why the developers are forced to cater to you social rejects who are afraid of interacting with other people even on the internet.

3. Graphics - WoW graphics made me sick from the very beginning, I read on the WoW forums people dissing Aion graphics... SERIOUSLY... WOW PLAYERS DISSING AION GRAPHICS... boggles my mind. No need to explain this any further.


I'd like to hear some stories from people about their first experience with WoW... and why it never caught on for them. Also why or why not AION Appeals to them.

    This is mine.... My roommate suggests we buy WoW (this was 4-5 months before WotLK Release), so I say F*ck it lets play WoW (I had been avoiding the game since release). The first 2 months I had the game I could barely get myself to play it... I'd been there and DONE THAT... 2 feet away from me my roomate can't put the game down. Why? The dudes never even played an MMO before, or an RPG for that matter. WoW brought MMO's to the masses... william shatner, ozzie osbourne (seriously?)... but the reality is, theres nothing unique about WoW. I never hit level 80, I simply quit at level 77... because I realised the game felt like a chore for me, nothing pulling me along.

 WoW was a game for the masses who had never heard of an MMO before... does anyone know what I mean? how many people can say WoW was their first MMO.. that is why WoW was so successful. Its blizzard... how many fans did they already have... how many kids knew what an MMO was before blizzard was developing one.

 

Good post, OP, but I see no reason to think Aion will be much better. Warhammer was the chance for us PvP fans. I refuse to grind through PvE to 'earn' the chance to PvP.

What IS Aion's end game like, anyway?

No, I never liked WoW and I've never played it.

Originally posted by GoldenDog

No, I never liked WoW and I've never played it.

If you have "never played it" how do you know you "never liked" it?

Originally posted by Produde

Originally posted by GoldenDog

No, I never liked WoW and I've never played it.

If you have "never played it" how do you know you "never liked" it?

Because all the 'cool' kids say it sucks.

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Good post, OP, but I see no reason to think Aion will be much better. Warhammer was the chance for us PvP fans. I refuse to grind through PvE to 'earn' the chance to PvP.

 

What IS Aion's end game like, anyway?

     Well Lineage 1 & 2 was developed by NCSoft... ask anyone who's played the games through the grind and gotten to the end game... ITS AWESOME. It was all about the castle sieges (Same feature has been implented in AION "fortresses") It's not about the phat lewt, or the raiding ...although these are still implemented very well as a means to better yourself in PVP.
 
     Its about making a name for yourself and your legion on the server, its about meaningful end-game, its about what MMO's really should be about. It's about being social and coordinating with your friends and legion to take a damn fortress from the opposing faction. No its not instanced, its a real damn fortress in the abyss that your legion (Guild) now has full control over and receives taxes from the entire player population through NPC vendors (well thats how the taxes worked in L2). Instead of posts of server "firsts" about raids, or PVP points and stats... there will be posts of victory over the opposing legion, reputations to be made and lost. Nobody really cares how phat your lewt is... only you do. But damn a lot of people care when you storm their fortress and seize it from them.

Basically  PVP will mean something more than just stats, and more lewt. It will mean... Victory! Something WoW never had, there is no "victory" in WoW...... just an enlarged e-peen as you spin your character around in the selection screen and look at your digital armour. Its games like this where guilds are formed that are tight-knit and eventually move on to other games together, where you make true friends and feel like you've made tangible accomplishments. Where at the end of the day, you say HOLY SH*T THAT WAS FUN!

And the biggest reason I think AION will actually TRUMP wow in total subscriptions.... PVPVE. This is really revolutionary in my opinion... no longer is PVP and PVE seperate... AION is a united and fluid game.

I asked about Aion, not Lineage.

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by Produde

Originally posted by GoldenDog

No, I never liked WoW and I've never played it.

If you have "never played it" how do you know you "never liked" it?

 

Because all the 'cool' kids say it sucks.

Who ask you?

Here's your question....

You're 29 and take advice from "cool" 'kids'?

No, all cool kids like wow, because its the game played most, so its cool to play it too )

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

I asked about Aion, not Lineage.

Same answer, I've played Chinese version of AION to end game. Its the same type of end game as lineage. The difference between AION and lineage... is the game isn't a grind up to end game.

Tekkin: You were wise to avoid it as long as you did. I am sorry that you got pulled in for a time. You did escape, however, and that is good. I have no reason to believe Aion will be significantly different, sorry to say.

Originally posted by Produde

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by Produde

Originally posted by GoldenDog

No, I never liked WoW and I've never played it.

If you have "never played it" how do you know you "never liked" it?

 

Because all the 'cool' kids say it sucks.

Who ask you?

Here's your question....

You're 29 and take advice from "cool" 'kids'?

I knew I wouldn't like WoW before I played it. Then I did play it... and I actually HATED it.

Originally posted by Dubhlaith

Tekkin: You were wise to avoid it as long as you did. I am sorry that you got pulled in for a time. You did escape, however, and that is good. I have no reason to believe Aion will be significantly different, sorry to say.

I've played chinese version to end game... I KNOW it is significantly different. And thats the chinese version... the NA 1.5 version on release will be another HUGE improvement.

Warcraft was an amazing game when it was first released and to some degree it still is now but for me its time to have a break from it or maybe even quit . For three reasons really

1 the community in warcraft is pretty childish these days . most of my old friends have left so the atmospheres gone to some degree

2 i find the gameplay far too easy now . i m not saying thats bad but i want more of a challenge

3 the boredom factor of going over the same old ground again and again .

The way i felt in the Aion beta was the way i felt in the Warcraft beta all those years ago . Its fresh and exciting . Cant wait .

Originally posted by googajoob7

Warcraft was an amazing game when it was first released and to some degree it still is now but for me its time to have a break from it or maybe even quit . For three reasons really

1 the community in warcraft is pretty childish these days . most of my old friends have left so the atmospheres gone to some degree

2 i find the gameplay far too easy now . i m not saying thats bad but i want more of a challenge

3 the boredom factor of going over the same old ground again and again .

The way i felt in the Aion beta was the way i felt in the Warcraft beta all those years ago . Its fresh and exciting . Cant wait .

My question to you, was WoW your first MMO... because by far it wasn't mine. Which is why I never had that "fresh and exciting" experience with WoW.

1. PVP Factor - PVP
PvP was an afterthought in WoW, because it was basically shipped without PvP. And I personally think PvP in MMORPGs is boring. If I want to play vs other players, then I prefer something like TF2, where the group with the better teamplay and higher skill wins, and not those who spend thousands of hours of grinding.

2. Group factor
In WoW you frequently group up with other players to do group quests or tackle dungeons. Grouping up for single player stuff doesn't make much sense. No idea why anyone should do that either, and it was this way for any MMORPG I played.

3. Saying that WoW graphics make you sick is weird. In general, every graphics artist and designer can tell you, that those working for WoW do a great job. Sure you can say the engine is dated, but graphics making you sick? That is no argument or opinion but just something you say to flame and troll

I think this whole "I'm a Aion fanboy and hate WoW" and "I'm a WoW fanboy and hate Aion" stuff is so silly, immature and childish. WoW is a good game. Aion might be a good game as well, it's not out yet in USA or Europe, so hard to say. Both games are rather shallow and aiming at the masses. Who cares as long as it's fun. But these fanboy-battles are just ridiculous.

Originally posted by maji

I think this whole "I'm a Aion fanboy and hate WoW" and "I'm a WoW fanboy and hate Aion" stuff is so silly, immature and childish. WoW is a good game. Aion might be a good game as well, it's not out yet in USA or Europe, so hard to say. Both games are rather shallow and aiming at the masses. Who cares as long as it's fun. But these fanboy-battles are just ridiculous.

I'm curious about the "shallowness" of these games. Care to elaborate?

here is a video link: www.youtube.com/watch

In this video, you will see a group of 6 take on a group of 12, and then later on a group of 24 people. How there is no skill involved in this? I think you just made up your PvP in MMORPGS doesn't take skill idea.

Many of the quest areas in Aion require you to group up. That's just how it is. I like when they incorporate more group content, makes me feel like there's a reason for all of these people to be around before endgame or dungeon content.

Originally posted by Tekkin

Originally posted by googajoob7

Warcraft was an amazing game when it was first released and to some degree it still is now but for me its time to have a break from it or maybe even quit . For three reasons really

1 the community in warcraft is pretty childish these days . most of my old friends have left so the atmospheres gone to some degree

2 i find the gameplay far too easy now . i m not saying thats bad but i want more of a challenge

3 the boredom factor of going over the same old ground again and again .

The way i felt in the Aion beta was the way i felt in the Warcraft beta all those years ago . Its fresh and exciting . Cant wait .

 

My question to you, was WoW your first MMO... because by far it wasn't mine. Which is why I never had that "fresh and exciting" experience with WoW.

i played ultima online briefly a few years before but yes WoW was my first major mmo . I m currently playing lord of the rings as a side game . I think thats rather good too .
 

Originally posted by Produde

Who ask you?

Here's your question....

You're 29 and take advice from "cool" 'kids'?

I guess you're not familiar with sarcasm.

Originally posted by maji

1. PVP Factor - PVP
PvP was an afterthought in WoW, because it was basically shipped without PvP. And I personally think PvP in MMORPGs is boring. If I want to play vs other players, then I prefer something like TF2, where the group with the better teamplay and higher skill wins, and not those who spend thousands of hours of grinding.

2. Group factor
In WoW you frequently group up with other players to do group quests or tackle dungeons. Grouping up for single player stuff doesn't make much sense. No idea why anyone should do that either, and it was this way for any MMORPG I played.

3. Saying that WoW graphics make you sick is weird. In general, every graphics artist and designer can tell you, that those working for WoW do a great job. Sure you can say the engine is dated, but graphics making you sick? That is no argument or opinion but just something you say to flame and troll

 

I think this whole "I'm a Aion fanboy and hate WoW" and "I'm a WoW fanboy and hate Aion" stuff is so silly, immature and childish. WoW is a good game. Aion might be a good game as well, it's not out yet in USA or Europe, so hard to say. Both games are rather shallow and aiming at the masses. Who cares as long as it's fun. But these fanboy-battles are just ridiculous.

 

1. If you don't like PVP in an mmorpg, I guess you would prefer WoW then. I can understand why people might prefer the PVE factor, but for me PVP is the best part. And there is skill involved, its not just about who grinded the most.

2. Fine by me if you don't want to group with other people while questing... but I play MMORPGs for the social factor... i mean come on its the entire point of an MMORPG. Why should I level slower while grouping with my friend than some lone wolf who levels SOLO. I played WoW too... I KNOW its primarily a solo game and unfairly biased towards solo players.

3. I simply meant I think WoW graphics are ugly as sin, again just a difference in opinion I guess. I'm not a troll.

Nor am I an AION fanboy, I think too many people throw the term fanboy out to ANYONE who makes an argument towards one side or the other. Yeah there is such thing as a fanboy... but they won't provide any intelligent argument.