Game Guard is a frikking nightmare.
I am not going to renew my subscription if they don't scrap it.
I would have canceled my preorder if I could.................

Well i haven't played this game that long but i haven't seen any problems at all. The game is really smooth and it looks fantastic. IMO i think this game is gonna get even bigger here in the next 2 months and i'm a guy that has played WoW for 2 years and finally i can leave and go to another game that isn't garbage. 

 Yes, this is what people have been raving about. Doesn't matter in the end because Aion will most likely be left with a niche community.

This is no killer of WoW, however it is a very solid MMO with good features  that will be played by many on release.

Aion is ok.. not great but ok, to me it doesn't feel like a p2p title though, it just feels like your typcial run of the mill mmo, that would probally benefit more from being f2p with a cash shop. I can see this game 6-12 months down the road probally going f2p. Due to lack of players.

Originally posted by Scyris

Aion is ok.. not great but ok, to me it doesn't feel like a p2p title though, it just feels like your typcial run of the mill mmo, that would probally benefit more from being f2p with a cash shop. I can see this game 6-12 months down the road probally going f2p. Due to lack of players.

F2P with cash shops absolutely destroy decent MMO titles. The only exception is Guild Wars.

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Originally posted by Sandoz
I finally got into the beta today and I was really surprised to find that THIS is what people have been raving about.
I'll give it two things, the game is polished and runs well, and that's probably saying a lot when compared to most MMO's, but otherwise it's really standard fare.
I'm a little shocked that the MMORPG crowd has been mostly in awe of this title, even going so far as joining the Chinese beta. For this? Really?

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YES! For running well, but mostof all for being POLISHED!

This is FIRST polished game since World of Warcraft.
After trying few crapshits relases in recent few years (AoC, War, numerous third grade games) i'm totally fed up with failures, i'm happy to be able to play polished game for once.

The only thing that makes me worried is GameGuard. I have to hack the game to be able to play, because GameGuard kills my connectivity software. If they wont do something with GG, unfortunately this game will be failure too :(

Originally posted by twiggy550

 Yes, this is what people have been raving about. Doesn't matter in the end because Aion will most likely be left with a niche community.

This is no killer of WoW, however it is a very solid MMO with good features  that will be played by many on release.

I agree.
I think WoW is an average game, but it is more fun than this game.
Aion is way too linear for my liking and way too casual.
It is not bad at all, it is just average.
No Wow killer here, we are looking at the same numbers of Lineage 2, although at release the number will be much greater due to the hype.

Most of the people on this site that are bitching haven't even played the game. Its blatantly obvious by their horrible knowledge of the game (asian grinder etc).  But when all the babies and mmo burnouts turn their attention on something else, Aion should have a healthy community which will be a great incentive for further MMO development in the future

Originally posted by GazMc

Most of the people on this site that are bitching haven't even played the game. Its blatantly obvious by their horrible knowledge of the game (asian grinder etc).  But when all the babies and mmo burnouts turn their attention on something else, Aion should have a healthy community which will be a great incentive for further MMO development in the future

A healthy community of horny guys playing cute teens and pre-teens? that seems like a contradiction

I generally play strictly male avatars because it's easier to associate with. However in this game the character creator can make females that have an exotic beauty that's hard to resist.

Originally posted by Xasapis

I generally play strictly male avatars because it's easier to associate with. However in this game the character creator can make females that have an exotic beauty that's hard to resist.

See what I mean

But then in game they all look the same and quite lifeless.

I have a warrior that looks a lot like Tom Berenger, I think they made serveral faces inspired in actors:

Originally posted by ste2000

Originally posted by twiggy550

 Yes, this is what people have been raving about. Doesn't matter in the end because Aion will most likely be left with a niche community.

This is no killer of WoW, however it is a very solid MMO with good features  that will be played by many on release.

 

I agree.
I think WoW is an average game, but it is more fun than this game.
Aion is way too linear for my liking and way too casual.
It is not bad at all, it is just average.
No Wow killer here, we are looking at the same numbers of Lineage 2, although at release the number will be much greater due to the hype.

How is it way too casual? Did you get to max level or do any of the pve/pvp content to know this? Aion is far less casual than WoW is atleast when I gain a level in AION I feel like I had to work for it not so much in WoW I can plow 1-80 in just over 4days played then turn around and gear out in a few raid lockout periods. WoW is the most casual MMO on the market which for some is how they like it but personally I like to feel like I put time and effort in to my toon. I had to put more thought process in level 1-15 in AION then I have ever had to put in 1-80 of WoW. Yes im a WoW hater or atleast a hater of what it has become with each xpac. Gone are the good old days of world PVP and having to actually work for gear.

Originally posted by Reion1

Originally posted by Clattuc

Let's not have an attack of the stupids here, OK?

Aion is a perfectly decent game.  NCSoft has put a ton of effort into Westernizing and debugging it for NA/Europe release.  It has enough complication to make gameplay interesting, and it looks gorgeous.  I think it will be a success in the Western market.

Not trying to sound like the voice of reason, but this game is going to fail miserably in the western market.  Most of the games released now are said to be mostly concentrated on PVP.  The western market does NOT want PVP.  They want lots PVE with a side order of PVP built in. 

Games that have adopted this all out pvp strategy are running at 100k subs because pvp alone is not enough to keep the population of the game thriving. And it's simple as that.  WoW is on top mostly because of it's PVE aspect, even though many players enjoy the pvp aspect as well. 

This game is not going any where.  And to all the people who hyped up this game while playing the closed beta, purchase the box and shell out a monthly fee and we'll see if graphics alone can keep you "interested"
 

I am not sure you are completely correct here.

If you look at WOW..it pretty much made the MMORPG mass market and yes it was built on PVE, but PVE to grind to max level. at max level many players were left unable to join decent raiding guilds etc and either levelled alts or lapsed their subscriptions

Because it was mass market blizzard didnt suffer as new players joined in their droves.      Introducing PVP and 2 expansions, tweaks to PVE raiding etc etc and WOW is where it is.  WOW fanbois abound and many are not going to leave becasue htye never were part of th early mmorpg scene and havent grown out of their first mmog yet becvasue blizzard do a good enough job of throwing more stuff at them, and other developers give them a reason to return if they do venture out.

If you look at the likes of RF Online ..that failed western mass market for many reasons but not least imo because of the gameplay style and the games overall feel.

LOTRO reasonable attempt but nothing new to compete with WOW and arguably just didnt have enough to pull people in nevermind hold them.

AoC ..graphic spec too high for many of Wows customer base..poor endgame, PVE content was poor / incomplete  - should have done better.  Early adopters left in droves.

Warhammer - made the mistake of trying to offer all things.  Open RvR had no chance of replacing scenario grinding (nor PVE levelling for that matter).  Once open RvR was no longer a reality in peoples minds they left in droves back to WoW, elsewhere.

EQ2, DAoC et al - all had their cutomer bases and were never going to either loose them completely or take on WoW fir top spot.

So Aion....

Well it is going to get its followers ..eatrly indications are that technically it is upto the job so those that buy at release will actually be able to play and get online.   There is some novelty in there, a lot of familiarity and with PVP in the Abyss beckoning at level 25 plus (before the major level grind sets in) there is a reasonable chance a sizable proportion of those that start will have something to continue to play for,for long enough for a good community to develop.

Aion will have its place and has a good chance of growing and retaining EU/USA customers fro several months - if only becasue it has not got the gameplay / technical issues aoc and warhammer had, and most players will not be able to hit max cap in a month leavign the majority to scrap it out in the Abyss .

The market does want PVP AND PVE but arguably the market really wants an iwin button for the  - have it all for fk all effort generation  - of MMORPG players that WOW felt it had to pamper to in order to sell the next expansion.

There are people in Aion Open beta  now taking about having to "grind" when they are faced with having to kill 15 mobs withoug having a quest (they want to kill a few tenss of thousands of something then come back when they have the t-shirt) ..these types are never going to happy in Aion or any other mmorpg but they might just slink back to their exiasting one and forget their flirtation with infidelity.

Aion should do reasonably well and imo, the biggest mistake they could do right now (aside from the obvious) is to put themselves in a position where they open up too many servers at launch without the ability to consolidate them quickly if need be.