WoW's launch is unique.  WoW didn't (largely) suffer from killer bugs or unstable hardware, the game was just so massively popular that Blizzard underestimated how many servers were required.  Because of this, queues were massive and servers often choked.  I remember needing to frequently re-log just to fix the out of sync issues (mobs just stood around, but I could still chat to guildies, etc).  

That's different than being overrun with gold spammers and botters.  

Originally posted by TaoMcDohl

WoW's launch is unique.  WoW didn't (largely) suffer from killer bugs or unstable hardware, the game was just so massively popular that Blizzard underestimated how many servers were required.  Because of this, queues were massive and servers often choked.  I remember needing to frequently re-log just to fix the out of sync issues (mobs just stood around, but I could still chat to guildies, etc).  

Actually it did, although considering how much the servers were down it pretty much took precedentce over the other issues the game had.

Although to be fair as frustrating as it was in reference to the queues, server crashes, and server downtime to an extent I did sympathize because I'm not sure anyone expected that game to do as well or be as popular as it became.

Originally posted by Wickedjelly

Originally posted by TaoMcDohl

WoW's launch is unique.  WoW didn't (largely) suffer from killer bugs or unstable hardware, the game was just so massively popular that Blizzard underestimated how many servers were required.  Because of this, queues were massive and servers often choked.  I remember needing to frequently re-log just to fix the out of sync issues (mobs just stood around, but I could still chat to guildies, etc).  

 

Actually it did, although considering how much the servers were down it pretty much took precedentce over the other issues the game had.

I can't think of a killer bug.  Sure, boats dropped people in the middle of the water, prompting Captain Placeholder, and there were some big time balance issues (Warriors were a joke at launch), but point out a bug that was so massive that it caused people to stop subscribing.  Compare that to SWG, where the lack of mounts and other major promised components (some that never saw the light of day) caused a lot of people to take a break.  I took a break from WoW for one month, early on, to let Blizzard get the servers settled.  

I have a theory:

They're letting it get out of control to grow support for re-instituting Gameguard.

Originally posted by TaoMcDohl

 

I can't think of a killer bug.  Sure, boats dropped people in the middle of the water, prompting Captain Placeholder, and there were some big time balance issues (Warriors were a joke at launch), but point out a bug that was so massive that it caused people to stop subscribing.  Compare that to SWG, where the lack of mounts and other major promised components (some that never saw the light of day) caused a lot of people to take a break.  I took a break from WoW for one month, early on, to let Blizzard get the servers settled.  

A lot of folks threatened to quit over things just like mobs constantly returning to full health and the travelling vehicles killing off players so often. Not to mention the falling through the earth bug that hit me quite a few times.  It was especially entertaining if you played a mage considering that seemed to increase the probability of that happening to you by quite a bit if you used Blink.   I'm not saying they were right but what to you or I may be meaningless to them it was a huge issue.

It's not like good 'ole Placeholder was put into the game overnight.  It took quite some time for them to put him into play and finally resolve the problem as a whole.  Plus, ironically enough, there used to be a lot of crying among some how there was too much grinding at the higher levels and there weren't enough quests available.

Plus, a lot were pissed the PvP system and battlegrounds weren't set up at launch.  If I had a nickel for every time on those forums someone started ranting about Blizzard because that wasn't available instantly since apparently it mentioned it on the box somehwere I could have been a millionaire.

...and the bugs in some of the dungeons.  Like I said it wasn't anything game breaking to me but those forums were entertaining as hell to read back in those days.

Originally posted by Wickedjelly

"For those who are comparing to how WoW was to Aion now I'm sorry, wow was never ever this bad. I played that game since released for 4 and half years. Yes it did have problems but nowhere near the extent that Aion is now."

 

What, are you guys saying this out of your mind? I loved WoW and it was a great game, but that is still to this day one of the worst launches I have been involved in.

1) loot lag

2) dissappearing zeppelins/boats = character death

3) mob's retreating to insta heal

4) server lag in general

5) Bots everywhere making it hard to get some mob kill quests completed

That doesn't account for the times the servers crashed. The server I played on was down, completely, for almost three entire days at one point. There were other days it was down for half a day or close to an entire day but the three day one sticks out the most to me because it was just crazy. Granted they gave away a ton of free time but give me a break. The WoW launch was horrifyingly bad. It's a testament to how good the game was and how the company excelled at customer service compared to others in handing customer's complaints/issues that it survived that mess.

Hell, main reason I stuck around is because the game was so different compared to what I was playing beforehand, EQ, and the fact that it kind of was hard to complain too much when they kept giving out free play time due to all the issues they were having.
 

This game is having it's issues there's no denying that but trying to say it's worse than WoW was a t launch is just ridiculous.  Hell, trying to say a lot of game's launches were worse than WoW's was would be silly.

EDIT: Just saw another post where the poster I quoted clarified that he was referring to bots/spammers so far as that goes I will agree with arenasb.

As for those that took what he said as being in general terms, you're out of your minds hehe  No other way to put it.  I loved WoW and even though I don't play it anymore I still say it's a great game but trying to say that launch was anything short of an absolute mess is just verging on sheer lunacy.

Ugh, I thought it was implied I was refering to gold spammers and bots. All of your other points I agree with and have said in a followup post. To reiterate, I have never seen a game as bad as this in regards to the spamming and bots.

To OP:

You didn't say if you're on an US server or EU server, but I take it you're on US server.

I play on EU server Spatalos and I have to say I've met only one character that was acting like a bot. I whispered and there was a person playing it so that was a false alarm afterall. Maybe macroed, but still a person sitting at the comp and "playing".

So, my personal experience tells me there's no alarming bot-problem on the server I play and if there was I'm sure NCSoft can deal with it later on.

And no, this game isn't done for, not to me atleast.

Originally posted by arenasb
 

Ugh, I thought it was implied I was refering to gold spammers and bots. All of your other points I agree with and have said in a followup post. To reiterate, I have never seen a game as bad as this in regards to the spamming and bots.

In a different post you did, which is why I added my edit saying that my post doesn't apply to you after all.  Of course, there were some that agreed with your idea in general which is how I took your first post on the matter.

So my bad, sometimes I misconstrue things because I have to jump back and forth so much while I'm at work.  :(

 op !its too early yet  !we ll know when gamer have to gettheir time card or pre-paid credit card the biggest issue aion face is 

after free 30 days are gone !

you will have 400k player in need of a way to pay and nobody in their right mind would use their personal credit card 

so when the 30 day is over thats when the true trest start for ncwest,because as of yet its freaking hard to get 

time card from ncsoft period!and where i live pre-paid credit card were sold out witch never happened before aion 

was released.

I myself might no be renewing my sub after the free month. I am halfway to 23 and have lost all desire to lvl my characte. I'm not saying that its the gameplay itself that is casuing this though. Hell maybe I am just burned out on MMOs and need to take a break for a few months because all of a sudden the whole process seems like a chore.....

Originally posted by m0lly

 troll or whatever , i have to say i canceled my account already and not gona go back for those reasons and many others.

hope we can someday see nice new mmo.

cheers,

same here. Account is cancelled already.. the game is going down the pipe fast.. might even set a new record on the speed in wich it reaches the pipes end..

The mmorpg market is just sad.  Guess we'll have to play wow for another 5 years.

Originally posted by Lazarus71

I myself might no be renewing my sub after the free month. I am halfway to 23 and have lost all desire to lvl my characte. I'm not saying that its the gameplay itself that is casuing this though. Hell maybe I am just burned out on MMOs and need to take a break for a few months because all of a sudden the whole process seems like a chore.....

I had this feeling also with Aion,I even said to a guild mate "maybe I am just burned out with the whole mmo market"..now this is not a plug just my honest opinion...I decided to give Fallen Earth a go as I was really bored and the rest of my gaming mate's were still plugging away at Aion...was I burned out with mmo's?..the hell I was,Fallen earth brought me back big time,I am maybe burned out with the whole magic fantasy,spellcasting theme but not mmo's.

I honestly think for people like myself that have played mmo's for many years that it could just be that Aion was 1 fantasy spellcasting mmo to far.

Originally posted by vmoped

Originally posted by ozy1

troll

 

Looks like someone needs to check their e-dictionary on the definition of a troll and someone posting a rant. I agree with the OP. I played the game from the beginning of CB in NA till now and do not plan to subscribe. The game is not my cup of tea. According to the consensus on these boards, since I do not worship the game, I must be trolling myself.

Cheers!

I'm glad to see someone finally define what the term "troll" has come to mean on gaming forums. This, as you and I well know, has nothing to do with the original term. The new generation of child gamers has redefined the word. You're 100 percent correct. It now means....anyone who doesn't worship the same ____________________ (fill in the blank with any game, god, religion, musician, etc., etc. ad infinitum) that the person screaming "TROLL" does.

Don't you know that in the year 2009 we are not allowed to have varied opinions on things or think for ourselve???  We MUST conform or GTFO!!!!!

Something tells me that most gamers haven't read Ayn Rand's "Anthem."

Originally posted by Pelaaja

To OP:

You didn't say if you're on an US server or EU server, but I take it you're on US server.

I play on EU server Spatalos and I have to say I've met only one character that was acting like a bot. I whispered and there was a person playing it so that was a false alarm afterall. Maybe macroed, but still a person sitting at the comp and "playing".

So, my personal experience tells me there's no alarming bot-problem on the server I play and if there was I'm sure NCSoft can deal with it later on.

And no, this game isn't done for, not to me atleast.

I live in Norway. So if you would have paid a little more attention at school, then you would know that country lies in Europe ;)

So guess where I am playing? European servers!

I know the US servers are even worse when it comes to spam and botting. But we got our fair share too. No worries.

Hell, since this week it has gotten quite worse. Especially with the spamming.

The last couple days I had to put 6-7 spammers on my blocklist each day when I logged into the game already. Then a couple more pop up through the night.

This is on the EU server Gorgos.

EDIT: Here is also a nice topic on the bot problem and how pathetic the situation already is, that even the bots are killstealing among themselves:

http://www.aionsource.com/forum/aion-discussion/77943-bots-ksing-bots-wth-pic-inside.html

Cheers

That particular area next to Alsig Village is infested with bots, reminds me of an ant hill. There is a quest for there and I had to compete with 10 bots (that I could see at that time) for the mobs.

Originally posted by arenasb

That particular area next to Alsig Village is infested with bots, reminds me of an ant hill. There is a quest for there and I had to compete with 10 bots (that I could see at that time) for the mobs.

Problem is. We all know that these farm bots are mostly Asians. These guys have had a year already in Korean and Chinese Aion.

So they know all the best grindspots in the game already.

Just give it one or two more weeks and all the good grind spots in the game are permanently camped by bots 24/7.

It's already pretty much the case with zones up to level20 atm. And it's slowly building up already in the higher level zones.

Just go to Cantas Coast for example. There are a dozen bots running around on that single spot in each channel! 24/7! It's pathetic.

Originally posted by Guillermo197

Lets forget the issues people have with constant crashing during Fortress Sieges. As there are still plenty of people who don't experience it. I guess.

Lets forget the issues about the gold sell spam. That is. As long as your blocklist isn't full. You can ingore it. Somewhat.

 

The fact is. From now on, no new player with some form of sanity is ever going to sub for this game. Ever.

Right now, the moment a new player logs into the game for the first time....

....it will not only be overwelmed with a raging chat window moving faster then the average Formule 1 car. Because of all the spam.

But he/she will have to put up with farming bots all over the starter areas. They are everywhere and in very large numbers.

It's a joke!  NCSoft has lost complete control over their game. The spam and botting is so excessive. It's really disgusting.

I have never seen this amount of spam and botting before. Even Lineage 2 wasn't that bad at launch as is now the case with AION.

 

I guess. This is what you get when you don't bother writing any security nor any checks in your game client and make the bussiness choice to rely 100% on a crap program called Game Guard.... and then at launch make the decision to remove this crap program from the game client as well. Leaving it completely open and defenseless.

I guess NCSoft has just set a brandnew record in how fast you can run a game totally into the ground after launch. (just talking about NA/EU launch here).

Cheers

 theres others ways to block them as well go to chat pref and tab op's then un check channel then hit change and do emote /anon so you would not get all of the spam then yall are free of spam and yall have an nice day playing aion^_^

Originally posted by pauljr94132

 theres others ways to block them as well go to chat pref and tab op's then un check channel then hit change and do emote /anon so you would not get all of the spam then yall are free of spam and yall have an nice day playing aion^_^

 

Maybe you should actually read my post and what we are actually discussing in this topic.

Are people honestly able to get themselves worked up into this kind of frenzy over a video game?  Seriously?