OK, so maybe WoW-"KILLER" is a little extreme, how about wow-"competitor"? Is that easier to handle?

 I personally don't think anything can really put wow to death, acti-blizz has too deep of pockets, too big of a fanbase and a long history. But can Aion or another hi-quality MMO really steal market share from them, because thats what big biz really competes for.  It comes down to YOUR dollars and cents that you budget to gaming per month.

Would anyone, that has spent MONTHS on wow to get all the uber gear really dump their account and go flocking to aion; I highly doubt it. But they might cut some other game(s) out to do so and keep wow. What do you think?

 I made sure that I didn't read any other response before I reply to this thread. I say yes, it's going to behave well from the start and continue with a long lifespan. Why I say this? For a few reasons: The flight aspect in an mmo will give the developers alot of more room to work with in a 3D worldspace, both in pve and pvp. This is an attraction that many mmo players have been looking for for years now. Just consider how the flying mount went over in WoW, people literally broke there necks to get them.

Secondly, the f2p public that I know and have been playing with for some time now all have the same thing in mind: "We are waiting for Aion", is the catchphrase in many mmo communities. Just ask around if you don't believe me. Graphically we have been impressed with video and screenshots on the beauty and depth of this game.

This game will do a few things, it's going to give the f2p's a run for their money and it's going to give all the people that are still playing failing mmo's like darkfall, warhammer and AoC an outlet to gravitate to. And will give all the wow (I've dont it all and feeling burnt out) something new to do. Apart from WoW their own ingame communites are failing and if you don't think that the Aion servers are going to be packed the 1st week or so you should really see a mental help specialist. Because there is always the first huge influx of players, much like warhammer and AoC had. 

Now longevity is a different story. Keep in mind, I have not played this game. I am going according to posts in forums from the asian gaming community, videos, screenshots and news article's tracking the progression of this game in korea. It had the most successful beta launch and is now one of the most popular if not THE most popular played MMO in korea. And the eastern market take online gaming as a part of their culture, thats maybe why the korean gov't invested millions into the MMO market. But according to this track record I feel long term success. And I will be right there in line waiting for my box and playing the game first week. And I too are on the sidelines, "Waiting for Aion"

Enjoy yourself,

Ink

 I'll give it a try, nothing can be worse than runes of magic.

 Ugh...Runes.

Ok, I played the game from CB and can tell you one thing, It is a cash shop users paradise.

The game is very imbalanced and the CS is one of the reasons why people are leaving the community, or the fact that I did after investing exactly 90 USD and a few months work. Just the fact that buying daimonds is limitless is a scary prospect when you approach a game investment. Yes, it's sweet that you can redo your dailies 100 times with tickets and pump up your gear with purified stones but the fact that the average mmorpg gamer age is between 25-33 www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000194.php that means there usually is a job that pays more than the parental allowance. Now we are cooking! 

Skys the limit and that provides an unfair advantage to new or younger players that are trying to enjoy the game. As far as quality is concerned, it had a certain wow-esque feel to it which made it appealing. There were some points that were lacking of course but no game is ever perfect, not even wow from some certain aspects. As far as the false claims that they have posted, I read those same exact posts when playing the game actively, being a optimistic person I was hopeful for some improvements. Yet there was some, but not enough to make me into a long term subscriber.I have a choice to play or not play a game, and everyone else has the same. That's why when the going gets tough, the tough get going to the next game.

Yes, in history some cm's have bent the truth or told a little white lie here and there, you need to stay on the realistic side of things and put yourself in thier situation. They are evidentally powerless over what the game dev's and management of the company want to do with their game. The cm's are only middlemen that communicate with the public, so if the ceo says no to dwarves and last week the cm reported a dwarven race would be added. Well that's when the cm has to wear the egg on the face and suck it up for two reasons: 1) he/she has no say in the matter 2) it's their job on the line.

Would I recommend Runes to anyone? Sure. With the disclaimer that it is a casual mmo and you can spend only 15 USD a month and enjoy the game. That's what I did, but all in all I am a believer in the subscription based business model because I feel that the CS does imbalance things and I view these games as an investment of my time and money.

Thanks for reading and hope everyone is having fun!

Ink

 I've got an idea!

Play it first and then formulate your oponion with realistic experience.

Oh what is that? You can't play it because it's in developement phase?

Alrighty then, please shut up and come back when you have some hard evidence to support it.

Thanks,

Ink

Originally posted by Gravarg

 

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Originally posted by Splinki

 

I saw someone mention this earlier, I want to make sure before I download it... Is this game running on a turn-based combat system?

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Yep, and it's awesome. I've said it a million times, but this is what final fantasy 11 should've been like (not that FFXI is a bad game, I played it for 4 years :))

The quests do repeat themselves and get rather boring, but that's what free league, arena, and nation wars are for, amirite?

Yes you are. I played FFXI on Kajuta for 2 years, it wasnt the combat, the grind or the boring quests to just get a piece of armor that put that game in the doghouse. It was the griefing farmers, goldspammers and the gilsellers like IGE that killed the economy and ruined a great game. I feel that FFXI was a great starter MMO for me, but without wow around I would of stayed and sometimes I wish I did. But tbqh, wows inability to resell certain items kept things balanced and interestiing. Not that wow is the absolute perfect MMO, I'm still looking for that.

But about atlantica, I played it for a month and change until I got into the runes of magic beta; great concept and refreshing combat system made it fun and different. However, I would of rather focus on gearing up one character, not 9 and I'm not a big fan of cashoppery. That was my problem with AO.

But yes grevarg, you are right with the comparison of FFXI to AO, it would of made them such a dominant force in the gaming industry wow wouldn't of took over the mmo scene that easily.

 @ nadia, wow thanks alot. I also saw it new their for 3.99. Thats a great price if its actually new with all the expansions. I guess I'll pick it up , if this is a sample of the type of community that plays DoaC then I'll give it a go then.

However, this all has to wait til after this weekend, I.C.O.N. is this weekend and I'm going. So I'll order it when I get back and sign up for my trial. I'll look around at ICON, I might be able to find it there too.

Thanks everyone for their help :)

Ink

 So all in all, if I find the plat edition I can play this game for free for 2 weeks then pay for sub @13 a month sub or $8 for the gold and 2 expansions that brings it to $50 with everything? A free month and then only a $13 monthly sounds like a great deal! 

Can I get some fries with that too?

Reason I'm asking all this is that I just left a F2P cashshop nightmare and I'm looking for good p2p content. I'm a casual gamer now since quitting wow and I've played the FFXI also, which was too grindalicious for me. So, it seems as a toss up between DaOC and Spellboned, so I will try both then make a decision.  

Also, can I use a prepaid CC or a mall-bought gift cert CC to pay for sub? I am apprehensive about putting any info on the internet because I had a bad experience.

Thanks for replying

Ink

 I was curious about this game myself, I found a gold package in my local microcenter for $8. It came with one expansion, the original game and 30 trial basis. Nowif I wanted to wanted to get started, how much would it cost to get on the classic servers (forget the atlantis stuff, /20 and buffbots) Im an ole'school rpg/mmo player that wants to enjoy the game, not become eh1337 overnight.