As far as old memories go back...UO, DAOC, L2 gave me the most fun experiences in PvP. 

I loved the unrestricted PvP UO offered and I'm all for drop penalties.  The majority eventually came to dislike drop penalties upon death, and the concept is pretty presentless in today's MMOs, awww but I just miss the good ol days.

DAOC probably offered the best RvR I've ever experienced in any MMO, by a long shot.  I would still go back to DAOC if not for the outdated graphics and some flawed concepts.  When I saw those GFX modified screenies, man was I drooling in awe~.

For couple of the previous years, I would have to say WoW offered the "better" PvP till battlegrounds.  I guess the majority is all about equal that and this, but that concept pretty much takes away the thrill in random encounters and world PvP.  Overall, it still has the better control mechanics, and the twitch factor, but I could never really get used to the feeling of hitting nothing but air when my characters attack.  The game just doesn't feel like you're hitting an enemy or using magic.  WoW's combat physics engine is a major dissapointment as it takes the ambience away from the PvP experience, same with sounds.

L2 offered probably the most meaningful PvP in any of the MMOs I've played.  It just had the right ideas behind the PvP.  Although the game lacks in control and is a hack and slash, noone can deny the politics and community emphasized PvP in L2.  Castle sieges, xp spot disputes, territory disputes, raid boss interferences, and alliances all had awfully important significance in game.  Alot of games lacked in having significance with their content, whereas L2 made all these work.

If the next L3 offers all the contents from L2, minus the grind and introduces new control mechanics, I would go back to it without hesitation.  Well, no bots too...and gold farmers...

As far as in game controls, I laugh at people who say WoW's twitch factor makes the game PvP that much more intense than other MMOs. 

I've been playing Dungeon and Fighter Online and C9...if you want controls, and actual skilled based PvP I don't think the current MMO industry offers anything impressive.

C9 has really good control mechanics.  They incorporated the mouse and keyboard use very well, considering it has motion input combo system and numerical inputs.  Surprisingly the controls don't feel awkward at all.  It feels like DFO with the use of a mouse for camera movement and certain inputs.  Otherthan controls, C9 has many flaws, but the introduction of an input based combo and skill system that feels surprisingly comfortable with a mouse and keyboard was what surprised me. 

Originally posted by Anarchist420

Hype hype hype!  If I had to guess, they put some of the art, models, mechanics into a single player beefed up version of itself just to record the damn video.

I've never played Aion and never will, but the video / forum hype crap has been done 200 times over from MMO companies who pushed out underpar games.  Hopefully, for the Aion fans anyway, I'm wrong.

Actually, I've just read a korean source state that at the NCsoft G-Star Premiere conference, the developers said everything in the video is almost complete, but they don't have any plans to update the current client any time soon. 

They're planning the 2.0 update early next year in 2010, so the current Aion is probably not going to see a new graphical overhaul at least until end of 2010.

Otherwise, I don't see why they can't add new features such as Housing, pet/mounts, and new classes/sub classes gradually.  Everything doesn't have to come together at once. 

Which by the way as you mention, Funcom tried to bring everything at once and utterly failed. 

If NCsoft can bring these features one by one gradually over time, maybe it's a better process, rather than to bring everything at once.

I don't like NCsoft, their customer service and monitoring bots/farmers suck, but as far as Aion the game itself, I don't think it's all that bad as some of the haters make it out to be. 

It's not a great game at this point, but has a promising future.  It's actually decent compared to all the shit out in the MMO market. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B64wsyrG7vQ&feature=player_embedded#

higher res trailer...

Originally posted by Kaisen_Dexx

It looked interesting, the boat part intrigued me, and made me think of real adventure. That made me want to actually subscribe. Then the realization hit me that its probably just pretty scenery with no real impact while you grind your way up to the new level cap. No different than I've done in WoW for 5 years, and my interest plummeted. I dunno, maybe I'm just so tired of MMOs that I can't get excited about them anymore. And sadly, thats after a 6 month break.

 

Having said that made me realize why I'm all for harsh death penalties. They give exploration and adventure some weight, when you realize you might not make it back with all your stuff.

I'm all for Open world non-restricted PvP and drop penalties.

I miss the good ol Ultima days...

I've heard speculation they're planning on upgrading the engine from Cry to Cry2. 

The vid is in low quality so I can't comment much right now, but I am trying to download a high res version. 

Looks like they're planning on adding housing, underwater world, mounts (read somewhere mobs will be tameable), and looks like new classes and weapon types.  

There's probably going to be 2nd class changes...and as far as what I can guess, housing will probably be available on the ground areas below Elysium.  I've been down at the bottom of Elysium once right when the server went into maintenance, and there are couple houses, and a fortress bridge, and a huge mass of open land. 

Oh yea...looks like they'll have siege summons or something...similar to siege weapons on L2...

bah it'd be great if the game turns out what it looks...but NCsoft has fooled me on many occasions...

anyways, 3.0 isn't any time soon, since 2.0 is suppose to come earlier next year in the korean servers.

Originally posted by tanoril

Originally posted by mugengaia

 

What exactly does this have to do with Aion today?  Are you seriously comparing a game that launched in 2009 to one that launched in 2004.  Isn't Aion supposed to be competing with WoW 2009, not WoW 2004? 

You're right, Vanilla WoW sucked for content but that doesn't mean it's ok for every game since to launch the same exact way.

You want to know why I brought up the Vanilla WoW comparsion?  Read one the previous poster's lame comments depicting Vanilla WoW's gameplay time to being only couple dozen hours to reach cap.  And he said he did this on his first character, which honestly is a complete Bullshit.

Originally posted by Frostbite05

 

Can't say that On release vanilla wow had no endgame there was UBRS and LBRS that was it. MC/BWL were added a few months after release. Same with all the battlegrounds, which on release were fun unlike the water downed versions we complain about today.

I agree with this, which is one reason I quit after crusades.  Wasn't as bad as after I played LK, but I was getting tired of nightly raids, and random partying became extremely inaccessible in the korean servers.

Originally posted by dacofty

Who really cares if Aion overtakes WoW?  If it does then the ppl playing it will still play it if it doesnt then I am sure they will still play it.  Aion isnt going anywhere, ppl will still play it,  stats will still be made up for the good or bad and the world will still go on.  PPL grow up

The most wise comment, even if it isn't something hard to think up. 

People in general just have a tendency of stirring up reactions from others to basically satisfy a thurst.  It's similar to an individual craving certain foods at a particular time. 

Guess not everyone can be a Buddha or a Christ.  If you understand what I'm trying to say...

Anyone who has played Vanilla WoW, please don't come on here and ridicule yourself saying it was so~ much better than Aion and so~ much less of a grind than Aion. 

I played Vanilla WoW, it took me 2 months of 3-6 hours of gameplay a day to reach level 60.  Had few occasional troubles finding quests and found myself researching for infos on fansites.  Because honestly, it was a first for me to find myself baffled by the system.  It wasn't hard, it was rather confusing at first.

To the guy who claims Vanilla WoW had absolutely no "GRIND", please don't lie to yourself.  I occasionally found myself falling asleep on my keyboard while doing endless number of quests. 

Of course I also found myself falling asleep on the keyboard while group xp grinding at level 40s in Aion.

Either Vanilla WoW quest grind or Aion latter half group xp grind, the choice is yours. 

Never really bothered with the WoW storyline, and honestly I still don't even know, because all I did was search up guides and info on info sites and skimmed past the actual lore. 

In Aion, I have a level 50 assassin in the korean server Kashinel, but also don't really have a clue about the lore. 

Honestly, people who claim WoW or LOTRO having compelling storylines...please, you can shove my shoe up your mouth.  Reading the actual quests and playing for end game or PvP, PvE purposes, in the end it's all about "to each his/her own taste".  It's a choice, not an obligation.  I'll give LOTRO much deserved credit since it is based on Tolkien's book (and I love LOTR series), but WoW's storyline?  Never read it, never cared for it (and this is coming from a guy who also has Warcraft 2, 3, and frozen throne.). 

All I wanted was to level to cap and get gears, till I found out how useless getting EPIC gears are in WOW.  REAL F**KING EPIC, WHEN THEY'RE ONLY GOOD FOR COUPLE WEEKS AT BEST.

Vanilla WoW also had only ONE instance out of the many which exist today. 

Don't make WoW look like the EPIC consumer phenomenon it is today.  Because Vanilla WoW wasn't even half the shit it is today.

Does it need to be emphasized again?  Vanilla WoW had ONE INSTANCE. 

Maybe WoW did have a more diverse storyline.  That doesn't make it compelling to the likes of LOTRO.  But I guess I wouldn't know if it was even that diverse, since people like me just tend to skip the lore.  The lore part of any MMO never really attracted me in the first place.  If I want a good solid 50 hours of EPIC storyline, I'd rather play a single player RPG on a console.

Finally, I don't play Aion anymore, because of some issues I've had with NCsoft, but frankly speaking, it isn't half as bad as what these forum trolls make it seem. 

I don't know about the WoW carebears who say the lore is so fking epic or that they have never been bored in WoW ever.  But I've been bored out to death with endless repetitions of raids and instances in WoW before.  The same boredom hit me couple times in the process of hitting 50 in Aion, specifically levels 32-37 (Fire Temple instance) and 40-44 (Campgorund grouping till Draupnir).  Then again, while I was playing it korea the level cap was 45, and alot of the content that opened up with 1.5 was new and satisfying. 

Compare all you want, but seriously, Vanilla WoW?  Vanilla WoW wasn't even 1/4 the current WoW, so don't sugar coat WoW as if it was exactly the same then as to now.  Not to mention one of the worst launches in history of MMOs. 

Oh yea, there are two things I absolutely hate about Aion.  For one, I wish they didn't make it auto-targeting.  Secondly, NCsoft's handling of Bots is always slow. 

I can play with the auto-targeting...although I wish it wasn't.  Otherwise, the bots have been a huge problem, and I already foresaw this in the NA/EU servers...since I played on the Korean server.  But then again, it's NCsoft.  They have a tarnished reputation when it comes to handling bots.

Originally posted by Zorndorf 

The number of CHARACTERS being played is irrelevant to the subscriptions.

As a matter of fact your Average shows that 350K hi level characters are being played on 42 Korean servers in a one year old game.

Most players staying that long have at least 1 hi end character if not 2. And they log on (mostly) with that character AND of course - some alts - some of which already maxed out too.

So I don't know why you are fighting the official figures of NCsoft for Korea yourself. 400K players for 41 servers almost a year ago.

It just proves that 360K characters being played now is not out of line with what NCsoft themselves said 9 months ago.

 I always speak of "average" btw. 10K on average subscriptions for 1 server. Average. Your TOTAL subs have an AVERAGE of 1 server per 10K subs (spread all over the place).

You post proves almost the NCsoft statements.

Now you highlight and say on "average". 

Well guess what.  Go back to your previous posts on the other Aion subscription thread.  The whole argument was whether or not the 10k subscription number was the max capacity per server.  And you kept denying that more than 10k subs could exist per server. 

And I don't give a rat's ass about NCsoft, so stop posting your overglorified knowledge on NCsoft.

One more thing to add.  NCsoft released a statement a year ago after two months into Open beta that they were going to increase the account limit per server for specific servers to 14k, servers such as Siel, Kashinel, and Zikel. 

Now if you don't understand mine and everyone else's argument.  It was whether or not sub numbers were limited to 10k per server. 

And the answer is "NO".  In cases of Zikel and Siel, total account number is 14k, which include non active and active accounts. 

You're the one who kept denying the possibility of 10k+ subs per server.

Stop changing the subject. 

The subject is whether or not a single server is limited to 10k subs. 

I never said your hypothesis that Korea has approximately 400k subs in their 41 servers was wrong did I?  (which is 42 now)

I was asking you where you got the idea that a server absolutely cannot have above 10k subscriptions per server. 

You denied to answer my questions directly and gave some stupid estimate of the whole picture which I never denied in the first place.

You simply did not accept the fact that a single server can have over your estimate of 10k subscriptions. 

I'm sorry but, you either don't read other people's posts thoroughly, or simply put, you're in complete denial of other's opinions.

Originally posted by Zorndorf 

In fact your post proves that there are ... 348K  characters being played on 42 servers at the highest levels in a ONE year old mmo....

It is MORE proof than anything else the common rule of 10K players to 1 server (non concurrent) is holding true.

In a one year old MMO, how many avatars most players have ? 2 or 3? How many characters have YOU ?

And as I said the early NCsoft reports spoke of these 400K active Korean players on 41 servers. Since that time (9 months ago) , they added one Korean server.

SO in fact your just proves 350K active players are playing their avatars in the end game ... on 42 servers.

... You proved my point that the NCsoft figures were right ... for Korea: 400K players for approx 41/42 servers.

10Ksubs  to 1 server. Of which 30% is playing concurrently. At peak times that's around 4K on average.

 

Did I ever deny 400k subs in Korea?  

I am asking you where you got the 10k subs per 1 server theory. 

Because clearly there are some servers with only 3-5k level 50s.  How do you explain this?  And no, they aren't new servers.
 

You're still not answering my question directly. 

Siel server for example has over 10k subs.  Not limited to exactly 10k subs. 

So your theory of being limited to 10k subs per 1 server is indeed wrong. 

As an approximate, yes 10k subs on "average" per 1 server is correct. 

However, your arguement all this time, on this thread and the other thread was that sub numbers were exactly limited to 10k per 1 server.

Don't change your wording to justify yourself.  I am asking you where you got the 10k subs per 1 server exact limit.

You have been blabbering nonsense that realm MMOs have 10k sub max capacity per server this whole damn time. 

Originally posted by Zorndorf 

So situation Korea is clear....

400.000 players on Korean 42 servers ... does NOT mean there are the same number of characters.

1 player has always several chararcters in a 1 year old MMO. Probably several at end game too.

BTW 400K was the last official number of ... NCsoft themselves and indeed playing on 41 (now 42) servers.

Tx .... you just proved what NCsoft said: 400K Korean players (not characters) on 42 servers.

NA has 14 and EU has 18 servers . So do the calculations yourselves.

:))))

I just mentioned "excluding all other players below the level of 50."  Just the ones 50 on Siel specifically is over 10k.  Please just explain to me.  Where does this 10k subs per 1 server come from?  
 

YOU HAVE BEEN ARGUING THE LAST 2 MONTHS THAT IT'S SPECIFICALLY LIMITED TO 10K SUBS PER SERVER. 

The subs and active account numbers are clearly above 10k in that server.  So do explain, please.  Where is this 10k max capacity sub per 1 server limit you talk of?

Don't change the subject.  You have been clear all this time, and every time.  10k subs per 1 server.  But there is clearly over 10k subs on that particular server. 

Zorndorf, seriously, I think it's better off you just not waste time trying to explain with your little pee sized brain. 

Your assumptions, and I do say assumptions, are always lacking in variables when it comes to reliable numbers. 

Things aren't as straightforward and easy as couple pluses and minuses in life, as it seems to be the analytical limit of your brain.  Seriously man, I took BMA/ECON, but if numbers behind your hypothesis could be as simple as xfire alone, we would have millions of billionaires from the stock market. 

If you don't understand what I'm trying to explain, simplay put, your brain is extremely narrow-minded.  You clearly don't see, or even try to see the whole picture.  And with that kind of attitude, would you even try to see anything by the whole in real life?  You're probably busy cutting off other people's discussions in real life, making a poor reputation for your personality.

For one, I still remember you crying and stating your false case that NCsoft was officially lieing about boxes being sold. 

Back then you were claiming there is no way NCsoft's Aion could have 400k concurrent users in NA/EU due to the lack of servers, which I believe were 12 for NA at the time.

You were claiming that each server as stated by NCsoft could only handle 10k users simultaneously, thus in your pee sized brain's calculation, there was absolutely no way 400k boxes were purchased. 

So the whole forum took the time to explain to your retarded brain that there are more users dedicated to servers, however the capacity of max number of players who can log in at the same time was indeed 10k.  If there weren't more users in comparison to the server capacity, why would there be queue times in the first place?

Then again, if I remember correctly, you would not release yourself from denial and couldn't accept the fact that you were made a fool by hundreds of people on the forum. 

Seriously, you being the idiot that brought up the idea, concurrent users = max server capacity, I wouldn't be surprised if the only argument you could bring to the table for the last month and a half was your hypothesis in correlation to xfire numbers...

Go to school man, and stop making a fool out of yourself.

You can't buy the best gears in Aion.  You can buy farely decent gears with Kinah...

Abyss Gears, and Tahabata series, or many of the instance dungeon gears are all non tradeables. 

Open World Raid Boss gears are however tradeable...yet you better be prepared to spend about 500+ dollars for a single Menotios Dagger. 

Otherthan this...Bots will probably be always rampant in Aion.  Maybe NCWest might axe couple dozens of thousands similar to what they did in Korea.  They had massive the massive ban hammer go around twice, banning 70+ thousand the first time, and 50+ the other.

Why keep making these boast threads?

Obviously it's a flame starter.

Why would I not be surprised if half the people who criticize the success, rather than the product itself for lack of substance, are in fact no more than WoW carebears?  Then maybe one or two others are probably some angry WAR and AoC fanbois who honestly believe Aion is on the same category as the two. 
 

In all honesty, I've played both AoC and WAR.  Those two aren't even comparable to Aion, disregarding the fact Aion doesn't have substance, WAR and AoC have had one of the worst launches, and still clearly have many problems.  The polishness of Aion alone blows WAR and AoC out of competition.

As for me, I don't play Aion anymore, but if anything, stop whinning about the lack of substance.  The developers they themselves explained in an interview back an year ago, that Aion is nothing original, but a mix of contents and systems from various MMOs.

And Honestly, what serious gamer even uses xfire?  I thought xfire was a joke.  It's full of 15 year old nutcases.  Installed xfire once, and uninstalled it in 5mins.  Never installed xfire once again, and I don't see the need for it compared to ventrillo.

Originally posted by colddog

Originally posted by Qraye

Originally posted by caalem

I want to pick WoW, just because it took the runescape community to a whole new level.

But since I can't, I guess I pick runescape.

 

WoW's community is the worst community I have ever seen in an MMO, ever. It's like taking 1 million 13 year old boys and putting them all in the same room.

 

The more people playing a game then there is a likelyhood of a higher percentage of "undesireables". If you choose to focus on those people then the community outlook is grim, if you act like a mature individual with appropriate manner and disposition then you would see the overwhelming amount of good people. Its all in your outlook, perhaps you should reflect on yours.

 

I like your style. The truth is, if you meet a few good people in WoW, it can be an extremely fun game. If you dabble in trade chat and PuG, it can be the worst game ever. Server choice is important too.  This is how every MMO is.

 

I would destroy Aion because it brings absolutely nothing new to the table and has what I consider a delusional playerbase. The people that defend this game just want to believe it's different for some reason more than any other game I've seen. I wanted it to be great too. After I played a chanter it to 36, I realized what it was and moved on.

 

Blow this game up and send the message that clones are unacceptable. Particularly clones that are worse versions of their predecessor. 

 

Uhhh yea...

I think like a year ago, the actual korean game developers said Aion wasn't bringing anything new to the table.  Just a mix-and-mash of other MMO's features...

Where did you get this idea that Aion was supposed to introduce something new?  When the developers from their own's mouths explained in an interview, that it's nothing new...

Maybe I'm blind, but I haven't seen any false advertising of the sort. 

Just my two cents buddy...By the way I don't play Aion...

I don't understand why people complain so much about Aion's grind. 

The grouping for xp after 40+ is quite large, but it's not undoable like Lineage 2.

It is true that the grind can be somewhat of a gigantic boredom, but that was the reason why grouping is enforced after 30+.  Of course, this wasn't meant to cater to the tastes of WoW or post WoW community of gamers either.  They focused on brining back the old EQ grouping feel to it.

In an earlier interview in the past, the actual korean developers answered that Aion will not mirror WoW, but will focus on bringing elements from various MMOs, at the same time be a separate identity.

AION IS NOT WOW, so don't play it, if you don't like it.

Honestly, today's post WoW MMOers have this mentality that endgame has to be possible within 2 weeks.  Everything has to be sugar coated to fit their desires. 

Aion isn't an innovative game, it doesn't bring anything new to the table.  The developers have said this, and everybody should already be aware of the fact that Aion is just a polished game to create its own niche.  Not cater WoW or post WoW players. 

On a personal note.  NCsoft is horrible company with horrendous reputation when it comes to handling bots and gold sellers.  This was anticipated long before the launch.  Everybody knew this, only, they hoped for a better change in the direction they take for customer service. 

In reality, that's not going to happen, nor is it happening as I type.

Not everybody prefers to instance from the beginning and reach endcap through quests by the end of week 2.  Either ways, I seen much worse grind in previous western MMOs than in Aion.  Most casual gamers will reach 50 by 2months.  But if this fact doesn't suit your personal taste of reaching endgame sooner, then don't play it.

Aion isn't a great game, it's a good game.  It's nothing new, nor is it serviced by a great company, rather horrible. 

Bots and gold spamming kills the game experience no doubt about it.  What did you expect?  It's NCsoft. 

As for the grind, if you're willing to sacrifice 2months of casual play to reach endgame, then don't play the grinder.  Just go back to WoW.

As for me, I don't play the game.  I played the game for 6months in the korean server, but NCsoft's lack of consideration pretty much killed my faith in the company. 

It's a crazy world...

Better to stand on the bridge watching a toddler drown in the river, rather than trying to save him/her.

Of course, that is if you understand the risk involved in being a good-semaritan...

Honestly, the most hated MMO developing company in Korea is NCsoft, followed by Nexon, which is also referred to as Donson ( Don = money in korean, meaning Nexon is money obsessed).

I've tried being patriotic and promote NCsoft and actually like their games, but NCsoft has been an EPIC FAIL in terms of customer satisfaction and consideration. 

NCsoft doesn't give shit about its' customers, period.  That is the universal point of view of this company to many MMOers in Korea.

Aion could have been a great game.  During CBTs in korea, everyone had high hopes that NCsoft was finally listening to the playerbase.  But as we all know, that isn't the case.  Honestly, the game hasn't progressed at all since CBT in korea, only that they added couple more instances, and supposedly the "innovative" RvRvE instance.

I played Aion in the korean Kashinelle server for half a year.  The game was obviously flawed in many ways.  People still played it due to high hopes that NCsoft might actually make proper patches as time progressed.  As it turns out, that wasn't the case, and when they had the massive moving speed+dmg boost+attack speed boost hack issue across all the servers, NCsoft resorted by banning players who were exposing information concerning the hacks, instead of handling the matter in properly.

The hysteria that went on with the hacking issues across the servers pretty much helped make my mind about quitting the game for good.

It was at that point I realized, as much as I would like to see Aion as a promising product, NCsoft does not give a rat's ass about its' playerbase. 

Pretty much all the veteran MMOers who tried Aion was hoping that NCsoft takes approaches to patches that mirror the desires of the playerbase.  Unfortunately, that will never be the case with NCsoft. 

Aion is or "was" a promising product, no longer an improving product in the hands of NCsoft. 

Sure, when Blade and Soul comes out, I'll try it.  But the fact that it will be run by a malicious company called "NCsoft", who don't give a rat's ass about its' clients as long as it earns couple BIG FAT zeros in retained earning, is one reason why I will probably never trust this company's products anymore. 

Understand, GW franchise or any other such as "City of" aren't developped by NCsoft, so I might actually pay to play those games.  Just...never the ones developped by this hideous company.