I bought G&H and regret it.  

There's no crafting and no PvP.

Questing is the same old, same old as you find in WoW, Rift, AoC, etc.  

The estate thing is a bore, truly.

Even at the highest settings, the graphics are mediocre.  I think you could run this game on a Texas Instruments calculator.

My fighter minion could not hold aggro and early on, I found a quest I could not complete - there may be more bugs, but I quit.

The pricing is out of whack - if you want a fantasy, theme park game, you can get Rift cheaper and it's more polished, more feature rich, more stable, etc.

So, missing features, little innovation, bad graphics, buggy, and yet premium priced.

Shame on MMORPG.COM for promoting this game.

Was one of the first to play AoC in 2008 - left after 3 months, given the annoyances and bugs.

Returned this weekend, figuring 3 years would be enough time to stablize the game & put in a couple of quality-of-life type enhancements.

Nope.

Here I am, 3 years later, on a different computer, different OS (ya, updated video drivers and de-fragg'ed disk - don't even go there) and the damn game freezes in under 5 minutes of play. 

So, I give you all my strongest recommendation - stay away from this never-ending train wreck.   It's still a buggy, annoying mess.

OP here

Thanks again to everyone who made suggestions.

I've solved my problem - I was able to get a No. America trial account, and I am now enjoying Aion and will likely subscribe.

For what it is worth, here's what I learned.

-- There is a Europe trial and a No. America trial - they are entirely different Aion accounts.

-- I cannot recall exactly the steps I took to first get the European trial account, and then the No. America trial -- perhaps two different Aion web sites?  Early in the process, there's nothing that warns you, alerts you, or asks you to confirm which trial acount you want.  In addition, do not assume the country set in your NCSoft master account will drive which trial you get.

-- The NCSoft launcher supports both trials, and the 'region' setting in the File toolbar, Advanced tab will set you to either the Europe servers or the No. America servers, where you need to have the appropriate trial account (see the first point above)

-- If you set the NCSoft launcher's 'region' to Europe, the NCSoft launcher will display "Aion (No. America)" - this is a display bug only

-- If you get the "Password / ID does not match [2]" message and you are positive you are typing in the right ID and password, then you likely do not have the correct trial account and launch combination (e.g. you have a Europe trial account, and your launcher is set to No. America)

Hope that helps the next mope.

Kind regards.

Based on this article, decided to give Aion a try.  Went to web site and 'free trial' link.  Despite having "United States of America" in my NCSoft master account, I got a Europe trial instead of a No. America trial.  WTH?  (Changing "region" value in Aion launcher does not correct this problem.)

So, I'm trying Aion out, but with the fear that if I upgrade to a full account, I will be stuck on European servers.

My score?  Hmm.  Not an 8.

Hi All -

OP here.  Thank you to everyone who volunteered some suggestions.

Update - Client downloaded and installed perfectly.  When I select No. America in the launcher options, I cannot login.  When I select Europe in the launcher options, I can login and I am offered a list of European servers (all servers are GMT +1).

I believe that while I could play in either region - I was only granted a trial account for Europe.

At the risk of stating the obvious, this is not a very good way to get a new subscriber and I fear if I do upgrade my account after the trial, the mess will only continue.

Ironically, this trial program has convinced me -- almost prevented me -- to not play Aion!!

Such a shame - the good reviews around 2.5 got me really excited.

I thought I would give Aion a try.  Hit the 'free trial' link, logged into my NCSoft master account, and I got the European free trial?  what the heck?  I'm in the US...

So, before I even download, I need to engage customer support and start the inevitable back-and-forth e-mail chain?  sigh

Can someone please tell me, as I truly hope, that I can download the "Europe" trial and nonetheless play with No. Americas?

Thanks for your time...

Too late, having a blast in WAR, much better game at the moment.  Wish the best for those who stay on.

Too bad AoC had to be yet another MMO launched without robust content, PvP balance, and a stable desktop client.  When will they learn?

Starts strong, but quickly shows itself as derviative, soulless, and uninspired. While pretty on the outside, it ultimately is as charming as the cardboard tube inside a roll of toilet paper. I should probably mention the client crashes, even still after months since its release.

In terms of entertainment, I would rather gargle, then slowly swallow little bits of broken glass then play this game again. Comparing it to other games, I would say it's a bit inferior to playing tic-tac-toe. Solitary tic-tac-toe, that is.
 

Starts strong, but quickly shows itself as derviative, soulless, and uninspired.  While pretty on the outside, it ultimately is as charming as the cardboard tube inside a roll of toilet paper.  I should probably mention the client crashes, even still after months since its release.  In terms of entertainment, I would rather gargle, then slowly swallow little bits of broken glass then play this game again.  Comparing it to other games, I would say it's a bit inferior to playing tic-tac-toe.  Solitary tic-tac-toe, that is.

Originally posted by Threetowns

 

You know whats really sad,

i spent a Year, watching this game and wanting it so bad !!!

And this day im not mad or upset how it come out,  I care about People that work for AOC, if this fails there going to need  jobs !

I dont wish anyone bad nor want them to fail...

The Truth is, if you cant give___ what you offered to those that payed and belive in you to just yank there chains, then you have it coming !

I hope they get there ack together!  

Just this mud tossing over a game, when we need to be happy that we at lease have a Choice to make.

If you pay for junk, then TRY to re-cycle it if you can!?

Seems people are doing that more everyday, same old junk...

And see, what's good now, heart in hand and happy to be.  I knows my own nose, and that's true RPG.

But Age of Conan?  Grimming hard and low to my ear.

So if Choice is hallway noise, then I pray and pray.  Who is the all in we all were waiting - then if all, who were we waiting for?

The online water is hard.  The online war harder still.  I be so happy when the plane that is a good MMO finally lands.

Thank you, my tuna for your love in Asheron's Call.  Those were good days filled with YOGURT.

 Hmm, both pretty big failures.

Thoughts?

 Exploration in AoC?  Blah, it's a big set of outdoor hallways, like Guild Wars.

This game is a George W. Bush size failure.

What AoC gives you to explore is Funcom's error screens and crash reports.  OK that's harsh (but true) - what you really can explore in AoC is how you got suckered and what you might do differently when the next over-hyped game comes around.

High-school cheerleader: Great looking and interesting, but ultimately shallow and disappointing and definitely not for the sophisticated and intelligent.

OP nailed it.  This game is a high-school cheerleader: Great to look at, and interesting at first, but ultimately shallow and not for the intelligent and sophisticated.

Boobs and violence + fatigue with other games + established IP + school's almost out = big AoC launch numbers.

AoC is not a WoW killer.  People leaving WoW to play AoC are most likely just bored with WoW, and AoC just happens to be the next big thing.

Originally posted by Reanim

 

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Originally posted by Alalala
Just a pissed-off dude who didn't get early access.  Nothing to see here, please move along folks.

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Just a fanboi/troll. My guess is that if a funcom dev showed up at you door and took a dump youd be a rollin in it shouting its praises.

If someone shows up to my door, it likley won't get answered because I'll be playing AoC with all the other early access players.  You, on the other hand, will have a couple free nights to refine your fecal fantasies.

Just a pissed-off dude who didn't get early access.  Nothing to see here, please move along folks.

Just a dude pissed he did not get into early access.  Nothing to see here folks, please move along.