I am on the side that gets 100KB/s and a 5000000 minute estimated download time.

:)

The game seems, from what I hear to favor the Enforcers... so I'll likely go Outlaw because I like a challenge.

Originally posted by Ozivois

Originally posted by wykyd

I totally agree with the OP.  My expereinces have been in WoW, War, AoC, Lotro, EQ2; so I am unable to comment on others.

Strength of community has declined in recent years although the causes aren't clear to me.  Maybe it's soloable max-leveling, or maybe it's the endless grindfest for our own uber-gear.  Whatever the reason I remember when noobs were encouraged and mentored, while now they are derided and exploited (an over-generalization I know but a noticeable trend).

MMOs are not as "nice" as they once were.

 Blame the PvP element that is added to all the games now for the "nice" factor being removed.  Hard to be nice when the enviroment has been made more competitive than in the past.

Games are competitive.  If you aren't competing against AI, or other players then you aren't playing a "game" you are simply socializing.

There is nothing wrong with playing that way but to lump all PvP players together as rude or mean spirited people is nothing if not irresponsible. 

I stopped playing because I played for 4 days, went on a weekend trip and came back to find my account was "banned" due to a "ToS violation."

After contacting NCSoft and going back and forth with them for a week they finally admitted to me that my account was hacked.  Then went on to tell me it was my fault.  I explained I've never used a power leveling service, bought gold or shared my account with a friend.  I live alone and my computer is password and biometric protected.  I explained that the computer connects to the Internet only after jumping through many hoops and only for trusted applications.  I explained that my hard drive was brand new purchased the same day I installed Aion and that regardless there are no key loggers or trojans on this computer at this time nor were there any present before the "hack".

Then I Googled "Aion Account Hacked" and found I was not alone.

A few days later and they finally activate my account.

My not active BETA account.  Leaving my paid account in "banned" status.  

Despite my clearly stating that there was a beta account with the same name as my master account and that this is not the account in question.  Also, despite my giving them at their request my 20 digit serial key which is associated with the account I wanted reactivated.  My beta account which was never "banned" to begin with is now waiting for me to pay full price.

That was about a week and a half ago and I'm no longer interested in playing.

The end!

I don't even know what to say.   I don't remember many people using "thou" or other such words when I played Shadowrun or Vampire.

Just because the servers and game mechanics themselves don't stop people from playing OOC and just because the vocal majority thinks roleplaying is "for nerds" as opposed to playing video games which is now "for everyone" ... none of this means the craft is not viable and not supported by the players.

You can't claim that the number of people who "would"  roleplay won't even fill a guild when the population you are sampling is from a game that doesn't support them.  You also can't blame the role players for trying to fit into that game when it labels itself as an RPG.  If I made a game called "FPS Shooter RAWR!" and it was a puzzle game with falling geometric shapes that you have to make lines with... I think you could forgive people for thinking it was going to have guns in it.

The number of people who "would" roleplay if they were actually catered to is pretty large as evidenced by the sales and continued popularity of table top RPGs.  Sure many purists would never go to an electronic format but many would.  I think WotC is kind of banking on that with their whole new system for DnD gameplay through an electronic UI.

The bottom line is I play tabletop RPGs I also occasionally (though not often) roleplay in an MMO.  SWG is a fine example, years ago I went around spouting all the Imperial rhetoric I could.  Plenty of people told me to "stfu" and yet I never paid them any mind.  Tons of people were actually happy to hear what I had to say and thanked me for adding to the "star wars" feel that was sorely lacking.  It also made me feel quite immersed in the world and I enjoyed it for that aspect if nothing else.  I never considered arguing with those who didn't like it ..just /ignore me and that's that.

Do ..SOME people do it for the "cause" they can feel a part of even if they don't really agree?  Sure.  Yet, isn't that true of any endeavor?