Originally posted by MrPhire

Hey guys for the OB anyone know if the exact launch time is at 12:00am? Or when will it be.

9am PST,  11am CST, noon EST

 I approach every MMO I play with a clean slate, in the sense that I don't carry any previouse-MMO baggage with me. My only expectation/criteria for a new game is to have fun, that's it. 

 Vic-20 here as well, followed closely by about 7 different C-64s. The great thing about the C-64s was that the floppy drive cost more than the keyboard/CPU.

One of the main things I found lacking in WAR's pvp/rvr was a sense of ownership for the land over which we were fighting. In DAoC there were 3 realms, and each realm "owned" a part of the "frontier" (or "abyss" in Aion-speak). When their land within the frontier was invaded, the defending realm often took that invasion personally, and was passionate in its defense. In WAR, I rarely felt that this was the case.

Beyond rifting (which I like), I wonder if there will be any sense of ownership over areas in Aion's abyss zone, or will the need to pvp stem soley from the desire for APs and control over dungeons? Having never been to the abyss, I don't know. For me, those two reasons coupled with once again having a clearly-defined "frontier" zone will be enough reason for me to pvp as much as possible, but I think that sense of "ownership" would be icing on the cake.

12pm PST on Sunday.

http://kindred.aion.tv/status/

Originally posted by Scyris

...The game brings nothing new to the table at all, it copys wow's gameplay mechanics, and also has a korean grind mmo feel to it thrown in. I played the game and was bored in a very short time because Aion just had far to much of a "been there done that" feel to the game...

I stopped reading your post after the first couple sentences. Here's why: 

1. Aion brings a number of "new" things to the table, but its basic mechanics are similar to other MMOs, such as WoW. WAR, EQ, DAoC, etc. This is a good thing, because the same people who won't buy it because it doesn't bring anything new to the table are the same people who wouldn't buy a new MMO that doesn't stick to the norms of the genre. It makes total financial sense for NCSoft to use the proven mechanics of other MMOs rather than risk reinventing the genre in a game that the public (not just hardcore MMO'ers who frequent these boards) might not be ready for.

2.  WoW copied from other games, but I guess that is ok.

3. Aion is not a "Korean grind". My guess is that you played the v1.0 CB and not for very long. v1.5 adds 13 instances and many more quests, so it is less of a.."grind".

4. Sounds like you are disenchanted, or perhaps burned out, on the MMO genre in general, not just Aion. Take a break, play your console, and come back when you feel refreshed.

Originally posted by JonMichael

Sheesh, such naysayers who should just leave the genre all together if they're that unhappy with it.

Nah, it's not about being a naysayer, it's about tempering your expectations and not thinking that one game is the answer to all your gaming/MMO needs.

You are looking for a game that doesn't exist. No MMO is ever balanced unless only 1 person plays it.

Coming to Aion with such high expectations will only lead you down the road of disappointment. Will it be a good game? I think so. Will it be fun? I hope. Will it resolve me of all the MMO baggage that I carry with me from other games? Not a chance. Alot of gamers are like boats that have collected barnacles on their undersides from all the MMOs that they have floated through. As hard as they try, those barnacles of discontent cannot be scraped away, and are carried into their next game.

My best advice is to stop thinking about the MMOs that you've played before and just play Aion on its own merits. Enjoy what the game provides and don't get hung up on why it doesn't fulfill all of your gaming needs, because it won't.

I am glad you liked EQ so much. Good for you. However without meaningful pvp EQ can never claim the crown as "best MMO ever". It's just too big a void to overlook. I guess if you are talking strictly in pve terms then your claim has more merit.

A quote from Aion's Liv about the gameguard issue: "Gameguard: We're still in the process of patching and prepping the servers. If you are getting errors! Don't panic. All will be well for OBT!"

Here is the twitter link.

Originally posted by Rylon

...but I'm more concerned over my computer specs than if Aion is actually a good game. I don't want to be stuck with a game that lags hard at low settings, so I was hoping to see how well my PC does in the open beta.

If you can run a game like WoW, you can run Aion. Despite Aion's nice graphics, the engine runs very well on older machines. Here are some links for you:

Can I run it?

System requirements discussion

As for the "open" beta issue, NCSoft is doing the smart (and common) thing in making it key-driven.

Hmm, nothing really interested that much me from your list. I do like AV, and Wintergrasp has its moments, but otherwise everything else is rather stale, uninteresting, and pve-oriented. I am glad you like some of WoW's features, and I am sure many others will as well, but I think my dollars are better spent elsewhere. I have no hate for WoW, it's a fantastic game, but it's just not compelling at the moment for me.

Gamers are big about wanting something "new", but when it comes to opening their wallets to pay for that "new" thing they suddenly become reticent and retreat to their comfort zones. It doesn't seem financially sound for a company to take a risk on something completely new when the existing mechanics have proven track records (which is why we see evolutionary changes in MMOs rather than revolutionary).

Originally posted by aspiin

1. There is nothing original or new. ( Dont give me the flying crud. It will not work on me.)

WoW has proven you don't need to come up with something original and new to succeed. NCSoft is doing the financially sound thing with Aion's design (keeping it's fundamentals aligned with existing, successful MMOs) and I'm realistic so I don't hold that against them. Not sure what you mean by flying = crud. It's a big feature that changes gameplay in a lot of areas--dismissing it the way you do belittles what little argument you have.

2. Way too anime/emo looking (Its an eastern thing that I respect, but stay away from.)

I don't see it. I dislike anime quite a bit, but the art in Aion didn't set off any anime alarms in my head.

3. Stupid emotes

If there weren't emotes people would complain. If you don't like them, don't use them, it's just an extra feature.

4. No limits to customization. (And I mean good limits. Have fun playing with character with little heads and huge bodies. Does this not bother people? All it does is make the game a joke. Mind you it is a game, but I do not play normal rpgs with this so I wouldnt want my mmorpg like this.)

So you are complaining that people have options to design their characters how they want to? Gasp! An MMO letting people look unique or different. How rude! How dare they let people make characters that *you* might find...bothersome. Do you also hate short, fat, skinny, tall people in real life too? If Aion didn't offer as many character creation options as they do, people would complain about how it has a crappy creation system.

5. I would not play enough for 15$ per month. Its really not worth it.

$15 is a bargain. Just my opinion, of course.

Originally posted by Beermangler

 Not until there is a trial available and that's only if I can somehow get over my disgust for animes.

I dislike anime-style art quite a bit, but while I was playing Aion I never thought "Hey, that's anime, ewwww". Aion is not anime, so if that's the reason you don't want to play then maybe you should come up with another, more valid reason such as "I don't want to pay $50 to buy it" or "I don't like pvp" or "I can't stop playing WoW".

Originally posted by MrPhire

Those portals are a design they created through probably Guild Wars. Along with the, i think its called, districts. It's their way of trying to reduce lag. Good bad? I dunno.

You are confusing the lower level channels with Rifts. They are two entirely different things; channels are like multiple instances of lower level zones. You can switch between channels if one becomes too crowded. Later in the game there is only 1 channel. Rifts are portals through which enemies can enter your lands.

Originally posted by Fkinglinux

It would probably go a long way if there were some HQ videos out there of classes other than sorc's pwning in PvP.

There are a ton of HQ videos on youtube that features classes other than sorcs. In fact, I don't even think I have seen a sorc one yet.

Originally posted by tbox

 Wow to Aion I can see the draw.  I don't play any mmo's currenty so I don't have a reason to play Aion. Tried it, was just ok. I rather wait for something a bit more evolved.  

Not sure if you knew, but Aion has been out for a year in the East (Korea, Japan, China). The CB here in NA was only v1.0; the live version will be v1.5 (translated, localized, and much more feature-rich than v1.0). I don't know if you'll find a more polished initial release of an MMO in NA for a long, long time...

As for "evolved", that will only happen when companies feel they can actually make money that way. Until then, they'll try to make money using game concepts/mechanics that are proven profitable.

A lot of people will play Aion and alot of people won't. Can't the Aion fans and WoW zombies live in peace?

I certainly will be playing Aion, and those who gut it out for Wow's Cataclysm will probably enjoy it sometime in 2010.

Tip: Don't pose this question in the aionsource.com forums--you'll get destroyed. 

This thread is so full of inaccuracies I don't know where to begin. I have no issues with people who don't want to play Aion as it's their money and their choice, but some of the reasons stated in this thread are based on heresay, old beta versions (1.5 addresses many issues), or are simply not true.

"I loathe PvP and don't want to have it forced on me"

Yup, this is certainly not a game for you. I loathe raiding, so WoW is not the game for me.

"Flight is way overrated."

Not sure who is doing the overrating, but I enjoy the tactical wrinkles that flight adds in to combat.

"The game has too many customization options"

You're kidding, right? Are you suggesting that the game has too many ways to make your character look...*different* from everyone else? Gasp! How dare they add such flexibility to that feature in their MMO!

"No swimming"

Yes, because swimming is so much fun in other games. I'll take fighting in the air over fighting underwater any day.

"No mounts"

Why are mounts so important when you can fly? They've already said they'll be adding in some type of mount system in the future anyway, but it might be *different* from what people might expect. Oh no, there is that *different* word again.

"I re-upped my WoW account and am having a blast."

Good for you. Sounds like that game is a good fit for your playstyle.