GW 2 and whatever Blizzard and Turbine are secretly working on. 

 Dam straight......oops ...wait ...I don't play WoW.

Why play LOTRO?  Well for one thing the best community in mmo's. (and I have played a few).  The graphics are stunning (if you have a good graphics card and monitor....recently updated to an ATI 5770 and wow the game looks good).  SoM is coming this week and the servers popu;ation will go up considerably (I already see more people on in the last week).  SoM introduces some really nice gameplay (faster combat and skirmishes) and a new really challenging RAID.  The best advice I can give is to try it and see what you think (but I would wait for SoM on Tuesday).  

Thanks for the heads up.  I went into my master account at NCsoft and deleted the CC info.   

There are some very good points made here.  NCSoft has a lot to prove before I give them another dime for AION.  They dropped the ball big time on this release and really they seem to be in it for the fast buck.  This traler is nice, but it is just a trailer and really means nothing unless they can improve the gameplay.  

After putting my time in on AION (yes I tried to have fun) I now have a greater appreciation of LOTRO and Turbine.  The community in AION is...well...not that great.  It was better at first, but has degraded since launch.  The community in LOTRO is (as usual) still the best.  When I got back on LOTRO I looked around and was amazed at something LOTRO players take for granted...NO  BOTS!  I am looking forward to SoM and beyond!

 The only games I have played with lots of bots are the Korean games.  My main game is LOTRO and bots are almost non-existant (as are the gold spammers) and are dealt with quickly.  Two years ago I came from Maple Story to LOTRO thinking that gold buying was normal (as MS was my first MMO).  So I bought some in game money from the company I did business with in MS and received it through the mail in LOTRO.  The next day I got a nasty mail from a GM telling me that if I did that again I would be banned.  Turbine takes gold selling seriously.  NCSoft does not.  That is the difference. 

Originally posted by Robsolf

Originally posted by Rdlaban

 Was there not a rumor earlier with some "proofs" behind it that the game would release januar 2010?

If that were true, they'd be in open beta by now.

Not necessarily.....The game could easily be released in Feb or March of 2010. 

Never played an NCSoft game before (well with the exception of GW and that hardly counts) and never will play one again. 

Good review and I am heading back to Lotro for the far superior PvE as well. 

Yeah the OP is right...at least on my server.  Our Legion of 50 is now about 6 as most have quit.  The game is in a tailspin at this point and less and less log in everyday.  It's a shame really the game had so much potential. 

It looks like 2011 for release. 

Disappointment

Originally posted by supbro

Originally posted by Aleste

Originally posted by -Zeno-

Originally posted by supbro

Just relaying some fantastic news about the success of Aion in the West ;)))

"As part of its third-quarter earnings announcement today, NCsoft said that Aion has now sold more than 500,000 units in North America and 470,000 copies in Europe. Aion's popularity propelled NCsoft to another quarter of triple-digit year-over-year gains. The Korean publisher reported revenues today that were up 112 percent to KRW166 billion ($142 million). Net income during the July-September period soared to KRW46.9 billion ($40 million), a whopping 836 percent year-over-year rise. "

 

Straight from the horses mouth, not bad for a Korean game.

LINK

 

 

Funny.  Age of Conan sold more than this.

 

AoC sold 700k after 40 days.

 

http://kotaku.com/5020731/age-of-conan-+-a-million-shipped-700k-registered

 

 

 

 Quoted for the ownage :))

Amazing Aion has outsold AoC, considering the hype and marketing behind AoC in the west. It goes to show a stable polished game made by a cutting edge Korean company will always be more successful than a game driven by hype and promised features.

Too bad NCSoft can't figure out what to do with a good game like AION....Maybe they should have Blizzard operate it?

Originally posted by Ethian

Originally posted by Vaedur

Originally posted by Ethian

Originally posted by Thillian

Originally posted by junzo316

I love how they listen to the player base.  The mount changes are just what I need.  Not having to dismount every time I talk to an NPC or go through a door, makes me all tingly inside.  I'm also excited about the skirmishes,  they sound interesting.  I just hope they're not overhyping them to fail.   =(

 

What? Do the playerbase ever asked for a mage-like class? Do the playerbase ever asked for a gating content? Do the playerbase ever asked for GOATS?? Do the playerbase ever asked to not recieve any free content updates during the last years except for a couple of hastly-crafted 30 minute instances? No, Turbine is not listening to their playerbase, Turbine is no longer interested what the bunch of lifetimers has got to say, they already squeezed their wallet. Turbine is interested and appeal to new market.

 

Yup, I cant stand Turbine anymore...Theres now way I'll return to LOTRO as long as their running the show. LOTRO is a huge fail in my eyes, its nothing like I expected a LOTR MMO to turn out like.

 

My only wish is for a different company to try their hand at Middle Earth but its very unlikely. 

 

/Turbine Fails

 

Lotro is very successful, doing great, and one of the most fun mmo's out there. Lots and Lots of people play and love it.  They are innovative w/ subscription pricing, and..

 

They revived DDO with going f2p and making a ton of cash off it.  They just opened another server!

 

/turbine = success huge fail in your eyes?  Seriously it's not for you that 's fine..but tell me one mmo that lived up to your expectations?

 WoW lived up to what I thought it would be until end-game and Aion will far surpass my expections as long as NCsoft keeps trying to better its new MMO. 

I truly do hope LOTRO the best but its far from what I thought Middle Earth would look like in an MMO. I'm sure its a great game to some, but to me LOTRO is a fail. Hence the reason I quit not long after Moria and dont plan to ever return. A big part of my leaving was the lack of PVP which I admit makes me biased....doesnt Middle Earth feel too safe to others? It sure did to me, to the point that I packed up my bags and left.

A lot of us do not like open world PvP.  I have played open world Pvp and it does not appeal to me at all.  I like a game where the players work together and are not trying to stick a knife in each others back. 

Before you jump into this game be aware of two things.  I can only speak to what I am seeing on my server.  A lot of the upper level players have gotten there by botting.  At first NCSoft banned a bunch of these (the first big ban) which decimated one of our major Legions (which is no more).  Now I think they are afraid to do it again because of the consequences (other players quitting, losing subs).  Gold buying is part of the game....a lot of players do it so they can have the best equipment.   So if your don't mind playing a game that is corrupt then go for it.  I DO mind and have cancelled my sub. 

Originally posted by supbro

Here is the IGN article link

A really great quote here;

 

"Although exact figures weren't available, NCsoft executives estimate that Aion has surpassed 700,000 in sales in the U.S. and Europe, and will touch the 1 million mark by the end of the year.

The company started with 12 servers each in the U.S. and Europe at the start of Aion's commercial service last month, but was operating 14 servers in the U.S. and 16 servers in Europe a week later. This indicates that the game was getting as much as 150,000 concurrent users in those markets."

 

Great to see a Korean game like Aion achieving all this worldwide success.

 

 

Half those players no longer play the game. 

Originally posted by Crosswire

I would sub to LOTRO tomorrow if they would make changes to one thing.

 

The character generator.  It's so old and tacky. It doesn't have anywhere near enough options, and the final result  is a plastic looking distorted blob thing with rubber legs.

If they brought the character generator up to date so that I could make a reasonable looking character I would subscribe, and I would very likely subscribe for a very long time, because the rest of the game is very good.

After playing AION I totally agree (BTW LOTRO is far suoerior to AION in every other way).  I think Turbine is aware of this and would not be surprised to see some changes in the next full expac due out this spring. 

I played the game at PaX and yes it is very well done.  However it was just too bloody for my tastes.  Can you turn the blood effects off?

I too have been playing AION. Before that I was on LOTRO for 1 and a half years.  Logged on last night and it was like going home after the mess that AION is.  The population will be big again after the release of SoM.