So, recent information has placed total number of AION pre-orders somewhere in the ballpark of 400,000-a healthynumber to be sure.  Current number of servers is 12(similar to Korean launch)  This means that per serverm there will be roughly 33,000 players.  If only it where that simple.  Fact is that the majority of a game's subs do not come from pre-orders, but rather from people who hear about the game and go pick it up after release.  Assuming there are 400k more subs after launch, servers would be forced to cater to 60-70k players-which is unfortunately unrealistic, assuming server load is 7-10k.  Hopefully NCsoft will respond quickly and setup more servers quickly, but even that has drawbacks-since the players who got to pre-select will nto be able to choose the less populated servers.  For those who have pre-ordered, will you be waiting for that server increase?  Im kinda on the fence, since i would prefer to be on a mid pop server.

Aion is totally a WoW clone

Quest based levelimg- I mean, WoW practically invented it right? RIGHT?!

Limited classes each with specific abilities and roles- Sounds like WoW right?

Low system requirements - WoW

Skills every few levels - In WoW its 3, but in Aion its 2... SAME THING!

See, any idiot can come up with similarities to another game, but if you look at it overall, you will notice its not just WoW or lineage that its similar too, it pulls in aspects of many games, perfect world, DAOC, WAR, AoC, how can you say its a clone of a single game?  When in fact, all games have similarites, its like comparing two people, they might look completely different but their DNA is 99% identical.

I'm going to be playing just to ask people what they think of the game so far.

You are very correct, AION isn't a "WoW clone", just as WoW isnt an "EQ clone" but there are enough similarities-some of which you pointed out- that a reasonable comparison can be made.  What other game would you suggest comparing AION to?  EVE online? Perfect world has a similar art style, but the gameplay is completely different, same goes for lineage 2.  WoW is very easy to use as a comparison because it is the most recognized MMO on the market, and because of its similarities to many of the other older generation games.

I do work Sundays, but only 10 hrs. I'm a QA for Activision-and no, not the main branch, I'm not gifted with the good fortune of testing CoD MW 2 or Diablo 3.  I get to test all the no-name games sitting in the corner.

I never said AION was a WoW clone, I never insulted AION and the fact that most of the posts in this thread simply state that WoW is an EQ clone without touching the AION WoW similarities is exactly what I am talking about.  There is NOTHING wrong with having things in common with the most popular MMO in the world, nothing at all.  Likewise, there is nothing wrong with having similarities to less popular games some of which I named already. 

Now i never attacked the game, and yet most people have taken it as a personal insult.  Perhaps  "fanboyz" hit too close to home? Hell, i'm an AION fanboy.  I know what I'm getting into though, you say i am merely stating what "we" already know.  I am saying I stated what many think they know and don't.  It doesnt take a rocket scientist to read that "AION won't be revolutionary" and copy and paste it, but it seems to be a hard pill to swallow that this is because AION borrows things from other games most notable "WoW"? 

As to me playing WoW, my current game lineup does not include the World of Warcraft.  My forte is RTS. 

DoW 2, Empire TW, Company of heroes/OF/ToV, Starcraft(BW). Genesis Rising, Sins of a Solar Empire are what my current games are, with Fallout 3 on the side.  Dont give me that "WoW fanboy" crap.   I realize I opened myself up with that Dumb-fuck comment, but that you took it to heart, also brings back the "community" comment I made.  If this is the face of the AION community, well I finally understand what people from other games go through when trying to post threads in the AION forums. Unwarranted flaming, uneducated posts, posts that respond to the title rather then to the OP itself.

Edit: it seems while i was typing this Kenshin went ahead and posted a comment in ignorance.  WoW indeed stole many aspects of gameplay from previous games, this is part of its success.  What has AION done? "stolen" many aspects unique and popular from other games and combined them JUST LIKE WOW.  Does that make AION an L2 clone? or a Guild Wars clone? No, but it shares aspects with both.  Does that make WoW truly an EQ clone? I don't think so. 

AION is run on a modified version of the CRYengine 1, yet you seem so certain it was on CE2?

http://www.pressemeldinger.no/read.asp?recno=42435

He clearly states that it was the CRYengine 1 they used originally to work on AION.  THIS is common knowledge.

And yes, I run AION on max graphics, my computer isnt the greatest but even a pair of Radeon 3870's in crossfire with a phenom 9850 is more then enough.

Originally posted by Ephimero

the 1 to 20 experience fooled you, pez.

Heh, you make a good point Ephimero-or should i say LIVVY!  :D

It's true, Ive only played to 24(spiritmaster) in beta and 26/22(Gladiator/spiritamaster) in Korean retail.  So no, I havent fully experienced the game, but my understanding is that quest content is much heavier in general throughout the game when compared to other "Korean Grinders" , if less then that of WoW.  It is also my understanding that Aion will release live with additional quests via 1.1/1.2/1.5 patches.

As for me "puffing myself up", indeed, I am VERY frustrated with what I am seeing from the online AION community.  In game isnt so bad, but what many times people see as the face of a game is its online(forum) community, and having ignorant posters posting dumb things is not acceptable. Now, you have stated that most "fanboys" already know this. 

Call it masachism, but I like reading troll threads just because it makes me frustrated and want to tear my hair out(sometimes).  The trolls are bad enough, but when AION fans, flock to a thread saying stupid things that are blatantly incorrect, that's even worse, and makes everyone look horrible(except for the troll).  People saying

"CRYengine the engine in CRYSIS! Aion has the best GFX in the world!"

"Aion IS better then WoW because blah blah this and blah blah that"

"AION has unrestricted PvP, and flight"

"AION 's classes are very balanced, skill is everything, if you play your cards right in a 1v1 fight, you can win fairly"

"We don't want you playing Aion cause we'd rather have a smaller community"  (then why talk about how AION is gonna have so many subs)

Simply put, I am venting disgust and frustration, my apologies for using the term "fanboyz", but after reading a few posts in the "Aion-next big MMO" thread, I couldn't help myself, and believe me, I'm not the only one whos noticed, remember that thread about the AION community sucking? Well they weren't referring to the in-game community.... they were referring to the most blatantly obvious one, that of the forums.  Go figure.

 Is it a good game? Hell yes, am I going to play it? I have been and I am going to. 

and yes, AION is like WoW, just because WoW is a "copy" of EQ, does not change the fact that AION is very similar in many ways to the World of Warcraft.

Just to clear a few misconceptions up.

1. AION IS a lot like World of Warcraft.  Simply put, WoW was successful, NCsoft realized this when they set about making Aion, to replicate the success of WoW and other MMOs of today, they pulled together many many elements from many games, several of which are probably noticable right from the get-go, most noteworthy of which-WoW. 

Now you say , Pezhead, you dumb-fuck, AION is NOTHING like WoW except for the two factions.  Respectfully I must disagree.  WoW ushered in an era of MMO's where solo content and heavy quest driven leveling was key to ease the boredom of solo or group grinding.  It was put together to appeal to a much more casual market, and at its peak of 12 million subscribers, it indeed achieved that.  World of Warcraft took all that was successful from previous MMO's, tweaked them and combined them to create the superomfg MEGAZORD! i.e. World of Warcraft.  It didnt do anything revolutionary, except for this.  Take a look at AION, elements from Guild Wars, WoW, Lineage, City of Heroes, DAOC, can be seen quite easily (Quest leveling, art style, customization, RvR etc.)

2. AION's graphics are NOT superb.  They are merely above average, part of this is of course is that the CRYengine is 5 years old, part of it is a lack of detail in certain areas.  However, what sets AION's graphics apart from everything else out there is the way that they are implemented.  Take Age of Conan for instance, probably the most graphically advanced MMO currently availiabe.  However, in addition to killing computers, the graphics in the game are very nitty gritty, neandertahlish, a rather boorish taste if you ask me.  AION's graphics however send a message to players that, not everything has to look ugly, there is beauty even in the scorching desert or within a bustling capital city, and even beyond that, there is elegance.

3. I am NOT an AION hater, I do not like people who say things in ignorance after accusing others of ignorance, and people who make the AION community look worse then the WoW community. 

I played Korean retail as well as been playing English Beta.

Aion is a game based around World PvP.  As such, player skill does not come from being able to solo 3 guys, but rather, with a group of 5 or 6, take down 20 guys through good communication, and coordination.  WoW is much more friendly to the solo pvper.  Unless you've attained a Hero-rank, solo pvping in Aion is not the way to go.  

Skill in world pvp is being aware of everything around you, of being able to communicate effectively, being able to react and adapt to much more diversified situations then the same 5 arenas over and over, or the same Battleground scenario repeated for the 1000th time.  There is an arena in Aion and there has been several tournaments on the korean servers already.

www.youtube.com/watch    (assassin tournament video)

What many are missing who say that there is no choice in Aion, is that Aion is a game designed with playability in mind over re-playability. 

To compare WoW and Aion as has been done so often, lets even take the time WoW has been availiable, out.   WoW has 3, 4 even 5 times the content for 50 levels.   More dungeons, more zones more characters etc.   However, Aion has polished it's zones, it's characters, it's quests to the point where I'd choose any single factor in Aion over WoW, it lacks however replayability. 

The continual new content that is added for the higher level characters in particular also lends credence to this theory.  This isn't to say the lower levels are being neglected, but Aion is a game where you create a character-maybe two, and become attached to them, rather then creating 10 different alts all max level.  The fact you can buy emotes(in game money), that there is fashion, the armor customization and the character customization also is another point tothe idea that Aion is a game about attachment.

The attachment to the character is what leads to immersion, regardless of the environment or gameplay.  Granted, both gameplay and environment help, but if you can't get attached to your character, no matter how cool or pretty the world is, it will all feel wrong.

Can't say I have much pity for OP as I am pretty sure that the PvP emphasis was pretty obvious.  As for not liking to be killed, I've played on WoW PvE servers, and you know what I hate getting worse then being camped and killed? I hate it when players, because they cannot kill me, instead decide to take it on themselves to steal my every kill, camp the quest givers and grief without killing me.   And what's worse... is when I can't fight back. 

As for real life, "PvP" is everywhere.  Sports are competitions between players, not moronic AI.  Even most board games are player pitted against player.  Why do people like to play these games instead of just playing solo in a batting cage or hitting ping pong balls against a wall? People like the challenge and the risk involved in competition.  The same can be applied to Aion and any number of MMO's.  I don't think an MMO can BE an MMO without PvP, by the way, I do not consider competitions to gear up faster to be "PvP" there is no real direct competition, because in competition, there is always offense and defense, gathering gear has none. 

For PvP, I love pvp(applying to WoW).  I liked exploring and just chatting too, I found raiding excessively boring and crafting, unless really well done to be even more so (I actually enjoyed crafting in Aion).  I also have a disdain for those reliant on gear, and those reliant on CD's.  My gear has never ever been top notch, since the best gear comes from a combination of raiding and grinding BG's, in fact, my gear was always pretty crappy.  I find BG's to be boring btw.  I found that I can stand my own in the world itself.  I dont have one hundred alts all level 80, but i played a fury warrior, MM hunter and hybrid fire/arcane mage.  I don't enter the world looking for fights expecting to get kills.   I go into the world, looking for fights, expecting good fights.  I never camped unless camped first, and I practically ignored lowbies unless attacked by them.   When world pvp was scarce to be found, you could usually find someone to duel-which was a lot of fun too.   I no longer have my account as I sold it along with the shitty gear my toons were wearing. I quit after I got tired of the lack of meaningful world pvp.  I have been excited for Aion the past 2 years after reading about it  and seeing the first trailers both for the art style and the PvP.   I do not think the PvP to be so heavy as to scare away the majority of PvE'ers and I have found the majority of PvE'ers to not mind PvP once in a while.  If  getting attacked or having to run from an attack every couple hours is not once in a while, then I don't know what is.

I find it very hard to believe he actually played it through.  My guess is he played the (english) beta and guessed at the rest.

What i love best about the combat, is that the moves seem to flow together, as if you were really fighting.  Like a street brawl compared to a martial arts fight.  The controls and moves just fit together spectacularly. 

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/8524

According to this article, L2 servers had a capacity of 100,000concurrent users.  this figure was probably grossly exagerrated, so 30,000 is probably reasonable.  Given this fact, I believe NCsoft totally capablof running a server in AION even at 10,000 capacity.  they however state 7,000 as its number.

I don't have an official report to go by, so i just used ZORNDORF'S formula.  

Originally posted by templarga

Not going to quote the whole thing but in reply:

I have done a complete internet search and checked all the major MMO news sites and I have yet to find where is says 3.5 million players - officially. As a matter of fact, all I have found is where it says 1.5 million players.

And no Zorn was not the first to claim it. I read it in the Aion forums long before Zorn made any mention of it.

Please, by all means, someone find the article where it says 3.5 million players and I will be glad to read it.

Apparently, I cannot find it and I have looked.

Sure, I see many articles about the number but I see nothing from a developer or anyone that states it officially. To be honest, I have no idea where the number came from.

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69186

This states not only the said 3.5 mil Subscribers, but also states the 7,000 users per server on LIVE and FULL RETAIL servers.

Both of the following links mention the 3.5 number as well.

http://www.gameplayer.com.au/gp_documents/090520Aion.aspx

http://pc.ign.com/articles/985/985368p1.html

I'm no mathemetician or  self appointed professor but i believe Zorndorf's formula was...

"10 K subs for 1 server of which 1/3 (full capacity) to 1/4 are concurrently on line."

If 7,000 is 1/3 that makes 21,000 number of subs for the server, at 162 servers, thats 3,402,000 subs.  Sounds about right to me.  It stands to reason that person who posted said number may have made a similar calculation (assuming Zorndorf's formula is accurate).

Ok, so I was browsing WoW forums, and I came across a game commentary from a former Warhammer Online player on AION:The Tower of Eternity. 

Its very well done, and (imo) fairly unbiased, as well as funny and well narrrated.   Take a look.

www.youtube.com/watch

It's a series of 10 or so commentary videos from the English patched version of the Chinese Beta, this is the first.

Pardon me if its already been posted.

You know.... asking people on an Aion forum about whether they are going to play Aion or not... is a good way to get a lot of  "yes votes" and few "no's".

Where there be people, there be assholes.  Pretty simple, it takes all kinds to make a world.  Im just glad i'm not dealing with the Halo community, elitist jerks, little kids, spammers, you name it.  Since the PvP looks to be more group oriented, the idiots who fancy themselves the "Lone Ranger" will die, a terrible, horrible death, and I will watch them with my battlegroup, while they get themselves ganked and slaughtered like the noobs they are lol.

You may be concerned by those people, who want to be Fanboys and dicks.  Why not instead look around for the good people.  Sometimes, its as hard as looking for a needle in a pile of needles, but they are out there.  (Cynthe is awesome BTW, lets hope she doesnt choose the dark side).  I think Ephimero can get wrapped up to much in the game, but he's not a bad guy.  Mark from aionsource seems to be pretty cool too.  I dont think it necessary to keep listing names, but suffice to say, that if theres 1 good person out of 10 or even 100 assholes, then I would be happy and those are the people that I like to call friends.

Comparing a game to WoW really doesnt bother me, WoW did this, and WoW did that, its generally easy to point out that "WoW did that, and did it badly"  or "WoW did that, but that was in 2004"  .   What really  pisses me off, is when people use PERFECT WORLD as a guide and reference to Aion.  There are certainly similarites, such as the robust character system and flight.  However, the majority of those that do use PW as a reference, usually assume Aion is roughly the same-except you cant fly forever in Aion(making it suxorz)  this angers me to no end lol. 

Ive seen vieos of people in massive RvR with mediocre system specs in aion with little to no lag, and I haven't noticed ANY lag anywhere in the game that might reduce gameplay(does 2-5 fps reduction count?) and my system has a radeon 3870 (512mb) non-overclocked with GDDR3 memory.