I'm kind of getting over the abyss. It's fun if you're looking for a fight, but it seems that if you want to get anything solo-oriented done, it's just not practical. I suppose that's the cost of a dynamic playing field though. You can't assure your victory.
I kind of want to grind AP while I'm grinding XP, though...
I'm kind of getting over the abyss. It's fun if you're looking for a fight, but it seems that if you want to get anything solo-oriented done, it's just not practical. I suppose that's the cost of a dynamic playing field though. You can't assure your victory.
I kind of want to grind AP while I'm grinding XP, though...
Artifact and fortress guards give pretty good AP. 65 for fortress and 50 for artifact, can make pretty good ap soloing them during daytime.
I'm kind of getting over the abyss. It's fun if you're looking for a fight, but it seems that if you want to get anything solo-oriented done, it's just not practical. I suppose that's the cost of a dynamic playing field though. You can't assure your victory.
I kind of want to grind AP while I'm grinding XP, though...
Artifact and fortress guards give pretty good AP. 65 for fortress and 50 for artifact, can make pretty good ap soloing them during daytime.
I get what you're saying, but if I can get a group together, my time would be much more profitably spent just about anywhere else. Whereas solo, the Abyss has great AP and XP gains when you're not constantly running from Sorcerers and Clerics.
I would disagree with this, but that's a personal choice.
In my opinion, there is nothing more fun than gathering a group to go hunting other players. I don't mean ganking solo players (although that can be fun for a few minutes), but small-group vs small-group furballs where you might get knocked down and rezzed two or three times over the course the battle. The kind of chaotic mess that makes you afraid to blink and has you wondering if it is -really- over when the last enemy drops.
End-game raids? Group instances? That's PvE, and no matter how you slice it, PvE is boring.
Well, it looks like the rest of this gaming season has finally caught up with me, so I think I'm done with Aion until I whittle down my backlog; it was an entertaining month, but I think Corrigan pretty much nailed why I no longer have any desire to play right now. I do have hope for the 1.6 patch though, if only to see if NCWest actually does have any weight in how the game develops.
Maybe I was spoiled by Guild Wars, but at least in that game it didn't take 300 hours of grinding in order to try the equivalent of one pvp build.
Bought game. Made char on the server in the OP. I'm having terrible lag though. Sometimes I can get a full hour in before I rubberband forever. I'm willing to blame my college internet, as it is a pain all the time, but I was wondering if people had any other ideas on how to fix lag.
Tcheldor on
League of Legends: Sorakanmyworld
FFXIV: Tchel Fay
Nintendo ID: Tortalius
Steam: Tortalius
Stream: twitch.tv/tortalius
So I feel bad. I told several people from work that this game is good, two or three weeks ago. So they purchased it. Back then. I didn't know.
Now they realize it's a shallow and relentless grind filled with bots. One of them even got banned thirty minutes after installing the game and it took them three days to reach an actual person at NCSoft.
They're all giving me the passive aggressive thing now. I feel terrible for suggesting such an awful piece of shit game. I am seriously considering gifting them all $50 gift certs on Steam or something to make up for it.
I am now suffering from chronic alt-itis. I seriously have ascended like 3 new characters this week. 30 was a brick wall man. Doesn't help that the abyss is almost never a positive experience.
So last night I keyed up for Steel Rake and Alqimia at the same time, basically. I am excited- maybe I'll get some good level 40 instancing going now!
Rend on
0
spookymuffin( ° ʖ ° )Puyallup WA Registered Userregular
edited November 2009
A friend of mine got his account banned this week. Apparently, his brother bought it for him, but before sending it out, he installed it to see how it was, uninstalled it, then sent it out. He got it, has been playing all hardcore for a few months (40 Templar and 40 Assassin), and woke up to a ban notice. So, in a game full of bots and gold spammers, they go after a guy that committed the crime of having his brother mail him the game. Marvelous.
spookymuffin on
PSN: MegaSpooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138 Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
So I feel bad. I told several people from work that this game is good, two or three weeks ago. So they purchased it. Back then. I didn't know.
Now they realize it's a shallow and relentless grind filled with bots. One of them even got banned thirty minutes after installing the game and it took them three days to reach an actual person at NCSoft.
They're all giving me the passive aggressive thing now. I feel terrible for suggesting such an awful piece of shit game. I am seriously considering gifting them all $50 gift certs on Steam or something to make up for it.
Is it really that bad?
I haven't been bothered to log in myself lately due to the grind around the mid thirties and I feel guilty as well for getting a friend to start playing recently when I'm considering giving up. I was hoping to get back into it when he hits a similar level as me. But if this is general opinion of the game now, that is not encouraging.
So I feel bad. I told several people from work that this game is good, two or three weeks ago. So they purchased it. Back then. I didn't know.
Now they realize it's a shallow and relentless grind filled with bots. One of them even got banned thirty minutes after installing the game and it took them three days to reach an actual person at NCSoft.
They're all giving me the passive aggressive thing now. I feel terrible for suggesting such an awful piece of shit game. I am seriously considering gifting them all $50 gift certs on Steam or something to make up for it.
Is it really that bad?
I haven't been bothered to log in myself lately due to the grind around the mid thirties and I feel guilty as well for getting a friend to start playing recently when I'm considering giving up. I was hoping to get back into it when he hits a similar level as me. But if this is general opinion of the game now, that is not encouraging.
No moreso than any MMO, really. The grind is just frontloaded instead of getting you to maximum level in a week and then grinding forever at that point instead.
So I feel bad. I told several people from work that this game is good, two or three weeks ago. So they purchased it. Back then. I didn't know.
Now they realize it's a shallow and relentless grind filled with bots. One of them even got banned thirty minutes after installing the game and it took them three days to reach an actual person at NCSoft.
They're all giving me the passive aggressive thing now. I feel terrible for suggesting such an awful piece of shit game. I am seriously considering gifting them all $50 gift certs on Steam or something to make up for it.
Is it really that bad?
I haven't been bothered to log in myself lately due to the grind around the mid thirties and I feel guilty as well for getting a friend to start playing recently when I'm considering giving up. I was hoping to get back into it when he hits a similar level as me. But if this is general opinion of the game now, that is not encouraging.
No moreso than any MMO, really. The grind is just frontloaded instead of getting you to maximum level in a week and then grinding forever at that point instead.
I too feel bad for getting a friend into it as I'm considering leaving. This said, in my case, it turns out ok as he's actually enjoying himself. What he likes about MMOs is doing quests, even if their rewards suck, so he is doing them all, thus extending his playtime a lot.
If you think Aion is a grind, then you guys have obviously never played an MMO before WoW or something...
Aion is more of a level grind 35+ than any in recent memory, but it still doesn't hold a candle to Everquest or even Dark Age of Camelot -- and both of those were popular in their day. Heck, even Classic WoW leveling was a decent grindfest.
So I feel bad. I told several people from work that this game is good, two or three weeks ago. So they purchased it. Back then. I didn't know.
Now they realize it's a shallow and relentless grind filled with bots. One of them even got banned thirty minutes after installing the game and it took them three days to reach an actual person at NCSoft.
They're all giving me the passive aggressive thing now. I feel terrible for suggesting such an awful piece of shit game. I am seriously considering gifting them all $50 gift certs on Steam or something to make up for it.
Is it really that bad?
I haven't been bothered to log in myself lately due to the grind around the mid thirties and I feel guilty as well for getting a friend to start playing recently when I'm considering giving up. I was hoping to get back into it when he hits a similar level as me. But if this is general opinion of the game now, that is not encouraging.
Different people enjoy different games.
There are still a large number of people who are playing Aion and enjoying it a lot. I am one of those people. However, you won't find me on messageboards extolling the virtues of the game. It IS a grindy game, there ARE a lot of bots, and (despite their questionable/best efforts) NCsoft seems to be a little too liberal with the ban-hammer.
Having said that, if you enjoyed DAoC when it was new, this is probably the closest you will come to recapturing that experience in a modern MMO. Remember the experiences of XPing outside of the frontier gates and getting sniped by a level 50 Ranger? Or having a stealther suddenly pop in the middle of your group, take out the healer and caster and then evaporate in front of your eyes before you had time to react? Yeah, the Abyss can be like that sometimes. On the other hand, it also recaptures the elation of getting into a gank-group and roaming around steamrolling the other faction. When a single group meets a zerg, it isn't just a numbers game. A skilled and well-coordinated group can take down two to three times their number, or a similar group made of much higher leveled characters. Even a coordinated duo can kill a full group if they get the drop on them (and the classes are stacked right).
If, on the other hand, you think WoW is The Best Game Evah, you probably won't like Aion. There are no UI helper mods. Even the most advanced instances and PvE content would best be described as "easy". The quests and achievements system require only minimal effort. NCsoft's technical support makes Blizzard's CSRs look like they came directly from heaven. (Personally, I thought WoW was the most mind-numbingly boring, ridiculously anti-social, player-antagonistic MMO I've ever played, and never got past the trial period before quitting in frustration. But again, opinions differ.)
It may look like a WoW clone, but it is no WoW clone. If you play MMOs to kill rats to get loot to kill bigger rats, Aion is not your game. But anyone who enjoyed the RvR experience of DAoC, the risk of uncontrolled space in Eve, the socialization of Shadowbane or even AoC (albeit to a lesser extent) is going to absolutely LOVE the Abyss experience.
If you think Aion is a grind, then you guys have obviously never played an MMO before WoW or something...
Aion is more of a level grind 35+ than any in recent memory, but it still doesn't hold a candle to Everquest or even Dark Age of Camelot -- and both of those were popular in their day. Heck, even Classic WoW leveling was a decent grindfest.
o_O
Yes it's clear that most of us complaining about the game getting boring in the 30+ range are just wow carebears.
Seriously?
Ok I'll bite.
I've played just about every major MMO release since UO. The difference being that I really enjoyed grinding in those games. I absolutely loved Aion up until level 32... and then motivation to log in disappeared. I spent hours out in the abyss killing mobs and the occasional enemy player. The loot was pitiful(no, not welfare epicz lulz)...and the fact that I can absolutely destroy anyone a few levels below me without fear of dieing made it pretty lame.
I'm still subscribed, although watching for the full patch notes that are supposed to come down today. No I'm not going back to wow and no you can't have my stuff.
Phos on
0
TTODewbackPuts the drawl in ya'llI think I'm in HellRegistered Userregular
edited November 2009
I loved UO. Especially with the storyline being acted out on the actual servers by GMs. I remember defending Trinsic in full RP-Spirit and actually clashing ONE on ONE with one of the main villains outside of town that was controlled by a GM. Trading insults and blows and defending my king and whatnot.
WoW was awesome as well...To start with. It was just as time went by I got tired of it. The limiting nature of Raids/heroics problly did it. Because of lockouts I'd do something real cool and fun for like 4 hours then just grind boring shit the rest of the time because of lockouts.
Aion, I just couldn't get into it. I tried every class, and although some of the quests were entertaining, I had the same feeling I had after playing WoW for 3 years. I was bored to tears. I couldn't even bother leveling to a decent level. Yet I only had the game for a few weeks. I really wanted to like it. It had a different style and some things I thought would be fun, it just turned out...not to be that fun.
Im 46
Im qualified to say
the grind is fucking stupid.
I dont care about whatever game in 1976 had more grinding or sucked worse , theres a reason why no one plays that game , if it was so great you'd be playing it still amirite?>
Oh you still do? well it goes to show that some games aren't perfect , and it doesn't make you a wow casual to point out that this game is far from perfect.
Whats broke ? hell what works?! , fort sieges ? bots ? .dll errors? having to play in shift -f12 mode? Xp penalties for grouping? , sheer lack of group content? , sheer lack of end game content?
It's a stupid grind that's pretty far from fun for the majority of customers . they're not pussies they're just not sick fucking masochists.
I'm getting to 50 asap because I'm a compulsive completionist, then most likely I'm going to go back to wistfully imagining how great SW:TOR is going to be.
Aion will be one of those stories I can talk about 5 years from now when people said some game is too hard and then I can say "well back in my day we had to pay good money to do stupid shit like Aion"
People will say " that sounds stupid why did you do it "
and we will say "because back in the days of EQ it was stupider and we didn't know any fucking better"
Just because a game is grindier than Aion doesn't make Aion not grindy.
I still log on to Guild Wars once in a while and play it with a friend or two, for an hour or two, and enjoy myself.
I have to force myself to play Aion, I kill a few mobs, yawn, and log off either in boredom, or frustration because I've been steamrolled by a bunch of Asmos, or one Asmo that was 2 or 3 levels above mine. New gear and skill don't come by often enough, I don't feel like I'm progressing at all. I've been level 30 for so long, and 31 even longer. It's ridiculous.
I wanted this game because it was made by NCSoft and because it was supposed to be PVP-centric, but like AoC, it failed to deliver in that aspect. PvP in Aion is basically grouping up and killing a few stragglers in the Abyss, or getting killed by a group of them. Where are the battlegrounds, the arenas, anything? Why isn't there any controlled and fair way to engage fights, like Guild Wars, WoW and WAR have?
If levels make such a huge difference in pvp, it annoys me that enemy levels show up as unknown.
This is something that I can see both sides of. In its defense, it keeps higher levels from knowing when to attack and when to run, but on the other hand it's pretty much bullshit to have no idea if you're going to steamroll the other person or get wrecked in turn when the level difference makes such a huge impact.
I'm also not a fan of the huge reliance on gear and consumables. Gear in this game gives you significant movement speed, damage reduction, and all kinds of crazy shit that if you don't have you'll be boned. If you don't chug tons of potions and scrolls and whatnots, the other person will.
Finally too many skills are latency dependent. As a sorcerer if you have a ping above 300 (in other words, if you're not in the USA) you can't actually fit in the maximum amount of bolt attacks (four) during your aerial shackle because even when spamming the key as fast as humanly possible, it won't register to the server in time and you'll only get three off (if you're lucky). This is just one example.
Apologies if that sounded whingy. These are just aspects of the game that make me not want to bother with it, the friend I recruited into playing being the only reason I'm still going.
If levels make such a huge difference in pvp, it annoys me that enemy levels show up as unknown.
Apologies if that sounded whingy. These are just aspects of the game that make me not want to bother with it, the friend I recruited into playing being the only reason I'm still going.
Thats a perfectly valid complaint. The level difference in pvp is really way too drastic.
That's my only real complaint about the world PvP, though I don't know how it could be resolved. Most of the fights are just plain decided before they start. Either someone is a significantly higher level or is simply higher up on the class food chain.
Unfortunately you won't see better PvP fights until L50. Then you know everyone is equal level, and a lot more of the fights will be group v group battles. Aion wasn't really designed around solo pvp, so don't get bummed when a Ranger rapes your Sorc, etc.
Maybe its just because a lot of the complaints in thsi thread don't apply to my gameplay experience, but I still find this game fun. I don't crash in fort sieges, and I keep my settinsg on high. You can solo grind in this game, but most solo pvp experiences aren't going to end pretty. Eventually a higher level will come and squash you. This is part of the game though, and I find it a little silly to say pvp is broken, when most people aren't even 50 yet.
I really think most of the people not liking this game would enjoy it more if they had a group to play withi every now and then. You just get so much more out of the game when you can group up to pve/pvp every now and then.
Where are the battlegrounds, the arenas, anything? Why isn't there any controlled and fair way to engage fights, like Guild Wars, WoW and WAR have?
Those things suck. World pvp is the only real pvp.
Uh, no. It's the other way round.
Arenas are at the far end of the "complete shit" spectrum, what with them essentially being duels.
Battlegrounds are still in that spectrum, but closer towards "passable".
Both are nothing you can't experience in your average deathmatch shooter. Small scale pvp for objectives; decent as a diversion, absolute trash as "endgame content". WoW had a decent battleground with its original Alterac Valley, which was basically a dedicated pvp zone, which controlled for lag and slowdown. They kept butchering it though.
If opinions have apparently suddenly become facts, then you are wrong and I am right and arena-style fights are better. What can I say? They're more fun.
It has occured to me that the only time I had some sort of PvP fun in open-world PvP was when we organized ourselves and have fought an organized enemy force of approx. equal strength. Of course, At one point one of the factions eventually became way bigger than the other one and started steamrolling it over and over. Then it became boring.
Maybe the PvP sucks in WoW, I haven't got that far before I was bored with the game, but in Guild Wars and Warhammer, organized PvP was actually very fun. And what little open-world PvP fun I ever had, it had to be organized by the players rather than the game.
Djiem on
0
spookymuffin( ° ʖ ° )Puyallup WA Registered Userregular
edited November 2009
I liked the PvP (RvR) in Dark Age of Camelot. It had a purpose, not just random killing. Stealing relics made your realm stronger, and it was a nice slap to the face of the other realms to see your side having all the toys.
spookymuffin on
PSN: MegaSpooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138 Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
If you think Aion is a grind, then you guys have obviously never played an MMO before WoW or something...
I'm not one to debate opinions, but in this case, I feel the need to answer: I started MMOs way back in 2001 with UO - which was, arguably, a series of layered grinds within a sandbox. The difference between grinds found in games like UO, EVE, and even WoW, is that those blatant grinds are encapsulated within compelling content. Aion's grind is, frankly, vapid - and it is amplified by the ubiquitous time and money sinks that I can only imagine exist within free-to-play MMOs (since I've never personally played a subscription based MMO with such pervasively punitive mechanics, aside from Aion).
On a side note, why is the common response to criticism of Aion an assertion that the dissenting party has only played WoW, or has an opinion that is wholly influenced by their experience with WoW? It's just asinine.
I think the biggest problem for me with this game is the many ways the game penalizes you for grouping. XP gain rate falls through the floor, if you want to help a lowbie friend, the mobs stop dropping items (They don't even drop vendor trash) and level caps for some instances. Kind of a weird angle, since you basically HAVE to roll around in a group to avoid getting curb stomped. Like would it REALLY be such a bad thing if the things mentioned above were removed? I mean, it wouldnt change the fact that the game requires a REDICULOUS amount of currency grinding, and at some point you will have to undergo gene therapy and be turned Chinese. I suppose you could just go to one of the non-abyss zones and camp a spawn area for hours on end to progress. On the other hand, you could also drive rusty nails through your own penis. It's an option.
If you think Aion is a grind, then you guys have obviously never played an MMO before WoW or something...
On a side note, why is the common response to criticism of Aion an assertion that the dissenting party has only played WoW, or has an opinion that is wholly influenced by their experience with WoW? It's just asinine.
Because that's the cool thing to do nowadays to get "internet street credibility". If you take wow out of the comparative equation is Aion still a good game? I personally find it pretty lacking at 47 , I certainly didn't at 27 or 37 so I guess I'm slow on the uptake.
I'm sure at 50 it's not going to turn into farming Guards for AP punctuated by DPS races on a tank and spank boss in a fortress for medals type of grind, in fact it's going to be really awesome I can tell.
Posts
I kind of want to grind AP while I'm grinding XP, though...
Artifact and fortress guards give pretty good AP. 65 for fortress and 50 for artifact, can make pretty good ap soloing them during daytime.
Edit: Assuming Asmo/Balaur actually have any
shhhhh
I would disagree with this, but that's a personal choice.
In my opinion, there is nothing more fun than gathering a group to go hunting other players. I don't mean ganking solo players (although that can be fun for a few minutes), but small-group vs small-group furballs where you might get knocked down and rezzed two or three times over the course the battle. The kind of chaotic mess that makes you afraid to blink and has you wondering if it is -really- over when the last enemy drops.
End-game raids? Group instances? That's PvE, and no matter how you slice it, PvE is boring.
Maybe I was spoiled by Guild Wars, but at least in that game it didn't take 300 hours of grinding in order to try the equivalent of one pvp build.
PSN: LucidStar_BC
FFXIV: Tchel Fay
Nintendo ID: Tortalius
Steam: Tortalius
Stream: twitch.tv/tortalius
Now they realize it's a shallow and relentless grind filled with bots. One of them even got banned thirty minutes after installing the game and it took them three days to reach an actual person at NCSoft.
They're all giving me the passive aggressive thing now. I feel terrible for suggesting such an awful piece of shit game. I am seriously considering gifting them all $50 gift certs on Steam or something to make up for it.
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
Is it really that bad?
I haven't been bothered to log in myself lately due to the grind around the mid thirties and I feel guilty as well for getting a friend to start playing recently when I'm considering giving up. I was hoping to get back into it when he hits a similar level as me. But if this is general opinion of the game now, that is not encouraging.
No moreso than any MMO, really. The grind is just frontloaded instead of getting you to maximum level in a week and then grinding forever at that point instead.
I too feel bad for getting a friend into it as I'm considering leaving. This said, in my case, it turns out ok as he's actually enjoying himself. What he likes about MMOs is doing quests, even if their rewards suck, so he is doing them all, thus extending his playtime a lot.
Aion is more of a level grind 35+ than any in recent memory, but it still doesn't hold a candle to Everquest or even Dark Age of Camelot -- and both of those were popular in their day. Heck, even Classic WoW leveling was a decent grindfest.
Different people enjoy different games.
There are still a large number of people who are playing Aion and enjoying it a lot. I am one of those people. However, you won't find me on messageboards extolling the virtues of the game. It IS a grindy game, there ARE a lot of bots, and (despite their questionable/best efforts) NCsoft seems to be a little too liberal with the ban-hammer.
Having said that, if you enjoyed DAoC when it was new, this is probably the closest you will come to recapturing that experience in a modern MMO. Remember the experiences of XPing outside of the frontier gates and getting sniped by a level 50 Ranger? Or having a stealther suddenly pop in the middle of your group, take out the healer and caster and then evaporate in front of your eyes before you had time to react? Yeah, the Abyss can be like that sometimes. On the other hand, it also recaptures the elation of getting into a gank-group and roaming around steamrolling the other faction. When a single group meets a zerg, it isn't just a numbers game. A skilled and well-coordinated group can take down two to three times their number, or a similar group made of much higher leveled characters. Even a coordinated duo can kill a full group if they get the drop on them (and the classes are stacked right).
If, on the other hand, you think WoW is The Best Game Evah, you probably won't like Aion. There are no UI helper mods. Even the most advanced instances and PvE content would best be described as "easy". The quests and achievements system require only minimal effort. NCsoft's technical support makes Blizzard's CSRs look like they came directly from heaven. (Personally, I thought WoW was the most mind-numbingly boring, ridiculously anti-social, player-antagonistic MMO I've ever played, and never got past the trial period before quitting in frustration. But again, opinions differ.)
It may look like a WoW clone, but it is no WoW clone. If you play MMOs to kill rats to get loot to kill bigger rats, Aion is not your game. But anyone who enjoyed the RvR experience of DAoC, the risk of uncontrolled space in Eve, the socialization of Shadowbane or even AoC (albeit to a lesser extent) is going to absolutely LOVE the Abyss experience.
o_O
Yes it's clear that most of us complaining about the game getting boring in the 30+ range are just wow carebears.
Seriously?
Ok I'll bite.
I've played just about every major MMO release since UO. The difference being that I really enjoyed grinding in those games. I absolutely loved Aion up until level 32... and then motivation to log in disappeared. I spent hours out in the abyss killing mobs and the occasional enemy player. The loot was pitiful(no, not welfare epicz lulz)...and the fact that I can absolutely destroy anyone a few levels below me without fear of dieing made it pretty lame.
I'm still subscribed, although watching for the full patch notes that are supposed to come down today. No I'm not going back to wow and no you can't have my stuff.
WoW was awesome as well...To start with. It was just as time went by I got tired of it. The limiting nature of Raids/heroics problly did it. Because of lockouts I'd do something real cool and fun for like 4 hours then just grind boring shit the rest of the time because of lockouts.
Aion, I just couldn't get into it. I tried every class, and although some of the quests were entertaining, I had the same feeling I had after playing WoW for 3 years. I was bored to tears. I couldn't even bother leveling to a decent level. Yet I only had the game for a few weeks. I really wanted to like it. It had a different style and some things I thought would be fun, it just turned out...not to be that fun.
Im qualified to say
the grind is fucking stupid.
I dont care about whatever game in 1976 had more grinding or sucked worse , theres a reason why no one plays that game , if it was so great you'd be playing it still amirite?>
Oh you still do? well it goes to show that some games aren't perfect , and it doesn't make you a wow casual to point out that this game is far from perfect.
Whats broke ? hell what works?! , fort sieges ? bots ? .dll errors? having to play in shift -f12 mode? Xp penalties for grouping? , sheer lack of group content? , sheer lack of end game content?
It's a stupid grind that's pretty far from fun for the majority of customers . they're not pussies they're just not sick fucking masochists.
I'm getting to 50 asap because I'm a compulsive completionist, then most likely I'm going to go back to wistfully imagining how great SW:TOR is going to be.
Aion will be one of those stories I can talk about 5 years from now when people said some game is too hard and then I can say "well back in my day we had to pay good money to do stupid shit like Aion"
People will say " that sounds stupid why did you do it "
and we will say "because back in the days of EQ it was stupider and we didn't know any fucking better"
Cmon get real.
I still log on to Guild Wars once in a while and play it with a friend or two, for an hour or two, and enjoy myself.
I have to force myself to play Aion, I kill a few mobs, yawn, and log off either in boredom, or frustration because I've been steamrolled by a bunch of Asmos, or one Asmo that was 2 or 3 levels above mine. New gear and skill don't come by often enough, I don't feel like I'm progressing at all. I've been level 30 for so long, and 31 even longer. It's ridiculous.
I wanted this game because it was made by NCSoft and because it was supposed to be PVP-centric, but like AoC, it failed to deliver in that aspect. PvP in Aion is basically grouping up and killing a few stragglers in the Abyss, or getting killed by a group of them. Where are the battlegrounds, the arenas, anything? Why isn't there any controlled and fair way to engage fights, like Guild Wars, WoW and WAR have?
Those things suck. World pvp is the only real pvp.
This is something that I can see both sides of. In its defense, it keeps higher levels from knowing when to attack and when to run, but on the other hand it's pretty much bullshit to have no idea if you're going to steamroll the other person or get wrecked in turn when the level difference makes such a huge impact.
I'm also not a fan of the huge reliance on gear and consumables. Gear in this game gives you significant movement speed, damage reduction, and all kinds of crazy shit that if you don't have you'll be boned. If you don't chug tons of potions and scrolls and whatnots, the other person will.
Finally too many skills are latency dependent. As a sorcerer if you have a ping above 300 (in other words, if you're not in the USA) you can't actually fit in the maximum amount of bolt attacks (four) during your aerial shackle because even when spamming the key as fast as humanly possible, it won't register to the server in time and you'll only get three off (if you're lucky). This is just one example.
Apologies if that sounded whingy. These are just aspects of the game that make me not want to bother with it, the friend I recruited into playing being the only reason I'm still going.
Thats a perfectly valid complaint. The level difference in pvp is really way too drastic.
I really think most of the people not liking this game would enjoy it more if they had a group to play withi every now and then. You just get so much more out of the game when you can group up to pve/pvp every now and then.
Uh, no. It's the other way round.
Or get 40 on 40 going in Alterac Valley only to run completely past each other to PvE the general faster. Total awesome PVP there.
And the ultimate PVP is running Arena where half the time the battle is decided by the class matchups before it starts.
Or maybe, just maybe, Aion isn't for everyone.
Arenas are at the far end of the "complete shit" spectrum, what with them essentially being duels.
Battlegrounds are still in that spectrum, but closer towards "passable".
Both are nothing you can't experience in your average deathmatch shooter. Small scale pvp for objectives; decent as a diversion, absolute trash as "endgame content". WoW had a decent battleground with its original Alterac Valley, which was basically a dedicated pvp zone, which controlled for lag and slowdown. They kept butchering it though.
It has occured to me that the only time I had some sort of PvP fun in open-world PvP was when we organized ourselves and have fought an organized enemy force of approx. equal strength. Of course, At one point one of the factions eventually became way bigger than the other one and started steamrolling it over and over. Then it became boring.
Maybe the PvP sucks in WoW, I haven't got that far before I was bored with the game, but in Guild Wars and Warhammer, organized PvP was actually very fun. And what little open-world PvP fun I ever had, it had to be organized by the players rather than the game.
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
I'm not one to debate opinions, but in this case, I feel the need to answer: I started MMOs way back in 2001 with UO - which was, arguably, a series of layered grinds within a sandbox. The difference between grinds found in games like UO, EVE, and even WoW, is that those blatant grinds are encapsulated within compelling content. Aion's grind is, frankly, vapid - and it is amplified by the ubiquitous time and money sinks that I can only imagine exist within free-to-play MMOs (since I've never personally played a subscription based MMO with such pervasively punitive mechanics, aside from Aion).
On a side note, why is the common response to criticism of Aion an assertion that the dissenting party has only played WoW, or has an opinion that is wholly influenced by their experience with WoW? It's just asinine.
Because that's the cool thing to do nowadays to get "internet street credibility". If you take wow out of the comparative equation is Aion still a good game? I personally find it pretty lacking at 47 , I certainly didn't at 27 or 37 so I guess I'm slow on the uptake.
I'm sure at 50 it's not going to turn into farming Guards for AP punctuated by DPS races on a tank and spank boss in a fortress for medals type of grind, in fact it's going to be really awesome I can tell.
I'm not in denial.
If you don't like the game, say your peace and GTFO.
I haven't seen so much sandy vagina since Playmates on the Beach.
We have mods on this board already but thanks for trying