WoW will take the biggest hit from whatever game causes the big guilds to start to mobilize. That will not be Aion. It will most likely be KOTOR. My personal enthusiasm for KOTOR has plummeted with each new announcement though. Aion will be a successful game. I think alot of people will give it a shot just because I just don't know how you can spend your summer running through Ulduar and still want to keep playing WoW. What is kinda odd is that both Champion's Onlne and Aion are being released on the same day and either one of them is probably a better game for your average player that isn't married to their online guild.
honestly, I think Aion is going to have an incredible number of subscribers. and just a prediction, but I don't think most of those are going to come from WoW. either people will play both WoW and AION, or they will come to AION from different games, Lineage2, WAR ect, games with a bit more PvP.
I think it will hover around 300k subs, that is both NA and EU combined.
I some of the players are going to could from WoW looking for sometime new... but a bulk will be from other games.
About the XP loss. You can just pay a fee and it's wiped out? This is pretty much the same as WoW's model is it not? The only real death penalty is to pay some coin.
As said earlier you loss 3 to 5% on death. you can buy back about 60%
Which means if you buy back the xp you really are only losing about 1.8% to 3% on death plus the money to buy back some of the lost xp.
So you still lose some XP and some coin and there is a debuff.
The debuff gets longer as you level, I don't remember what the debuff does...
Plus If you can't get a rez, you respawn back at you bind point
A bind point is kinda like the inn you set hearthstone to in wow... but you have to pay money to bind yourself there.
WoW it's just a durability hit (which is just basically some coin) and a corpse run...
you can skip the corpse run and pay more coin to replace and take a stat debuff.
Aion - take away the wings and you have a very generic asian MMO.. it might do as well as L2 in the west but no better.
thumbs up i completely agree here. the same manga like setup targeted at the asian market. as a european player this stuff never made an impression on me. i dont expect it be be of importance outside aisa. its just the ussual asian grinder/goldseller mmo game from which we have seen so many (including so called free to play *laughs* or other crap that never caught up momentum).
and for the worst ist the comunity in such asian games, which i expierienced in trying out lineage years ago. a comunity is really nonexisting. iv'e never listened to such a treamendous amount of crap like in my first hours of lineage. i dont expect the new lineage aka aion to become different.
its funny how a lot of people have formulated opions about this game based on its country of origin . lol dunno if thats some kind of racism or not lol . as for it being like manga , well manga like anything else varies from the very poor to the very good . films like spirited away show how great it can be . this also applys to asian solo games . i think because of past experiance we all tend to think a new mmo will never be able to touch warcraft and is destined to becom
e a niche game . but in reality the status quo cant last much longer . warcrafts a game thats nearly 5 years old now , even though its graphics are still acceptable its starting to look increasinly dated . also blizzard have made some appallying choices in the last couple of years .
high speed leveling made leveling from 20-60 boring as hell because its virtually impossible to get groups in those levels now on a lot of servers . the pvp aspect of the game is increasingly imbalanced and the battlegrounds offer such easy rewards even if you lose all the time that very few people bother with tactical gameplay . wow does have some nice pve at level 60+ still though .
all in all warcraft still offers a good mmo experiance . theres about 4 months gameplay now for leveling a character from 1-80 and getting it some decent gear . then of course you can do the same with another character of the opposing faction .but boredom is setting in among the longer term players and if aion is the next big thing it will certainly entice a lot of these people .
it could be argued that there will be plenty of noobs to take thier place in wow . maybe this is so . but if aion really does offer some decent gameplay (and from what i ve heard its not liniage 3 or just another aisan grinder ) maybe suddenly all the kiddies that make up the vast majority of wows userbase will see aion as the game of the moment
peer pressure might set in and warcrafts subscriptions will fall .
we ve all been here before with other games like lord of the rings age of conan and warhammer . games that were ment to be the wowkillers . but aion seams that it could be a different matter . most of whats written about it on the net seams to be possative . which is virtually unheard of in mmos .
i think the last time i remember something like that happening was with a game i d never heard of before .
The figure of "3.5 million subs in six months for aion" keeps getting thrown out by its fans, but somehow they seem to skip the figure from WOW where they sold 2.8 million for the expansion pack for WOW in one *DAY*.
yeah, 2.8 million copies in one day for an EXPANSION PACK in a game that has been out already for years and has a dedicated player base.... /fail for a poor comparison
Originally posted by lornphoenix -No PvE Only Servers. It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Aion is a fun game to play ! What affect it has on WoW is not relevant at all. WoW will always pull tons of sub's.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Well first off you failed at saying RVR is the new catch phrase. Dam sure it's been out there for quite some time now.
If Aion was a PVP centric game then I could PK anyone at anytime, which I assure you I cannot. It is RvR.
If you disagree then please explain your reasoning.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Some WoW players are going to hate it, other will love it. -XP Loss Death
This will alienate some players, more so If WoW was their 1st MMO.
Tho it's mild compare FFXI.
3 to 5% on death (tho you can't level down) and you buy back about 60% of what you lost, with their from of gold
You have to buy back what you lost before you can level.
-No PvE Only Servers.
It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
Not only is there XP loss, but at the high-end gameplay, whenever you die you lose a TON of AP (Abyss points)... which HURTS especially if you're going for high-end AP gear...
This is not a carebear game my friends. In fact, as you rank up and aim towards better gear, you will have to change pvp tactics.
I have played Aion to level 22 (Chinese version). I was playing an Elyos Spiritmaster.
First, while the game has RvR (it's RvR..definitely not PvP) you cannot level to max level without doing any RvR. I talked to a few people whom have done so. It's not exactly easy to do once you get into the 40's..but it's possible (the best stuff is in the abyss..which is the RvR zone).
You cannot truly participate in RvR until level 25. At level 20 you start getting exposed to it (random portals will open up allowing one side to invade the other). However, this only happens occasionally. At level 25 you gain access to the Abyss which is where all the RvR and seiging happens.
At level 22 the death penalty was light. You do not take death penalties when dying to another player. You do however, take death penalties when dying from environment (npc's or falling). The penalty felt very light and was easily purchased back with some coin. You cannot delevel and you also don't have to buy the xp back. It sticks around though as a light blue bar on your xp bar (think similar to City of Heros). I leveled a few times without ever buying back xp. However, I eventually purchased all my xp back (so you never lose the ability to purchase lost xp).
The game is nothing like Lineage 2. Lineage 2 held my interest to level 20 and I was bored. Aion made me quit at 22 because I wanted to wait for the NA release before investing more into it. I am a fan of the game after having played it. It's not perfect but it's a little more unique than most people are giving it credit for. Oh the quest system is great (I love how they track quests and allow you find points of interest and such via the map). You also click on quest objectives, noteable places, npc's etc in the quest journal and get detailed information (and sometimes locations).
Also I really like the armor variety. It has a ton of armor looks, shields, helms, etc. It takes the korean artstyle (it is korean afterall) but mixes in a LOT of western gameplay. It's nowhere near as brutal as L2 is (Aion does not punish you just because). The RvR aspect definitely adds and edge to the gameplay, but if you try, you can avoid it . I never did encounter any baluur so cannot comment on them (they are level 25+). Also the cutscenes are very cool.
Originally posted by Umbral Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero
Originally posted by lornphoenix -No PvE Only Servers. It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it? Shame it's completely absent from AION. Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Amodians vs Elyos vs Balaur. Aion is a RvR game. ...
Alliance vs Horde. Warcraft is a RvR game.
See what I did there?
Originally posted by stayontarget Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero
Originally posted by lornphoenix -No PvE Only Servers. It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it? Shame it's completely absent from AION. Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place. Well first off you failed at saying RVR is the new catch phrase. Dam sure it's been out there for quite some time now. If Aion was a PVP centric game then I could PK anyone at anytime, which I assure you I cannot. It is RvR. If you disagree then please explain your reasoning.
You and I clearly disagree on BOTH the definitions of PvP AND RVR.
I consider RVR more than just a wintergrasp knockoff (that's essentially what the Abyss is). RVR is the ability to do serious strategic and tactical harm to your enemy, and I'm not talking about being a prick and ganking lowbies every chance you get. I'm talking taking their keeps and keeping them from acessing gear, I'm talking destroying their capital cities so things like city dungeons aren't available, etc etc, stuff like that (I don't feel like bullet pointing DOAC/WARs feature list right now, you can do that on your own time). Hell just take a look at WAR (RVR-lite) and DOAC (real RVR, the game that coined the damned term). AION is nothing like those games. It shares FAR more similarities with WoW, which isn't by any twisted definition an RVR game.
Neither Pandamonium nor Sanctum are attackable by enemey forces. Hell you really can't engage your bitter hated enemies until lvl 25 and it's mainly confined to 1 zone. That is not strategic and tactical harm to your enemy. That's a single freaking zone. That's dummy crap to help you grind out your lvls (and you WILL be grinding out lvls, as currently there are quest content gaps).
If you bandwagoner's consider THAT RVR, then vanilla WoW with its open pvp in Plaguelands (before BGs killed it) and such would be considered RVR...which it sure as hell isn't. New WoW with wintergrasp also isn't RVR BTW. Just like AION isn't RVR. When AION raises 4 full warbands and goes and makes WAR with it's captial cities that can be seriously crippled by player attacks, I might think differently.
I have no idea how Aion endgame will play in terms of PvP, but given your definition, Lineage 2 is a RvR game. Both because you and your alliance can control castles denying them from the enemy alliances and you can also control territories, denying leveling to all those you disliked. Or at least, that was used to be the case back in the days I was playing the game.
Generally speaking, the vibe seems rather positive so far (no, the people who assume a grindfest due to the game origins don't count). It of course remains to be proven, once the game launches servers in Europe. I'm certainly intrigued enough to give it a spin when that happens.
It doesn't matter to me. Whether it tops the charts or it's a niche game is irrelevant, as long as you are having fun. There are the people who hope that a game will come along that will dethrone the current king, but the whole debate is irrelevant when actually playing the game. Personally, I'm not playing the most popular game, I'm playing what I consider fun (given my current lifestyle) game.
I can't comment on Aion being a copy of WoW or not, since I haven't played it. I do expect games to handle themselves in a similar manner, but that's that. Age of empires and Starcraft are two Real Time Strategy games, that share similarities in game mechanics, however the differences that they also share keep them well apart and define them as overall different games.
I actually think that both fantasy settings have been over-represented. Given a choice, I would be playing a Lovecraft themed or White Wolf themed game, in terms of fantasy settings. I'm not sure that this point holds much water, especially towards people who have been involved in the gender for a couple years. How many people are actually tired of the elf, dwarf, gnome etc ADnD ruleset and want to see something new?
I partially agree on that. Aion is already released, just not in my region. That means that whatever I hear comes from players experiencing the full game experience and not a beta. Still, I want to experience the game for myself, I don't rely a lot on other people's opinions.
xFire is irrelevant to me. I never used it, nor I plan to. Even if the statistics derived from it were accurate, I tend to play the games I like, not the ones that are mere popular. I hope that people think for themselves and are not sheep herded to wherever the majority is headed, just because the majority is headed there.
Given the first month reaction of gamers on WAR and AoC and the completely different reaction regarding Aion, I'm inclined to believe that Aion will do better than that. How good is hard to know. We do know that the game is very polished and that it still needs more content. Still, hard to tell at this point.
It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Amodians vs Elyos vs Balaur.
Aion is a RvR game.
...
Alliance vs Horde.
Warcraft is a RvR game.
See what I did there?
Originally posted by stayontarget
Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero
Originally posted by lornphoenix
-No PvE Only Servers.
It's an RvR Game, tho there are way to avoid PvP in the game, at some point you going get forced into it.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Well first off you failed at saying RVR is the new catch phrase. Dam sure it's been out there for quite some time now.
If Aion was a PVP centric game then I could PK anyone at anytime, which I assure you I cannot. It is RvR.
If you disagree then please explain your reasoning.
You and I clearly disagree on BOTH the definitions of PvP AND RVR.
I consider RVR more than just a wintergrasp knockoff (that's essentially what the Abyss is). RVR is the ability to do serious strategic and tactical harm to your enemy, and I'm not talking about being a prick and ganking lowbies every chance you get. I'm talking taking their keeps and keeping them from acessing gear, I'm talking destroying their capital cities so things like city dungeons aren't available, etc etc, stuff like that (I don't feel like bullet pointing DOAC/WARs feature list right now, you can do that on your own time). Hell just take a look at WAR (RVR-lite) and DOAC (real RVR, the game that coined the damned term). AION is nothing like those games. It shares FAR more similarities with WoW, which isn't by any twisted definition an RVR game.
Neither Pandamonium nor Sanctum are attackable by enemey forces. Hell you really can't engage your bitter hated enemies until lvl 25 and it's mainly confined to 1 zone. That is not strategic and tactical harm to your enemy. That's a single freaking zone. That's dummy crap to help you grind out your lvls (and you WILL be grinding out lvls, as currently there are quest content gaps).
If you bandwagoner's consider THAT RVR, then vanilla WoW with its open pvp in Plaguelands (before BGs killed it) and such would be considered RVR...which it sure as hell isn't. New WoW with wintergrasp also isn't RVR BTW. Just like AION isn't RVR. When AION raises 4 full warbands and goes and makes WAR with it's captial cities that can be seriously crippled by player attacks, I might think differently.
RvR to me simply means PvP that is Faction vs Faction.
2. Do you think that an MMORPG with a rather nice copy of Wow mechanics but without any massive western Lore appeal could do better than Lord of the Rings Lore, Warhammer Lore, the nude Conan Lore, Ad&D Lore ? 3. While the Fantasy mmorpg genre is settled within the Heroic Nordish Saga's and King Arthur how MUCH vibration do we get when we have to play with heroes which grow .... wings on their backs.
AION is not a nice copy of WoW, just like WoW did, AION got all the good elements of all successful MMORPGS and introduced new features into a polished package.
About lore, this is where AION will get all the attention.
European and Norse Mythology are very popular (personally I do prefer the "Wagnerian" and the "Sturm und Drang" view of it than the Tolkien view) but AION evoke all the Angels, Fallen Angels, Saint Warriors, Divine Creatures theme, and this is a very, very popular theme in western and eastern civilizations.
AION lore is not religious, but it uses divine, mystic and religious icons, these icons are much more popular than the Tolkien/D&D typical hero.
The way AION uses religious and mystic icons (Asmodian /Asmodeus -Winged Divine Creatures- Etc) will appeal to non geeks, women, people who enjoy mysticism and even surreal art fans, not only the typical mmorpg player.
My advice to you Zorndorf (and to the guy who says AION has no RvR), experience the game.
I have a simple question. Why leave WoW for Aion? Besides the beautiful graphics.
For a change of pace. . .
Only the blind and deluded people can't see that there are no true clones of WoW out there, only games that are similar. Every game has it's own lore, every game has it's own graphic style, every game is it's own. If you can't see that then feel free to continue to play WoW, no skin off my back.
[Mod Edit]
It's a Jeep thing. . . _______ |___| \_______/ = |||||| = |X| \*........*/ |X| |X|_________|X| You wouldn't understand
Because it just might be a better game. Yes I know it's a shocking thought for some !
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Because it just might be a better game. Yes I know it's a shocking thought for some !
For me I find Aion a better game then WOW. I don t really care about sub numbers, I care about the fact that I get off work and I can t wait to log into Aion. WOW never once did that to me.
I have a simple question. Why leave WoW for Aion? Besides the beautiful graphics.
For a change of pace. . .
Only the blind and deluded fanboys can't see that there are no true clones of WoW out there, only games that are similar. Every game has it's own lore, every game has it's own graphic style, every game is it's own. If you can't see that then feel free to continue to play WoW, no skin off my back.
Perhaps because people are fed up with trying and PAYING for other games in these last 3 years that didn't hold on to anything they "hyped" ... the least .... its subscribers ....
"Every game is its own ?"
The question these days is ... what will eventually have an influence in Wow and what has Blizzard added in its new patches and expansions packs.
I saw MORE new things in WotLK than in AoC and War combined: phasing is but one, dual specs and mounted combat in ALL kind of formats was another. Remember the vertical build up worlds in Northrend you can fly over? What a narrow minded and chunneled vision of games we had to play in this last year ....
And seeing the falling walls and towers of Wintergrasp and Ulduar, I wonder what kept games like War from doing them?
Btw: does Aion have changing worlds through phasing and destructable buildings ???
So why change indeed? PAY more to have LESS and not having friends in RL to discuss your latest lovely avatar???
That last one is perhaps the real secret why everyone stays in Wow.
It is mighty lonely out there to have RL discussions with niche mmo's.
Great you like WoW, congratulations, I want something different and what you described does nothing to change the game that WoW already was.
It's a Jeep thing. . . _______ |___| \_______/ = |||||| = |X| \*........*/ |X| |X|_________|X| You wouldn't understand
Because it just might be a better game. Yes I know it's a shocking thought for some !
For me I find Aion a better game then WOW. I don t really care about sub numbers, I care about the fact that I get off work and I can t wait to log into Aion. WOW never once did that to me.
But why? What is better in Aion, is click and wait combat better in Aion, is level tiered progression better paced and filled with more (interesting) content in Aion, does Aion have more options for me regarding how I feel I want to play that day, is it more stable with less bugs, can I have a bigger impact on the world through my PVP, PVE or crafting, does it have better player economy, does it have bigger raids, does it have more tools for social interaction and guild managment, is it better balanced, are Aions tank-healer-dps classes more varied than WoWs, why?
Comments
WoW will take the biggest hit from whatever game causes the big guilds to start to mobilize. That will not be Aion. It will most likely be KOTOR. My personal enthusiasm for KOTOR has plummeted with each new announcement though. Aion will be a successful game. I think alot of people will give it a shot just because I just don't know how you can spend your summer running through Ulduar and still want to keep playing WoW. What is kinda odd is that both Champion's Onlne and Aion are being released on the same day and either one of them is probably a better game for your average player that isn't married to their online guild.
I think it will hover around 300k subs, that is both NA and EU combined.
I some of the players are going to could from WoW looking for sometime new... but a bulk will be from other games.
Think Aion could be a death knell for WAR tho...
As said earlier you loss 3 to 5% on death. you can buy back about 60%
Which means if you buy back the xp you really are only losing about 1.8% to 3% on death plus the money to buy back some of the lost xp.
So you still lose some XP and some coin and there is a debuff.
The debuff gets longer as you level, I don't remember what the debuff does...
Plus If you can't get a rez, you respawn back at you bind point
A bind point is kinda like the inn you set hearthstone to in wow... but you have to pay money to bind yourself there.
WoW it's just a durability hit (which is just basically some coin) and a corpse run...
you can skip the corpse run and pay more coin to replace and take a stat debuff.
thumbs up
i completely agree here. the same manga like setup targeted at the asian market. as a european player this stuff never made an impression on me. i dont expect it be be of importance outside aisa. its just the ussual asian grinder/goldseller mmo game from which we have seen so many (including so called free to play *laughs* or other crap that never caught up momentum).
and for the worst ist the comunity in such asian games, which i expierienced in trying out lineage years ago. a comunity is really nonexisting. iv'e never listened to such a treamendous amount of crap like in my first hours of lineage. i dont expect the new lineage aka aion to become different.
its funny how a lot of people have formulated opions about this game based on its country of origin . lol dunno if thats some kind of racism or not lol . as for it being like manga , well manga like anything else varies from the very poor to the very good . films like spirited away show how great it can be . this also applys to asian solo games . i think because of past experiance we all tend to think a new mmo will never be able to touch warcraft and is destined to becom
e a niche game . but in reality the status quo cant last much longer . warcrafts a game thats nearly 5 years old now , even though its graphics are still acceptable its starting to look increasinly dated . also blizzard have made some appallying choices in the last couple of years .
high speed leveling made leveling from 20-60 boring as hell because its virtually impossible to get groups in those levels now on a lot of servers . the pvp aspect of the game is increasingly imbalanced and the battlegrounds offer such easy rewards even if you lose all the time that very few people bother with tactical gameplay . wow does have some nice pve at level 60+ still though .
all in all warcraft still offers a good mmo experiance . theres about 4 months gameplay now for leveling a character from 1-80 and getting it some decent gear . then of course you can do the same with another character of the opposing faction .but boredom is setting in among the longer term players and if aion is the next big thing it will certainly entice a lot of these people .
it could be argued that there will be plenty of noobs to take thier place in wow . maybe this is so . but if aion really does offer some decent gameplay (and from what i ve heard its not liniage 3 or just another aisan grinder ) maybe suddenly all the kiddies that make up the vast majority of wows userbase will see aion as the game of the moment
peer pressure might set in and warcrafts subscriptions will fall .
we ve all been here before with other games like lord of the rings age of conan and warhammer . games that were ment to be the wowkillers . but aion seams that it could be a different matter . most of whats written about it on the net seams to be possative . which is virtually unheard of in mmos .
i think the last time i remember something like that happening was with a game i d never heard of before .
now what was the name of that game again
oh yes it was warcraft :P
yeah, 2.8 million copies in one day for an EXPANSION PACK in a game that has been out already for years and has a dedicated player base.... /fail for a poor comparison
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
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Aion is a fun game to play ! What affect it has on WoW is not relevant at all. WoW will always pull tons of sub's.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Amodians vs Elyos vs Balaur.
Aion is a RvR game.
...
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Well first off you failed at saying RVR is the new catch phrase. Dam sure it's been out there for quite some time now.
If Aion was a PVP centric game then I could PK anyone at anytime, which I assure you I cannot. It is RvR.
If you disagree then please explain your reasoning.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Not only is there XP loss, but at the high-end gameplay, whenever you die you lose a TON of AP (Abyss points)... which HURTS especially if you're going for high-end AP gear...
This is not a carebear game my friends. In fact, as you rank up and aim towards better gear, you will have to change pvp tactics.
See http://elliotinaion.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/170k-abyss-points-per-day-interview-with-ranger-야유/
I have played Aion to level 22 (Chinese version). I was playing an Elyos Spiritmaster.
First, while the game has RvR (it's RvR..definitely not PvP) you cannot level to max level without doing any RvR. I talked to a few people whom have done so. It's not exactly easy to do once you get into the 40's..but it's possible (the best stuff is in the abyss..which is the RvR zone).
You cannot truly participate in RvR until level 25. At level 20 you start getting exposed to it (random portals will open up allowing one side to invade the other). However, this only happens occasionally. At level 25 you gain access to the Abyss which is where all the RvR and seiging happens.
At level 22 the death penalty was light. You do not take death penalties when dying to another player. You do however, take death penalties when dying from environment (npc's or falling). The penalty felt very light and was easily purchased back with some coin. You cannot delevel and you also don't have to buy the xp back. It sticks around though as a light blue bar on your xp bar (think similar to City of Heros). I leveled a few times without ever buying back xp. However, I eventually purchased all my xp back (so you never lose the ability to purchase lost xp).
The game is nothing like Lineage 2. Lineage 2 held my interest to level 20 and I was bored. Aion made me quit at 22 because I wanted to wait for the NA release before investing more into it. I am a fan of the game after having played it. It's not perfect but it's a little more unique than most people are giving it credit for. Oh the quest system is great (I love how they track quests and allow you find points of interest and such via the map). You also click on quest objectives, noteable places, npc's etc in the quest journal and get detailed information (and sometimes locations).
Also I really like the armor variety. It has a ton of armor looks, shields, helms, etc. It takes the korean artstyle (it is korean afterall) but mixes in a LOT of western gameplay. It's nowhere near as brutal as L2 is (Aion does not punish you just because). The RvR aspect definitely adds and edge to the gameplay, but if you try, you can avoid it . I never did encounter any baluur so cannot comment on them (they are level 25+). Also the cutscenes are very cool.
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Amodians vs Elyos vs Balaur.
Aion is a RvR game.
...
Alliance vs Horde.
Warcraft is a RvR game.
See what I did there?
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Well first off you failed at saying RVR is the new catch phrase. Dam sure it's been out there for quite some time now.
If Aion was a PVP centric game then I could PK anyone at anytime, which I assure you I cannot. It is RvR.
If you disagree then please explain your reasoning.
You and I clearly disagree on BOTH the definitions of PvP AND RVR.
I consider RVR more than just a wintergrasp knockoff (that's essentially what the Abyss is). RVR is the ability to do serious strategic and tactical harm to your enemy, and I'm not talking about being a prick and ganking lowbies every chance you get. I'm talking taking their keeps and keeping them from acessing gear, I'm talking destroying their capital cities so things like city dungeons aren't available, etc etc, stuff like that (I don't feel like bullet pointing DOAC/WARs feature list right now, you can do that on your own time). Hell just take a look at WAR (RVR-lite) and DOAC (real RVR, the game that coined the damned term). AION is nothing like those games. It shares FAR more similarities with WoW, which isn't by any twisted definition an RVR game.
Neither Pandamonium nor Sanctum are attackable by enemey forces. Hell you really can't engage your bitter hated enemies until lvl 25 and it's mainly confined to 1 zone. That is not strategic and tactical harm to your enemy. That's a single freaking zone. That's dummy crap to help you grind out your lvls (and you WILL be grinding out lvls, as currently there are quest content gaps).
If you bandwagoner's consider THAT RVR, then vanilla WoW with its open pvp in Plaguelands (before BGs killed it) and such would be considered RVR...which it sure as hell isn't. New WoW with wintergrasp also isn't RVR BTW. Just like AION isn't RVR. When AION raises 4 full warbands and goes and makes WAR with it's captial cities that can be seriously crippled by player attacks, I might think differently.
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I have no idea how Aion endgame will play in terms of PvP, but given your definition, Lineage 2 is a RvR game. Both because you and your alliance can control castles denying them from the enemy alliances and you can also control territories, denying leveling to all those you disliked. Or at least, that was used to be the case back in the days I was playing the game.
Generally speaking, the vibe seems rather positive so far (no, the people who assume a grindfest due to the game origins don't count). It of course remains to be proven, once the game launches servers in Europe. I'm certainly intrigued enough to give it a spin when that happens.
To Zorndorf:
RVR has become the new catch phrase these days hasn't it?
Shame it's completely absent from AION.
Aion is a PVP centric game. Not RVR. There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you shouldn't be using the term RVR in the first place.
Amodians vs Elyos vs Balaur.
Aion is a RvR game.
...
Alliance vs Horde.
Warcraft is a RvR game.
See what I did there?
You and I clearly disagree on BOTH the definitions of PvP AND RVR.
I consider RVR more than just a wintergrasp knockoff (that's essentially what the Abyss is). RVR is the ability to do serious strategic and tactical harm to your enemy, and I'm not talking about being a prick and ganking lowbies every chance you get. I'm talking taking their keeps and keeping them from acessing gear, I'm talking destroying their capital cities so things like city dungeons aren't available, etc etc, stuff like that (I don't feel like bullet pointing DOAC/WARs feature list right now, you can do that on your own time). Hell just take a look at WAR (RVR-lite) and DOAC (real RVR, the game that coined the damned term). AION is nothing like those games. It shares FAR more similarities with WoW, which isn't by any twisted definition an RVR game.
Neither Pandamonium nor Sanctum are attackable by enemey forces. Hell you really can't engage your bitter hated enemies until lvl 25 and it's mainly confined to 1 zone. That is not strategic and tactical harm to your enemy. That's a single freaking zone. That's dummy crap to help you grind out your lvls (and you WILL be grinding out lvls, as currently there are quest content gaps).
If you bandwagoner's consider THAT RVR, then vanilla WoW with its open pvp in Plaguelands (before BGs killed it) and such would be considered RVR...which it sure as hell isn't. New WoW with wintergrasp also isn't RVR BTW. Just like AION isn't RVR. When AION raises 4 full warbands and goes and makes WAR with it's captial cities that can be seriously crippled by player attacks, I might think differently.
RvR to me simply means PvP that is Faction vs Faction.
And yes I consider WoW's PvP RvR too.
AION is not a nice copy of WoW, just like WoW did, AION got all the good elements of all successful MMORPGS and introduced new features into a polished package.
About lore, this is where AION will get all the attention.
European and Norse Mythology are very popular (personally I do prefer the "Wagnerian" and the "Sturm und Drang" view of it than the Tolkien view) but AION evoke all the Angels, Fallen Angels, Saint Warriors, Divine Creatures theme, and this is a very, very popular theme in western and eastern civilizations.
AION lore is not religious, but it uses divine, mystic and religious icons, these icons are much more popular than the Tolkien/D&D typical hero.
The way AION uses religious and mystic icons (Asmodian /Asmodeus -Winged Divine Creatures- Etc) will appeal to non geeks, women, people who enjoy mysticism and even surreal art fans, not only the typical mmorpg player.
My advice to you Zorndorf (and to the guy who says AION has no RvR), experience the game.
...
I have a simple question. Why leave WoW for Aion? Besides the beautiful graphics.
For a change of pace. . .
Only the blind and deluded people can't see that there are no true clones of WoW out there, only games that are similar. Every game has it's own lore, every game has it's own graphic style, every game is it's own. If you can't see that then feel free to continue to play WoW, no skin off my back.
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Because it just might be a better game. Yes I know it's a shocking thought for some !
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For me I find Aion a better game then WOW. I don t really care about sub numbers, I care about the fact that I get off work and I can t wait to log into Aion. WOW never once did that to me.
This game is as unasian as it gets, have you even played?
i bet you assume this because of the asian style graphics? if thats the case then wow is for kid, you know..cos its cartoony.
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For a change of pace. . .
Only the blind and deluded fanboys can't see that there are no true clones of WoW out there, only games that are similar. Every game has it's own lore, every game has it's own graphic style, every game is it's own. If you can't see that then feel free to continue to play WoW, no skin off my back.
Perhaps because people are fed up with trying and PAYING for other games in these last 3 years that didn't hold on to anything they "hyped" ... the least .... its subscribers ....
"Every game is its own ?"
The question these days is ... what will eventually have an influence in Wow and what has Blizzard added in its new patches and expansions packs.
I saw MORE new things in WotLK than in AoC and War combined: phasing is but one, dual specs and mounted combat in ALL kind of formats was another. Remember the vertical build up worlds in Northrend you can fly over? What a narrow minded and chunneled vision of games we had to play in this last year ....
And seeing the falling walls and towers of Wintergrasp and Ulduar, I wonder what kept games like War from doing them?
Btw: does Aion have changing worlds through phasing and destructable buildings ???
So why change indeed? PAY more to have LESS and not having friends in RL to discuss your latest lovely avatar???
That last one is perhaps the real secret why everyone stays in Wow.
It is mighty lonely out there to have RL discussions with niche mmo's.
Great you like WoW, congratulations, I want something different and what you described does nothing to change the game that WoW already was.
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For me I find Aion a better game then WOW. I don t really care about sub numbers, I care about the fact that I get off work and I can t wait to log into Aion. WOW never once did that to me.
But why? What is better in Aion, is click and wait combat better in Aion, is level tiered progression better paced and filled with more (interesting) content in Aion, does Aion have more options for me regarding how I feel I want to play that day, is it more stable with less bugs, can I have a bigger impact on the world through my PVP, PVE or crafting, does it have better player economy, does it have bigger raids, does it have more tools for social interaction and guild managment, is it better balanced, are Aions tank-healer-dps classes more varied than WoWs, why?
Why Aion?