You lost me at "next to no textures". Aion has faults, but one of them is most definitely not its graphics. When everyone else comes to the same conclusion about something, do you think maybe it might be you? That's not to be rude, I mean perhaps your graphics card or options in the game need tweaking. Aion has incredibly realistic graphics and textures, especially for avatars and armor. I will grant you, the landscape feels like it comes from an older game (I give them '05-ish), but personally I never notice the ground I'm running on anyway unless it's lagging me. Nine times out of ten, the first time I log into a game I go into options and turn off trees/grass/water if able.
As for game version, a bit of research would tell you that topic has already been discussed at length. You are TESTING an older client, mostly for the sake of stress-testing servers and localization, while they continue localizing the 1.5 (newest) content. This is why the game is officially launching in September, instead of tomorrow. It will be launched at a version as close to recent as possible, which polishes the game even more and adds loads of things to do.
As for aiming for the WoW crowd, I fully agree with you. But I never minded WoW mechanics, so it doesn't bother me. Quest, level, be social, alt, etc....some people are into it, some are not. Not everything appeals to everyone, that is to be expected. Just be honest about it, instead of beefing up your critique with nonsense.
Yeah I mean I am running the game on a 3 year old laptop and it runs(and looks) great on Medium-High mix settings. The graphics are probably the games most amazing feature next to the great music score.
At first I thought the game would really lag on my machine, Im very happy to be able to run it on a smooth 35-45 FPS average on near high settings. Its amazing how a game can look so good and run so smooth on mid-line hardware
yet, flamewars continue. I for one just need enougn ppl on the server to play comfortably, as intended (not only aion). Rest is irelevant.
Since beta is over once again, im sure the trolls think that since we are done playing that we will be here to be baited into their little world of how its a sucky game. I dont have time for such nonsense as im learning about the evils of Gameguard and how it will conflict with my AV and cause crashes (which i have yet to see) and take control of my computer and kill me.
I will grant you, the landscape feels like it comes from an older game (I give them '05-ish),
Well it is a heavily modified CryEngine game, which was most notably used in Far Cry. ('04 game).
Is it just me or are all of these people who make these long winded posts all the same. They're the same grizzled MMO vet with the same attitude. Some people need to realize that innovation doesn't just fall out of a fucking tree and it doesn't happen often. Not to mention most of those who want innovation just want a prettier UO, go figure.
Point is trying to heavily criticize every game on having "no innovation" is going to pretty much shut out a very large portion of the market for you. MMOs are still a young genre in comparison to other genres and are still growing. It doesn't mean that innovation is bad by any means, just that a game doesn't have to be innovative to be a good experience.
Either way it clearly isn't your kind of game and I'm not sure why you would even try the beta at all if you didn't even like how the game looked, felt and the general style of the game. I'm not going to argue anything, of course, as it is your own opinion -- even though it's really long winded.
And the tech issues, I didn't have any issues all this beta and last beta. Compared to the issues I had during AoC and WAR's betas this is a breath of fresh air to me personally and should be how all MMOs are. If you really think this is the worst beta (speaking on a technical basis) you must not have been in many betas.
I've played Beta 3 and 4 recently, as extensively as the client would allow me - which wasn't a whole lot of time in all honesty. I managed to spend as much time trying to relog back in and maintaining my connection as well as putting up with insane lag. But hey, it's BETA....right? If this game had been released in 2001, I would have given it a 9/10. Unfortunately, we are now in 2009. It seems to me they have tried to aim the game at the 'WoW' crowd, and it feels dumbed down and assinine in it's presentation. The anime cartoonish style, accompanied by huge mis-proportioned weapons adds credence to this comparison, and it is a typical Korean MMO with Blizzard overtones and gameplay. I would imagine the game will run well on most reasonably up to date machines, due to the style of graphics and the fact there are next to no textures in the game. Some of the scenery is 'nice', but lacks any sort of feature and in my opinion, is disappointing. Characters look decent very close up, but as soon as any distance between them is engaged by zooming, the simplicity of the engine is highlighted and it just looks extremely 'average'. This 'simplicity' will aid in mass PvP at a later stage, but in this day and age surely we should be expecting something a little better. The gameplay itself is just stale. It offers absolutely nothing new - except for flight - and the quests couldn't be more boring, pointless and similar - if you like this concept you will be in your element. For a game that is approaching it's first birthday in Korea, we in the West managed to get version 1.0 which has been obselete for months, and asked to test the localisation. The performance was abysmal, and probably the worst beta I have ever been involved in because of this one factor. It has actually deteriorated in the two weeks since Beta 2, even though 2 more servers were added for the EU participants. I played on both the new 'low' population servers provided, and the lag and rubberbanding was just laughable from a supposedly 'finished' product - their excuse of 'overloading' and 'stress testing' doesn't hold water because of the server I was playing on. Is this annoyance due to 'Gameguard' anti-hax software? I don't know. Aion has a chance, due to the fact that the game is being aimed at folk who like this sort of casual junk. I advise trying the proposed OB of this game or getting a free trial before parting with any cash. I'll carry on waiting for something that has some innovation and thought behind it - if that ever arrives... Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
hmm thats strange, i played all weekend on one of the New EU servers: Fregion and had no problems that you mention, sounds like a problem at your end.
I had an excellent experience in CB4, and find the combat and control fluid and responsive. I can only compare this to WAR and LOTRO where my character felt like it was moving in treacle, and in WAR my WP would flail its hammer about above its head for 20 seconds after combat finnished.
Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
so what game would u like to recommend for me to play on 2009 and i don't want to wait for next few more years to get something new to play and don't tell me to play wow, aoc, lotd or war i have had enough of american games with slow combat and boring chars design
I've played Beta 3 and 4 recently, as extensively as the client would allow me - which wasn't a whole lot of time in all honesty. I managed to spend as much time trying to relog back in and maintaining my connection as well as putting up with insane lag. But hey, it's BETA....right? If this game had been released in 2001, I would have given it a 9/10. Unfortunately, we are now in 2009. It seems to me they have tried to aim the game at the 'WoW' crowd, and it feels dumbed down and assinine in it's presentation. The anime cartoonish style, accompanied by huge mis-proportioned weapons adds credence to this comparison, and it is a typical Korean MMO with Blizzard overtones and gameplay. I would imagine the game will run well on most reasonably up to date machines, due to the style of graphics and the fact there are next to no textures in the game. Some of the scenery is 'nice', but lacks any sort of feature and in my opinion, is disappointing. Characters look decent very close up, but as soon as any distance between them is engaged by zooming, the simplicity of the engine is highlighted and it just looks extremely 'average'. This 'simplicity' will aid in mass PvP at a later stage, but in this day and age surely we should be expecting something a little better. The gameplay itself is just stale. It offers absolutely nothing new - except for flight - and the quests couldn't be more boring, pointless and similar - if you like this concept you will be in your element. For a game that is approaching it's first birthday in Korea, we in the West managed to get version 1.0 which has been obselete for months, and asked to test the localisation. The performance was abysmal, and probably the worst beta I have ever been involved in because of this one factor. It has actually deteriorated in the two weeks since Beta 2, even though 2 more servers were added for the EU participants. I played on both the new 'low' population servers provided, and the lag and rubberbanding was just laughable from a supposedly 'finished' product - their excuse of 'overloading' and 'stress testing' doesn't hold water because of the server I was playing on. Is this annoyance due to 'Gameguard' anti-hax software? I don't know. Aion has a chance, due to the fact that the game is being aimed at folk who like this sort of casual junk. I advise trying the proposed OB of this game or getting a free trial before parting with any cash. I'll carry on waiting for something that has some innovation and thought behind it - if that ever arrives... Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
hmm thats strange, i played all weekend on one of the New EU servers: Fregion and had no problems that you mention, sounds like a problem at your end.
I had an excellent experience in CB4, and find the combat and control fluid and responsive. I can only compare this to WAR and LOTRO where my character felt like it was moving in treacle, and in WAR my WP would flail its hammer about above its head for 20 seconds after combat finnished.
NA servers were having some lag and rubberbanding problems but as for myself i had no trouble with crashes.
I've played Beta 3 and 4 recently, as extensively as the client would allow me - which wasn't a whole lot of time in all honesty. I managed to spend as much time trying to relog back in and maintaining my connection as well as putting up with insane lag. But hey, it's BETA....right? If this game had been released in 2001, I would have given it a 9/10. Unfortunately, we are now in 2009. It seems to me they have tried to aim the game at the 'WoW' crowd, and it feels dumbed down and assinine in it's presentation. The anime cartoonish style, accompanied by huge mis-proportioned weapons adds credence to this comparison, and it is a typical Korean MMO with Blizzard overtones and gameplay. I would imagine the game will run well on most reasonably up to date machines, due to the style of graphics and the fact there are next to no textures in the game. Some of the scenery is 'nice', but lacks any sort of feature and in my opinion, is disappointing. Characters look decent very close up, but as soon as any distance between them is engaged by zooming, the simplicity of the engine is highlighted and it just looks extremely 'average'. This 'simplicity' will aid in mass PvP at a later stage, but in this day and age surely we should be expecting something a little better. The gameplay itself is just stale. It offers absolutely nothing new - except for flight - and the quests couldn't be more boring, pointless and similar - if you like this concept you will be in your element. For a game that is approaching it's first birthday in Korea, we in the West managed to get version 1.0 which has been obselete for months, and asked to test the localisation. The performance was abysmal, and probably the worst beta I have ever been involved in because of this one factor. It has actually deteriorated in the two weeks since Beta 2, even though 2 more servers were added for the EU participants. I played on both the new 'low' population servers provided, and the lag and rubberbanding was just laughable from a supposedly 'finished' product - their excuse of 'overloading' and 'stress testing' doesn't hold water because of the server I was playing on. Is this annoyance due to 'Gameguard' anti-hax software? I don't know. Aion has a chance, due to the fact that the game is being aimed at folk who like this sort of casual junk. I advise trying the proposed OB of this game or getting a free trial before parting with any cash. I'll carry on waiting for something that has some innovation and thought behind it - if that ever arrives... Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
There is only 1 face option that even looks remotely similar to a anime. The rest all look asian. I'd find the photo but im lazy. There is one from a cosplay of a korean lady in cosplay RIGHT NEXT to a aion banner and her facial perportions where almost identical. I think you are confusing anime with the asian people.
Also for characters looking detailed upclose then looking likecrap when u zoom out... Well..... There is a default box selected when you jump in game that reduces character detail at a certain range, to prevent lag. You are an idiot for not turning it off. You already fail to find all the solutions to your problems so MMO's are not for you. maybe should you play some harry potter instead.
Also you need to take into account that aion not being super revolutionary isn't anything new. In fact, many many times has NCsoft specifically stated that they are just trying to make a really polish and fun MMORPG, not reinvent the wheel. They've thrown the spoon to the proper audience and they are doing a great job at getting it, the only ones I see complaining have something more specific they are looking for in a game, or are just cursed forum cynics stuck in the cycle of forum talk.
Get a flipping life. You have 17 post the first half bashing warhammer, and the second half bashing aion.
- The performance is not like you have stated, but the rubberbanding does happen from time to time.
- Shouldn't a game from the East have eastern influence? YES! (It's a nice change up from the same elf/dwarf/human mix)
- You're knocking huge weapons . . . since when do people not like huge weapons, not to mention the combat and animations are huge to match the weapons. The combo systems makes the game feel more like an arcade fighter at times.
As a word of advice: If you want people to read your entire flame rant try adding something you like about the game. This game is far from 2001, but your thoughts are vastly out dated.
"Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's azz by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?" - Tommy Boy
Get a flipping life. You have 17 post the first half bashing warhammer, and the second half bashing aion. - The performance is not like you have stated, but the rubberbanding does happen from time to time. - Shouldn't a game from the East have eastern influence? YES! (It's a nice change up from the same elf/dwarf/human mix) - You're knocking huge weapons . . . since when do people not like huge weapons, not to mention the combat and animations are huge to match the weapons. The combo systems makes the game feel more like an arcade fighter at times. As a word of advice: If you want people to read your entire flame rant try adding something you like about the game. This game is far from 2001, but your thoughts are vastly out dated.
I had my body-build friend test n prove that huge weapons like in aion are possible to use, just not by people who dont work out a shit-ton.
As someone who works out alot but not enough to be a body-builder, I was able to lift and swing it alright, but being "efficient" with it takes some real brawn
Lag? What lag are you possibly talking about? I had everything maxed out on the settings and even in the newbie areas where there where enormous amounts of players in the area, I had no lag what so ever.....not even a slight amount. Whether you like the game or not, one thing is pretty certain it is not laggy.
I've played Beta 3 and 4 recently, as extensively as the client would allow me - which wasn't a whole lot of time in all honesty. I managed to spend as much time trying to relog back in and maintaining my connection as well as putting up with insane lag. But hey, it's BETA....right? If this game had been released in 2001, I would have given it a 9/10. Unfortunately, we are now in 2009. It seems to me they have tried to aim the game at the 'WoW' crowd, and it feels dumbed down and assinine in it's presentation. The anime cartoonish style, accompanied by huge mis-proportioned weapons adds credence to this comparison, and it is a typical Korean MMO with Blizzard overtones and gameplay. I would imagine the game will run well on most reasonably up to date machines, due to the style of graphics and the fact there are next to no textures in the game. Some of the scenery is 'nice', but lacks any sort of feature and in my opinion, is disappointing. Characters look decent very close up, but as soon as any distance between them is engaged by zooming, the simplicity of the engine is highlighted and it just looks extremely 'average'. This 'simplicity' will aid in mass PvP at a later stage, but in this day and age surely we should be expecting something a little better. The gameplay itself is just stale. It offers absolutely nothing new - except for flight - and the quests couldn't be more boring, pointless and similar - if you like this concept you will be in your element. For a game that is approaching it's first birthday in Korea, we in the West managed to get version 1.0 which has been obselete for months, and asked to test the localisation. The performance was abysmal, and probably the worst beta I have ever been involved in because of this one factor. It has actually deteriorated in the two weeks since Beta 2, even though 2 more servers were added for the EU participants. I played on both the new 'low' population servers provided, and the lag and rubberbanding was just laughable from a supposedly 'finished' product - their excuse of 'overloading' and 'stress testing' doesn't hold water because of the server I was playing on. Is this annoyance due to 'Gameguard' anti-hax software? I don't know. Aion has a chance, due to the fact that the game is being aimed at folk who like this sort of casual junk. I advise trying the proposed OB of this game or getting a free trial before parting with any cash. I'll carry on waiting for something that has some innovation and thought behind it - if that ever arrives... Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
Dude check your internet connection or router. I play this game at home, with my N router and broadband connection with no problems. I try the game out at my friends house who has DSL split up between 2 routers, 1 taking about 80% of the connection and we're using the one with only 20% at the same time and we disconnected sometimes.
I've played Beta 3 and 4 recently, as extensively as the client would allow me - which wasn't a whole lot of time in all honesty. I managed to spend as much time trying to relog back in and maintaining my connection as well as putting up with insane lag. But hey, it's BETA....right? If this game had been released in 2001, I would have given it a 9/10. Unfortunately, we are now in 2009. It seems to me they have tried to aim the game at the 'WoW' crowd, and it feels dumbed down and assinine in it's presentation. The anime cartoonish style, accompanied by huge mis-proportioned weapons adds credence to this comparison, and it is a typical Korean MMO with Blizzard overtones and gameplay. I would imagine the game will run well on most reasonably up to date machines, due to the style of graphics and the fact there are next to no textures in the game. Some of the scenery is 'nice', but lacks any sort of feature and in my opinion, is disappointing. Characters look decent very close up, but as soon as any distance between them is engaged by zooming, the simplicity of the engine is highlighted and it just looks extremely 'average'. This 'simplicity' will aid in mass PvP at a later stage, but in this day and age surely we should be expecting something a little better. The gameplay itself is just stale. It offers absolutely nothing new - except for flight - and the quests couldn't be more boring, pointless and similar - if you like this concept you will be in your element. For a game that is approaching it's first birthday in Korea, we in the West managed to get version 1.0 which has been obselete for months, and asked to test the localisation. The performance was abysmal, and probably the worst beta I have ever been involved in because of this one factor. It has actually deteriorated in the two weeks since Beta 2, even though 2 more servers were added for the EU participants. I played on both the new 'low' population servers provided, and the lag and rubberbanding was just laughable from a supposedly 'finished' product - their excuse of 'overloading' and 'stress testing' doesn't hold water because of the server I was playing on. Is this annoyance due to 'Gameguard' anti-hax software? I don't know. Aion has a chance, due to the fact that the game is being aimed at folk who like this sort of casual junk. I advise trying the proposed OB of this game or getting a free trial before parting with any cash. I'll carry on waiting for something that has some innovation and thought behind it - if that ever arrives... Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
I dunno what games you are playing in 2001 with graphics and features like Aion. I wouldnt care about your opinion when you go as far as to call Aion a 2001 mmo.
I dont get it; ive had no problems with connection .. lag or even rubberband effects. With my 1440x900 resolution and the textures maxed even when i am far away from my people or anyone they still look pretty darn good to me. Yeah the textures on the ground arent that good, but have you seen the character animations? ill take having my guy do something different per spell and actually hit the person instead of swinging a magical sword through them over and over and over again with the same effects for a little lack of grass or ground. Hah. I dunno, i smell troll x10 here, and thats what im claiming you to be.
I came into your post here with an open mind. But you went way past the unbiased tone you were trying to set in your first sentences and have left us with no real information, just your own biased opinion. Now, I don't blame you for not liking aion, from what little time you've had on it you've obviously not taken a liking to it (which makes me wonder why you kept coming back for each beta). But the little information you gave everyone is just not true. Aion is an incredibly polished game at this point, mainly due to the fact it has been out for almost a year and we are going to get the 1.5 version of this game (check the patch notes somewhere if your curious, we will be getting tons of content), not the 1.0 you mentioned. Also I've played WoW, and contrary to your feelings, I feel like this game is not anything like it. To make a point- The combat is much different, from the skills you use to the speed of things happening, the way the rng works, hell maybe the UI is similar but it definately takes more from L2 than WoW. And the whole nice game for 2001, do you even know what games were out in 2001? Seriously. the more I look back on your post the more respect I lose for you. Get that weaksauce outta here.
I played the beta with my fiancee' over the weekend and got 2 dc's, and about an hour or so of rubberbanding...however it was on the high pop server and only about 10% of time played, so overall its nothing like the OP says it is. Beta servers are meant for TESTING and those tests & metrics which NCSoft gather throughout, may or may not have much to do with release servers and what it will be like then...
If we used network connectivity as heuristic for how successful the game will be, WoW would be not even remotely close to what it is today - as its beta might have been the WORST lag I've yet to see, except in maybe the Matrix online beta (yikes).
Nonetheless, My fiancee loves the game and I find it a tad better than average. The wings added more than I thought, and the skill animations & character textures are quite good; however the 2 largest bones I will pick with the game are - hillsides with absolutely no textures, look like blobs & it very awkward among other things...and Item base (there are barely any items currently).
Though any issues stated (network stuff & flames) and my quams (items & hillsides) will without a doubt be improved upon at release, so really the game looks very solid compared to almost all MMO releases to date...But still a few events & time to tell
2001? Good times, lol - as in that day ANY mmo was practically a great thing, as they were still a growing trend
Mmm bashing the performance and stability of Aion, and the "simplicity" of the client? Riiiiiight. Apart from the fact that performance and stability are stellar even on 1.0 (we're getting 1.5 in NA/EU, if you give a damn anyway), and that Aion has the BEST Graphics/Performance ratio on the market, complaining about the "simplicity" (what??) of the client is laughable. And of course adding the one obvious and well known "issue" with Aion, which is linear questing in the early levels. Very unpredictable. Sorry, but:
Ahaha nice troll picture! It made me giggle, thanks...
Now playing : FFXIV Waiting on : TBD Best MMORPGs played : EQ, FFXI
Lag? What lag are you possibly talking about? I had everything maxed out on the settings and even in the newbie areas where there where enormous amounts of players in the area, I had no lag what so ever.....not even a slight amount. Whether you like the game or not, one thing is pretty certain it is not laggy.
As I've already mentioned, go to the CB forums and check out the bulging thread started by the community manager there - oh wait, you weren't testing you were just playing, right?
I've played Beta 3 and 4 recently, as extensively as the client would allow me - which wasn't a whole lot of time in all honesty. I managed to spend as much time trying to relog back in and maintaining my connection as well as putting up with insane lag. But hey, it's BETA....right? If this game had been released in 2001, I would have given it a 9/10. Unfortunately, we are now in 2009. It seems to me they have tried to aim the game at the 'WoW' crowd, and it feels dumbed down and assinine in it's presentation. The anime cartoonish style, accompanied by huge mis-proportioned weapons adds credence to this comparison, and it is a typical Korean MMO with Blizzard overtones and gameplay. I would imagine the game will run well on most reasonably up to date machines, due to the style of graphics and the fact there are next to no textures in the game. Some of the scenery is 'nice', but lacks any sort of feature and in my opinion, is disappointing. Characters look decent very close up, but as soon as any distance between them is engaged by zooming, the simplicity of the engine is highlighted and it just looks extremely 'average'. This 'simplicity' will aid in mass PvP at a later stage, but in this day and age surely we should be expecting something a little better. The gameplay itself is just stale. It offers absolutely nothing new - except for flight - and the quests couldn't be more boring, pointless and similar - if you like this concept you will be in your element. For a game that is approaching it's first birthday in Korea, we in the West managed to get version 1.0 which has been obselete for months, and asked to test the localisation. The performance was abysmal, and probably the worst beta I have ever been involved in because of this one factor. It has actually deteriorated in the two weeks since Beta 2, even though 2 more servers were added for the EU participants. I played on both the new 'low' population servers provided, and the lag and rubberbanding was just laughable from a supposedly 'finished' product - their excuse of 'overloading' and 'stress testing' doesn't hold water because of the server I was playing on. Is this annoyance due to 'Gameguard' anti-hax software? I don't know. Aion has a chance, due to the fact that the game is being aimed at folk who like this sort of casual junk. I advise trying the proposed OB of this game or getting a free trial before parting with any cash. I'll carry on waiting for something that has some innovation and thought behind it - if that ever arrives... Scores 4/10 - Nothing new to see here, move along.
Dude check your internet connection or router. I play this game at home, with my N router and broadband connection with no problems. I try the game out at my friends house who has DSL split up between 2 routers, 1 taking about 80% of the connection and we're using the one with only 20% at the same time and we disconnected sometimes.
I am also playing other MMO's at the moment, with zero issues. Please don't tell me it's my router when it patently isn't.
I had my first exp. with the game this weekend, and I can say i was pleasently surprised.
Is it ground breaking? No.
Does it bring anything we haven't seen before? Not really.
I did however find the gameplay was rather smooth, I had little to no lag, and I wasn't disconnected once. I also played enough to get 3 characters passed level 10, so it was a fair amount.
I enjoyed the speed of the combat, and for all the talk of anime' (which i don't care for), I was more than satisfied with the graphics for an MMO. I will certainly keep my pre-order, and am looking forward to release. As a person who plays MMOs for the PvP, the other options out there are less than stellar, to say the least.
I haven't had the chance to PvP in Aion yet, but as i said, I'm not dissapointed in what I have seen so far, so, I'll take the chance.
The game has some flaws, but for me and most others those flaws don't include those cited by the OP.
I had zero connection issues, crashes, graphics lag or log in problems.
The game looks beautiful. IMO the best overall graphical impression of any current title. Character and mob models are superb, armor and weapons are stunning and animations are top notch. Character customization is the best of any current title as well. AoC has more sliders, but you can actually create exponentially more unique, appealing looks than you can in AoC. Everyone looked unique in my experience and some characters were exceptionally well done.
Class design seems good so far. I found combat for the healing classes to be too repetative, but hopefully more skills will change that at higher levels. Assassin and Spirit Master, though, were both fun to play once you get into the teens and your skillset fills in a bit. Unlike healers, though, survival is a thin line, so you have to pay attention and play smart.
The game world is fairly small by current standards, but the leveling curve is steep. As a result, you will be spending a lot of time in one area before you are ready to move on to the next. Explorers may be dissapointed.
There are also not an abundance of quests. There are enough to level with out too much additional grinding, but if you level alts they will have to follow the same exact path and quest progression, which will effect "replay" value for alt-a-holics.
First impressions for me are very favorable. It's definitely a benchmark title in many ways for 2009. Anyone suggesting it's out of date must be having issues at their end. I've learned from past games, however, that early positive impressions don't always lead to good long term play. At least it is fun to play and scores more than high enough for me on a number of counts to warrant enthusiastic expectations.
The game has some flaws, but for me and most others those flaws don't include those cited by the OP. I had zero connection issues, crashes, graphics lag or log in problems. The game looks beautiful. IMO the best overall graphical impression of any current title. Character and mob models are superb, armor and weapons are stunning and animations are top notch. Character customization is the best of any current title as well. AoC has more sliders, but you can actually create exponentially more unique, appealing looks than you can in AoC. Everyone looked unique in my experience and some characters were exceptionally well done. Class design seems good so far. I found combat for the healing classes to be too repetative, but hopefully more skills will change that at higher levels. Assassin and Spirit Master, though, were both fun to play once you get into the teens and your skillset fills in a bit. Unlike healers, though, survival is a thin line, so you have to pay attention and play smart. The game world is fairly small by current standards, but the leveling curve is steep. As a result, you will be spending a lot of time in one area before you are ready to move on to the next. Explorers may be dissapointed. There are also not an abundance of quests. There are enough to level with out too much additional grinding, but if you level alts they will have to follow the same exact path and quest progression, which will effect "replay" value for alt-a-holics. First impressions for me are very favorable. It's definitely a benchmark title in many ways for 2009. Anyone suggesting it's out of date must be having issues at their end. I've learned from past games, however, that early positive impressions don't always lead to good long term play. At least it is fun to play and scores more than high enough for me on a number of counts to warrant enthusiastic expectations.
I'm glad it appears to be the game you are looking for. To make you even happier, version 1.5 launches with 1500 quests and fills the gaps currently evident in 1.0.
I also agree that character customisation is 2nd to none, and they obviously learned a huge lesson from Lineage in that respect - anyone who played that game will be nodding in agreement at this moment. One of my original points is that the armour and customisation has no effect once you zoom out only very slightly, and all toons are just blurred objects with a glowy halo around them. Great for mass PvP, but pretty mundane for visual quality - or lack of it.
Definately a benchmark for 2009? Come on, that is just ridiculous. Are you suggesting this is the new model that MMO's should now be following? There isn't a single aspect of the game that is new or will take this genre forward, and just goes to prove how stale the RPG has become. They have copied WoW in it's basic concept to the letter albeit using a slightly better game engine.
As for performance, the fattest thread on the CB forum is created by 'Ayase' <community manager> asking for folk to discuss their problems with lag, rubberbanding and disconnections. It has over 160 replies at the last glance, and has been viewed by over 4k people. The next most popular thread is about 1/10th the size of it - just for some perspective.
Both AoC and Warhammer started with performance issues which continued for a long time, and are often the root cause of cancelled subscriptions or failure to even buy the box game. Luckily for NCSoft, they are smart enough to have given themselves some time to sort out this issue, and my overriding feeling is this game will be a hit - simply because they are sticking to WoW's winning formula, and the easily pleased fanbase that game has.
Comments
Yeah I mean I am running the game on a 3 year old laptop and it runs(and looks) great on Medium-High mix settings. The graphics are probably the games most amazing feature next to the great music score.
At first I thought the game would really lag on my machine, Im very happy to be able to run it on a smooth 35-45 FPS average on near high settings. Its amazing how a game can look so good and run so smooth on mid-line hardware
edit: re: Daedalus732 last post.
yet, flamewars continue. I for one just need enough ppl on the server to play comfortably, as intended (not only aion). Rest is irelevant.
Since beta is over once again, im sure the trolls think that since we are done playing that we will be here to be baited into their little world of how its a sucky game. I dont have time for such nonsense as im learning about the evils of Gameguard and how it will conflict with my AV and cause crashes (which i have yet to see) and take control of my computer and kill me.
Well it is a heavily modified CryEngine game, which was most notably used in Far Cry. ('04 game).
Is it just me or are all of these people who make these long winded posts all the same. They're the same grizzled MMO vet with the same attitude. Some people need to realize that innovation doesn't just fall out of a fucking tree and it doesn't happen often. Not to mention most of those who want innovation just want a prettier UO, go figure.
Point is trying to heavily criticize every game on having "no innovation" is going to pretty much shut out a very large portion of the market for you. MMOs are still a young genre in comparison to other genres and are still growing. It doesn't mean that innovation is bad by any means, just that a game doesn't have to be innovative to be a good experience.
Either way it clearly isn't your kind of game and I'm not sure why you would even try the beta at all if you didn't even like how the game looked, felt and the general style of the game. I'm not going to argue anything, of course, as it is your own opinion -- even though it's really long winded.
And the tech issues, I didn't have any issues all this beta and last beta. Compared to the issues I had during AoC and WAR's betas this is a breath of fresh air to me personally and should be how all MMOs are. If you really think this is the worst beta (speaking on a technical basis) you must not have been in many betas.
hmm thats strange, i played all weekend on one of the New EU servers: Fregion and had no problems that you mention, sounds like a problem at your end.
I had an excellent experience in CB4, and find the combat and control fluid and responsive. I can only compare this to WAR and LOTRO where my character felt like it was moving in treacle, and in WAR my WP would flail its hammer about above its head for 20 seconds after combat finnished.
so what game would u like to recommend for me to play on 2009 and i don't want to wait for next few more years to get something new to play and don't tell me to play wow, aoc, lotd or war i have had enough of american games with slow combat and boring chars design
hmm thats strange, i played all weekend on one of the New EU servers: Fregion and had no problems that you mention, sounds like a problem at your end.
I had an excellent experience in CB4, and find the combat and control fluid and responsive. I can only compare this to WAR and LOTRO where my character felt like it was moving in treacle, and in WAR my WP would flail its hammer about above its head for 20 seconds after combat finnished.
NA servers were having some lag and rubberbanding problems but as for myself i had no trouble with crashes.
There is only 1 face option that even looks remotely similar to a anime. The rest all look asian. I'd find the photo but im lazy. There is one from a cosplay of a korean lady in cosplay RIGHT NEXT to a aion banner and her facial perportions where almost identical. I think you are confusing anime with the asian people.
Also for characters looking detailed upclose then looking likecrap when u zoom out... Well..... There is a default box selected when you jump in game that reduces character detail at a certain range, to prevent lag. You are an idiot for not turning it off. You already fail to find all the solutions to your problems so MMO's are not for you. maybe should you play some harry potter instead.
Also you need to take into account that aion not being super revolutionary isn't anything new. In fact, many many times has NCsoft specifically stated that they are just trying to make a really polish and fun MMORPG, not reinvent the wheel. They've thrown the spoon to the proper audience and they are doing a great job at getting it, the only ones I see complaining have something more specific they are looking for in a game, or are just cursed forum cynics stuck in the cycle of forum talk.
Get a flipping life. You have 17 post the first half bashing warhammer, and the second half bashing aion.
- The performance is not like you have stated, but the rubberbanding does happen from time to time.
- Shouldn't a game from the East have eastern influence? YES! (It's a nice change up from the same elf/dwarf/human mix)
- You're knocking huge weapons . . . since when do people not like huge weapons, not to mention the combat and animations are huge to match the weapons. The combo systems makes the game feel more like an arcade fighter at times.
As a word of advice: If you want people to read your entire flame rant try adding something you like about the game. This game is far from 2001, but your thoughts are vastly out dated.
[(T+G=W)=Gr*Nf]-S=FoF
T=Time G=Gear W=Win Gr=Grind Nf=NoFun S=Skill FoF=FullofFail
"Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's azz by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?" - Tommy Boy
I had my body-build friend test n prove that huge weapons like in aion are possible to use, just not by people who dont work out a shit-ton.
As someone who works out alot but not enough to be a body-builder, I was able to lift and swing it alright, but being "efficient" with it takes some real brawn
Lag? What lag are you possibly talking about? I had everything maxed out on the settings and even in the newbie areas where there where enormous amounts of players in the area, I had no lag what so ever.....not even a slight amount. Whether you like the game or not, one thing is pretty certain it is not laggy.
Dude check your internet connection or router. I play this game at home, with my N router and broadband connection with no problems. I try the game out at my friends house who has DSL split up between 2 routers, 1 taking about 80% of the connection and we're using the one with only 20% at the same time and we disconnected sometimes.
I dunno what games you are playing in 2001 with graphics and features like Aion. I wouldnt care about your opinion when you go as far as to call Aion a 2001 mmo.
I dont get it; ive had no problems with connection .. lag or even rubberband effects. With my 1440x900 resolution and the textures maxed even when i am far away from my people or anyone they still look pretty darn good to me. Yeah the textures on the ground arent that good, but have you seen the character animations? ill take having my guy do something different per spell and actually hit the person instead of swinging a magical sword through them over and over and over again with the same effects for a little lack of grass or ground. Hah. I dunno, i smell troll x10 here, and thats what im claiming you to be.
A nasty smelly troll.
PS - All mammals have nipples.
Get over it already.
I totally disagree, you had a bad experience and now the game sucks forever for you... lol
Sorry but no.
There is no knowledge that is no power.
did u copy someone's review back in 2001? lol. nice try but go back to WoW we wont miss u.
I came into your post here with an open mind. But you went way past the unbiased tone you were trying to set in your first sentences and have left us with no real information, just your own biased opinion. Now, I don't blame you for not liking aion, from what little time you've had on it you've obviously not taken a liking to it (which makes me wonder why you kept coming back for each beta). But the little information you gave everyone is just not true. Aion is an incredibly polished game at this point, mainly due to the fact it has been out for almost a year and we are going to get the 1.5 version of this game (check the patch notes somewhere if your curious, we will be getting tons of content), not the 1.0 you mentioned. Also I've played WoW, and contrary to your feelings, I feel like this game is not anything like it. To make a point- The combat is much different, from the skills you use to the speed of things happening, the way the rng works, hell maybe the UI is similar but it definately takes more from L2 than WoW. And the whole nice game for 2001, do you even know what games were out in 2001? Seriously. the more I look back on your post the more respect I lose for you. Get that weaksauce outta here.
So then you loved it. Because in 2001, mmorpg's were great.
I played the beta with my fiancee' over the weekend and got 2 dc's, and about an hour or so of rubberbanding...however it was on the high pop server and only about 10% of time played, so overall its nothing like the OP says it is. Beta servers are meant for TESTING and those tests & metrics which NCSoft gather throughout, may or may not have much to do with release servers and what it will be like then...
If we used network connectivity as heuristic for how successful the game will be, WoW would be not even remotely close to what it is today - as its beta might have been the WORST lag I've yet to see, except in maybe the Matrix online beta (yikes).
Nonetheless, My fiancee loves the game and I find it a tad better than average. The wings added more than I thought, and the skill animations & character textures are quite good; however the 2 largest bones I will pick with the game are - hillsides with absolutely no textures, look like blobs & it very awkward among other things...and Item base (there are barely any items currently).
Though any issues stated (network stuff & flames) and my quams (items & hillsides) will without a doubt be improved upon at release, so really the game looks very solid compared to almost all MMO releases to date...But still a few events & time to tell
2001? Good times, lol - as in that day ANY mmo was practically a great thing, as they were still a growing trend
Ahaha nice troll picture! It made me giggle, thanks...
Now playing : FFXIV
Waiting on : TBD
Best MMORPGs played : EQ, FFXI
As I've already mentioned, go to the CB forums and check out the bulging thread started by the community manager there - oh wait, you weren't testing you were just playing, right?
Kris.Kringle@greenland.com
Dude check your internet connection or router. I play this game at home, with my N router and broadband connection with no problems. I try the game out at my friends house who has DSL split up between 2 routers, 1 taking about 80% of the connection and we're using the one with only 20% at the same time and we disconnected sometimes.
I am also playing other MMO's at the moment, with zero issues. Please don't tell me it's my router when it patently isn't.
Kris.Kringle@greenland.com
I had my first exp. with the game this weekend, and I can say i was pleasently surprised.
Is it ground breaking? No.
Does it bring anything we haven't seen before? Not really.
I did however find the gameplay was rather smooth, I had little to no lag, and I wasn't disconnected once. I also played enough to get 3 characters passed level 10, so it was a fair amount.
I enjoyed the speed of the combat, and for all the talk of anime' (which i don't care for), I was more than satisfied with the graphics for an MMO. I will certainly keep my pre-order, and am looking forward to release. As a person who plays MMOs for the PvP, the other options out there are less than stellar, to say the least.
I haven't had the chance to PvP in Aion yet, but as i said, I'm not dissapointed in what I have seen so far, so, I'll take the chance.
The game has some flaws, but for me and most others those flaws don't include those cited by the OP.
I had zero connection issues, crashes, graphics lag or log in problems.
The game looks beautiful. IMO the best overall graphical impression of any current title. Character and mob models are superb, armor and weapons are stunning and animations are top notch. Character customization is the best of any current title as well. AoC has more sliders, but you can actually create exponentially more unique, appealing looks than you can in AoC. Everyone looked unique in my experience and some characters were exceptionally well done.
Class design seems good so far. I found combat for the healing classes to be too repetative, but hopefully more skills will change that at higher levels. Assassin and Spirit Master, though, were both fun to play once you get into the teens and your skillset fills in a bit. Unlike healers, though, survival is a thin line, so you have to pay attention and play smart.
The game world is fairly small by current standards, but the leveling curve is steep. As a result, you will be spending a lot of time in one area before you are ready to move on to the next. Explorers may be dissapointed.
There are also not an abundance of quests. There are enough to level with out too much additional grinding, but if you level alts they will have to follow the same exact path and quest progression, which will effect "replay" value for alt-a-holics.
First impressions for me are very favorable. It's definitely a benchmark title in many ways for 2009. Anyone suggesting it's out of date must be having issues at their end. I've learned from past games, however, that early positive impressions don't always lead to good long term play. At least it is fun to play and scores more than high enough for me on a number of counts to warrant enthusiastic expectations.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
I'm glad it appears to be the game you are looking for. To make you even happier, version 1.5 launches with 1500 quests and fills the gaps currently evident in 1.0.
I also agree that character customisation is 2nd to none, and they obviously learned a huge lesson from Lineage in that respect - anyone who played that game will be nodding in agreement at this moment. One of my original points is that the armour and customisation has no effect once you zoom out only very slightly, and all toons are just blurred objects with a glowy halo around them. Great for mass PvP, but pretty mundane for visual quality - or lack of it.
Definately a benchmark for 2009? Come on, that is just ridiculous. Are you suggesting this is the new model that MMO's should now be following? There isn't a single aspect of the game that is new or will take this genre forward, and just goes to prove how stale the RPG has become. They have copied WoW in it's basic concept to the letter albeit using a slightly better game engine.
As for performance, the fattest thread on the CB forum is created by 'Ayase' <community manager> asking for folk to discuss their problems with lag, rubberbanding and disconnections. It has over 160 replies at the last glance, and has been viewed by over 4k people. The next most popular thread is about 1/10th the size of it - just for some perspective.
Both AoC and Warhammer started with performance issues which continued for a long time, and are often the root cause of cancelled subscriptions or failure to even buy the box game. Luckily for NCSoft, they are smart enough to have given themselves some time to sort out this issue, and my overriding feeling is this game will be a hit - simply because they are sticking to WoW's winning formula, and the easily pleased fanbase that game has.
Kris.Kringle@greenland.com