OP, I agree with many of your points but the fact is that we're still....in...BETA....LOL. I also dont think you can judge whether Aion is "the next best thing" because you've only reached level 10 was it? In most MMOs the real fun starts once you pick your secondary class or leave the newb area, so for myself I dont even consider your review trustworthy. Thats just my opition of course. I've also found flaws and things that I'd like to see changed but I never unstood my people bother complaining about things that may very well be fixed by launch day. This is a brand new mmorpg. It hasnt even launched yet. There are 2-3 more updates (1.2 - 1.5) before it hits the shelves I think? Also future updates and expansions once the game launches may very well greatly enhance the world of Aion well above current mmorpgs on the market now. We all know the potential is there, now its up to ncsoft to do something with it. What it really comes down to, imo, is how well NCsoft listens to its players and keeps them happy. If bugs are fixed, new patches are added to better gameplay, more quests and options added to better characters progression, Aion may very well be the "next big MMO". From what I've seen and read, its the most polished and fun game to come out for alot of people in at least 3 years or more. I also beleive that if pvp in Aion is kept balanced and new content is added regularily, pvp in Aion will put all other mmos to shame. As for as pvp goes in Aion, its extremly inovative and fresh. Only time will tell how well Aion does, and sadly the player base has no chance but to wait and watch it unfold. If we're happy with what ncsoft does with Aion, it will likely suck in many from WoW and continue to become more and more popular over time.
The OP stated his views pretty well. His complaint was about lack of a hook, slugging through the same content on a second toon, and the very delayed entry into pvp. I really, really agree with him on the leveling a second toon same side repeats every single quest. This gets old pretty quickly.
Now, make no doubt that Aion has several innovative features and more on the way. Most of these features are at the end game RvR and players need to be motivated to get there. Aion looks great but the game does feel like you are grinding too much.
I think its a fair review. I do think the hook isnt as strong as it could be right at the start. Taking to level 25 to get into the meat of the game might hurt it, but if most people tough it out it will be rewarding. I dont mind the single starting areas, in WoW I usually take all my characters through the same leveling path, even if they are other races, its just easier for me, at the end anyway the paths usually merged, at least up until they nerfed the leveling time 1-60.
Wow. What amuses me the most is the number of people who think I'm bashing the game. The best comments are ones accusing me of almost being a WoW fanboy. Here's a clue to those folks: I dislike WoW. I've played it, but it is not my favorite MMO by a long stretch. In fact I never made end-game in WoW, it just didn't excite me. As I said, I've played just about every MMO to come out, and end-gamed many, WoW just isn't one of them. Hence why my review doesn't really compare much to WoW because I'm not the most qualified there. (Before I get jumped on, I recognize WoW as a major player in the industry, believe it is a quality game, have recommended to friends and family, I just don't play it as it doesn't engage me as much).
I also did not set out to bash Aion. As indicated, I *like* Aion. A lot. But my reviews and opinions are open minded. I point out Aion's faults. Several attacked me for only making level 10, which I thought I made clear. I've played at least 6 toons to level 10+ (13 is closer for most). My intent when playing Beta's is to find out what class I want to play, where I want to start, and whether the game engages me. I also feel, personally, any MMO needs to be absolutely engaging in the first 4 hours of play or it will not do well. I feel Aion misses the boat there. It does however, grow on you, but any subscription game that requires you to "stick with it" before you find it compelling will run into challenges no matter how awesome it is. Today's player base doesn't like to be told "The game begins at level X" (where X is end-game).
I stand by my argument. Compared to many other quality MMO's (of which I include Aion as a triple A quality title) Aion's first 6-7 levels are a bore and a chore. Time to complete is irrelevant ( i can do 1-10 in either faction in about 3-5 hours, 1-5 much much faster. Unfortunately the game requires too much running back and forth to be faster than that. Besides the too much running, I think Aion's actual leveling time early on is just about right. Boredom and choredom do not require "time". They just require uninteresting and uninnovative gameplay. And that's really the first 5-7 levels of Aion (which are long enough to not inspire newcomers to the game). The game does not reveal its strength in the first hour or two of play. In fact in the first hour or two of play it feels like a cloned solo grinding game with nothing but 4 classes and fails to differentiate itself from other quality Asian titles and falls flat against current Western MMO early gameplay. The content is standard fare and unheroic, you can't fly, you can't pvp. In fact every major selling point of the game is not revealed until at least the 3rd hour other than it's very impressive graphics. And even then, many major selling points, Open RvR, flight based combat, deep combo system, aren't revealed until nearly the 15th-25th hours of gameplay (your average casual gamer might get there in a week or two). That's a tough sell to an instant gratification MMO community that made WoW so popular.
Does this make Aion a stinker? No. But it is, imo a valid criticism of a fine game. I don't have to be fanatical about a game I like and I feel reviews shouldn't just bask in the glory of all that is amazing about a new product. Rather reveal traits that may or may not appeal to people who are hoping for the game so they can make a more informed decision, or explore aspects I talk about and decide for themselves if its important to them.
Actually there is a huge problem with these "type" of beta reviews and they all fail for the exact same reason. What your reviewing is purely 1-20 levels of an MMO that has infinite more content that you still haven't experience. 1-20 in Aion is what can be considered "tutorial" into the world. You have probably played only 5% of the entire game, yet your basing the entire game's success on this initital content...(refer to Aoc) There is so much more which opens up after lvl 20 which you didn't even bother to mention at all.... - PvP rifting - The Abyss - fortress seiges - PVE instances - Crafting - 1.5 patch, adding 12+ instances How can your review hold any validity on how well Aion will succeed when you leave these key gameplay elements out?
You can't review an MMO properly without actually "experiencing" the key components ..
I agree 100% with you
"That's a tough sell to an instant gratification MMO community that made WoW so popular."
Sigh... sadly people got spoiled with this WoW mentality . But I am glad I did not. I for once want a more challenging experience, like the good old days of EQ1 where you had to work hard for things. At the end it's way more gratifying when you "really "earn things.
Actually there is a huge problem with these "type" of beta reviews and they all fail for the exact same reason. What your reviewing is purely 1-20 levels of an MMO that has infinite more content that you still haven't experience. 1-20 in Aion is what can be considered "tutorial" into the world. You have probably played only 5% of the entire game, yet your basing the entire game's success on this initital content...(refer to Aoc) There is so much more which opens up after lvl 20 which you didn't even bother to mention at all.... - PvP rifting - The Abyss - fortress seiges - PVE instances - Crafting - 1.5 patch, adding 12+ instances How can your review hold any validity on how well Aion will succeed when you leave these key gameplay elements out?
You can't review an MMO properly without actually "experiencing" the key components ..
I agree 100% with you
"That's a tough sell to an instant gratification MMO community that made WoW so popular."
Sigh... sadly people got spoiled with this WoW mentality . But I am glad I did not. I for once want a more challenging experience, like the good old days of EQ1 where you had to work hard for things. At the end it's way more gratifying when you "really "earn things.
But that's just me.
I actually agree with your quoted post to. I'm sorry if people thought this was some kind of "definitive" review. How could it be? It's Beta, the game is a month from launch, we all know there's a big content patch due and we all know that no US players have really tasted Aion end game.
But that wasn't the point. This was a CB5 review from my experience "so far". And while I agree that no review is complete of an MMO without significant end game time; the early game point of view, the first 10 hours, are critical. If a game is "not fun" in the first few hours, who in their right mind continues with it? These are MMO's, we buy them with the intent to play for months, if we're lucky years. If the first 10 hours present themselves poorly why should we commit our subscriber dollars to the game with so many other quality MMO's competing for our time?
Telling someone its an MMO and therefor you *have* to be in it for the long haul is erroneous thinking, consumers don't operate that way. Dedicated, die-hard MMO'ers do, but the "WoW" generaiton does not. And sadly in this day and age a game with 100k subscribers is not considered a success (IMO it should be, but WoW players ruined that too).
Comments
The OP stated his views pretty well. His complaint was about lack of a hook, slugging through the same content on a second toon, and the very delayed entry into pvp. I really, really agree with him on the leveling a second toon same side repeats every single quest. This gets old pretty quickly.
Now, make no doubt that Aion has several innovative features and more on the way. Most of these features are at the end game RvR and players need to be motivated to get there. Aion looks great but the game does feel like you are grinding too much.
I think its a fair review. I do think the hook isnt as strong as it could be right at the start. Taking to level 25 to get into the meat of the game might hurt it, but if most people tough it out it will be rewarding. I dont mind the single starting areas, in WoW I usually take all my characters through the same leveling path, even if they are other races, its just easier for me, at the end anyway the paths usually merged, at least up until they nerfed the leveling time 1-60.
Wow. What amuses me the most is the number of people who think I'm bashing the game. The best comments are ones accusing me of almost being a WoW fanboy. Here's a clue to those folks: I dislike WoW. I've played it, but it is not my favorite MMO by a long stretch. In fact I never made end-game in WoW, it just didn't excite me. As I said, I've played just about every MMO to come out, and end-gamed many, WoW just isn't one of them. Hence why my review doesn't really compare much to WoW because I'm not the most qualified there. (Before I get jumped on, I recognize WoW as a major player in the industry, believe it is a quality game, have recommended to friends and family, I just don't play it as it doesn't engage me as much).
I also did not set out to bash Aion. As indicated, I *like* Aion. A lot. But my reviews and opinions are open minded. I point out Aion's faults. Several attacked me for only making level 10, which I thought I made clear. I've played at least 6 toons to level 10+ (13 is closer for most). My intent when playing Beta's is to find out what class I want to play, where I want to start, and whether the game engages me. I also feel, personally, any MMO needs to be absolutely engaging in the first 4 hours of play or it will not do well. I feel Aion misses the boat there. It does however, grow on you, but any subscription game that requires you to "stick with it" before you find it compelling will run into challenges no matter how awesome it is. Today's player base doesn't like to be told "The game begins at level X" (where X is end-game).
I stand by my argument. Compared to many other quality MMO's (of which I include Aion as a triple A quality title) Aion's first 6-7 levels are a bore and a chore. Time to complete is irrelevant ( i can do 1-10 in either faction in about 3-5 hours, 1-5 much much faster. Unfortunately the game requires too much running back and forth to be faster than that. Besides the too much running, I think Aion's actual leveling time early on is just about right. Boredom and choredom do not require "time". They just require uninteresting and uninnovative gameplay. And that's really the first 5-7 levels of Aion (which are long enough to not inspire newcomers to the game). The game does not reveal its strength in the first hour or two of play. In fact in the first hour or two of play it feels like a cloned solo grinding game with nothing but 4 classes and fails to differentiate itself from other quality Asian titles and falls flat against current Western MMO early gameplay. The content is standard fare and unheroic, you can't fly, you can't pvp. In fact every major selling point of the game is not revealed until at least the 3rd hour other than it's very impressive graphics. And even then, many major selling points, Open RvR, flight based combat, deep combo system, aren't revealed until nearly the 15th-25th hours of gameplay (your average casual gamer might get there in a week or two). That's a tough sell to an instant gratification MMO community that made WoW so popular.
Does this make Aion a stinker? No. But it is, imo a valid criticism of a fine game. I don't have to be fanatical about a game I like and I feel reviews shouldn't just bask in the glory of all that is amazing about a new product. Rather reveal traits that may or may not appeal to people who are hoping for the game so they can make a more informed decision, or explore aspects I talk about and decide for themselves if its important to them.
I agree 100% with you
"That's a tough sell to an instant gratification MMO community that made WoW so popular."
Sigh... sadly people got spoiled with this WoW mentality . But I am glad I did not. I for once want a more challenging experience, like the good old days of EQ1 where you had to work hard for things. At the end it's way more gratifying when you "really "earn things.
But that's just me.
I agree 100% with you
"That's a tough sell to an instant gratification MMO community that made WoW so popular."
Sigh... sadly people got spoiled with this WoW mentality . But I am glad I did not. I for once want a more challenging experience, like the good old days of EQ1 where you had to work hard for things. At the end it's way more gratifying when you "really "earn things.
But that's just me.
I actually agree with your quoted post to. I'm sorry if people thought this was some kind of "definitive" review. How could it be? It's Beta, the game is a month from launch, we all know there's a big content patch due and we all know that no US players have really tasted Aion end game.
But that wasn't the point. This was a CB5 review from my experience "so far". And while I agree that no review is complete of an MMO without significant end game time; the early game point of view, the first 10 hours, are critical. If a game is "not fun" in the first few hours, who in their right mind continues with it? These are MMO's, we buy them with the intent to play for months, if we're lucky years. If the first 10 hours present themselves poorly why should we commit our subscriber dollars to the game with so many other quality MMO's competing for our time?
Telling someone its an MMO and therefor you *have* to be in it for the long haul is erroneous thinking, consumers don't operate that way. Dedicated, die-hard MMO'ers do, but the "WoW" generaiton does not. And sadly in this day and age a game with 100k subscribers is not considered a success (IMO it should be, but WoW players ruined that too).