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Aion: Review
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Best thing about the review is the first Quote.
Improve Aion's Graphics with a simple text file that you can create by yourself:
-Increase in-game Field of View to 175% or more
-Increase view distance for players to 100 meters with camera at max distance
-Lots of other settings
Learn how by reading this guide at Aionsource
http://www.aionsource.com/forum/general-guides/84379-definite-guide-aions-graphical-settings-performance-tips.html
So did the reviewer hit level cap? Or is this another review of a scrub that hit level 25 and thinks he's taken in the whole thing? If so this review means jack.
Kudos to you Sean for writing what I think is probably one of the most fair reviews I've read about Aion so far. I personally can't stand to play the game but I'm not going to hate on you for writing a positive review. You didn't overlook some of the issues the game has had so far but you didn't shred it to pieces for having some issues at launch. The fact that this game really wasn't what I would call a "new release" when it launched here will end up benefiting it in the NA market big time. Unfortunately for me I wanted something that offered some new experiences than I had in WoW et. al over the last 4 years. Good job bro!
Fair review I think but I wouldn't give it an 8.7. Definitely a 7.5 out of 10 would be my opinion. I think for the time we are in Aion should be major step above all mmos, including WoW. The problem is that it isn't a step above everyone else, its pretty much the same thing since WoW launched with prettier graphics and art style. All NCsoft did was make a theme park mmo and slap a pricetag on it.
If you think 50 is where the game begines.. Well I don't know what to tell you then. Ever since I hit 25 I have run through 4-5 different dungeon areas. Taken part in 6 different epic keep captures. Killed over 200 Elyos and been wiped out by a Baluar Dreadigen Space Ship twice.
At this point now (31) I have done around 200-250 quests and have a log book full of 30 more quests to do. I have also reached a crafting skill of 250 to fill my Alchemy crafting need of pots in pvp.
The last time I had this much fun in a MMO was back in the 90's when Ultima Online launched.
So, no You do not have to be 50 in order to have fun in the game. Though once you do reach 50 you will have alot of additional content to play around with (9+ instances to do, Rifting PvP, Abyss PvP and Fortress Captures, 10+ Different Raid World Bosses, 4+ different open world dungeon areas).
If all you enjoy is PvP or PvE alone then Aion is more then likely not going to be for you. You will need to be able to enjoy both equally to enjoy the game. Heck there is even a endgame instance that focuses on PvPvE where you are fighting through different bosses to reach the last boss and along the way you will encounter the opposit faction and have to fight ageanst them.
It doesn't matter if you disagree or not. I'm not exaggerating when I say I seen the same gold spammers and scammers there for 3 days straight. If you play only one character, you wouldn't notice it after you block them. But I was trying out all the classes and that took about a week. For several days I was blocking the same gold spammers and scammers, so you're disagreement is ignorance to me.
MMORPG's with general chat vary in the degree of childishness. I'd say average is what should be tolerable, any more than that is intolerable, and any less than that is a great community. For example, depending on the server, WOW general chat can range from intolerable to great community. So server choice has a lot to do with it. Some games as a whole promote or attract a better community, such as EvE, Saga of Ryzom, and LoTRO. No one could really know before a game releases on what kind of community a game will attract, but on both Lumiel and Meslamtaeda, they were intolerable. So to answer your question, some MMO's don't have that problem, or it's so seldom the problem is insignificant.
Your last question is addressed to grind. In this case, I'm speaking of doing an activity that offers no immersion at all, and is very repetative. Killing mobs by the hundreds, one at a time, using the same skills...for hours, is a grind. An uninteresting, and a non-mental stimulating one at that. Some games do a better job of hiding the fact that you need x amount of xp before the next level. Such games offer content that immerses you in the game, and story, if you bother to read them. Such games are not grindy, depending on the immersion factor. When I hated quests, or had no tolerance for the trash quests, I found questing an intolerable and mindless grind. Moreso than I did grinding. However, some games do a better job than others at writing quests and tying them into the main story. For example, WoW's WoTLK expansion actually was one large story, where each zone contributed to the overall story, yet had their own mini-story, in which every quest you did contributed to the mini-story, which indirectly contributed to the main story. So the quests in that game were immersive, which made the leveling non-grindy. LoTRO is another example of this, except they offer an epic storyline in addition to the smaller quests which build upon each other, completing the larger picture of what's going on in the area. AION had such immersion from 1-20, but after that it was spotty. I'm sure some parts of AION after that are immersive, but the game has too much space in-between those immersive stents filled with mindnumbing grind.
I can say for an MMO that is not even a year old yet it has come out pretty well so far. Granted the queues where not great but they did add servers when needed to help cut them down. They have done hotfixes to alleviate the situation but also need to come up with a security program to deal with the bot solution somewhat, i do see them trying to alleviate the gold spam problem but i think that also has to do with players buying Kinah too.
Personally i don't go by reviews, i do my own research about a game before i play it. As has been said, reviews are just peoples opinion and everyone has them be it good or bad. I don't expect lots of people to enjoy it but i do see a lot that want a return of some of the old school elements from past MMO's.
Only way to truely say if a MMO is for you is to try it, i have tryed quiet a few in my time and some just didn't cut it for me while others did.
I'd say it was a fairly balanced review, might not have rated it that high, but I'm prob burned out on high fantasy and the same old same old MMO so it's me. It is a good game though, but far from great.
It doesn't matter if you disagree or not. I'm not exaggerating when I say I seen the same gold spammers and scammers there for 3 days straight. If you play only one character, you wouldn't notice it after you block them. But I was trying out all the classes and that took about a week. For several days I was blocking the same gold spammers and scammers, so you're disagreement is ignorance to me.
MMORPG's with general chat vary in the degree of childishness. I'd say average is what should be tolerable, any more than that is intolerable, and any less than that is a great community. For example, depending on the server, WOW general chat can range from intolerable to great community. So server choice has a lot to do with it. Some games as a whole promote or attract a better community, such as EvE, Saga of Ryzom, and LoTRO. No one could really know before a game releases on what kind of community a game will attract, but on both Lumiel and Meslamtaeda, they were intolerable. So to answer your question, some MMO's don't have that problem, or it's so seldom the problem is insignificant.
Your last question is addressed to grind. In this case, I'm speaking of doing an activity that offers no immersion at all, and is very repetative. Killing mobs by the hundreds, one at a time, using the same skills...for hours, is a grind. An uninteresting, and a non-mental stimulating one at that. Some games do a better job of hiding the fact that you need x amount of xp before the next level. Such games offer content that immerses you in the game, and story, if you bother to read them. Such games are not grindy, depending on the immersion factor. When I hated quests, or had no tolerance for the trash quests, I found questing an intolerable and mindless grind. Moreso than I did grinding. However, some games do a better job than others at writing quests and tying them into the main story. For example, WoW's WoTLK expansion actually was one large story, where each zone contributed to the overall story, yet had their own mini-story, in which every quest you did contributed to the mini-story, which indirectly contributed to the main story. So the quests in that game were immersive, which made the leveling non-grindy. LoTRO is another example of this, except they offer an epic storyline in addition to the smaller quests which build upon each other, completing the larger picture of what's going on in the area. AION had such immersion from 1-20, but after that it was spotty. I'm sure some parts of AION after that are immersive, but the game has too much space in-between those immersive stents filled with mindnumbing grind.
Your choice in trying the different classes on the same day with the same spammers, but i don't expect them to be banned right away but after a few hours they are gone. There are other thing to do besides grind or quest grind in game. Considering this MMO is only 11 months out, things take time to flesh out properly, hell even WoW took it's time to from it's begining to get as far as it did. As far as mind numbing grind well that is also your opinion on that and it varies from person to person. Oh i do play on Lumiel so i have seen the GM's do their job when they are on.
Its funny how a reviewer that only talks about 1-25, and nothing else , and the fanbois here agree with everything and says its a great review, yet other reviews from other sites that have played the same or just abit less of levels, the fanbois start saying " has the reviewer even hit lvl cap yet", "how many hours did u play:?, "judging a game on the firts 20 or so levels is not a review", "have u done end game yet".
Its all rosy when the reviewer is a fanboi himself , yet a similiar review done by another site is slammed because his played a few levels less lol. This site is a joke along with the idiots posting here. No more posting here for me. Post what u want iot wont be read. just realise the Hypocrisy on this site is beyond belief.
I'm not interested in reviews that are all "fluffy kittens" and "happy thoughts". I want a critique. I what to hear a critical evaluation of the game--even the best games have issues. Because ultimately it's whether or not I can tolerate the "issues" with the game that will determine the long-term playability for me. I found this review far too positive. And the only place they start to lean critical, the next to the last paragraph, it's more about outside forces on the the game--Gold spam and GM response time--than about game mechanics, etc.
It doesn't matter if you disagree or not. I'm not exaggerating when I say I seen the same gold spammers and scammers there for 3 days straight. If you play only one character, you wouldn't notice it after you block them. But I was trying out all the classes and that took about a week. For several days I was blocking the same gold spammers and scammers, so you're disagreement is ignorance to me.
MMORPG's with general chat vary in the degree of childishness. I'd say average is what should be tolerable, any more than that is intolerable, and any less than that is a great community. For example, depending on the server, WOW general chat can range from intolerable to great community. So server choice has a lot to do with it. Some games as a whole promote or attract a better community, such as EvE, Saga of Ryzom, and LoTRO. No one could really know before a game releases on what kind of community a game will attract, but on both Lumiel and Meslamtaeda, they were intolerable. So to answer your question, some MMO's don't have that problem, or it's so seldom the problem is insignificant.
Your last question is addressed to grind. In this case, I'm speaking of doing an activity that offers no immersion at all, and is very repetative. Killing mobs by the hundreds, one at a time, using the same skills...for hours, is a grind. An uninteresting, and a non-mental stimulating one at that. Some games do a better job of hiding the fact that you need x amount of xp before the next level. Such games offer content that immerses you in the game, and story, if you bother to read them. Such games are not grindy, depending on the immersion factor. When I hated quests, or had no tolerance for the trash quests, I found questing an intolerable and mindless grind. Moreso than I did grinding. However, some games do a better job than others at writing quests and tying them into the main story. For example, WoW's WoTLK expansion actually was one large story, where each zone contributed to the overall story, yet had their own mini-story, in which every quest you did contributed to the mini-story, which indirectly contributed to the main story. So the quests in that game were immersive, which made the leveling non-grindy. LoTRO is another example of this, except they offer an epic storyline in addition to the smaller quests which build upon each other, completing the larger picture of what's going on in the area. AION had such immersion from 1-20, but after that it was spotty. I'm sure some parts of AION after that are immersive, but the game has too much space in-between those immersive stents filled with mindnumbing grind.
I agree with you on the gold spamming and scamming. The game is running rampent with them both. BUT even with that said I hold out some hope that the upcoming hirement of alot more GMs (they are going 24/7 GM support soon) and the re-introduction of GameGuard will help reduce alot of the botting and Spamming. (Because if you disable gameguard they can detect it and you are more then likely going to get banned for it. And we all know GameGuard hates to see anything else running on your computer while its running - And no I am not a fan of GameGuard.. But if it helps the problems then I am all for putting up with it)
I can only somewhat agree on the immersion after 20. There are a fair number of kill quests and such afterwards. (But come on there really only 3 types of quests in MMO's: Fedex, Kill, and Find type quests.. thats the essence of MMOs right there.) What I do enjoy is the cutscreen's and the campaign quests. Most of them keep the story flowing right along past 20. Most of the lvl 25+ instances you encounter are nicely put togeather and have a good story to go along with them.
Borred at lvl 25
Really borred at lvl 26
Cancel account at lvl 27 ....
Back to Lotro.
So what your saying is that you want to hear all the "negative" aspects of the game rather than a solid balance of what's good and what's bad? Too positive obviously equals a conspiracy by Aion fanbois to tilt the curve away from games such as WoW right?
This is an idiotic mindset and moreover it's what is contributing to the problem of games being rushed out, overhyped, and under delivered to meet an unrealistic expectation.
The review is a solid one and the 8.7 is deserved. I've played them all just about and I left WoW myself after going through the trend of big hyped up games coming out only to fall flat, heralding a return to WoW. This time I was very pleasantly surprised and that's even going in with a really pessimistic view.
People need to stop feeling threatened and stop hating on this game just because their worried their game might topple from the number 1 spot. Who cares. Enjoy it for what it is. No one said it was revolutionary, they said it was a new take on an old model and after experiencing it first hand, I'll take it. It's beautiful, well polished, and has some very interesting and unique features.
Almost a 9 for this game???
Way over rated, the reviewer was a bit over enthusiastic.
This game is not awful, but giving it a 9 shows how biased the reviewer was.
Aion is very polished, it has decent content and the graphics are pretty good.
But the game play can be tedious and repetitive, and you need to grind quite a lot in order to max your character.
Also the game doesn't bring anything new to the genre whatsoever, therefore lacking the innovation element which doesn't justify such an high score.
Hardly 9 rating material.....................
Read the Aion Review
1st off... we asmodians are just asangelic as well you pompous tree hugging Elyos... tee hee! Sorry for being curt but honestly your very first sentence came of like you think of us asmodians as the lesser faction... being the underdogs and the fallen one's that got the short end of the stick, "meaning we got no sun on our half of the world and were freezing or butt's off so we got this wierd furry mane on our backside keep us warm..." therefore our wings do not look ethereal like the Elyos... forgive me if i seem to be coming off defensive" OMG you say hero / villain just cuzz we have black wings we are labeled bad? ROFLMAO! >*< ! Holy cow what next a forum post on racism between the to factions ROFLMAO tee hee *giggles... I do agree of your opinon on the lore story line... for some people that like to play solo they ae screwed for you are forced to play in groups or never lvl to your peek level. PvP is fun and the PvE is falty at the least for if you do not gather in the game when you reach level 20 your damned when doing quests in Morhiem for it seems you must gather at least 30 % or more things to finish a quest in that region... i know i'm going off subject but their ore some bugs in the GRFX in the game that i hope the address soon ... " if AION does not get a handle on the spammersin channels 1-2-3-4-5 & 6 things are going to be rough for alot of ppl chat is gone "LFG ch. is gone as well as trade ch. is gone! and these channels are VERY MUCH needed... i like doing solo things but this mmo was not made to be like that so i accept this and enjoy AION, as for the paying for paying for death... this is bunk !
In conclusion i concur with 75 % of what Stradden has said...
( at least you addressed that we have to live in the cold harsh weather with no sun! ! )
& 4 Ascended Alts ... 10 assasin 10 gladiator 10 ranger & sorc!
*Giggles!!!
in a mmo called Rohan 'blood feud' there was a way that they got rid of the gold spammers after1 month the game put in these handcuffs you could buy at any NPC vendor for 5 gold and if you saw a spammer or a gold farmer or a dealer you could slap the cuffs on them and it would Immediately send a tell to a Game Master and they would BAN them from the game...
now it did not get rid of all of them cuzz they could remake a toon and come back but the players could police the game. At the very least keep the chats from being swamped... in AION ... "my god i have to stay in my own tab that i made in the game so i don't see the spammers BUT they killed the 1.2.3.4.5.6. ch. LFG and Trade windows are useless!!!
Have played: Asheron's Call, Champions Online, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lord of the Rings Online, RF Online, Rohan: Blood Feud, Shaiya, Ultima Online, Warhammer, WoW and SC, BW, D1, Diablo 1 expantion, D2, D2x, Warcraft 2, & 3 !
I agree
So what your saying is that you want to hear all the "negative" aspects of the game rather than a solid balance of what's good and what's bad? Too positive obviously equals a conspiracy by Aion fanbois to tilt the curve away from games such as WoW right?
This is an idiotic mindset and moreover it's what is contributing to the problem of games being rushed out, overhyped, and under delivered to meet an unrealistic expectation.
The review is a solid one and the 8.7 is deserved. I've played them all just about and I left WoW myself after going through the trend of big hyped up games coming out only to fall flat, heralding a return to WoW. This time I was very pleasantly surprised and that's even going in with a really pessimistic view.
People need to stop feeling threatened and stop hating on this game just because their worried their game might topple from the number 1 spot. Who cares. Enjoy it for what it is. No one said it was revolutionary, they said it was a new take on an old model and after experiencing it first hand, I'll take it. It's beautiful, well polished, and has some very interesting and unique features.
What kind of mindset is it when you make assumptions about other people?
That poster asked for an honest critique of the game, not an overly negative review. Critiques reveal both the good and the bad. That poster was right that this wasn't a critique, because it didn't systematically reveal the good and the bad of the game. However, a critique would require more thought and would be longer than gamers might want to spend reading a forum. So a critique may not be called for. I wouldn't of minded a critique, nor would that poster you quoted. I'd of found a real critique interesting, even though I've played the game and didn't like it.
So what your saying is that you want to hear all the "negative" aspects of the game rather than a solid balance of what's good and what's bad?
Yes, that is exactly what I want. And so I am still waiting for a review that does it.
So what your saying is that you want to hear all the "negative" aspects of the game rather than a solid balance of what's good and what's bad? Too positive obviously equals a conspiracy by Aion fanbois to tilt the curve away from games such as WoW right?
This is an idiotic mindset and moreover it's what is contributing to the problem of games being rushed out, overhyped, and under delivered to meet an unrealistic expectation.
The review is a solid one and the 8.7 is deserved. I've played them all just about and I left WoW myself after going through the trend of big hyped up games coming out only to fall flat, heralding a return to WoW. This time I was very pleasantly surprised and that's even going in with a really pessimistic view.
People need to stop feeling threatened and stop hating on this game just because their worried their game might topple from the number 1 spot. Who cares. Enjoy it for what it is. No one said it was revolutionary, they said it was a new take on an old model and after experiencing it first hand, I'll take it. It's beautiful, well polished, and has some very interesting and unique features.
What kind of mindset is it when you make assumptions about other people?
That poster asked for an honest critique of the game, not an overly negative review. Critiques reveal both the good and the bad. That poster was right that this wasn't a critique, because it didn't systematically reveal the good and the bad of the game. However, a critique would require more thought and would be longer than gamers might want to spend reading a forum. So a critique may not be called for. I wouldn't of minded a critique, nor would that poster you quoted. I'd of found a real critique interesting, even though I've played the game and didn't like it.
Really? Then why don't you give us that critique since you seem to be the expert on what a review is or isn't?
Just so I'm clear...the rating system is 1-9 right? Not 1-10. Because a 10 is obviously by everyones standards here not possible and a 9 is pretty much the right hand of god? Yes?
Well the good stuff is already mentioned to death at any advertisment of the game, the games fansites, websites etc. So a reliable review must stress the negative stuff.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
So what your saying is that you want to hear all the "negative" aspects of the game rather than a solid balance of what's good and what's bad? Too positive obviously equals a conspiracy by Aion fanbois to tilt the curve away from games such as WoW right?
This is an idiotic mindset and moreover it's what is contributing to the problem of games being rushed out, overhyped, and under delivered to meet an unrealistic expectation.
The review is a solid one and the 8.7 is deserved. I've played them all just about and I left WoW myself after going through the trend of big hyped up games coming out only to fall flat, heralding a return to WoW. This time I was very pleasantly surprised and that's even going in with a really pessimistic view.
People need to stop feeling threatened and stop hating on this game just because their worried their game might topple from the number 1 spot. Who cares. Enjoy it for what it is. No one said it was revolutionary, they said it was a new take on an old model and after experiencing it first hand, I'll take it. It's beautiful, well polished, and has some very interesting and unique features.
What kind of mindset is it when you make assumptions about other people?
That poster asked for an honest critique of the game, not an overly negative review. Critiques reveal both the good and the bad. That poster was right that this wasn't a critique, because it didn't systematically reveal the good and the bad of the game. However, a critique would require more thought and would be longer than gamers might want to spend reading a forum. So a critique may not be called for. I wouldn't of minded a critique, nor would that poster you quoted. I'd of found a real critique interesting, even though I've played the game and didn't like it.
Really? Then why don't you give us that critique since you seem to be the expert on what a review is or isn't?
To what purpose would a critique serve and what would the benefit be for me? I've already critiqued the game for myself, which lead me to quit the game. Critiquing the game is not my job, nor is there any real benefit to me doing so for a forum full of ungrateful people, who will likely let the thread die in a matter of days, after flaming it to death. The only way I'll spend the effort to write down a critique about something is if I was properly rewarded for it, such as if it was my job, or a grade in school depended on it.
Well the good stuff is already mentioned to death at any advertisment of the game, the games fansites, websites etc. So a reliable review must stress the negative stuff.
Completely disagree. Aspects of the game should be told in a non biased and fair manner. If there are no negative aspects of a game or your having to get to microscopic to look for them then you tell it like it is...that there are really no negative aspects that you could find or that the ones you did find which are this, this, and that, are really more of a minor annoyance or hardly mentionable flaw. Same goes with the positive side...if all you find is negativity and the positives are too small then you mention them for what they are.
What you don't do is try to drum up things to try to create some equal balance in order to appease the readers of a review because they believe a review isn't a review unless it's mostly negative...or mostly positive.
Just state the facts and let the reader make up their own mind. That being said a review is always going to be created in the eyes of the person doing the review and what they find as an annoyance or what have you, might be something that's right up your alley in terms of play style or what have you.
mmorpg.com's review of wow they gave it an 8.0
aion gets an 8.7?
aion is wow with...less content...
make sense