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So Sad that Aion is just WoW+Korean grind. Was expecting more.
After playing the beta for a while, I ended up decided not to pre-order, Aion to me is nothing more than another world of warcraft clone that just looks nicer, as a added bonus we get a lame korean typical mmorpg grind too Yippie!. My Main beef with Aion is the fact that its a WoW clone, and moreso that the game has nothing what-so-ever that is new or unique. Some people say a npc race, but, thats been done 8 years ago by DAoC.
Honestly though, what does Aion have to offer to attract me to buy it? I hated WoW and how it was setup. Aion reminds me too much of a mmorpg for dummies, with all skills and stats being done for you. The crafting system probally blows like it does in most korean devoloped(sp?) mmo's with ludicris material requirements and a sky-high fail rate. I Suspect Aion will do fine though, Hell Lineage 2 is still kicking, Before that Anarchy online is 10 or 11 years old and they just recently added a new expansion.
Anyway, I may reconsider if.. well, anyway I can use the orignal voices? Most english game dubs suck horribly, and I have a feeling Aion is another. For me gameplay > graphics and so far, Aion fails to deliver on gameplay. Does it get better later? or is it the same herded like sheep to the next quest hub system WoW uses?
Comments
Nice job w/ the word vomit. I think I may have gotten some in my eye. Just FYI, while lineage II is made by a korean dev. (some ones doing Aion), Anarchy online is not (it IS a western mmo, made by funcom **age of conan).
Anyway I'm not sure why you are acting like you want to give this game a chance, when everything leading up to that point clearly shows otherwise. Aion is no more grindy than any other MMO to come out to this day. Yes it's made by a korean development company, so don't complain if parts of it seem asian.
As for the voices / crafting, you'll just have to see that for yourself. My guess is that you'll only really give this game a chance after most people have already been playing enough to the point that there aren't many people left to complain to. It my fail, it may not, but it's not a bad game.
You were expecting more because...it took longer for you to post this than the actual research you did on the game before beta?
Way to back up your statements with solid claims like "the crafting probably blows" and "I suspect Aion will do fine". Yep, it sure will. It will survive countless posts such as yours, and already has.
If you want to find out what the game is really all about, head over to aionsource.com or actually read one of the many posts here by people who actually like the game. Most of those will tell you straight up there is not much new in this game. It's the combination of features that makes a game, not the features it mimics.
And just for fun I'll add in ...WoW's endgame is/was different. If you call this game a clone, you clearly never gave it a chance.
Just an honest question, how far did you get? The "Next Quest Hub" concept is just to get the majority of MMO players (players used to WoW) get into a comfortable level within the game and learn it's ins and outs. That portion of the game trails off at level 22+ where the game gradually becomes more open and quest hubs start to dwindle. In the Abyss the majority of quests are repeatable quests for Abyss Points and Coins. From 25+ you won't be very concerned with quest details, but more involved with watching your rear and ensuring you aren't ganked by an enemy player. I find 1-20 a tutorial and 20-25 a gradual slope to the real gameplay... the abyss. The Abyss is NOTHING like WoW.
Original voices can be changed if you look up information on which file in the Aion folder you can swap for. You can probably swap for Korean or Japanese voices. However if you are looking at the game this subjectively and critically just go find another game. It isn't trying to be something new.
Well, the problem with saying this is that there's no real way to explain this because there are not many people in the west that have seen end-game. This is principly due to the fact that end game can only be reached on the retail servers over in the east.
I've seen about mid-late game myself and have to say it's very different from WoW. When they say the game revolves around PvPvE, they mean it. Your abyss ranking/points aren't based solely on PvP performance, they're also based on PvE performance as well. Unlike in WoW where the two are mutually exclusive and the meaningful PvP that was promised so long ago never surfaced and never will.
If anything the game feels like DAOC used to. For anyone that played it pre-toa it's a godsend really. It's the kind of game that Mythic should have made with WAR instead of trying to reach for the stars and falling so short. Aion had a goal, clear purpose and drive that all came together by maintaining focus and no doubt a healthy dose of realism. NCsoft sat down and said this is what we want to do and that is what we can do. It's become obvious with games like WAR and AoC that their devs never properly sat down and made a list of can be done and what can't be done. Granted there was also obviously a severe misunderstanding of the time it would take to make their respective projects.
Mythic should have realized that having three entirely separate sets of tiers to progress through would require MASSIVE server populations. Basically the kind of massive servers and game world that Eve has, but somewhere along the line poor decisions were made.
Well...alright I've rambled off my point for too long now.
@OP
When i first started up Aion beta it felt SO like an asian grinder but i started picking up that it was like WoW but as i got to know the game more i found it's similar to both but nothing like either. Something i've always found lacking in almost any MMO i've ever played in is story. To me a game isn't "Just go level and fight PvP". I play MMO's to be immersed into an environment that feels like I'm not just running around and doing absolutely nothing but that i'm following a story and a plot in the game. Maybe I'm alone but a game MUST have a story for me to be remotely interested in it. WoW failed BIG time to me with that in that the quests just seemed a means to an end. Not like i was actually doing something worthwhile. Asian Grindcores feel the same way. Aion even in Beta seems to ahve put together a nice little story (i'm only level 18 at the moment mind you) that feels like i'm part of something.
The game, like any MMO, can be what you make of it. The fact that something is hard and time consuming does not make it any less worthwhile to do. You want to complain about crafting, go try Final Fantasy XI for a few months and you'll understand frustration. I've not gotten into the crafting part of Aion yet (infact, i dont know if it's even in the beta or not) as i've really not had much time to play but crafting in any game should be ridiculously difficult to level if it's going to earn people money. If it was easy, EVERYONE would do it and then it would just be pointless then.
@FastTx
I have to mention something too about a statement you made. "However if you are looking at the game this subjectively and critically just go find another game." I think this is a poor way to address it. I like the English voice overs on the CutScenes but i like the voices now when casting and such. Just because i would rather have those than the English voices does not mean i am being too critical. It's just my preference and dismissing someone who has one different than yours, i think, is wrong. I very much plan on keeping them as Japanese voices when the English ones are introduced. It adds to the game for me just as much as the gameplay, stories, quests, adventuring, graphics, and music.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Fishing, or just a glutton for punishment?
You won't get a positive response by blindly posting that Aion is a wow clone with nothing to back up your claim. You then go on to liken it to L2. I guess they copied the warcraft too.
What exactly makes it like WoW? Because you can quest? Advancing a character with skills and stats? I think you meant to say, its like an mmoRPG.
People get cracked out on WoW and desperately hope for a new game to come along and be the anti-wow.
Maybe you should try a non-mmorpg untill you can get the warcraft out of your system. I play other multiplayer games with my friends to bridge the gap between mmorpg's we can decide on. We'll be picking up Wolfenstein tomorrow
I looked up MMORPG at dictionary.com and what do you know it says WOW was the first one made.
/sarcasm off
WOW is just a clone of every game before it.
I'll be honest. I am not defending Aion at all, even though I will play it. What really gets up my tree are these assumptions based on you only playing beta, NOT the 1.5 LIVE version, NOT end game, WITHOUT a substantial community, WITHOUT much experience in the game. But then again, if you have already made up your mind, then so be it.
The REAL question is this: NOT what does AION bring to your table, but rather what does Aion NOT bring to your table?
At the moment, Aion does not bring you:
-A community
-A guild
-Friends
-Lore
-patch 1.5 (did you go beyond level 20?)
-The Abyss in true action
-Raids
-Knowing the "bad" boys (ie: the big bad NPCs and bosses)
-Profit off a Profession
-Money making
-Exploration
THESE are ALL game breakers and without them makes or breaks an MMORPG. There is virtually very little or next to nothing of these things that you could have properly experienced/mastered at this stage of Aion. No wonder you think this game is linear.
Do you mean the NA/EU Aion beta does not bring those? Because everything you mentioned is working in the Korean release.
No, he means that the poster couldn't have experienced these things because of the beta limitations and the lack of time played in the game.
I'm personally really looking forward to the open beta and launch, I've been pre-ordered for about 3 months.
Well, a beta can't bring:
because a good portion of the people participating in the beta may choose not to play the game. Or pick another server. Or another nickname. Usually the crowd you meet in betas is unlike the crowd you meet in the finished game. There isn't much in terms of social investment in betas, so you can be a total ass (kill-steal, node grab, quest grab etc.). These things don't happen as much in the released version, since the people find themselves playing on their own if they do.
is already there, just fragmented. The first betas I participated were missing the introductory video. That confused people who didn't realise why they woke up in the place and state they did. Some of the confusion was lifted after those videos were introduced. I say some, because until I read it somewhere, I thought the planet was a normal place where people were on the outside and not on the inside of it.
will bring more content for the mid to end game. We will also get some more customisation choices in terms of more western looking faces. I don't know why that version is not tested, but the game has gone gold with it a few days back, so it's definitely included.
difficult to say without an established community. I don't think we'll know how the game will fare. It may be awesome or it may be a gang squad borefest. It will take some time for the first organised guilds to appear and claim a part of the action.
Quite a few of them are tightly connected to patch 1.5. Personally I don't expect WoW-like orchestrated raid bosses, at least not at the beginning. And especially not inside territories that are PvP contested.
Again no idea how fast money is made in the game. Money was a non issue for the levels we've witnessed (if people are careful with their purchases), but we don't know what the major money sinks are at the end level.
I actually don't believe that the game will be big enough to allow players to find things no other has. Since it's mostly about the conflict, I expect quite a few common points of interest for both races and choke points were battles in the abyss will ensue.
Bottom line, as with all betas, this one as well offers but a glimpse of the potential the game has to offer in the long run. People are supposed to be able to decide, given the beta info, on whether they like the game enough to make the initial purchase or not.
Unfortunately everyone think this is what Betas are for. Beta's are not a lengthy trial of the game. It is to Beta test the game and report bugs.
Beta Test: A software version released to a limited population of users for functionality and bug test evaluation before the final release to the general user base.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Well, the current state of open betas is really previews nowadays. Pretty much noone uses the general public for actual bug fixing work these days. However, they still retain some beta qualities, as you can still test the server and connection load.
How in the hell is a quest based game a Korean grinder?
so...
I have not played Aion, but that statement right there undermines your credibility. It "Probally (probably) blows"? You didn't try it and experience it for yourself, yet you presume to judge it. I can't help but wonder how much, if any, of the rest of the game you experienced before bashing it.
Aion is nothing like WoW.
I can't agree with you on the crafting being bad, despite me not liking Aion to much the crafting system is tops for me...
I am a fan of Asian MMOs (Japanese to be exact) I played the Aion betas each weekend and the game just isn't for me, mainly because of forced PvP. A lot of people will love Aion and the game is good for what group of gamers it is aiming at, I am just looking for something different that I can relax to after a long day, which means no forced PvP for me.
It isn't a WoW clone, the reason you think that is because that is probably the only game you have played, most MMORPGs are like this, because that is the way the genre is.
The combat is remarkably similar to WoW's (replace rage/energy requirements with skill chains and longer cooldowns) and the mirrored classes (for the most part, except for maybe gladiator, templar and chanter) will definitely remind you of it's looming influence on the genre.
It's not quite far to call it an Asian grinder, however, since it does have just enough content to keep you lvling up to half way through the game. While many might praise it's lore, it's in no way as fleshed out as WoW's: I remember pre-ordering WoW and getting a novel with my purchase (not that I read it, because it was still on a 5th grade leve l); the fact that it "borrowed" (stole) from Warhammer really facilitated the whole deal.
If you had taken vanilla WoW, made it smaller, taken away some of the quests, added an INCENTIVE to world PvP (I think this is a huge lure to the Aion fan base), added flying and flying combat, taken away meaningful class customization (the stigma system is really a joke, since of the 10 or so skills you can choose only a couple are really optimal), fleshed out crafting, made the soundtrack and graphics awesome, added a hefty grind to the last 10 lvls (and I mean HEFTY) and added an Asian theme, then you would nearly have Aion.
So, imho, it's a bit of a stretch to call Aion a WoW-clone, or a clone of anything really. WoW started as a game with POTENTIAL to have meaningful World PvP, but ended up in an instance fest. I personally like both, but I do prefer the arena system, since in World PvP it most often boils down to sheer numbers and not reasoning. The number of threads on the beta forum of Asmodians complaining about Elyos stymieing lower level progression is merely a harbinger of what is to come...
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
All i read in this post was, wow wow wow wow wow.
Just an honest question, how far did you get? The "Next Quest Hub" concept is just to get the majority of MMO players (players used to WoW) get into a comfortable level within the game and learn it's ins and outs. That portion of the game trails off at level 22+ where the game gradually becomes more open and quest hubs start to dwindle. In the Abyss the majority of quests are repeatable quests for Abyss Points and Coins. From 25+ you won't be very concerned with quest details, but more involved with watching your rear and ensuring you aren't ganked by an enemy player. I find 1-20 a tutorial and 20-25 a gradual slope to the real gameplay... the abyss. The Abyss is NOTHING like WoW.
Original voices can be changed if you look up information on which file in the Aion folder you can swap for. You can probably swap for Korean or Japanese voices. However if you are looking at the game this subjectively and critically just go find another game. It isn't trying to be something new.
I think you've slightly proved their point. Initially there is simply a PvE level game then you can go to the Abyss and start grinding away at rank there. Reads to me to be a similar report to OP: WOW + Korean grind. The game elements you think of as new are simply re-workings of other mmorpg. That's not all bad, but the grind element to this game may prove its Achilles heal.
Well, I'll put you on ignore then and you can do the same for me so you won't ever have to read WoW again.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
Good times
It seems to yet another thread to an ever growing trend to just toss on labels to 'attempt' to make your angst more valid
The game has a few similarties to WoW at best & if you look cross-eyed at it...Make sure next time to complain about Kia too.../sigh.
Aion is better than most at attempting new things (even if few) and should make folks happy
Not me or you...but other folks...
I find it funny that people refer to games as WoW clones, when Warcraft itself was basically a ripoff from Warhammer (like SC was for WH40K). Face it, WoW is just a clone of other games - it did not offer anything original. It is the simplest game out there, requiring the least amount of effort. It is the game you can sit down the grandparents to play or that newborn baby that can finally keep its head from lolling from side to side. The more people bash this game, Aion, the more I feel like I want to play it. Perhaps it is some sort of reverse psychology they are playing around with, eh?
No its not.
AION has meaningful open PvP.
WoW has instanced mini-games PvP and stupid e-games.
Aion is closer to DAoC than WoW.
The grind is basically the same as vanilla WoW was.