To be honest, I'm looking forward to a game that actually has me 'questing' and figuring out where to go, what to do, and how to do it. I bought CE Aion, 3 month sub, and I haven't even played yet. Big step forward and I'm hoping Aion captures the feel that I had when WoW first came out. I say big step because of Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa, and Warhammer... which in my mind did not meet my expectations and I did the same thing... think I'd learn by now?
I'm not looking for a game that allows me to hit level cap in 24 hours so I can then 'GRIND' end game over and over again hoping I get a piece of loot. I'm looking for a game that allows me to enjoy the entire game from beginning to end, allows me to learn my class skills, allows me to feel a sense of acheivement even when I'm only level 12. I'm looking for a game that quests allow other quests to become available. I want to feel a hero every step of the way, even when my 2-5 hours a week gear isn't as pretty as the guy who spends 20 hours a day playing. To this end is what a MMORPG game should be.
What makes this game more exciting in terms of level grind is the added excitement from PvP in the Abyss and from Rifts. And it is not only because you can be killed and be forced to respawn, but also because the PvP system has a Risk and Reward system unlike in many other MMOs of this genre.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Having played the game almost a year now I would make a post telling you the truth about Aion but if you do that your post gets deleted and you get a warning. So suffice to say buy it even if you dont play it because thats all that the gave devs and hence gaming rags bought and paid for by game publishers care about.
Well, guess your forum PvP must not match your stellar gaming PvP. You got ganked on the forum...deal with it :P
Anyways as for the topic, I played both in beta although not extensively. At least through the twenties both of these games leveled at about the same pace in my opinion. However, while it isn't present at the lower levels this does turn into a PvP oriented game (actually PvPvE - but the main fact is PvP comes into play) which if you're a diehard PvE player you may not be happy with. Also, I think the levelling curve between the two games varies greatly so while I leveled about the same I think at higher levels it would take longer to level in Aion than CO.
As to if it's a grind? For me it wasn't because I enjoyed it. At this point I've seen someone relate every goddamn element in an mmorpg and complain it's a grind so quite frankly I think some just need to take a break from the genre or realize that maybe mmos aren't for them in general. Every game has it's "grind mechanics" if you want to get technical. It's whether you enjoy those mechanics that make the difference.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
asp why would you play a game thats mostly dedicated towards pvp while you only care about pve. thats just setting yourself up for failure
I wouldnt say it is dedicated to PvP although its a part of the world. Its the same with WoW and never once did I play PvP in WoW. The PvE of Aion is nothing new or exciting to me leading to the fact that it dosnet engaged me at all. Maybe time will change my mind, but I have alot of issue with the PvE. The reason PvP dosent appeal to me is that it dosent matter how skillful you are; you will always be out-done by the people with the best gear and who can play the most (not me). Maybe this is "boo-hoo" but honestly if you are a casual gamer, PvP is out.
Im actualy a good PvP player even though I dont have a ton of time to spend playing and usualy dont have the best gear. I understand where you are coming from with the statement above but I think you will find in some games tactic rules the PvP field. Yes in arena or zerg based PvP which can be fun equipment rules the field but in organized PvP which is what Aion clames to be aiming for like what we saw in DAoC its your ability to work well as a unit that wins or loses the battle.
Now the post below yours that players with the most time should have the advantage I both agree and disagree with, I do agree that commitment should be rewarded but it shoudl be rewarded in such a manner that it does not break the balance of the game. The poster did say he thought the reward should be slight so perhaps he was getting at that. In addition I think it should be possible for the casual player to gain thouse rewards i.e. a lifetime rank or PvP level such as we saw in DAoC if you had the time and could grind it out your could rais you realm rank very quickly and gain that advantage but through dillagence a casual player could also gain thouse advantages since the points you earned where presistent same as exp points. So I understand Aion will not be using this model and thats my only hang up with it, I will still play game and enjoy its PvP but I am a bit down that I will never get to fully max my avatar since I wont likely ever have the time to make and hold the top ranks.
Now I dont consider my self a casual player even though I dont have a ton of time per title I am a commited gamer so my reasoning behind the above is not self motivated but rather based on the idea that for the max fun you need mathmaticaly balanced field. If any class, faction or player has a mathmatical advantage it will hurt the over all experance, its not a deal breaker assuming the advantage is none to great but none the less its an unnessisary impact on the mechanics when you coudl simply make the rewards for being the best fluff (no mathmatical impact) or at least not an advantage that others couldn't compensate for i.e. non stacking status inhancments.
To sum that up, I think you will find that PvP can be just as fun for a casual player in the right game, is Aion that game I think it could be but time will tell for sure. If Aion shifts to an arena or zerg based PvP such as we see in WoW then no casual players wont get the full joy out of PvP that HC players will but that shouldn't rune the game over all unless (as in your case) the PvE aspects just dont speak to you.
PvP rewards seem to be a hard thing for some to balance, a player thinks they want a mathmatical advantage but once they gain it they will likely get board (ever use a god mode cheat in a stand alone game {its an exsadurated example} it kills the fun because it decresses the challange). As a player that rides off skill not stats I would even like to see a hero mode for the upper ranks where they are flagged as such but gain no status enhancments, this draws attention to the player makes life harder for them incressing the challange and for me the fun factor (if I was the hero). In Aion this could be as simple as making the top ranked players show up on the map so they simply can not hide or supprise attack the enemy every challanger would know where they where and would have a tachtical advantage (in that they have knwoledge the hero does not) which they will prolly need if that top ranked player is actualy the more skilled player.
Comments
To be honest, I'm looking forward to a game that actually has me 'questing' and figuring out where to go, what to do, and how to do it. I bought CE Aion, 3 month sub, and I haven't even played yet. Big step forward and I'm hoping Aion captures the feel that I had when WoW first came out. I say big step because of Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa, and Warhammer... which in my mind did not meet my expectations and I did the same thing... think I'd learn by now?
I'm not looking for a game that allows me to hit level cap in 24 hours so I can then 'GRIND' end game over and over again hoping I get a piece of loot. I'm looking for a game that allows me to enjoy the entire game from beginning to end, allows me to learn my class skills, allows me to feel a sense of acheivement even when I'm only level 12. I'm looking for a game that quests allow other quests to become available. I want to feel a hero every step of the way, even when my 2-5 hours a week gear isn't as pretty as the guy who spends 20 hours a day playing. To this end is what a MMORPG game should be.
What makes this game more exciting in terms of level grind is the added excitement from PvP in the Abyss and from Rifts. And it is not only because you can be killed and be forced to respawn, but also because the PvP system has a Risk and Reward system unlike in many other MMOs of this genre.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Well, guess your forum PvP must not match your stellar gaming PvP. You got ganked on the forum...deal with it :P
Anyways as for the topic, I played both in beta although not extensively. At least through the twenties both of these games leveled at about the same pace in my opinion. However, while it isn't present at the lower levels this does turn into a PvP oriented game (actually PvPvE - but the main fact is PvP comes into play) which if you're a diehard PvE player you may not be happy with. Also, I think the levelling curve between the two games varies greatly so while I leveled about the same I think at higher levels it would take longer to level in Aion than CO.
As to if it's a grind? For me it wasn't because I enjoyed it. At this point I've seen someone relate every goddamn element in an mmorpg and complain it's a grind so quite frankly I think some just need to take a break from the genre or realize that maybe mmos aren't for them in general. Every game has it's "grind mechanics" if you want to get technical. It's whether you enjoy those mechanics that make the difference.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
I wouldnt say it is dedicated to PvP although its a part of the world. Its the same with WoW and never once did I play PvP in WoW. The PvE of Aion is nothing new or exciting to me leading to the fact that it dosnet engaged me at all. Maybe time will change my mind, but I have alot of issue with the PvE. The reason PvP dosent appeal to me is that it dosent matter how skillful you are; you will always be out-done by the people with the best gear and who can play the most (not me). Maybe this is "boo-hoo" but honestly if you are a casual gamer, PvP is out.
Im actualy a good PvP player even though I dont have a ton of time to spend playing and usualy dont have the best gear. I understand where you are coming from with the statement above but I think you will find in some games tactic rules the PvP field. Yes in arena or zerg based PvP which can be fun equipment rules the field but in organized PvP which is what Aion clames to be aiming for like what we saw in DAoC its your ability to work well as a unit that wins or loses the battle.
Now the post below yours that players with the most time should have the advantage I both agree and disagree with, I do agree that commitment should be rewarded but it shoudl be rewarded in such a manner that it does not break the balance of the game. The poster did say he thought the reward should be slight so perhaps he was getting at that. In addition I think it should be possible for the casual player to gain thouse rewards i.e. a lifetime rank or PvP level such as we saw in DAoC if you had the time and could grind it out your could rais you realm rank very quickly and gain that advantage but through dillagence a casual player could also gain thouse advantages since the points you earned where presistent same as exp points. So I understand Aion will not be using this model and thats my only hang up with it, I will still play game and enjoy its PvP but I am a bit down that I will never get to fully max my avatar since I wont likely ever have the time to make and hold the top ranks.
Now I dont consider my self a casual player even though I dont have a ton of time per title I am a commited gamer so my reasoning behind the above is not self motivated but rather based on the idea that for the max fun you need mathmaticaly balanced field. If any class, faction or player has a mathmatical advantage it will hurt the over all experance, its not a deal breaker assuming the advantage is none to great but none the less its an unnessisary impact on the mechanics when you coudl simply make the rewards for being the best fluff (no mathmatical impact) or at least not an advantage that others couldn't compensate for i.e. non stacking status inhancments.
To sum that up, I think you will find that PvP can be just as fun for a casual player in the right game, is Aion that game I think it could be but time will tell for sure. If Aion shifts to an arena or zerg based PvP such as we see in WoW then no casual players wont get the full joy out of PvP that HC players will but that shouldn't rune the game over all unless (as in your case) the PvE aspects just dont speak to you.
PvP rewards seem to be a hard thing for some to balance, a player thinks they want a mathmatical advantage but once they gain it they will likely get board (ever use a god mode cheat in a stand alone game {its an exsadurated example} it kills the fun because it decresses the challange). As a player that rides off skill not stats I would even like to see a hero mode for the upper ranks where they are flagged as such but gain no status enhancments, this draws attention to the player makes life harder for them incressing the challange and for me the fun factor (if I was the hero). In Aion this could be as simple as making the top ranked players show up on the map so they simply can not hide or supprise attack the enemy every challanger would know where they where and would have a tachtical advantage (in that they have knwoledge the hero does not) which they will prolly need if that top ranked player is actualy the more skilled player.