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Aion...is it actually harder than WoW?
I've read this on several forums and Youtube. Apparently, WoW is easier than Aion...is it?
PvE difficulty: Well, I've done my research about this, be it on Youtube, on Aionsource.com and thanks to some of my friends who played on chinese servers. The thing stays: Aion got very few scripted fights in its PvE. Now, yes, I know, they are balanced around the fact that you can encounter the opposite faction. Even if I'll accept this(although I wonder, would a few extra tricks that would prevent tank-and-spamming-AoE-heals cause such a mass gimpage, if the party is attacked by the opposite faction? Chances are, you won't survive with the boss hitting so hard and an entire enemy party bashing on your healer. But ok.), I saw many raid/instance(aka closed instances, just you and your buddies) having the same raid design: tank and spank with the odd AoE. Keep in mind, scripted bosses aren't a WoW thing only, so you'd expect a 2009 fantasy MMO to have them.
PvP difficulty:Since fights are so slow, is there any measurement of skill in PvP? There used to be this warrior on my server, #1 in 2v2 and 3v3 and <10 in 5v5. While your typical warrior would just follow a frost mage and get kited to hell, this one didn't. He knew exactly what to do: he could fake move to make the mage waste his CoC, spellreflect Polymorphs then hide and eat, spellreflect+bandage, abuse swoard and board properly. I saw him,not once, reflect Death Coils in duels. When they both had the same gear, can you actually say this warrior was not skilled? Do you actually consider that you're a better PvPer than those people who got Gladiators or hell, Seasonal Gladiators? Why does this matter in large scale PvP? Because 5 people having gladiator could 5v10 WSG in WoW for example, not because of gear, since everyone has good gear these days, but because they are skilled an they know exactly what to do. The same kind of people in Aion could tear Abyss PvP apart as well.
PvP system: Abyss points system is, accept it or not, a slightly modified version of vanilla WoW's PvP system, just more ruthless. You grind abyss points and with them, you gain rank or you might spend them on gear/transformation system. You're right to say, that average-skilled guilds will stop at a certain point, because they can't beat actual skilled guilds who will eventually surpass them. It is ruthless, however, so is arena's WoW system. There, if you suck, you won't get a decent rating. This may crush your e-peen or you may blame the gear(and here, I must give another example: there are plenty of people who are going from blues/welfares->2000 at least, are those not skilled?), but that's how the things are. Is Aion's system better? No, they are both grindy, annoying and boring. For your guild/arena team to become well known, you must grind a lot of abyss points/arena matches. Blizzard takes care of wintraders since S3(screwing up the arena system with that, but that's another story) but I've seen reports of people wintrading abyss points on chinese servers, just so they can become extremely welll geared.
Gear: Gear matters in WoW, but PvP gear is very easy to get, from...yeah, grinding! Gear will matter in Aion too, looking at the stats(extremely large damage reduction from PvP damage on fully PvP-equipped characters, which is a method to balance PvP, and looks like a needed thing to me). You get gear from abyss points which is...grinding. Next time you say: "ZOMG WOW'S PVP IS SO GEAR DEPENDANT", well guess what, look at your game first. Even WAR was very gear dependant at end-game, and that wasn't supposed(before they implemented wards for PvE). For a while, you won't call it grind. But, you'll want PvP gear, especially if you got a competitive nature. There, it will become grindy just like WoW. Chances are, you can be as skilled as you want, good geared players in Aion will still destroy you no matter what.
And now, I'm open for you guys to prove me wrong.
Comments
Open world raids are tank and spankish, instance raids are more scripted.
pvp isnt like wow ,wow the first to jump the other is the winner(in most case)
aion the guy being jumped first couldnt care less because whatever you do once your jump is done he WILL still be alive
and often in most case he will have the time to react to your attact ,dodge,block,defend,parry or whatever they can do
the thing is its so different its hard to compare and will take time for wow player to adjust
pve oh same stuff as wow bang bang bang oups your dead ,no foe smart enough to react to your attact for more then maybe the first strike lol
I can't same much for PvP in Aion, but I will say that the PvE content is extremely easy in the game. Through my whole time there, never once did I group up with other players to finish a quest. I was able to do it all my self, as a sorcerer. I have not done some hardcore PvE in WoW since last year, so I can't say how it is now. Although I do remember doing quite a few quests with other just because I couldn't do it on my own.
That's just my .02, if Aion isn't the same as WoW in the PvE difficulty department, then it easier.
Total time played: 9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds
Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
I don't know if it's harder but I find it to be as entertaining as WOW, if not moreso.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
You only experienced the low level solo content, it is impossible to do group content quests and dungeons alone in AION, especially with a sorcerer.
You will need a group to complete quests related to the main storyline after level 20 too.
PVE in AION is harder and require more players if you compare to WoW, VG and LOTRO.
Players who are experiencing AION in its western betas are having the wrong impression about AION's PVE, most of you are playing the solo oriented tutorial, nothing more.
You said you can't say much about AION's PvP, this is the clear indication you only played the initial levels, be ready for more challenges when you advance in this game.
...
um every player sure hope so!
It is almost irrelevant how "hard" pve content is in oww versus aion.
99.999999999% of wow players doing PVE go into well known PVE content and just do as they are told, read on the guide they found.
The guilds and individuals that first crack the new pve raid content are a breed apart and they wont be impressed by relatively poor pve raid content in other games like aion . Equally they are not impressed by billyfarquit that thinks he is great cos he got an epic from a boss they cleared months ago.
Caveat Emptor
Leveling is more linear so yeah.
As for pvp it depends. If you leveled on a wow pve server its harder in Aion if you leveled on a pvp server in WoW I would give WoW the edge since WoW has a ton more contested zones.
Raiding? We have no idea yet.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
lol amount of contested zones doesn't really matter, even when I did play WoW on a PvP server world PvP is basically non-existent now a days. Except for Wintersgrasp.
Maybe its just veteran players have noticed this but..
WoW is perfect for my 10 year old. The lack of death penalty plus the instanced distance being nill to get back to the pvp caters to the Easy Mode. Aion is more for mature players. Open World pvp means harder death consequences; you can't just respawn and be back in the fight 5 seconds later.
Seriously, how can you play a game where dying is used as a strategic benefit. Warhammer was even worse. People would jump off cliffs to save 10 seconds running back to town.
Also, when I fight, I want a knock down drag out fight; I do NOT want it to be over in 20 seconds.
Now, if they can just fix the game issues in Aion that cause me to crash every 5 minutes, I'll be a long term subscriber.
Aion is not harder then WoW. Because the game is so linear, it is basically telling you where and what to do. I also doubt for the raiding to be harder than WoW and PvP varies by player on difficulty. So in all, Aion will not be harder than WoW, most likely more tedious in the leveling process.
WoW is pretty much the easist MMO out there to play. That is why it is so popular and has become the gold standard for MMO type games. Aion is fairly easy, but when you get into the combo system, and flight battle it adds an element of difficulty that is long overdue for a MMO.
Momo sucks, I have proof.
To the OP actually there are scripted fights in both open world and in instances.. Also there are NUMEROUS bosses that are not just tank and spank in Aion. On top of that you have actual open world PVP where people actually do open world PVP. In WOW PVP is has turned into pretty much battleground only. Even the PVP servers in WOW are dead in comparison.
Aion gives a reason for PVPers to PVE and for PVEers to PVP... WOW and WAR have failed to promote the interraction of the 2 for the most part. For instance you immediately gimp yourself in WAR if you like PVE due to the gear being better from RVR and easier to aquire and also the Realm Points that you dont get at all for PVE which will leave means PVPers will get more points and ranks to advance their characters faster.
Also as mentioned above. Aion has a death Penalty (AMEN) which makes you actually want to think things through rather than just zerg in.
As for Aion being more linear? Ya in the early levels it is. But Post 25 the game world opens up and it is not so linear. Sure you have your campaign quest line. But hell. That means the game has a story behind it.. I dont see anything wrong with that? Matter of fact it gives a better reason to PVE.
eq2 as a similar system use spell x trigger the optimised spell use spell that flash etc the thing i havent figured out yet is how to see what the boosted spell does?
i love aion quest s system it rocks it cant get more easy then going to your quest log an click an on a name or item then it tell you were to go with an arrow how much more easy can that get lol :P
peace out
Being difficult is a BAD sign, this will alienate many players, especially the younger crowd. What WoW does right is make it easy to play, difficult to master. That is the recipe for a good game design. Think of tetris, you can easily understand the concept of the game and learn to play in less than 10 minutes. However if you want to be able to play at a high level you need a quick reaction time, plan ahead and execute fast.
Aion does this too, thats why the game seems so EASY in the beginning. A good game won't start you off in pvp before you even know the controls like WAR does. A good game will introduce you slowly to the elements of the game. Aion starts you off with basic MMO kill quests and delivery quests, easy and simple for it gets you from point A to point B. By level 10 you know the basic feel of your character, you've learned to use skills and you've probably learned the hard way of the death penalty.
At level 10 you get your wings, now you must learn how to fly so they send you to the capital to introduce you to the economy of the game. Once thats done you head to Verteron where you can fly and they give you quests to train your flying skill. When you pass this they guide you through a bunch of content so you become more comfortable gradually with your class.
By 20 you've completed most of the standard MMO learning objectives and you can play your class competently. Enough the game trusts you to join groups and not get slaughtered. Many times have I seen party wipes in Krull Barracks because everyone was used to the easy solo play. Well in Krull territory you NEED a good tank and you NEED a good healer or you won't be doing well at all. You need group coordination and this is where you learn it with hopefully less deaths than the last people who attempted it.
Then you are thrust into the level 20 zone and introduced gradually to pvp as you will have to fend off enemy Asmodians from time to time. You also have the opportunity to pick where you hunt. You can choose to do quests to the west or south or safely in Theobomos or simply choose to grind mobs. You also see everyone here, you aren't protected by instanced zones and you won't have a means of escape if you are standing in line for a named mob like Queen Vespine.
Then 25+ you are introduced to flying in the abyss, you even have to do a flying minigame to access the Abyss.
At 30 you are introduced to your first instanced dungeon.
By 40 you can start sieging keeps and taking them over.
By 45 you are beginning end game pve content with challenging raids and end game gear loot.
50 you have done all the leveling up for this patch and can choose to quit and try a new game or grind pvp or pve gear and rank and capture fortresses.
----------------------
So, you can see why many people get bored going from 1-20, it's because it's simply a tutorial for new MMORPG players. WoW was successful because it was an easy game to get into if you were inexperienced, same is the case with Aion. THAT was the key to the WoW success and is why it's such a big deal for Aion and why Aion will not be difficult but only for those who want it to.
lol amount of contested zones doesn't really matter, even when I did play WoW on a PvP server world PvP is basically non-existent now a days. Except for Wintersgrasp.
Wow is extremely top heavy of course the zones are empty. Back when I first leveled my Warrior then Warlock I had to fight for my life on an Alliance dominated server.
In the span of doing five quests or grinding for two hours you could be ganked and camped half the time.
So yeah it does matter. Aion's leveling is Ezmode compared to the way WoW was. when the majority of people were leveling.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Neither game is difficult or hard. The only difference here is that Aion takes more time investment than WoW does to achieve things. Whether you think that is good or bad is up to you.
The PvP in Aion is probably in my opinion a little more simplified on the control and mechanics level in that it does a lot of things for you that WoW does not. It's a lot clunkier, and a lot less twitchy, the bridge gap between classes is large in the early levels compared to WoW. So I guess in that sense yes it's harder than WoW. That's really all I can say about the pvp in Aion as I've only played to level 30.
Does it? How long does it take to level to Aions cap?
A new player in WoW takes from 4-6 weeks to get to 60, another 3-4 weeks from 61-70 and another 3-4 weeks from 71-80.
And then it takes twice as long as that to get geared up so people wont call you a noob Item level 210+ items).
Mind you its quicker for alts since you know where to go but please tell me it takes over three months of steady semi casual (2-3 hours a day) play to hit cap in Aion?
I'm sure it doesn't.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Does it? How long does it take to level to Aions cap?
A new player in WoW takes from 4-6 weeks to get to 60, another 3-4 weeks from 61-70 and another 3-4 weeks from 71-80.
And then it takes twice as long as that to get geared up so people wont call you a noob Item level 210+ items).
Mind you its quicker for alts since you know where to go but please tell me it takes over three months of steady semi casual (2-3 hours a day) play to hit cap in Aion?
I'm sure it doesn't.
It does not take anywhere near that long to level in WoW anymore. Aion scales differently in that it hits a wall at 35+ from what I'm told and becomes similiar to Lineage leveling. Though that could just be strictly to the Asian versions.
Well, open world PvP is quite different from instanced PvP. And not the least because things outside combat matters as well, namely diplomacy.
WoW is very easy game PvP-wise, unless you want to belong to the top 5-10% of Arena players. That is the only place where skill matters.
In Aion, conquerring PvP objectives requires different type of skill set and more leadership skills - skills that in WoW are either secondary or not needed at all.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Does it? How long does it take to level to Aions cap?
A new player in WoW takes from 4-6 weeks to get to 60, another 3-4 weeks from 61-70 and another 3-4 weeks from 71-80.
And then it takes twice as long as that to get geared up so people wont call you a noob Item level 210+ items).
Mind you its quicker for alts since you know where to go but please tell me it takes over three months of steady semi casual (2-3 hours a day) play to hit cap in Aion?
I'm sure it doesn't.
It does not take anywhere near that long to level in WoW anymore. Aion scales differently in that it hits a wall at 35+ from what I'm told and becomes similiar to Lineage leveling. Though that could just be strictly to the Asian versions.
They only shortened up the experience a bit for level 1-55 It still takes near three weeks to level as a new player.
As for Tbc and WotLK it still takes that long.
Stop thinking of it in terms of a old player running it with an alt.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
We'll have to agree to disagree on WoW leveling. Aion still takes longer in my opinion.
Aion might I don't know anyone that's actually capped. If anyone played on the asian servers and would like to add to the conversation on how long it takes a non-power gamer to hit cap that would be spectacular.
Honestly most of my experiences on WoW have been of vanilla and Tbc so they could have increased Xp for all I know again.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Unless you fall asleep or get distracted by a ball game in the other room or whatever, the PVE is a zero brain wave activity. It's just grinding, same in every game. PVP is skill, and every game ends up being a snobbish (mostly by it being true) "you don't have x gear, we turn our nose up at you.