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Aion's Upsides/Downfalls
I was really excited for Aion. I was expecting it to be my next full-time MMO. I'm still on the fence, but don't think this is one of those "Aion sucks" posts. I'm merely posting this to get other people's opinions, and so those who are unsure if they want the game can get a fair look at it. I will try to be as unbiased as possible.
Lets start with the bad, first:
- Linear - The game is so linear that there literally is no other path you can take until around level 20. Even then, with the way the grind is, you most likely will have to hit up everyone zone in your level range to get all the quests.
- Grind - I'm not one to complain about grind. I played FFXI for years, so grinding isn't really a problem for me. The only reason it is a problem here is because if you ever want to level up another character, you have to go through the linear progression + grind AGAIN in order to do so. Make sure the class you pick will be the one you stick with for a long time. This also includes the crafting and gathering.
- Customer Support - This is an umbrella term I'm going to use for a myriad of things. There is very little communication between NCsoft and the playerbase. The botting and gold selling/spamming is UNBELIEVABLE. I've played many MANY mmorpgs, and it has never been worse than it has been in this game. Not only that, but NCsoft has a track record of not giving a crap about it. The ticket system in game is so bugged that half the people don't know how to use it, and the other half get "locked out" after a certain amount of reports.
- World Layout - The world, while the zones are big, feels small. It doesn't have an open feel to it and there is little to no exploration. This is probably personal preference, but I love MMO games that have an open-world feel to it with exploration.
- Server Queues - This is kind of a bad and good thing. Yes, the queues are a pain in the ass. However, what does it say about the game when one of the only complaints is that EVERYONE wants in the game.
Now for the good:
- Immersion/Story - This game has very in-depth quests and missions. The stories for each quest are pages long, and there are cutscenes thrown in as well. It makes you feel that much better knowing that there is a fantastic reason behind going and collecting those bear asses.
- Graphics/Music - This game is optimized so well that you get higher frame rates on max settings in this game than you do in WoW, for example.Not only that but the graphics are AMAZING. The music is also very well done as well.
- Variety - There is such a variety in this game, its crazy. The variety of options you have when creating a character is breathtaking. The amount of amazing-looking armor in the game is awesome. Each upgrade you get feels so worth it just because of how awesome it looks.
- Classes - The game is overall FUN. Each class is balanced well in PVP, contrary to how badly people complain on the main forums. Every class is useful. According to those who play each class, they are very fun as well.
If you have anything else to add, please do so. If you agree/disagree, go for it. I'd like to hear everyone's opinion.
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
-Xfire stats no one cares about: check.
-Signature no one cares about: check.
------------------------------------------------------------
-Narcissism: check.
Comments
Add a point to the vote on "Fly Everywhere, pacing be damned"
Drives me crazy I can only fly in certain bubbles. I understand they want to keep people from reaching bosses too easy, and other things, but I've already seen mobs on the ground that will smoke you with a special ranged attack if you try to flee them by flying... why not just attach that to stationary sentry types and add more aerial mobs (elite ones with super range even). Whole gimmick of the game is a bit underused.
~of course this aligns with any other point of "too much invisible collision". As an Elyos I was blocked from flying on top of the giant creatures in Verteron, yet as an Azmo in the [exact same zone retextured] I could fly to one that was in bounds. Plus a place in Pilrgims landing looks like a glorious glide to the next area - but I know it's just a wall and it's gonna kill me, so I haven't bothered to try. Very big bummer for me, all of it, even if a lot of things are fairly decent.
Also city design is "unbalanced", Pandeemonium is a far better hub with all amenites closer to abridged ones - like warehouse and craft district, and a distinct lack of bus terminals that you need to wait on. Seems to me that the Eylos side was made first, then they ran out of artistic juice when doing azmo, but picked up a few ideas on how to better place things.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
i would add a veteran server
make it so the ai is so intelligent,you could be scared of dying ,wich im sorry now very few have
OK I'll bite.
Make flying more useful and open more areas up for flying and extend the flying time by a lot!
Put more quest in - period. (This will probably come over time - but I suspect that they'll add higher end quest rather than spread them out across all levels, because sooner or later the players that rushed to the end are going to be screaming for more than just PvP - they'll want raids for higher level characters).
Also once you hit like level 20+ the grind becomes more noticeable. This needs to be scaled better.
They are really going to need to make the world bigger.
They really need to add 2 or more races and more than just two starter areas(maybe an expansion can fix this).
I know people say don't worry about water, but you know what, that is one thing WoW did right compared to most other MMORPG's and their oceans, lakes and streams are teaming with life and used for questing. Aion needs this part of the game finished. As it is now all you can do is look at it.
Get control on player sellers and make using the auction house the superior method of selling.
Loosen up on the UI constraints and allow for 3rd party custimization programs.
Really do something about the gold farmers and sellers - don't let this game become another Lineage II farming/bot game.
PvP needs some serious rework. For those not familiar with the way the abyss works yet and the point system - you're in for a shock once you get there. Hopefully the developers will realize that the way it is played in China and Taiwan is not going to go over so big here in the US. You'll see what I mean.
Whats wrong with the point system?
I was wondering just yesterday as I played about the small size. When I was doing the beta's I only hit level 20 as my highest so I was still in the Veteron area. Now that I'm on live and already in the abyss at lvl 25 I'm realizing that the world is actually quite small. 5 zones per faction and then the abyss. So I too wonder about longevity. A few other thoughts.
Bad:
TAGGING....A tagging system BADLY needs to be introduced in this game. I had three times in a row yesterday had a duo that stole things I was attacking (for a quest) because I couldn't out dps them (I'm a cleric so lowest on the dps meters).
Linear....you are right that the game is VERY linear. Not necessarily a bad thing, but in a game this small.....
Grind....I didn't experience grinding until about level 24. I was leveling WAY too slow questing why my legion mates told me to go grind these particular mobs and I got like 3 bubbles in about 30 minutes.
Server queue. Have had NO que times on Yustiel. NONE!
Need to be able to see SM's pet without having to either macro target or double tap the SM's F key to select the pet to monitor health. Also would be nice to have the icons for buffs/debuffs show bigger next to the players and also show the min/sec like they do for yourself.
Rubberbanding....not a constant thing but it is there. Kinda reminds me of old SWG's rubberbanding issues back in the day.
Good:
I agree that the graphics are great except the hills/mountains are very badly done where they just look like a blob of color rather than grass/dirt.
Overall gameplay is fun.
Balance is spot on from what I've seen so far.
I
Whats wrong with the point system?
Ya really, I'd like a head's up as I still have a while to brace myself for it - I hate surprises.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
There's nothing wrong with the system unless the complaint is about losing Abyss Ranks when you get killed in pvp..
Well it depends on how badly, AoC PvP points were insanely imbalanced in the last weeks of beta. To the point where it was a zero sum economy and everyone was stuck on their daily supply of give and only Rangers made a chance at getting a level - which really wasn't happening at the time since that one death could set them back further than what they made in the last 3 kills of the max 5 you get on a player.
I figured the beef was gonna be about the ranking system, but as long as there is a generic tier setup for players to "maxout" in, I really don't care who is hardcore enough to be the top ranking guy. This is all about whether you gain more than you stand to lose until a certain tier I would hope.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I liked your review but the graphics are not AMAZING they are ok... I would describe the graphics to be fuzzy in places, colourful, low on texture detail but nicely modelled and stylized the issue for me with the game engine is the small 3d space areas and the invisible walls.
Lani Blazier said when she first looked up she went wow amazing all the other people on the other side - when I looked up I went. hmm thats quite a low quality jpeg
Just wanted to note, I believe there is a texture pack that spruces up the hill/mountain graphics. I haven't used it myself, as I'm dealing with a processor bottleneck as it is, but I have seen side by side comparisons and the "new" graphics are much better. Sorry, I don't have a link or anything, but it is out there.
-Stik
Very good post...I agree with everything OP said. Now, for my ideas.
1) NCSOft MUST start talking with their player base. Their Twitter only thing is a bunch of bull. I saw they said that due to a bug, they could not reply on their own forums, well they have had enough time to fix that.
2) Gotta let us fly more often. The transportation in this game gets old fast. Way too much walking. Add ground mounts would be obvious fix.
3) Let us ignore players by level. Ignore L1-10 would zap all the gold sellers.
4) more bag space
5) crafting cost an arm and a leg and is of unclear if any advantage
Just wanted to note, I believe there is a texture pack that spruces up the hill/mountain graphics. I haven't used it myself, as I'm dealing with a processor bottleneck as it is, but I have seen side by side comparisons and the "new" graphics are much better. Sorry, I don't have a link or anything, but it is out there.
-Stik
If you could find this it would be amazing.
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
-Xfire stats no one cares about: check.
-Signature no one cares about: check.
------------------------------------------------------------
-Narcissism: check.
What to add but, yeah. OP hit it dead on. I'd like to say also, this is how you post a critique to a game folks. I feel it is very objective and sounds like someone, like myself, who enjoys the game but feels there is much more that could be done to make this enjoyable. The flying thing is what bugs me. First, i didn't think i'd be getting wings at freakin' level 10. To me that's pretty soon in the game and when you get the things you cant even fly in most places. I can understand int he open world but why not make it where you can fly in the main cities at least. This not being an option completely astounds me to even now. It's a lot quicker than walking clear across Sanctum or paying to teleport across.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
After playing a bit more, I've realized that the linearity and the grind get to be too much, and have quit. I still stick with my OP thouth.
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
-Xfire stats no one cares about: check.
-Signature no one cares about: check.
------------------------------------------------------------
-Narcissism: check.
Sound like you are all complaining to much. It's a japanese Mmo have some paitents. I really have'nt heard any complaint on the asain gammer end. But internationaly I'm hearing way to much griping. Im sure they are work on something. Give it time and quit whing. And if your complaining about the graphics and textures. You might aswell quit playing games. If thats all you play for.
Well, unfortunately I have now contacted NCSoft about a refund i'm afraid. Tonight was all i could take and just was the straw that broke the camels back. I was out doing some quests when there were about 5 bots running around killing everything and i was having to compete against them. I tried the commands to report, wouldn't work. Couldn't file a petition. Couldn't find a way to get ahold of a GM. This is an egregious part of the game that I will not put up with. If this was a free to play game i'd have quit long ago. But i paid 60 bucks and they expect me to pay 15 dollars a month after. That's not happening and I'm now contacting them to get a refund of the 60 dollars on the basis of misrepresentation of goods and services. Failure to refund the money will lead to me and some others following up with a class action lawsuit.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Of course I usually don't agree with your opinion and this is no exception. The abyss is fine.
It shows you come from wow as the leveling is also fine at lvl 20 (I'll edit this as I could have sworn you were a wow player.) Anyone coming from a harder game than wow to level will not have any problem. And before anyone starts calling me a WoW hater, I think WoW is an exceptionally fine game and probably one of the (if not "the") most polished game out there. But not everything has to be WoW.
2 more races? why? That has nothing to do with the larger story.
And the head dev already answered the water question:
4) My only question, will swimming be implemented in Aion? If so, When?
-Based on the current lore, Daevas die when they go into the water. (I am joking, of course.)
Swimming should not be only a mere extension of the character controls and a pretty animation, but a fundamental aspect to the game. Until then, players won't be seeing it in the game anytime soon.
Here is more of that interview
www.aionsource.com/forum/news-announcements/71220-exclusive-interview-aions-lead-designer.html
Also apparently you dont' understand the difference between the AH and private shops. AH is not superior. It puts the power into the buyer and it's stationary. Private shops put the power in the hands of the seller and can be targeted to an appropriate area or demographic. Also, if they put in buy shops then those will be invaluable to crafters. Heck, all I need to do is to find out what the popular mats are, set up shop in the appropriate crafting area and watch the money roll in.
And flying is already useful. Have you pvp'ed in the abyss? Have you had to make a decision on when to land and fight and when to chase your opponent? Flying brings a very different game when you are both suspended and chasing each other and watching as your flight timer ticks down.
In any event flight extends quite a bit as you level and get better wings. not to mention flight bonuses to gear and mana stones and potions.
The one thing I can agree with you is the bot issue. Of course all popular games have bots. But lately the Aion gold seller spam has been horendous.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I think OP summed it up quite well. Right now I haven't touched the game for a week due to university termpapers but what feels wrong is, that I don't miss it as much as I missed leveling another WoW toon for example. I'll get back to AION soon to finally hit 25, see the PvP and I also wanna finish at least one char on max-level. But I wonder if the game can keep me for long after that.
Because leveling up another toon is something I won't do as it is the exact same path. That drives me crazy. Also I agree with the world. It is damn small, good for short ways to travel, bad for having some exploration excitement.
Voted for earlier PvP as that would make it more fun to me. Fight for mobs etc...
I also need another option:
"improve groupplay by 1000%"