Aion: Review

Volgore · October 2009

Again another "review" on this site which is turning a blind eye on flaws and issues with a game, resulting in a way too high score.

I 'm wondering if these kind of reviews on mmorpg.com are written for the reader or the company which brings in the money advertising here.

Just to name some:

-linear game, zero replayability

-goldspam and bots taken over

-lack of content throughout many levelranges

-grind

-booooring gathering/meaningless crafting

-economy already down shit creek

= not mentioned.

And even if you rather want to ignore these issues in yor review, how can a game 5yrs after WoW get a score of 8.7 without bringing anything new on the table, but less in almost any aspect?

Sorry guys, i like this site and many of the ongoing discussions here...but i can't take your "reviews" serious anymore.

Regnevanz · October 2009

"To be straight-forward about it, outside of the flying system, Aion doesn't do anything that you haven't seen before if you're an MMO veteran, but what it does, it does well."

"During this period you'll also get pretty familiar with the combat system, too. Really, it is pretty standard MMO combat. The only catch is Aion puts a greater focus on skill chains than most games"

To name a few features not seen before.

Combat movement system - completely missed this from lvl 1 didnt we? Never read the manual or took a looksie at you characters stats while strafing, retreating and advancing

rifting - the portals between opposing factions pve areas

hunting parties - one of possibly 2/3 mmo's you can actually go hunting in

seige bonuses via capturable artifacts

Flight Combat - totally different set of skills required sets it above other MMO's by light years

Map overlay feature (aka Diablo 2 style) not seen in an MMO before

There are so many things the review has missed the mark on and the reviewer does not understand the mechanics of the game - perhaps to much wow has numbed the brain due to its 3 day regurgitated leveling to max level?

DevilXaphan · October 2009

Originally posted by VoIgore

Again another "review" on this site which is turning a blind eye on flaws and issues with a game, resulting in a way too high score.
I 'm wondering if these kind of reviews on mmorpg.com are written for the reader or the company which brings in the money advertising here.
Just to name some:
-linear game, zero replayability
-goldspam and bots taken over
-lack of content throughout many levelranges
-grind
-booooring gathering/meaningless crafting
-economy already down shit creek
= not mentioned.
And even if you rather want to ignore these issues in yor review, how can a game 5yrs after WoW get a score of 8.7 without bringing anything new on the table, but less in almost any aspect?
Sorry guys, i like this site and many of the ongoing discussions here...but i can't take your "reviews" serious anymore.

You take reviews seriously? You need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and start looking at what the game really is before trying it.

1. yes / has some re-playability but remember it's just starting off.

2. not yet but i'll wait and see before checking yes to it.

3. not even a year out and you think it lacks (facepalm)

4. your opinon

5. again your opinion

6. still your opinon

JonMichael · October 2009

MMORPG.com didn't give AION the review *I* wanted it to have!

My goodness, the community on this site is becoming laughable.

[Deleted User] · October 2009

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Electriceye · October 2009

Originally posted by VoIgore

Again another "review" on this site which is turning a blind eye on flaws and issues with a game, resulting in a way too high score.
I 'm wondering if these kind of reviews on mmorpg.com are written for the reader or the company which brings in the money advertising here.
Just to name some:
-linear game, zero replayability
-goldspam and bots taken over
-lack of content throughout many levelranges
-grind
Those 2 are kinda the same thing, or explain what you mean by "grind". Also, many people prefer to grind than doing quests. It's a subjective point.

There might be a lack of solo quests, but instances, group quests, fortresses, artifacts, gathering/crafting insures that there's always something to do. I wouldn't call that a lack of content.
-booooring gathering/meaningless crafting
"boooooring" is subjective, "meaningless" is just wrong. Some of the best gear in the game is crafted, it is very meaningful.
-economy already down shit creek
Again, this is very subjective. I don't think the economy has suffered at all... yet.
= not mentioned.
And even if you rather want to ignore these issues in yor review, how can a game 5yrs after WoW get a score of 8.7 without bringing anything new on the table, but less in almost any aspect?
Sorry guys, i like this site and many of the ongoing discussions here...but i can't take your "reviews" serious anymore.

It's clear you were running out of ideas after your 1rst two issues, which I completely agree with (the first 2).

nate1980 · October 2009

Originally posted by Regnevanz

"To be straight-forward about it, outside of the flying system, Aion doesn't do anything that you haven't seen before if you're an MMO veteran, but what it does, it does well."
"During this period you'll also get pretty familiar with the combat system, too. Really, it is pretty standard MMO combat. The only catch is Aion puts a greater focus on skill chains than most games"
To name a few features not seen before.
Combat movement system - completely missed this from lvl 1 didnt we? Never read the manual or took a looksie at you characters stats while strafing, retreating and advancing
AoC has something similar to this. You press buttons to up defense in a few different directions.

rifting - the portals between opposing factions pve areas
How you get to enemy territory may be new, but what happens after that isn't.

hunting parties - one of possibly 2/3 mmo's you can actually go hunting in
What MMO can you not go hunting in?

seige bonuses via capturable artifacts
Both DAoC and WAR offered bonuses for capturing Relics or objectives.

Flight Combat - totally different set of skills required sets it above other MMO's by light years
City of Heroes/Villians and Champions does flying combat and better.

Map overlay feature (aka Diablo 2 style) not seen in an MMO before
Never played SWG I guess. It also has such a feature.
There are so many things the review has missed the mark on and the reviewer does not understand the mechanics of the game - perhaps to much wow has numbed the brain due to its 3 day regurgitated leveling to max level?
Perhaps a lack of experience in the genre has made you post such rubbish as this?

joeballs · October 2009

Maybe the reviewer enjoys Japanese grinder mmos. If so, this game definitely deserve the high score on polish alone. Fun, on the other hand, isn't something you'll find in a Japanese grinder unless you "love to grind".

Yamota · October 2009

From the review:

"To be straight-forward about it, outside of the flying system, Aion doesn't do anything that you haven't seen before if you're an MMO veteran, but what it does, it does well."

Wont there come a point when games cant get away with rehashing the same over and over and still get good marks? I mean if a random action movie was released that had the same plot, same type of fighting and so on like a gazillion other movies before it then that is taken into account when giving it a review mark.

Aion is so much like WoW that it is funny. Everything from the gfx theme, to the quests, to the combat is like WoW. What they added on top of it is a faction 1v1 PvPvE, awfully similar to WAR, and some limited flight (which btw Champions Online has done much better) and then presented it in a new flashing package.

There is nothing in this game that has not been seen before....

Airwren · October 2009

Originally posted by VoIgore

Again another "review" on this site which is turning a blind eye on flaws and issues with a game, resulting in a way too high score.
I 'm wondering if these kind of reviews on mmorpg.com are written for the reader or the company which brings in the money advertising here.
Just to name some:
-linear game, zero replayability
-goldspam and bots taken over
-lack of content throughout many levelranges
-grind
-booooring gathering/meaningless crafting
-economy already down shit creek
= not mentioned.
And even if you rather want to ignore these issues in yor review, how can a game 5yrs after WoW get a score of 8.7 without bringing anything new on the table, but less in almost any aspect?
Sorry guys, i like this site and many of the ongoing discussions here...but i can't take your "reviews" serious anymore.

You just hit the nail on the head, and I've been saying this on this website for a long time. This website, along with many others, survive mainly on advertisement dollars. Go to the front page and see how many adverts there are, same with IGN and various other sites. MMORPG.com has a vested interest in making sure that they are not "too harsh" in their review of a game as to not completely destroy their credibility with the people who pay their salary. Anyone here, who reads these reviews, that doesn't take this into account needs to have their head examined. At least this review doesn't totally ignore some of the issues. Having said that, the overall rating score that was given to the game, based on the review I read is almost laughable. Take it with a grain of salt, add in some of the other reviews, and try to put together a complete picture of what the game is like. Seriously folks..

RonixEnclave · October 2009

MMORPGs suck these days. Did you know there exist 154+ MMORPGs? It ridiculous that many exist today and are still RUNNING. Either those companies have plenty of money or we really are pathetic and drawn into the addictive nature of MMORPGs to easily.

I think I'm beginning to grow up out of this genre. The gameplay in all of them these days is no better than something you couldn't find in a children's game and they are all EASY. I get tired of fighting an enemy that I KNOW I will win against as long as I press those skill icons in the right order as soon as they become available before having to sit down to regain lost HP.

Yamota · October 2009

Originally posted by EricDanie

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by tanoril

I don't think Aion is a bad game either, but it just goes to show you that all it takes is a (somewhat) clean launch and no game-stopper bugs to get high scores. That's what we give 8's for now, polish. Reflects alot of the MMO genre in general.

What's more interesting is the reviewer mentions a number of times there is nothing new or innovative to it, despite the flying aspect. Yet the game still rates highly. Like I said, pretty graphics and polish are what get high reviews with this genre.

Sad really

It's silly to not give a high score to a game just because it isn't innovative.

Some of the best games of all time were not innovative in the least.

Agreed. If this genre was all about inovation there wouldn't be 150+ surviving titles around... most fantasy and level-based.

Ok so you create a game that is just like another success (WoW) and then it should get high score just because it has pretty gfx, few bugs and lots of content.

I mean if you have played WoW, who hasnt, and DAoC/WAR then there is not a single thing in this game that you have not experienced before so for anyone but newcomers to the genre this game does not deserve a high score.

Copying and reusing other games concepts and ideas and then present it as your should give you mediocre scores.

EricDanie · October 2009

Originally posted by BloodDuality

A lot of the industy seems to think that Aion is a good game for what it is. It might not be perfect, but no game is going to be perfect to everyone. I just wanted to see if the review score here was higher than anywhere else, and it really isn't. metacritic which averages all review scores has Aion listed at an 81 or 8.1 score. The highest review was a 93 by game focus going all the way down to a 50 by 1up. Out of the 19 reviews they used to get the score only 4 were below 80.
So if you want to see a large amount of reviews for Aion go to metacritic and read up for yourself. I know I would be going to multiple sources if I was interested in the game, because I know I would be with it for a while. Also this way you get to avoid all the people that just like to complain and say things like this review was paid for.
Metacritic Aion Reviews

Good mention, Metacritic is the best source for this as it shows all professional reviews done on the game and makes an average.

Metascore of 81 and user score of 7.3.

Ubie · October 2009

Originally posted by nate1980

Originally posted by Regnevanz

"To be straight-forward about it, outside of the flying system, Aion doesn't do anything that you haven't seen before if you're an MMO veteran, but what it does, it does well."
"During this period you'll also get pretty familiar with the combat system, too. Really, it is pretty standard MMO combat. The only catch is Aion puts a greater focus on skill chains than most games"
To name a few features not seen before.
Combat movement system - completely missed this from lvl 1 didnt we? Never read the manual or took a looksie at you characters stats while strafing, retreating and advancing
AoC has something similar to this. You press buttons to up defense in a few different directions.

rifting - the portals between opposing factions pve areas
How you get to enemy territory may be new, but what happens after that isn't.

hunting parties - one of possibly 2/3 mmo's you can actually go hunting in
What MMO can you not go hunting in?

seige bonuses via capturable artifacts
Both DAoC and WAR offered bonuses for capturing Relics or objectives.

Flight Combat - totally different set of skills required sets it above other MMO's by light years
City of Heroes/Villians and Champions does flying combat and better.

Map overlay feature (aka Diablo 2 style) not seen in an MMO before
Never played SWG I guess. It also has such a feature.
There are so many things the review has missed the mark on and the reviewer does not understand the mechanics of the game - perhaps to much wow has numbed the brain due to its 3 day regurgitated leveling to max level?
Perhaps a lack of experience in the genre has made you post such rubbish as this?

Your last sentence sums up his/her post perfectly.

Yamota · October 2009

Originally posted by RonixEnclave

MMORPGs suck these days. Did you know there exist 154+ MMORPGs? It ridiculous that many exist today and are still RUNNING. Either those companies have plenty of money or we really are pathetic and drawn into the addictive nature of MMORPGs to easily.
I think I'm beginning to grow up out of this genre. The gameplay in all of them these days is no better than something you couldn't find in a children's game and they are all EASY. I get tired of fighting an enemy that I KNOW I will win against as long as I press those skill icons in the right order as soon as they become available before having to sit down to regain lost HP.

Yeah it is laughable what the genre has come to. The original vision of the first innovative devs to create a virtual world which you live in and can impact is all gone.

Replaced with a static world full of instances and "phat lewt". Essentially becoming multiplayer online games with no virtual world aspect what so ever.

tanoril · October 2009

Originally posted by Yamota

Wont there come a point when games cant get away with rehashing the same over and over and still get good marks? I mean if a random action movie was released that had the same plot, same type of fighting and so on like a gazillion other movies before it then that is taken into account when giving it a review mark.

This was kind of where I was going to 'not being new or innovative' but yet still getting a high score. I think most everyone can agree that Aion doesn't invent the wheel, but I thought most people wanting something that wasn't what was already out there. There's another article on this site about the top games post WoW but most of those are the same old, same old. At least games like EvE or even Guild Wars tried to mix it up a bit by introducing different game concepts.

I mean, I'd love someone to explain specfically what make Aion better than a DAoC (for PvP/RvR) or WoW (PvE).

maji · October 2009

Lets say you are working in one of those large companies creating complex software likes MMORPGs and you decide who gets what information about upcoming projects or is allowed to have (maybe even) exclusive information and interview from and with the devs. And let's say you notice two websites. One of them says that the stuff you just put millions into and try to sell is just garbage, and the other website says that your stuff is incredibly fun and great. Whom would you rather give the information, interviews, material and whatnot?

Websites like these are all highly dependant on companies whos product they rate. And the larger the company the less they want to piss them off.

Yamota · October 2009

Originally posted by maji

Lets say you are working in one of those large companies creating complex software likes MMORPGs and you decide who gets what information about upcoming projects or is allowed to have (maybe even) exclusive information and interview from and with the devs. And let's say you notice two websites. One of them says that the stuff you just put millions into and try to sell is just garbage, and the other website says that your stuff is incredibly fun and great. Whom would you rather give the information, interviews, material and whatnot?

Websites like these are all highly dependant on companies whos product they rate. And the larger the company the less they want to piss them off.

Aye. Independent media is a myth. Does not exist... They are companies, just like others, and need money to stay alive and preferably high profts.

bastii · October 2009

What a joke, how much did NCsoft pay to write this.

xzyax · October 2009

Originally posted by Dana

Remember everyone, 8.7 is the school equivalent to a B+.
A good score, but not epic.

True, an 8.7 might very well be the equivalent of a B+...

But I challenge anyone to find a higher rated game reviewed from MMORPG.COM

Just for point of reference; here is the score MMORPG.COM gave some other fairly popular MMOs:

MMORPG.COM Review Scores
Game Title	Review Score
Aion	8.7
EvE	8.5
LoTRo	8.5
DAoC	8.4
CoH	8.3
WoW	8.1
Guild Wars	8.1
EQ	8.0
UO	7.8
FFXI	6.5

From the review score at least... it would appear that MMORPG.COM is endorsing that Aion is the best MMO currently available. I haven't tried it, so I can't say one way or the other.

I just thought it fair to point out that for a MMORPG.COM review score; an 8.7 IS Epic!

bastii · October 2009

Originally posted by xzyax

Originally posted by Dana

Remember everyone, 8.7 is the school equivalent to a B+.
A good score, but not epic.

True, an 8.7 might very well be the equivalent of a B+...

But I challenge anyone to find a higher rated game reviewed from MMORPG.COM

Just for point of reference; here is the score MMORPG.COM gave some other fairly popular MMOs:

MMORPG.COM Review Scores
Game Title	Review Score
Aion	8.7
EvE	8.5
LoTRo	8.5
DAoC	8.4
CoH	8.3
WoW	8.1
Guild Wars	8.1
EQ	8.0
UO	7.8
FFXI	6.5

From the review score at least... it would appear that MMORPG.COM is endorsing that Aion is the best MMO currently available. I haven't tried it, so I can't say one way or the other.

I just thought it fair to point out that for a MMORPG.COM review score; an 8.7 IS Epic!

They've never given big-ass companies bad scores. They wouldn't get exclusives or money from banners anymore.

Don't bite the hand which feeds you.

Reviews = useless on mmorpg.com.

Your best bet is the forums still.

Xantheous · October 2009

Originally posted by xzyax

Originally posted by Dana

Remember everyone, 8.7 is the school equivalent to a B+.
A good score, but not epic.

True, an 8.7 might very well be the equivalent of a B+...

But I challenge anyone to find a higher rated game reviewed from MMORPG.COM

Just for point of reference; here is the score MMORPG.COM gave some other fairly popular MMOs:

MMORPG.COM Review Scores
Game Title	Review Score
Aion	8.7
EvE	8.5
LoTRo	8.5
DAoC	8.4
CoH	8.3
WoW	8.1
Guild Wars	8.1
EQ	8.0
UO	7.8
FFXI	6.5

From the review score at least... it would appear that MMORPG.COM is endorsing that Aion is the best MMO currently available. I haven't tried it, so I can't say one way or the other.

I just thought it fair to point out that for a MMORPG.COM review score; an 8.7 IS Epic!

Nice! That is exactly what I was saying.

Masoniclight · October 2009

Aion is a beautifully done and excellent story driven world. I currently have an Eloysian Templar (Lvl 14) and an Asmodian Sorceress (Lvl 12) and both are an absolute hoot to play. The quests, the side quests, the richness of the world.. is awe inspiring to say the least. Is the game perfect? No.. no game is. There still needs to be a very widesweeping attention to the spammers and their ilk but I as a player am not going to let those types ruin my fun. As my characters have progressed and as I have gone back to read the finer details of the storyline, I can better my roleplaying skills when in character, and it is great that I can do this so that I can truly get the immersion I want from a high fantasy game such as this.

Aion may not be innovative or new when it comes to all thing MMO wise, but it is clearly a well thought out, finely crafted game that seems to hit on all the tried and true aspects of a fantasy MMO.

And yes, I beta-ed and played WoW when it came out and it really jaded me towards Fantasy MMOs, it was that sorry of a game as far as I was concerned. (And I still do not understand the attraction that people have towards WoW) Aion is the first fantasy MMO I have played since WoW left that bad taste in my mouth. I absolutely enjoy the game and will continue to play it for the near future.

My own grade is A- or to put into Metacritic style, I'd give it a 91.

my own .02 influence.

xzyax · October 2009

Originally posted by Xantheous

Originally posted by xzyax

Originally posted by Dana

Remember everyone, 8.7 is the school equivalent to a B+.
A good score, but not epic.

True, an 8.7 might very well be the equivalent of a B+...

But I challenge anyone to find a higher rated game reviewed from MMORPG.COM

Just for point of reference; here is the score MMORPG.COM gave some other fairly popular MMOs:

MMORPG.COM Review Scores
Game Title	Review Score
Aion	8.7
EvE	8.5
LoTRo	8.5
DAoC	8.4
CoH	8.3
WoW	8.1
Guild Wars	8.1
EQ	8.0
UO	7.8
FFXI	6.5

From the review score at least... it would appear that MMORPG.COM is endorsing that Aion is the best MMO currently available. I haven't tried it, so I can't say one way or the other.

I just thought it fair to point out that for a MMORPG.COM review score; an 8.7 IS Epic!

Nice! That is exactly what I was saying.

Yes.

It was a bit misleading on Dana's part to compare an 8.7 score vs. a perfect 10.

The fair comparison of an 8.7 score is in comparison to every other MMO reviewed by this site. As it stands (unless I missed one with a higher score) Aion has the highest review score ever given.

So, by that standard... MMORPG.COM is saying that Aion is Epic. If that is indeed the case, that's fine; but let's make sure everyone knows how an 8.7 score here on MMORPG.COM stacks up. Currently, an 8.7 is as good as it gets.

Bluefix · October 2009

Originally posted by xzyax

Originally posted by Dana

Remember everyone, 8.7 is the school equivalent to a B+.
A good score, but not epic.

True, an 8.7 might very well be the equivalent of a B+...

But I challenge anyone to find a higher rated game reviewed from MMORPG.COM

Just for point of reference; here is the score MMORPG.COM gave some other fairly popular MMOs:

MMORPG.COM Review Scores
Game Title	Review Score
Aion	8.7
EvE	8.5
LoTRo	8.5
DAoC	8.4
CoH	8.3
WoW	8.1
Guild Wars	8.1
EQ	8.0
UO	7.8
FFXI	6.5

From the review score at least... it would appear that MMORPG.COM is endorsing that Aion is the best MMO currently available. I haven't tried it, so I can't say one way or the other.

I just thought it fair to point out that for a MMORPG.COM review score; an 8.7 IS Epic!

/Signed

I haven't played Aion either and wont comment on the fairness of the score, but 8,7 definately is epic on mmorpg.com.

Unlike some of the others I will however add that I generally think that mmorpg.com makes some of the best reviews and give fair scores. That does not mean that they cant be a few decimals off mark sometimes though. But if the reviewer already gave the score based on relativity, then I wont complain(but I doubt it).

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Aion: Review

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Aion: Review

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