Aion leans heavily on its visual appeal. Meanwhile it doesn't compete with other games in scale or ambitious design. Until we see the extent of "Vision" and all that it entails, Aion remains a very small world with a very simple design.
Even the combat system (arguably the most important system of an MMO) suffers at the hands of animations... where you are locked down in a singular place while completing your double tuck spin sword slash... while your enemy is conviently running away... well atleast it looked pretty. Lets not mention the horror that is flying combat and melee. How the reviewer heralds these systems as "smooth" confuses me. Truly a sad day when graphics one-up gameplay.
Apparently even the MMORPG staff regard their awards as a popularity contest, instead of a true judging. Massively got it right.
PS
Champions has better graphics in everything minus character models.
Mosty hyped game - Yes Most subscriptions - Yes Most polished - Hm yes, not hard for a game released in '08 Best new game - Definately not FE and DF had taken more risk in terms of innovative game design, and measured by their marketing budget they definatley top Aion.
Risk isnt always a good thing, in fact, it can often be associated with a sign of stupidity if you do not know what you are doing and how the current market is reacting.
Keep in mind Aion is using the CryEngine for an mmorpg. Its own risk and innovation come on the form of art and sound playing a greater role along with the game engine and technology. The game also sought to appeal to all audiences with a mixture of western and asian design elements. Whether you can say this succeeded or not is debatable, but there was innovation and risk present and remember its not always a good thing.
For 2009, it is the best new game. Sorry, but its kind of obvious. Fallen Earth was interesting, but it was made for a small niche market and was riddled with bugs and aged graphics, partially due to its low budget. DarkFall was just a mess, badly designed and badly managed. In fact, im pretty sure you can say the people over at Aventurine are blithering idiots at this point, they had something with promise, but made all the wrong choices.
Mosty hyped game - Yes Most subscriptions - Yes Most polished - Hm yes, not hard for a game released in '08 Best new game - Definately not FE and DF had taken more risk in terms of innovative game design, and measured by their marketing budget they definatley top Aion.
Risk isnt always a good thing, in fact, it can often be associated with a sign of stupidity if you do not know what you are doing and how the current market is reacting.
Keep in mind Aion is using the CryEngine for an mmorpg. Its own risk and innovation come on the form of art and sound playing a greater role along with the game engine and technology. The game also sought to appeal to all audiences with a mixture of western and asian design elements. Whether you can say this succeeded or not is debatable, but there was innovation and risk present and remember its not always a good thing.
For 2009, it is the best new game. Sorry, but its kind of obvious. Fallen Earth was interesting, but it was made for a small niche market and was riddled with bugs and aged graphics, partially due to its low budget. DarkFall was just a mess, badly designed and badly managed. In fact, im pretty sure you can say the people over at Aventurine are blithering idiots at this point, they had something with promise, but made all the wrong choices.
Play Darkfall recently? It's a damn good game. I quit shortly after launch because of launch problems, and was as disappointed as anyone. Its a totally different ball-game now. That design team really deserves a pat on the back. This is the first time I've bought an extended subscription to a game up-front.
Both Fallen Earth and Darkfall are far greater in scope or scheme that Aion. Aion is a fraction of those games, and hides it with a tremendous grind, graphics, and polish.
Terrible game, nothing in this game hasn't been done before. I'm honestly debating whether or not i should even check this website daily anymore due to the enormous amount of fail it has been putting out. Aion, A Korean clone that revolutionized nothing, looks bland and empty and very dull, deserves 0 of the accolades it has received.
Ugh. If it wasn't for the giveaways this site would be laughable.
My grudge here is with "Aion as new" - it had about a year of improvement over the Korean launch! New MMOs that deserved that title were Fallen Earth or Darkfall.
I really don't agree with MMORPG's choice. There are far more superior New MMOs out there that offered much more to the MMORPG industry than the copy+paste with "ooooh shiny" graphics that Aion is.
You can polish a turd as much as you want, but let's face it, it's still a turd.
Let me quote a few things:
"Each year, we honor one title that stands out above the rest as the cream of the crop, the top freshly launched game."
1: Already launched in Asia 1 year ago, I believe this should be taken into account regardless of wether or not this is the NA market.
2: Many games stood out a lot more than Aion has this year and as mentionned in many reviews, Aion was a big disappointment.
"sporting visuals that are thus far unmatched in the MMO genre."
As someone mentionned, AoC and LotR on DX10 is just as awesome.
"In creating Aion, the game's developers took existing concepts and conventions of gameplay and added interesting aspects like the game's flight system to give it its own flavor."
Flyff (Fly For Fun), Perfect World, Dream Of Mirror Online and many more, all features flight system and and a few also features aerial combat. This idea has been around for quite a while in the MMO Industry so really, nothing new here.
Overall, Aion brought nothing new to the market. Players who grew tired of their other game went to Aion, many stayed but many also left.
Games like Fallen Earth or DarkFall would deserve the "award". Not only have both games brought back ideas, many thoughts extinct, but they did it well. Of course both games failed pretty badly at launch (especially DarkFall), but both games have an increasing player data-base, the bugs are fixed quickly, etc. Fallen Earth has an awesome storyline and setting while DarkFall brought back the PvP ex-UO players loved (there's many old shadowbane and uo guilds in DarkFall). There's just so many things these games did a lot better than Aion and while neither are remotedly close to being "polished", they offer far greater freedom and entertainment.
Edit, just realised the link was wrong (my bad). It's fixed now.
Picking Aion was just too easy for this staff. It was a poor year for MMO's to start with and the best of a poor lot is not exactly something to gloat about.
I just closed my Aion account again. The bots are still everywhere despite what some of the fan boys here say. The support is still horrible and the end game is still almost non existent. Usually I enjoy trying out alternate characters, I have no interest in that whatsoever with Aion.
I think NCSoft still does not get what it takes to do well with a MMO in the west.
First place in a race composed entirely of itself and no others. What other big budget mmos came out in 2009?
"For some reason, everyone seems to have forgotten the complete and utter mess that WoW was when it launched"
And how quickly everyone seems to forget that aion didn't actually come out in 2009 and what sort of mess 1.0 aion was. Lots of people cry about the grind and lack of end game in Aion, but the original 1.0 version was nothing but the basic zones with tons more grind and not even the poor offering of current end game content. No dredgion, no fortress instances, no dark poeta, no steal rake, no draupnir, no adma or theo labs. It was basically lineage 2:prelude with a fancy character editor and no swimming.
The reason ncsoft released aion so late here was specifically so they could put in the latest content patches. There was a cute song and dance from the CMs about custom tailoring content and translations (a huge lie) but the truth was that the original version of aion had no substance what so ever. It was a big hit in korea simply because it was the next best thing from the korean power house NCSOFT but ncsoft doesn't carry that kind of weight over here in the west. It's about as respected as the hoard of dime a dozen f2p mmo publishers which is a real shame.
Yes, aion has improved significantly since that 1.0 4 month beta period. But what game wouldn't if you magically injected over a year worth of updates in such a short period of time?
Champions Online - Sure Decent product really not bad a lot of niche features.
Fallen Earth - Revolutionary in the mmo business lets hope they manage to polish their game.
Runes of Magic - Yeah quite good concidering its free.
Darkfall - LOL !
As for that the reason you choice aion i rather disapointing... aion has been the boulder that has preventing other mmo's from developing. i have to admit did i not play aion with really good and old friends id never make it higher than level 20.
Aion grind is so intensive that you have to say goodbye to Sexlife Social life School life... everything other than the computer if you want to do something in that game.
seriously sitting 16 hours a day to get a single level if your lucky... thats to much for my liking.
not to mention the game doesent offer anything new... nothing at all nothing we havent seen elsewere the only feature i really loved in aion was Rifting and that a replacement for much needed world pvp (and please dont tell me abyss people dont go there unless they have a bunch of people with them)
personally i think aion is a pile of garbage.... can it be fixed ? most def and i hope they do i was looking forward to it.
b) While we did sell some Aion advertising in 2009 the campaign came out to 2.2% of our 2009 advertising sales, and believe it or not - Fallen Earth did just a little bit more than that.
And how much money did you get for all the other ncsoft titles? How much do you expect to get for all their future ones? Your statement is very misleading.
Just a friendly reminder before this gets out of hand: If you disagree with our choice of Aion as Best New Game of 2009, that is fine. Negativity about Aion is more than welcome in this thread, but please make sure you back up your opinions with some substance and don't simply post what essentially amounts to "Aion sucks!" as this is considered trolling. Let's keep it civil and on topic guys, I'd appreciate it!
Well Mike I have to ask what was new about it?
The same old grind and goals,so many things went against it,such as the release queue's and the many problems that followed with bots and hackers.
This game brought nothing fresh or indeed anything new to improve to the mmo market,the fact this game won the new mmo of the year just went to show ..yet again what a bad year it was for mmo's.
Maybe call the award "the best mmo of the year from a very bad bunch"...though not sure Aion would win that either.
I guess you guys have to push these sort of things as from what I can see 2010 wont be much better and maybe you guys have to look out for your jobs...maybe the best flower of the year award could be something to look into for the end of this year...just an idea
If someone had came up to me in 1980 when I was on my Atari 2600 and said we will be playing games with thousands of people at the same time.I guess my response would have been,"but I only have 2 joysticks"
b) While we did sell some Aion advertising in 2009 the campaign came out to 2.2% of our 2009 advertising sales, and believe it or not - Fallen Earth did just a little bit more than that.
And how much money did you get for all the other ncsoft titles? How much do you expect to get for all their future ones? Your statement is very misleading.
The real heart of this is not what % of advertising we do with NCSoft (which is really small compared to other clients) but that it would be completely stupid and foolish to risk our/my reputation by influencing the editorial team as the owner and person who books advertising. This site has been online for the better part of 8 years. We have had many different editorial staff and had we practiced policies like this you would have heard about it with facts by now. If we did this then somewhere, someplace there would be some staff member who would have leaked this about us. I would not risk letting this website go down the drain to make a few bucks on an ad deal - purely from a business perspective this would be a idiotic practice. And again, my team members have a long career to think about - getting caught up in something like this would ruin them, and they would not allow me to do it even if I were as evil as you think.
Again, if you find conspiracy theory fun, then go ahead and carry on - there is really nothing that I/we could do to convince anyone who is set on this mindset otherwise. The fact remains that there is zero proof of what is claimed other than you disagree with our editorial team so therefore the results must have been paid for. All fact and history points to this website being honest and ethical and I take pride in this fact and the way we have structured the business to prevent this.
- MMORPG.COM Staff -
The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.
I can in a way agree on the number one spot as that is how the new generation seems to want their MMORPG.
Overall the game looked good and played well, I had no issue's with the game as a game but it just didn't fit my playstyle in the way I like it to be for a MMORPG. I personaly want/need my freedom, I don't really like to be guided and I really felt I was guided till I hit lvl 12 which made me stop playing the game. But as said I can see why it won the first place.
For me personaly it would have been Icarus Fallen Earth, but only because it fits my playstyle aswell my wants/needs in a MMORPG, the freedom as in no direct classes, the open world where you are not guided all the way except for the tut and the extended training the rest is up to you, the crafting while everyone can get into crafting and make what ever they want you really do not have to, and most important The Community....the way we all act/react/help each other out on multi lvl's.
So my personal winner is Fallen Earth as it's the first MMORPG that has gotten me for more the several months already (playing since release and don't see myself stopping anytime soon).
Well deserved! Aion is and will continue to be one of the top pvp MMOs out if NCsoft keeps the content coming in my opition. Its understandable that some folks won't like it but for those that are hooked its an awesome experience!
I finally reached five level 30+ Asmo toons this weekend and am considering rolling an elyos toon to get to know the zones better for rifting. Keep it coming NCsoft!!
People have very short memories. For some reason, everyone seems to have forgotten the complete and utter mess that WoW was when it launched. Especially the servers - they were down as often as they were up for that first month or so. Likewise, most of Aion's issues were resolved within the first month after it launched.
Unfortunately, this site is populated by people crushed by the fact that Aion wasn't WoW 2.0. The seething hatred these people have for the game is simply amazing to behold. I greatly enjoy the game, however. The combat is smooth, the flight is fun, the game world is vivid with plenty of character (nyerk!), the pvp is plentiful, and the servers are rock solid. I have no real complaints, honestly, save for that I wish the world was more open.
Agreed. Theres plenty of MMOs out...go play one you enjoy lol Why folks feel the need to waste their time here complaining about an MMO they don't enjoy is beyond me... Me thinks they have too much time on their hands :-)
It's amusing how many people are surprised / upset by this verdict. There sure was a lot of ambition in 2009, but lets face it.
it's not like Aion had much competition.
It wins the award almost by default, after the sheer number of fiascos launched in 2009. Not only does Aion deserve to be on top, but if you look at the list of runner ups, it makes sense. You can look at each and every game down the list, ignore the hype, and focus on how polished / complete each game is. If you try and put your inner fan at bay, you should come to a similar order.
I find Aion pretty damn boring, but it's by far the most complete (and best funded) out of the list. That doesn't make it any less good. It's graphics, sound, and stability are the best on that list. Runner up would indeed be Fallen Earth. What it loses in glitches / bugs, it makes up for in stability, gameplay, and originality. Keep going down the list to get to DF, which is a very ambitious idea, but (depending on who you listen to) either a giant pile of crap, or a giant pile of crap that is very fun to play.
I'd personally give that award to CO, even thought it's content light, everything else is pretty damn good.
Playing - Champions Online Unsure Of - Darkfall, Star Trek Online Waiting For - Star Wars: The Old Republic, All Points Bulletin Played - Age Of Conan, Everquest II, Mabinogi, Tabula Rasa, Star Wars Galaxies, World Of Warcraft
Fallen Earth was succesful around because no-one wasnt expecting anything from it and actually went over expectations for being only "not vaporware"...And they even made it out to be quite nicely working FPS straight from 1996. Still we're talking about best new game of 2009 and no doubt Aion actually works and feels like one. Its not uber innovative that's for sure, but its not hard to beast the titles what came out this year. Im really hoping that next year would be better.. though, seeing greatest hype of SWTOR and Star Trek i dont see much changes in the pattern.
It's amusing how many people are surprised / upset by this verdict. There sure was a lot of ambition in 2009, but lets face it. it's not like Aion had much competition. It wins the award almost by default, after the sheer number of fiascos launched in 2009. Not only does Aion deserve to be on top, but if you look at the list of runner ups, it makes sense. You can look at each and every game down the list, ignore the hype, and focus on how polished / complete each game is. If you try and put your inner fan at bay, you should come to a similar order. I find Aion pretty damn boring, but it's by far the most complete (and best funded) out of the list. That doesn't make it any less good. It's graphics, sound, and stability are the best on that list. Runner up would indeed be Fallen Earth. What it loses in glitches / bugs, it makes up for in stability, gameplay, and originality. Keep going down the list to get to DF, which is a very ambitious idea, but (depending on who you listen to) either a giant pile of crap, or a giant pile of crap that is very fun to play.
in my view rune of magic WAS and IS a better game then aion.and its free gees .you dont like it no biggy its free
try that with aion.i just feel sorry for arenanet .having that down their troat must be bad since they have an insane game to make (gw2)wich will be better in every way even with lower graphic .i would rater have lower graphic but smoother gameplay then aion (lagfest)
Nothing epitomizes the sad state of the industry better than the notion that these five pitiful offering could be considered the "best" of anything.
If this was 2008, I'd agree with you, but in 2009, Fallen Earth and Darkfall with both vastly unique games, and well made, pushing the market forward, by indy companies nontheless.
But yes, the MMORPG market is having its last dying breaths before the new, auto matchup, hirable NPC, item shop microtransaction premium account age we're headed into.
Comments
Mosty hyped game - Yes
Most subscriptions - Yes
Most polished - Hm yes, not hard for a game released in '08
Best new game - Definately not
FE and DF had taken more risk in terms of innovative game design, and measured by their marketing budget they definatley top Aion.
Darkfall or Fallen Earth deserve the award.
Aion leans heavily on its visual appeal. Meanwhile it doesn't compete with other games in scale or ambitious design. Until we see the extent of "Vision" and all that it entails, Aion remains a very small world with a very simple design.
Even the combat system (arguably the most important system of an MMO) suffers at the hands of animations... where you are locked down in a singular place while completing your double tuck spin sword slash... while your enemy is conviently running away... well atleast it looked pretty. Lets not mention the horror that is flying combat and melee. How the reviewer heralds these systems as "smooth" confuses me. Truly a sad day when graphics one-up gameplay.
Apparently even the MMORPG staff regard their awards as a popularity contest, instead of a true judging. Massively got it right.
PS
Champions has better graphics in everything minus character models.
Risk isnt always a good thing, in fact, it can often be associated with a sign of stupidity if you do not know what you are doing and how the current market is reacting.
Keep in mind Aion is using the CryEngine for an mmorpg. Its own risk and innovation come on the form of art and sound playing a greater role along with the game engine and technology. The game also sought to appeal to all audiences with a mixture of western and asian design elements. Whether you can say this succeeded or not is debatable, but there was innovation and risk present and remember its not always a good thing.
For 2009, it is the best new game. Sorry, but its kind of obvious. Fallen Earth was interesting, but it was made for a small niche market and was riddled with bugs and aged graphics, partially due to its low budget. DarkFall was just a mess, badly designed and badly managed. In fact, im pretty sure you can say the people over at Aventurine are blithering idiots at this point, they had something with promise, but made all the wrong choices.
They probably should have waited just a bit longer before making this decision...
http://www.massively.com/2010/01/05/aion-money-glitch-gives-trillions-to-players/
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
Risk isnt always a good thing, in fact, it can often be associated with a sign of stupidity if you do not know what you are doing and how the current market is reacting.
Keep in mind Aion is using the CryEngine for an mmorpg. Its own risk and innovation come on the form of art and sound playing a greater role along with the game engine and technology. The game also sought to appeal to all audiences with a mixture of western and asian design elements. Whether you can say this succeeded or not is debatable, but there was innovation and risk present and remember its not always a good thing.
For 2009, it is the best new game. Sorry, but its kind of obvious. Fallen Earth was interesting, but it was made for a small niche market and was riddled with bugs and aged graphics, partially due to its low budget. DarkFall was just a mess, badly designed and badly managed. In fact, im pretty sure you can say the people over at Aventurine are blithering idiots at this point, they had something with promise, but made all the wrong choices.
Play Darkfall recently? It's a damn good game. I quit shortly after launch because of launch problems, and was as disappointed as anyone. Its a totally different ball-game now. That design team really deserves a pat on the back. This is the first time I've bought an extended subscription to a game up-front.
Both Fallen Earth and Darkfall are far greater in scope or scheme that Aion. Aion is a fraction of those games, and hides it with a tremendous grind, graphics, and polish.
Terrible game, nothing in this game hasn't been done before. I'm honestly debating whether or not i should even check this website daily anymore due to the enormous amount of fail it has been putting out. Aion, A Korean clone that revolutionized nothing, looks bland and empty and very dull, deserves 0 of the accolades it has received.
Ugh. If it wasn't for the giveaways this site would be laughable.
My grudge here is with "Aion as new" - it had about a year of improvement over the Korean launch! New MMOs that deserved that title were Fallen Earth or Darkfall.
EuroGamer- 7/10
Gamespot - 6.5/10
1Up - C
MMORPG.com (users) 7.85/10
MMORPG.com (staff) 8.7/10 (biggest score ever given as someone mentionned)
Massively - Biggest Disappoitment of 2009 (Both Readers and Staff agreed)
www.massively.com/2010/01/01/massively-readers-and-staff-choice-awards-results-for-2009/(full article)
I really don't agree with MMORPG's choice. There are far more superior New MMOs out there that offered much more to the MMORPG industry than the copy+paste with "ooooh shiny" graphics that Aion is.
You can polish a turd as much as you want, but let's face it, it's still a turd.
Let me quote a few things:
"Each year, we honor one title that stands out above the rest as the cream of the crop, the top freshly launched game."
1: Already launched in Asia 1 year ago, I believe this should be taken into account regardless of wether or not this is the NA market.
2: Many games stood out a lot more than Aion has this year and as mentionned in many reviews, Aion was a big disappointment.
"sporting visuals that are thus far unmatched in the MMO genre."
As someone mentionned, AoC and LotR on DX10 is just as awesome.
"In creating Aion, the game's developers took existing concepts and conventions of gameplay and added interesting aspects like the game's flight system to give it its own flavor."
Flyff (Fly For Fun), Perfect World, Dream Of Mirror Online and many more, all features flight system and and a few also features aerial combat. This idea has been around for quite a while in the MMO Industry so really, nothing new here.
Overall, Aion brought nothing new to the market. Players who grew tired of their other game went to Aion, many stayed but many also left.
Games like Fallen Earth or DarkFall would deserve the "award". Not only have both games brought back ideas, many thoughts extinct, but they did it well. Of course both games failed pretty badly at launch (especially DarkFall), but both games have an increasing player data-base, the bugs are fixed quickly, etc. Fallen Earth has an awesome storyline and setting while DarkFall brought back the PvP ex-UO players loved (there's many old shadowbane and uo guilds in DarkFall). There's just so many things these games did a lot better than Aion and while neither are remotedly close to being "polished", they offer far greater freedom and entertainment.
Edit, just realised the link was wrong (my bad). It's fixed now.
Picking Aion was just too easy for this staff. It was a poor year for MMO's to start with and the best of a poor lot is not exactly something to gloat about.
I just closed my Aion account again. The bots are still everywhere despite what some of the fan boys here say. The support is still horrible and the end game is still almost non existent. Usually I enjoy trying out alternate characters, I have no interest in that whatsoever with Aion.
I think NCSoft still does not get what it takes to do well with a MMO in the west.
First place in a race composed entirely of itself and no others. What other big budget mmos came out in 2009?
"For some reason, everyone seems to have forgotten the complete and utter mess that WoW was when it launched"
And how quickly everyone seems to forget that aion didn't actually come out in 2009 and what sort of mess 1.0 aion was. Lots of people cry about the grind and lack of end game in Aion, but the original 1.0 version was nothing but the basic zones with tons more grind and not even the poor offering of current end game content. No dredgion, no fortress instances, no dark poeta, no steal rake, no draupnir, no adma or theo labs. It was basically lineage 2:prelude with a fancy character editor and no swimming.
The reason ncsoft released aion so late here was specifically so they could put in the latest content patches. There was a cute song and dance from the CMs about custom tailoring content and translations (a huge lie) but the truth was that the original version of aion had no substance what so ever. It was a big hit in korea simply because it was the next best thing from the korean power house NCSOFT but ncsoft doesn't carry that kind of weight over here in the west. It's about as respected as the hoard of dime a dozen f2p mmo publishers which is a real shame.
Yes, aion has improved significantly since that 1.0 4 month beta period. But what game wouldn't if you magically injected over a year worth of updates in such a short period of time?
Best of the worst I guess.
Makes me think of that line in War Games: "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?"
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Wow... what a disapointment...
Champions Online - Sure Decent product really not bad a lot of niche features.
Fallen Earth - Revolutionary in the mmo business lets hope they manage to polish their game.
Runes of Magic - Yeah quite good concidering its free.
Darkfall - LOL !
As for that the reason you choice aion i rather disapointing... aion has been the boulder that has preventing other mmo's from developing. i have to admit did i not play aion with really good and old friends id never make it higher than level 20.
Aion grind is so intensive that you have to say goodbye to Sexlife Social life School life... everything other than the computer if you want to do something in that game.
seriously sitting 16 hours a day to get a single level if your lucky... thats to much for my liking.
not to mention the game doesent offer anything new... nothing at all nothing we havent seen elsewere the only feature i really loved in aion was Rifting and that a replacement for much needed world pvp (and please dont tell me abyss people dont go there unless they have a bunch of people with them)
personally i think aion is a pile of garbage.... can it be fixed ? most def and i hope they do i was looking forward to it.
And how much money did you get for all the other ncsoft titles? How much do you expect to get for all their future ones? Your statement is very misleading.
Well Mike I have to ask what was new about it?
The same old grind and goals,so many things went against it,such as the release queue's and the many problems that followed with bots and hackers.
This game brought nothing fresh or indeed anything new to improve to the mmo market,the fact this game won the new mmo of the year just went to show ..yet again what a bad year it was for mmo's.
Maybe call the award "the best mmo of the year from a very bad bunch"...though not sure Aion would win that either.
I guess you guys have to push these sort of things as from what I can see 2010 wont be much better and maybe you guys have to look out for your jobs...maybe the best flower of the year award could be something to look into for the end of this year...just an idea
If someone had came up to me in 1980 when I was on my Atari 2600 and said we will be playing games with thousands of people at the same time.I guess my response would have been,"but I only have 2 joysticks"
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/235780/page/8
And how much money did you get for all the other ncsoft titles? How much do you expect to get for all their future ones? Your statement is very misleading.
The real heart of this is not what % of advertising we do with NCSoft (which is really small compared to other clients) but that it would be completely stupid and foolish to risk our/my reputation by influencing the editorial team as the owner and person who books advertising. This site has been online for the better part of 8 years. We have had many different editorial staff and had we practiced policies like this you would have heard about it with facts by now. If we did this then somewhere, someplace there would be some staff member who would have leaked this about us. I would not risk letting this website go down the drain to make a few bucks on an ad deal - purely from a business perspective this would be a idiotic practice. And again, my team members have a long career to think about - getting caught up in something like this would ruin them, and they would not allow me to do it even if I were as evil as you think.
Again, if you find conspiracy theory fun, then go ahead and carry on - there is really nothing that I/we could do to convince anyone who is set on this mindset otherwise. The fact remains that there is zero proof of what is claimed other than you disagree with our editorial team so therefore the results must have been paid for. All fact and history points to this website being honest and ethical and I take pride in this fact and the way we have structured the business to prevent this.
- MMORPG.COM Staff -
The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.
I can in a way agree on the number one spot as that is how the new generation seems to want their MMORPG.
Overall the game looked good and played well, I had no issue's with the game as a game but it just didn't fit my playstyle in the way I like it to be for a MMORPG. I personaly want/need my freedom, I don't really like to be guided and I really felt I was guided till I hit lvl 12 which made me stop playing the game. But as said I can see why it won the first place.
For me personaly it would have been Icarus Fallen Earth, but only because it fits my playstyle aswell my wants/needs in a MMORPG, the freedom as in no direct classes, the open world where you are not guided all the way except for the tut and the extended training the rest is up to you, the crafting while everyone can get into crafting and make what ever they want you really do not have to, and most important The Community....the way we all act/react/help each other out on multi lvl's.
So my personal winner is Fallen Earth as it's the first MMORPG that has gotten me for more the several months already (playing since release and don't see myself stopping anytime soon).
Well deserved! Aion is and will continue to be one of the top pvp MMOs out if NCsoft keeps the content coming in my opition. Its understandable that some folks won't like it but for those that are hooked its an awesome experience!
I finally reached five level 30+ Asmo toons this weekend and am considering rolling an elyos toon to get to know the zones better for rifting. Keep it coming NCsoft!!
"I play Tera for the gameplay"
Agreed. Theres plenty of MMOs out...go play one you enjoy lol Why folks feel the need to waste their time here complaining about an MMO they don't enjoy is beyond me... Me thinks they have too much time on their hands :-)
"I play Tera for the gameplay"
Well, I don't think it's too far off, not much came out in 2009 worth mentioning.
It's amusing how many people are surprised / upset by this verdict. There sure was a lot of ambition in 2009, but lets face it.
it's not like Aion had much competition.
It wins the award almost by default, after the sheer number of fiascos launched in 2009. Not only does Aion deserve to be on top, but if you look at the list of runner ups, it makes sense. You can look at each and every game down the list, ignore the hype, and focus on how polished / complete each game is. If you try and put your inner fan at bay, you should come to a similar order.
I find Aion pretty damn boring, but it's by far the most complete (and best funded) out of the list. That doesn't make it any less good. It's graphics, sound, and stability are the best on that list. Runner up would indeed be Fallen Earth. What it loses in glitches / bugs, it makes up for in stability, gameplay, and originality. Keep going down the list to get to DF, which is a very ambitious idea, but (depending on who you listen to) either a giant pile of crap, or a giant pile of crap that is very fun to play.
I'd personally give that award to CO, even thought it's content light, everything else is pretty damn good.
Playing - Champions Online
Unsure Of - Darkfall, Star Trek Online
Waiting For - Star Wars: The Old Republic, All Points Bulletin
Played - Age Of Conan, Everquest II, Mabinogi, Tabula Rasa, Star Wars Galaxies, World Of Warcraft
Although i greatly disliked Aion (lvl 50 cleric) its still the best game on the list. 2009 was just a sad year for MMO's.
Fallen Earth was succesful around because no-one wasnt expecting anything from it and actually went over expectations for being only "not vaporware"...And they even made it out to be quite nicely working FPS straight from 1996. Still we're talking about best new game of 2009 and no doubt Aion actually works and feels like one. Its not uber innovative that's for sure, but its not hard to beast the titles what came out this year. Im really hoping that next year would be better.. though, seeing greatest hype of SWTOR and Star Trek i dont see much changes in the pattern.
in my view rune of magic WAS and IS a better game then aion.and its free gees .you dont like it no biggy its free
try that with aion.i just feel sorry for arenanet .having that down their troat must be bad since they have an insane game to make (gw2)wich will be better in every way even with lower graphic .i would rater have lower graphic but smoother gameplay then aion (lagfest)
If this was 2008, I'd agree with you, but in 2009, Fallen Earth and Darkfall with both vastly unique games, and well made, pushing the market forward, by indy companies nontheless.
But yes, the MMORPG market is having its last dying breaths before the new, auto matchup, hirable NPC, item shop microtransaction premium account age we're headed into.