Finding it really hard to get into this

[Ximi]

Being still pretty new to Aion i must say there is a bit of that "grind" mentality. I think this is just from the quest rewards that are given on quests past the about lvl 15-16 mark.

At that early level you are better off going and grinding mobs, thats not right.

Hopefully this patch will fix that big issue.

[snex]

Do people normally jump at the chance to prove me wrong? I haven't really noticed.

We'll just have to wait and see when it comes to TOR, Dex, unless you've already played it extensively. I don't doubt that they've done something interesting with the main story-line(s), but since it's an MMO, you'll always be a hero among heroes for a literally indeterminable amount of time. There's no end to the story like there is in SP RPGs!

Also, **** YEAH! STAR WARS!!

[>XaartaX<]

Missing the point =/ It's not WoW and isn't trying to be like WoW. That's what makes it so great, it cators to the guys who want the difficulty and accomplishment that they got in MMOs such a EQ, EQ2 and Daoc.

You're right, it's trying to be a tweaked WAR (on the pvp side of things) mixed with your usual pve grind.

They copied it close enough to even have crashes during fortress fights. "We're fixing it".

I'd like to see how they go about fixing the hordes of botters.

[Archaonlotr]

lv34 now, almost 35 - havent had to grind at all

There are so many quests in the game already if i can get to 34 with just questing those who say you have to grind are full of it

[Dexterian]

Do people normally jump at the chance to prove me wrong? I haven't really noticed.

We'll just have to wait and see when it comes to TOR, Dex, unless you've already played it extensively. I don't doubt that they've done something interesting with the main story-line(s), but since it's an MMO, you'll always be a hero among heroes for a literally indeterminable amount of time. There's no end to the story like there is in SP RPGs!

Also, fsck YEAH! STAR WARS!!

Lol, wasn't out to prove you wrong... just make a point.
No I haven't played SW:TOR... but from what I've seen so far... it looks just like KotR only in the form of an MMO.

[Xinen]

You're right, it's trying to be a tweaked WAR (on the pvp side of things) mixed with your usual pve grind.

They copied it close enough to even have crashes during fortress fights. "We're fixing it".

I'd like to see how they go about fixing the hordes of botters.

Alot more like EQ/Daoc than WAR.

For everyone that is finding grinding a chore you need to go group. Go do an instance or grind some elites in a group(kaidan hq/lepharist camp elyos side anyone?). There's no reason you can't group your way to 50, my usual instance group basically don't xp outside of the group grinding/instancing every day and they're 45 now. I dislike solo grinding for long periods and only do it once in awhile, most of my xp comes from doing instances.

[Fable]

run so dam many freaking Ft runs, have not seen a fabled orb yet....

[Marcus Dunn]

I dont play this and have no intention of playing it as I was really underwhelmed by the beta. One thing I find interesting though are the complaints about grinding. It's funny how the MMO landscape has changed and you can pretty much blame it on WoW.

WoW set itself up based around short-term rewards and satisfaction. Kill 8 wolves, get a nice little chunk of XP and a nice little item you can use. Rinse and repeat so often that it's like forming some kind of candy addiction - if you dont get the candy reward at the end of each and every little thing you do; its not worth it.

Personally I am not a fan of grinding...at least, I didn't think I was. If I am presented with two kill quests: 1. Kill 8 Wolves for Reward, or 2. Kill 25 Wolves for Reward, immediately, i feel the Kill 25 is excessive, whilst the 8 can be done relatively fast. You immediately want to do the fastest then move onto the next, and the next and the next etc. That's WoW to the letter.

I think back though to the days of playing FFXI (final fantasy XI) where with a group, we'd camp in this nice beach zone amongst these palm trees, and pull nothing but these really difficult crabs for several hours, slowly working on getting Xp. Hell i dont think these crabs even dropped money or consistent loot- just sometimes. I remember how we'd chat in party chat, and it was relaxing and enjoyable...it was social.

It was so different to how people play now. No rewards? Not worth the effort! If someone is on a raid and not getting loot? They're asleep, or largely AFK on auto-follow. The more I think about this the more it makes me wonder if Aion perhaps taps into that obviously Eastern social aspect of MMO gaming as even in FFXI it was obvious that the Japanese we played with placed a heavier emphasis on the social aspect of the game, rather than advancement. Sure they advanced and excelled at playing their roles, but the emphasis was definitely on spending time with other people and having fun. It actually surprised me at the extent at which some Japanese players would go to to help you. It was not uncommon to have a max level character help you without any personal gain for several hours on end, just because he could.

[Tarrasque]

Well posted Deep, and spot on. I remember my short time in FF XI being just like that (especially on the beach) and it was somewhat fun to have conversations with other people around the world in a game environment. I had a ball in DAoC because it was my first MMO and seemed so new to me then, and the Realm vs Realm aspect was great (and unbeaten). WoW certainly brought out the hungry westerners but I really didn't find it socially fun until I got into a good guild. Even then it seemed like guilds vs guilds with everyone being hated on. Aion is the same so far, and even though I enjoy my guild and the throwback to the old-school MMOG, it is full of terrible people.

I miss the old days too, and sad to say its rather dead and buried. Star Wars gives me some glimmer of hope as far as a great story driven MMO but, even on the RP servers, it will be anti-social.

[Xinen]

It's just a different breed of mmo player now really. WoW brought in the audience that don't normally play rpg type games. You have people who may previously have only played Counter strike coming into MMOs with the same competitive kill everyone to win mindset.

We can wish that the days of EQ style camp checks and high levels helping out low levels alot were still around but it all changed when MMOs became mainstream. Now there's alot more ego and epeen involved with many players and it's sad but you just have to ignore the large chunk of players who think that playing an MMO means they have to run around acting like elitist dbags all the time.

This is why I have not and never will join a dedicated PvP guild despite loving pvp. There's too much epeen waving and arrogance going around instaed of people just learning to have fun and enjoy playing with their friends.

[Marcus Dunn]

It's just a different breed of mmo player now really. WoW brought in the audience that don't normally play rpg type games. You have people who may previously have only played Counter strike coming into MMOs with the same competitive kill everyone to win mindset.

Yep that's it I reckon - and it all feeds back to WoW. While WoW did wonders for expanding upon the genre, this is the direct result of such accessbility - it brings people from other game types who were fine in their own communities, into the face of others. You now see your aggressive competitive types who 'own your face' in PVP, where back in the day it was primarily based around PVE and not so much player vs player competition, but players vs environment, where the reward was more social than achievement.

It's funny talking about this, as I too basically discounted Aion as a grindy pos, but hadnt actually thought about it from the old FFXI angle. I also used to play EQ1 back in the day which I can barely remember having any quests at all? Wasnt it mostly based around just going to locations and killing whatever was in your level range? God my brain has gone downhill since the 30 threshold i reckon

[Wolfstar90]

For me at least, an MMO is not an MMO without PvP that has a point to it. Sure, PvE is important, especially when levelling up, but end-game after you've grinded to the cap and have decent gear, PvP should have some sort of significant reward, especially if you manage to be at the top of your server. I found WoW's PvP to be unexciting and almost pointless, not that I played WoW in anything but a private server (I'm sure you'll point out that P-servers are nothing like retail, but they can be and some are). Anyway, group PvP for an objective is spectacular, especially on a large scale. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Y9og2DvJ8[/youtube]

This is a not particularly good video from Silkroad's Fortress Wars, it does the job though. A fortnightly gigantic scale PvP event in which everyone can participate. Obviously capped and well geared characters will always do better than lower levels, or ungeared players but that's unimportant. In the first battle, obviously no-one held the fortress, so all guilds who entered in it fought each other to reach the centre of the fortress and hold it. Now a single guild holds it for the two week period and defends it against other guilds who try to take it for themselves during the event. They must break down the gates, defeat the guild holding the fortress and capture the points in the centre of the fortress. Currently there are two fortresses. Not only does holding a fortress promote your guild, but your guild gains 20% of gold from every item bought in the city nearest to the fortress. This is a lot as the city its nearest is the main city. This sort of thing should occur in more MMOs as it leads to PvP of quite epic proportions. Everyone wants a huge income, obviously as the best items are all sellable to other players. You can also make your own weapons to an extent and sell them, but the materials are costly and it can fail.

In summary, PvP which has a point to it is in my opinion, the greatest thing that can happen in an MMO. If endgame PvP doesn't have a point to it, why bother getting to the cap and getting all that awesome gear?

[Marcus Dunn]

Yeah i fully agree with the fact that PVP needs to have a point. Currently i find the only game (other than guild wars) that nails it is Warhammer online. I would actually get a buzz out of just seeing my player model as one of the statues in the city -though the satisfaction of destroying the enemy players never gets old.

[Dexterian]

I haven't played Aion in a week and I don't miss it. I haven't cancelled my account... I built a new rig recently... haven't got around to installing it... and now thinking about it... I don't think I will? I'll probably cancel my account. The fact that I don't miss playing the game is saying something.

Games I do miss playing is LotRO and Warhammer... warhammer for the PvP... LotRO for the immersive world you played in... not to mention PvP was a bit fun seeing it was a community of players and when you PvP'ed you usually PvP'ed with the same bunch of people.

[Plonker]

Games I do miss playing is LotRO and Warhammer... warhammer for the PvP... LotRO for the immersive world you played in... not to mention PvP was a bit fun seeing it was a community of players and when you PvP'ed you usually PvP'ed with the same bunch of people.

Yeah, canned my Aion account and back playing LotRO. Might try again at a later date if it gets some worthwhile updates. Overall I think it lacked the polish I was expecting from a game that has been live for 12 months (albeit in Korea).