Aion

[tsugomaru]

A trial period should be in every pay-to-play MMO. What reason is there not to add one? Even if Blizzard took a while to implement it, they had no excuse. Multiple games before them had done it. Aion has even less of an excuse because they have WoW as a model of success to look at. It does not mean it should copy every aspect of WoW, but ideas like the trial period should have been used.

~Tsugomaru

[tsugomaru]

And why do you think these games lack any sort of skill? What would you consider skill?

~Tsugomaru

[PhaeL v2]

Originally Posted by tsugomaru

And why do you think these games lack any sort of skill? What would you consider skill?

~Tsugomaru

I think he's talking about arcade-style or FPS MMOs, like Gunz, Lunia and GrandChase, where you only rely on your keyboard, no clicking and stuff .

If I'm right, I prefer these MMOs too, because they're a lot funnier than the classical "click-to-attack", making you practice like hell to perfect dashing and attacking skills, and not only leveling up your char until something crazy.

But I still like chessboard-style RPGs, like Hoshigami and FFT, so a MMO with that style would be epic. Build up your army, do some quests, learn some jobs, yeah, it would be fun.

[tsugomaru]

It is one thing to get bored of leveling from 1-80 in World of Warcraft or the Aion equivalent, but to go as far as saying that there is no skill involved is silly. Gear is not enough to get you through PVP in World of Warcraft, though it does help. You still need a high mastery of your class and other classes to perform. The same can be said about PVE content. You could have the best gear in the game, but if you do not know how to beat the encounters or adapt, it is difficult to win.

You are right when you say it does take hours to grind for equipment, but equipment is something most people pick up along the way as the learn how to play the game or get better. Blizzard has designed the game so well to the point where skill is more important than the gear. Although there are several achievements which require you to have good gear to beat, there are others which require you to wear weaker gear and change the fights so that a different skill set is needed. You could have all the gear in the world, but if you lack situational awareness and quick thinking, it is not possible to complete these achievements. There is even a guild out there who has completed what is considered one of the harder boss fights completely in blues, which have considerably less stats than higher tier gear. When a fight can be beaten without the best gear out there and is considered difficult even with the best gear, can you say that it is still a pseudo-skill?

As I mentioned before, situational awareness and quick thinking are required to beat these kind of fights. The same holds true about any game that requires skill and these are skills that are acquired over time. The time it takes to acquire these skills would probably be the same as the time one would spend practicing how to shoot in an FPS or learn how to duel in a PVP fight. There will always be some sort of grind if you want to become the best and most skilled at a task.

~Tsugomaru

[meno_rocks123]

One thing I found out today which I think is quite interesting, is the refinery system.
You sacrifice an armor piece to gain refinery items that are X level (depending on the worth of the item you sacrificed). The level of the refinery item compared to the level of the item you are refining is how the success rate is determined. It's not THAT hard to get a +10, but it doesn't actually do all that much. It's much more worth it to get a blue or gold item than to have a +10 white. I have also found that you can buy any white armor form the npc, and the best armors in the game are bought from the npc using abyss points (only obtainable while grinding).
So someone who gets some lucky day doesn't rape just because of it.

I'm really enjoying the skill chains. It adds a whole extra aspect to how you fight, and even amazingly powerful people can be taken down easily if they're using bad combos.

[bmxant]

Aion is a blast, we're getting a nice big exp boost next major patch too. It's definitely a nice change coming from Wow, I hate easy mode games.

Anyone on Yustiel-West?

Obss-20 Chanter

[SCWolf]

I play Aion too. With meno actually. I'm in Synergy, Zikel server, Level 34 Asmo Gladi. Took a couple days break from leveling, on a count of I have **** to do.

[sayuncle990]

Originally Posted by bmxant

Aion is a blast, we're getting a nice big exp boost next major patch too. It's definitely a nice change coming from Wow, I hate easy mode games.

Anyone on Yustiel-West?

Obss-20 Chanter

-We're getting a nice big exp boost next major patch
-I hate easy mode games

...?

[meno_rocks123]

Originally Posted by sayuncle990

-We're getting a nice big exp boost next major patch
-I hate easy mode games

...?

Aion is actually really difficult to level in. Going ALL DAY, you can get one level from grinding, that is, if you're not getting raped by elyos every 5 minutes.

[Squeek]

I know a game you might like if you like long grinds.

http://maplestory.nexon.net

To even suggest that WoW is easy is a joke. Clearly you haven't even tried to do any raids whatsoever.

The point of WoW isn't the level grind. It's to get to 80 so you can experience end-game. The path along the way is just intended to teach you how to play the game and your own class.

[OneHandNow]

Maple -> 200
= Death

Gave up at 182

[XXXsmittyXXX]

Lol that little video on the maplestory homepage was so whack i just had to close the tab.
Thoughts on Aion? Any game you have to pay money to play isn't worth it. That is solely my opinion and i will always stick by that. Atleast make it free to play, and maybe charge for upgrades or expansions :/