Lag is obviously a problem for the first days of open beta, it was also an issue in the latter closed betas #5 and #6. As I mention in the review, if they dont fix this the game may go down in flames (forum flames). If you are having lag issues, R click the AION button in the NCsoft Log screen and select repair. That seems to have rectified the problem on my system. The lag is not a game guard issue.
Thats really a key point. Many think it is.
First, just as a minor addition. You can PvP in the Arena starting level 10. I spent an hour in there the other day doing just that (there is a level 10 quest that has you enter the arena and not really know what it is). Usually you get a gank in on some level 10 guy because he doesn't know better. Well, 2 min after killing him he is back looking for revenge and the real fun begins.
Second, GameGuard is the issue. The repair option simple redownloads the GameGuard items and maybe some Aion stuff. I fixed the bulk of my lag by removing the GameGuard folder in the Aion directory.
Another way to reduce the lag is to disable the general chat channels by customizing your chat tab. The GameGuard fix dropped me from 1000ms+ spikes to about 400ms with some spikes. The chat fix dropped me down to 150-250ms with 350ms spikes.
Chat channels are handled on a different server (notice when your toon laggs but chat does not) correct me if i'm wrong.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
As someone not 100% familiar with Aion before the Open Beta (my personal policy is to not hype myself up for a game too far before release), I actually -- and this is rare for this site's forums -- found your review both unbiased and informative.
Looks like a good in-depth review.. problem is these days I realy don't have time to read in-depth reviews skipped to your summary which seems fairly accurate.
Have played AION since CB5 and very much enjoying it.
Is it a wow killer? honestly, who cares? 11.5 million players of wow in a world where there are billions of potential players, makes you wonder why people think WoW has such a prominent position. The truth is there are more people playing mario kart on wii than play wow - sobering thought no?
The MMO market is hugly untapped, and AION captures a very nice niche between east and west. And given that there is a huge online player base in the far east, means that AION has a very rich and diverse player base in existance even before it released in the west - I am just thankful that NCsoft allowed AION to be translated. Its a great little game, and combines the story telling and lovely gfx of Guild wars, with the ease of play of WoW/Everquest - all good stuff as far as I can see.
I oft hear about gamegard issues, and that it is inevitable that the game will be hacked and bots will rule the roost. This may be the case, and if so may indeed kill the game long term. But I am certain that AION will be on my hard drive for the next 6-12 months - and furthermore the gold farmers/bots in wow didn't kill it, so I don't see why the same would be true for AION.
Only challenge I can forsee for AION, is the same challenge for all pay-by-month business models currently face. The rise, and rise of Free-2-Play models.
Guild Wars2 looms and if it follows the same model as its predecessor but maintains a persistant and exporable world, then the whole scence could see a major shift in that direction - lets face it with the economic downturn still very much with it, the apeal of playing online for no fee, is pretty damned tempting.
Like it or not, the pay-by-month model is looking increasingly as dated as buying games on DVDs has become, and there is no doubt that the real bleeding edge for the internet distributed free-2-play models are companies such as NCSoft.
Time will tell how it all pans out, but until we know how the story ends, Ateria looks like a good place to hang out, fly around and smackdown some heads.
Guild Wars2 looms and if it follows the same model as its predecessor but maintains a persistant and exporable world, then the whole scence could see a major shift in that direction - lets face it with the economic downturn still very much with it, the apeal of playing online for no fee, is pretty damned tempting. Like it or not, the pay-by-month model is looking increasingly as dated as buying games on DVDs has become, and there is no doubt that the real bleeding edge for the internet distributed free-2-play models are companies such as NCSoft. Time will tell how it all pans out, but until we know how the story ends, Ateria looks like a good place to hang out, fly around and smackdown some heads. - o/
Maybe, don't forget though people were saying the same thing was going to happen when Guild Wars came out. I distinctly remember people saying Guild Wars was going to obliterate WoW on the WoW forums when GW's launch loomed because it was going to be f2p, offer better PvP (at the time WoW PvP wasn't nearly as "involved" as it is now), and a lot were still bitter about how the WoW launch went. GW was a great game and had a large following but it certainly didn't really effect the mmorpg market as a whole. So while anything is possible I wouldn't necessarily say that f2p is the future.
Actually, I have a bad feeling that at least in the near future anyways there is going to be a real push by companies to combine p2p and rmt features in game. Which I'm not enthused about at all unless those games offer content and updates out the wazoo but we'll see.
Out of the two options I certainly hope you're right. Just doesn't seem the route games are going in general from everything I've seen. Only time will tell though.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Comments
Just like finished and product or good government in the same sentence.
Thats really a key point. Many think it is.
First, just as a minor addition. You can PvP in the Arena starting level 10. I spent an hour in there the other day doing just that (there is a level 10 quest that has you enter the arena and not really know what it is). Usually you get a gank in on some level 10 guy because he doesn't know better. Well, 2 min after killing him he is back looking for revenge and the real fun begins.
Second, GameGuard is the issue. The repair option simple redownloads the GameGuard items and maybe some Aion stuff. I fixed the bulk of my lag by removing the GameGuard folder in the Aion directory.
Another way to reduce the lag is to disable the general chat channels by customizing your chat tab. The GameGuard fix dropped me from 1000ms+ spikes to about 400ms with some spikes. The chat fix dropped me down to 150-250ms with 350ms spikes.
Chat channels are handled on a different server (notice when your toon laggs but chat does not) correct me if i'm wrong.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
you are correct StayonTarget
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
As someone not 100% familiar with Aion before the Open Beta (my personal policy is to not hype myself up for a game too far before release), I actually -- and this is rare for this site's forums -- found your review both unbiased and informative.
Someone pinch me.
I have made numerous changes through the open beta process and The Review is not completed.
Thanks for all the input and suggestions.
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
Looks like a good in-depth review.. problem is these days I realy don't have time to read in-depth reviews
skipped to your summary which seems fairly accurate.
Have played AION since CB5 and very much enjoying it.
Is it a wow killer? honestly, who cares? 11.5 million players of wow in a world where there are billions of potential players, makes you wonder why people think WoW has such a prominent position. The truth is there are more people playing mario kart on wii than play wow - sobering thought no?
The MMO market is hugly untapped, and AION captures a very nice niche between east and west. And given that there is a huge online player base in the far east, means that AION has a very rich and diverse player base in existance even before it released in the west - I am just thankful that NCsoft allowed AION to be translated. Its a great little game, and combines the story telling and lovely gfx of Guild wars, with the ease of play of WoW/Everquest - all good stuff as far as I can see.
I oft hear about gamegard issues, and that it is inevitable that the game will be hacked and bots will rule the roost. This may be the case, and if so may indeed kill the game long term. But I am certain that AION will be on my hard drive for the next 6-12 months - and furthermore the gold farmers/bots in wow didn't kill it, so I don't see why the same would be true for AION.
Only challenge I can forsee for AION, is the same challenge for all pay-by-month business models currently face. The rise, and rise of Free-2-Play models.
Guild Wars2 looms and if it follows the same model as its predecessor but maintains a persistant and exporable world, then the whole scence could see a major shift in that direction - lets face it with the economic downturn still very much with it, the apeal of playing online for no fee, is pretty damned tempting.
Like it or not, the pay-by-month model is looking increasingly as dated as buying games on DVDs has become, and there is no doubt that the real bleeding edge for the internet distributed free-2-play models are companies such as NCSoft.
Time will tell how it all pans out, but until we know how the story ends, Ateria looks like a good place to hang out, fly around and smackdown some heads.
- o/
Maybe, don't forget though people were saying the same thing was going to happen when Guild Wars came out. I distinctly remember people saying Guild Wars was going to obliterate WoW on the WoW forums when GW's launch loomed because it was going to be f2p, offer better PvP (at the time WoW PvP wasn't nearly as "involved" as it is now), and a lot were still bitter about how the WoW launch went. GW was a great game and had a large following but it certainly didn't really effect the mmorpg market as a whole. So while anything is possible I wouldn't necessarily say that f2p is the future.
Actually, I have a bad feeling that at least in the near future anyways there is going to be a real push by companies to combine p2p and rmt features in game. Which I'm not enthused about at all unless those games offer content and updates out the wazoo but we'll see.
Out of the two options I certainly hope you're right. Just doesn't seem the route games are going in general from everything I've seen. Only time will tell though.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.