Teabags-DN

I really, really miss 3.0....

sigh... well, my little sister is still playing this game. (her character is 'Erratic').... And she's started buggin' me to play. Looks like I'm not escaping after all..

The fact that I can sell things from the cash shop and then buy the coins to get the gear, is the final nail in the coffin for me. The economy is bloated and crafting has been destroyed by this. I'm going to wait and hold my breath for Ascent Infinite Realm... which purportedly is made by the creators of old Aion! The trailers look promising. I hope it delivers.

After playing for some time, I've come to the conclusion that this isn't the same Aion anymore. I think free-to-play may have ruined some of the aspects I liked about the game. When I paid to play, I couldn't pay to win. I had to earn it all. I was able to fully outfit in spinel gear just by buying the spinel coins.... and most of the dailies don't give spinel coins. Power to the cash shop. I compare this to the old Kahrun gear, where you had to grind, and had some sense of achievement for getting the gear. I was a master chef in the old aion. Now the skill is practically useless. Crafting is pretty useless. I can't even make money with it. I just open my inventory and click on whatever's there that I've gotten from grinding... I want to know whose brilliant idea it was to break your gear if you try to enchant it. This guy should be water-boarded. The instances here sorta suck. They don't have a special theme or mood that's relevant to their location. I'm not exactly sure here... . The solo instances are especially lame. I don't know really, but this doesn't have the same feel as old Aion. There was a lot more to do in the old endgame. I suppose maybe it's nostalgia besting the experience here. I will come back to look at 6.0 but I don't really want to play this right now. I'll catch you guys later in a few months! Thanks for your advice and input

I'll look into this stuff. I haven't been able to find an MMO like Aion (I don't think there is one). I'll stick around and investigate. Thanks for the replies!

And I'm a bit disappointed and hopeful, and not sure if I want to stick around or not. I ran around and grinded out some levels, visited some of the solo instances, and crafted some things. I was a bit let down by the lack of detail up to this point.... the solo instances are literally a few hallways with a boss at the end. The monsters don't drop loot, just locked boxes that I need to purchase keys for.... It felt like an abomination compared to the old Aion. I need to know, before abandoning this game to fond memories... Does it get better after 70? Is the late game still wonderful? How dependent is the game on the cash shop? Before I continue playing this game, I thought I'd visit the forums and ask if it gets better down the road. Perhaps I've just hit a bad patch that is older... Let me see if I can organize my questions here... 1. What are the late-game instances like now? I have fond memories of the unique and beautiful instances in Aion. Raksang prison, Esoterrace, Besh, Tiamatra, the cool solo instances like skyforge and Kromede's Trial, ect. These were more than just instances where you have a short hall and a dozen monsters. The creatures dropped loot, the bosses had phases and required knowledge and a bit of finess + gear. My biggest fear here is that loot from instances can only be unlocked by the cash shop. 2.What is the economy like? I hope and pray it isn't dependent on the cash shop, which would be an abomination. The Aion I remember was self-sustaining. I could craft and sell things to afford my house bills and buy other things. I remember that I'd spend plenty of money on NCoin already, for accessories and such when the game wasn't dependent on the cash shop. 3.What's the population like? As an asmo, I always knew there more Elyos, but at some point I recall the tides shifting dramatically and it was a huge buzz kill (to never, ever have a fort.... ever). I always wondered about that too.... asmos and elyos both seemed comparably cool to me. 4.Is this game dying or thriving? There was always that death-knell-tomorrow hanging over everyone's head and the threat of game extinction... Sorry for the wall of text. For anyone whose read this far, I'd greatly appreciate feedback on this before I devote any of my free time to grinding out a character all over again. Thanks in advance! Cheers, Allen