My opnion about the Past, present and future of AION.

[Gwin-DN]

I played AION since 2009. I've always liked this game and that's why I'm still here, but I want to be honest with you. The AION has changed a lot and unfortunately the game is not the same and in 6.x i dont know.

AION up to version 4.x has always been a fantasy story. The theme was about angels, demons, wizards and dragons. Humans who evolved and became DAEVAS (demigods) in a medieval land. I have always loved this theme, but the connection with this story has changed.

How did this happen?

It all started with the introduction of pets. I found this unnecessary, but that's fine. I just did not imagine that one day we would be the PET. Then came houses. I thought. Why does someone want to have a home in an MMO? AION is not THE SIMS. If that was a way for NCS to make money, then fine. But after all this, three new classes emerged.

I like the SONGWEAVER, but I never understood GUNNER and AETHERTECH. I did not like seeing revolver, cannon and robot in AION. This does not match the theme of the game. At this point I saw GAME OF THRONES turn into TRANSFORMERS. I really did not like it.

After the new chars, other changes came. Most of the missions became less important. The SIEGES gave way to the arenas and it was at this moment that the old style began to die.

I loved TIAMARANTA. I liked that SIEGE of killing four dragons. There was a connection to the game theme, but they did away with the map. The problem was not the end of TIAMARANTA. The problem was losing the format of the game. The AION lost your cooperative focus.

Nowadays the legions are not more important. The old union was replaced by individuality. The missions have become obsolete and the history of AION (in practice) has been forgotten. New players have no idea what the AION was and will never know.

The gear problems that are a tool of demotivation have increased, the items break. NCS tried to reduce this problem by returning the item, but that was never enough. The arenas enable the friendly fire. This destroyed friendship between players of the same race or same legion. Many people left the AION because of these arenas. Then a fourth class came up. The hacker class.

The Hackers started to have a great success in the game. NCS has tried a reaction with XIGNCODE, but no one is sure if this helped because a new anomaly arose. The new anomaly is the items above +15. Something impossible for ordinary players.

Now let's put it all together.

Hackers, boot, Kinah vendors, unbalance of classes, Archdaeva system, Godstones that should not exist and that work differently for each class. A killer has more chances in a godstone than SM. All this has created a sense of demotivation and even worse for new players.

The new player can quickly reach level 70, but after that he only finds reason to be discouraged. Upar is extremely difficult and if PVE and PVP disappear, what's left over?

A player of level 75 can humiliate another of the same level and without any chance of reaction. You can have the best game equipment. You can be a full commander pury +15 and even then you'll die in 2 seconds. It's as if some players were 10 levels above yours. The differences in damage and resistance are so absurd that I no longer know what a hacker is versus equipment.

What's the problem? The problem is that the ability to play makes no difference.

In addition to all that I wrote above the game also introduced a significant amount of completely useless elements. Currently it is rare to find an adult character. The cosmetic part of AION is too colorful. The clothes are below expectations and players were encouraged to reduce their character to become the size of a child. After that came Minion, a second version of PET that attacks your opponent with a 12k damage. It's just another item to destroy the PVP. So to make matters worse, we've got the new animations that run the gamut. Today a TEMPLAR launched a Formula 1 car during a fight. What does formula 1 have to do with the AION theme?

The AION has bad things, but exist a detail that is much worse. Recently I bought several STIGMAS with NCOIN and all of them broke even at special events. I consider this something unacceptable, as there needs to be respect with the clients' money. Our money is not a disposable paper. This is a feature of gambling and AION is an MMO. Any item that is on sale must have its function preserved. Never an item that is being sold on the site must exist to fail. This is the most destructive element of the game in my opinion and seeing this happen I decided that I will no longer put money into AION. Countless friends agree with me and will do the same for the same reason.

Now. The AION is different game. Good times are over. In 4.x you needed to be knowledgeable about your class, know your rotation and your skills. Nowadays the top gear defines the combat. Any player can have a FEAR GODSTONE eradicating what was once a unique feature of a single class. Add to this the excess of paralyze, silence and etc. The AION 6.x is a promises to 4.x back? Not realy.

Ok. Everyone needs to understand something. The AION errors were not caused solely by NCSOFT. Most decisions are made in korea and many mistakes have already been identified. That is the reason for the changes that are to come in AION 6, but I do not think they are enough. Of course many curious will return, but the return of some will be temporary. I think that the game will never be what it once was and will never reach its full potential because of these anomalies that will continue. An example of this is that from 6.x all scrolls are gone and replaced with animal skins. Then you will no longer play with your character. You will no longer be a DAEVA. You will no longer fly in combat. You will have to transform yourself into an animal, an animal to have speed, attack speed, cast speed and so on. In other words the scrolls were replaced by animal skin. We will all be a PET.

I think that AION 6.x will bring good changes but.. The game will keep on running away from the theme and this leads me to realize that old AION is over, but do not be sad. You still have a good time to enjoy this game until the merger of DN with KT.

Only after that will the next step be the END game.

Give your opinion as well. I see you in AION.

[Neleth-KT]

23 minutes ago, Gwin-DN said:

It all started with the introduction of pets. I found this unnecessary, but that's fine. I just did not imagine that one day we would be the PET. Then came houses. I thought. Why does someone want to have a home in an MMO? AION is not THE SIMS. If that was a way for NCS to make money, then fine. But after all this, three new classes emerged.

I like the SONGWEAVER, but I never understood GUNNER and AETHERTECH. I did not like seeing revolver, cannon and robot in AION. This does not match the theme of the game. At this point I saw GAME OF THRONES turn into TRANSFORMERS. I really did not like it.

 

LOL I found out these sentences are funny,yes Aion is not THE SIMS but I like housing I love it.

I like gunner too I like big boom bang big damage dual pistols style and shoot like western movies.
The most funny stuff is GAME OF THRONES turn into TRANSFORMERS I laughed so hard LOL I don't mind robots but I totally agreed robots are ugly and the class should be redesign.

The rest I don't have comments ._.

[Gwin-DN]

10 minutes ago, Neleth-KT said:

LOL Eu descobri que estas frases são engraçadas, sim Aion não é o SIMS, mas eu gosto de morar, eu amo isso.

Eu gosto de artilheiro também eu gosto de grande boom estrondo grande dano estilo de pistolas duplas e disparar como filme ocidental.
A coisa mais engraçada é GAME OF THRONES transformar em TRANSFORMERS Eu ri tanto LOL Eu não me importo de robô, mas eu concordo totalmente que os robôs são feios e que a classe deve ser redesenhada.

O resto eu não tenho comentários.

I did not like it, but I do not care and respect the people who liked the houses and the new classes. These elements just do not make sense in relation to the theme of the game, but okay. I accept that. I imagine it was necessary for NCS to make money, but the changes continued. There are many anomalies in the game, Godstone, Archdaeva, these differences between the classes and the old PVP and old PVE as we all knew. The end of cooperative mode was bad too. The legions do not mean anything else in the game. Now let's see the 6.x but i want to be me, my character. I do not want to be a bear, or another animal. They told me that there is a parchment that you have to buy to not be a creature. I do not know yet.

[xiilieaxz-DN]

Houses were fine. They made Aion more of a sandbox MMO. There were people who loved collecting furniture and decorating their houses with rare furniture.

But now it's no longer really a sandbox MMO. They've destroyed furniture rarity by adding Luna. You no longer feel pride owning most pieces of furniture because they are all dirt cheap now. Everyone and their mother has an Eastern Butterfly Cabinet now. When they removed Sarpan and Tiamaranta, they also removed a huge load of furniture crafts, like the ones which materials come from special bosses. I really enjoyed farming for them because they looked cool. They've destroyed questing. There are hardly any quests in the game now. They've destroyed crafting/gathering. All that's left to do is PvP and dungeon grind.

I HATED gunslinger because I was playing an assassin when 4.0 came out. Before that, stealth reveal cooldown was 10 minutes. Gunslinger had a ridiculous 2.5 minutes cooldown, completely destroying the fun of Shadow Walk.

Sieges were the best thing to happen to Aion. They were what defined Aion for me. No siege = not Aion, like what it will be in 6.0, with only 2 sieges.

Tiamaranta was just amazing. So much to explore, so much to do. I still remember Kahrun weeklies. People would gather in an alliance together. It was teamwork and bonding of the faction. Heart sieges were some of the most fun I ever had.

Nowadays, legions are important if you want to really be at the endgame. It's no longer about a social legion, but a hardcore legion. You either pick a hardcore legion or be a joke with no connections and no one to do anything serious with.

Gears are a massive problem with the game right now. They are TOO COMPLICATED. Even as a returning player who knows how most of it works, I can't even imagine when I would even get half done with anything. I don't want to spend money if I don't even know where the end goal is.

Hackers have always been in the game forever. I knew a 5-star officer back in Siel Asmo who was a fly hacker because I saw him fly over fences in EOB. And then he became a General. NCSoft doesn't care.

Personally, I want them to just revert the entire game back to 3.0 or 4.0. Yes, I know it's not happening, and no, it's not just nostalgia and me not being able to break out of it. Just look at all the issues above and compare them with the situation now. Aion is literally a shitshow now.

[Cheesecake-DN]

There are transparency transform scrolls. They're ~65k each off of the gold bar shop with EU's prices and will probably be available in the BCM for cheap. 

[Matsukamy-KT]

I dont know if Aion 6.0 will bring players back, but certainly is bringing big philosophycal essays.

[Gwin-DN]

Things no longer make sense. You see an incredible video of Ereshkigal and inside the game you see the pursuit of a montanda sheep in a chicken chasing behind a bear inside a red car. They are incompatible things. AION is no longer a serious game. In the videos it seems to be a serious game. Inside the game you realize that the AION has become something childish.

compare: 

 with this: 

[Bryos-DN]

All fair complains, but I would like to comment on a few things.

The main deal is, how can you talk about the future of the game (judging by your thread's title), if almost half of your points are completely erased by 6.0? I am talking about godstones, tedious leveling, high enchanting levels, Archdaeva system (even though this last one was a really good system...) and so. Sure, you could say those are just past and present, but then whats the point of including them? That said, lets move on to other parts.

Pets? They were all fine, honestly. They were an amazing addition. Most designs NEVER even broke your very desired fantasy theme. The only one I can think of were that ugly as hell bulldozer pet (which practically no one owns, by the way) and the very rare three headed dragon. Every single one of the others were fine. A dog, a cat, a crab, a bird, in-game mobs, in-game bosses mini versions, EVERYTHING is fantasy. Even then, you could always hide them if your immersion was endangered. And houses, why would an MMO or fantasy game NOT have houses? Does your character never sleep? Does he just sleep in the benches of Pandaemonium/Sanctum? Same deal with pets, if you disliked that system, you can very easily ignore it. Just dont do your Free Studio questline or dont step into housing areas. Other than soul sickness nullified, there is no benefit to having a house, and even then its more of a kinah sink than anything.

Moving on to the theme of classes. If you are a long term player, you realise art styles changed, and so did the tone and theme of the game. The first two main patches were kind of fantasy-like, 3.0 moved on to a more like "ultimate governance", and then 4.0 went for a more tech style. It may have not been your cup of tea, but several liked this change of theme. It gave so much potential to cool enemies, classes and zones. Even then, each Dragon Lord we fight has its own theme, as you can tell. Beritra's was that "dark technology" feel, Ereshkigal has "ice" (obviously), and so on. Each big bad guy we fight brings a different style for us to enjoy, a nice touch, in my opinion.

Then sieges. Heart siege was probably the only siege I actually enjoyed. The real thing here is that not everyone likes to "cooperate" together. They prefer to stay in their own alliances, which is why several players want back the old sieging system. Sucks, but meh, whatever.

Also, NO ONE liked flight PvP. Flying is fun indeed, but PvP with a Y axis is an overall nightmare.

Edit:

Right, forgot to address different tones. Truth is, thats how people like it. I dont like candies (and never in my life I have used one for longer than a minute), yet there are people who actually like it and are never seen outside a cutesy little doll character or a stupid dog form. The problem is that as a game developer you have a tough decision to make; keep your game strictly to a theme and keep the interest of a select group, or add different themes to give all players a treat. Right now, there is a good balance of "hardcore fantasy gear" and "cute skins". If more people wish to go for "cute skins", then there you go, the majority has spoken.

[Channing-DN]

14 minutes ago, Cheesecake-DN said:

There are transparency transform scrolls. They're ~65k each off of the gold bar shop with EU's prices and will probably be available in the BCM for cheap. 

This ignores that we can’t control if others will bother using these.  The end result will be a majoirity of the world being populated by asinine looking animals or nonsensical illusions. 

[Gwin-DN]

12 minutes ago, Bryos-DN said:

All fair complains, but I would like to comment on a few things.

The main deal is, how can you talk about the future of the game (judging by your thread's title), if almost half of your points are completely erased by 6.0? I am talking about godstones, tedious leveling, high enchanting levels, Archdaeva system (even though this last one was a really good system...) and so. Sure, you could say those are just past and present, but then whats the point of including them? That said, lets move on to other parts.

Pets? They were all fine, honestly. They were an amazing addition. Most designs NEVER even broke your very desired fantasy theme. The only one I can think of were that ugly as hell bulldozer pet (which practically no one owns, by the way) and the very rare three headed dragon. Every single one of the others were fine. A dog, a cat, a crab, a bird, in-game mobs, in-game bosses mini versions, EVERYTHING is fantasy. Even then, you could always hide them if your immersion was endangered. And houses, why would an MMO or fantasy game NOT have houses? Does your character never sleep? Does he just sleep in the benches of Pandaemonium/Sanctum? Same deal with pets, if you disliked that system, you can very easily ignore it. Just dont do your Free Studio questline or dont step into housing areas. Other than soul sickness nullified, there is no benefit to having a house, and even then its more of a kinah sink than anything.

Moving on to the theme of classes. If you are a long term player, you realise art styles changed, and so did the tone and theme of the game. The first two main patches were kind of fantasy-like, 3.0 moved on to a more like "ultimate governance", and then 4.0 went for a more tech style. It may have not been your cup of tea, but several liked this change of theme. It gave so much potential to cool enemies, classes and zones. Even then, each Dragon Lord we fight has its own theme, as you can tell. Beritra's was that "dark technology" feel, Ereshkigal has "ice" (obviously), and so on. Each big bad guy we fight brings a different style for us to enjoy, a nice touch, in my opinion.

Then sieges. Heart siege was probably the only siege I actually enjoyed. The real thing here is that not everyone likes to "cooperate" together. They prefer to stay in their own alliances, which is why several players want back the old sieging system. Sucks, but meh, whatever.

Also, NO ONE liked flight PvP. Flying is fun indeed, but PvP with a Y axis is an overall nightmare.

Do not worry. We're just talking. Every opinion is respected. I'm just considering details that led several people to another game. The AION 6 is a hope, but we still need adjustments and discussing much more about this.

The balance of classes is something very important because the recycling of players are compromised. My goal here is to bring elements about what was good and bad so as to contribute to the future of AION.

[Neleth-KT]

I would like to add a bit comment about future.

It's true that Aion IP (You may say it's Aion 2) is under developing,but it does not mean Aion 1 will die once Aion 2 release.We have a lot of examples where version 2 died instead of 1 for example Ragnarok Online original game still strong where version 2 is a completely failure.There's nothing to guarantee Aion 2 will be a success game.

Anyone who hoped for Aion 2 should expected combat might change into modern game(BDO for example) like,it may not even Aion anymore it's Aion only in name.

[Aliseta-DN]

Will leave this here (old players vs new and also old aion vs new):

New players (tough there isn't any) cant stand any difficulties that's why 99% of online and offline games takes your hand at start and keep it tight to carry you till max level. Remember AA quests, 6.0 Aion quest line is way worse. Made 80lvl character few days ago and that was hard, not because difficult mobs BUT because it was too easy and boring (only 1-2 quests at 80lvl was a bit challenging). While did those quests and later just roaming around maps discovered huge amount of quest items around (deleted quests), camps with not working teleports and so on. Looks like 6.0 was launched unfinished.

Candys part: Already posted pictures in another topic how Bear fight against Orissan (so disgusting), or yet better "Dress up for Bollvig" when had skeleton candy on and he attacked his fellow SKELETON.

With every new patch NC hope to get new players but there is close to 0 chance on that, instead they should work on keeping/getting back old players but in reality every update make old players leave. Since they should understand that situation then why they do all that? Either care only about KR region who also didn't like 6.0+ much, or just trying to make imagination of doing something while trying to get as much $ as can before ....................

Ok there is ones who always post smth like "if you dont like leave", yet again they is so shortsighted that cant even see how there is left 2 half empty servers from 5. One day you will wake up and will be nobody around you to say "hey leave if you dont like".

6.0 could be good but again they just went p2w mode and screwed all. Somebody said that godstones was removed but if remember right they put GS on minions. in 3.0 we had  5 items (in 1 set) to upgrade in 6.0 17 items what should be upgraded 3x to max level. Items obtainable only by Cash shop like 2x better potions (in game 4k HP, CS 8k HP), transforms, revive with 100% HP, extra boost in instances and so on.

 

[Kubei-DN]

I enjoyed reading the post, it's very heartfelt and detailed and pretty much sums up the condition of the game. It's true that 6.0 won't be for everyone, but it has some positive things, like no more gear breaking and easy enchantment, but the story got lost long ago. Aion died when Origa died.

34 minutes ago, 66s99B4A-DN said:

6.0 could be good but again they just went p2w mode and screwed all. Somebody said that godstones was removed but if remember right they put GS on minions. in 3.0 we had  5 items (in 1 set) to upgrade in 6.0 17 items what should be upgraded 3x to max level. Items obtainable only by Cash shop like 2x better potions (in game 4k HP, CS 8k HP), transforms, revive with 100% HP, extra boost in instances and so on.

I think that was me, but that's not the entire image. Godstones were indeed removed in 6.0 (the access to them in itself, but godstones in old weapons still remained), however in 6.2 they made minions work as godstones because in 6.0 they nerfed minions really hard, so they wanted to make up for it for the whales that complained.

[Cheesecake-DN]

8 hours ago, Channing-DN said:

This ignores that we can’t control if others will bother using these.  The end result will be a majoirity of the world being populated by asinine looking animals or nonsensical illusions. 

People already do that in mass numbers. That is their prerogative.

[Channing-DN]

4 hours ago, Cheesecake-DN said:

People already do that in mass numbers. That is their prerogative.

Argument holds no water for me.  There is a difference between temporarily electing candy for minor boosts, and the number who do so, and needing to transform for basic things like running and cast speed (everyone).

[Cheesecake-DN]

42 minutes ago, Channing-DN said:

Argument holds no water for me.  There is a difference between temporarily electing candy for minor boosts, and the number who do so, and needing to transform for basic things like running and cast speed (everyone).

I can't help you, dude. I don't like it either, so I'm going to stock up on the transparency scrolls and run around in shiftF12 the way I always do.

The doll characters freak me out more than the pandas.

 

Legit, I also have no memory of replying to this thread. .-.

[Channing-DN]

37 minutes ago, Cheesecake-DN said:

I can't help you, dude. I don't like it either, so I'm going to stock up on the transparency scrolls and run around in shiftF12 the way I always do.

The doll characters freak me out more than the pandas.

 

Legit, I also have no memory of replying to this thread. .-.

Just need to make the best of a crappy system  

I still think hiding the illusions should be built into the options menu for free, but *shrug*

[Cheesecake-DN]

7 minutes ago, Channing-DN said:

Just need to make the best of a crappy system  

I still think hiding the illusions should be built into the options menu for free, but *shrug*

I do, too. X.x This system is so odd.

[Voltric-DN]

22 minutes ago, Channing-DN said:

Just need to make the best of a crappy system  

I still think hiding the illusions should be built into the options menu for free, but *shrug*

To think something as simple as this could make such a huge difference to so many.

[Morrigan-KT]

38 minutes ago, Voltric-DN said:

To think something as simple as this could make such a huge difference to so many.

People care about their characters appearances, especially in Asian MMO's where aesthetics are pretty much front and center. After all, if they didnt, why would anyone in their right mind spend RL cash on a digital piece of fabric.

Just payed 10 bucks on a costume? "Too bad, heres a sheep illusion for you, and NO, you cant toggle it off unless you pay millions of (insert ingame currency here) for the option, or you pay us!"

Quite frankly, its insulting. Laughably so. I mean, who sits down and thinks this up, let alone believe its a good idea?

Apparently...NCSoft does.

/shrugs smh

[Gwin-DN]

17 horas atrás, 66s99B4A-DN disse:

 

 

Fantástico! Esta imagem resume tudo e revela a falta de visão de negócios para este jogo.

Vamos afastar nossas paixões e pensar logicamente e financeiramente.

Para ambos os grupos de pessoas, qual dessas duas pessoas tem dinheiro para investir no AION?

Vamos pensar...

Se você disser: o grupo de homens de terno, então este jogo deve ser ajustado principalmente pensando nisso. Ou não?

Se o jogo foi modificado para atender apenas o grupo de jovens (é o caso) e se o retorno financeiro esperado é menor. Então ... o que você precisa fazer?

Pense NCSoft, pense ...

I think this excess of pets, little flower and things too full of glittering away from the theme, can be a shot in the foot. The AION was a serious game... and now?? The MMX story is there to serve as an example.

[Bryos-DN]

The thing is, you are not seeing it right. What we have right now is both the men in a suit and the other guy.

They never chose to either please the 1910s or please the 2010s only, they chose to please BOTH sides, which is the most reasonable choice. The main game is fantasy, less "fantasy" side skins are from events or real life money stores.

The only problem here is that one of these sides is a bit too whiny about judging the other side's choices of enjoying their playtime.

[Gwin-DN]

22 minutes ago, Bryos-DN said:

A coisa é, você não está vendo certo. O que temos agora é tanto os homens de terno quanto o outro cara.

Eles nunca escolheram agradar os anos 1910 ou agradar apenas os anos 2010, eles escolheram agradar AMBOS os lados, o que é a escolha mais razoável. O jogo principal é fantasia, peles laterais menos "fantasia" são de eventos ou lojas de dinheiro da vida real.

O único problema aqui é que um desses lados é um pouco chorão sobre julgar as escolhas do outro lado de desfrutar de seu tempo de jogo.

I respect your opinion, but I do not see it that way.

Do not put dates or years in the comparison. What I really wanted to say is that there is a group of mature players and another group of players who are young.

The mature player is the one who works all day and the night he comes here to have fun. This mature player is the one who puts the money into the game because it is who pays their own bills.

The other group are young players. These young players depend on their father or mother. This player is the one who can stay at AION all day when he is not in school, but he does not have money because he does not work.

However, all the modifications in AION that are just funny or cute. These modifications attract the young player, but kick the serious and mature player. Over time the game will lose the maturity and quality. That's the point I'm warning you here.

If NCSoft invests in the game just thinking about the young player under the age of 14. Over time they will realize that the revenue has dropped. This is already happening. Today we are only 2 servers and tomorrow we can be only 1 for later 0.

[Neleth-KT]

52 minutes ago, Gwin-DN said:

I respect your opinion, but I do not see it that way.

Do not put dates or years in the comparison. What I really wanted to say is that there is a group of mature players and another group of players who are young.

The mature player is the one who works all day and the night he comes here to have fun. This mature player is the one who puts the money into the game because it is who pays their own bills.

The other group are young players. These young players depend on their father or mother. This player is the one who can stay at AION all day when he is not in school, but he does not have money because he does not work.

However, all the modifications in AION that are just funny or cute. These modifications attract the young player, but kick the serious and mature player. Over time the game will lose the maturity and quality. That's the point I'm warning you here.

If NCSoft invests in the game just thinking about the young player under the age of 14. Over time they will realize that the revenue has dropped. This is already happening. Today we are only 2 servers and tomorrow we can be only 1 for later 0.

Sorry but you're being stereotype about mature.

Being mature has nothing to do with styles or skins.
Being mature is about are you reasonable to talk with ? Do you have a plan ? Do you take responsibility.

It's not about I'm old mature I can't watch frozen,toy story,avengers I need to watch dark movies serious movies.That's kid view of being adult.

Sorry if it made you feels offended I just show you what being mature is really about.

[Cheesecake-DN]

They added the kawaii stuff because that's what Korea wanted, not because that's what the 14 year olds wanted. That's what's big in Asia, and this game is made for the Asian audience, not the "mature" people in the western market.

The pets have been around since 2.0. I have a ton of screenshots of me squee~'ing with the button-eyed mookie pet on the PTS. I still love that thing. I avoid the dead mookie area of Ingisson because I cry every time because they're so nyerk cute and seeing them get ate hurts me.

I still love cute and things that help ease some of the pain of adulthood. I love serious fantasy, too. Aion has gone crazy with the cute department, but that's what the target audience wants, and it's still not something to get bent over.